The Weather Report

2011-05-04T08:18:00.001-07:00

Here's the link to the Better TV piece:

Rain Perry on Better TV!

2011-04-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

2011-01-14T10:23:00.001-08:00

New songwriting class starting in Ventura!

2011-01-12T13:35:00.001-08:00

Shows coming up in Texas! 1/20 Momo's in Austin and 1/22 house concert in Houston. Check the "shows" page for more info!

Also - wonderful interview with Bob Edwards yesterday for his Sirius/XM show. I'll let you know the airdate when I know it.

2010-12-14T10:43:00.000-08:00

I have a dance remix! "Beautiful Tree (Negative Department remix)" just launched at iTunes!

Beautiful Tree (Negative Department Remix) - Single - Rain Perry

2010-12-06T08:59:00.001-08:00

Hey everybody! It's time for house concert!

I'm proud to welcome the great songwriter Katy Moffatt and guitarist extraordinaire Andrew Hardin to my house on Thursday, December 16th. Tickets are $20 with all proceeds going to the artists. Potluck/BYOB at 7:00 pm and show at 8:00. Email me at rain@rainperry.com to reserve tickets and I'll email you directions.

About Kary Moffatt:

"If ever there was the perfect singer/songwriter, it is Katy Moffatt. Her voice is perhaps the most searingly beautiful thing you'll ever hear." -- Nick Dalton, Daily Express (London)

Katy Moffatt debuted on Columbia Records in 1976. By 1985, she had garnered a number of awards and an Academy of Country Music nomination. Since then, Moffatt has continued to solidify her reputation as a cutting-edge performing songwriter and interpreter on a host of exclusive independent labels including Rounder, Hightone, and Western Jubilee. Celebrated here and abroad with rave notices, Katy Moffatt has distinguished herself as one of our most literate and eclectic artists.

The most memorable American roots music -- be it western, country, folk, rock or the blues -- is always informed by a simple fact of life: you live and you learn. Just ask Katy Moffatt. Or better yet, listen to her sing, be it a song from her own prolific pen or a choice cut from a favorite songwriter. It’s clear that Katy sings and writes with the voice of hard-won authority. As BAM observes, “She doesn’t just hit the notes and get the words right, Moffatt evokes the emotions behind the tunes and meaning between the lines.”

About Andrew Hardin:

"With elements of Mark Knopfler, Clarence White, and Chet Atkins evident in his playing, Andrew impresses me most with his clean, melodic acoustic soloing that is electrifyingly high on emotion. He is one of the finest players in the country." -Guitar Player

Andrew Hardin was singer-songwriter Tom Russell's right hand man for more than 20 years, touring & recording in the 1980's and early 90's with The Tom Russell Band where Hardin was described as the fire-breathing, country-rock electric guitar slinger. Hardin continued touring with Russell through 2005 as an acoustic duo. Hardin produced or co-produced several of Russell's albums on Rounder and Hightone and continues to produce other major and independent label acts in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Hardin has performed over the years with artists such as Dave Alvin, Ian Tyson, Katy Moffatt, Nanci Griffith, Eliza Gilkyson, and Ray Wylie Hubbard.

Andrew's guitar style incorporates influences as diverse as Roy Buchanan, Clarence White, Ry Cooder, Gabby Pahinui, and Grady Martin; that is to say it contains elements of blues, rock, R&B, country, tropical, and Spanish-flavored music.

Latest collaboration album:

Fewer Things, newly released on Zeppelin Records, is a third addition to the luminous canon of unique acoustic collaborations between Katy and Andrew Hardin which include the revered Walkin’ on the Moon (1989) and 1998’s Angel Town (“Anyone unaffected should check their pulse” – Mojo). Produced by Hardin, Fewer Things is a collection of 11 songs. There are five originals, two of which were written by Katy and Tom Russell. Other gems from favored writers include previously undiscovered songs from John Hiatt, Pat McLaughlin, and Jeff Rymes (of The Lonesome Strangers), as well as muscular contributions by Stephen Bruton and Nick Lowe.

Andrew Hardin says, “Fewer Things is the most satisfying to me of the recordings Katy and I have done together. This CD features some of the most expressive singing I’ve ever heard from her and some of the most interesting interplay between vocalist and guitar accompaniment. A spontaneity comes through that is real and exciting; the push and pull of two musicians interacting is gratifying to re-experience with each listen.”

See you on the 16th!

2010-11-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

Keanuville!

2010-11-15T15:08:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud to announce the official premiere of the new video for my song "Keanuville," directed by Micah Van Hove with animation by Susan Chien.

Watch it here!

A little background...I thought I was a big Keanu Reeves fan until I went to see his band Dogstar perform. It was there I learned that in the spectrum of Keanu obsession, I am a very small player. (Check out the hundreds of fan-made YouTube videos if you doubt me.) In particular, a conversation I had with the woman sitting next to me was so compelling that I had to write down everything she said and write a song.

The video stars the amazing Sasha Ilford Heslip as the fan. I'm thrilled with her performance and the directing skills of Micah Van Hove who, by the way, is only 20 years old. I'm also delighted to have stumbled on the work of Susan Chien, who animated the dream sequence. Finally, I'm grateful to all the folks who funded the production of this video via Kickstarter.

2010-11-15T12:33:00.000-08:00

Awesome CD release party at Zoey's!

2010-10-22T11:39:00.001-07:00

Heading east into the West! Shows in Carbondale, Provo and Las Vegas! Check the shows page on my website for details - hope to see you there!

2010-10-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

My Adventure in TV Land

So, my husband and I were looking for something special to do for our anniversary.

"Hey, guess what! Los Lobos is playing in Vancouver that weekend!" My husband is pretty much a fanatic, and I'm close. Also, we knew that Life Unexpected is shot there. Maybe we could go by the set. I email LUX creator Liz Tigelaar to tell her we were coming to town and see if there is any chance we can come say hi. She says definitely yes.

Oh, fun!

Then a couple of days later I learn about an unbelievable coincidence. It turns out they are planning to shoot a music festival sequence right around that weekend but aren't sure exactly which days, and do I already have my flight booked? Would I be willing to adjust my travel plans so I can appear on the show?

Let’s see...hmm. Uh, yes! I think I might be able to do that. Holy mackerel!

Well, Billy and I went up there and I did it, and so here is the tale of My Adventure in TV Land. I confess that in the days before we go up, I am quite nervous. But I can tell you that the Life Unexpected cast and crew is just as friendly and sweet and gracious as you would expect.

I’m not allowed to reveal secrets of the episode or show the set in detail, so you’ll just have to tune in to the CW Network on October 12 and watch for yourself! But I can show my vacation pictures, right?

* * *

Can I just say that Air Canada airplanes are very cool, with the maple leaf? And how strange it is to go to a foreign country that seems so much like home, except very clean and far more polite than the U.S. at the moment?

Anyway, at Customs, the agent wants to know what kind of work I am doing in Canada and why they didn't hire a Canadian musician for the television show. "I'm playing myself," I say, knowing how weird that sounds.

We are welcomed to Vancouver that night by skilled oyster shuckers who also introduce us to Salmon Candy. Mmm. The next morning we get up and take the waterbus over to Granville Island to the Public Market.

Oh, man. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to live in a city. I go to buy some raspberries, and don't realize I have asked for a two pound basket of them, so she rings it up and it's $17.00 worth of raspberries. More cash, please!

Yikes. But look at them! We eat them like popcorn, for two days.

On the docks, they're having a wooden boat show, so Bill, who grew up racing sailboats, is as happy as a clam.

Kicking off the music portion of the weekend, on the sidewalk an enthusiastic Mighty Wind contingent sings sea shanties.

Jeez, what a beautiful city.

That afternoon is my wardrobe fitting with Shanna and Katia. A car picks me up at the hotel. I am feeling very fancy about that until it occurs to me that of course the shows have drivers or there would be lost, late actors all over Vancouver all the time.

I get there early and the folks in the production office make me right at home with their awesome espresso machine. This is where they have the read throughs - If you're a LUX fan, you've probably seen pictures of this room on Liz Tigelaar's Facebook page.

Then Assistant Costumer Shanna bustles in with bags of clothes she's bought for me to try on, and the fitting begins.

See? Clothes for me!

I had been asked to bring three outfits (which meant I had no choice but to go shopping), but they want me to wear the stuff they've bought, which...let's say this. There's a reason someone gets hired to dress the cast of a TV show; they know what looks good on people. I'd say there were around a dozen different combinations, and almost all of them fit and looked like something I'd actually wear. That made me feel much better because honestly - being told you're going to play yourself on TV is kind of an intimidating prospect. But Shanna and Costume Director Katia are lovely and fun and make the whole thing a whole lot less intimidating. And I've learned a few tips that will help me next time I shop for clothes. (Remember: I was raised amongst the hippies. I did not learn this girlie stuff growing up. My daughters know far more about fashion than I do.)

We narrow it down to about six outfits (three of which are Shanna's and my favorites). Jeans are marked, pictures taken. What happens next is that Katia reviews the pictures and sends her top choices to the production crew, who make the final decision. Then that night those clothes are hemmed or taken in or whatever, and the process continues with more cast members before Shanna heads back to her homes away from home - Anthropologie/Free People/Etc. - and returns the clothes they're not using. Meanwhile, I'm back in the car and heading to downtown Vancouver. By the way, from the ride in, it looks kind of like downtown Austin from South Congress, except for, you know, the mountains and the cold air.

The next day we have no official obligations, so: Zipline! I did it!

This is not the zipline. I couldn't get our Quicktime movie to freeze frame. But here's a picture of the butt of one of the grizzlies that live in a pen up on Grouse Mountain. See it, among the white rocks? Awesome. Sad they are penned, but amazing to get that close.

And we drive up to Whistler, blasting Tin Can Trust.

And hey - here's another photograph in the endless series of me exiting state park restrooms, which after all these years still amuses my husband every time he takes another one.

Finally: Japadog for dinner!

Okay. Thank you for your patience. It's TV Time.

* * *

Monday morning, I have a 9:00 am call. (I know the lingo, see?) There are going to be photographers on the set today documenting the big LUX/One Tree Hill crossover episode. So I get up extra early to get gussied up.

Bill and I go down to the hotel's drive-through to wait for our car. The attendant asks, "Are you Miss Perry? Your car is over there." I notice a couple of people look over to see if they recognize me. They do not. But they should! Yeah, that's right: the folksinger is waiting for her car, people.

We learn a lot about the film business in Vancouver from the drivers. It's a multi-billion dollar a year industry up there. These guys take a lot of pride in their shows and in taking care of the cast and crew. And from what I can glean, Life Unexpected, and in particular Liz, are universally beloved. Liz is like a supernova of devoted, cuddly love, and the whole vibe of the set radiates outward from her, as best I can tell.

We pull up to the next hotel, the Sutton (aka The Slutton), which is where all the actors stay. Cynthia Stevenson and Arielle Kiebel climb in the van. They both look radiant, despite having wet hair and not an ounce of makeup on their faces. (Note to self: you do not need to do your own hair and makeup when your first stop at the set is going to be hair and makeup.)

Cynthia and Arielle are chatting away, Bill is sitting in the front seat with the driver talking about the film business in Vancouver. And I am trying to remain calm but am, frankly, pretty nervous. I'm not a "big" performer - I don't stride the stage or pump my fist in the air or anything like that. Will me being myself be enough? Or will they want me to do something grander, as this is TV? Which outfit did they pick? Will I look okay? Ack.

Cynthia and Arielle are very friendly, and Cynthia tells me about the trick of trying to think of the camera as a friend. "So, you know, when it's sticking right in my face, I try to tell myself, 'oh, look, there it is again, my old friend.'" She and Arielle crack up at how preposterous that is.

And then we're there! At the "circus," as the collection of production trailers is called.

Yikes - here we go! We are greeted and taken to my trailer.

And...this is the outfit they picked, plus a super-warm down parka, just in case. Yay! It's one of the ones I liked a lot.

A fireplace! (It's behind the chair.)

Billy and I are new to this, so we are not hip to the fact that when the catering truck is there, that's the time to grab the food. We hear they are still serving but do nothing. And then we wait.

Often, the circus and the set are right next to each other, but in this case, the "music festival" is a mile or so down the road. So everything's a little divided.

There is a polite rap on the door, and I am called to makeup.

In the makeup trailer, Cynthia is glancing at the paper, sipping coffee and chatting with the stylist as he puts her hair in curlers. I start with makeup. The stylists - in fact the whole crew - are Canadian. I'm beginning to see why the film industry is vital to the local economy. It employs people in so many fields.

Then Arielle comes bubbling in and she and the stylists are looking at photographs from the previous shoot. Wow. They have to match the look exactly from day to day. Impressive.

And then it's my turn for hair too. We discuss. What do I say I want? What do they want - that's the question. We pick a half-up/half-down style, which he does and then sprays the hell out of it so it stays put all day.

And I am sent back to my trailer to get in my wardrobe. Getting psyched!

And then...we wait.

And wait. That is how it is on a set. Some of my friends told me it would be like that, and they were right.

Waiting is not my husband's strong suit. So he is trying to fill the time with reading me stuff about the cast and crew on IMDB. I am not able to absorb this information. So he lets me be and decides to get some work done. So then it's beginning to drive me just a little bit crazy that he is making business calls from the trailer while I'm trying to remain Zen. So I ask him if he'll make the calls outside. And then I'm worrying that he is driving other people crazy with his phone calls while they're trying to relax in their trailers. So I ask him to move further away.

I am aware that part of the problem is that we should have taken my friend Kim's sage advice and grabbed a breakfast burrito from the food truck while it was right there outside the trailer. Bill comes in the trailer with like five raspberries he's picked in the bushes outside, which makes us both laugh. Then he has the foresight to ask someone if there's any reason we can't go down to the set. Yes, sure! Let us call the van!

Oh, duh. Why exactly have we been sitting up here starving? Because we are neophytes, that's why. But we are learning quickly.

We get in the van and drive to a beautiful park, and there we get our first sight of the set. It looks soooo cool!!! Look at all the extras! It really looks like a music festival!

We are led to the Craft Services trailer, where we try not be too starving orphan-esque with the awesome fresh fruit and bagels and sandwiches and goldfish and red vines and chai and juicyfruit gum. I am shown the little tent where the cast hangs out between takes, and Kris Polaha, who plays Baze on the show, is there. He is really tall and, if I may say, extremely handsome. Everyone on TV is attractive, so you get used to it while watching, but when you meet actors in real life you are struck by just how really really ridiculously good looking they actually are. We chat about my hometown of Ojai, where Kris and his wife have spent some time. Totally normal conversation. Okay.

I hear the sound of music, and learn that it's Ben Lee onstage. Whoo! It's weird - there's a beeping countdown, then the song starts and the crowd cheers and then the song stops and the crowd gets quiet, but I look over and they are still all waving and dancing and looking like they're making noise, but totally silent. And then the music comes back and they cheer again. This happens about a dozen times, and then I hear over the loudspeakers that it's time to set up for the next scene, which I learn is me! Deep breath.

Ben comes off the stage and sits in the tent to make a phone call and then quietly read a book. I introduce myself and he is charming and down to earth.

And then someone says "Come meet Liz!" So I walk around to the front of the stage, and Liz Tigelaar is standing with some of the cast taking pictures. She gives me a big hug, and so do Britt and Ksenia and they are so cute, and Liz says, "everyone pose together!"

Here we are. Kris Polaha and his five shorter woman!

Jerry Levine, the director, comes over and starts working on blocking with the actors. Basically what they're filming today is a conversation that goes on in the back of the festival while I'm onstage. Now I understand what they were doing with the music. They start the song and get the singer and the extras all moving along, and then they cut the music so they can record the actors talking. Later, music will be added quietly in the background behind the dialogue.

So my job is going to be to mime singing while looking really awesome from about 150 yards away. Okay.

I'm led to the stage and introduced to "my band." I was told there would be actors cast as the band, so for weeks I've been curious what they will be like. I am delighted to learn that the production has cast real musicians as the house band for all the performers (except Sarah McLachlan, who they want with her real band), and impressed to see that they have been learning the actual songs. This definitely adds to the authenticity of the whole thing.

It occurs to me that there is talking in my song - a bunch of laughing and talking during the musical break - so how will we deal with that? We decide that I will turn to the band and we will pretend it's us laughing and talking onstage. I'm also aware that I'm actually going to be on screen for about ten seconds, so none of this may matter at all. But I have no idea which ten seconds they'll use, so I have to make it good the whole time.

I also meet Kerr Smith, who is also insanely handsome and extremely friendly in person. He tells me my song has been stuck in his brain for days and I'm beginning to worry that it's driving everyone crazy. But that's good, right? It's catchy!

It's time to run through - and here we go. I'm hoping my husband finds a place to watch. I'm also hoping that whatever I choose to do will be okay and they don't tell me I'm not good at playing myself.

We do the whole song a bunch of times, and then it's our turn to mime singing with no music. We do that about a dozen times. I am feeling very very sympathetic to the extras, who have been standing in the sun looking super-excited, laughing, tossing beach balls and clapping with their hands above their heads for about six hours now, with six more to go. I imagine they are thinking, "Who is this chick?" But my husband, he tells me later, is beaming with pride that this whole experience for us began with a song I wrote.

Then, after watching for about half an hour, Billy has started wandering around the lake and snapping some beautiful pictures.

And then...I'm done! And it's four pm, which in TV Land is lunch time. I find Billy and we go up to the catering tents and have the most awesome catered lunch. We are not really free to go home, though, because they might need me again. But they have moved on to the One Tree Hill stars, who I'm hoping to watch, but it's time to go to...

Los Lobos at the Pacific National Exhibition!!! And John Hiatt too!!! This is so totally awesome.

By the way, Canadian audiences are very polite, not crushing up to the stage like we do. At first the band looks a little stiff because of that, and at one point, David Hidalgo says, "You folks are really quiet!" But right after that, Cesar introduces a new song and some guy yells out, "We love new shit!" which cracks the band up and the night is a party from then on. We strike up a conversation with some diehard music fans standing behind us. They have been to Austin and like all the same music we do. What a great night.

Cesar Rosas rocks the house!

There is a storm rolling in, but it's a Canadian storm, so it politely waits until just after John Hiatt's last encore to break lose. We rush to the exit and get a cab. I'm sorry I didn't get to see the Superdogs.

The next morning, sigh, Billy has to go home. It's still raining. I chill out at the hotel room until it's time for my call, which today is a very humane eleven am.

I am wiser today and do no makeup or hair. It would be stupid anyway, because it's only going to get wet. Miraculously, the hair and makeup artists are able to exactly match the way I looked the day before. And I grab tea and breakfast right away. I'm now a pro.

Today they have Ugg boots in my trailer and a rain parka and giant umbrella. Again: feeling very princess-like until it occurs to me that a muddy costume could cause an hour-long production delay. But still - I'm nice and snuggly warm. I even light my fake fireplace.

It's time to go down to the set, and whoa. The set is soaked.

All the extras are huddled in a tent, just in case the weather breaks. There's plastic all over everything. How are they going to match this with yesterday? Today's plan was to shoot the musicians like a real concert, with camera on a crane swooping over the crowd. But they can't do that now.

Still, everyone is in a great mood and I realize that this is what they do in Vancouver all the time. They can make it match later in post-production. Wow.

An artsy picture from inside the Craft Services trailer...

On stage, while the cameras are getting set up for my segment, an impromptu jam session forms. Kris Polaha is playing the keyboard and Jerry Levine is on the guitar. I step in for some doo-wop backup vocals.

And here are some very wet and yet freakily enthusiastic die-hard Canadian crew members! They're tougher in Canada, eh!

Here I am with my very very chilly band:

So I do my thing again - this time in closeup - and I hope I did a good job. And then: I'm done! And my husband is back home...so what to do?

Well! The thing to do is to change back into my own clothes, and then to hang out with Shanna and Katia and Arielle! That is the thing to do. And wait until evening so we can watch Sarah McLachlan. So that will be the plan. Katia and me:

The van comes to take us all down to the set again, and Sarah and her band are in it, and they are...just like everyone else on this show...exceptionally friendly and fun and lovely, chatting about the snack foods available in Canada in the seventies.

So we stake our spot in front of the stage, and the rain lets up, and we stand there in the drizzly darkness as the cameras roll and Sarah McLachlan's ethereal voice echoes out across the lawn and the lake and I just feel like...wow. Thank you. Thanks, Liz, thanks Wendy the music supervisor who picked my song, thanks Les and Cindy for giving my song to Wendy. Thanks everyone on the set for being so welcoming and making a fairly intimidating experience utterly fun.

And then...back to the hotel to totally and completely crash, knowing that the crew is getting up in just a few hours to do it all again the next day.

As for me...I spend the morning emailing, and then go for a long walk in Stanley Park, as the Vancouverites soak up the last few days of sun before fall arrives. I treat myself to a very civilized lunch:

And then it's home with my souvenir for my daughters: some real, badass, grade D maple syrup, which is about as thick as motor oil. Yes.

* * *

And now, I'll be watching this great little show on Tuesday night just like everyone else! Except that I'll be crossing my fingers that I don't look weird.

9 pm - 8 central - on the CW network - check your local listings and be there or be square!

2010-10-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

2010-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Six days until my network TV debut - make sure to watch Life Unexpected on October 12th!

2010-10-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

Off to Chattanooga! I'm playing at Barking Legs on Sunday night. And on Monday, I'm throwing my name in the hat for the Open Mic night at the Bluebird Cafe. Wish me luck, and if you're in the region, come by.

We did it! We raised the money and filmed the movie. Once Micah Van Hove is finished editing and Susan Chien is finished animating a dream sequence, "Keanuville" will be hitting YouTube before you know it.

Here we are slaying ourselves with a certain sad internet meme...

2010-09-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

It's finally here, the day I've worked the last two years to reach: the official release date of my new album Internal Combustion. It's been on my calendar - a glowing, pulsing deadline - with hundreds of "next actions" on my lists that had to be done in order to get here - and it's here! Fireworks seem appropriate! Bouquets of flowers! Massive checks arriving by FedEx!

But...you know what? I spent most of the day in my pajamas, filing the massive stack in my office, emptying my email inbox, stuffing a few CDs in mailers. All the work comes before this. The writing of the songs, the negotiating with the family for travel time, the wonderful time in Austin with Mark working on the record, the back and forth of the mixing and the graphic design, the new website, the new email service, the occasional freaking out by me and the shoring up by my husband, the hiring of the publicist and the radio promoter, the submitting to iTunes and Amazon and CD Baby. The urgent last-minute trip to Indiana to mail the CDs to the radio in time. The millions of emails alerting the world that the CD is coming. All done. Now it's out into the world and there is nothing to do but...let it go. It will get played or it won't get played. People will buy it or they won't. I've worked with the most awesome people, I've done the best job I could, and now it's done. Phew.

2010-09-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Internal Combustion comes out TODAY! Visit the Store to get your very own copy.

Also: We're halfway there with the "Keanuville" video! You've pledged over $1500 so far, with ten days to go. There are wonderful prizes to be had - read all about them at Kickstarter!

Thanks, everyone!

2010-09-18T22:35:00.001-07:00

Almost halfway there... please consider pledging now to my "Keanuville" video project!

2010-09-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

Fun and surreal adventure into TV News Land: here it is on YouTube.

And a couple of great reviews: No Depression and American Songwriter. (Forgive my vanity, but hey - it's the music business. I'm not actually 46 for three more years...)

2010-09-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'll be on the KTLA morning news at about 9:30 this coming Tuesday, September 14th. Tune in, if you live in So Cal!

2010-09-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

I'm back from my adventure in TV Land! Yes, I am about to make my television debut. See? I will be writing a post with behind-the-scenes pictures soon, but for now I just want to say that the cast and crew of Life Unexpected is as sweet, funny, hardworking and welcoming as I could have possibly hoped. Check back soon for the full report!

2010-08-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

You know that thing that always happens in movies about astronauts...those few minutes of radio silence where you don't know if the craft has made it safely back into the Earth's atmosphere, and it's really nerve-wracking?

That's kind of how I feel as I rely on all the systems I've deployed to get my new album squared away.

Songs finished? Check.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Mark Hallman? Check.
Graphic Design by Brian Turner? Check.
All music and art files to Groove House, the manufacturer? Check.
Shore Fire (the PR team) working away on the album release? Check.
Radio promotion on schedule? Check.
New website finished by Cory Ann at Dandyline Designs? Check.
Concert booking completed for Fall and Spring? Uh...working on it!
Asked fans to spread the word about the album? Well, would you mind?

And now...I wait. I've picked the best people I could afford, and they are expertly doing their jobs. So now...the mission will be successful or it won't, and there's nothing else I can do.

Ehhhhh....the waiting....they say it's the hardest part.

2010-07-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

"You make alterations that effect a new pose /

A new house, a new car, a new job, a new nose..." -- Ray Davies

Yep...new website on the way!

2009-11-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

Joy. (As Experienced At The FAR-West Music Conference Last Weekend)

It's a physical thing: kind of down my throat and around my chest. It's a profoundly satisfied, joyous, relaxed-yet-energized feeling. There's humor to it. I feel funnier than usual and pretty and worthy and kind of badass. It happens most often in rehearsal, or, as it did this weekend, at a late night jam. It happens the whole week when I'm recording in Austin with Mark. It involves connecting with other musician(s) in a comfortable, inspired way. I go out on a limb.

When I'm performing, I'm usually too alert (remembering what I'm supposed to be doing, worrying that everyone knows their part, trying to connect with the audience, reacting to the expressions on people's faces, etc.) that I rarely settle in enough to feel it. Once in a while - especially doing my play - I was rehearsed enough that Danny, the audience and I could lock in and become one organism - connected, communicating, feeding off each other.

The moment that I think of most recently - and it just makes me smile - is a jam session last Saturday night/Sunday morning at about 4:00 am. I was sitting on a chair in a suite at the Irvine Hyatt, leaning back, eyes closed half the time, listening and occasionally chiming in with a harmony. I had completed all my showcases and had done them right (promotionally, performance-wise, rehearsal-wise, guitar-player-choice-wise). About 15 people were there jamming: someone would play a song and others would fall in and we'd all sing some kind of harmony.

I was tired. But I didn't want to leave. Tom Corbett, who accompanied me in a couple of my showcases, was sitting on the couch with his mandolin, and every time someone would start a song, he'd start playing the most beautiful inspired part with a big smile on his face. At one point someone made a joke about Kiss and he put the mandolin behind his head like Ozzy Osborne and played the rest of the song that way. And then an older guy sitting by me started playing Johnny Cash's "Tennessee Flat Top Box," and he didn't know all the words, so I jumped in to help him out and he grinned and said, "you take it," so I did and it was even in my key.

As it got later and later, Tom said, a couple of times, "This is getting silly," but someone would start a song and he would be unable not to play along. Finally at 6:00 am someone opened up a bunch of beers (and I knew that was going to be a BAD idea), so a few of us spontaneously got up to go to bed. I took the elevator, leaning on the wall, and when I got to my floor I said goodnight to the guys and staggered out to my room, where my beloved roomie Julie Christensen was sleeping. It felt SO GOOD to climb into my bed in my dress, put the pillow over my head, and collapse into a sleep I knew was going to be far too short.

And that night, I got home and my husband and two daughters and a couple of close friends were waiting for me with a wonderful dinner, because my birthday was the next day.

For all the times I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall, it's good to have moments like this to remind me what I'm doing this for - what it's really all about.

2009-10-27T09:43:00.001-07:00

Here goes with my first "ping!" How's it look?

2009-09-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

There will be lots more here soon about proper pronunciation in Austin, the new (COOL, if I do say so myself) album, the Glen Ballard effect and every other thing, but for the moment, all I want to say is: Mark Hallman. Yeah!

2009-09-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

Day Three: Andrew Hardin has kicked ass and is smiling. Yes!

A lovely dinner with the Hallmans and their super-nice friends. Then to Evangeline's to see Danny, who rocks. Holy mackerel!

2009-09-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm tired and happy and ll I can say tonight is: when you hear the songs on my new album, be impressed with my producer, Mark Hallman. The demo I gave him was a crappy Casio keyboard with a drum machine, and he built the funkiest whole track today. Drums, bass, wacka-wacka guitar, plus recording my vocals. That's what I'm talking about!

2009-09-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

Oh, yeah, and this is why I can't wait for Andy to come to the studio. I'm feeling snark-deprived.

Andy: What's the song like?

Rain: It's a new one - it's about Keanu Reeves - but it's from the point of view of this woman I met--

Mark (from across the room): BLUES IN C MINOR!

Andy: Rain, put Mark on. I need to talk to a man.

Ahhhh....

2009-09-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Austin, baby!

Feeling right at home at the Congress House.

Day One. Today we made sure my charts were acceptable and introduced ourselves to Keanu. Mark played a 19th century pump organ. Bad scratch vocals from me (but that's why they call them scratch.) Made phone contact with Mr. Andrew Hardin, who will be in on Friday. MOTHERF%^&*R, this is fun!

Mark and Tommy on a quest for the perfect reverb...

Okay, this came out kind of blurry, but did you know you can get a massage at the Whole Foods? (Just in case you are too overwhelmed by the twenty seven kinds of olives.)

Crosstown from Whole Foods to the hotel, the Capitol looks lovely...

And now I've had my Cola-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus with a an engaging little Zinfandel and am watching Leno in prime time - I think it's pretty good! Everything's pretty good! Early to bed because tomorrow we've got Chris Maresh coming in on bass and more drum tracks from Mark. Tomorrow we will become Compartmentalized and will take a fresh look at a lesser-known Bob Seger classic. Yay!

(Some of this post is code to get you excited about the upcoming album...)

2009-06-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Desert Rat Tour Part Deux

If you haven't read Part One, read it first!

Thank you to everyone who emailed about Part One. Welcome back to Part Two of the Tale of the Desert Rat Tour! Danny B. Harvey (resident Rock God), Sasha Heslip (Cinderblock Bookshelves' producer and tech diva) and I have left the mountains of Colorado and are having lunch in Flagstaff before heading into the Arizona desert. But before I continue our tale, let me digress briefly to discuss the young woman across the street from our restaurant who was singing folk songs in a park as part of some kind of weekend street fair.

She had a high, earnest, Sheryl Crow-esque voice, lots of energy and good guitar chops. There were a few people listening as they sat in the sun, and others casting a glance her way as they strolled by.

I bet she applied for this showcase and was chosen by some panel to round out the music portion of their arts weekend, and I feel equally confident that she wasn't paid. "But!" the promoters likely said, "it'll be great exposure."

As my friend Andrew Hardin likes to say: "You can die from exposure."

Okay, I'm on the road doing a play I wrote. It took three months to lock in the bookings and I did all the promotion and travel arranging myself. My friends are working their butts off for very little pay, and now, on day five, I can see that even though I budgeted conservatively I am not going to break even. I'm going to lose money on this tour. So believe me, I understand the Investment Phase of a musician's career.

I've done gigs like that street fair, but I will never do another and I wish other musicians wouldn't either. That's not to say I don't play for free - I do all the time if it's for a cause I believe in. But it's one thing to donate your time to a charity and another to give your time and talent away for no good reason. The organizers of events like that Flagstaff street fair have to shell out money for permits, for trash pickup and for porta-potties, but they routinely ask the musicians to donate their time for the privilege of standing before a crowd that is only minimally paying them any attention. And they will keep doing so as long as musicians are willing to do this kind of gig.

Look - if you are being used to attract people to an event, then you should be paid something. It doesn't have to be much - but it should be in proportion to the other costs of the event. Never mind that you love doing it so much you'd do it for free - do it for free in your living room! The garbagemen who will clean up that night might like their job, but they don't work for free. A gig like this is not a step to anywhere.

Okay, rant over. Back to the road diary.

We peel out and head south with the Gargoyle of Free Gigs hot on our heels, and before long we are hurtling through northern Phoenix on our way to the third stop on our tour: Soul Invictus. I'm excited to get there, because the back and forth of logistics and promotion with the venue's owner, Patti, has been a total pleasure. She's excited about the show and I'm excited to get there. And get this: she's a rockabilly player (a drummer), so she knows people who know Danny.

Did I mention that Danny is in constant communication with friends all over the world? And that his phone makes the sounds of a variety of barnyard animals when he receives texts? And that we often receive updates, like "it's 5:00 am in Perth, Australia, and they are still awake, drinking Jagermeister."

We have made telephone contact with our fourth crew member (and director of the play), Kim Maxwell, who has landed at Sky Harbor and is getting in a cab. There's a coffee place next door to the venue and she will be able to chill there for an hour before we arrive with the van.

Flash! Oh, dammit, in compliance with my urging that she put the hammer down, Sasha has just driven past a photocop. But did it flash for us or the car next to us? We can't tell! The answer will come by mail (or not) in a week or so. Damn.

Then Kim calls. The coffee place is closed on Sundays. There's nothing open in the neighborhood, and we are an hour out. And her cab driver is...

"Emphysemic! Omigod, you guys, and he didn't know Phoenix at all and his cab reeked of cigarette smoke. He was horrible and I didn't even want to get back in." But she did, and she had a lovely lunch at some corporate hotel downtown.

We unload the van. It's really hot. But the venue is not: it's cool!

Located in an industrial part of Phoenix, not far from downtown on Grand Avenue (probably the next boho enclave that will eventually be inundated by Starbucks and trendy boutiques...), Soul Invictus is a tiny little theater with a dedicated and passionate crew committed to bringing forth innovative performances and loud music.

So it's fitting that they should be located next to a giant womb:

...which is actually an outdoor studio for a metal sculptor.

My sister-in-law and nephew have been amazing promoters, and they are bringing the whole family and many friends to tonight's show. So after the sparsely attended performance in Durango, tonight we will have a good crowd. I've done this play enough times that I'm pretty relaxed about its intimate content, but occasionally I get a little nervous about what certain people in the audience will think. When my daughter saw the show, for example, a lot of passages from the play took on new (embarrassing) significance. This is one of those nights! But I remind myself that we were all awkward youths, we all lost our virginity at some point, and, most of all, we all have parents with whom we have to come to terms. I try to remember that those are the common places that I'm reaching for with people. And sure enough, the family and friends turn out to be a very sympathetic audience.

Another thing (and I guess this is obvious to seasoned actors, but I'm still fascinated by it): depending on their background, there are marked differences in when people laugh. I can tell when I'm performing this play in front of hippie or post-hippie crowds, because they laugh really hard at the childhood drug references. Other audiences react to the same material with palpable alarm. And honestly, both are appropriate! In doing this play, I learn so much about where my childhood fits in to the spectrum of childhoods.

And tonight in Phoenix, I also get an international perspective: my nephew has brought a number of Egyptian friends, and there are four people from the former Yugoslavia in the audience too. Later I will hear that my sister-in-law's friend had always dreamed of a freewheeling California life, and that to hear the challenging part of that lifestyle was an eye-opener for her.

The set is set up and the sound system is working. Proprietress Patti Swarz solves a problem we've been having with yellowy slides - a pin in one of the cables is bent. Ah! Full color! I have opted to use Patti's wireless headset mic instead of my own, which has been giving me problems. And Kim is with us! We begin again.

So far, so good. Slides are working: check. Microphone working: check. Danny and I in sync: check. Audience friendly: check. Then I cross upstage to point at a slide and am hit by a blast of cool air from a vent above the stage, which feels great but creates a bit of an unexpected Steven Tyler look. Okay - no problem - use the Aerosmith effect sparingly, as needed.

Then, about an hour in...a slight crackling, more pronounced when I get close to the stage monitors. Oh dear: our horrible tech karma is rubbing off. It gets worse and worse. Finally, realizing that I am coming into the most emotionally intense part of the play, I decide to pull the mic off my head and go acoustic. But this mic works differently than my mic - it doesn't detach from its cable. So now I have the mic off my head, but the cord is running down my back under my shirt to the base unit, and I have no way to get it out. So I have to hold the headset in my hand.

I hear a quiet rustling from the back of the room, which I later learn is Sasha and Patti going through the script searching for a good place to bring me a handheld mic. And at one point I look down, and Patti is handing it to me and I finish the play with good sound. Phew!!!

After the show, I go out to talk to my family and Danny has a reunion with an old musician friend and his wife. Patti and her crew have set out wine and hors d'oeuvres, and everyone stays and talks for a long time. Here's the Soul Invictus team:

We pack up the set and gear and I enter the Four Points Sheraton into Google Maps. I know Phoenix, so I am driving.

Hmmm...this is weird. I actually don't really know this part of town. When I come to Phoenix, I hang out with my relatives on the other side of the tracks in Scottsdale. So I am kind of turned around. But we find the hotel and I drop off the crew. Then I head back across town to my mother-in-law's condo. But nothing's really looking familiar. So I readjust, turning east. I call my mother-in-law, who is waiting up for me. It's going to be a little longer than I thought. Wait: is Sun City east of Phoenix? Finally, I pull over, to give Google a chance to locate my Current Location when I am not moving. No, it is not east. It is 40 minutes WEST of where I am going.

Here is the problem with Google Maps on the iPhone. It's really hard to use when you're in motion. And sometimes, when you're in motion, it gets crazy ideas about where you actually are. But it doesn't matter. The best GPS on the planet would be no match for the ghosts that are plaguing every machine that comes in contact with me this week.

At midnight, I pull into the condo development on Scottsdale Road. I check my email and have received this picture from Kim with the subject heading "Bar Trash."

I'm glad they're having fun. But I have an awesome host: my mother-in-law, Olivia, the classiest person I know. I could go on about her, but for now suffice it to say that she is a smart, scrappy single mom who raised two kids while working her way through Stanford University, ultimately marrying Rusty and spending her career as a school psychologist. She wears bright, colorful eyeglasses, has a pair of leather pants, and saw Pearl Jam before I did, at a festival in Ireland. She sends me clippings of things she thinks I should read. I love her.

She has food and wine and we end up talking way too late. And this cozy bed is waiting for me:

The next morning, my sister- and brother-in-law, Cindy and Marty, have invited my crew over for brunch. I leave with the van to go get them. In the daylight, I can make a lot more sense of where I am driving. Kim, Sasha and Danny climb in and we head across town towards Paradise Valley. But jeez! I do not understand this, as I have been to this town dozens of times, but the next thing we know we are downtown at the Heard Museum. I call my nephew Keith and he calmly talks us through this. "That's it," I say to my van-mates. "Do not listen to my directions any more." Danny points out that now that I am being humble about it my directions will probably be right from now on.

Cindy and Marty have yummy sandwiches for us, and Ol is there, as are Keith and his new wife Becky. It's fun watching this diverse group chat. Marty and Sasha get into an animated conversation about art. Cindy is telling us a story about a car accident, and in her enthusiasm, starts to say "shit" but catches herself. Then she laughs and says, "you guys are musicians - you don't care!"

When it's time to go, Keith and Marty work together to make sure we have good directions to Las Vegas. I stay completely out of it. Marty is very concerned about the amount of dust on our vehicle and is about to personally hose it off, but we dissuade him by explaining that there's so much crap in the van that we can't see out the back no matter what. When he can't help us that way, he insists on making us more sandwiches for the road.

Just in time, too. Any longer, and we would be prey to that most dastardly of devils, the Phoenix Philanderer.

And we are on to Vegas!

After Danny and I rehearse for our house concert tomorrow night, we will have a night off. Sasha, Kim and I have been salivating all week at the prospect of seeing the "Sirens of TI" show at Treasure Island, where we will be staying. (Good rates. Nice rooms. I recommend it!) In preparation, there has been much lascivious emailing about pirates. We are anxious to see how their hair gel holds up when their vessel capsizes, as it does every hour and a half, seven nights a week.

We stop in Kingman at a diner, and Sasha and Kim spontaneously break into a performance of "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean."

Here are the happy travelers:

We indulge in onion rings and root beer floats, and then it's onward. I have never seen the Hoover Dam, so I am kind of excited.

As we get closer, they are doing road work. And the road across the Dam is, of course, two lanes. This gives us a lot of time to see the dam from afar and discuss driving over it.

Sasha, mildly afraid of heights, doesn't love it, but Kim is NOT HAPPY about driving over the Hoover Dam. It doesn't help that we are now in bumper-to-bumper traffic, giving her nearly an hour to ponder the likelihood of an earthquake. We crawl closer, and Danny's phone whinnies. As we come down the hill to the dam, there is some kind of large waterway on the left. "What is that giant hole???" Kim wants to know. I don't know - some kind of spillway? Danny's phone whinnies again. Sasha turns around and says, very, very sweetly, "Um, Danny? Could you turn that off for about ten minutes? We have one nerve left, and we are sharing it." Danny grins at me and mutes the phone.

Here is Kim, not enjoying the Hoover Dam:

Just as we are partway across, we look over and see some guy leaning his toddler over the edge. "Who does that!?!" Kim demands.

If we come this way again, we can use the new bridge they are building instead of driving over the dam. But I doubt Kim will enjoy it much more:

We survive, and head down the hill towards Henderson. But now it's Danny who isn't very happy - he wants to get to Vegas already. Once we're there and I check us in, we learn that he is coming down with the flu. He retreats to his room, and we will not see him for the next fifteen hours.

Sasha, Kim and I head down to the front of the hotel for the show. We get there early and get good spots right in front of the Sirens' ship. The way it's set up, you have to choose to stand near either the pirates or the Sirens. We choose the Sirens, because it's closest to the bar. Sasha goes for drinks (two leaded and one, as they say in the South, "un.") She returns with giant skulls of margaritas. And you know, everything tastes better when it's drunk from a giant skull!

A breeze has come up, and an announcement comes over the loudspeaker. The show may be cancelled due to wind. Well, what the hell! "A decision will be made soon." Sure enough, it is cancelled. WTF?? We have come this far, and we want hair gel! Has our bad luck affected the pirates too?

Kim decides to perform her own Sirens of TI show.

It turns out that as a consolation prize we can have our pictures taken with the Sirens and pirates. Well, that is something we will have to do.

And then we will have to gamble. Kind of. I am too intimidated to actually gamble, but I bet $1 on a slot machine called...

and in half an hour it's turned into $22.50! Maybe our luck is changing.

It's now time for the next Sirens show, and it is all we imagined it would be. Now we understand why they routinely cancel it due to wind. The heat from the flames is intense, and you would not want to be standing there in booty shorts if the flames blow the wrong way.

And then, since we are Vegas amateurs, it's time for bed. If Danny were with us, he'd probably be ashamed.

In the morning, I am thinking about whether it's realistic to force Danny to rehearse the house concert. It will take us a couple hours to really prepare. I text him to check in, and he's feeling kind of human and is willing to do it. But I ask Sasha what she thinks about us performing the actual play in the home of her friends Jim and Joy, who have generously agreed to open their living room to us. No slides, no sound cues. Instead of house concert, what if we do a House Play? She calls them, and they are not only willing, but eager.

At the start of this tour, I would never have considered doing the play in a living room without the multimedia elements. But because of all the technical snafus, I've now done the play without every single technical element at some point. I was surprised to realize that it worked. The play relies on the images and sound cues less than I thought it did.

Okay, it's settled. I call Danny and tell him to relax. We don't have to rehearse. "Are you sure?" He's now feeling fine and wants to go get lunch. Yep!

After lunch, we look over to see that Treasure Island has thoughtfully installed a station to provide us the medical help we need after our arduous week-long journey.

We are feeling much better now. Thank you, nurse.

I have to say that the House Play at Jim and Joy's is the best of the tour, performance-wise. We are free from all technical problems at last, which puts Danny and me in a great mood. And I learn an interesting thing. Because they are not looking away from me every few minutes at the screen, the audience and I are far more connected. Danny and I are more connected. The show feels great.

Also - the great thing about a house concert is you get to know lots of interesting people. Here is this particular group of interesting people!

Hmm. A house play? Without complicated scheduling? No press releases? A completely underground, guerilla theatrical experience in YOUR LIVING ROOM??? Maybe this is a new direction.

This is not to say that I don't plan on continuing to do the play with the slides. They add something important. But they also take something important away - the connection between the audience and me. And, as my cousin Rio observes, sometimes it's good to form your own picture of the characters instead of seeing a photograph of them.

After the play, our little foursome begins to disperse. Sasha goes with her husband Lloyd. Kim, her boyfriend Carl, Danny and I decide to end the week by going to the Bellagio for a proper nightcap. Danny wants to buy us a round of "Infusions," which he drank here a week ago with his friend the Blue-Haired Blonde.

It's been a good week. I'm proud of us and sad it's ending.

Kim and Carl head back to their own room, and Danny says, "Pizza?" Yes. 2:00 am pizza is perfect. We're kind of an unexpected pair of friends. The pizza place is closed, but the coffee shop is open, and it's good to sit and talk about music and life and Danny's feeling that "House Parties," as he keeps calling them, are something we could easily do.

The next morning: Bye, Danny.

I'm alone in the van on the way home. It's very quiet. About an hour out of Vegas, I look out the window to see a small tornado.

Two weeks later, Kim receives the speeding ticket from the photocop in Phoenix. I don't know what's next.

2009-05-31T23:21:00.000-07:00

The Desert Rat Tour, Part 1

Ladies and gentlemen, drumroll please...I have recovered from the Macbook/lemonade incident which will be discussed later in this blog...and I am proud to announce:

It's the CINDERBLOCK BOOKSHELVES DESERT RAT TOUR BLOG POST!!! PART ONE!!!

* * * * *

Booking done, travel arrangements made, press releases out, van packed...Desert Rat Tour 2009! Whoo hoo! Here we go!

"Uh...Rain? What does this light mean?"

"I don't know - maybe we should call Kim."

Kim says: "Can you send me a picture of it?" "Uh, sure." "Oh, that? No problem. It happens all the time."

Rock and roll! Desert Rat Tour 2009! We're on our way to Las Vegas!

I bet you didn't know there was a great Mexican restaurant in Boron. Mmmmm. Sasha requires that I drink a Cadillac Margarita. I'm not driving, so hey!

We travel along part of old Route 66 past a graveyard of rusting signs, barking dogs and laundry.

Las Vegas rises from the desert. We pick Danny up at McCarran, who is fueled on a hot dog and coffee and ready to rehearse. I like that in a musician. After lovely sodas and guacamole at Sasha's folks', we head to a nice hotel. I cook spaghetti in my super-groovy modern room...

and we go over all the songs and sound cues for "Cinderblock Bookshelves."

Sasha returns from dinner with her parents, and she and I are beat. But Danny is not, and is off to the Bellagio for drinks with the Blue-Haired Blonde.

In the morning, after a refreshing frigid soaking from the showerhead that is unexpectedly ON and POINTED DIRECTLY AT ME, we get in the van and set out to drive six hours towards Colorado. Did you get any sleep, Danny? "Oh, yeah, plenty. I slept from about 6:00 am to 9:00."

Sasha used to live in a little town in Utah called Brianhead, so we make a pilgrimage up the mountain, stopping to break the law in a very civilized way:

Sasha loves this country:

She lived here for years. But it's changing, which is making her a little blue. More buildings, new chair lifts, more sprawl.

But she is cheered by a sighting of Mr. & Mrs. Claus, on their summer vacation:

It is great to be on the road. But I'm always a little apprehensive about leaving the family, and there's the question of whether we'll all get along for a week jammed in a Toyota Sienna. Will we have enough to talk about?

There is only one place to stay in Green River, Utah. Literally: most of the hotels are boarded up. But this place is really very nice.

Except, as Danny helpfully points out, for the ominous threat of the Green River Killer...omigod, there he is, Sasha, watch out!

"Howdy, Ma'am. Are you traveling alone?"

I decide it's probably safe to have dinner with him in a crowded place. But I think he is affiliated with a street gang...

In the morning, in perhaps a foreshadowing of mishaps to come, I am carrying luggage down to the parking lot and I trip on the stairs and fall right on my a**. Very graceful. A nice hotel guy helps me up, but it is totally embarrassing and I tweak my knee. Argh. Sasha gets some ice from the hotel and we resume our rock and roll quest.

On the voyage from Green River to Carbondale, Danny will begin a new chapter in his life. Inspired by the sheer emptiness of the road...

...and perhaps lulled into reverie by the Wilco album I am forcing him to listen to, he will create his "Zen" series of films.

There are four. Please watch them all in their entirety. I honestly think he has out-Yoko'd Yoko Ono with this work.

We roll into Carbondale early and go for a fancy vegan lunch. I know there will be an article in the Aspen Times, so we rifle through the stack of newspapers on the bar. I read through the front section and don't find the article. Sasha comes up holding the second section. "Uh, Rain...do you think this might be it?"

Thank you, Stewart Oksenhorn! Wow. Now it's time to go over to KDNK for our on-air appearance, which goes essentially fine, but please remind me that I am NOT GOOD AT COUNTING OFF SONGS. Sorry, Danny. But thank you, Cat, for telling everyone to listen online.

And look! They have a freebox at the radio station, so I feel right at home.

Sasha and I have practiced setting up the set at my house, so when we get to Steve's Guitars she is unloading and sorting like a calm, capable banshee. However, I have made a tactical error by not reminding myself how to work the wireless mic. Steve is lovely - a font of reassuring wisdom. But it takes a while. I call the sound guru Dirk Schubert at 7:30 pm. He picks right up, and in the calm voice, asks: "Is this the panic call?" "Not quite yet," I lie, and hand the phone to Steve, who goes over everything with Dirk and gets it all working. Whew!

Everyone's in - it's packed, and our set actually fits in the guitar shop. Once again, I am grateful to Robert Prior for his excellent set design.

Before:

After:

And so begin a series of evenings filled with wonderful, attentive audiences and monstrous technical snafus. We had bought a spare lamp for the projector before we left town (at $250!), but guess what - it is the FAN that goes out that night, causing the projector to overheat with the resulting unpredictable loss of images on the screen behind me. But Sasha never gives up, rebooting probably twenty times. And the audience stays with us the whole time.

At the curtain call, I get the audience to sing, because it's Danny's birthday!! My cousin Sierra has made him the most awesome cake.

Then he and Steve talk shop.

My old friend Russell has driven down from Boulder and it is crazy and great to see him after - yikes - nearly thirty years. Oh, god, I can't believe I wrote that.

One more picture from Steve's:

After a long, deep late night conversation with my aunt and cousin about our family, and breakfast at the Village Smithy, we head out - one step ahead of the Green River Killer's northeastern compatriot, the Carbondale Cannibal - and are off across the Million Dollar Highway past Ouray to Silverton and Durango. Sasha ably navigates. Danny loves the road - it is his natural habitat. As you can see, he is quite at home:

I think about the fact that he was on tour with the Clash when I was a fourteen-year-old here learning how to play the guitar. He never runs out of killer rock and roll stories, and I am happy for that.

It's beautiful in the summertime, but I would not want to drive a snowplow here. Holy mackerel. Sasha is surehanded at the wheel, which is good because there are NO GUARDRAILS HALF THE TIME. Danny wants to know when we will get to the beautiful part of the drive. In Silverton, we stop for lunch and Sasha literally bumps into some friends she knew in Vegas. Don't you find that always happens? Yet it always seems so unbelievable.

Danny on an important candy-related errand:

Hard to believe, but my dad and I made it through a winter in this country in a VW bug with no snow tires.

Then we come out of the mountains, driving past my old school, and into Durango. I don't remember it being quite so touristy - but I guess it was. Being broke and underage gives you a slightly different perspective. But we don't really have time to look at much, as we are racing to Fort Lewis College for the show.

Again, we are there in plenty of time, and though the set looks great on the big stage:

...again we are plagued by technical problems. The staff tries to help, but we seem to be cursed. Add to this the fact that we find out that the college actually had its graduation a week before my show so there are no students on campus, and it begins to feel a tad Spinal Tap-esque. But the few people who do come matter so much - my beloved friend Michael Bolotin and a group from my old school (the school prominently featured in the "defloweration" section of the evening!) - and again the play has brought me in touch with folks I haven't seen in years. And the teenagers are great and want to compare notes about which cabin I lived in and the way things were then and the way they are now.

Break down the set. Store the merch. Store the gear. Pay the rental for the venue (gotta rethink that kind of booking). Secret wine with Michael and his dog Iko in the college parking lot (Iko does not drink the wine) and we are on the road again. We just barely elude yet another threat, the Durango Demon, and drive southwest towards the Navajo reservation. Sasha, champ she is, is game for three more hours on the road, but wonders briefly how much elevation we are gaining, as it has now started snowing. But just as she asks it begins to dissipate.

When I booked this tour, it made sense to try to get three hours under our belt so the drive to Phoenix the next day wouldn't be so grueling. But now we're pretty frickin' tired. Still, we soldier on. As we pass Kayenta and turn up 163, we sense towering forms outside the van. It's too dark to really see, but you can't help but know that you have arrived in Monument Valley. After the 2:00 am check in at the hotel the Navajos just opened, we crash for the night. I had debated - it costs twice as much as the Hampton Inn in Kayenta, but this awesome crew deserves something really special. It will be wonderful to wake up here in the morning.

Is it worth it? You tell me:

Sasha is more ambitious than I am, and she can't wait to get out into the red dirt on a morning run. Plus my knee is still throbbing. Danny and I go for breakfast.

We are stoked to realize that Phoenix is not on daylight savings time, so on the night with the least potential amount of sleep we have gained an hour. Still, ever aware of the persistent threat, we strike out just ahead of the Monument Valley Masher and head south. I inform my van-mates that there will be no more beauty on this trip. Hot dry desert from here on out. But of course it isn't true. Flagstaff is gorgeous.

At lunch we begin to think about our upcoming house concert in Las Vegas. In the play we don't do the full songs, so now we have to think about this quite differently. We begin to work up a set list.

From Flagstaff to Phoenix, the desert is subtly beautiful. And today we will get another crew member: Kim!

Next post: Why I Love Google Maps, the tale of the terrifying Hole of Hoover, and Vegas, Baby!

2009-05-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

It has been since the election that I posted anything here. But guess what? I am actually working on a new post!

2008-09-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone:

I'm back. Schools in session, both conventions are over, and I can concentrate again on music, with one aside:

This updates daily, so check back!

2008-08-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to report that CINDERBLOCK BOOKSHELVES is #22 on the EuroAmericana chart!

2008-07-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

Hello, Netherlands! I've received three reviews on Dutch websites:

http://www.altcountry.nl/recensiesjul08.html#rainp

Both the Google translation and that of Dictionary.com are pretty comical, but you can get the idea!

2008-07-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

It's summer! It's too hot to post anything.

2008-04-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

KPIG 4/26/08 with Tim Lynch. Fun - great show!

Danny, a Dorito, and a train on a trailer on I-5.

2008-04-21T06:48:00.000-07:00

Knitting is so punk rock.

The emails I get from the yarn store (Particularly "That Yarn Store" in Eagle Rock) are so like the emails I get from Indiegrrl.com or the Folk Alliance. The same DIY ethic, the same sense of community, the same vibe of respectful competition to come up with cool, unusual ideas - and particularly the idea that you are doing something timeless, something a little weird, something tactile in an increasingly technical world. Every time I'm knitting in public, someone comes up and asks what I'm making, then tells me about their project, or their memories of the afghan their grandmother made them. It's very, very cool.

2008-03-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Join theNaples Coalitionat their 3rd annual"CASH FOR THE COAST"benefit concert on behalf of the preservation of our pristine Gaviota coast. The performance will be an exciting evening of music and community, with a unique array of musicians giving of their time and talent to "pass the torch" from one generation to the next.

Concert features Friends of the Naples Coalition:
Kenny Loggins,
Karla Bonoff & Kenny Edwards,
Glen Phillips,
Jonathan McEuen,
MoJoW and the Vibration Army,
Rain Perry
Jeff Pevar
And well known Santa Barbara Players
Randy Tico (bass),
George Friedenthal (keyboards),
Maitland Ward (guitar),
Donzel Davis (drums) and
Lois Mahalia (vocals).

Friday, March 21 at 7:00 pm
Lobero Theatre
Concert: 7:00 PM
Post-concert party in rear patio of the Lobero - 9:30 PM

2008-03-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Austin - it's 3 am...so far: Alejandro Escovedo, James Intveld, Bonnie Bramlett, Daniel Lanois, Lou Reed, Martha Wainwright, Johnette Napolitano. Ehhhhh....

2008-02-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

About Kanye: I know he's a meglomaniac and his performance at the Grammys was slick and everything, but it took a lot of grace for him to hold it together and do that tribute to his mom. I think he rocked.

2008-02-11T01:18:00.000-08:00

Backstage on opening night w/ Danny.

2008-02-10T10:06:00.001-08:00

2008-02-10T08:10:00.002-08:00

Hello there: it's been a while since I've posted anything, as I've been busy getting ready for the World Premiere of Cinderblock Bookshelves. I'm thrilled to announce that it's going great! For tickets, contact Theater 150.

2007-12-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

Cinderblock Bookshelves is coming your way...

I so happy to accounce the upcoming WORLD PREMIERE of my play Cinderblock Bookshelves at Theater 150 on February 8th, 2008!

2007-12-05T15:48:00.001-08:00

Patricia Cardinali benefit concert!

2007-11-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

Local musician Phyllis Kathryn 'Kae' Herron dies

Big band singer, songwriter, formed the Melodears in 1977

By Alicia Doyle
Correspondent
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

After a lifetime rich with her musical talent and fun-loving spirit, Phyllis Kathryn "Kae" Herron died Nov. 12 at her Ventura home, her family said. She was 90.

"She was a very small person, only 4 feet 10 inches tall when she reached 90 years old, but she had a mighty spirit," said her daughter Robbie Frandsen of Los Angeles. "She remained funny, kind, gracious and humble to her very last day."

Born April 29, 1917, in Vallejo, Herron (nee Brown) spent her teens and early 20s singing with big bands in the San Francisco Bay Area, most notably the Horace Heidt Orchestra.

Hollywood Clowns was start

In 1939, she married Bob Herron, a naval officer, and they had two daughters, Melody and Robyn. Kae and Bob, now 96, would have celebrated their 68th anniversary this year. There are two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

"Kae gave birth to her first child at the naval base in Honolulu, having boarded Pan Am's first commercial flight after World War II and traveled to Hawaii to be with her husband when she had the baby," said Rain Perry, Herron's granddaughter. "There was no family housing yet at Pearl Harbor, so Bob had to make a special request."

The Herron family moved quite a bit throughout the West Coast and East in support of Bob's career as a salesman of tabulating machines for IBM.

In the late '60s, they settled in the San Fernando Valley, where Kae Herron began performing with a group led by Jerry Patterson called the Hollywood Clowns. They went on to perform as a duo at dozens of birthday parties, from Pacific Palisades to East Los Angeles.

Wrote more than 100 songs

After her husband retired from IBM, the couple moved to Ventura Marina Mobile Home Park in 1974 and Kae joined the musical variety group The Rhythmettes as a pianist.

"When Kae joined the Rhythmettes, they were a kazoo band," said Perry, an Ojai resident and award-winning singer-songwriter in her own right. "My grandma wanted to do something more interesting, so she formed the Melodears in 1977."

Some of the members had musical experience, some none at all, but it didn't matter to Herron.

"They just needed enthusiasm and a good work ethic," Perry said, adding that her grandmother wrote sophisticated musical arrangements for vocal quartets, violin trios, melodicas and kazoos. Over the years, the Melodears performed at events and community centers, nursing homes and private parties throughout Ventura County.

"She was always going out and getting paying jobs for them; they called her the benevolent dictator," Frandsen said. "She did all the arrangements, wrote everything out by hand on sheet music. ... She had perfect pitch and a beautiful voice. She wrote over 100 songs."

In the late 1970s, Kae and Bob Herron wrote "San Buenaventura." The tune turned out to be very popular with Kae Herron's audiences, and for many years she performed the song at every Melodears concert, Frandsen said.

"In the mid-1980s, my mom professionally recorded the song and released it on cassette. ... She's sold numerous copies to friends and fans," she said. "Almost no Melodears concert would go by without a request for this song."

An excellent tap-dancer

Mickey Knapp of Camarillo met Herron 16 years ago when she joined the Melodears.

"She had the most brilliant mind. ... She wrote music and played the organ, barely touching the pedals because she was so little," recalled Knapp, 81. "She was a remarkable woman."

In the late '70s, Herron performed for the public during weekly lunchtime concerts on the Carillon in City Hall, with hourlong performances typically based on a theme, like Christmas, weather or girls' names.

From Perry's perspective as a singer-songwriter, her grandmother has been a fundamental influence.

"I learned how to work a crowd, how to wrap a mic cable, how to compose a set list that flows, to be professional yet always gracious," Perry said. "When I needed to borrow some equipment, I could call my grandmother. Also, she always kept an open mind when it came to music, never judging any new trend."

Herron also was an excellent tap-dancer throughout her life and through her 90s, Frandsen said.

"She taught a good friend who was only 80 to tap, and the two of them danced together twice a week for fun," Frandsen said.

In August, Herron performed a song at her mobile home park's weekly happy hour.

"Without even using the stairs leading to the stage floor, she simply stepped up onto the stage," recalled Frandsen, adding that her mother took up weight training in 1998 after learning that resistance training reverses osteoporosis and can rebuild bone.

"When her friends asked in amazement how she was able to do this at age 90, my mother said, I'm in weight training,' " Frandsen recalled.

"She continued lifting three times a week without fail, performing both upper and lower body strengthening exercises. In 2006, Kae's bone density was that of a 20-year-old."

Looking back on her mother's optimism and zest for life, Frandsen said her legacy will live on.

"When she moved to the retirement community, she saw her life expanding, not shrinking," Frandsen said.

"Her community — especially older people — were really inspired by the fact that she was always doing something new."

A memorial service for Kae Herron is scheduled at 11 a.m. Dec. 8 at Ventura Marina Mobile Home Park, 1215 Anchors Way, in the main clubhouse. Lunch will follow.

To RSVP, call Herron's daughter Robbie at 818-209-8926.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Hermon Community Church, 5718 Monterey Road, Los Angeles 90042. (Designate the Benevolent Fund.)

2007-11-24T21:53:00.001-08:00

I'm happy to announce the release of a brand new CD called "Rescue Me: Music Benefiting Central Texas Dachshund Rescue." My track is a cover of an obscure Paul Simon song called "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War."

Why dachshunds, you ask? Because a friend of mine who loves her dachshunds asked me to contribute a song!

Are there a lot of them roaming loose on the plains of Central Texas? I don't know! But I do know that this CD has a lot of great songs by wonderful artists, including Sara Hickman, Joel Rafael, Terri Hendrix and Brave Combo!

You can order the CD at http://ctdr.org/rescueme.html. Please check it out!

Ruff ruff for now,
Rain

2007-06-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

The new date for the Texas show is August 4th at Theater 150. Visit http://theater150.org for details!

2007-06-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

Two great nights last week of staged readings of my play, Cinderblock Bookshelves with Danny B. Harvey. I think I'm way too soccer-mom-esque to work with cool people like Danny, but doing a play is an artistic experience that's new and different for a guitar player. So, yay.

New album coming AND a tour. Want to be my street team leader? I'm looking for small theaters - 50-99 seats - that would like to have a one- or two-night stand of a one-woman play. Mid-week is fine. If you know of anything like that in your neck of the woods, I'd sure love to hear about it!

2007-05-18T06:54:00.001-07:00

So sorry we had to reschedule the Texas show! As soon as we have a new date, I'll let you know.

2007-04-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

My last post was March 21st, and I promised lots of SXSW lowdown. But does anyone care anymore about my sharp cultural observations (as if they did before)? I want to live in the now.
Here are teeniest little ducks that my daughter Stella spotted in the "ocean" at Disney's California Adventure. They were literally the size of a walnut.
Here's a picture of the choir at the recording session for Julie Christensen's killer song "Rapture Index=0," from her new album. What a rockin' song, and it's going to be a great, very political album.
And, finally, here's a group shot of the fabulous "Repeat Offenders: Dirty Girls Come Clean" show at Theater 150.

2007-03-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the lowdown on sxsw music festival. My lowdown on the conference will come next.

I saw 30 or so bands (which is just over 2% of the total number of bands showcasing!) at SXSW, as well as several unofficial shows. I missed some things everyone was talking about (of course), but all in all I'd say I did okay, both in diversity and quantity of acts seen.

Okay, starting with the LEAST indie, least unknown first: let me just say that with his porn star-looking wife writhing around onstage and his silver lame pants, Perry Farrell is a showman in the grand tradition of Freddy Mercury and David Bowie. You know you're not watching yet another earnest hipster indie rock band when he waves his arm across the crowd and says: "You all look so ravishing! I just want to grab you by the hair and..." (okay, you get the idea). And quite a breathtaking striped sweater. Maybe it was my mood, but i loved it.

Rickie Lee performed a few shows, as well as sat for an interview during the conference. The show I caught was on the last day, an afternoon thing at the convention center where they were broadcasting live for Direct TV. It was a set designed to look like a club. They had two: the "Bat Bar" and the "Lone Star Lounge" or something. Anyway, her band was really tight and she was in a good mood. She said, "this has turned out to be a lot of fun for me. There should just be more food for when you're walking down the street at 2 am after your show and you're drunk...we need more food for the people." She was focused and beautiful and when she wailed "Do you know my name? Do you know my name?" it was an anthem for all of the hopeful souls trying to be heard in Austin last week. I was crying, but that's not rare.

I saw Kaki King, who was amazing. She performs these weird percussive things and then loops them and it's fiddle and guitar and very interesting. Andrew Bird does something along those lines but with a band and with his surreal, ethereal lyrics. At one point he introduced the song "Plasticities," and the guy behind me yelled "Plasticities!" like it was "Freebird." Funny! And then talked throughout the whole song.

Martha Wainwright is some kind of otherworldly creature - so charming and lovely and sexy and talented - something in the Wainwright/McGarrigle DNA is more talented than the rest of us humans. She's a timeless performer, which was refreshing because quite a few of the bands I saw were completely of the moment - a moment that will pass.

They weren't on the official SXSW showcase list, but I had a blast watching the Lonesome Spurs at Hole in the Wall. They are the duo of Lynda Kay Parker and Danny B. Harvey - he plays rockabilly lead guitar and she plays rhythm, sings and a Samsonite suitcase kick drum. Very fun. Plus - it turns out that Danny B used to tour with Nancy Sinatra, and they played the song "Kind of a Woman" that my mom wrote.

Okay - gotta get the kids to bed and will post more soon.

2007-03-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

An opportunity at SXSW that I chose not to pursue.

2007-03-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

Eliza Gilkyson at the Hilton Garden Inn with Mike Hardwick. Again, fuzzy. But you get the idea.

2007-03-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

Rickie Lee Jones live on the Direct TV stage - the picture's a little fuzzy--sorry.

2007-03-17T07:36:00.000-07:00

A Letter to Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and now The Nightwatchman):

Hi, Tom - I attended your panel discussion yesterday, and I want to thank you for your enthusiasm and positivity. I got so frustrated with the moderator's cool, detached cynicism, and I'm sorry, but I wanted to strangle her when she said that walking down Sixth Street made her want to grab 90% of the bands playing and tell them to give up. Your response--that it depends how you define success--was exactly right.

Sure, most of us have nurtured visions of the kind of success she values, but -- at least in my case -- we realize that we are on a different path. For me, it's important to balance my burning desire to write and perform with my burning desire to sit at home and watch videos with my kids. In her worldview, that makes me a big loser.

If success means only one thing, then you're doomed to never appreciate the small miracles - the moments of artistic connection with people, the great feeling when someone really gets your song and it moves them, the human experience of being just another parent at your kids' soccer game.

I guess it all comes down to not feeling good enough - not worthy, which is the root of so much darkness in the world. In that respect, I feel bad for people, like your panel's moderator, who only value the kind of success that is inherently unfulfilling and temporary. So who's more successful? Who's happier? Ironically, it's the guy you referred to in Pacoima with his band in the garage.

So anyway, thanks again. I really appreciated everything you said.

Take care,
Rain Perry

2007-03-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

Swag-o-rama!

2007-03-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

SXSW, Day One: After a night of pouring raining and lightning, I got to the convention center WAY early, which was good because the lines got really long. Got my badge and giant bag of swag (containing promo CDs, flyers for showcases, Thayers Slippery Elm Throat Losenges, condoms, a voodoo doll rubberbanded to a CD of New Orleans music and more, then killed time until Mark Hallman's panel discussion on recording, then over to the Hilton to see Pete Townshend interviewed by the great Bill Flanagan.

2007-03-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

I'm here and ready to face the insanity - going down to pick up my badge.

2007-03-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

from Patti Smith:

Op-Ed Contributor
Ain’t It Strange?
By PATTI SMITH
Published: March 12, 2007

ON a cold morning in 1955, walking to Sunday school, I was drawn to the voice of Little Richard wailing “Tutti Frutti” from the interior of a local boy’s makeshift clubhouse. So powerful was the connection that I let go of my mother’s hand.

Rock ’n’ roll. It drew me from my path to a sea of possibilities. It sheltered and shattered me, from the end of childhood through a painful adolescence. I had my first altercation with my father when the Rolling Stones made their debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Rock ’n’ roll was mine to defend. It strengthened my hand and gave me a sense of tribe as I boarded a bus from South Jersey to freedom in 1967.

Rock ’n’ roll, at that time, was a fusion of intimacies. Repression bloomed into rapture like raging weeds shooting through cracks in the cement. Our music provided a sense of communal activism. Our artists provoked our ascension into awareness as we ran amok in a frenzied state of grace.

My late husband, Fred Sonic Smith, then of Detroit’s MC5, was a part of the brotherhood instrumental in forging a revolution: seeking to save the world with love and the electric guitar. He created aural autonomy yet did not have the constitution to survive all the complexities of existence.

Before he died, in the winter of 1994, he counseled me to continue working. He believed that one day I would be recognized for my efforts and though I protested, he quietly asked me to accept what was bestowed — gracefully — in his name.

Today I will join R.E.M., the Ronettes, Van Halen and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On the eve of this event I asked myself many questions. Should an artist working within the revolutionary landscape of rock accept laurels from an institution? Should laurels be offered? Am I a worthy recipient?

I have wrestled with these questions and my conscience leads me back to Fred and those like him — the maverick souls who may never be afforded such honors. Thus in his name I will accept with gratitude. Fred Sonic Smith was of the people, and I am none but him: one who has loved rock ’n’ roll and crawled from the ranks to the stage, to salute history and plant seeds for the erratic magic landscape of the new guard.

Because its members will be the guardians of our cultural voice. The Internet is their CBGB. Their territory is global. They will dictate how they want to create and disseminate their work. They will, in time, make breathless changes in our political process. They have the technology to unite and create a new party, to be vigilant in their choice of candidates, unfettered by corporate pressure. Their potential power to form and reform is unprecedented.

Human history abounds with idealistic movements that rise, then fall in disarray. The children of light. The journey to the East. The summer of love. The season of grunge. But just as we seem to repeat our follies, we also abide.

Rock ’n’ roll drew me from my mother’s hand and led me to experience. In the end it was my neighbors who put everything in perspective. An approving nod from the old Italian woman who sells me pasta. A high five from the postman. An embrace from the notary and his wife. And a shout from the sanitation man driving down my street: “Hey, Patti, Hall of Fame. One for us.”

I just smiled, and I noticed I was proud. One for the neighborhood. My parents. My band. One for Fred. And anybody else who wants to come along.

2007-03-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

These are amazing:

2007-02-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned, I'm going to the South by Southwest conference/festival this year. I'm going to keep a regular blog about it here, so if you're curious about this crazy, essential music/film/interactive extravaganza, check back, especially between March 13 - 18th.

Here is a preliminary list of my favorite band names (parental guidance suggested), of the 1000's (official and unofficial) scheduled to perform:

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
Reyjavik!
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
Cute Is What We Aim For
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
The Faintest Ideas
O'Death
Alabama Thunderpussy
Attractive and Popular
The Cynics
Die! Die! Die!
Holy Fuck
Holy Shit!
How I Became the Bomb
I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House
Jack-O and the Tennessee Tearjerkers

More to come...

2007-02-26T13:29:00.000-08:00

Q: What do you call 100 lesbians with rifles?
A: Militia Etheridge.

Q: How many Deadheads does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: None. Deadheads screw in sleeping bags.

These jokes and many more can be found at amiright.com. Slogan: "Making fun of music, one song at a time!"

2007-02-24T18:58:00.001-08:00

Have you seen this? It's lovely.

2007-02-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm a big sucker, but I loved "Music and Lyrics." I loved the 80's music video, loved the pop songstress with her giant Buddha, was tickled that they showed Protools onscreen--and was horrified to see myself and my friends as EXACTLY THE SAME AGE as the moms swooning over Hugh Grant's character! It was just as predictable and silly and cute as I expected.

2007-02-09T14:17:00.000-08:00

I'm going to South by Southwest, baby! It's time for me to embrace the insanity. I'll keep regular posts here about it, so check back.

2007-01-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Andy! This is a picture of Andrew Hardin and me at Union Station in Washington DC at the conference of rheumatologists. And here's another of us onstage.

2006-12-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

There is no personal financial benefit to producing concerts at a tiny theater for traveling troubadour musicians, but there are other, less tangible rewards, which were in evidence Saturday night when, after the Sara Hickman concert at Theater 150, I stayed up until nearly 2:00 am talking about sex with Sara and Kristin DeWitt! I will not reveal what was said, except that there was some discussion of Kraft marshmallow creme, and that I see Jack Black in a slightly different light than I did before...

All that aside, it was a really great show. Thank you, Sara & Kristin, for coming up to our little theater, and thanks to the full house that came to see them, and thanks to Dirk and Matt for the killer sound!

2006-11-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

What a fascinating weekend. I was invited to give a speech and perform at the Amgen "Million Patient Year" celebration at the American College of Rheumatology's annual conference. Sounds weird, huh? But it was beautiful. The event was held at Union Station in Washington DC, which was LOVELY. There were about 700 folks there - a rowdy crew of rheumatologists! I got a very warm response and had a great time.

Four main highlights of the trip:

1. Touring Washington DC with my husband Bill and Andrew Hardin, whom Amgen flew in to accompany me. We had a blast. And then getting to perform with Andy...oh my god, he's such an amazing guitar player and a great person, even if he did say that I was a constant source of amusement to him. I'll have pictures soon and will post them.

2. A guy walked up to me after the performance and said "I worked on the Enbrel clinical trials - I'm a researcher, so I'm way, way in a back room and I never see patients. What you said made me feel like what I do matters." I about fell over, it was so sweet. It took the oddness of performing at a corporate event like this and made it totally make sense.

3. Oh - Saturday, the night before the show, Bill, Andy and I went to this restaurant called "Marrakesh" and had northern african food and it was great and there was a hallway full of fascinating celebrity pictures. But let me tell you that it's very entertaining sitting wedged between two men as they are watching a hot belly dancer...

4. Finally, little did I expect to find myself having a spirited metaphysical discussion at 1 am in a restaurant with Bill and Andy and my hostess, Laura Nicholson, from the Health Advocacy Group. In fact, i'm so happy to have met all the interesting and cool people I've met through this event - Laura, Beth, Michael, Sonia, Marni and the folks at Wyeth and Amgen.

Thanks, everybody!

2006-10-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Stella, to go along with the surfing picture of Sarah a couple of months back!

2006-09-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

What I'm listening to this morning:

Erin McKeown's "We Will Become Like Birds" is SO GOOD. She's more talented than Jack White and just a little thing with music just pouring out of her - go see her live if you can.

Dolly Parton: "Just Because I'm a Woman." Dolly is a great songwriter, which people forget. Many wonderful songs on this album, but most striking is the very first live performance of "Coat of Many Colors." The crowd's response is awesome.

Joan Armatrading - self titled. She's an incredible guitarist and great songwriter and should be more known these days than she is.

Pretenders - well, nothing needs to be said.

2006-09-16T19:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm a little slow on the uptake. I now understand that "get up on it" is the feminine equivalent of "get down on it." Doh.

2006-09-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

Alright: as a mom, I listen to the radio CONSTANTLY, and there is something that is really bugging me right now. I am so sick of everybody letting each other "get up on it" all the time. Why can't they at least get up on "me?" But no, it's "come check up on IT" and "I'm gonna let you work up on IT" and "Mizz New Booty - get it together and bring IT back to me" (never mind "Dip it, pop it, twirk it, stop it...")

Twirk it?

What is up with this use of the word "IT?" AAAARRRGGGHHHH!

2006-09-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is wondering, here's how much raw material can go into a book! Impressive, eh?

2006-09-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

I've been home from Austin for a couple of days and am doing a good job of not driving my family insane ("Omigod, it was so fun! I said this, and Mark said this, and then Andy made this joke about Spinal Tap and at night I went to this awesome restaurant, and saw this band, and...")

What I have been talking about is how profoundly grateful I am to have found my way to Congress House, and how thrilled I am with how good the album is sounding and with the stellar collection of players and special guests. And, most of all, I'm telling how much I appreciate Mark Hallman. He's putting his heart into my project (which I think is the only way he's capable of working, since he has so much heart). Thank you, thank you.

So...here's a list of the awesome folks who are making special appearances on the record: Perla Batalla, Julie Christensen, Sara Hickman, Eliza Gilkyson, Victoria Williams and Andrew Hardin. I don't know when this album will come out - it depends on how soon I can get a publisher for the book and whether I end up releasing it on my own label (Precipitous Records) or try to make a deal with a smallish indie label. So stay tuned...

Love,
Rain

2006-08-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

What a day. This record is going to be cool...that's all I can say. I can't wait for everyone to hear it. Today the fates smiled and Eliza Gilkyson came by to sing a harmony. I'm pretty stoked about it. And I went to see Tom Russell tonight, who was GREAT as usual. He's coming to the Ojai-Santa Paula area in December...stay tuned.

2006-08-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm the only one in the Austin Folk House tonight. This is my room. Chris from the sister b&b Star of Texas just came and fixed the modem so I could get online. He said "Your name is Rain? Not Rae-Ann?" and I couldn't help but think of Tim Robbins in Bull Durham ("Rae-Ann...she's a-stayin'...") I promised him I'd be okay alone here. This morning the nice girl working asked if I could come to the other hotel for breakfast tomorrow so she didn't have to cook breakfast for just me. That's fine - the moms who were here this morning sending their daughters off to the U of T are gone now...that will be me in a few short years.

This is a great hotel. Come here if you want to stay right by the U of Texas. Here is an example of why it's cool.

I did three or four more songs today. If I do say so myself, I'm kicking ass, although the pendulum still swings minute by minute between "I rock" and "I suck." I left Congress House and drove up Congress and people were gathered on the Congress Ave. Bridge, and I thought - when will I be back? - so I parked at the newspaper parking lot and watched the bats fly at dusk. I didn't get any good pictures because they went east along the river, but I will say that it was cool to watch them take off.

I went to Waterloo Records and wow.

Feeling a little melancholy tonight because a. I miss my family, and b. I know this recording is wrapping up and I'm sad. This is fun and wonderful and the part of me that does this is a little undernourished.

Good night from Austin,
Rain

2006-08-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

Otto Reynolds of Upper Ojai passed away this morning. Today I'm singing one for him.

2006-08-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

I just have to post this cool picture of my daughter, from the Rebel Surfboards website. No, she's not a musician like mom, she's a surfer!

2006-08-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

This is where I'm staying while I finish up some editing and get my voice warmed up for the vocals I'll be recording next week. If you come to Austin, I highly recommend the Lost Parrot Cabins. It's the greatest.

2006-08-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the lovely "Beautiful Tree" singers at the recording session in Ojai: Kim Maxwell (making her recording studio debut), Julie Christensen, and my grandmother Kae Herron. The other beautiful trees were JB White, Charlie Bosson, Patty Clarke and Victoria Williams. Jim Lashly contributed telepathically from Big Sur. It was fun and wacky, just as I wanted it to be.

I'm now back in Austin, getting ready to lay down some vocals. More soon.

2006-08-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so pleased that Ms. Victoria Williams is here and tomorrow we'll record the back up vocals to a song called "Wild Child." Yay! Also, she and some other lovely friends will be singing the chorus to the song "beautiful tree." We're doing these vocals in Ojai, and then on the 27th I go back to Austin to do the lead vocals at the Congress House.

2006-06-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture from a few months ago, but it's so cute I had to post it now.

This is Sara Hickman, in flippers, and my friend Pam Schubert bringing breakfast in bed before Sara sang (and I got to sing backup) for a lovely remembrance service for Pam and Dirk Schubert's friend. Few people could pull off flippers, but Sara looks dashing.

2006-06-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

I promised pictures of Austin and finally uploaded a few. Here they are:

Here's the special water that was in my room at the San Jose Hotel. I felt immediately welcome! Here are Mark Hallman and bass player Wheat Bailey in the control room at Congress House:

Here is Ned, Mark's assistant, whose head I unfortunately cut off: Here is the bulletin board at Congress House with a picture of Tom Russell, Andy Hardin and Nanci Griffith that was taken on the day they recorded my song "Yosemite." And finally, here is a picture of the Ani DiFranco door jam - Ani's Mixing board masking tapes which make a lovely room decor!

2006-06-12T15:49:00.000-07:00

Couple musical suggestions - have you heard Sufjan Stevens' "Come on Feel the Illinoise?" He has to be one of the most creative people I've ever encountered. It's a song cycle all about Illinois that is just so weird and cool. He also did Michigan. Apparently he plans on doing all the states, although I hope he has some signficant funding, because fifty albums requiring massive amounts of research is going to require some time and money! But check it out - this album is really, really, wonderful.

Also, I've been listening to Matt the Electrician. He opened for Bob Schneider at the Roxy a couple of weeks ago and was GREAT! I guess there is no lack of incredible musicians from Austin.

2006-05-19T11:12:00.000-07:00

When I was twelve, I moved to Upper Ojai to the home of my dad's girlfriend at the time. It wasn't long before I became aware of the legenday Carl Hofmeister: rancher, captain of the Search and Rescue team, and de facto Mayor of Upper Ojai. He was larger than life (though technically quite short). You didn't want to trespass on his property.

Years went by and my husband Bill and I made our life here in Upper Ojai. Bill joined the Search and Rescue team, and I got to know Carl a little bit. I really got to know Audrey, his wife, from the 3 am phone call: "Hello, this is Audrey. Wake up your other half: there's a rescue." More years went by, Carl retired, and Bill eventually became the captain of the Upper Ojai team himself.

Carl passed away the other day, and today I was helping draft his obituary. And that is a strange story of how things can come full circle in ways you least expect them to.

2006-05-17T21:57:00.000-07:00

By the way, I haven't mentioned the KILLER tracks Kevin McCormick, Jim Christie and Jonathan McEuen recorded in Ventura for "So You're the Muse" and "There's a Problem with the Dam." That Muse rhythm section is very cool, very Bill Withers. Yes.

2006-05-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

I'm home! Now the laundry and bookkeeping. I'll post a bunch of pictures soon. Hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day.

2006-05-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well, that's it. Week One of recording is a wrap, and boy, what a wonderful week. I love Mark Hallman. We got so much done. It was great to meet Ned and Tyler too, and I'm very, very happy.

My voice is out of shape! I've been sitting in front of the computer too much. Now my homework is to really warm up so when I come back in a few weeks to do the vocals I will sound GREAT!

Thanks, Wheat. Thanks, Dave (Snizz). The problem with coming here to record is that these great players live 1500 miles away from me!

Thanks, Kristen, for a lovely dinner. Sigh. I can't wait to see my family tomorrow, but I'm a little sad to go.

Tomorrow I am going to Barton Springs, and though I'm pretty wimpy about chilly water, I'm going in.

2006-05-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, folks - back at home in Ojai, my ten-minute play "That Little Red" will debut as part of Theater 150's Ten-Minute Play Festival. Please visit http://www.theater150.org or http://www.rainperry.com/calendar.html for more info!

2006-05-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

Once again I am boring. But it's for the greater good (that's what we all think our "art" is for). I didn't hear the band in the parking lot. I ate Whole Foods takeout in my hotel room and worked on the introduction for my book. Yeehaw!

2006-05-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

I am having fun, and we are getting a LOT done. Mark is one of the most efficient, yet unrushed, creative people I've ever worked with. But I'm tired! And I miss my family.

Today was wah wah Bill Withers guitar day. Also pretty arpeggiated guitar day and solid bass day. It was not Wheat or "Girl on the Side." That will be tomorrow.

The Whole Foods market here is so overwhelming, I didn't know where to start. It's gourmet health food Mecca. Dinner, listen to the band in the parking lot, then bed.

2006-05-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

What a glamorous rock and roll lifestyle I'm leading here in Austin. Last night I went and got a noodle bowl, read my VI Warshawski mystery and went to bed. I will probably kick myself for not seeing James Brown, but I didn't want to drive and park and then drive back late and park again and frankly it's kind of tiring being a single woman in a bar. Not because I'm REALLY, REALLY RIDICULOUSLY GOOD LOOKING, as Zoolander would say, but just because drunk guys are the way drunk guys are. I walked across the street to the (wonderful old) Continental Club the other night and was trying to discreetly kick back and listen to the music when some Teva-clad pony-tailed guy plopped down next to me and slid his hand into mine (which was resting at that moment on my thigh). I took my hand away and he said, "Don't worry! I'm just really, really drunk." I said, "I'm not worried, I'm just trying to listen to the band," and turned my attention back to the stage, but then he kept sitting there and it was uncomfortable and...I'm probably just way too uptight about this kind of stuff. I watched three other women dance with the guy and he seemed pretty mellow. But it's just easier when you're out with a friend.

So! More bass parts from Wheat Bailey today and then Mark and I will dig in and work on the structure of a new song called "Girl on the Side." I CAN'T WAIT FOR EVERYONE TO HEAR WHAT WE'RE DOING!!!

2006-05-10T17:19:00.001-07:00

Should I go see James Brown, who's playing in Austin tonight, or should I lay low and get some rest? Don't know yet. Too many choices in this town.

Today was lots of nit-picky punching in on drums and bass, but by the end of the day Mark laid down some really weird and cool guitar parts on my songs "Wild Child" and "Beautiful Tree." They rock! I mean really.

2006-05-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - went for an early, pre-sweltering-heat, walk down to Town Lake under the Congress Ave. bridge, home of the famous bats. I could hear and smell them, but couldn't see them. Here's a picture someone took of the bats emerging at dusk. I really appreciate the bats because I now have twelve mosquito bites.

2006-05-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

If yesterday was mellow folksinger day, today was ROCK AND ROLL FUNKVILLE. Dave "Snizz" Robinson killed on drums and Wheat Bailey provided Funk Brothers bass on "Dear Dana," "Girl in the Boy's Room," "Wild Child" and "Beautiful Tree." This is so much fun!

2006-05-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Day 2: off to the studio. I watched "Badlands" last night. Oh my god, Martin Sheen was so sexy in that movie. He has lots of charisma on the West Wing and all, but jeez louise. Sissy Spacek is subtle and amazing, and the entire movie is pretty much just a duet between the two of them. What a great movie.

2006-05-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Flew into Austin late last night and rented a LOVELY gold Chevy Pacifica. No car ever said "Rental" more than this one. To Congress House (see pix) today to start recording the album with Mark Hallman. He's been mocking up tracks and we've been hashing it out via email for a few weeks. It feels good to get in the actual studio. What a cool studio. It oozes creative vibes from all the wonderful albums that have been cut there - like a who's who of my own record collection. Tom Russell, Eliza Gilkyson, Sara Hickman, Ani DiFranco have all recorded here. There's a picture of Tom and Andrew Hardin smiling with Nanci Griffith, and I was thrilled when I realized that that picture was taken on the day they recorded my song "Yosemite."

Congress House Studio

Sara Hickman came (and brought chocolate chip banana bread - now, that's the way to record an album!) and laid down a perfect guitar track for the song "Thank You." I picked her for this song because she's the gratitude queen. I've never met anyone who exuded such gratitude for life's joys, large and small. Plus I'm just incredibly grateful to her for her willingness to share her friendship and expertise with me. Thank you, Sara.

Mark Hallman is a trip. Funny and real and very talented. I'm so glad I came here! I've never seen anyone zoom around Protools (the recording software) so quickly. And he plays every instrument. On our first day working together in person, we quickly got into a groove and powered through the basic structure of four (count 'em) songs. He was flexible and patient as I tried awkwardly to explain what I was trying to achieve. And his young assistant Ned is solid as a rock.

That said, it's daunting, when you've been working on a project as long as I've been working on this one, to finally be laying down tracks. Of all the possibilities I've heard in my head over the past few years, I now have to articulate exactly what I want on the final product. Don't get me wrong - it's wonderful - but it's kind of scary too. What if I'm wrong?

And another thing hit me today. No two guitar players ever play alike, and the new versions with Mark or Sara playing them were naturally different from the demos I recorded awhile back. Change, no matter how positive, is always challenging, but it finally hit me this afternoon that one of the reasons I was having trouble is this: recording new versions means letting go of the old versions, and the old versions were recorded by Jonathan Raffetto. And so I have to say goodbye to Jonathan all over again, which is hard and sad. So at one point this afternoon I took a quiet breath and thanked Jonathan for his contribution to this project, and opened my heart to the new process I'm in now. It won't be the last time his death blindsides me.

I'm going to take pictures of the studio. It's really groovy. But I don't have my card scanner with me, so I'll post them when I get home.

More soon!

2006-04-14T10:15:00.000-07:00

Six years in the making...my new album is UNDERWAY. Produced by Mark Hallman (Carole King, Eliza Gilkyson, Tom Russell, Ani DiFranco) at Congress House studio in Austin. I'm very excited and will let you know the release date when I know it.