Saturdee in St. George!

Photo by the lovely Wendy Whitacre of Blue Lily Photography
Poster design by the adorable, Matt Mildenstein

Sometimes I want to pronounce Saturday, "Saturdee," in honor of a neighbor I had growing up who pronounced all the days of the week with a "dee" at the end instead of a "day." But this post isn't really about how to pronounce the days of the week. It IS however, about this, ahem, Saturdee. I'll be driving down to one of my FAVORITE cities in Utah - St. George. And on this particular Saturdee in St. George, I will be singing at a little place called Jazzy Java, and boy do I plan on packing the joint. Will you come and help me fill it to the point of bursting? You can find Jazzy Java at 285 N., Bluff St. Tickets are $7 at the door. But the experience will be priceless.

Can't wait!

P.S. Tune in next time for Day 3 of the SoCal Chronicles!

The SoCal Chronicles: Day 2

Friday morning found me at the continental breakfast station at Hotel Astro Turf. I stuffed an English muffin and a hard boiled egg in a napkin and rushed off to meet Joe Corcoran at the Backyard Studios for a little rehearsal for the Carlsbad show. Sorry, no rehearsal pictures. Just a random photo by my car with a random mannequin (Actually, the mannequin models my t-shirts.)

Stuart B. (the producer behind "Anchor") was also there. He also wanted a picture with the mannequin. I don't blame him. My mannequin is pretty awesome.

After the rehearsal, I zoomed over to a meeting with this really fun lady and then to a super great meeting with a few people from this company. And THEN, I got really hungry.

Check out these incredible eats from the RFD Bakery in Santa Monica:

An ORGANIC HOSTESS CUPCAKE! Can you even?

Positively Pistachio Salad

Thai Coconut Yam Soup. Dee-LISH.

Ok, but listen to this. Later that night, I met some friends at The W Hotel in Hollywood. Just to illustrate my peasant-ness, I first of all, didn't know what "The W" was and second of all, didn't bring any cash for parking and was thus, forced to park at "The W" itself because they were the only place that would take a card. After surveying the Bugattis, Porsches and Ferraris on my way into the valet area, I suddenly realized that my ratty Jeep with bird turds all over the window and mile high food wrappers in the front seat was SO not worthy. But all I could do was hold my breath and hand over the keys to the valet guy.

After using the restroom in the lobby, I stiffed the bathroom maid, because I did not know that there was such a thing as a bathroom maid who hands you a paper towel and takes tips. Thanks, but I can pull my own paper towel from the dispenser. Apparently, there are people who need help with that task.

(The lobby of The W)

My friends and I walked over to the Palladium where we were special guests of Kaskade. I have a few songs on Kaskade's new album Dynasty, so I wanted to see him in action. This DJ has some incredibly loyal fans if he's selling out the Palladium two nights in a row.

This is Finn Bjarnson and his cute wife, Tracy. Finn produces Kaskade's albums and I must say, it's a lot of fun to record with him.

And while, I was something of a fish out of water in this atmosphere, it was maybe a little bit exciting to see 4,000 people dancing to one of my songs. But I'm not much of a party girl, so I soon excused myself and went back to Hotel Astro Turf to sack out.


But wait. The valet can't find my car, so I wait there for 45 minutes. How can they miss it? Bird turds, remember? Meanwhile, I stare at the shiny cars in the VIP parking.

And the web of lights hanging up above me. And I think about who I am. About what my purpose is. Am I making a difference in this world? And then my car comes and I can't get back to Hotel Astro Turf quickly enough.

The SoCal Chronicles: Day 1

Last Thursday, I left my house at 9:00 a.m. to drive to Southern California for some meetings in L.A. and to do a private show in Carlsbad. Ten minutes later, I returned to my home (since I am prone to forget things at times) to retrieve my iPod and any audiobooks I could find. All I could rummage up was Day 1 of a Tony Robbins series. After a ten hour drive, I pretty much have Day 1 memorized. Tony would be proud.

Road Trip Rule #1: Bring something awesome to listen to. Preferably hours of material - not one 30 minute CD.

Road Trip Rule #2: Bring awesome food. In this I did succeed. Chocolate Covered Macaroons by Raw Melissa? YES, PLEASE.

Road Trip Rule #3: Stop at landmark locations to get out and walk around. My favorite? The St. George D.I.. I always find awesome stuff there. For example, feast your eyes upon these vintage silver formal shoes in MINT CONDISH!:

And check out these vintage golden Stilettos! Both purchased for less than $10.

Cha-ching.


Of course, it was a Hipstamatic moment.

After staying in St. George way too long, I forced myself back in the car. I actually had to get to West L.A. Music by 9:00 p.m. because I wanted to have a little looksey at a stage piano I've been lusting after. Oh, yes. The Korg SV-1 (which is nerd talk for "stellar keyboard"). To make a long story short, I did arrive in the nick of time and you will see my lovely keyboard if you come to my next show (which is this Saturday, 9:00 p.m. at Jazzy Java in St. George, UT).

But, really. The icing on the cake? Legendary bass player Carol Kaye happened to be giving a bass clinic at West L.A. Music when I arrived. Carol has played electric bass and guitar on hit records for the following artists (and many more): Beach Boys, Ray Charles, TheRighteous Bros., Johnny Mathis, Nancy Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Glen Campbell, Lou Rawls, Jan & Dean, Henry Mancini, The Lettermen, Paul Revere & Raiders, Monkees, Buckinghams, April & Nino,Sonny & Cher, Chris Montez, Andy Williams, Quincy Jones, Joe Cocker, Ike &Tina Turner, and Mel Torme. Not only is Carol a female pioneer in the music industry, but a white female who played in all the prestigious black jazz clubs of her time. This woman is inspiring.

Then, I crashed at Comfort Inn in Santa Monica which, by the way, is almost entirely carpeted in Astro Turf. So, if you like Astro Turf, you should stay there sometime.

Dadgummit.

Dadgummit. Or in the words of the great Napoleon (Dynamite), "bodaggit." I'm losing. I'm losing in the race to keep up with all the cool blogs out there. How do people do it? I'm going to have to raise the bar around here. You watch. You WATCH! Cool things are going to take place here very soon.

Stay tuned . . .

Packing My Bags and Locking My Door

Photo by Raymond Meeks

Packing my bags and locking my door to head off to these places! I'd love to see you there.

Oct. 1st: Free concert with The Lower Lights at the Rooftop Concert Series in Provo, UT

Oct. 9th: Private benefit concert in Carslbad, CA, hosted by April Meeker (SO EXCITED!).

Oct. 16th: Acoustic Concert at Jazzy Java in St. George, UT. Details here.

Nov. 5th: Acoustic Concert at Whysound in Logan, UT. Details soon.

Zombie Girl

The surest sign that I am on overload is when my eyes start glassing over and I can't focus on one single thing. So what do I do? I pray that people will be forgiving about those emails I couldn't get to. I allow my house to exist in it's post-whirlwind state. I trust that life will go on without me for a day and I check out. Today's check out activity? Going to thrift stores with my momma. It' our favorite past time.

Adios world.

For the Beauty of the Earth

I know, I know. I just linked to this video in my last post. But I love it so much that I had to post it on here for all to see just one more time. Can't wait to sing this live for you with The Lower Lights on the Rooftop in Provo this Friday. Peace.