RootJam’s featured blogger…

MUSIC BUZZ WITH MOONMAMA

Moonmama is the nom de plum of Bay Area Music Fanatic & Friend To Many Bands. Carolyn McCoy, a resident of Marin County and a huge champion of the Local Music Scene in Marin and beyond, posting in her blogs and on Facebook her Musings & Adventures in ALL THINGS MUSIC.

Moonmama uses the Creative Muse to make known the treasures and gifts we have within each of our own music communities, using photography and words and her nutty brain to express her deep love of music and her desire to make the Good Music be known to the rest of the world.

Also check her out on Facebook

Mirror In The Bathroom: Is It All Vanity?

Last modified on 2011-04-10 00:08:53 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

You may have noticed in the melodic musings of mine that I often post a picture of myself that I took in the bathroom at the back of some seedy bar, club or musical venue. Many people have asked me why I do that, so I feel a strong urge to explain myself to you, as posing in the bathroom mirror of bars and clubs all over the San Francisco Bay Area may seem a little strange to most normal folks. Not to mention posting them on the Internet for all to see, my mother would freak!

For some unknown reason, I am able to see the romanticism in the common bathroom. Yes, it’s a trait I carry with pride. Bathrooms are a place of deep intimacy, secrets and finality and they have been ingrained into the history of music as a room to be worshiped.

My bathroom Self Portraits all started at Peri’s Silver Dollar, the bar in Marin that has some of the most amazing décor in both the men’s and woman’s restrooms. As I was washing my hand like a good girl, I got a bud in my bean stock and felt the need to take a photo of myself in the mirror to send to a friend. It turned out pretty cool. As the door opened and the music came in, I got the idea of how bathrooms have a tendency of playing crucial roles in the history and legends of rock and roll music.

So, my excuse for my exhibitionistic photos? I write about music and I want you to know who I am, so I take photos in the bathroom. It’s all, like, interconnected, ya know?

While I am at it, why don’t I throw some interesting Bathroom and Rock History facts at you.

There are, of course, the folks who have died in the bathroom: Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley and Judy Garland. It seems like a hard-lived life destroyed all 3 of these talented performers while in the throes of being truly human.

Canadian rocker’s “Bare Naked Ladies” and blast-from-the-past Captain Beefheart are folks who have recorded songs or even whole albums in a bathroom, and my Web search tells me there is even a band called “The Bathroom Choir” that I feel I must now find out more info on. When I typed in “bathroom songs”, over 7 million entries came up. Also in my research I found all kinds of plans and tips for building your own personal recording studio in your bathroom, they do have amazing acoustics.

Dare I even go into the sordid, sinful and decadent treats that most musicians are offered in the bathrooms of clubs, bars and concert halls? I think Jimi Hendrix “met” one of his main groupies in the men’s bathroom stall after one of his early shows. Just what was she doing in the Men’s bathroom, I wonder…?

For me, bathrooms and Rock-n-Roll go hand and hand. They are dirty, grungy & sexy-in-bad-girl-way. The drama, the passion, the lies, the truth get expressed in song and tile.

Moonmama LOVES YOU!

Portrait Of An Acrylic Rock Star: Neal Barbosa

Last modified on 2011-03-11 21:50:16 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Photo of Neal painting at Empress Theater by Cassandra Hempl

Painting onstage with Chris Amodeo Band

The crowd cheers as the musicians take their place on the stage. The lights dim…. BAM! There’s the beat of the drums followed by the THUMP! of a bass, and finally the moans and groans of the human voice as a cacophony of sound floods the room. On the sideline, a new breed of “Rock Star” takes his place and ignites his creative fire. His instruments are not the customary rock star tools, oh no. His instruments are not purchased at Bananas at Large or Guitar Center. To find this man’s creative instruments you’d be better off visiting an art supply store, for his tools include paint, brushes and canvas. This man’s name is Neal Barbosa and he paints like a madman amid the flood of sound coming from the stage as live music is his muse.

“There is an interchange of creativity onstage,” says Neal of his place with the bands. “Some musicians have told me that they have done the same song over and over but were inspired to put a creative twist on the song in the moment after they look over and see how every note flowed through my arms to my hands and is then transformed through the paintbrush onto the canvas.”

Neal painting at Hopmonk Tavern

Hailing from Southern California and now residing in Sonoma County, Neal is a man who takes his art seriously. Beginning at 9, he started to explore sketching and drawing as a method of express his creativity. By 16 he was painting. Over the years he has utilized music and the art of Stanley Mouse to inspire his style and love of the acrylics. Of his friendship with Stanly Mouse, “I have kinda gone off in my own direction and developed my own unique style, however Stanley has inspired me to do some nude figure drawing and painting from nude models posing. Our relationship mostly revolves around art and projects and painting live when there is music around. I recently invited Stanley to paint at the Fillmore in SF and he invited me to show some of my art at The Rockin’ Roses Gallery in Healdsburg.

Painted with Gabby LaLa

With many drastic changes in the music industry has changed over the years, there are no longer behemoth music companies churning out records and creating over-hyped stars of little talent. More and more bands are touring much of the year and gigging at large events or festivals to make a living and get their name and music out to the masses. Along these lines, musical events and gigs are becoming more vibrant and vaudeville-like than ever before. Bands or venues are taking things to a new level of spectacle where performance artists, fire dancers, jugglers and costumed characters often participate in the performance with the musicians.

Neal Barbosa has taken this multi-tiered approach to entertainment and used his talent as part of a whole new wave of true performance art. He is ready to take his inspirational talent to a new level in the face of the ever-changing music business. Through guerilla marketing, hard networking and shameless self-promotion (is any self-promotion really shameless anymore?) via social networking sites and D-I-Y online art galleries, he has sold his art and achieved notice for his name. But there are two huge events in Neal’s life that are destined to make him a star.
His talent as a performance painter has grabbed the notice of Songwriter & Guitarist Normal Bean, who‘s summer tour up the West Coast has given Neal a seat on tour bus and a place onstage with the bands. “I’m so exited because these guys are really seasoned musicians that realize what a performance is all about, FUN! And they often collaborate for everyone’s enjoyment,” gushes Neal about his newfound tour mates.

Painted at The Artista Gang’s JoyFest

And as if that were not enough to garner notice, Neal also has a documentary film being made about his painting and his live performances onstage. He has traveled to LA & Finland to be a part of the filming of “Acrylic Groove” with is pal, filmmaker Steve Gatlin. Weaving interviews and film footage of his Live Painter performances over the last 5 years with bands such as LA’s Shiny Toy Guns as well as Les Claypool, Neal is thrilled about the spotlight on his work, “Its exiting for me because this is what I dreamed of in order to share the experience of Live Painting with the everyone, as well as to inspire young and old to create and maybe work up the boldness to express themselves for the whole world to enjoy”

With many more Live Painter gigs to come including several summer festivals, an upcoming gig with Richard Thompson at the Fillmore plus ongoing weekly stints at Sebastopol’s The Hopmonk Tavern’s DJ Party “The Juke Joint” and summer weekends jamming outside at Lagunitas Brewery to some of NorCal’s favorite bands, Neal Barbosa is honing his Live Painter chops to better groove with the bands he loves. He has and impressive resume of coveted gigs with high profile bands such as the punk/jazz trio The Dead Kenny G’s (“this is exactly the kind of music I love to paint to. Nothing boring about them and they are the most accomplished musicians I have ever heard or will ever hear in my whole life or will ever paint to again”), goofball rockers Forrest Day (“Unforgettable really! I was relating with their songs and never wanting to set my paint brushes down during any song.”) and The Red Paintings from Australia (“I went on a small tour with them and it was so great to paint to, man what talent! Full-on theatrical experience, octopus costumes, Japanese garb, cello player, violin, guitar, bass, piano, ray guns, live body painters, live performance painter, and some awe inspiring music!”).

Painted during The Red Paintings 2008 Tour

Finding something that works with one’s creativity is an amazing feat. Neal Barbosa takes his desire to paint and makes it more than the sum of it’s creative parts. “I’m still learning all the time how to work with musicians on stage and what not to do when in front of the audience and the camera. But I love it, its like being in an artistic bubble. Some times I am channeling what the musicians are doing or singing about and it just flows through my arms and out my paint brushes, kinda like when I’m making love. I’m totally in the moment enjoying every second, every drop of pleasure and forgetting about everything, just creating totally in the moment like a butterfly flying through the brisk smooth clean air during sunrise near the ocean on a late winter morning. With out a care in the world.”

Painted during Used Blues Band

From Dirty Dozen Brass Band gig

Painted during John Mooney

Painted during Floydian Slip

http://www.livepainter.com

http://www.nealraybarbosa.com
http://www.acrylicgroove.com
http://www.facebook.com/livepainterboy

MOONMAMA love you!

Ruminations on Creativity, Bar Dancing and Honeydust

Last modified on 2011-03-05 00:44:28 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Photo by Moonmama

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dance on top of a bar? Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have split beer, quarters and wet napkins under your precious and trusty boots, with hundreds of people below you, watching you, thinking your some hot shit because you’re, well, dancing on top a bar? It’s a pretty phenomenal feeling! In my opinion it’s up there with going to Disneyland or having your first kiss.

Imagine if you will, a hot, jiving bar; dark and smelling of booze, sweat and smoke. People are gyrating and grooving to some Hot Band cranking out sweltering tunes on stage and you have the BEST view in the whole damn place. You are up high, you see above all the heads and the drunken tall people. You feel as if everyone below you worships you because you are brave enough to show off your stuff on top of a bar. You sway, you shimmee, you try not to bash your head on the ceiling. You try to act so cool. The guys are drooling, the girls are too…and you know what? You ARE some hot shit, because not too many people are brave enough to dance on a Bar Top.

But I did it! Yep, ME! I danced on a bar, I did, I did, I really did and it was pretty fucking awesome! I am now a changed woman from my Bar Top Shenanigans and I will never be the same again, the afterglow is still on my sweet face. But there was deep inspiration behind this HUGELY dramatic feat in my life, the amazingly shit-kickin’ Marin County, California band Honeydust.

Photo by Moonmama

Let me just say, that Bar Top Dancing & Honeydust go hand-n-hand, like Whiskey & Honeydust, or Good Weed & Honeydust, or Shaking My Sweet Thang & Honeydust. OK, just about anything and Honeydust works for me!

Honeydust, the Rocking-est, Kick-Ass, Old-Time Rock & Roll Band to shake my inner yaya’s since I don’t know what! Sweet talking front man Darren Nelson’s project with his trusty sidekicks in shit-kicking, Danny Uzilevsky (Chrome Johnson) making magic with his eternally phenomenal guitar playing; Michael Weiss hitting me hard with his throbbing stand up and electric bass and Lee Bittner skinning his drums like a trapper.

There is a story to tell about these 4 men who make incredible Rootsy-Americana-Country-Twang-Rock-N-Roll kinda music. I kind of liken them to Tom Petty or the Eagles; great songwriting & great musicianship. Each member of Honeydust contributes much to the Honeydust Vibe to make a complete circle of sound. In their own words, I let them tell you the story of Honeydust, plus a few random facts about themselves that their Mother’s may not even know.

I now present you…with Honeydust!

Photo of Darren Nelson by Garth Parr

DARREN NELSON: Guitar and Vocals.

SIGN: Sagittarius.

FAVORITE COLOR: “I like every color for different things but manly Black is my favorite rock and roll color. Blue is my favorite color to drift off into. Red is cool on an old hot rod and on a Gibson Firebird. Yellow looks great in a kitchen, brown is my favorite color for a pretty girls eyes (unless they are crossed, then I like green).”

BAND MEMBER WORSHIP: I like being me. (No offense boys)

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “Honeydust came out of playing a regular gig at Peri’s with Donny Gallardo, the singer from my last band “The Fitts.” It was an acoustic thing that we were doing every Tuesday or Wednesday. It wasn’t called Honeydust, in fact, it wasn’t called anything, but that was when I met Mike Weiss. He rolled in with his gigantic upright bass and asked (politely) to sit in. Mike is so charming! Couldn’t say no. Lee Ray Bittner was also a casualty of “The Fitts”. He and I have been playing music together for 6 or 7 years now. Anyway, Donny G. left for fame and fortune in La-La Land and I was over playing Quietly, so I recruited Joey Midnight. Had a brief stint with another bass player who was awesome but regretted asking Mike to step down (another story). He and Joey lasted about a year. Joey was a great guitarist but had many directions he needed to go before settling down as a guitarist for HoneyDust. When he left I thought I’d just hang around and wallow for a while. I was questioning everything that I had worked so hard for and believed in but within just a few days Danny Uzilevsky got in touch and said, “Don’t give up lil brotha!” Coincidence or not, Jonathan Korty wound up at my house the very next day with the same suggestion. Mike Weiss had a birthday coming up and said, “For my birthday I wanna jam with HoneyDust!” So I asked Danny and Jonathan and the rest as they say is…”

HONEYDUST DEFINITION: “It’s Sweet & Dirty Rock and Roll! (…and sex powder) but mostly the Sweet & Dirty bit.”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “I wanna house with some land and a barn to covert into a studio for art and music. I want to have everybody I love around me making art and music always and all of that because of the success of HoneyDust!”

Photo of Danny Uzi by Garth Parr

DANNY UZILEVSKY: Guitar and Vocals.

SIGN: Aquarius.

FAVORITE COLOR: Blue

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “Darren and I had been working on a rock opera, “The Riverside Kings” after both our bands kind of imploded, so we were used to working with each other & encouraging each other. I always thought HoneyDust had a lot of potential and wished I could get my Rock-On with them. I was happy when we finally got it together, because I love these guys…great band and great friends. As Darren said, once we had the right motivation, it all just kind of fell into place. The greatest Honeydust moment in time has yet to come… With our CD is finished I hope we can take Honeydust to a National touring level. I think the world desperately needs Honeydust!”

HONEYDUST DEFINITION: “I believe it is a reference to a “sexy body powder” that takes things to a new level of “sexy”… I believe it will come to mean a whole lot more in the near future.”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “That Honeydust will bring back that “classic” rock sound for a whole new generation to enjoy. I think the music scene is practically screaming for what we’re doing!”

Photo of Lee Bittner by Garth Parr

LEE BITTNER: Drums.

SIGN: Virgo.

FAVORITE COLOR: “Burgundy. First it was blue, then it was green, went through a short purple faze and now burgundy… yes burgundy it is I think”

BAND MEMBER WORSHIP: “No silly! If I was someone else in the band, then that means I or someone else wouldn’t be there and that wouldn’t be Honeydust now would it? But seriously, to make that possible one would probably have to find a worm whole or be able to create an electromagnetic field so powerful it might tare the fabric of the space time continuum & it could send one of the swapping life forms to another dimension or cross-dimensions possibly, you know all that kinda stuff. So even if I did want to be someone else in the band, my personal opinion is it would be too dangerous to attempt. Furthermore, I think here in this Dimension, one of the lessons of our species is to embrace the self & shed our insecurities. Once you can be conscious of that, you can begin to love others and be a good partner for someone else truly. With all that said I wouldn’t mind giving a go at shaking my bum on stage a bit…lalalala and all that. It can be a bit lonely behind the kit. I always miss the girls flashing me back there…”

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “When did I join the band? Well, I forget the date but it was just after the Revolutionary War. Washington just gotten his wood teeth and Ben Franklin and I were partying a lot back then. That guy is a Mad Man and super smooth with the ladies. Well, ol’ Ben introduced me to Darren and we hit it off immediately We had hung out a couple times upon our first meeting, but after the Boston Tea Party we were like two peas in a pod. Shortly after that, we started playing music and it morphed into HoneyDust. It’s been all Liberty & Justice For All in the name of Rock-n-Roll since then.”

HONEYDUST DEFINITION: “Darren and Joey Midnight came up with the name at a lingerie party at the Pint Size Tavern while sitting on the hood of a Camaro or something if memory serves. I think the consensus was that it just sounded cool, contextually fit and in some way represented our sound & personalities; super sweet and lovey with a dirty underbelly Just like us. Perfect!”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “I envision our path running right through my yard. All I could ever hope is for success, love, fun and health all that good clichéd stuff. First band to play on the moon works, too.”

Photo of Mike Weiss by Garth Parr

MICHAEL WEISS: Stand up & Electric Bass.

SIGN: Libra. FAVORITE COLOR: Freckles

BAND MEMBER WORSHIP: “If I could be anyone in the band I would be me, only more talented & better looking.”

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “I was playing on the patio with “The Billy Boys” after the Fairfax Festival on a warm Sunday. It was a particularly fun gig with lots of people and I was in the early stages of a romance with my Upright Bass. I was also allowed to SING with “The Billy’s”, (my previous band, “Jesus Martini” actually took away my singing rights…Bastards!) and I was, by far, (at least I thought at the time), the coolest Upright Bass Player on the stage…. let’s just say I was feeling it. Anyway, Donnie Gallardo, Darren, Lee Ray and Joey Midnight had a regular Wednesday Night Gig at Peri’s. Donnie asked me if I would sit in with them that coming Wednesday. Well, I showed up with my upright and a cord & asked where the bass player’s rig was so I could plug in and Darren looks at me and says “Your it! Where is your amp?” I went back home and got my amp and played all night with these guys, faking through the songs. It was a total blast and we started every Wednesday till Donnie left. But, we weren’t very cool until Darren took over on lead vox. His songs were the best and we faked through a bunch of covers. We never rehearsed until we reincarnated with Danny Uzilevsky. We were a highly improvisational band; frequently we would try a song we never played at a live show! It was like a train wreck in paradise! When it was good, it was magic. But eventually someone would get hurt.”

HONEYDUST DREAMS: “I want to go on tour opening up for Tom Petty or U2 then I want HD to be the musical guests on SNL and do all the talk shows. I would want to be the hottest band in the world after that. Then I would want to travel to other planets and be the hottest band in other galaxies as well. After that I would want the band to be cryogenically frozen and thawed out for 2 days a year, every Fairfax festival in the years 2100 through 2150, when they actually find a way to reverse the aging process take us back to our 20′s and do it again.”

So there you go, inspiration begets inspiration. Creativity begets creativity. Be it making great music or dancing on a bar, I say take your inspiration whenever and wherever it comes from!

Moonmama says…”get your boots kickin’!”

Thanks to the Amazing GARTH PARR for his pictures of the band!

From The Darkness and Fear: Volary Moves “Out Of Shadows”

Last modified on 2011-02-17 17:35:49 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Volary: Noun. 1) A flight or a flock of birds. 2) the cage you keep them in.

Most of us live life not thinking about tomorrow, not thinking weather or not we will still be alive to love, eat, breathe or create. We take for granted our day-to-day existence and seldom do we stop for a moment and think, “What if I die tomorrow? What sort of legacy do I want to leave behind?”

Enter Volary. An Australian born singer/songwriter now making her home in the San Francisco music scene who just recently began to ask her self those questions. She has cancer and as most of us know, cancer sucks in a really big way and has a habit of changing your life right before your eyes, regardless of weather or not you want it to. Your brushes with death, or near death, can only make you want to live your life even more.

In Volary’s new album, Out Of The Shadows, the lyrics and songs were already written before CANCER became a common, daily word for Volary. The darkness of the mood of her music and the positive hope that she tries to convey within her songs are present and accountable in this breathtaking first effort from a woman who knows how to survive everything from self doubt to lost love.

“I was actually diagnosed just before we were due to start in the studio. My producer and I had already been doing preproduction for months, I’d booked the studio dates, we’d lined up the musicians’ schedules, I was super excited to finally be making my debut CD…and then the bottom fell out of my world.” States Volary of her brand new reality of cancer. “The songs were all written before my diagnosis, but the title and dedication of the album were definitely reflective of my situation. At the time I didn’t realize how far the shadow of cancer can stretch, and I would say that I’m still struggling to get out of those shadows (for example, I’m still not strong enough to play a full set), but the hope is that I will be out of those shadows sometime soon.”

The album covers a wide spectrum of emotional ideas within the music. Think power pop vocals on top of moody and layered arrangements with instrumentation that guides the mind to think deeper on the dark lyrics. Viola, horns, clarinet, organs, cello, oboe and sax all add their deeply rich sounds to guitar, bass, drums and voice.

“I didn’t want to make the typical singer/songwriter or rock band album. I definitely wanted to try for a sound that was not your typical vocals-guitar-bass-drums,” says Volary of her decision of added atypical instruments and arrangements to her album. “I’m a sucker for music that’s really layered and moody. I love listening to albums where you can discover more and more on each listen. Sometimes stuff will be buried so deep in the mix that it’s barely there, but the sum of it all adds up to yumminess.”

The opening track of “Die A Little” starts us out on the journey of looking deeper into our own darkness of the soul in words like “Too many years of sadness, ? I’m stretched so thin?. Standing with my back to the wall trying not to scream. I wanna cut the demons out ?from underneath my skin.”

Tapping into all things intense and tumultuous, Volary’s lyrics bespeak of a woman taken to extremes of her emotional life. She gives in to self-doubt and lack of confidence in the powerful “That Girl”. All of us have been there; all of us have at one time of another wanted to be someone aside from ourselves. “Yes, it’s true, I’m insecure? sometimes…. I wanna be That Girl”

The gorgeous piano arrangement in “One Good Reason” sends the emotion of lost love into my heart within Volary’s soothing vocals as I ask myself “How many times have I been in relationship that was not good for me but I refused to let it go? “I’m standing up and I’m refusing to play?. You are lost to me….Your love has not left me unscarred”

From Pop to Rock. From tribal drums to simple acoustic guitar and gypsy string, the songs from Out Of The Shadows move from light to dark, uplifting to heartbreaking. The songs are never simpleminded and are always intense in fullness of sound, each layered with more meaning upon each listen.

“I don’t know if I would express songwriting as being my therapy. It’s more like a necessity. Sometimes it really feels like my soul needs to give birth to something and then it’s like an itch I can’t scratch until a song comes out. It’s also very often like banging my head into a brick wall”

Although her diagnoses of cancer did not make it into her lyrics, it has made a major impact on her life. “As to how {the cancer} has changed my view point on life, well it’s definitely changed that forever. The spectre of a possible recurrence is always going to be there, especially since I was diagnosed at a young age and statistically the cancers that occur in younger people are more aggressive than those that occur in older people. I’ve had to face my mortality at an age where other people are in the full bloom of life, and that’s something that leaves its mark forever. One thing that I will be doing when I get to play shows again is to do some benefits. There are two organizations in particular that have been helpful to me along my cancer journey – the Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS) support group, and the Commonweal Cancer Help Program.”

As with all despair and intensity in life, there is always hope and dreams for something better. Volary takes the Good, The Bad and the Ugly and makes music that can resonate with us all. Whether dark moods or light, fear or doubt, creativity can make a difference in setting our paths to the correct direction we are to be heading. Faith in that path, whether we understand or not where we are going, is not always open for us to question. But we can know there IS something better…we can start out with ideas in our minds as we think “I’m reaching out but I’m grabbing air? and I freefall through my life” (from Touched) and end with the mantra of ”No, I don’t wanna believe? that there’s nothing more than this. ?Nothing more, nothing more, nothing more than this. ?So I just gotta believe ?that there’s something more than this, something more, something more, something more than this.” (Blackbird)

All Volary photos by Alexander Kieselstein

A Dollop of Sunshine: Brindl’s SHINE

Last modified on 2010-11-30 01:13:44 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Photo by Trevalyan Markle.

Music is the great song of existence and it conjures forth complex visuals. One could view listening to music as taking a little journey to a psychedelic plane, without the drugs and the subsequent nasty come down. Consider music a good clean high, activating parts of the brain where pretty pictures accommodate the sounds that enter the ears.

I slipped Brindl’s second fabulous CD, Shine, into my stereo, adjusted my earphones to achieve a maximum flow of sound and I pressed play. As the sound flooded my ears and fueled my imagination I found myself transported to a sunny hillside in the middle of the time of year where Spring is transforming into Summer. The sky is blue, the clouds are wispy and I could see rabbits and dragons curling their ears and tails against the meadowy backdrop as the spirit of song gently wafted towards my from the inner recesses of my blissed-out psyche.

Shine is a languid river of beauty trickling past as you sit on this hillside. Shine is a warm breeze flowing over your sun kissed face. Shine is the sun, warm and stunning, bright and vibrant, opening you up to the possibility that someone understands your heart as much as you do and can put into lyrics exactly how you feel when you open your heart to loving yourself, fully and deeply.

Trevalyan Markle, Tenetphoto.com

Brindl’s powerful and heartfelt lyrics are showcased in this disk; the lyrics bring forth her excellent musicianship on the piano and guitar throughout all of Shine. Adding Steve Gardner on Violin (Cullen’s Hounds), guitarist Adam Roach (Jon Keigwin band) and bassist David Solari gives Shine an added depth of jazz and blues undertones that allows Brindl’s smoky-smooth voice to seduce you with a sound that is nothing but pure joy to behold.

“Mercy” open the disk with piano and violin, two instruments that seem innocent enough but when fueled by Brindl’s passionate blues/jazz vocals brings into focus the darker aspects of a relationship. “I am here” and “Rose and a Smile” shed a little joy on the lighter side of relationship.

Simplicity is the key to Brindl’s Shine. But within that simplicity comes a profound understanding of the heart. The simplicity of stark and simple music leaves us open to understand the music how we need to understand it. Brindl leaves the music open for us to determine how it should affect our lives, as all good songwriters can do with their words. Brindl’s voice brings to life the words she wants to convey. Her lilting and uplifting vocals dance and sway and take you on a ride into the clouds, to be stirred and tossed with soft femininity.

Trevalyan Markle, Tenetphoto.com

Recorded locally at A Room With a Vu studio in San Anselmo, California throughout most of 2010, Brindl has taken the words and truths that live in her heart and manifested them into a beautiful album. She bares her soul and tells you her experiences in her life, telling stories of her heart so we can all learn from her mistakes and her personal lessons on love.

The ending track of Shine is “Resolution Year”. A track that I took to mean that with determination and focus on oneself, things can only be amazing. “Resolution year, dissolution of all fear….and I can hear you now…loud and clear….”

Moonmama Tells It Like It Is!

Thanks again to the Fabo-Rama Daniel Rauck for taking my words and making them clean and pretty. OXOXOX

Cover Letter For A Job From A Rock & Roll Writer Chick

Last modified on 2010-11-12 20:00:01 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Dear Editor, Greetings to you.

I am writing to you today in order to let you know that I want to be a writer, that I am a writer. I guess that means I also wish to have a career in writing. What the heck, I may as well apply a career for something I think I am very good at. Writing. So here I am.

I must let you know that I flunked out of college and therefore have found my own voice without the aid of institutionalized institutions. I write outside the box, as it were. I write with emotion and feeling, plus I can write about anything and make it sound professional and/or pretty. You name it, food, cars, clouds, garbage cans, and shoes, all of it I can make into words to inspire people to read about it.

My main focus and passion is writing about music and my local music scene in Marin County. In my two years as a Loud Voice for my music community, I have befriended over 100 bands and a couple of hundred musicians and industry people of all ranks. I have attended hundreds of local music gigs and taken probably well over 2,000 photos and posted them online on my 4 main blogs, on my Facebook Profile Page and Facebook “Moonmamasmusicalmusings” Fan Page. I have written dozens of reviews and stories on locals bands or their CD’s as well as their live gigs. Plus I am getting airplay for 12 Bay Area bands on a weekly radio show in Brisbane, Australia all because of two boxes of Organic Pop Tarts. I am kind of a mover and a shaker and I am working this business as a writer and photographer in order to fulfill a dream I have had to be a part of the music for over 20 years.

Writing for me has been a way to find my voice, quell my inner demons and bring my sanity to the forefront of my being. I love writing more than any other talent I have (and that does include making jam and baking cookies). I wish to make a living on this talent of mine, and I wish to try to work for you. Hence this long and drawn out story on my self-made writing career.

I am sending you 3 links to recent stories I have written on various music oriented shindigs. The first is a profile story on Jeff Pehrson, a lovely friend and also a backup singer for the band Further. The second link is my personal story on how Organic Pop Tarts have made me somewhat of an International Music Promoter in Australia. The third is a profile story on the Sonoma based band Luvplanet (I also did a review of their new disk Luvolution). I will gladly send you the text in WORD format if you wish, but the links to the stories all have photos embedded into them that I myself have taken to give you an idea of my photography skills as well.

1) http://moonmamasmusicalmusings.blogspot.com/2010/10/jeff-pehrson-fall-risk.html

2) http://moonmamasmusicalmusings.blogspot.com/2010/10/operation-pop-tart-cds-to-aussieland.html

3) http://rootjam.com/2010/10/a-note-on-peace-through-music-luvplanet

I have also attached my resume that shows all my other skills, experience and that I can actually hold down a job. Thanks for reading me and I hope to hear from you soon.

Carolyn McCoy

Love Letters In A 4.5 Inch Circle Of Plastic: Luvplanet’s Luvolution

Last modified on 2010-11-09 18:53:35 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Love. Love is what makes the world go ‘round. Love is the subject of many a song, and is quite feasibly the whole reason music even exists. Love is found in pretty much anything and everything; from romance to politics, beverage choices to musical choices. When I happen upon music that gives me love and opens my heart, I am a very happy woman.

Luvplanet, the Sonoma County, California band with a big heart and even bigger sound reaches out to me with messages of positivity, love and some serious shredding. Their 4th album, Luvolution, makes my heart thump with every song I listen to, making me smile and move my legs to the rhythm like I just can’t sit still.

Nicole Sutton-Left
Mark McGee-Right

When I mention a BIG sound, in regards to Luvplanet, I mean that there is a depth to the music, a thickness to the sound that seems to fill me. Each of the 12 songs on Luvplanet’s new CD are so dense and juicy with layers of texture. Whether it’s Nicole Suttons soaring and powerful vocals, Mark McGee’s vocals and sweltering guitar licks, the solid back beat laid down by Scott McKenzie or Tommy Sisco’s thumping, driving bass, the result is inevitably HUGE.

The stand-out songs on Luvolution tend to be the ones that beckon the listener inside the structures of the songs so that they are encircled in sound and words that give greater understanding of what life is about. Isn’t that how it should be with music? A song should take us places within our own psyche and help us express who we are and why we are alive. At least, that’s what I think. And Luvolution, in both music and lyrics, brings me to that place in my mind where positivity thrives and understanding of the human experience is given light through song.

Tommy Sisco-Left
Scott McKenzie-Right

The opening track, “Luvolution” sets the fast and furious pace for the entire album as Mark McGee’s slicing guitar clears the way for Nicole Sutton’s soaring vocals to start to tell the story of Luvpanet, “Without Warning, it comes in and I feel alive again…”

My Favorite songs on the Album include “Forever”, “Live”, and the track “Be Myself” for it’s inspiring lyrics about creating and vowing for self-love, “All I can I do is be myself, it’s gotta be good enough, no more or less than who I am”. Its words like that that we all need to hear a lot more often.

Luvplanet’s music thrives on the cohesion within the band. Even though most of the songs are written by McGee and Sutton, bassist Tommy Sisco and drummer Scott McKenzie each bring their own style and grace to the songs, so it never feels like Luvolution has the focus on just the primary songwriters, but each member carries their respective weight. On the track “All For You”, one can hear Sisco’s bass warming us up for the mounting pleasure to come within the song. With “Virtual Life” & “C’mon” the pace is set, giving Scott McKenzie’s technical and fluid drumming a chance to shine.

Luvplanet recorded Luvolution at Audio Voyage Studios in Livermore, California with Mark McGee as producer. “Mark is an amazing producer and we have worked with some great engineers at great studios.” Nicole Sutton, on the preparation and recording of Luvolution says, “We try to go in totally prepared but we usually end up having a few songs that we write or finish writing in the studio. That’s always fun because it’s fresh and exciting to capture the moment….
The (songs) are usually inspired by a feeling or a moment, it could be anything, and then we just try to listen and stay true to the song and what it wants to say.”

One thing that is truly to love about Luvplanet is that every song on Luvolution will inspire singing out with harmonies, even if you are not even a singer. I sometimes feel that I myself am part of the album as it taps into what I think about the world and how love and positivity can go hand and hand with rocking rock and roll.

Moonmama Says: YES!

Thanks forever to my dear editor Daniel Rauck, who is a hard rocker himself and makes my words so clear and pretty! THANKS DAN!

A Note On Peace Through Music: Luvplanet

Last modified on 2010-10-26 23:14:08 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Photo by Ross Pelton

Nestled into the golden hills of Northern California, in the quaint Sonoma County town of Penngrove there dwells a band that is inspired by the truth of music and the heart-opening power of creation. Through a collaboration of spirit and sound comes the band Luvplanet.

Luvplanet takes the concept of positivity and whips it into music. That music, which consists of a dash of folk, a pinch of jam-band and a heaping serving of rock not only uplifts our souls but also allows us to thoroughly enjoy a veritable festival of hard rocking joy.

When one ponders bands that are all about peace, love and all-that-hippie-stuff, one may become judgmental and begin to think that band is just a bunch of wacked-out softies playing acoustic guitar in some field of daisies. That is certainly not the case with Luvplanet. Luvplanet proves that one can rock hard and be open hearted with the world all at the same time.

In 2003, songstress Nicole Sutton and Gregg Allman and Friend’s guitarist Mark McGee formed Luvplanet with fellow Musical Travelers bassist Tommy Sisco and Drummer Scott McKenzie with the creation of their self titled debut CD, Luvplanet. With this wonderful first disk Nicole Sutton and Mark McGee’s songwriting magic and vocal harmonies are showcased as well as Marks’s free-for-all guitar style. “My favorite thing about playing in Luvplanet is that I have complete musical freedom.” States mark McGee, “Variety is the spice of life, especially with music.”

With 2 subsequent disks under their guitar straps, State of Mind (2005) and Lucky One (2008), the music never seemed to stop for Luvplanet and the band became more and more solid in its live performances, musical connections between each member of the band as well as their over all professionalism.

“Playing in Luvplanet consists of 4 individuals looking together in the same direction. Achieving that with one person is rare enough, but to have that happen with all of us – magical. Nicole, Mark and Scott are my musical everything!” States the Zen-like bassist Tommy Sisco.

Photo by Suzi Roks Photography

The band takes it’s postivity seriously, often smiling and laughing while singing songs about relationships gone good, deep friendships and being at peace in this tumultuous world all without sounding soppy, contrived or wimpy. Powerhouse vocalist Nicole Sutton uses her songwriting skills to manufacture dreams of a reality based on one’s truth and an open heart while communicating a trust in herself that shows her confidence as a strong front woman.

“Music saves my soul.” Says the super cool beauty that is Nicole Sutton. “It reflects our society and our world and the collective conscience, just as all art does, and it helps us process what we are experiencing here and now so that we may continue to grow.” Nicole states that her true course with Luvplanet is “being able to bring life to songs and share them with others”

With the release of their 4th CD, Luvolution set for October 10th, 2010 and a CD Release Party on October 9th. 2010 at Chrome Lotus in Santa Rosa, Luvplanet will continue to support the Positive Bent In Life through hard driving, guitar-based music. Sharing the love via your sound is a good way to go with your band. “Music is that which gives my soul life. It moves it, grooves it, spins it all around and it’s my goal in life to share that with as many people as possible,” is how Tommy Sisco lays it down. States Mark McGee of Music and Luvplanet, “It’s medicine. It’s like a drug and I am addicted.”

Moonmama Rocks HARD and thanks her AWESOME editor, Dan Rauck for making her words make sense!

To Leave a Comment, click here

Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage: Playing History’s Glorious Notes

Last modified on 2010-10-28 02:36:00 GMT. 2 comments. Top.

A long time ago, back in the day, there were simply acoustic instruments. Although complicated in structure, there was a deep simplicity in which they could be played without the use of amps or microphones, plugs or electricity. Some of the genres that came from this simplicity were called Traditional Folk, Americana or Bluegrass.

In the 1960’s, various venues started to crop up around the nation that would hold strong these ideals of simplicity in music. The Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley, California is one of those venues that has been around since the inception of the War Cries and Peace Protests of the tumultuous late 60’s. Such high-profile acts such as Asleep at The Wheel, David Grisman, Utah Phillips and Country Joe & The Fish have all graced the stage at the Freight & Salvage’s various locations over the last 40 some-odd years, so to be able to play on such a historical stage is nothing to scoff at.

In January of 2010, Marin/Sonoma County folk band Three At Last played a coveted gig at this newly modernized venue. Three At Last, Velvy Appleton, Ginger Parish and Anita Sandwina, all contribute to the beauty and creation of the Three At Last sound. Blending soaring harmonies and musicianship that bespeak of traveling minstrels of days of yore, Three At Last play mostly original folk compositions that they all write, as well as a few traditional American Folk songs that can only make us think of foggy Appalachian towns and musical jams on the back porch with fireflies giving us a light show.

VELVY APPLETON

With a combined resume of musical skill, Three At Last is not a “boring folk band”. Each member brings their own vocal and songwriting skills to the band and the instrumentation can include djembe, six-string, bass, mandolin, harmonica & recorder. All of this from only three people.

The band decided to make a live recording of their Freight & Salvage gig in order to showcase the true sound and intimate vibe of their live shows. “Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage” was the gift that they created in order for us listeners to understand the true essence of straightforward, traditional Americana Folk. “We were absolutely THRILLED and flattered to play The Freight in January. That, along with playing the Kate Wolf Festival last year gave us some real folk-cred, a true stamp of approval from the acoustic Mecca’s.” States Velvy Appleton, guitarist, vocalist and lone-male for Three At Last. “And, being there was awesome. I mean, I got goose bumps just doing the sound check! So many of our shows are in small, under-funded venues where we struggle with poor sound equipment, or inattentive sound engineers, or plain old bad acoustics in the room. Playing the Freight is like performing in a cathedral. Its like a religious experience of sound.”

GINGER PARISH

Pulling songs from their studio release like “We Autumn Leaves” & “Waiting” as well as many unrecorded songs, “Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage” is a breath of fresh mountain air in it’s richness and depth of sound. Three At Last weaves together tight harmonies and lyrics about anything from deep nature, relationships and family to social commentary on The Now.

ANITA SANDWINA

“We made our studio album (self-titled “Three At Last”) having only been together for 3 months. With that album, we wanted to show that we were serious, and that we had songs and musicianship that were real. But, honestly, it was so early in our development that we really hadn’t honed in on “what we sound like” yet.” Says Velvy Appleton of their readiness for something live. “The Freight CD is a fantastic representation of what we REALLY sound like, at our very best, in the best setting and really on top of the material. It’s honest, direct and real. We’re very proud of it. We’re going back into the studio in November to make another studio album– we have a ton of great new material, and we are going to do a real band-style album.”

“Three At Last-Live At The Freight & Salvage” is now part of the deep history that The Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse has created in the Berkeley California Music Scene. Velvy Appleton and Three AT Last felt that honor in a big way. “The Freight has an INCREDIBLE legacy of hosting the A-list of acoustic music. It’s kind of like The Fillmore of Folk and we are so psyched to now be part of that legacy.”

Moonmama Loves Music! XOXO

To Leave a Comment, click here

Of Hope, Love, Faith and Music: Lansdale Station

Last modified on 2010-10-28 02:44:30 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Once upon a time, there was Faith, Hope & Love, and they wanted to become manifest in corporeal form. So they found a home in the likes of a young woman with song on her lips, words and lyrics in her Louisiana Heart and grit on her stylish high-heeled shoes. She played a mean guitar and made great waves for All Things Feminine in the game of music.

One day, before she knew it, a Fancy Mustachioed Rocker Prince came along with his smoky voice, sang to her heart of sonic love and literally swept her off her feet; carried her off into the sunset and there, happily, they made beautiful music together within the love they created.

Oh, the joys of a love story. The meeting, the courtship, the trials & tribulation and eventually, if all goes according to plan, the Living Happily Ever After. It’s what we all strive for in our daily relationships. It’s what Lauren and Judge Murphy, founders and song crafters for their band, Lansdale Station, have been striving for since the beginning days of their Love Affair with each other and their music.

Song just wants to be manifest, it enters into our bodies and gets transformed into words, poems, notes, chords and eventually it all comes together to create a whole being that is morphed by our voices or an instrument into something more solid as sound. That is music.

Lauren Murphy always found solace and joy in her truthful and heartbreaking songwriting and her connection to her now husband, Judge Murphy, exponentially changed the course of her personal music to the millionth degree. In 2005, the two took their combined talents to The Plant Studios where Judge produced an album of Lauren’s compositions, augmented by a few standards on which he sang: a CD of songs that would soon bring forth a band known as ‘Lansdale Station’.

With Chip Roland serving up his multiple talents on piano, Hammond B3, dobro and lap steel, the Album gets it’s crunchy, dirty Southern Blues flavor. Add to that Robert Powell, Rich Kirch and Tom Finch taking on various tracks with their always-amazing guitar playing, with John Hasty and Liam Hanrahan taking on the heartbeats of the album with drums and bass.

Lansdale Station is truly a Marin County California Band. Aside from recording Magnolia Heart at the historic Plant Studios in Sausalito, Ca., the band’s name is derived from an old train stop in San Anselmo, Ca; the full band had it’s first gig at the small and intimate San Geronimo Community Center in West Marin and the 2006 Magnolia Heart CD release was held at the now defunct but forever idolized Sweetwater Saloon in Mill Valley, Ca (RIP, Sweetwater, you are sorely missed).

Lauren Murphy’s newfound role as Only Chick In An All Male Band found its strength when she realized that she was not just writing songs for herself and her guitar anymore. “I realized that I was writing for men, now”, Lauren states, “ and it brought out the shit kicking boots” in both her songwriting and how she presented herself while she sang. Her high, Southern drawl mixes well with Judge’s deep rocker voice, creating edgy-soft harmonies that brings all the words to the forefront of the songs and tells the story of both of their lives.

When 2008 hit our calendars, Lansdale Station was morphing and changing and it was time for them to take things to the next level. The band was taking on more high profile gigs, solidifying the members of the band and working on another album aptly titled Lansdale Station Featuring Judge and Lauren Murphy. Lauren felt a need for a wide sound within the next disk. “There is something for everyone in this album. We wanted to present it as a blend of the 20th Century meets the 21st Century; Where we are heading with respect to where we had been.”

With such local Icons as Danny uzilevsky with his Gibsons and Strats, Jim Cucuzella on Harmony slide, Ed Michaels and Dana Miller on drums, Rayner Brock on bass, Lauren on vocals and six-string with Judge by her side doing vocals. The album is just as deeply bluesy as Magnolia Heart, but with more of Lauren’s Southern Roots that gives Lansdale Station Featuring Judge & Lauren Murphy a fuller sound that shows that collaboration with two hearts can only make things better and more alive in everything that is created with those hearts. Says Judge of working with such amazing players, “I was appreciative of their artistry. Ed Michaels had such good timing as a drummer and Jim Cucuzella had his finger on the pulse and knew just what to do. When I asked Danny Uzilevsky if he’d do the session he said, ‘ Yeh, the studio is where I come alive.’ Danny was very professional and executed his parts well.”

Sadly, with every love story comes The Hardships and The Trials. This story will not hide the truth, as the shit does hit the fan for our beloved King and Queen of Song. The bad news hit in May “I felt a pain in my abdomen in January, during a high note, no less.” States Judge, “I have a tumor, it’s near my gal bladder and stomach. It’s cancerous”.

“I am seeing this as a catalyst for out next record” says Lauren of this trying time ahead with the man she loves.

Judge’s pending surgery to remove the tumor and hopefully be free and clear of aberrant cells did not stop Lansdale Station from performing one last gig at the Artista Gang Joy Fest in Sonoma on Sept 11, 2010. ” We had to perform!”, says Lauren, “Judge insisted on it. We needed the blessing of The Church of Music before we took this leap of faith. It was a cleansing and we feel baptized from experience. The support of community so strong. Artista (the gang) was founded by legendary Fillmore Poster Artists Pat Ryan, Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, etc. We are the Official Artista House Band.”

The Artista Gang JoyFest was a good place to share love and music for Lansdale Station. The band’s solid players now includes Rayner Brock on bass, Jake Baker on drums and guitar master Dave Zirbel doing up everything from Dobro to steel to electric. “Dave is a true Prince of a man and player. He is a musician’s musician,and his multi instrumentalism has become an integral part of our sound and family,” says Lauren and Judge”

Aside from Lansdale Station, JoyFest hosted such rocking bands as Petaluma’s LuvPlanet and blues band Le Marque Jeaun from Paris plus an All Star Jam at the end of the day. “I was so happy to play,” says Judge. “When my musical buddy, Jerry Miller (Moby Grape), grabbed Buella, his Gibson L5, and jammed with us on our final song, it really got the juices going.”

The music will not stop for Judge and Lauren Murphy, nor will it stop for Lansdale Station. “”We have a positive attitude. This experience has changed our outlook on what’s important in life, our priorities are our family and friends,” states Lauren. With the Faith, Hope and Love that has been a part of the reality of these two music makers, the Hardships and Trials are only a small bump in the road. Says Lauren, “There are no coincidences. You meet people in your life for a certain reason.”

“Everyday is a blessing.” Answers Judge. When two hearts as vibrant as theirs can make beautiful music together, anything can be overcome.

PS: If all goes well with the procedure and healing time, you can see Dave, Judge, & Lauren acoustic 10/3 at the JCC for the “Rock of our Ages” event at the JCC grand opening of Rock Photography Gallery opening for the works of Bob Minkin, Bruce Steinberg and Richard Pechner. This event is co-sponsored by the Marin History Museum Music Center.”

Check out the LINK:

http://localmusicvibe.com/event/rock-our-ages-photo-gallery-featuring-the-works-bob-minkin-richard-pechner-bruce-steinberg-mus

MOONMAMA Loves YOU!

To Leave a Comment, click here

Last modified on GMT. 0 comments. Top.

To Leave a Comment, click here

Aural Projection: Musical Travels with Moonmama

Last modified on 2010-08-27 02:49:08 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Welcome to Moonmama’s Aural Travel Services, where sound exploration is very much at the forefront of our organizaton. Today’s travels take us far and wide in the North Bay where we will encounter hard driving riffs of guitars, we will be jolted by thumping bass lines & booming drums that will surely shake up our innards and you will be fed words & images that will enter into your mind and give your brain the added nutrition it needs to survive a trip into the Cosmic World Of Rock & Roll.

Miles Schon Band
August 14, 2010
The Woods, Mill Valley, Ca

Color & light swirl in deep connection to the sound that I am experiencing…the thoughts in my head explode into fractals of alternating chaos & order as I dance, swirl and twirl my body over and over to the exquisite noise of The Miles Schon Band.

This band just gave my soul a wake up call with their hard rocking, butt kicking & booty shaking music. I am serious, they are that phenomenal, that amazing, that tight and their professionalism blows my mind. The Miles Schon Band are just really, really, really incredible musically that my soul wants to get a good Musical Orgasm with sound from these guys.

With original songs as well as covers that get a good ass-whoopin from shredding guitar licks and a stage presence that is off the hook, The Miles Schon Band is going to go far.

They have fun, they play hard and you can tell they really love what they do…creating music that is filled will high energy vibrancy from the heavens above and enough juicy funk & shredding riffs thanks to the Rock & Roll devil below….

SABBATH Lives!
August 13th, 2010
Peri’s Silver Dollar, Fairfax Ca

I am looking at my dictionary and I found the word “Friggatriskaidekaphobia” which defines itself as “The fear of Friday The 13th.” Bet you didn’t know there was such a complicated word to a really silly idea that if a Friday that falls on the 13th day of the month is evil, but it’s not. It’s simply a fun reason for the band Sabbath Lives! to rock out. Covering all things Ozzy, Dio and Randy, the boys of Sabbath Lives! honor the devilish greatness of the legend that was Black Sabbath while channeling the dark and edgy music of that incredible band.

Tom Finch-Guitar, Rahman D’Amato-Guitar, Kalyan Godden-Bass, JB Diamond-Vocals, Dana Miller-Drums, Mark Antonio-Guitar all play up the historical Black Sabbath legacy with the utmost respect for the ultimate masters of Heavy Metal…

Points North
August 7th, 2010
Last Day Saloon, Santa Rosa, Ca

Points North is a trio of hard rockers with a combined resume that would make any music expert drool with awe.

Eric Barnett leads off the group with his stellar, jaw-dropping guitar playing that is reminiscent of Joe Satriani or Steve Vai. Kevin Aiello is an elegant & playful drummer and his precision & skill are a joy to watch.

With regular bassists Damien Sisson absent from this night’s show, Stuart Hamm of Joe Satriani’s band kicked up some SERIOUS shit that showed his years of experience, his expertise with his instrument and professionalism in his playing. His solo bass rendition of Zeppelin’s Going To California almost made me cry even with its simple gentleness of 4 strings & one man.

Points North rocks hard with lyrical songs without lyrics, as the instruments are the voices and the players are the divine source of the music.

MOONMAMA says, “KEEP ROCKING!”

To leave a comment, click here.

-

Moonmama Hits the Town, Head Bangs & Dreams of Rock & Roll

Last modified on 2010-08-19 06:55:27 GMT. 2 comments. Top.
I frequent many a music venue throughout my waking hours and therefore I hear a lot of music. It’s true. I am lucky and blessed to be so completely neurotic about needing to move myself constantly that I find it necessary to get out my door and into some place I can dance away my inner woes as often as I can. I think I am too A.D.D. to sit still anymore, there is too much life to live, too much music to experience.

In my little neck of the woods of the SF bay Area and specifically Marin County, I have my favorite bands that I make pilgrimages to see as often as I can & I have those bands that I have heard about and will make an effort to catch a show when I am able. There are those bands I just stumble upon that take my breath away from first note to last & there are the bands that are my family with whom I share heart as well as music.

In the last few days, I have had the incredible opportunity to be a part of massive amounts of chaotic sound & vibrant music, all of which help me make sense of this chaotic & vibrant life.

Kortuzi Tuesdays!

19 Broadway NiteClub
Fairfax, CA

I walk into a packed club like I can do on any given night of my week. I meander my way to the stage and I pass local musicians, I pass my friends and cohorts and I firmly plant myself well into the chaotic craziness of KORTUZI TUESDAY MUSIC JAM.

In an orgy of sound and light, Musicians rotate on and off stage, sharing music, sharing instruments, sharing space to be creative and playful with sound. Blues, Jazz, Rock, and the hints of Motown & New Orleans thrown in for kicks.

Even though the Jonathan Korty & Danny Uzilevsky led Kortuzi Tuesdays is every single friggin’ week at Fairfax, California’s own 19 Broadway Niteclub, it does not get boring in the least.
This is not your NORMAL house band that plays the same shit over and over. No siree, this here little jam encompasses so many talented musicians and any given assortment of instruments that things are never the same at this weekly music jam…ever…

It could be the whole of Monophonics or Vinyl jamming for a short set. It could be members of Bay Area legends The Mo’fessionals or Psychefunkapus, It could be members of up and coming bands such as a few cuties from The Miles Schon band, heard Pete Sears showed up for a few songs…crazy music goes down at these community jams…

FEATHER WITCH
August 13th, 2010
Peri’s Silver Dollar
Fairfax, CA

The Pagan Goddesses Of Song enter into the Sacred Temple Of Temptation that is Peri’s Silver Dollar bar and they stand poised & ready for the incantations that will spew forth from their lip-glossed lips.

These Pretty Priestesses raise their heads, open their mouths and magic flows out with their words as they speak of sparkling ideas, whips of truth and pure & wonderful sexuality.
Feather Witch. Ball bouncing 1970′s covers of Hot Bitch led bands like Fleetwood Mac, Heart & Pat Benatar as well as some bitchin’ Dio, Journey, and Sabbath covers.
Dana Miller-Chisled Chin & Drums, Brandon Lortz-Killer Tattoos & Guitar, Michael Thompson-Quiet Presence & Bass, Natalie Chaput-Hot Sass & Vocals, Jake Lyall-Stylish Hat & Keys, Erika Campbell-Blatant Beauty & Vocals.

HONEYDUST
Mill Valley, Ca
August 14th, 2010
The Woods

I really, truly dig Honeydust. I really do and I cannot tell you enough how amazing they are. I like them not just because they are really accomplished & professional musicians…it’s not just because they create dirty-fun, Southern Tinged kinda Rock and Roll music that makes me shake my ass & jump around like an ADD Whipper Snapper…

…it’s not because they are the first band to ever get me on top of a bar to DANCE and it’s not just because they are all hotties with all the right tattoos & all the swelteringly hot Rock Star Attitude….

No…I like them because they make me feel really happy when I hear them. I smile a lot as I sing to their songs. That’s what really makes me like them….

Darren Nelson-Guitar & Vocals, Danny Uzilevsy-Guitar & Vocals, Lee Bittner-Drums, Mike Weiss-Bass, Jonathan Korty-Keys

To leave a comment, click here

-

-

-

Moonmama's Musical Musings

Last modified on 2010-08-14 00:38:56 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

Hello, my name is Moonmama and I am a music junkie.

On any given night, on any given day of the week, there is the potential for me to experience live music by incredible bands right in my own backyard, right in my own neighborhood. I do not need to watch American Idol or any of those Reality Talent shows on TV as I get my talent fix by shoving my face into a speaker as a friend’s hard-driving guitar shreds away with the raging licks of his six-string electric hitting my soul; I get my thrills by going dancing to one of my favorite local bands, the live music entering my body and taking control of all my motor skills; and there’s nothing more incredible to me than the WHOLE band smiling at me, nodding their heads at my arrival as I enter a club or bar to see them play and shake my Sweet Thang to their sound, regardless of whether or not I know them. I am there to hear them play and they are grateful.

Music is my life, it gives me my sanity and the above prose is truly my reality, as these Music Makers are my friends and they are members of my town & my community. These are the people I support with my heart and soul. With my talents as a writer and photographer, plus my LOUD VOICE, both figurative and literal, I try to raise awareness to the treasures that lie in my community, that lie in each of our communities in the form of The Local Band or The Local Musician or the Local Live Music Venue.

The music creates my community more than anything else and I am a part of it because it feeds my soul and it is my Church. I sweat my prayers via throbbing drum & bass lines and sing my hymns through screeching guitars. Like the faithful and devoted Rock & Roll Princess that I claim to be, I worship at the feet of those Gods and Goddesses who make the music.

In the slow decline of Big Bizness Music, there is a great need for another platform for local and small time musicians and bands to make a living, to get their music heard. The time of The Big Rockstar is coming to an end and it is time to find a more sustainable and healthy way of promoting and supporting music. That’s where my dedication to RootJam comes in.

Rootjam is a grassroots online network that helps the small time musician make him or herself heard by connecting them with other musicians in a community of creativity and support. Rootjam lends its support in sponsorship for local homespun events like the Samapalooza Festival in Novato, California as well as with guidance on how to make an online presence of one’s own music in order to facilitate the growing music scenes in many of our communities and towns. Through video, through interviews and band profiles and stories, I hope to continue my support of the Local Music Scenes by joining my efforts with RootJam.

Being rich and famous is not necessarily the goal of most musicians anymore, because making good music that is respected and heard is what most music makers are striving for. Most musicians just want to make a simple living doing what they love, making music, jamming and creating sound that is taken to heart by those who listen.

Rootjam and me? We are gonna kick this Music Scene into the Aural Stratosphere and play hardball like the Big Music Biz except the MUSIC will be more of a priority than the profits & the MUSICIAN will be more important than the stocks they represent. We are about The Roots of the Community That Wants To Jam! RootJam!

–moonmama

To Leave a comment, click here…