Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Entry #140

Greetings on this lovely and very cold Tuesday night. We played the Red Lion for the first time this evening in a show sponsored by City Canyons Records and Go Girls Music and it was really fun. Thank you, Trebor Lloyd of City Canyons Records for supporting independent music and for having us on the great line-up tonight& We had David Luther join us on the sax and it gave the band a real nice sound. We actually played ALL THE SONGS on our set list! The Red Lion has a digital clock over at the sound booth facing the stage so you can see how long you have for your set, which I found extremely helpful and pretty funny. The band sounds really good right now. I feel like we are ready to record a new album. This is the last show for the year unless something comes up before then. Our next booking is our first show of 2005 and it lands on Janis Joplins birthday, January, 19th. We are booked at The Alphabet Lounge and we are doing a Janis Joplin Birthday Tribute concert. I look forward to channeling Janis for an evening. Last night we rehearsed from 9-11pm and then I went up to The Cutting Room for the Monday night jam with Richie Canatta. It was a good jam! I got up and sang Summertime with Richie on Sax, Roast Beef Joe on the keyboard, and Kenny Soule on the drums. I have played with Kenny and Roast Beef in previous bands and they are both great players. We swooped through the room with sound and feel. That is such a nice venue. I love the lights and the high stage and the largeness of the room itself. I had a great time last night followed by a great show tonight. I am very blessed, this I know. Tonight was the last night of Chanukah which we celebrated. We lit candles every night and said the prayers. It is a really nice ritual and apparently there is a giant Menorah in Central Park at the 72nd street Bethesda Fountain. I met Carmela, the woman who created it, last night at The Cutting Room. There is a giant angel in the fountain and Carmela saw birds sitting on the angels wings one day when the sun was shining behind it and to her, the birds looked lit up and that is where the idea came from to create a Menorah. All my very best thoughts and wishes to you, Jessica Star

Monday, December 06, 2004

Entry #139

I just got back from the New York Burning Man Decompression party! It was really fun. THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOLUTEERS WHO CREATED SUCH A GREAT PARTY! Ooh, I am sleepy! Let me see, what were some things that I saw at the party that I can convey to you?? I saw some of my friends there all dressed up (or undressed) having a smashing time, there was this room that had all these blown up giant balloon-like things~ real big plastic bags I guess, and people were jumping on them and rolling to the floor and laughing.. There were a few jesters, some clowns, a lot of people dancing, a lady in an amazing costume made of shredded paper; I mean, she was awesome! The paper was sticking out all shredded from head to toe. Dave, from my band, went to the party with me dressed as a giant orange and red chicken with a Papa Smurf hat! I wore my favorite costume; an elvin creature with an amazing royal blue wool top hat from the 50s and, do you remember on Bewitched, her mother, Endora? Well, my eyes were Endora eyes tonight; very cat-like! Oh, and there were good fire-spinners on the stage downstairs spinning to good dance music. It was a fun party. I went expecting nothing and I was very pleasantly surprised.   Goodnight New York!   Jessica  

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Entry #138

Tonight I sang back-up vocals at Carolynn Blacks cd release show at The Bitter End. It was totally fun! Eric Schwartz was also singing harmony vocals with me and he is a really good performer and singer. Carolynn is a gem. I bought one of her girlie tee shirts! It is cool. I will wear it too!  If any of you are wondering why I write everything out instead of saying, Im or its well, it is because this computer program does not recognize apostrophes! It puts boxes where they should be so I have to write everything out the long way& I do not speak this way however, only when I write in my online journal.  Now that was a fun show tonight. Carolynn is moving to Wisconsin (home of That 70s Show~ my favorite show on TV!) It is 4:18 am and I am just now winding down for the night. Did I mention that I love it here in NYC? I love Brooklyn too. I really enjoy LIVING in Brooklyn and working (playing music) in Manhattan. I think it is a perfect balance for now. Uh-oh, I just had a really big yawn, I think it is getting very close to bedtime. Ooops, there goes another yawn..   Good night or good morning; which ever may apply,   Jessica Star  

Friday, December 03, 2004

Entry #137

Hey peeps! Tonight we played at The Knitting Factory and it was a fun show. THANK YOU TO ALL OUR FRIENDS WHO CAME TO THE SHOW!!! You people keep us in business and I hope you know how much we appreciate you coming down and rocking out with us! We debuted the song Maybe and the Annie Lennox song Bitter Pill tonight. Both went well. People love cover tunes. I could see it in the eyes of the listeners. Songs that are even a little familiar make people happy. Yep, originals are our business but mixing it up with some tasty covers is a very good idea. We had a guest star tonight; Dave Luther! Thank you saxman Dave! He sat in with us on Baby Blue and Stay Together. He really sounded great. I got compliments on his playing from the audience. It was really nice too because right now we are without a lead guitarist so the sax really livened it up.   All my best to you,   Jessica