The Weather Report

2009-10-27T09:43:00.001-07:00

Here goes with my first "ping!" How's it look?

2009-09-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

There will be lots more here soon about proper pronunciation in Austin, the new (COOL, if I do say so myself) album, the Glen Ballard effect and every other thing, but for the moment, all I want to say is: Mark Hallman. Yeah!

2009-09-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

Day Three: Andrew Hardin has kicked ass and is smiling. Yes!

A lovely dinner with the Hallmans and their super-nice friends. Then to Evangeline's to see Danny, who rocks. Holy mackerel!

2009-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm tired and happy and ll I can say tonight is: when you hear the songs on my new album, be impressed with my producer, Mark Hallman. The demo I gave him was a crappy Casio keyboard with a drum machine, and he built the funkiest whole track today. Drums, bass, wacka-wacka guitar, plus recording my vocals. That's what I'm talking about!

2009-09-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, and this is why I can't wait for Andy to come to the studio. I'm feeling snark-deprived.

Andy: What's the song like?

Rain: It's a new one - it's about Keanu Reeves - but it's from the point of view of this woman I met--

Mark (from across the room): BLUES IN C MINOR!

Andy: Rain, put Mark on. I need to talk to a man.

Ahhhh....

2009-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Austin, baby!

Feeling right at home at the Congress House.

Day One. Today we made sure my charts were acceptable and introduced ourselves to Keanu. Mark played a 19th century pump organ. Bad scratch vocals from me (but that's why they call them scratch.) Made phone contact with Mr. Andrew Hardin, who will be in on Friday. MOTHERF%^&*R, this is fun!

Mark and Tommy on a quest for the perfect reverb...

Okay, this came out kind of blurry, but did you know you can get a massage at the Whole Foods? (Just in case you are too overwhelmed by the twenty seven kinds of olives.)

Crosstown from Whole Foods to the hotel, the Capitol looks lovely...

And now I've had my Cola-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus with a an engaging little Zinfandel and am watching Leno in prime time - I think it's pretty good! Everything's pretty good! Early to bed because tomorrow we've got Chris Maresh coming in on bass and more drum tracks from Mark. Tomorrow we will become Compartmentalized and will take a fresh look at a lesser-known Bob Seger classic. Yay!

(Some of this post is code to get you excited about the upcoming album...)

2009-06-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Desert Rat Tour Part Deux

If you haven't read Part One, read it first!

Thank you to everyone who emailed about Part One. Welcome back to Part Two of the Tale of the Desert Rat Tour! Danny B. Harvey (resident Rock God), Sasha Heslip (Cinderblock Bookshelves' producer and tech diva) and I have left the mountains of Colorado and are having lunch in Flagstaff before heading into the Arizona desert. But before I continue our tale, let me digress briefly to discuss the young woman across the street from our restaurant who was singing folk songs in a park as part of some kind of weekend street fair.

She had a high, earnest, Sheryl Crow-esque voice, lots of energy and good guitar chops. There were a few people listening as they sat in the sun, and others casting a glance her way as they strolled by.

I bet she applied for this showcase and was chosen by some panel to round out the music portion of their arts weekend, and I feel equally confident that she wasn't paid. "But!" the promoters likely said, "it'll be great exposure."

As my friend Andrew Hardin likes to say: "You can die from exposure."

Okay, I'm on the road doing a play I wrote. It took three months to lock in the bookings and I did all the promotion and travel arranging myself. My friends are working their butts off for very little pay, and now, on day five, I can see that even though I budgeted conservatively I am not going to break even. I'm going to lose money on this tour. So believe me, I understand the Investment Phase of a musician's career.

I've done gigs like that street fair, but I will never do another and I wish other musicians wouldn't either. That's not to say I don't play for free - I do all the time if it's for a cause I believe in. But it's one thing to donate your time to a charity and another to give your time and talent away for no good reason. The organizers of events like that Flagstaff street fair have to shell out money for permits, for trash pickup and for porta-potties, but they routinely ask the musicians to donate their time for the privilege of standing before a crowd that is only minimally paying them any attention. And they will keep doing so as long as musicians are willing to do this kind of gig.

Look - if you are being used to attract people to an event, then you should be paid something. It doesn't have to be much - but it should be in proportion to the other costs of the event. Never mind that you love doing it so much you'd do it for free - do it for free in your living room! The garbagemen who will clean up that night might like their job, but they don't work for free. A gig like this is not a step to anywhere.

Okay, rant over. Back to the road diary.

We peel out and head south with the Gargoyle of Free Gigs hot on our heels, and before long we are hurtling through northern Phoenix on our way to the third stop on our tour: Soul Invictus. I'm excited to get there, because the back and forth of logistics and promotion with the venue's owner, Patti, has been a total pleasure. She's excited about the show and I'm excited to get there. And get this: she's a rockabilly player (a drummer), so she knows people who know Danny.

Did I mention that Danny is in constant communication with friends all over the world? And that his phone makes the sounds of a variety of barnyard animals when he receives texts? And that we often receive updates, like "it's 5:00 am in Perth, Australia, and they are still awake, drinking Jagermeister."

We have made telephone contact with our fourth crew member (and director of the play), Kim Maxwell, who has landed at Sky Harbor and is getting in a cab. There's a coffee place next door to the venue and she will be able to chill there for an hour before we arrive with the van.

Flash! Oh, dammit, in compliance with my urging that she put the hammer down, Sasha has just driven past a photocop. But did it flash for us or the car next to us? We can't tell! The answer will come by mail (or not) in a week or so. Damn.

Then Kim calls. The coffee place is closed on Sundays. There's nothing open in the neighborhood, and we are an hour out. And her cab driver is...

"Emphysemic! Omigod, you guys, and he didn't know Phoenix at all and his cab reeked of cigarette smoke. He was horrible and I didn't even want to get back in." But she did, and she had a lovely lunch at some corporate hotel downtown.

We unload the van. It's really hot. But the venue is not: it's cool!

Located in an industrial part of Phoenix, not far from downtown on Grand Avenue (probably the next boho enclave that will eventually be inundated by Starbucks and trendy boutiques...), Soul Invictus is a tiny little theater with a dedicated and passionate crew committed to bringing forth innovative performances and loud music.

So it's fitting that they should be located next to a giant womb:

...which is actually an outdoor studio for a metal sculptor.

My sister-in-law and nephew have been amazing promoters, and they are bringing the whole family and many friends to tonight's show. So after the sparsely attended performance in Durango, tonight we will have a good crowd. I've done this play enough times that I'm pretty relaxed about its intimate content, but occasionally I get a little nervous about what certain people in the audience will think. When my daughter saw the show, for example, a lot of passages from the play took on new (embarrassing) significance. This is one of those nights! But I remind myself that we were all awkward youths, we all lost our virginity at some point, and, most of all, we all have parents with whom we have to come to terms. I try to remember that those are the common places that I'm reaching for with people. And sure enough, the family and friends turn out to be a very sympathetic audience.

Another thing (and I guess this is obvious to seasoned actors, but I'm still fascinated by it): depending on their background, there are marked differences in when people laugh. I can tell when I'm performing this play in front of hippie or post-hippie crowds, because they laugh really hard at the childhood drug references. Other audiences react to the same material with palpable alarm. And honestly, both are appropriate! In doing this play, I learn so much about where my childhood fits in to the spectrum of childhoods.

And tonight in Phoenix, I also get an international perspective: my nephew has brought a number of Egyptian friends, and there are four people from the former Yugoslavia in the audience too. Later I will hear that my sister-in-law's friend had always dreamed of a freewheeling California life, and that to hear the challenging part of that lifestyle was an eye-opener for her.

The set is set up and the sound system is working. Proprietress Patti Swarz solves a problem we've been having with yellowy slides - a pin in one of the cables is bent. Ah! Full color! I have opted to use Patti's wireless headset mic instead of my own, which has been giving me problems. And Kim is with us! We begin again.

So far, so good. Slides are working: check. Microphone working: check. Danny and I in sync: check. Audience friendly: check. Then I cross upstage to point at a slide and am hit by a blast of cool air from a vent above the stage, which feels great but creates a bit of an unexpected Steven Tyler look. Okay - no problem - use the Aerosmith effect sparingly, as needed.

Then, about an hour in...a slight crackling, more pronounced when I get close to the stage monitors. Oh dear: our horrible tech karma is rubbing off. It gets worse and worse. Finally, realizing that I am coming into the most emotionally intense part of the play, I decide to pull the mic off my head and go acoustic. But this mic works differently than my mic - it doesn't detach from its cable. So now I have the mic off my head, but the cord is running down my back under my shirt to the base unit, and I have no way to get it out. So I have to hold the headset in my hand.

I hear a quiet rustling from the back of the room, which I later learn is Sasha and Patti going through the script searching for a good place to bring me a handheld mic. And at one point I look down, and Patti is handing it to me and I finish the play with good sound. Phew!!!

After the show, I go out to talk to my family and Danny has a reunion with an old musician friend and his wife. Patti and her crew have set out wine and hors d'oeuvres, and everyone stays and talks for a long time. Here's the Soul Invictus team:

We pack up the set and gear and I enter the Four Points Sheraton into Google Maps. I know Phoenix, so I am driving.

Hmmm...this is weird. I actually don't really know this part of town. When I come to Phoenix, I hang out with my relatives on the other side of the tracks in Scottsdale. So I am kind of turned around. But we find the hotel and I drop off the crew. Then I head back across town to my mother-in-law's condo. But nothing's really looking familiar. So I readjust, turning east. I call my mother-in-law, who is waiting up for me. It's going to be a little longer than I thought. Wait: is Sun City east of Phoenix? Finally, I pull over, to give Google a chance to locate my Current Location when I am not moving. No, it is not east. It is 40 minutes WEST of where I am going.

Here is the problem with Google Maps on the iPhone. It's really hard to use when you're in motion. And sometimes, when you're in motion, it gets crazy ideas about where you actually are. But it doesn't matter. The best GPS on the planet would be no match for the ghosts that are plaguing every machine that comes in contact with me this week.

At midnight, I pull into the condo development on Scottsdale Road. I check my email and have received this picture from Kim with the subject heading "Bar Trash."

I'm glad they're having fun. But I have an awesome host: my mother-in-law, Olivia, the classiest person I know. I could go on about her, but for now suffice it to say that she is a smart, scrappy single mom who raised two kids while working her way through Stanford University, ultimately marrying Rusty and spending her career as a school psychologist. She wears bright, colorful eyeglasses, has a pair of leather pants, and saw Pearl Jam before I did, at a festival in Ireland. She sends me clippings of things she thinks I should read. I love her.

She has food and wine and we end up talking way too late. And this cozy bed is waiting for me:

The next morning, my sister- and brother-in-law, Cindy and Marty, have invited my crew over for brunch. I leave with the van to go get them. In the daylight, I can make a lot more sense of where I am driving. Kim, Sasha and Danny climb in and we head across town towards Paradise Valley. But jeez! I do not understand this, as I have been to this town dozens of times, but the next thing we know we are downtown at the Heard Museum. I call my nephew Keith and he calmly talks us through this. "That's it," I say to my van-mates. "Do not listen to my directions any more." Danny points out that now that I am being humble about it my directions will probably be right from now on.

Cindy and Marty have yummy sandwiches for us, and Ol is there, as are Keith and his new wife Becky. It's fun watching this diverse group chat. Marty and Sasha get into an animated conversation about art. Cindy is telling us a story about a car accident, and in her enthusiasm, starts to say "shit" but catches herself. Then she laughs and says, "you guys are musicians - you don't care!"

When it's time to go, Keith and Marty work together to make sure we have good directions to Las Vegas. I stay completely out of it. Marty is very concerned about the amount of dust on our vehicle and is about to personally hose it off, but we dissuade him by explaining that there's so much crap in the van that we can't see out the back no matter what. When he can't help us that way, he insists on making us more sandwiches for the road.

Just in time, too. Any longer, and we would be prey to that most dastardly of devils, the Phoenix Philanderer.

And we are on to Vegas!

After Danny and I rehearse for our house concert tomorrow night, we will have a night off. Sasha, Kim and I have been salivating all week at the prospect of seeing the "Sirens of TI" show at Treasure Island, where we will be staying. (Good rates. Nice rooms. I recommend it!) In preparation, there has been much lascivious emailing about pirates. We are anxious to see how their hair gel holds up when their vessel capsizes, as it does every hour and a half, seven nights a week.

We stop in Kingman at a diner, and Sasha and Kim spontaneously break into a performance of "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."

Here are the happy travelers:

We indulge in onion rings and root beer floats, and then it's onward. I have never seen the Hoover Dam, so I am kind of excited.

As we get closer, they are doing road work. And the road across the Dam is, of course, two lanes. This gives us a lot of time to see the dam from afar and discuss driving over it.

Sasha, mildly afraid of heights, doesn't love it, but Kim is NOT HAPPY about driving over the Hoover Dam. It doesn't help that we are now in bumper-to-bumper traffic, giving her nearly an hour to ponder the likelihood of an earthquake. We crawl closer, and Danny's phone whinnies. As we come down the hill to the dam, there is some kind of large waterway on the left. "What is that giant hole???" Kim wants to know. I don't know - some kind of spillway? Danny's phone whinnies again. Sasha turns around and says, very, very sweetly, "Um, Danny? Could you turn that off for about ten minutes? We have one nerve left, and we are sharing it." Danny grins at me and mutes the phone.

Here is Kim, not enjoying the Hoover Dam:

Just as we are partway across, we look over and see some guy leaning his toddler over the edge. "Who does that!?!" Kim demands.

If we come this way again, we can use the new bridge they are building instead of driving over the dam. But I doubt Kim will enjoy it much more:

We survive, and head down the hill towards Henderson. But now it's Danny who isn't very happy - he wants to get to Vegas already. Once we're there and I check us in, we learn that he is coming down with the flu. He retreats to his room, and we will not see him for the next fifteen hours.

Sasha, Kim and I head down to the front of the hotel for the show. We get there early and get good spots right in front of the Sirens' ship. The way it's set up, you have to choose to stand near either the pirates or the Sirens. We choose the Sirens, because it's closest to the bar. Sasha goes for drinks (two leaded and one, as they say in the South, "un.") She returns with giant skulls of margaritas. And you know, everything tastes better when it's drunk from a giant skull!

A breeze has come up, and an announcement comes over the loudspeaker. The show may be cancelled due to wind. Well, what the hell! "A decision will be made soon." Sure enough, it is cancelled. WTF?? We have come this far, and we want hair gel! Has our bad luck affected the pirates too?

Kim decides to perform her own Sirens of TI show.

It turns out that as a consolation prize we can have our pictures taken with the Sirens and pirates. Well, that is something we will have to do.

And then we will have to gamble. Kind of. I am too intimidated to actually gamble, but I bet $1 on a slot machine called...

and in half an hour it's turned into $22.50! Maybe our luck is changing.

It's now time for the next Sirens show, and it is all we imagined it would be. Now we understand why they routinely cancel it due to wind. The heat from the flames is intense, and you would not want to be standing there in booty shorts if the flames blow the wrong way.

And then, since we are Vegas amateurs, it's time for bed. If Danny were with us, he'd probably be ashamed.

In the morning, I am thinking about whether it's realistic to force Danny to rehearse the house concert. It will take us a couple hours to really prepare. I text him to check in, and he's feeling kind of human and is willing to do it. But I ask Sasha what she thinks about us performing the actual play in the home of her friends Jim and Joy, who have generously agreed to open their living room to us. No slides, no sound cues. Instead of house concert, what if we do a House Play? She calls them, and they are not only willing, but eager.

At the start of this tour, I would never have considered doing the play in a living room without the multimedia elements. But because of all the technical snafus, I've now done the play without every single technical element at some point. I was surprised to realize that it worked. The play relies on the images and sound cues less than I thought it did.

Okay, it's settled. I call Danny and tell him to relax. We don't have to rehearse. "Are you sure?" He's now feeling fine and wants to go get lunch. Yep!

After lunch, we look over to see that Treasure Island has thoughtfully installed a station to provide us the medical help we need after our arduous week-long journey.

We are feeling much better now. Thank you, nurse.

I have to say that the House Play at Jim and Joy's is the best of the tour, performance-wise. We are free from all technical problems at last, which puts Danny and me in a great mood. And I learn an interesting thing. Because they are not looking away from me every few minutes at the screen, the audience and I are far more connected. Danny and I are more connected. The show feels great.

Also - the great thing about a house concert is you get to know lots of interesting people. Here is this particular group of interesting people!

Hmm. A house play? Without complicated scheduling? No press releases? A completely underground, guerilla theatrical experience in YOUR LIVING ROOM??? Maybe this is a new direction.

This is not to say that I don't plan on continuing to do the play with the slides. They add something important. But they also take something important away - the connection between the audience and me. And, as my cousin Rio observes, sometimes it's good to form your own picture of the characters instead of seeing a photograph of them.

After the play, our little foursome begins to disperse. Sasha goes with her husband Lloyd. Kim, her boyfriend Carl, Danny and I decide to end the week by going to the Bellagio for a proper nightcap. Danny wants to buy us a round of "Infusions," which he drank here a week ago with his friend the Blue-Haired Blonde.

It's been a good week. I'm proud of us and sad it's ending.

Kim and Carl head back to their own room, and Danny says, "Pizza?" Yes. 2:00 am pizza is perfect. We're kind of an unexpected pair of friends. The pizza place is closed, but the coffee shop is open, and it's good to sit and talk about music and life and Danny's feeling that "House Parties," as he keeps calling them, are something we could easily do.

The next morning: Bye, Danny.

I'm alone in the van on the way home. It's very quiet. About an hour out of Vegas, I look out the window to see a small tornado.

Two weeks later, Kim receives the speeding ticket from the photocop in Phoenix. I don't know what's next.

2009-05-31T23:21:00.000-07:00

The Desert Rat Tour, Part 1

Ladies and gentlemen, drumroll please...I have recovered from the Macbook/lemonade incident which will be discussed later in this blog...and I am proud to announce:

It's the CINDERBLOCK BOOKSHELVES DESERT RAT TOUR BLOG POST!!! PART ONE!!!

* * * * *

Booking done, travel arrangements made, press releases out, van packed...Desert Rat Tour 2009! Whoo hoo! Here we go!

"Uh...Rain? What does this light mean?"

"I don't know - maybe we should call Kim."

Kim says: "Can you send me a picture of it?" "Uh, sure." "Oh, that? No problem. It happens all the time."

Rock and roll! Desert Rat Tour 2009! We're on our way to Las Vegas!

I bet you didn't know there was a great Mexican restaurant in Boron. Mmmmm. Sasha requires that I drink a Cadillac Margarita. I'm not driving, so hey!

We travel along part of old Route 66 past a graveyard of rusting signs, barking dogs and laundry.

Las Vegas rises from the desert. We pick Danny up at McCarran, who is fueled on a hot dog and coffee and ready to rehearse. I like that in a musician. After lovely sodas and guacamole at Sasha's folks', we head to a nice hotel. I cook spaghetti in my super-groovy modern room...

and we go over all the songs and sound cues for "Cinderblock Bookshelves."

Sasha returns from dinner with her parents, and she and I are beat. But Danny is not, and is off to the Bellagio for drinks with the Blue-Haired Blonde.

In the morning, after a refreshing frigid soaking from the showerhead that is unexpectedly ON and POINTED DIRECTLY AT ME, we get in the van and set out to drive six hours towards Colorado. Did you get any sleep, Danny? "Oh, yeah, plenty. I slept from about 6:00 am to 9:00."

Sasha used to live in a little town in Utah called Brianhead, so we make a pilgrimage up the mountain, stopping to break the law in a very civilized way:

Sasha loves this country:

She lived here for years. But it's changing, which is making her a little blue. More buildings, new chair lifts, more sprawl.

But she is cheered by a sighting of Mr. & Mrs. Claus, on their summer vacation:

It is great to be on the road. But I'm always a little apprehensive about leaving the family, and there's the question of whether we'll all get along for a week jammed in a Toyota Sienna. Will we have enough to talk about?

There is only one place to stay in Green River, Utah. Literally: most of the hotels are boarded up. But this place is really very nice.

Except, as Danny helpfully points out, for the ominous threat of the Green River Killer...omigod, there he is, Sasha, watch out!

"Howdy, Ma'am. Are you traveling alone?"

I decide it's probably safe to have dinner with him in a crowded place. But I think he is affiliated with a street gang...

In the morning, in perhaps a foreshadowing of mishaps to come, I am carrying luggage down to the parking lot and I trip on the stairs and fall right on my a**. Very graceful. A nice hotel guy helps me up, but it is totally embarrassing and I tweak my knee. Argh. Sasha gets some ice from the hotel and we resume our rock and roll quest.

On the voyage from Green River to Carbondale, Danny will begin a new chapter in his life. Inspired by the sheer emptiness of the road...

...and perhaps lulled into reverie by the Wilco album I am forcing him to listen to, he will create his "Zen" series of films.

There are four. Please watch them all in their entirety. I honestly think he has out-Yoko'd Yoko Ono with this work.

We roll into Carbondale early and go for a fancy vegan lunch. I know there will be an article in the Aspen Times, so we rifle through the stack of newspapers on the bar. I read through the front section and don't find the article. Sasha comes up holding the second section. "Uh, Rain...do you think this might be it?"

Thank you, Stewart Oksenhorn! Wow. Now it's time to go over to KDNK for our on-air appearance, which goes essentially fine, but please remind me that I am NOT GOOD AT COUNTING OFF SONGS. Sorry, Danny. But thank you, Cat, for telling everyone to listen online.

And look! They have a freebox at the radio station, so I feel right at home.

Sasha and I have practiced setting up the set at my house, so when we get to Steve's Guitars she is unloading and sorting like a calm, capable banshee. However, I have made a tactical error by not reminding myself how to work the wireless mic. Steve is lovely - a font of reassuring wisdom. But it takes a while. I call the sound guru Dirk Schubert at 7:30 pm. He picks right up, and in the calm voice, asks: "Is this the panic call?" "Not quite yet," I lie, and hand the phone to Steve, who goes over everything with Dirk and gets it all working. Whew!

Everyone's in - it's packed, and our set actually fits in the guitar shop. Once again, I am grateful to Robert Prior for his excellent set design.

Before:

After:

And so begin a series of evenings filled with wonderful, attentive audiences and monstrous technical snafus. We had bought a spare lamp for the projector before we left town (at $250!), but guess what - it is the FAN that goes out that night, causing the projector to overheat with the resulting unpredictable loss of images on the screen behind me. But Sasha never gives up, rebooting probably twenty times. And the audience stays with us the whole time.

At the curtain call, I get the audience to sing, because it's Danny's birthday!! My cousin Sierra has made him the most awesome cake.

Then he and Steve talk shop.

My old friend Russell has driven down from Boulder and it is crazy and great to see him after - yikes - nearly thirty years. Oh, god, I can't believe I wrote that.

One more picture from Steve's:

After a long, deep late night conversation with my aunt and cousin about our family, and breakfast at the Village Smithy, we head out - one step ahead of the Green River Killer's northeastern compatriot, the Carbondale Cannibal - and are off across the Million Dollar Highway past Ouray to Silverton and Durango. Sasha ably navigates. Danny loves the road - it is his natural habitat. As you can see, he is quite at home:

I think about the fact that he was on tour with the Clash when I was a fourteen-year-old here learning how to play the guitar. He never runs out of killer rock and roll stories, and I am happy for that.

It's beautiful in the summertime, but I would not want to drive a snowplow here. Holy mackerel. Sasha is surehanded at the wheel, which is good because there are NO GUARDRAILS HALF THE TIME. Danny wants to know when we will get to the beautiful part of the drive. In Silverton, we stop for lunch and Sasha literally bumps into some friends she knew in Vegas. Don't you find that always happens? Yet it always seems so unbelievable.

Danny on an important candy-related errand:

Hard to believe, but my dad and I made it through a winter in this country in a VW bug with no snow tires.

Then we come out of the mountains, driving past my old school, and into Durango. I don't remember it being quite so touristy - but I guess it was. Being broke and underage gives you a slightly different perspective. But we don't really have time to look at much, as we are racing to Fort Lewis College for the show.

Again, we are there in plenty of time, and though the set looks great on the big stage:

...again we are plagued by technical problems. The staff tries to help, but we seem to be cursed. Add to this the fact that we find out that the college actually had its graduation a week before my show so there are no students on campus, and it begins to feel a tad Spinal Tap-esque. But the few people who do come matter so much - my beloved friend Michael Bolotin and a group from my old school (the school prominently featured in the "defloweration" section of the evening!) - and again the play has brought me in touch with folks I haven't seen in years. And the teenagers are great and want to compare notes about which cabin I lived in and the way things were then and the way they are now.

Break down the set. Store the merch. Store the gear. Pay the rental for the venue (gotta rethink that kind of booking). Secret wine with Michael and his dog Iko in the college parking lot (Iko does not drink the wine) and we are on the road again. We just barely elude yet another threat, the Durango Demon, and drive southwest towards the Navajo reservation. Sasha, champ she is, is game for three more hours on the road, but wonders briefly how much elevation we are gaining, as it has now started snowing. But just as she asks it begins to dissipate.

When I booked this tour, it made sense to try to get three hours under our belt so the drive to Phoenix the next day wouldn't be so grueling. But now we're pretty frickin' tired. Still, we soldier on. As we pass Kayenta and turn up 163, we sense towering forms outside the van. It's too dark to really see, but you can't help but know that you have arrived in Monument Valley. After the 2:00 am check in at the hotel the Navajos just opened, we crash for the night. I had debated - it costs twice as much as the Hampton Inn in Kayenta, but this awesome crew deserves something really special. It will be wonderful to wake up here in the morning.

Is it worth it? You tell me:

Sasha is more ambitious than I am, and she can't wait to get out into the red dirt on a morning run. Plus my knee is still throbbing. Danny and I go for breakfast.

We are stoked to realize that Phoenix is not on daylight savings time, so on the night with the least potential amount of sleep we have gained an hour. Still, ever aware of the persistent threat, we strike out just ahead of the Monument Valley Masher and head south. I inform my van-mates that there will be no more beauty on this trip. Hot dry desert from here on out. But of course it isn't true. Flagstaff is gorgeous.

At lunch we begin to think about our upcoming house concert in Las Vegas. In the play we don't do the full songs, so now we have to think about this quite differently. We begin to work up a set list.

From Flagstaff to Phoenix, the desert is subtly beautiful. And today we will get another crew member: Kim!

Next post: Why I Love Google Maps, the tale of the terrifying Hole of Hoover, and Vegas, Baby!

2009-05-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

It has been since the election that I posted anything here. But guess what? I am actually working on a new post!

2008-09-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone:

I'm back. Schools in session, both conventions are over, and I can concentrate again on music, with one aside:

This updates daily, so check back!

2008-08-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that CINDERBLOCK BOOKSHELVES is #22 on the EuroAmericana chart!

2008-07-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hello, Netherlands! I've received three reviews on Dutch websites:

http://www.altcountry.nl/recensiesjul08.html#rainp

Both the Google translation and that of Dictionary.com are pretty comical, but you can get the idea!

2008-07-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

It's summer! It's too hot to post anything.

2008-04-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

KPIG 4/26/08 with Tim Lynch. Fun - great show!

Danny, a Dorito, and a train on a trailer on I-5.

2008-04-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Knitting is so punk rock.

The emails I get from the yarn store (Particularly "That Yarn Store" in Eagle Rock) are so like the emails I get from Indiegrrl.com or the Folk Alliance. The same DIY ethic, the same sense of community, the same vibe of respectful competition to come up with cool, unusual ideas - and particularly the idea that you are doing something timeless, something a little weird, something tactile in an increasingly technical world. Every time I'm knitting in public, someone comes up and asks what I'm making, then tells me about their project, or their memories of the afghan their grandmother made them. It's very, very cool.

2008-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Join theNaples Coalitionat their 3rd annual"CASH FOR THE COAST"benefit concert on behalf of the preservation of our pristine Gaviota coast. The performance will be an exciting evening of music and community, with a unique array of musicians giving of their time and talent to "pass the torch" from one generation to the next.

Concert features Friends of the Naples Coalition:
Kenny Loggins,
Karla Bonoff & Kenny Edwards,
Glen Phillips,
Jonathan McEuen,
MoJoW and the Vibration Army,
Rain Perry
Jeff Pevar
And well known Santa Barbara Players
Randy Tico (bass),
George Friedenthal (keyboards),
Maitland Ward (guitar),
Donzel Davis (drums) and
Lois Mahalia (vocals).

Friday, March 21 at 7:00 pm
Lobero Theatre
Concert: 7:00 PM
Post-concert party in rear patio of the Lobero - 9:30 PM

2008-03-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Austin - it's 3 am...so far: Alejandro Escovedo, James Intveld, Bonnie Bramlett, Daniel Lanois, Lou Reed, Martha Wainwright, Johnette Napolitano. Ehhhhh....

2008-02-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

About Kanye: I know he's a meglomaniac and his performance at the Grammys was slick and everything, but it took a lot of grace for him to hold it together and do that tribute to his mom. I think he rocked.

2008-02-11T01:18:00.000-08:00

Backstage on opening night w/ Danny.

2008-02-10T10:06:00.001-08:00

2008-02-10T08:10:00.002-08:00

Hello there: it's been a while since I've posted anything, as I've been busy getting ready for the World Premiere of Cinderblock Bookshelves. I'm thrilled to announce that it's going great! For tickets, contact Theater 150.

2007-12-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

Cinderblock Bookshelves is coming your way...

I so happy to accounce the upcoming WORLD PREMIERE of my play Cinderblock Bookshelves at Theater 150 on February 8th, 2008!

2007-12-05T15:48:00.001-08:00

Patricia Cardinali benefit concert!

2007-11-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

Local musician Phyllis Kathryn 'Kae' Herron dies

Big band singer, songwriter, formed the Melodears in 1977

By Alicia Doyle
Correspondent
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

After a lifetime rich with her musical talent and fun-loving spirit, Phyllis Kathryn "Kae" Herron died Nov. 12 at her Ventura home, her family said. She was 90.

"She was a very small person, only 4 feet 10 inches tall when she reached 90 years old, but she had a mighty spirit," said her daughter Robbie Frandsen of Los Angeles. "She remained funny, kind, gracious and humble to her very last day."

Born April 29, 1917, in Vallejo, Herron (nee Brown) spent her teens and early 20s singing with big bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, most notably the Horace Heidt Orchestra.

Hollywood Clowns was start

In 1939, she married Bob Herron, a naval officer, and they had two daughters, Melody and Robyn. Kae and Bob, now 96, would have celebrated their 68th anniversary this year. There are two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

"Kae gave birth to her first child at the naval base in Honolulu, having boarded Pan Am's first commercial flight after World War II and traveled to Hawaii to be with her husband when she had the baby," said Rain Perry, Herron's granddaughter. "There was no family housing yet at Pearl Harbor, so Bob had to make a special request."

The Herron family moved quite a bit throughout the West Coast and East in support of Bob's career as a salesman of tabulating machines for IBM.

In the late '60s, they settled in the San Fernando Valley, where Kae Herron began performing with a group led by Jerry Patterson called the Hollywood Clowns. They went on to perform as a duo at dozens of birthday parties, from Pacific Palisades to East Los Angeles.

Wrote more than 100 songs

After her husband retired from IBM, the couple moved to Ventura Marina Mobile Home Park in 1974 and Kae joined the musical variety group The Rhythmettes as a pianist.

"When Kae joined the Rhythmettes, they were a kazoo band," said Perry, an Ojai resident and award-winning singer-songwriter in her own right. "My grandma wanted to do something more interesting, so she formed the Melodears in 1977."

Some of the members had musical experience, some none at all, but it didn't matter to Herron.

"They just needed enthusiasm and a good work ethic," Perry said, adding that her grandmother wrote sophisticated musical arrangements for vocal quartets, violin trios, melodicas and kazoos. Over the years, the Melodears performed at events and community centers, nursing homes and private parties throughout Ventura County.

"She was always going out and getting paying jobs for them; they called her the benevolent dictator," Frandsen said. "She did all the arrangements, wrote everything out by hand on sheet music. ... She had perfect pitch and a beautiful voice. She wrote over 100 songs."

In the late 1970s, Kae and Bob Herron wrote "San Buenaventura." The tune turned out to be very popular with Kae Herron's audiences, and for many years she performed the song at every Melodears concert, Frandsen said.

"In the mid-1980s, my mom professionally recorded the song and released it on cassette. ... She's sold numerous copies to friends and fans," she said. "Almost no Melodears concert would go by without a request for this song."

An excellent tap-dancer

Mickey Knapp of Camarillo met Herron 16 years ago when she joined the Melodears.

"She had the most brilliant mind. ... She wrote music and played the organ, barely touching the pedals because she was so little," recalled Knapp, 81. "She was a remarkable woman."

In the late '70s, Herron performed for the public during weekly lunchtime concerts on the Carillon in City Hall, with hourlong performances typically based on a theme, like Christmas, weather or girls' names.

From Perry's perspective as a singer-songwriter, her grandmother has been a fundamental influence.

"I learned how to work a crowd, how to wrap a mic cable, how to compose a set list that flows, to be professional yet always gracious," Perry said. "When I needed to borrow some equipment, I could call my grandmother. Also, she always kept an open mind when it came to music, never judging any new trend."

Herron also was an excellent tap-dancer throughout her life and through her 90s, Frandsen said.

"She taught a good friend who was only 80 to tap, and the two of them danced together twice a week for fun," Frandsen said.

In August, Herron performed a song at her mobile home park's weekly happy hour.

"Without even using the stairs leading to the stage floor, she simply stepped up onto the stage," recalled Frandsen, adding that her mother took up weight training in 1998 after learning that resistance training reverses osteoporosis and can rebuild bone.

"When her friends asked in amazement how she was able to do this at age 90, my mother said, I'm in weight training,' " Frandsen recalled.

"She continued lifting three times a week without fail, performing both upper and lower body strengthening exercises. In 2006, Kae's bone density was that of a 20-year-old."

Looking back on her mother's optimism and zest for life, Frandsen said her legacy will live on.

"When she moved to the retirement community, she saw her life expanding, not shrinking," Frandsen said.

"Her community — especially older people — were really inspired by the fact that she was always doing something new."

A memorial service for Kae Herron is scheduled at 11 a.m. Dec. 8 at Ventura Marina Mobile Home Park, 1215 Anchors Way, in the main clubhouse. Lunch will follow.

To RSVP, call Herron's daughter Robbie at 818-209-8926.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Hermon Community Church, 5718 Monterey Road, Los Angeles 90042. (Designate the Benevolent Fund.)

2007-11-24T21:53:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to announce the release of a brand new CD called "Rescue Me: Music Benefiting Central Texas Dachshund Rescue." My track is a cover of an obscure Paul Simon song called "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War."

Why dachshunds, you ask? Because a friend of mine who loves her dachshunds asked me to contribute a song!

Are there a lot of them roaming loose on the plains of Central Texas? I don't know! But I do know that this CD has a lot of great songs by wonderful artists, including Sara Hickman, Joel Rafael, Terri Hendrix and Brave Combo!

You can order the CD at http://ctdr.org/rescueme.html. Please check it out!

Ruff ruff for now,
Rain