Sunday, August 20, 2006

Entry #195

Today was a lovely day. I have been recording in my studio and I love it! My past experiences in studios have been that I was paying by the hour so there wasn't a lot of time for trying things out, redoing, recording it until it's perfect, at least to my ears, and then listening to it over and over. Also, it's such a sweet experience be able to be in the studio alone. It's no one else's studio but mine and I love it! Collaborating is great, but there is such a beautiful magic in actually going deep inside your heart and mind and pulling out the music you hear in there. It's a very new experience for me to have my own space, as I'm a bit of a nomad. I lived in my car~ multiple cars for years, travelled around and stayed with friends which was great, I dug it while it was happening, but this is a whole new chapter in my life. I love having a home, I love having a garden, and I love having a space to do my work. Now that's a lot love! In the last month, I've written two songs that I really like (okay, I love them; I just didn't want to be redundant). I'm writing a new album. I already have enough new songs for an album, but I think if I keep writing songs, the newer ones are going to sound more cohesive together. So, that's what I'm doing. I know I talk a lot about yoga and its many benefits and I'm not stopping now! I've lived in New York City for almost 4 years, and it's just been in the last eleven months that I've developed a yoga practice. These have been the happiest and sanest eleven months since I've lived here! I'm falling deeper and deeper in love with this city. She opens her arms and embraces some people, and she chews up and spits out others. I got lucky. Our garden is glorious. I'm growing Anasazi corn among many other plants, and it just started to sprout the silky hairs of the corn. I planted grass seeds last Sunday, and it was the quick grow kind so they are sprouted and green, although a little patchy, but it's better than having bare dirt. I figure growing a garden and taking care of the space in my backyard is something that I can do to give back to this truly amazing metropolis (at least my neighbors appreciate it). I've definitely improved the quality of the earth out there. You would be amazed at the piles of broken glass, old bottles of lipstick, antique broken medicine bottles, bricks and all sorts of garbage that I've found and pulled out of the earth and sent to the dump (back to the earth, but at least it's a designated rubbish heap) I enjoyed every moment of working back there, believe me~ and it was very hot out too! It's kind of like an archaeological dig. It clues you in to what people thought was acceptable, just throwing bottles and broken things in the backyard. Mother Earth has every right to be livid. I really do hope we can pull it together to change our ways of living day to day and stop damaging the earth and our atmosphere and actually treat her like she deserves to be treated; as our mother and as our support system. But people treat their own bodies in the same ways. In our ignorance we eat garbage, we watch rubbish on television, we spew trash out of our mouths and we entertain thoughts that are~ garbage. Is that mean of me to say? I don't think that everyone does this, but I think that this is the common tendency of humans and until we really start coming out of our laziness and taking steps towards becoming evolved, those are the things we do because they're easy and within reach of our daily lives and maybe we don't know better. It's common, so it seems normal. I'm not free of it by far! Yoga definitely helps though, at least you start becoming concious that you have those tendencies. I'm in the mode of being a forward thinker, and not looking to see people thinking the same thoughts that I am and agreeing with all of my views. If you're truly a visionary and a revolutionary, you're going to be thinking things and doing things way before anyone else has caught on so you're not going to see the reflection in the outer world of what you think is an "ideal world". If you have information that could help set people's minds free, its your job to share it. And I thought I didn't have a lot to say today! Jessica Star!

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Entry #194

Hi peeps! Hope you are enjoying this summer so far. This is Wednesday here in the Big Apple. Last Monday night I had drummer Dave over with his bassist friend, Kentucky. We added Reggae drums to my new song and then recorded bass for it! The art of recording well is very vast indeed. Luckily, our friend Keith came over just in time to reposition the mike and get us a decent recording on the very last take. Yesterday I recorded two vocal harmony parts~ one higher than the lead vocal and one lower. This is merely for the purpose of songwriting and fleshing out my ideas. Once I know way more about engineering and have the proper set up in my home studio, I'll be able to record cd worthy sounds. We've decided we're not attending Burning Man this year. Yep, the playa is not for us this time. It's cool, we're not really feeling it so, oh well. Maybe we'll go to Costa Rica soon or Ireland! The Black Rock Desert is extremely harsh on your body and at least for me, it's not what I need to subject myself to right now although I'm sure I'm going to miss it while it's in full swing. Ok, the truth is, I don't want to leave my beautiful garden, cats and home studio! What on Earth has happened to my priorities?! Things change, thank Goddess! We grow and change and things that were huge parts of our lives aren't so enticing anymore. We'll be there next year, no doubt. I'll be the one in the crazy costume. Enjoy and focus your thoughts on an abundant, positive future! Jessica Star

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Entry #193

It's a hot day here in NYC and I'm happily inside in the cool air conditioning. Today is Tuesday, and last Sunday night I played a gig in Amagansett, New York at Stephen's Talkhouse which is way out on Long Island in the very wealthy area. Apparently Sting, Paul McCartney and Billy Joel all have houses out there and from time to time come to the Talkhouse and jam. I sang with Hylton Beckford and Joe "Small Ax" Sinclair of the Slickers, and a band called the Majestics. We played Reggae music and had a great time. The band was hot and very tight, they play all the time. Their lead singer, Mesha, is great. Her site is http://www.mesha.org ~check her out!