Friday, June 27, 2003

Entry #40

Last night I went on the," Joey Reynold's Show" on the AM dial, 710. I'm a little bit tired! I sang," To Laugh" and," Baby Blue"! It was fun. It's really a talk show. I sang in," Her Sonoma Story" last night also, before the radio show (that went on the air live at 1am). You can get really busy here! Today, in about an hour, we're driving out to Westhampton with the band to play in the," Are You Experienced?" Blues festival! I'm pretty excited! Love, Jessica

Monday, June 23, 2003

Entry #39

Hi everyone! I am getting soooo busy! I know that's good, especially here. Now I'm really using the giant calendar I bought in the winter! Let's see... I'll start with the weather here in Gotham. As of late, it's been gloomy and rainy and today, it was hot and sunny! Summer is ON!!! This coming Friday, June 27th, we'll be playing in Westhampton at the," Are You Experienced" Blues Show! We open the show at 8pm and will be doing," Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix! I'll be playing for the first half hour of the play," Her Sonoma Story" this Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday night starting at 7:30p.m. It's at the Neighborhood Playhouse on east 54th street between 1st and 2nd Aves. My c.d.s are now listed with CD Baby! They do a great job. Just go to http://www.cdbaby.com and put in my name as the artist you're looking for and my two c.d.s will pop up with bio information and you can listen to two minutes of the songs from each c.d.! I think it's very cool! Being here in New York has really been GREAT for my music career! There is such momentum here! They say to live in California but leave before you get too soft and, live in New York City but leave before you get too hard. I lived in Northern California for nine years and I think the last two years I was getting too soft. Actually, the last year I lived there, I was really traveling around in my motor home through Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and all parts of California, thinking about moving to New York City. My solo show at The C Note last Saturday night went really well. It's a pretty cool little venue and bar. It still seems ODD to me that there is a law against dancing in live music venues here in Manhattan!???! I mean really, does that sound like," Footloose" or what? I guess if the venue pays for a "Cabaret License", then people can dance and the place won't get fined or shut down but, it seems so backwards that the greatest city in America that has so much art, music, theater, and dance and an international crowd has a hard-core law against dancing!!! Aren't people supposed to get wild in these places and when the live band plays "dance music", people dance? It actually makes it more appealing to do non-dance music because the audience can't dance to it anyway- by law!!! Ah, another VERY COOL thing that I got booked for recently is happening this Thursday night at 1a.m. (actually, very early Friday morning). I'm going to play live on the Joey Reynold's Show! It's 710AM and I'll be on at 1a.m.! It sounds like a pretty liberal talk show. They were talking about the origins of Mad Cow Disease last night ( if you knew, you'd never eat beef again!). I hope I make it to Burning Man this year and Northern California!!! I know I'm supposed to be here right now. Ah, life is treating me fantastically!!! Believe me, I know the difference! I wish you all the best, thanks for reading my musings and hey, write me a note in the Guestbook and let me know what's up with you!   Sincerely, Jessica Star

Friday, June 20, 2003

Entry #38

Greetings! I had rehearsal with my band today and then headed to The Neighborhood Playhouse where there are six women acting in a play about women in Sonoma County called," Her Sonoma Story". I met these actresses last friday night at Gallagher's when I went on the Aaron Braunstein Show. Chance coincidence or divine perfection? They are acting out a play about the exact place I lived before I came here! So, I sang tonight on stage for about 25 minutes before they started, telling the audience a little about Sonoma County and how funny it was that I was there! It was cool. I'm actually going to play before the show for pretty much the run of it except for the matinees which I just don't want to get up early for! What else??? I turned on the AM dial last night and caught the last bit of Aaron Braunstein's show that I sang on last friday. I didn't hear me sing but, a friend of mine who told me about the show in the first place heard it the night before and said it sounded clear and good. Alright, I'm over and out. I hope you're all doing fantastically!!! Love, Jessica

Sunday, June 15, 2003

Entry #37

Good evening! Yesterday I recorded a new song that I co-wrote with a local musician/producer named Raviv. He gave me the finished music tracks, I wrote the lyrics and melody and within one week, we recorded it with at least six vocal tracks~ harmonies and all. It was a very sweet experience! That was on saturday. Friday, the day before, I went to a restaurant called," Gallagher's" which must have been around since the 1940's and took part in a taping for a radio/TV show hosted by Aaron Braunstein. It was really fun! I sang," The Ocean" and," To Laugh". Apparently, Marilyn Monroe's biological daughter was there also. She's had DNA testing and everything... What do you know? I am meeting some REAL characters here!  Love, Jessica  

Tuesday, June 03, 2003

Entry #36

The show at Dag Hammarksjold Plaza went fantastically! We ended up jamming on some blues for a while and just winging it... It seemed to be what was called for so, we listen and respond with song... Yes, definately a fun manifestation this is. And what do I mean by that? This life, my choice to be here and live out the life of an up and coming rock star. We'll see how it unfolds! I'm having a great time! Love, Jessica Star

Entry #35

Greetings, it's the night before our afternoon gig near the U.N. I'm getting everything prepared such as set lists and "To Do" lists to make sure we have all we need once we get there. I am usually still sleeping at the time that we'll be playing tomorrow! We play from noon to 1:30p.m. in an outdoor plaza. Our guitarist is sick and he's bringing all the equiptment AND there's no provided parking AND we still need an extension cord and power strip! Oh, the list goes on! It's always something, ya know? I love being able to go play music. I think we'll have a good time once we have all the equiptment set up. Our next show after this one is going to be at the C Note in the east village on June 21st, which is a saturday. I think I'm going to have a little bit of a different line-up as far as musicians go, maybe a bass and a fiddle... I just love those fiddles. Alright! Carry on! Love, Jessica Star

Friday, May 30, 2003

Entry #34

Ah, it's friday evening and a peace comes over the city... Next tuesday afternoon, me and the boys play an outdoor concert near the United Nations. I think that will be fun! The weather was neat today. I was out and about and it was really warm and sunny and then, as I got home, it started sprinkling. By the time I was inside there was crashing thunder and giant raindrops!!! A lot of people on the street did not have umbrellas! Talk about a wet t-shirt contest! Ha ha ha. Yep, I'm thinking about Burning Man, the west coast, roadtrips, hippies, surfers, all the mellow stuff. We ate at Grey's Papaya tonight. It's a Manhattan tradition. Sarah Jessica Parker loves Grey's Papaya! They give you two hot dogs with kraut and a papaya drink( for digestion) for $2.25! Roll on! Jessica Star  

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Entry #33

Tonight we play at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village! Last night, after rehearsal, the band and I went down to Battery Park and watched James Brown in concert! Our friend, Jeff Watkins, was up there grooving with the Emperor of Soul! He's the sax player I mentioned earlier in this journal. It was awesome! I'm almost ready for tonight's show. The sky is rumbling thunder... Love, Jessica Star 

Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Entry #32

I played in the subway station today at 42nd street!!! Yeah! It was fun, too! Do you know how you know if you're doing the right thing? You GET energy from doing it! I feel so full of energy right now and this is BEFORE coffee! Now I'm going to drink some coffee!!! Watch out New York! A far cry from the reality of tonight's "American Idol" show! Life is so funny. It's pretty cool when I play music, even in the subway~ especially there because people are doing their "guarded" thing and because I'm doing my thing, which is the opposite of guarded, I can smile at these people and make contact and because I'm there singing with my guitar, they let down their guards and smile at me! Now that is a new New York experience for me. Love, Jessica Star

Entry #31

It's rainy outside here in Gotham. I just got over a cold. I really like the new songs I've written since I've been here. One is called, "Arizona" and it's about my time last year in da, da, daaaaa....Arizona! And the other one is about missing northern California and making the transition into living in NYC. I'm not sure of that one's title yet, perhaps it's, "Manhattan Blues" but, it's not really a blues song. Anyone else out there feel how tight the money is? I just read something in a magazine that said we're in a worse depression than back in the 1930's but no one's saying anything about it. That's nice, huh? I just keep enjoying my experience of being here and living my dream. I'm working on having absolutely NO regrets in this life. There's a joke that goes, "A really poor woman didn't understand her station in life and prayed to God everyday to help her. Her prayer was, 'God, please help me win the lottery.' She did this for years and years and one day, God answered her and said, ' I've been trying to help you win the lottery for ten years, help me out and buy a ticket." I think this is a really funny joke and a good lesson. It's really a combination of asking the higher powers to help us and guide us and also taking action in our lives that helps us. "God helps those who help themselves", I think that's what that means. On that note, it's time for me to do both! Keep your spirits nourished! Love, Jessica Star

Friday, May 16, 2003

Entry #30

Boy have I been busy! I love it! Today is Friday, May 16th, last Sunday night I went to The Bitter End in Greenwich Village for the jam and played with my drummer, Dave Dawson and my bassist, Dean Zucchero and some other musicians. Then I went next door with Dean and guitarist, Chris Carter and we got to play with the musicians there for about five songs. Totally unexpected and really fun. One song into another... I love music. Monday night I went to the jam at Le Bar Bat and played with Dean and guitarist/jam leader, Bobby Nathan and some other fine players including fiddler, Rick Shields and harmonica player, Mad Dog! Tuesday night, I went to the weekly jam at Hog's and Heifer's on the upper east side and closed out the night. Again, Dean played bass, Rick Shields played fiddle, and Big Ed, the jam leader, played slide guitar. It is so amazing to be able to play music every night of the week if I so desire! Yeehaw!!! Wednesday evening, my boyfriend and I went to my first Yankee's game in the Bronx! We had hot dogs and big beers! Whoo! Thursday afternoon, my band and I rehearsed down near Ground Zero. We  were down the hall from okay, I don't know how to spell her name but, bassist M'chelle N'gdcello? You know who I'm talking about! I heard her with her band and they sounded real good! They were rehearsing for a show at I think, Irving Plaza. Well, magic IS definitely happening! I've been here for 7 months!!! I love it even more! Rock on people!!! Love, Jessica Star

Sunday, May 11, 2003

Entry #29

Today, I went to an outdoor free concert with Jewel! She is awesome! That was the first time I've ever seen her play. She is amazing. I think I read that she's been performing since she was like, five! Her family used to do a show and she was on stage and on tour a lot at a really young age... Pretty cool. One more inspirational moment here in the Big Apple! Did I mention that I love it here? We have some shows coming up at The Bitter End in Greenwich Village and an outdoor concert in the Dag Hammarkjold Plaza on 47th street. Check the calendar for the dates and times. At this point in my life, I honestly feel like I'm really in the perfect place at the perfect time and I do know the difference, believe me. Some amazing things are happening here, I call it magic. Magic is the persons will and emotions making a noticeable physical change in manifest reality that even an onlooker can see. Yep, magic is happening! Am I way out there? Good! Burning Man is coming! Love, Jessica Star

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

Entry #28

Ah, just got home from the Monday night jam at Le Bar Bat! It was fun again tonight. I got to play with Chris Carter who is just great on guitar and also, I got to play with my band and we closed out the night! Just, saying hi to whoever might be checking in! Love, Jessica Star

Friday, May 02, 2003

Entry #27

Oh Goddess! I just got back from Harlem, being on the air live with Maurice "The Voice" Watts on 90.3 FM, "The Love Zone", New York City!!! How can I describe??? What a blast! Maurice is so cool! Gregg Tilles, the guitarist on Dragon's Lair called in from Sonoma County, California! Brian Gryczan, the bassist on Dragon's Lair and his wife, Phyl, called in  from Arizona!!! And Stacey Mozina called in from my other favorite part of the country, Mt.Shasta, California!!! I love this job! I hope you got to hear it! Go to the link below and see if Maurice recorded tonight's show! I hope so because it was my very first radio interview in N.Y.C.!!! Rock on y'all! If it's not recorded, it's like a friend of mine said, some of the best moments aren't ever recorded... Love, Jessica Star And Maurice Watts, thank you so much!

Sunday, April 27, 2003

Entry #26

More good news! This coming friday night, May 2nd at 9pm EST, I'm going to go live on the air with Maurice Watts at 90.3 FM!!! You know, my friends have been reminding me that people come to New York everyday to have success and I've only been here six months and soooo many great things have happened for me. It really is miraculous! I am completely grateful for the success that is happening for me and my music! For anyone who has known me long, you've definately seen me in many phases of my career and personal evolution. This is a high point! So, know that I'm excited! I would love it if you could call the radio station while I'm there! We want the phones to be lit up ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Remember, if it's 9pm in NYC, it's 6pm on the west coast! The number to call at the radio station is:(212)491-4685 Love and many thanks, Jessica Star