4.26.2009
A wonderful few days of recording with Dani Llamas and Paco Loco. We got a lot done, I played 2-3 things on every song on the album, but it sill felt like a super relaxed time, we never started early or worked late. We had time to see shows like the Clem Snide show in Cadiz and this fellow Aaron Thomas in El Puerto. We had time for long talks, nice dinners, and I snuck out to the beach for a quick dip. Dani was cool that I was in a bit of stress after coming back from South America and forty laptop-less days, so there were lots of things both immediate and distant to sort out, so I had a couple of generous phone and email breaks per day. Muni left breakfast and a cold lunch before going to work each morning, AND they bought me dinner after the Aaron T. show at a wonderful restaurant in El Puerto. I could go out and get a fresh head and stand in the garden, watching birds (I was particularly fond of the hoopoe, an exotic looking creature that has been an important symbol in many ancient tales and poems), looking for chameleons (until Muni told me they see them in the gardens, I thought they only lived in Madagascar--now I know they live in Spain, Africa, and Asia) but it was too early in the year for the them to be seen, and other creatures. I did find a tiny praying mantis stalking a colony of aphids on one bush. The songs have really come to life, I enjoyed Dani’s acoustic demos but I think he/we/they did a really good job of fleshing them out and raising the stakes a bit. The last thing we recorded was an awesome, multi part choir with Dani, Muni and myself...something between CSNY and ‘Cherokee People’ or ‘Crazy Horses’. I watched loudQUIETloud which is a film that shows how absolutely boring the Pixies are when they are not onstage. Well, actually I will confess that the Pixies live to me were never that awesome, as much as I loved the records. I saw them on the Doolittle tour, and it was OK but didlittle for me. HAhahahahah! Opening the show was Bob Mould & band, touring for Black Sheets of Rain, and they were AWESOME. When The Posies opened for the Pixies (and Marilyn Manson!!) in Belgium in 2005, I slept thru their set. Sorry guys. However, IT’S EDUCATIONAL! MADRID, 4/24
In the morning I said my goodbyes and Dani took me to tiny Jerez airport, and I flew to Madrid, and cabbed to the hotel. (en route I watched the extraordinary tale of Alan Abel, in the film Abel Raises Cain--I had never heard of this man or his artfully staged pranks and was astounded that I hadn’t til now) My Disciplines were were out on the street having a cafe (for the price of one Iphone, Claus’ having been taken by a panhandler right in front of their noses. Sweet Norwegian innocence! Well, we spent some time catching up and talking about the future and then we walked thru the very crowded streets of central Madrid, and entered the classy Joy Eslava, a posh nightclub that was a former whorehouse for Madrid’s elite (not exactly an unfamiliar concept if your name is Stringfellow) and my guys met their Spanish label and booking team, new since our September 08 visit. And we met the headliners for this Spanish visit, the Right Ons, a rockin’ soul revue, playing old school funky garage-y good time rock. They’ve been doing really well, esp. in Madrid, and thus we were booked into a pretty big place for this double whammy. Highly motivated to make a good impression, but also playing early (since the venue shuts at 11.30 and reboots as a disco at midnight) I had to work extra hard, and plus I just missed playing with the guys and opportunities are somewhat limited to do so. In our case, it had been a couple of months, even tho I had spent March and April thus far performing theses songs for South Americans. But it was different with the guys, it was harder, I mean more intense, and I had a stronger starting block from which to kick off my mad 40-minute dash across the audience’s face...so I was cramping, out of breath, but it was most definitely incredibly hell yeah. VALENCIA, 4/25 I woke up this morning and thought “something is wrong”. And sure enough, it turned out that somehow Alex Chilton and the driver that was waiting for him at Malaga airport managed to miss each other; Alex went to the hotel on his own and checked himself in, not finding his reservation...like, EVERYTHING that can go wrong and bum you out when you get off an international flight. So he somehow evaded the radar of all the people that I had hoped would be taking care of him til I showed up...i.e. So, some panicked phone calling in the morning. Look, I get tired of just saying every show we do is incredible, rocked, was awesome, brilliant etc. But the fact is, that’s just how the wind is blowing right now. Also, I am an optimist and tend to take away something good from every situation. Case in point the show I did a week and a half ago in New York. I could have focused on the chattering guys during the first coupla numbers, or little details about my voice that due to fatigue and jet lag made it less than perfect. Really? Is that how I want to tell you who weren’t there about my show? But, really, the audiences I play to, my actual audiences that come to see me, are expecting a lot. And I have to deliver every night. And with enthusiastic faces in front of me, how can I not? It’s the time when I get to not think about any stressful business to-do lists, and just be my real self. So...it’s pretty much always good. We blew the doors off the place, the Wah Wah club. It was a much more primitive kind of venue than the one in Madrid, and thus as I told my guys, we actually played Spain this night. The people were a bit scared, I think, as I went off the deep end. They need this, you know. The Right Ons were in command of the affair, tho, they really did a great job of playing sweaty rock. The guys from Oh, Libia! with whom i am working this summer came to the show and we shared an excellent bottle of rioja they provided...and then after the show the Disciplines drove back to Madrid and I went to bed. I flew to Malaga to do some recording, but I’ll tell you about that next week. Love KS Malaga, SPAIN
4.21.2009
MONTEVIDEO/NYC/NOT MUCH TIME @ HOME I have been going 100 miles a minute since last post, which was itself an incomplete description of the mad week making the Disciplines and KS music in Buenos Aires and Madrid. I am up late now, after a recording session, and I'm exhausted. I can't live and blog at the same rate. Something has to give. So: Monday, after easter. I went to Punta Del Este, and swam in the ocean, it was marvelous. Huge waves on one beach, almost scary, but I still swam until I was kinda feeling I should get out of the way of the surfers, lest I be creamed by a board. We went to another beach and I swam in calmer waters. Then I noticed something moving about 50 feet further out. And then realized a dolphin was leaping out of the water, standing on its tail in the waves, before crashing back down. I was sure I imagined it until I saw everyone around me watching them. There were four or five of them, and they stayed around for...well, I don't know how long, they were still playing in the waves when I left. The locals had never seen dolphins before in this area, so they were as amazed as I was. At one point, two of them were body surfing...I kid you not. A breaker came in and two dolphins leapt forward out of the rolling wave. That night I played an impromptu show at Cheesecake Records, just standing out on the sidewalk, with a mic, and deep inside the store was an amp, you could hear it just fine. Cheesecake is next to the bar la Ronda, and is open during the day as a snack bar, record store, and in the back there is a tiny studio that Felipe, the owner, does radio broadcasts from! I played covers, and took requests. I sang 'Wild Horses' with local music hero Andy ***, and had a guy come up and do a harmonica solo (I gave him by worn out A Harp) and things like that. There were some surreal moments when Felipe's parents started to argue, but standing on either side of me, oblivious that there was a show (they are no longer married). Felipe's sister started to join in trying to get them to knock it off. It was fun. Tuesday, I had a swim in the hotel pool, and a last lunch at La Ronda, and said my goodbyes to my Montevideo friends. Flew to Santiago. Flew to New York. Was too tired to watch movies which if you know me is REALLY weird. Wedesday morning, I landed in the USA, in New York. I cabbed to the home of Paul, Pat and Roman. Paul booked my show in NY that was taking place the next night. Pat is his wife, a multimedia artist and just super cool and down to earth person, great to talk to. Roman is their son, age 12, who is great young man, bright, also fun to talk to, and just enough of a kid to be delightfully irreverent, which when you know how difficult kids can be at that age, is just perfect. He's not a thug, but he's not a bore. They all live in this incredible little house way uptown, I guess you could call it Washington Heights. On a quiet street (yes, in New York!) across the street from a cemetery with lots of trees, so you really can forget you are in the middle of Manhattan. I mean, they have a dog and a CHICKEN. That lays eggs. I knew it was a bad plan to nap, so I went down into the city and did some biz meetings, and then got a call from my friend Brian, from Seattle, who is tour managing Robyn Hitchcock--who were in town cuz Robyn and Scott McCaughey were sick and thus some shows got canceled. So, I swung by their hotel and saw Brian, Robyn, and Peter Buck. Bill Rieflin was out at dinner and Scott was really sick and asleep in his room. But it was great to see those I did see. THen I went to check out a band called Into the Presence, who were amazing...kind of virtuoso rock, played very soulfully...it's heavy rock but the singing is more Stevie Wonder than Bruce Dickinson. I thought it was really cool. The drummer is the drummer of A Perfect Circle, very pro, but really really good, I couldn't stop watching him play, actually. The singer is also a wicked guitarist, and there's a cellist and a bass player (which is kind of odd, but they managed to stay synchronized). Then I took the subway for a LONG ride back to Paul's. Thursday was the show. I hung out on St. Mark's at Rockit Records with my friend Tony and then later was strolling into the Delancey, a bar right at the launch point of the Williamsburg Bridge. About halfway to the back there's a tiny stage and a small piano (called the Small Beast, which gives Paul's weekly night its name). I didn't really soundcheck, I just dropped my stuff and went and had dinner with my dad and his family. Then came back and found that I had a great crowd there for me. Of course, tons of friends that I would only be able to say hi too, and not much more. So, I started to play and had to get rather confrontational with some guys who were having some kind of reunion, but like, right by the stage. They were LOUD. And when I asked them a few times to move to the other end of the bar, they just gave me attitude. So, they're New Yorkers, right? But what they came off to my post-being-worshipped-in-South-American glow were simply AMERICANS, and I was like, "why do I come here"? But, in fact, the show from that point was really good. Not that I remember it. I was concentrating so hard after getting my groove back on that it just went by in such a way that it was totally primal and not stored in the memory banks. I played some new songs, and stood on the bar, and knocked over a big candle. The show was packed with friends, fans and music notables (Steve Wynn, Peter Buck, Tara Angell) who are also my friends, but you know. Support of your peers. Good! We closed the bar out and I ended up on the floor at Paul's, because when we finally ran out of wine, and he went upstairs to sleep, I took one look at their dog, Wanda, sleeping on the unfolded-out hide-a-bed, and decided to sleep on the floor. Friday I was up at 8, so not much sleep, and too much wine but the good thing about too much wine is that it's still less than any amount of tequila. So, I was fine. I went to Rockefeller Center and met my publicist Angie and a photographer for a photo shoot, to take place before I went and did an interview for Premier Radio network upstairs. Only, there was this incredible Seinfeld thing happening, where the photographer had no camera. He was waiting for one to show up. Hmmm. Angie and I went to a bakery and had breakfast and coffee and he showed up a bit later, and was pleased to say a camera had been delivered. Then...wanh wanhhh, there was no battery in it. We each said to him that it's highly likely that something of that nature would be for sale in a city of 16,000,000 but he decided to go home, prob. wash off the bad luck that had dusted him along the way. After the interview we almost gave up on him but he bounded in to our field of view at the last minute and we did some shots on the street and all was well. I went to Manny's and bought a new harmonica, grabbed a felafel on the street (an important ritual when I am in the city) and camped out at Paul's til it was time for me to fly home. Saturday, I landed in Geneva at about 8am. Again, I had been too tired to watch movies on the flight. I caught my flight home to Paris and saw my wife for the first time in 40 days. So, we spent every minute together. My daughter was at our summer place for spring break (so I guess it's a spring place too) so I didn't even get to see her. Her South American postcards from me all showed up while she was gone, so I saw them before she did. Sunday, I was packing, unpacking, organizing. I never slept...Dom conked out at 2.30, we had been in bed talking, and then suddenly it was 3.30 and I was just finishing getting ready to leave, and it was time to go. I packed my suitcase, a bag of merch for all these upcoming shows, my guitar, and such. Monday, was still part of Sunday. But I went to the airport and caught my 6.30 am flight to Seville, and was met by Dani Llamas. He's making a record, at the studio of Paco Loco (I played in Paco's backyard last summer). I was so pleased to be working at this amazing place. So, Dani and his g.f. Sylvia picked me up at the airport, we drove to El Puerto, and got to work. Not that recording with Paco and Dani is work. Paco's scene is so chill it's hard to believe. I was stressing cuz 6 weeks in the southern hemisphere with no laptop meant a LOT of work needed to be caught up on, so I was alternating piano/guitar/tambourine/vocal/organ/etc tracks and urgent phone and email biz. I HATE to be that guy, but, I really was up against a wall on many things. Today, Tuesday was still intense on the non-Dani and Paco scene but the recording has been a dream. Paco's studio is set up for minimal worry, in that it's big enough and he has enough cool mics/input channels to just leave an entire band's worth of stuff set up permanently. The drums, piano, amps, bass amp etc are always mic'd and ready. There's a big ol' U47 set up so vocals are always ready to go. I mean, you don't do a vocal mic shootout when you have a 50's U47 to use. Paco is always encouraging, never pushy, never bummed when I have to do 20 takes of some insane bass part to get it right. His wife is brilliant too, and they both make sure I'm well taken care of here. And Dani's songs are excellent, you'll hear the results. After the show we went to see Clem Snide at the same cavernous university auditorium in Cadiz that the Posies played last year (and in 2001). Most enjoyable. We spent time at a bar, Paco and Muni and my Cadiz friends from the Paco party last year and the housewarming BBQ we went to this afternoon...oh, don't worry, we did some recording too.... Love KS El Puerto, SPAIN
4.12.2009
BUENOS AIRES/MONTEVIDEO OK, now it's truly out of control. My week in Buenos Aires was a promotion blitz like few I have witnessed, and that includes my years with R.E.M., etc. A 30 minute interview and 45 minute live set on South America's biggest radio show, "Cual Es?" with host Mario Pergolini, kicked it off. I found out that Mario, who is somewhere between a John Peel and one of those big KROQ DJs in terms of influence and celebrity, included "Please Return It" on a compilation CD he produced from the show in 1996. Had I known that...my life story as relates to Argentina would have been a LOT different. But no one told us--management, label...well, better late than never. The live show was a presentation of most of the DiSCiPLiNES album, with my bros the Super Ratones and some new friends, a band called Smitten, backing me up. This set was some of the best, hardest rocking, insane music I have ever made. Capping it off with a thoughtful nod to the band Argentina has adopted as their national band, the Ramones, we covered "I Believe in Miracles" and I even got Mario to sing...I also made two completely mental TV appearances. On "Un Mundo Perfecto" a kind of Jay Leno hosted by Roberto Pettinato, who has been a musician in one of the most important bands in Argentina (and by extension, Latin America, as Argentinian bands have dominated the scene for most of the rock's history here)I was backed by the house band, Paul Schaefer-style, doing "Yours for the Taking" and tearing up the set like a tank on Omaha Beach. Infuriatingly, the network faded the show out before I really got going, and everone--Roberto, the producers, my label--were absolutely mortified, and sent me huge apologies the next day, and vowed to run it this week. So, hopefully you'll see it. I have the full version and will upload it on Facebook when I am on my own computer next weekend. However, the second appearance, on RSM, me doing YFTT backed by Smitten is YouTube-able in all it's glory. It is OUT OF CONTROL. Even tho the mic cuts out when I scream, some kind of audio safety mechanism...the weirdness just adds to the performance. Trust me, you don't see TV like this every day. All the nice little major label bands doing their polite best to ingratiate themselves with their demographic...compare that to this, pure ANARCHY...but no one got hurt (except me, when I fell in the lottery bowl, er, you have to see what I mean) and everyone LOVED it. The host was a frail blonde thing, who you would think would be kinda mortified but she was laughing and having a blast. I even took this theory to a big instore at Musimundo, the biggest record store in Buenos Aires, diving on and off chairs and people, backed by a SMitten or a Super Ratone. I took a flying skid on a tall chair and landed on my ass/elbow, still bruised a week later...totally worth it. All in all I was in every newspaper, radio, whatever you can think of, for the week and it was truly awesome. The show was a great cap on the week; we repeated the same set that we did on the radio, me doing D's with Smitten and the Super Ratones. This was in La Trastienda, a very "classy joint" and the owners were horrified when i started climbing on the balcony, broke a mic, made a huge mess, stood on people's tables...but, the people love it of course. This is a rock and roll country, one of the MOST rock and roll places you will ever find, and you cannot take it far enough: this is the country that produced the truly mad genius Charlie Garcia after all..who dove out of a 6th floor hotel balcony to land in the hotel pool WITHOUT INJURY and went back to hoovering, spiking, whatever as if nothing happened. YouTube it. After the Disciplines part of the instore I did a little acoustic set for Posies and KS fans that were there, everyone was happy. And over the course of these days I must have done at least 40 interviews. I was in all three big papers on the day of the show and reviewed very well the day after in Clarin, the biggest of them all (check my FB for all this). In the cab going to the instore, the taxi driver had heard the CUal Es show the day before and was blown away, had also heard my interview on Radio Uno that night, and as we talked Mario P. replayed the version we did of "I Believe in Miracles" by the Ramones....woah! As soon as the Trastienda show was over I was out in front of the venue playing 45 minutes of solo stuff to most of the audience, and took about 30 of the most hard core fans to a nearby bar to play an hour of covers, KS/Posies/whatever on the piano, sometimes in conjunction with Augustin, the keyboard player of the Super Ratones. And let us not forget that the Super Ratones were the stars of the show, presenting their album to the Buenos Aires public for the first time. They were great, and after awhile I couldnt (the apostrophe has disappeared from its usual spot on this keyboard, forgive me) resist joining them, not only to sing the two songs on their album I sing on (in Spanish and English) but also to play tambourine, drums, keyboards...it was a free for all it was magic. Beyond that, there is the bottomless, endless metropolis that is Buenos Aires. A formidable anthill of 14 million people...with little apparent differentiation (to a fresh observer such as myself) from neighborhood to neighborhood, so, for me, I was never really sure how far one place from the next was...and the tall buildings mean you never see the river, so you have to orient yourself by observing the sun, or doing what I did: just saying "fuck it" and assuming I would end up where I needed to be. Which is exactly what happens. Yes, this country is a paradise for a meat and wine lover like me. Even their version of SPAM is awesome. I had steaks, intestines, kidneys, tongue, all cooked perfectly. A parillada (BTW in BA and Montevideo the double ll that sounds like a "y" in Spain, Mexico, etc becomes a "sh") for two was an obscene pyramid built with Satyricon specifications...a basket of grilled meat and bits, easily 8 pounds of meat FOR TWO. I stayed with Guillermo, a friend of the Super Ratones, kind of their tour manager, web guru, photographer...in his 10th floor flat. Nearly every day he grilled me up a steak for lunch and always had coffee on in the morning. I would like to, and I could easily do, go on and on about Porteño observations, but...I have to get a swim in before dinner and I still have to tell you about Montevideo. Which is where I traveled to on Friday afternoon, a ferry left at 4pm and got to MVD at 7pm. Mario from the Super Ratones, and the SRs manager Lisandro saw me off. All the SRs and their friends, crew, families etc are simply wonderful, generous people whom I cant thank enough for making this happen. Ditto to Cecilia and Nacho from S Music, the Disciplines label in South America, they did great work and really built a success story here. And I am now convinced there is much, much more to come. What we cross is technically a river, but one so enormous that we lose sight of land for much of the crossing. The muddy brown of the Buenos Aires side eventually becomes oceanic blue as we go across. Montevideo is a beautiful city...as much of it was erected in the 40s when feeding and supplying the allied forces brought tons of cash in, I couldnt help but immediately think of Oakland CA when I was downtown. The city was empty this weekend as most folks were out of town for the Easter Holiday, so I could look down on the city from my hotel and wait 5 minutes before a car or a pedestrian would be seen moving in my field of vision. Eerie, like 28 Days Later. But its so nice to have a city to yourself. The cool kids hand out at a bar called La Ronda which is next door to a record store/tiny radio station/milkshake and snack bar called Cheesecake Records. Both are owned by Felipe, who was part of the team presenting my show (I was in contact with Osvaldo, who is a rock and roll dentist by day and punk band manager by night, super cool guy who looks a little like George Clooney, I swear!). So I hung there for a masticable (grilled steak in a tortilla) and some Uruguayan wine on Friday night, right under a HUGE poster for my show. We listened to Neil Young on vinyl and chatted til it was time for me to sleep in my awesome hotel room. The next day I swam in the pool (going there in 10 minutes, so I am going to be efficient with my descriptions here!) and then we did the show...Lindolfo is a restaurant in one part, but that was closed for Easter; a show room, in another part; and an open space and patio. You enter thru a big metal gate that slides open, and you are in the open space. Depending on which door you enter from there you go in the show room or the restaurant. They had a piano, so I was thrilled, the only one of the tour. Despite the bad timing of the show with the last holiday of summer, more or less, the place filled up and we had a lovely show. I sat the audience on the floor and sat with them, playing songs with no PA on the guitar, then moved the piano. Next up was a super punk Disciplines set with three of the members of a young band called Astroboy, super groovy dudes who learned different songs than I requested but learned them so well how could you complain? I had them learn "I Got Tired" that afternoon too. So, since they are punky young kids, they played the songs fast and it was over before we knew it. So, time for set three, where I moved my amp out to the patio and played til there was nothing left to play...out under the stars. Felipe has this huge greyhound bus that has a kitchen built in it which he drives around and caters parties, as his bar La Ronda on wheels. It was there, since the Lindolfo bar was closed. So cool. The next day, today, Easter, Felipe took me to his wifes family home, where we had food, and I played with the dogs, the brothers, the babies, and had a great time. Felipes father in law is a painter and just a fun guy and the mother in law is just as awesome, and together they are just wrapping up getting 6 kids to adulthood, wow. OK, my last post from South America. I have not done justice to the hugeness of this experience. My eyes have been flooded with incredible conversations, sights, experiences, musical moments...my last blog kinda graced over the Bogota show just because I was tired but I will try and add to that as it was also an incredible night...but in the meantime...swimming and more meat ahead! Love KS Montevideo
4.05.2009
QUITO, 4/2 & BOGOTA, 4/4 I am going to be completely honest. I just can't keep up here. I am living, and enjoying, what is certainly one of the greatest experiences in my life, this tour of South America. But living it and writing about it, would mean having to create a day of more than 24 hours in length. I played shows this week in Quito and Bogota. They were excellent; I played my solo material to fairly packed venues, and managed to get people to listen. I played mini sets of Disciplines material with local bands, and people went literally apeshit. During the long jam on "I Got Tired", me backed by Mama Vudu in Quito, I went thru the long, call & response segment, that climaxed with an actual mosh pit. I looked back and Xavi, the bass player of Mama Vudu, was crying, so happy with the fact that all this actually WORKED and people loved it. After the show it seems like all of Quito was hugging me. Amazing. Earlier in the week in Quito I spent time in the studio with the band Can Can,playing keyboards, guitar, percussion...generally freely experimenting and having a great time, with bandleader Daniel, or Pichu as he is known. I checked out La Compania, one of the oldest, wildest churches in Quito...recently restored. Imagine every surface, wildly carved altars, covered in gold leaf. Horribly wounded Jesus with knee bones exposed hangs, and other statues...including one of a father "saving" a half naked black "savage"...super disturbing. The motifs of the church's interior are in some places straight outta the Alhambra, in other places purely Asian. Also, there is a magnificent painting showing the tortures of the damned in hell, so frightening that it made me want to repent right then and there. Evidently most Quito school kids go thru an ordeal of seeing this painting on a field trip to the church, causing nightmares for years afterwards. At the show in Quito I also had the pleasure of checking out Biorn Borg, another great band in town. Quito's music scene struggles to find an audience to support such talent, and venues to showcase it, but it appears to have tons of incredible bands. Food and drink have been major themes in these visits. In Quito I had a home cooked meal at the home of Pichu Can Can; I discovered chochos, which are a kind of white bean not unlike soy. I had guatita, a delicious tripe stew. In Bogota, on the afternoon before the show, my buddy Juan Pablo, who put together my show, and who I only knew thru internet til a week ago, and Catalina from the Disciplines' label, took me up on the mountain outside the city to a Parillador, a kind of meat orgy. You order components--beef, sausage, chicken, pig intestines--and all gets thrown in a big basket and you and your friends pick at it by hand. Woah! The beverage is modular and communal as well: you say how many people you are at the beverage counter, which determines the size of your bucket, and then select your ingredients--which are poured into the bucket. Our mix was 2 parts beer, 2 parts Colombiana (a kind of cream soda) and one part Pony (a malt soft drink). The results are what they refer to as a champagne soda, it's so good I don't know why every culture doesn't offer a mix like this. Imagine Bacardi, Ranier Ale and Sarsparilla.... The old town of Quito is filled with churches. Maybe a dozen of them, including a completely incongruous gothic cathedral that has been under construction since the 19th cent. Basically the Spaniards plopped a church down on any sacred site the natives had...and, being up in the mountains, prime land for making astronomical observations, there were quite a few. The lines of the churches generally followed the lines of the old temples, and of course, later archaeologists discovered that the sites aligned precisely with the sun and key stars in crucial seasonal moments. Not that the Spaniards had any idea that was the case... In both Quito and Bogota I had to be on planes just a few hours after being onstage, so I haven't had much time for reflection, let alone the luxury of time to write every moment down. Which is a shame. Because there were so many nice moments, having food, making music, hanging with Mama Vudu (whose singer, Roger, is a very talented illustrator). I have to at least thank Roger and his g.f. Denise (who is the singer of Can Can) for taking me into their home, and for Juan Pablo for all his hard work and friendship in Bogota (we bonded heavily on our mutual love of the group Toto among other things). And Pichu; and the awesome Quito alternative radio DJ Edwin, who was super excited about the show--he grew up in L.A., and saw the Posies there in 93. His parents are Ecuadorian, and moved back to Quito when they retired. He helped them move, and fell in love with the place and stayed too. He works as a teacher but has had what everyone will agree is the best radio show in Ecuador, every Saturday nite for the last 9 years. We did an interview and he was familiar with and a fan of the Posies, my solo work, etc...and sadly, a friend was in a car accident on the nite of the show and he never made it (the friend was in the end OK tho) as he took her to hospital and waited while she was checked on. Again, I am suffering from fluttering eyelids after heading to the airport at 5 this morning, and spending all day on planes. Sorry I can't write more...and it's true that each little chapter, each country on this trip, has been like a mini lifetime for the duration of my visit...so many details. I just can't take the time to write the novella's worth of images that each city provides...as the next events come up and overwhelm my senses long before I have time to digest and reflect upon the events just past. Love KS Buenos Aires
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The latest release by Ken Stringfellow is a split EP with Spain's Muy Fellini, featuring never-heard-before music incl. Ken's take on Bob Dylan, released by
King of Patio records
in Spain on Oct 8, 2009.
Order it directly from Muy Fellini here www.myspace.com/muyfellini
10" VINYL ONLY!!!
older news :
8/3/2003
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