Monday, January 05, 2004

Entry #88

Happy New Year everyone!!! Let me start by saying that at this very moment, I feel absolutely optimistic about this coming year! I know that it takes diligence and focus to make things happen in our lives so, I wish us all much of it mixed with hope, fun, prosperity, health and LOVE!!!  We just flew in early this morning from Northern California where we spent Christmas and New Years! Christmas brought us up to Mt. Shasta, California where I have some family and it was awesome! It snowed like clock work on Christmas Eve! My sister made a little snowman and we were merry! We took a lot of pictures and video with our digital camera. That thing is very useful! For New Years, we went up to Willits, California up in Mendocino County and partied in the hills with the locals and some more New Yorkers! We had DJ decks and the music was spinning! It was really fun and so good for our spirits! Then, we headed back to Sebastopol and the famed Hardcore Coffee shop on Bloomfield and Hwy.116 for a little lift! We went to my favorite spot on the coast~ North Salmon Creek Beach in Bodega Bay… I love it there. I think it’s my absolute favorite spot on the entire planet.   I'll write the rest in the next entry!   J Star  

Monday, December 08, 2003

Entry #85

(This was written Thanksgiving weekend and just submitted)  Last night I played at The C Note in the East Village and it was very fun! Dave Dawson played drums with me and that was it, just us two doing a “White Stripes” thang! Last weekend on Saturday night was the Burning Man Decompression Party here in New York and we had it in Long Island City in the middle of wherehouses, at a wherehouse. The crew who put it on really did an amazing job! It was indoor and outdoor, there were fire-spinners and hoolahoopers and lots of people in costume! Once again, go to http://www.burningman.com to learn more about this community/national/international/intergalactic phenomenon! Dave Dawson and I played there at the indoor Main Stage and it was very cool! To see more pictures of me playing and pictures of Burning Man events that we’ve been to go to http://www.benjaminsanders.com  ~I'll write more in the next entry~   Jessica Star   

Entry #86

(This is the 2nd part of the last entry)  We had a shopping day yesterday and it was so mellow and cool! We walked through Soho just stopping in to all the shops we wanted to and learned about art and high-quality stockings! It’s funny when you actually LIVE here that you get this rhythm going on with your day-to-day and then when you need to do something different and feel the draw to really have a NEW experience, it’s right here already happening and it’s been happening with or without you! Such a tapestry of language, looks, smells, prices, shoulders bumping shoulders as you make your way through the Canal area, and those people chanting,” Purses! Purses! Purses!” sure do sound like geese!    Soon we’ll be visiting Northern California, drinking Hardcore Coffee in Sebastopol and visiting the REAL Magic Mountain (not the amusement park)! By the way, a friend of mine, Alan Watt, just released his album and I happen to be on track 5! You can check his work out or at least have a link to it by going to: ~ it’s a great album and I hope you get a chance to listen to it! It’s written, recorded and produced by Alan, who also recorded my Solo cd in 2002. Alan rocks!   Rock on everyone, thank you so much for reading this! I love writing it and sharing with who ever finds it interesting and entertaining!   Regards, Jessica Star *"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose and nothing ain't worth nothing unless it's free"~Kris    

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Entry #75

Cheers! Tonight we went to Town Hall on 43rd street and heard Rasputina play! They’re two female cellists and a male drummer and their music is very interesting! I don’t really know how to describe it but, I really liked it! Check out http://www.rasputina.com . The Burning Man Decompression Party is coming and I’m playing at it! I look forward to that one very much!   Jessica “Sweetpea” Star  

Saturday, November 01, 2003

Entry #74

   Good afternoon from NYC!!! Last night was Halloween and I sang with Frank Latorre and The King Bees at The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Theater! I dressed in my absolutely favorite garb of Burning Man wear; purple dreadlock ponytail, blue grease-paint stripe across my eyes, black corset, navy blue weird dreadlocked furry vest, black handcrafted rubber shorts, orange shiny stockings and my handmade knee-high Calleen Cordero flat nubuck boots! Oh yeah, and about 20 bangle bracelets on my left wrist! The theater is beautiful and the crowd was in costume! I sang lead on a song called,” I just want to make love to you” and then exchanged verses with Frank, who was also on electric guitar and harmonica on, “Rock me baby”.  Unfortunately, my boyfriend and I both have colds so, we went to the after-party but headed home early, back to the city. It would have been really nice to stay out there and take in the beach air. I miss the beach!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ah, life’s a beach!   Jessica “the funky fairy” Star  

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Entry #73

  It’s Tuesday evening here in the big city and we just ate some of the most delicious home-made soup! It was Caribbean stewed chicken with vegetables!!! It’s getting cold here and it’s definitely the Fall so, soup is ON!   I’m singing on Halloween night in Westhampton at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Theater with Frank Latorre and The King Bees! Westhampton is beautiful and it’s always good to get out of the city for the night. I’ve been out there three times I think, and I haven’t seen the beach once! I haven’t seen the ocean here on the east coast at all yet. There are surfers out here and everything! Hopefully, now that it’s fall and the leaves are changing, we’ll take a trip and check out some parts of Upstate New York, maybe go up to Maine…I love traveling!   Did I mention that Lucinda Williams listened to the cds of mine that I got to her and she liked my music?!?! Isn’t that cool! I saw her on TV last night playing with her band and she was great! It’s funny how, for at least five years now, I’ve felt like I was (using thumb and index finger for measurement) this close to really “making it” in my music career! Brushing shoulders with musicians and actors that are doing what I want to do and are where I see myself going…I think it’s God’s way of letting me know I’m on the right path and to have FAITH!!! I DO have faith! I have MUCHO faith! Faith brought me here to NYC and keeps me here when it gets tough.   I really do love it here! I’ve been here for a little over a year now and I must say that I’m extremely proud of myself. There’s so much to do all of the time and you really could be out every minute of the day and night very easily. A friend of mine just gave me a hint that “the doctor says” one night out and one night in~ this keeps us from getting too tired and burning out! B vitamins also help, along with sleep!   May we all find complete fulfillment in this lifetime!   Jessica Star  

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

Entry #72

Star-date October 22nd, 2003… Last night I sang and played solo at the East Village bar,” The C Note”. It was a very magical night with friends! Thank you to Greg Bernhardt for bringing his posse! I had a great time and once again remembered why I love to play solo. The audience were making rhythms on the tables and clapping hands. The bartender was (and IS) a musician and has played in my ol’ stomping grounds of Santa Rosa and Sebastopol! Go figure! I come all the way to NYC and the bartender used to play The Old Vic (that’s a venue/bar in Santa Rosa)! Life is funny, spontaneous and magical if only you see it that way!    It’s getting colder here and the sparse rain tonight held a hint of winter snow... I’m reading a good book called,” Arrows of the Queen” by Mercedes Lackey. It’s the first of a trilogy that I got at a used bookstore that sells select books for $1 each!   Signing off,   Jessica 

Monday, October 20, 2003

Entry #71

   It’s Monday evening and we are chillin’! Yesterday I sang out near Westhampton at a Golf Club for a wedding with The Bobby Nathan Band! Yep, I’m a wedding singer! Four weddings so far! I remember seeing a farce business card for Huey Lewis and The News about eight years ago when I was rehearsing at Hun Sound in San Rafael with my band, Huey Lewis, Santana and other Bay Area rockers used to rehearse there also, well, there was a business card on the board in the office that said, ”Huey Lewis and The News~ available for weddings, Bar mitzvahs, and private parties”. The reason I knew it was a joke is that I don’t remember any way of contacting them!    So, tomorrow I play solo at the C Note in the East Village here in NYC and then on Halloween night I sing with Frank Latorre and The King Bees at The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Theater! I look forward to both shows! You know, in the story,” The Tortoise and The Hare”, the rabbit was definitely faster but the turtle completed the race or, journey!   Keep on truckin’ little turtles!!!   Jes    

Thursday, October 16, 2003

Entry #70

Where to start? I have a job now working in an upscale shoe store that also carries handbags and jewelry. It’s close to our apartment so that is a very good thing. It’s funny, on one hand I’m happy that I’m making regular money and know that it will be coming in and on the other hand, I’m so tired after I work that I have very little energy to do anything else. Compromises, compromises…Yes, I’d love to say that I’m about to go on tour opening for Ani Difranco or Joan Osborne but, if I am, I don’t consciously know about it yet! Ani is playing here in NYC on November 21st and 22nd and she does have two opening acts! Both are male musicians I think. If you don’t know who she is by now, by all means, go to her website and get acquainted!   You know, a lot of things I see in life really turn me off! I spent my teenage years in the head-set of a punk-rocker and part of me is still there! There must be a name for this state of mind! It’s just that, here I am, working my way into the “entertainment business” and most of the things I see, hear, and experience of this business are so disgusting! Am I here to help make it more quality? I am not the kind of singer or artist who will do “anything” to make it. I think a lot of what separates artists or “personalities” that you do and don’t see is ambition. Ah, I’m rambling! I guess there’s just a lot of singers out there right now who wear less that prostitutes and, if you saw them on the street that’s exactly what you’d think they were. What does this say to all of us? To make it big you have to look like that? That is gross to me. Let me be very clear about this; Prostitutes are working men and women and that’s their job and that's great, I don’t think that singers should have to look like prostitutes! What happened to the bards and minstrels?  I love sexiness, femininity, playfulness, and strength in women but to me, when I see almost ALL of our female “pop-stars” looking the way they do in magazines, I think that’s not helping women’s equality! Do we know The Goddess? She's multi-dimensional, to say the least! I’ve had men say to me, on this subject that they think the women are expressing their sexuality and it’s their liberation and things like that and when I talk to women, they mostly say that they feel the young female artists are pretty much just doing whatever they think it takes to get in the spotlight. Alright, you go girls! All the more power to you and your cause if looking that way is what makes you feel right! If not, consider making an effort to curve the pop culture, to bend it in a way that benefits our culture.. Pop doesn’t have to be trashy and low. Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens were pop music back in the day. I love them. I love their images is more like it, I don’t know who they really are. Ah, life is a stage! Okay, enough ranting!   Jessica “the very opinionated” Star 

Monday, October 13, 2003

Entry #69

Well! Today we went to a convention at the Javitz Center here in the city for the Audio Engineering Society. Bobby and Joanne Nathan had a ProTools plug-in that they were showing at their booth. It was cool and interesting. We went to the party for the convention tonight, thrown by Fletcher at the Lakeside Lounge in the East Village. Anastasia was singing with Bobby, Joanne, Eric Udel, Richie Cannata, and some other musicians and Ed Terry, Lauren and I were up there on stage doing some singing! It was fun and there was an open bar! The East Village is pretty cool late at night although pretty much everything was closed except for San Loco Taco! Yum, yum!   That’s all for now!   J Star  

Friday, October 10, 2003

Entry #68

Well, Good afternoon! I had a bit of a rough ride earlier in the week, my right eye got infected and I stayed in bed all of Monday afternoon and Tuesday, just sleeping. Luckily, sleep is very healing and now I’m almost all better. My musical appearance at Joe Franklin’s Restaurant got cancelled due to the fact that they had to put another comedian in the line-up and the show was already too long. So, this was the second show as of late that got cancelled and they were both with a comedian line-up. Alright, no more bookings where I’m supposed to sing between comedians-this obviously doesn’t work! So, I was feeling down about it and my eye was infected~ I didn’t feel very inspired to say the least. I slept for two days and now I feel better. In fact, I remember a few people telling me that when you first get to New York City, that the city gives you energy and when you’ve been here for a while it takes your energy. I’ve been here for about a year and I was feeling like instead of opportunities opening up for me, they were barely opening and then canceling and closing. I came to a certain realization that sometimes it’s successful to just stay where you are and not run to a “safer” environment or an “easier” lifestyle. Even though there were no outward signs of success or moving forward with my music career, just the fact that I’m still here is for me, success. To me, it’s more than success for my music career, it’s success for me as a person to not run. Y’all should check out Sheryl Crow’s website! I adore her as a musician. She’s probably the closest to what I envision myself becoming publicly. Sheryl, Lucinda Williams, Joan Osborne, and Ani Difranco are some of the women musicians out there that I respect!   I sincerely hope you enjoy these journal entries~ I’m a pretty candid person and I like to share the journey with those who will listen.   May all your best dreams come true!   Jessica Star  

Monday, October 06, 2003

Entry #67

Hey y’all! I’m so tired! It’s Yom Kippur today. I’ve got my right eye closed as I write this because I’m sooooooo sleepy! But alas, I felt like writing. Two nights ago, Lucinda Williams played down the street at The Beacon Theater and I watched her tour bus go by and went and hung by the backdoor with the stage crew from the theater. Her tour bus is so nice! There’s at least two~ one for her and one for her band. It was very educational to watch the scene as the show ended and she was about the first person out of that backstage door with people on either side and in back of her. She looks very petite, like an urban cowgirl. I was impressed. “They” say that it’s prudent to be around people who are doing whatever it is that you want to do. As far as I can tell, Lucinda is doing what I want to do~ touring around the world playing her music with her crew on her tour busses! Rock on Lucinda!!! She has copies of my cds now and maybe she’ll come to my website and read this entry! Lucinda, if you’re reading this, thank you for living it! I imagine that what you’re doing with your life and music is and was your dream and I thank you for going for it for so long! You make it easier for people like me to visualize ourselves doing it! I want to open for you! Alright, just rock on sister!   Jessica!  

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Entry #65

New York Comedy Club was a bust! They Suck! They told me,once I got there -on time- that because I didn't bring anyone, I couldn't play! I said,"Are you joking?" and he said,"no" so, feeling about as uncomedic as possible, we decided to leave.. A friend of mine showed up with her boyfriend to hear me and they said,"you can play because a red-head showed up to see you" and I decided that they sucked and whoever the red-head was, she could come with us somewhere else to have fun! We got my red-headed friends money back and the owner then proceeded to insult me! I told him to "Fuck off! You're an Ass!" and we left! Then, two more folks showed up to hear me! They called from the cel phone and I told them,"Get your money back and meet us on the corner!" So, me, my boyfriend, and four of my buddies went drinking! We had a MUCH better time at the Irish bar! New York Comedy Club sucks the big one! You know, I really think that people who say stuff like," New York is harsh" and," It's tough in New York" and the likes of sayings such as those are people who had an experience like I had last night with that dick club owner and didn't have any positive experience here to balance it out.. I've had MOSTLY possitive experiences here with one or two negatives. I'm lucky! I never should have agreed to play that gig! I'm learning! There was absolutely nothing in it for me! I spent money on that gig and lost money! Ah well, we live and learn right? By the way, The ASSHOLE club owner of New York Comedy Club is named Steve Errins~ if you see him, kick him! Ha!   Jessica Star don't mess with the artists!

Entry #66

Okay, okay, I ranted a little too hard on the last entry.. Don't kick the guy. I just learned a good lesson. The lesson is that I need to be more picky about the gigs I accept and know what I'm getting into before I sign up to do it. I really didn't like the experience I had last night at New York Comedy Club. I was hoping it would be cool and a fun and HUMOROUS night but, alas, you can't force comedy. I take back the part of the last entry where I say," if you see him, kick him"~that was kind of mean. I did however feel that way at the time of writing it.. That episode was a little hard on my spirit but, I okay now! Little Miss Sass

Tuesday, September 23, 2003

Entry #64

It’s late Monday night and I just got back from Le Bar Bat!!! Oh hoo!!! I sang with the boys and two female singers on harmonies! VERY FUN! Then, I walked out to go to the subway and whalah! A white stretch limo! Ha! Didn’t even have to plan that one! I rode in the limo and picked up my boyfriend and then WE rode in the limo! So fun. It’s raining here now. Tonight I sang my original Baby Blue, Son of a Preacher Man, and Baby, I Love You. It was really fun.   Rock on,   Jessica Star