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  

Monday, September 22, 2003

Entry #63

  It’s Monday afternoon and I feel like I’m just waking up! I plan on being very on this evening around 11pm so, I adjust my day accordingly. It’s overcast here in the city today. Last Saturday, I rode the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) out to Westhampton and sang with the Bobby Nathan Band for a wedding reception. It was fun and they fed us swordfish! I met some really nice people there who were mostly from Manhattan. I spent the night out in Westhampton since the train didn’t make a late-night run and woke up the next morning at 7am (uhggg!!!) to catch the early train. My honey and I went to Central Park after I got home, and gathered with thousands of peaceful people to listen to the Dalai Lama! Yeah for New York City! The Dalai Lama was funny. He laughs often and is really refreshing! Richard Gere introduced the Dalai Lama.To me, Richard Gere was just another New Yorker up there, one who is well-known and a good public speaker. He seemed nice. We walked around the upper west side afterwards and went to the Columbus Street Fair and the flea market~ I scored! We bought a cool plant for $5, I bought a very glittery sequined and beaded aqua jacket! We got special soap from a lady who hand-makes it and I got a psychic reading from a cool woman who reminded me of cranberry (she had a lot of that color on). All in all it was a very good day. I am sneezing up a small storm! I’m either allergic or allergic to something…Tonight I attend the Monday night jam at Le Bar Bat (57th and 8th) to sing! To sing! To sing!!!   That’s all for now, signing off!   Jessica Star  

Friday, September 19, 2003

Entry #62

Hurricane Isabelle is flaring her wind and rain through Washington D.C. and us New Yorkers are getting the very edges of it! I actually love torrential weather so, I think it's great! It's funny, there's so much going on here at all times that, when I write this journal I have to really think about what specifically is happening with my music. I just got booked into the New York Comedy Club on October 1st. It's a competition and they have comedians and musicians so, they want me to be one of the contestants and I think that's great. I tend to be kind of funny in between songs anyway so, I think it will be a good night! I met the contacts for that booking when I was on the Joe Franklin Radio Show. Apparently, Garth Brooks, Bette Midler and a host of other talent appeared on the Joe Franklin Radio Show before they hit it big! Yeehaw! I've got projects in the works that are very cool. It's funny also about this place, and the reason that talent comes here specifically; when you meet people in the entertainment industry, at least from my own experience, they tend to actually be in the industry. I'm talking about like, when you meet people who say they're in the business when you're in another part of the country, sometimes they are and sometimes they're not. This place is kind of made for the entertainment types so, the connections you find here are usually pretty deep and connected. There are always schmuks but, that's true anywhere. I'll also be playing at The C Note on October 21st! Tomorrow evening, I'll be singing at a wedding with Bobby Nathan's band. Bobby hosts the Monday night jam at Le Bar Bat that I go to. Well, that's it for now!   Rock on! Jessica Star

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Entry #61

Tonight I was on the Joe Frankin radio show! It will air this Sunday morning between 3-5am on 710am... They Might Be Giants were on in the beginning of the show. They were good and apparently, they're from Brooklyn and they're doing some kids album. They're pretty funny! I played," Baby Blue"!     Jes

Saturday, September 13, 2003

Entry #60

 It's a mellow Friday night here in Gotham and we're chillin'! This has been a pretty busy week. Sunday night I went down to the A&M Roadhouse and sang at the blues jam and then headed over to the Red Lion for a little jam with some players. I sang a few tunes there. Then on Monday I sang at Le Bar Bat for the Monday night jam and it was also the one year anniversary of that jam so there was a lot of picture taking and fun going on. Wednesday afternoon I played down near the United Nations outdoors with Chris Carter, Ivan Bodley, and Kenny Soule. That was a fun time! We musicians are usually late nighters and late wakers so, a noon concert is pretty early for us cats! It was really fun though! You get people from all over the world in the audience and there was one man from Iceland! Later that night I went to Ye Old Triple Inn and sat in with the same musicians plus one of the Uptown Horns and a keyboard player. I met Bobby Hardin, a vocalist, and really had fun. It always amazes me how performing can completely alter the way I feel. Of course, I did a lot of other things this week to make it "busy" but, they're not music related so, they don't go into this journal! Okay, okay, I went to the dentist! There! Whew! I'm really letting you into my personal life! So, this week was pretty heavy in a lot of ways. Johnny Cash and John Ritter died this week. We went to a funeral for our friends mom on 9/11. As you remember 9/11/01 was the falling of the World Trade Center. Pretty heavy... We were out of the city that day but, at a funeral. It's interesting how you can be trotting along in life thinking that all of this is just normal and nothing really looks different or has really changed that much and then you're really reminded how none of this is permanent. All of life is change. You never know how long you're going to be here in this life. John Ritter died while filming his new TV series. He died, I believe, standing up while filming. I can only imagine that maybe he had a wish that he would go doing what he loved... Johnny Cash was nominated for the MTV Music Awards and lost to Justin Timberlake. Justin did say that he felt like he was sharing the award with Johnny since he was raised listening to him. It's just interesting timing that Johnny Cash died right after that. These are all experiences that I put into my singing. I think maybe I am a blues singer. Some part of me feels folky and like I'm a folk singer singing blues because there's an audience for it but, lately more and more I think that really I'm a blues singer and I'm just coming into that realization... It's an interesting time in the evolution of society also. I feel like most of the things I see that are being promoted and printed and publicized are the exact opposite of the truth. The truthful things are more the articles you read on the internet that are written by concerned citizens, people who love America and see the immense need for change. Living here in NYC is trippy. It's the "financial living room" of the world as a friend of mine put it and you really feel the financial pressure here. I know you feel it other places too, I've lived in other places and felt it but, here people are so focused on it! Food does not grow here, everything's imported. I'm rambling! I guess I reflect on how I feel about the things I see that are right in front of my face and that teaches me more about myself in relation to the world around me.   a little melancholy,   Jessica

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

Entry #59

I just got home from the Monday night jam at Le Bar Bat. It was the one-year anniversary of the jam hosted by Bobby Nathan. I had fun! Richie Cannata (Billy Joel's sax player) was there with his son Eren Cannata who was singing. Eren's playing the Bitter End this Thursday night in case you want to hear him live! Yes, lots of good musicians and performers there tonight.. I spent the morning at the dentist in Brooklyn... Oh boy!   Jessica Star

Friday, September 05, 2003

Entry #58

I am so full of it right now! Roooaaaarrrr!!! This is my pent-up Burning Man energy!!! Yyyaaarrrrggggghhhh!!! I am ready for a revolution! A real revolution! One without blood-spilled! A revolution of conciousness! The happiest as a musician that I've been was when I was at Burning Man playing on random stages for gathered groups of people. There's no vending at Burning Man so, it was not about trying to sell a million cd's! I had someone trade me a really cool fish necklace for a cd! Ha! I was talking with an artist friend of mine last night and she was telling us of her idea for more of a socialized way of dealing with society. Artists are soooooooo important and integral to a healthy society. This has been proven over and over. Artists should get paid by our delightful government for making art! Just above minimum wage, at least $10 an hour and  we would have to make our art useful. Our music would be USED! Played! Remove those that are in the game for any other reason than they absolutely HAVE TO MAKE ART!!! We would get help with rent and have nice places to live! Artist communities! Ya! One of the saddest things is to meet an artist who works a stupid job just so they can make enough to pay for their lives and their kids and at the end of an unfulfilling day, they have no energy  left to give to their real purpose~ to make art!!! I've been one of those people! It sucks! Anyway, we have a long way to go to get to a place where America actually "sees" their artists as a necessary part of our society and culture. Art keeps people sane.   Regards, Jessica

Thursday, September 04, 2003

Entry #57

Well, my show last Tuesday was rained out! That's the joke about "outdoor shows"! Next week is supposed to be nicer weather so, perhaps it will be next Wednesday! Tomorrow night I'll be singing with Bobby Nathan's band out in Southampton at Belle's Cafe! They have deeelicious Cajun food and a nice little stage to perform on! This is a fun gig. I'll ride out there and back on the Long Island Railroad and I get back into the city around 4a.m.! I like to burn the midnight oil, what can I say? I also like this weather we've been having. It reminds me of Portland, Oregon~ cloudy and drizzly! I know, most people do not dig this kind of weather but, I grew up in it and it's nice in its own way.  We went to Woodstock, New York last weekend for a little outing from the city! First we went to the original concert site which is an hour from the town of Woodstock! The site is actually in Bethel. The town was wild and packed because it was Labor Day weekend. Bikers on Harleys chopping up and down the one main drag in the town, hippies who never left, tourists (us), and lots of cool people with dogs! It was fun. There is a magic shop with a real magician who makes magical coffee drinks! Rock on rockers! Check out the show "Performing As"! It's on Tuesday nights at 8pm on Fox...     Carry on! Jessica