Adrian Belew Power Trio/Julie and Eric Slick: Gigs, gigs, and more gigs

If you've already been here before 11:25 a.m., scroll down check out the ETA under the California Guitar Trio mention. Bet you didn't know Julie and Eric were members of King Crimson! Ha ha, neither did I...

So as I've been shouting all over cyberworld, "e" is coming, and I am pleased to show you the cover artwork for the CD by the brilliant Mark Colman.



And yes, this will be the logo of the new ABPT t-shirt, arriving in a city near you next month, along with the band and their new, first ever studio CD! Now I know I already told you about these upcoming shows:

Fri 17 Jul 09
Canal Street Tavern
Dayton, OH

Sat 18 Jul 09
Indianapolis IN 46220
Radio Radio

Mon 20 Jul 09
Ann Arbor, MI
The Ark

Tue 21 Jul 09
Cleveland, OH
The Grog Shop

Wed 22 Jul 09
Chicago IL 60610
Martyr's

Fri 24 Jul 09
Kansas City, MO
The Beaumont

But hurrah! Here's some new dates you probably didn't know about...

fri 8/21 knoxville, TN @ bijou theatre
sat 8/22 atlanta, GA @ smith's old bar
mon 8/24 asheville NC @ orange peel
tues 8/25 vienna, VA @ jammin' java
wed 8/26 sellersville, PA @ sellersville theatre
fri 8/28 new york, NY @ bb kings
sat 8/29 hoboken NJ @ maxwell's
sun 8/30 annapolis, MD @ ram's head
mon 8/31 philadelphia, PA @ world cafe live
tues 9/1 northhampton, MA @ iron horse
wed 9/2 t/b/a massachusetts
thur 9/3 boston, MA @ harper's ferry
fri 9/4 wellfleet, MA @ beachcomber
sat 9/5 fall river, MA @ narrows center for the arts

Then on to canada, oh, canada

Yes, on to Canada. Details to follow but how cool is that. And I believe, possibly, the Ukraine and Turkey in October. Shh....

The gig on September 4, which is the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, looks freaking amazing. It's at a beachfront establishment on Cape Cod. Link! Hey, I just noticed they have a live stream so for those of us unable to spend Labor Day weekend on Cape Cod, we'll be able to watch from the comfort of our own homes. Oh joy!

One more reminder - well, no sense promoting NEARfest because it's sold out, but if you do have a ticket, come over and say Hi this Saturday, June 20 at 1:30 p.m. when Eric Slick will be on the drums with Oblivion Sun. But as soon as he's done playing at 3:00 p.m., we have to hightail it out of there twenty miles down the road to the Sellersville Theater where Julie and Eric will be performing with the California Guitar Trio. It looks like there are still tickets available so grab them while you can...they are selling out everywhere...here, I'll make it easy and give you a link.

ETA: Here's an article about the California Guitar Trio in today's Montgomery News!

"Experience California Guitar Trio’s musical synergy at ST94
By Julia Fisichella
Correspondent

The California Guitar Trio is excited to return to the Sellersville Theater 1894, Saturday, June 20.

“The Sellersville Theater has become one of our favorite venues to play at,” says Paul Richards, one of the three acoustic guitar wizards. “There’s not a bad seat in the place and the sound system is great. We’ve played consistently good shows there and have a strong following in the area.”

Last year’s performance at the theater was recently featured on WHYY’s TV12 program “On Canvas.” This episode can be viewed online here, which includes insightful interviews with each of the members.

The trio formed from the friendship of Richards, who hails from Utah, Bert Lams (from Belgium) and Hideyo Moriya (from Japan). They first met in 1987 as participants in Robert Fripp’s (of renowned progressive rock group King Crimson) Guitar Craft Courses in England.

“On one day off [from the courses], I heard Bert playing some of Bach’s cello suites and was really impressed by his musicality and approach to this complex, deep music,” says Richards. Moriya was a little on the quiet side, but Richards’ interest in Japanese culture allowed him to form a friendship with him. The three soon developed a strong musical connection.

“Things flow and happen when we sit down and play together. Music keeps things alive for us,” says Richards.

After touring internationally with Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists, the three friends moved to Los Angeles and formed the California Guitar Trio in 1991. They have been going strong ever since, inventing original compositions and creative acoustical re-workings of songs ranging from classical, rock, blues, folk and jazz to country and surf-rock.

Their last album, “Echoes,” recorded in May of last year, earned them a Top 10 spot in Amazon.com’s Best New Age of 2008 category.

The album includes a swirling cover of Pink Floyd’s “Echoes.”

“We choose songs that inspired us when we were younger, or based on suggestions from friends,” explains Richards. “Often, we try something and see if it works. There’s a challenge in re-creating a song on guitar, and making it make sense musically. We have to bring the piece alive in an original way.”

Their cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” in which the group re-created a mainly vocal piece, is a perfect example of this challenge.

Another interesting re-make on this album is Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells,” made popular as the opening music for the movie “The Exorcist.” Richards explains how the group decided to cover this piece.

“This song became a landmark instrumental rock piece. It incorporated a new and different minimalist approach, unlike what was heard in the early ’70s. The introductory line lent itself very well to our playing style.”

In addition to putting a new spin on old classics, the California Guitar Trio puts together intricate original arrangements infused with feeling.

“Writing pieces is one of the most challenging things a musician does,” says Richards. “Since what we do has no vocals, the challenge is to create something musically interesting that people can emotionally connect with — we have to reach people in a different way.”

The trio typically introduces its new arrangements on tour before recording, to gauge the audience’s reaction. Keeping with this tradition, guests at the June 20 show will get a sneak peek at what the trio has recently been putting together for their new recording.

This show will include an unusual creative expansion from the group’s traditional three-acoustic guitar lineup. Special guests Eric and Julie Slick of the Adrian Belew (also of King Crimson) Power Trio will add new elements of drums and bass to the mix.

Richards raves, “They’re young prodigies of the [Paul Green] School of Rock who have an amazing ability to learn and play. At the end of the tour, we will record half of the new album, and we’ve invited Eric and Julie to play on those pieces.”

Electronic violinist Caryn Lin will open for the show.

In addition to the performance, the trio will be holding a guitar workshop from 2:30 to 4 p.m. that afternoon. Richards says this is something the group really enjoys doing.

“Educating is a big part of our background; we came together studying music.”

The trio has held similar workshops at the Sellersville Theater in the past. Richards explains, “[Participants] bring their guitars and we focus on playing together as a group.” The Trio will introduce techniques, and according to Richards, “It doesn’t matter what your skill level is.”

For the full California Guitar Trio experience, Richards says it’s all about seeing them in action. He likens playing acoustic guitar to “a dance of the fingers. Some rock bands perform with 10 dancers onstage. We have 30 dancers — our fingers!"

So yeah, I think Julie and Eric will be surprised to learn they are also in King Crimson...too funny.

But wait a second. I just read this article over thoroughly again. Julie and Eric are going to record a new CD with the California Guitar Trio? Oh wow, it's the first I'm hearing about this! How freaking cool is that?! And actually, as I do re-read the article, it's Adrian to whom the reporter is referring when mentioning King Crimson but having read it quickly the first time...and if you weren't a King Crimson fan and didn't know otherwise...you might misunderstand.

Or, I'm just dyslexic.

Erm...ETA 2: I just spoke on the phone with Eric and apparently that bit about recording a new CD with the California Guitar Trio is another misquote or misinterpretation. What Paul really said is that "Julie and Eric will be performing half of the songs on our latest CD, Echoes, at the Sellersville Theater this Saturday night."

So that explains why neither kiddie told me...

Getting back to touring news...

The following week, Eric returns to his "roots" with a very cool Project Object tour which kicks off July 1 at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey and those of you living there, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Annapolis will be treated to a double dose of Slick when he returns with Mr. Belew later that month and in August. Too cool!

WED 1 - NJ hoboken maxwells
THU 2 - NY peekskill 12 grapes
FRI 3 - PA phila world cafe live
SAT 4 - PA acme love&peace festival
SUN 5 - OH cleveland beachland ballroom
MON 6 - PA pittsburgh club cafe'
TUE 7 - MD annapolis ram's head live
THU 9 - PA wilkes barre jazz cafe

This line-up of Project Object will also be touring Europe at the beginning of August and features original Zappa alumni Ike Willis and Don Preston, with special guest appearances at some shows by Ray White and Robert Martin. Actually, Ray will be at the July 4 show and I teased Eric not to drink the Kool-Aid there but all kidding aside, the Love and Peace Festival seems very interesting - it's actually "The Church of Universal Love and Music" and you can read all about it here.

So basically in July, Eric tours with Project Object, has a few days off, then flies off to tour with the Adrian Belew Power Trio and if that isn't crazy enough, he's flying home right after the final show in Kansas on July 24 because he's playing the XPonential Music Festival Saturday night, July 25 with Tom Hamilton's American Babies. Eric is filling in for legendary drummer Joe Russo. Or, would that be Sir Joe Russo? Ha! That is a "must click" link.

As for me, I am busy writing my first column for The Nervous Breakdown and normally I would be done by now but I'm extremely intimidated by the brilliant authors over there and every time a new piece pops up (daily, and I get Twitter updates) and I rush over to read the latest, I get a little more scared yet thrilled to be in such stellar company. To give you a hint on what I'm writing about...well, it's about my experience staying in a youth hostel in a place where no one spoke English (God forbid I should have brought a translation book with me) combined with the fact that I am not a "youth" and more accustomed to staying at hotels where they offer fluffy robes and leave imported chocolate on the pillow. So yes, I am definitely having some fun with that and hope to have it finished by the end of today or tomorrow.

Trust me, I will be twittering and posting billboards all over the internet when it's published so you'll all have a heads up.

In the meantime, I figured I'd put up this blog post, do some wash (yeah, as glamorous as my life might seem, I have a feeling dirty wash will always be a part of my routine), and return to "real writing". Ms. Julie will be over here later in the afternoon and then we're headed out to dinner. I'm trying to talk her into this cool Venezuelan restaurant but even though I see she's on line right now, she has failed to respond to my email which means she either wants to eat somewhere else or hasn't had her coffee yet.

I'll let you know and maybe this time I'll remember to bring the camera. I feel like it's been ages since I posted food porn!

So I think that's a wrap. I'm really hoping to meet many of you at NEARfest on Saturday and also saying Hi at the California Guitar Trio on Saturday night at the Sellersville Theater. Seriously, for those of you attending NEARfest, Sellersville is only 20 minutes away and you can definitely make both gigs. What a cool Fathers' Day present, eh?

Now. If only this rain would stop. Holy cow, I haven't had to water the flowers/herbs for the past two weeks. If it wasn't pouring out now, I'd go out and take some photographs. The "garden" (downtown Philadelphia word for "flower boxes and plants around the tree outside") has never been more beautiful. It's an explosion of color and lots of fresh basil and rosemary (already used in an amazing homemade vegetarian chili and quite a few salads)...yeah, if it does ever stop raining, I will definitely snap some pics...

Later,
xo

More on the Adrian Belew Power Trio, "e" is coming, and I'm having a Nervous Breakdown!

Have I mentioned that "e" is coming?


Photo by Wendy King
Guitarist Julie Slick and her brother Eric (not pictured) are on tour with Adrian Belew with their latest performance taking place on the Bud Light Stage at Riverbend Wednesday evening.

ETA: CHECK OUT THIS REVIEW OF LAST NIGHT'S SHOW! HERE'S A LITTLE TEASE...

"Slick Is the Word: A Review of the Adrian Belew Power Trio at Riverbend — June 10, 2009

The last time Adrian Belew played Chattanooga, the rhythm section of his power trio consisted of two bald dudes (Mike Hodges and Mike Gallaher) who successfully aided the Lone Rhino in tearing up the Nightfall stage. Both were experienced players: Gallaher, an accomplished jazz guitarist, switched to bass to play with Belew, and Hodges was the drummer when Belew was the music director on (yes) David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” tour. They were fantastic both that night and a few nights later when I drove down to see them play in Atlanta. If I had never seen another Adrian Belew Power Trio show, I would have been satisfied.

Fast forward a couple of years: Gallaher and Hodges eventually left Belew and were replaced by a brother and sister rhythm section, Julie and Eric Slick, both in their early 20’s, both graduates of Paul Green’s School of Rock, and both ridiculously talented. The new band’s first recorded effort, 2007’s live Side Four, is a testament to how quickly the new trio jelled. It is also a testament to another fact: As great as Hodges and Gallaher were, they were, in essence, Belew’s backing band. The longer the Slick’s have played with Belew, the more evident it’s become that they are, well, a bit more than that. The strength of their collective contribution to the band was probably best summed up by my buddy Joe Lance (a great musician in his own right) when the trio played Riverbend last night, “When Adrian eventually hangs it up, those two will still have a long, long career ahead of them.”

The trio kicked off their 115-minute Riverbend performance with ripping versions of “Writing on the Wall” and “Young Lions” before Belew introduced some new music, two “movements,” titled “A” and “B,” from the forthcoming all-instrumental album, E. The two pieces contained many elements common to Belew’s previous work: feedback, ferocious bent notes, smart and irresistibly gorgeous chord progressions, and layer upon layer of Crimson-esque interlocking guitar parts, all of which Belew played by himself by creating—and then playing along with—a dizzying series loops. And the Slicks more than kept up. They pushed Belew’s already envelope-pushing ideas forward by either deftly doubling his riffs or aggressively soloing against them. In all honesty, I can’t remember when I’ve been more knocked out by a single song or performance...."

To read the entire article, which is absolutely amazing and terrific and wonderful and my deepest gratitude to the author, Bill Colrus, please go here!

Whew. That has me all verklempt. Talk among yourselves for a few minutes.

So thanks to the fact that I am a total compulsive who checks her email every five minutes, I learned -- 5 minutes before showtime -- from the fabulous Andre Cholmondeley that last night's Adrian Belew Power Trio's concert at the Riverbend Festival was being live streamed so I rushed to the website and got to see the entire performance! It was fucking amazing...I was blown away by the new material...and then an hour or two later, Andre real timed me another photo of the trio called "Big Chill".



Don't know if Big Chill pertains to what they are doing or if it's actually the name of a bar in Chattanooga. Will check Google as we speak. Yep, it's a bar. Ha ha, what a huge surprise.

Oh yeah! Here is a most awesome review of last night's show!

"Thursday, June 11, 2009, 1:45 p.m.
Riverbend: Deciphering the weird, wild world according to Belew

If you weren’t one of the hundreds of people crowded around the Bud Light Stage Wednesday to witness the bizarre majesty of Adrian Belew’s guitar playing, you missed one of the highlights of Riverbend so far.

Belew has a decades-long career that includes stints with the Talking Heads, Frank Zappa and King Crimson, as well as session work as a guitarist for everyone from Paul Simon and David Bowie to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

His wonderfully experimental style centers on electronically bending and distorting notes beyond all semblance of ordinary. He uses loops and effects pedals to create an incredibly diverse range of sounds that form stimulating, evocative atmospheres. At one point, it sounded like dinosaurs having a conversation in a haunted crystal cave. (You had to be there to get what I mean.)

That might not sound like your cup of tea and if not, fair enough, you didn’t miss much. The majority of us, however, were standing in slack-jawed amazement at his mastery over his instrument.

Admittedly, there were times during his 90-minute performance that got so cacophonous and bizarre (or plain loud) that my mind just couldn’t digest what was going on but, for the most part, I was blown away.

The other members of his power trio, bassist Julie Slick and her brother Eric, were certainly worthy of mention as well. Throughout an incredibly complex series of highly technical pieces of music, they managed to be both incredibly precise and to maintain a high energy level. It was like jazz rock cubed.

As much fun as I’ve had throughout Riverbend thus far, there have been unavoidable times that I’ve had to miss seeing performances I’ve been looking forward to for months. Belew’s mindblowing show would have been one of those, but I had yesterday off, which gave me the free time I needed to see it. It’s going to take days to really digest what I experienced, though...

...See you out there.

E-mail Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfreepress.com"

I dig his remark about needing days to digest his experience! I'll be waiting, Casey...you know where to find me. Or not. Maybe I'll write to you, just in case.

Man, I love me a good review. I'm waiting on another one and will ETA (edit to add) when it pops up.

So Eric is already off to Bonnaroo and here is the schedule for his wild and crazy band...and I do mean that...think odd percussion, fire eaters, belly dancers...Gypsy Hands. He'll be playing with them all four nights on the "Solar Stage" and the first show will be at 4:00 p.m. today with another show at midnight! On Friday they have another two shows...at 12:00 p.m. and at 12:00 a.m. Saturday they perform 5:15 and again at midnight, and on Sunday, 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. All shows are one hour each and do you freaking believe it, with eight (8!) shows scheduled, I think Eric is playing more than any one band at the entire festival. If you are planning on attending, go over to the Solar Stage and show him some love!

Oh. By the way. "e" is coming "e" is coming "e" is coming "e" is coming

And so are the wonderful, fabulous, brilliantly talented California Guitar Trio. In fact, they'll be at the Sellersville Theater next Saturday night, June 20, and you can buy tickets right here. And do you know who will be performing a whole bunch of amazing songs with them?



Yep, you guessed it. Julie and Eric Slick. And yes, I am just so impressed with myself that I now know how to take a pretty screen shot. Too bad I can't figure out how to make the links contained therein work, but oh well, I gave you the link manually so no worries. I for one cannot wait for that show, especially as it will be a true music marathon day for me because earlier that afternoon, Eric will be playing drums with Oblivion Sun at NEARfest. I will be in total paradise that day for sure.

But I'm also pretty excited as concerns things myself. I just got an offer I can't refuse - to be a regular monthly contributor to one of the finest journals the web has to offer, The Nervous Breakdown. Ha ha, perfect for me or what? Right now they concentrate mostly on creative non-fiction (I told you it was perfect!) but will be branching out into fiction and poetry in the months to come. My only problem is that I have about 1,000 ideas for columns so my plan is to go searching through back issues to make sure I don't in any way duplicate someone else's. If you take a look at the list of contributors, I'm in the company of the literati royalty so that really puts the pressure on. Or not. Ha ha, you know me, I'm loose, and I never run out of things to talk about.

I may even talk about "e". I did tell you that "e" is coming, right?

Okay, I'll stop. Hopefully that other review will be up soon (Hi, Bill) and I'll be back.

Later,
xo

Pardon Me Boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo? Adrian Belew Power Trio in Real Time

Thanks to Andre Cholmondeley for sending me a real time photo of the Adrian Belew Power Trio doing sound check for tonight's performance at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga, TN:



And the east coast leg of the tour is slowly taking shape...I can tell you for certain that the band is playing at the Sellersville Theater on August 26 and with seating for approximately 350, the tickets will go fast...you can buy them right here and it's pretty amazing how they are advertising the band...here's a screen shot:



Yep, I'm thrilled about that and as I've also mentioned here, next Saturday Julie and Eric will be joining the California Guitar Trio on stage at the Sellersville Theater and I will relink that tomorrow with another screen shot because yep, I finally taught myself how to do those correctly.

The trio is also booked to play BB Kings in New York City on August 28 and you can purchase those tickets right here though I just noticed they are not on sale until Friday so I will relink that as well. I believe there will also be dates in Anapolis and Virginia...stay tuned.

Have I mentioned "e" is coming...? Next month. In time for the tour. Yes!

And if you click on the Andre link above, you'll see lots of Project Object shows coming up, including one at World Cafe Live in Philly on July 3 and several featuring some INSANELY FANTASTIC Zappa alumni...more on that in future posts as I want to devote a separate entry to talk about that.

Other interesting news...I love reading all things King Crimson related which includes the blog of Robert Fripp's wife, the lovely Toyah Willcox...and wow, what an interesting blurb she's put up today:

"...Toyah, Chris Wong and Bill Rieflin meet in Seattle to write and record THE HUMANS second album with ROBERT FRIPP as a new member for this particular album. TOYAH says…."I always know I have a good idea………..when Robert wants to join the band!”

Additionally, THE HUMANS tour dates for the UK and Europe 2010 will be announced on this site later in the year. More news soon…"

Wow. That's pretty damn cool.

Here's a great You Tube of The Humans with a Robert Fripp cameo:



Continuing with the theme, King Crimson bassist Tony Levin has a whole slew of new tour dates on his blog (click link) but what really interested me are his blog archives...man, he really was the first person I know to keep a blog...these entries date back over ten years ago and are super, super interesting. You can find them right here and I have to admit, I read them all...was totally sucked in and cannot believe he was on line and keeping a journal before I knew anyone who even owned a computer.

And in other news...

"e" is coming "e" is coming "e" is coming "e" is coming

Oh, that's right. I already told you. Wait until you see the graphic for that and what is planned. Should have that for you in the very near, near future.

And we're planning a big "e" surprise party! It's such a surprise the only ones who know about it are...I can't tell. Let's just say even the band doesn't know.

Okay, they do now. Eric, don't even bother calling me, I'm not telling.

Julie, did you join Twitter? I heard a rumor to that effect but you have not added me as a friend. For shame! I bet I can find you...let's see...hang on...yep...Julie Slick on Twitter...ha ha, I'm going to friend you, you better friend me back!

Getting back to Adrian, one of the things Julie has been doing down in Nashville is working with Ade in the studio and it looks like she's going to be flying down there a lot in the future to act as co-producer with him on various projects..hurrah! I mean, she has a $100,000 college education with that as her major...yep, even managed to graduate Magna Cum Laude while on tour...so how totally cool that she gets to use her degree! And to work alongside her bandmate and great friend...not to mention a brilliant producer in his own right. What a win/win situation for them both.

You may also be wondering what Julie has been cooking for Ade and his family while in Nashville. I know I was. So I dropped her an email and here's what she had to say but this is obviously the abbreviated version and I'm sure she'll have photos and recipes up on her own blog soon:

"let's see... in reverse order: mixed vegetable curry; chicken with pan-roasted asparagus and wild mushroom ragout topped with toasted garlic chips; cod en papillote with leeks and carrots over tomatoes provençal; lighter fish and chips (baked and served with yukon gold fries)."

I am so hungry reading that...

Okay, I think that's it for today but you know the drill, if anything else pops up, I'll be back.

Oh yeah. One more thing. "e" is coming.

Later,
xo

Backwards Blogging...

Okay, I admit I'm stealing this idea from my second favorite bassist in the world, Tony Levin, but since it's been over a week since I've blogged and so many cool things have happened, I'm going to start with last night and work my way backwards. But first, we all know my #1 bassist is:



Julie Slick, who hopefully one of these days will sit down with our brilliant webmaster and finish her website...and as I've already written in previous posts, Julie heads down to Nashville tomorrow to Adrian Belew's studio for several days leading up to their June 10 gig at the Riverbend Festival...she is going to be making all kinds of magic there and hopefully fulfilling the dreams of a lot of Ade's fans.

Oh yeah, one more thing I want to shout from the rooftop before I launch into my blog in reverse, if you are anywhere near the Philadelphia/Bucks County area, mark June 20 on your calendar, and I will naturally be promoting this big time over the next three weeks, but following his 1:30 performance with Oblivion Sun at NEARfest, both Julie and Eric will be the special guests of the California Guitar Trio at the Sellersville Theater at 8:00 p.m. that night, performing several songs with the band including one from Pink Floyd and another from King Crimson...and that's just a little tease.

As I said, more on that in future posts but it's going to be AMAZING.

Oh wait, if I am doing this correctly, I should really start with today and my crazy brilliant drummer son, Eric Slick, who, because he does not already have enough to do, is in the studio today from noon until 5:00 p.m. recording with Tom Hamilton and the American Babies; then he heads over to a jam with David Fishkin and I just tried to find where and when that is via Google and MySpace and failed. If I talk to Eric at any point today and find out the details, I'll come in and edit.

**Okay, I did find out the details of Eric's gig tonight - see ETA at the bottom of this post.

Here's a recent pic of crazy Eric on tour last month:



Anyway...

Last night, Eric went with me to the Highline Ballroom in New York City to see a bunch of my friends read from Smith Magazine's Six Word Memoirs.

I was able to lure him there as my partner in crime because headlining the show was the absolutely hilarious Eugene Mirman from Flight of the Conchords, one of the funniest comics ever, Todd Barry...and someone Eric met while he was still in high school and I have an autographed copy of her book on my shelves to prove it, author Amy Tan. Oh, as a totally wild side note because I'm afraid I'll leave this part out in all of the other excitement, Amy read a very funny piece on email etiquette -- well, really, she related that she pondered quite extensively on how to sign an email, and oddly enough, and after much debate and what appears to be quite the internal struggle on her part, I learned she signs her email the same way I do -- xoxo

I never gave my sign-off any thought at all. xoxo just seemed a good a way as any. I wasn't about to use "ciao" or "Very truly yours" in a freaking email. Amy even analyzed whether to do it xxxooo or ox (no wait, I think I just made that part up and if I did, Amy, you should steal it. The "ox" part I mean. I know you had a problem with how many x's and o's to use).

When I first bought tickets for last night, I was going because my pals Susan Henderson, Ellen Meister, and Joe Maida were reading (oh...let me qualify Joe...he's really Eric's friend/fan, too and a major friend of Ween but then the two of us starting emailing about music, kids, etc. etc. so now Eric and I both have custody of Joe) and two people I really wanted to meet would also be in the audience, brilliant author Luis Urrea and his beautiful wife, Cindy. Ha ha...last night I also learned that while I met the Urreas through my blog, which I already knew, I thought it was because they stumbled on my writing...here, it turns out Luis is a huge Adrian Belew fan and he found me while googling Adrian. Score another one for Eric.

Then, after I'd already bought tickets, on Thursday a little blurb appeared on Twitter from Amanda Palmer, that she was the surprise musical guest. Now, we all know I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan, and if you are also a fan of either Amanda or Neil, and you've read their blogs and seen the amazing photos of the two of them by Kyle Cassidy you also know they are now officially "out" as a couple and that yes, Neil was already in New York for Book Expo America, the opening of Coraline the musical, and a joint show with Amanda in NYC on June 3. Would Neil be in the audience as well? If I saw him would he say hello and would I have a chance to redeem myself after our great embarrassing (well, to me as a slobbering fan girl) meet-up of a couple of years ago? Ha ha, trust me, I'm over that, had a couple of fun email exchanges with him since, and recently even had a twitter or two with him...in fact, just the other day he wrote "@neilhimself:@RobinSlick I watched the Why We Wax film, and you were not only in it, but you were wearing a Death shirt! Was very impressed."

I just realized something - I'm going to have that made into a Twitter t-shirt. But only if they will make it for me in black with white lettering.

But seriously, I had already bought my tickets before the Amanda Palmer announcement and was really looking forward to seeing Susan, Ellen et al and meeting Luis and Cindy, especially the latter as they were just in Philadelphia for a reading at the Free Library, which is literally blocks from my house, and I was still suffering from the great dental debacle and couldn't make it. And I was teasing Eric the whole time about the surprise musical guest...he knew of Amanda but had never seen her live and I knew he'd be interested but I didn't let on who it was until we were actually at the Highline.

Normally, because I am both nearsighted even with expensive contact lenses and neurotic, I would have gotten there at 6:00 p.m. when the doors opened to snag a seat right in front and do the happy hour thing but Eric had to teach so we literally got there about 10 minutes before the show started. Ellen immediately found us and even though we've been friends for years, she had never met Eric so I did the proud mom thing, and then I really got my chance because Cindy Urrea found us as well and I finally got to meet Luis and even more importantly, he got to meet Eric (xo) and then he said "I saw Neil and Amanda walking around holding hands".

I think it's pretty safe to say that anyone who reads my blog knows that little comment made me smile in a big way and Eric nervously glanced at me like I once again made him my accomplice in something awful and humiliating. (When I met Neil a couple years ago, I dragged Eric with me and then I insisted he take our picture together --Neil and yours truly, that is -- and I don't know that Eric has forgiven me yet for that oh so totally uncool moment.)

But already having met Ellen and Luis and also being greeted by Joe, our friend from Ween, I quickly dispelled Eric's fears by pointing that out.

But he still looked at me warily, and then, as luck would have it, when the show started in what was now a standing room only venue, I realized we were, well, standing, right next to Neil and Amanda! Eric shot me a look like "Don't you dare!" and on the other side of me, Ellen was urging me to say Hello. I kind of wanted to introduce Eric to Amanda, actually, because I know she is a big Trent Reznor fan and figured she knew Eric's "boss", Adrian Belew, and trust me, if I had my wits about me, I would have, but what did I blurt out instead when I saw them?

"I'M TELLING THE INTERNET!"

Amanda heard what I said right away and turned around and flashed me a huge smile, but Neil, who was standing right behind her and holding her and Oh.My.God are those two in love...they just radiate and are so perfect for each other it's a thing of beauty...anyway, Neil didn't turn around because he probably figured I was some weirdo fan...well, wait, I am a weirdo fan so that part may be true...oy....but you know, he stared straight ahead in the way celebrities do when they are out enjoying a night off and really don't want to make eye contact or talk to a stranger but ha ha, this is me we are talking about, I'm not a stranger! However, I decided if I bothered him again it would be the most unhip, cheesy thing I ever did and even though I knew he would be friendly if he realized it was me, I just could not bring myself to say anything else.

But then Susan Henderson came over to us, and Sue did the incredible interview with Neil on her website...I had "introduced" them in cyberworld, now I had no choice but to introduce them in the real world, but that meant I had to talk to him! Oh God. Would Eric refuse to ever go out in public with me anywhere again let alone hip clubs in New York City? Thank God for Ellen, whom I love dearly, because she doesn't put up with idiotic behavior. She stepped in and even though she doesn't know him, tapped Neil on the shoulder...he turned...saw me, smiled broadly (yeah!) I quickly introduced Sue...and then...and then...he kissed both of us on the cheek.

I wish I could say I'm never washing my face again but even I'm not that much of a lunatic.

And truth to tell, I have an even bigger crush on Luis Urrea. (Hi, Cindy!)

Seriously, Neil is so totally sweet and I did not bother him at all after that...I mean, we may have chatted briefly only I don't even remember what I did say to him because suddenly the two Ketel and clubs I drank on an empty stomach slammed me and after whatever conversation we did have, I happily returned to listening to the extremely entertaining show.

Amanda was great - she played her ukulele and performed a new one she wrote, Dear Old House That I Grew Up In, and a fantastic cover of Radiohead's Creep...in fact, here's a recent You Tube of that...but first, did I mention that Neil stood next to Eric the whole time Amanda played? Yep. I snuck a look at him...Neil, that is...he was mesmerized and that is one love sick puppy. It's so cute!

Okay, enough of that. Here's Amanda and this was from Coachella a few months ago. Damn I wish the Adrian Belew Power Trio had played that gig! Maybe next year?



The Smith Magazine part of the show in which my friends took part was absolutely fabulous! Larry and Rachel from Smith shouted out a name and each writer came running up to the mic and read his/her six word memoir. Some were laugh out loud funny; some were a little sad...all were fantastic. I was wondering how the hell they were going to pull that off and they really, really did an awesome job.

Sooo..I think that covers today and last night.

Let's see. Earlier in the week, I wrote. And wrote. And realized that my Young Adult book contains the word "fuck" 37 times in under 100 pages. Clearly, I either need to find another word or abandon the idea that I can ever write anything young adult. I will try and figure this out over the course of the next several days, in between dealing with an ongoing fucking dental nightmare which I can't even blog about; it's too painful both physically and emotionally. Bleh.

Oh, I know. Still in reverse mode, I can tell you about Monday. Memorial Day, that is. As is the usual Slick family custom, we went to Ocean City, New Jersey for the day, and there were no significant others involved. It was like we were transported 10 years back into time. Donuts for breakfast, a surrey ride, miniature golf, pizza from Mac and Manco's, and then home before traffic picked up, only we were too late for that and sat in gridlock for hours but I was too happy to have a panic attack so I somehow made it through that without freaking out and...oh enough, here's some photos from that fabbo day:









So I'm pretty sure that was my week, but if I remember anything else or find out where the hell Eric is playing tonight with David Fishkin (he's a sax player), I'll be back.

**ETA: Just talked to Eric..his gig tonight is at Big Rock Candy Mountain, 1822 North Hancock Street, Philadelphia, PA at 9:30 p.m. and admission is FREE

And if you want to follow any of us mentioned in this post on Twitter, here's the official list:

Me: @robinslick
Eric: @mrericslick
Luis and Cindy Urrea: @urrealism
Ellen Meister: @ellenmeister
Susan Henderson: @litpark
Joe Maida: @mightyboognish
Amanda Palmer: @amandapalmer
Neil Gaiman: @neilhimself (as if the world doesn't already know that)

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Friday, May 22, 2009

Okay, listen up - tonight there's going to be an awesome show at the North Star Bar in Philadelphia:



Yes, Julie's boyfriend, Matt, is the bassist for Cheers Elephant and yes, she produced both their first and upcoming new CD, but tonight, Eric Slick will be sitting in on drums with the band and that's going to be a blast. "It's a family affair..." Who sung that again? Oh well, who cares. Not me. I'm in full holiday mode today and ready to have some serious fun this weekend. Wait. It was Sly and the Family Stone, wasn't it? I loved him but how fucking demented did he get in his old age. Whoa. Pretty fucking demented. I had to hit Google, because for a minute, I wondered if he died last year but found this instead:

"Reemergence

On Sunday, January 14, 2007 Sly made a short guest appearance at a show of The New Family Stone band he supports at the House of Blues.

On April 1, 2007, Stone appeared with the Family Stone at the Flamingo Las Vegas Showroom, after George Wallace's standup act.[2]

On July 7, 2007 Stone made a short appearance with the Family Stone at the San Jose, CA Summerfest. He sang "Sing a Simple Song" and "If You Want Me to Stay," and walked off stage before the end of "Higher." He wore a baseball cap, dark glasses, a white hooded sweatshirt, baggy pants and gold chains. Stone, who took the stage at about 8:45 p.m., cut the set short, in part, because the promoter was told that the show had to end by 9:00. The band began their set over 90 minutes late reportedly because the stage management was poor and the promoter's band played for 30 minutes longer than scheduled. Sly's 15-minute set came only after his sister, Vet, and the rest of the band performed for 35 minutes. As he exited the stage he told the audience near the front of the stage that he would return. He did return, but only to tell the crowd that the police were shutting down the show. While many blamed Stone for this incident, others believed that the promoter was at fault.

The same scenes were repeated at the Montreux Jazz Festival on the 13th July 2007 with over half the sold-out venue walking out in disgust even earlier than his stage exit.

The same happened again one day later at the Blue Note Records Festival in Ghent, Belgium. Here he left the stage after saying to the audience that "when waking up this morning he realized he was old, and so he needed to take a break now". He did the same again one day later, performing at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

But as the tour progressed, Sly seemed to be more confident and animated, often dancing and engaging the audience. By the time the tour rolled into Paris, things appeared to be improving, and Sly sporting an afro and a headband, performed an energetic and absorbing show, with one his finest performances of "Family Affair." At the Bournemouth gig, Sly performed a feat many of his detractors would not have believed possible. During the performance of "I Want To Take You Higher," he prowled the edge of the stage, and jumped off into the photographers pit, provoking roars of approval. He performed soulful versions of Stand, "I Want To Take You Higher", "Sing A Simple Song", "If You Want Me To Stay", and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)", (which at one point morphed into "Thank you For Talkin' To Me Africa", a track rarely performed in public). But the show was marred by sound problems and the vocals were barely audible through much of the show.

On January 4, 2009, Stone appeared briefly at the George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic concert at the House of Blues, Las Vegas. He appeared dressed in what appeared to be a children's spiderman costume. Once he took off his mask, he had a large gray mohawk and a smile on his face. He sang a few songs and hit a few notes on the keyboard and then disappeared. Some people in the audience were chanting "Bootsy!" because some people thought that's who he was...but George Clinton introduced him as Sly Stone and everyone immediately knew that it wasn't Bootsy."

Okay, enough of that. And I said I didn't care.

Getting back to me...

Last night was pretty wild, too. I went to a 68th birthday party bash for Bob Dylan and a bunch of local musicians played his covers to honor him. I drank Ketel One and club soda for most of the night so it all sounded good to me and regrettably, I do not remember much after the first hour or two.

Speaking of birthdays, Eric's was INSANE. Even if you are not a vegan, you really need to eat at Horizons. One of the best meals I've ever had in the U.S.

In other news, we now have some idea of what the next few months will be like: Julie heads to Nashville from June 1 to June 11 to work at Studio Belew; Slick Daddy will be flying down for a visit June 5-7; the new studio Adrian Belew Power Trio CD "e" is in very secret hands on the west coast where it will be joined by Adrian himself for four days next week....Eric has a bunch of gigs as usual as the Riverbend Festival approaches on June 10, but he'll be down in Nashville on June 9, play the show, then head for Bonnaroo where he'll be performing every night...details to follow...both Julie and Eric are doing a special gig with a very special band and I'm not sure if I can announce that yet or not; Eric is playing NEARfest on June 20, then the Adrian Belew Power Trio will set off on tour from July 17-August 1 and from August 20-September 2...so far...as soon as I have the details, so will you.

And as for me, yes, me again, it is my blog, I am enjoying a much needed break from the world and have returned to full-time writing in a big way...working on two books simultaneously and will be taking it a minute at a time...

So be well and have a great holiday weekend. If I get any cool news, I'll be back.

Later,
xo

Happy Birthday Eric Slick!

Well, I'm officially old. My "baby" is twenty-two years old today.



Happy Birthday, Eric!

And in case you are a new reader to this blog, the official INSANE story of Eric's actual birth can be found right here. Sadly, I did not embellish one fact...in fact, I actually toned it down to make it more "politically correct".

So our gift to Eric is a brand new double bed and mattress for his new place in the Graduate Hospital area (the lucky bum)...hardwood floors throughout, brand new state of the art kitchen, three stories with finished soundproof studio basement...wait...what the fuck am I, his real estate agent? Ha ha, I'm just excited for him, and oddly enough, today is also his official moving day.

And to top off the festivities, tonight the family is taking him to dinner at Philadelphia's premier vegan restaurant, Horizons, where we'll be dining on:

Starters:

Florida Corn "Sopa De Tortilla" charred poblano broth, avocado, tortilla stix

Smoked Portobella Carpaccio black olive blini, rosemary mustard, crispy capers

Exotic Mushroom Fritters hearts of palm and tomato stew, saffron aioli

Salt Roasted Golden Beet Duo sliced with house smoked tofu on rye.

Tartare with seaweed caviar and cucumber dill sauce

Jamaican BBQ Seitan jicama slaw, smoked chipotle dip

Spanish Chopped Salad smoked tofu, avocado, hearts of palm, cured and green olives, red onion, patatas bravas grilled lemon- caper dressing

Red Leaf Salad lolla rosa, grilled green onions, roasted pears, pistachio vinaigrette

Entrees:

Pan Seared Peppercorn Tofu curry creamed spinach, garbonzo crepe with hearts of palm chick pea stew, cucumber coriander chutney

Grilled Seitan yukon mash, grilled spinach, horseradish cream and roasted red pepper tapenade

Mushroom Pub Plate - wood grilled portobella with grain mustard sauce stuffed deviled oyster mushrooms pickled beech mushrooms creamy maitakes and peas over truffled celery root puree

Catalan Tempeh braised black beluga lentils

Spanish salsa verde smoked eggplant-stuffed piquillo. preserved lemon aioli

Pacific Rim Grilled Tofu spicy gochujang glaze, korean fried rice,edamame puree, smoked miso glaze

Dijon seitan and cauliflower terrine. grilled royal trumpet mushrooms sauteed brussels sprouts, baby turnips and lettuce roasted rutabaga salad

Sides And Small Plates

Maitake mushrooms with rosemary and miso

Grilled spinach with preserved lemon aioli

Fresh trofie pasta with garlic and truffle oil

Baked potato fries with chipotle dip

Brussels sprouts and tokyo turnips with mustard cream, curried garbanzos with rice and chutney

Desserts:

Key Lime Cheesecake mango ceviche

Chocolate Mousse mac nut cookies

Coconut Cupcake pineapple gazpacho

Saffron Creme Brulee with lemon-hazelnut cookies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bomb with peanut butter ice cream

How's that for some vegan food porn? I'll try and remember to take some pictures for my next post.

So Happy Birthday, Eric Slick...you are in fact the man...and oh yeah, here's another tease...what Friends of King Crimson band will both Julie and Eric join on stage for a Philadelphia area show next month? Stay tuned....

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Thursday, May 7, 2009

Well, life is never dull around here. There's all kinds of cool stuff going on.


Photo of the Adrian Belew Power Trio by Gary Slick, taken in Milwaukee, WI on 4/18/09

In case you haven't heard, in addition to his drumming duties with the Adrian Belew Power Trio, Project Object, and Crescent Moon, Eric Slick is now the new drummer for Oblivion Sun. He will be making his debut with the band on Saturday, June 20, 2009 at NEARfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, regarding Oblivion Sun, there's been some really wonderful comments about Eric on the Progressive Ears Forum Board under "...and the new drummer is..."

Here's something else so cool I can't take it. What member of King Crimson...and I'm not saying who it is or whether it's a current or former member...contacted Eric and now the two of them are going to record a CD of original music together at either the end of this year or beginning of next to have available ASAP in 2010? Nope, I'm not telling, you'll just have to wait. All I know is, when Eric told me about it and who it was, I was pretty damn stoked. To say this is going to be mind-blowing is putting it mildly. Crimson fans all over the world are going to rejoice! (Insert winking smiley face emoticon here) Oh, okay. I'm well aware that I'm such a groupie mom it's nauseating but since this is my blog, I can do what I want and again I will reiterate that I have been a music groupie since like, age 12. But trust me, I've got a real reason to be excited.

And speaking of real reasons to be excited! Next month marks the release of the first Adrian Belew Power Trio studio CD - the extraordinary "e". Just listening to the rough mix sends chills up my spine. How fucking lucky am I?

So at age 22 -- well, he's still 21 but his birthday is next Friday, May 15 -- and it's crazy how many drummers are born in May: Bill Bruford, John Bonham, Alex Van Halen, Gavin Harrison, Billy Cobham, Danny Carey, Phil Selway, Alan White, Butch Trucks -- Eric has the world's most amazing life.

And now for something completely different, here's a You Tube that just popped up - Eric doing a jazz/rap gig at World Cafe Life with Bodega on April 20, 2009...



By the way, that's Jay-Z's trombone player - Aaron Goode, who also plays for Jill Scott and John Legend.

Julie has some cool news, too. She is busy producing the new CD for Cheers Elephant; then she is going down to Nashville the week after next to Casa Belew to do a whole bunch of secret stuff involving computers and studio equipment and Proud papa Gary Slick is going with her for purposes of...sorry...lips sealed again. Gah! Don't you just hate that?

By the way, Cheers Elephant is playing a very special show tonight at Kung Fu Necktie and if you are in the Philadelphia area, I cannot recommend this gig enough. Cheers Elephant is by far the very best original band to come out of the former students/graduates of the School of Rock and I predict major success for them in the very, very near future. Well, not all the guys are from SOR - but bassist Matt Rothstein, Julie's significant other, was one of the original students and vocalist and lead guitarist Jordan del Rosario teaches at one of the branches.

Moving on...

Another thing I wanted to mention was the absolutely fabulous gifts we have been receiving from Adrian Belew Power Trio fans. I am pretty sure I've written here about this already, but as our Christmas gift, uber fan and friend Rena Fay, a/k/a Tickledrop, painstakingly recorded every single You Tube of Ade, Julie and Eric and presented each of us with a set of three DVDs, all beautifully packaged with photographs...we watch them non-stop and it's really cool to see the changes in the band since they first got together three years ago and up to the present. Yep, three years. This month is their anniversary. Can you believe it?

While on this most recent tour, they were given these handmade woodcuts by Phil Bates. Here. We took pictures. Are these incredible or what? Phil, I tried to find a website for you so I could link your work but I struck out. If you are reading this and email me, I'll gladly take care of that.





Then last week, a box arrived via special delivery from Bill Randolph, and when we opened it up, look what was inside! (And Bill - same deal. If you are reading this and want to send me a link, I will be more than happy to put it here)





I don't know if you can see what the label on the hot sauce bottle says, but it's hilarious. "Slick & Slick Hot Sauce -- It's Like Music In Your Mouth".

Love it.

Hey, my life isn't half bad, either. You know that cool little documentary I'm in -- erm, the one that has been winning awards all over the world? Exciting news coming on that front...I have heard from a pretty accurate source that there is, a, um, strong possibility you will all be able to see me in the comfort of your own homes. Robin Slick on plasma! Anyway, I didn't even know about this but when the movie was shown in Amsterdam, they did a really cool little film of the premier along with a trailer and yep, I'm in it alright...both at the beginning and toward the end and it's hilarious. I even have an IMDB listing here and here for both that and the other *cough* award winning short film (it's true) based on Daddy Left Me Alone with God. They have a big screen (well, kinda big) version up of that film right here but I digress -- here's the clip from Amsterdam:



Okay, I think that covers the news for today...I've got to end this post now. Places to go, people to see, blah blah blah...busy, busy, busy.

Later,
xo

Decadent days in Orlando: The Romantic Times Convention 2009

So you know, you go to the Romantic Times Convention to meet and mingle with your readers, attend/speak at workshops, and go to a few faerie and vampire balls, and then, the big wrap-up, sell your books at Ye Olde Book Fair. In other words, you are supposed to be on your best author-like behavior. Meet me and my posse:



Okay, obviously I'm the one in front who hasn't learned proper posture yet, and behind me, going left to right, the following brilliant women: Author/artist Ash Arceneaux, editor Luci Calanor, author/artist Stella Price, and author Kayleigh Jamison. The five of us basically stuck together throughout the entire convention, with the exception of Saturday night, when Luci and Kay snuck over to the "dark side"...i.e., the cover model competition. More on that in a minute.

But first, here are some photos I took of our accommodations. Not too bad, huh.






The only real problem with our hotel was that the convention center was a hike from our "garden apartments" but they had these little golf carts you could call to transport you to and from. I was pretty lucky, though. My room not only faced the pool, but I was only three buildings away from said center so it was a five minute trip over various footbridges surrounding the lagoons and other than drunkenly getting lost my first night there and walking around the pool, oh, seven or a thousand times, I finally realized the buildings were numbered and I had in fact passed mine, Building 10, at least 50 times on my search...but after that...a piece o'cake.

So here's Stella, Kay, and yours truly getting together Stella's infamous goodie bags to give to unsuspecting readers at the first Book Expo on Wednesday night..and yeah, I know, corny and immature as hell, the finger gestures for whatever reason became my m.o. for almost every photo session. Why, why, why. Can I blame alcohol? Because yeah, that stuff flowed throughout the convention. You might think writers drink a lot or something. Sheesh.



Here's Ash and I having a glass of champagne at what had to be the absolute BEST party I have ever attended during all of my years at various RT Conventions, including the dastardly Faerie Ball and Vampire whatever. This was a private, catered pre-faerie ball affair thrown by the wonderful people at All Romance Ebooks. Okay, now I must go into food freak mode because it was an incredible spread. Huge, unbelievable shrimp. Skewers of roasted vegetables. Skewers of chicken and fresh pineapple. Sweet potato empanadas. Open faced mini prime rib sandwiches. Oh, and did I mention the champagne? It literally flowed. I was so buzzed when I left there I was like, fuck the faerie ball, but the others made me go. They were all dressed up, I chose to stay in jeans but as you can see by the below photo, I did make one concession - I traded my black t-shirt for a ruffled black blouse from Lucky Brand Jeans which I thought was way cool until I just saw that pic and realize I am so, so, so not a ruffle person. Looks like my daughter may be inheriting a new piece of clothing...



Because my room was closest to the "ball", my, um, posse decided to change in my room. It was like the Rocky Horror Prom Night Show. Since I was not getting dressed up, I sat back on the bed and watched, but when Ash took out her bra, it was hard not to (1) wonder how I could get it into the Guinness Book of World Records and (2) put it on my head because trust me, there was enough for two heads in that thing:



The five of us quickly realized that the food at the hotel was, well, awful, so we frequently went on jaunts to Orlando restaurants. I can't find a photo from the first night, but we ate at an amazing seafood restaurant where I had oak grilled salmon topped with lump crab meat and asparagus, swimming in a white wine sauce with baked, yes baked, french fries on the side. Sick, sick, sick. Anyway, you'll have to take my word for it since I didn't whip out my camera, but here we are at lunch...God forgive me, you know my stance on chain restaurants, but we ate at the Olive Garden and oddly enough, it was good. Of course I stuck to the pasta, salad and breadstick lunch and it's pretty hard to fuck that up...they were even kind enough to substitute whole wheat pasta for me, which, after looking at these photos, I clearly need and should have said "no" to the breadsticks but oh well, I was on vacation and the diet resumed when I got home.

At least in theory.

I'm also noticing I have a drink in my hand in many of the pics (P.S., if you visit Ash's site linked above, there are many, many more photographs and you will also see that this is where I've lifted most of these)



Like, I found this one on Ash's site - do not remember if it's from the Faerie or Vampire Ball but you get the point...i.e., why I wanted to blow them off.



Okay, this one was definitely from the Faerie Ball and why this guy is wearing a french maid costume I have no idea (because it belonged to his wife and she said "I'm sorry, I don't have any more faerie costumes but how about this?) but it seemed like a good photo op at the time. Remember, much alcohol consumed here...in fact, I don't even remember that pic.



Nor this one...but obviously I was beginning to fade. I'm just kind of staring at everyone, wondering WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING HERE?



Oh, yeah, I remember. It's so I can meet and hang out with famous writers like New York Times best selling author Jacqueline Frank.



Remember when I mentioned the "dark side" as concerns two of my friends? Well, apparently Jackie took a walk over there as well...



I, however, am far too cerebral for that, choosing instead to fawn over hang out with brilliant author Barry Eisler.





Hey, Susan Henderson! Barry says Hello!

Oh look, yet another restaurant shot, this time with uber fan Andrea, and meeting her was one of the highlights of the trip. We seemed to share the same wardrobe...i.e., black t-shirts and jeans...throughout.



Finally, though, it was time for the big book sale/signing. After partying half the night away, it was a two fisted coffee morning for me.



Here's a shot of my author table at the Grand Ballroom where the book sale was held...pretty impressive swag, huh. Note to all of those of you to whom I promised guitar pic jewelry...I struggled like you would not believe to make those necklaces because I had grand plans of adding beads and crystals, etc. but it literally would have cost me $1,000 and about three months of my life. So I finally threw in the towel and improvised...i.e., just stuck the damn pics on some silk cord, and they actually came out awesome so I will be mailing them out to anyone wanting one this week.



Now this next photo makes me kind of famous - i.e., I made the front page of the official Romantic Times Blog:



"Bring On the Book Fair
This morning's book fair was a madhouse - tables of books galore, authors talking and taking pictures, and of course the readers. My roommate and I alone managed to buy a total of 37 books, give or take a few. Each of us went in with the intention of not loading up our arms, but neither of us managed to succeed.

Shortly after I was done at the book fair, I donated blood. Raz Steele held a blood drive, with all donors getting a copy of one of his books.

It was a fun experience, getting to chat with authors I missed during the previous few days, and catching up with the others. I made a point of finding some authors I hadn't already read and am looking forward to finding out how good they are."

And as you can see, I'm the first photo under that paragraph and she actually bought Daddy Left Me Alone with God ten minutes before the book fair opened to the public which was way, way cool.

After the book fair ended, naturally we were starving again. It was our last night there, and since Kay and Luci went over to the dark side along with our pal, Andrea, to vote on the best cover model and watch them strut up and down the "runway", Stella, Ash and I decided to have dinner at a nearby Japanese steakhouse and Ash got the hostess to take our pic for yet another restaurant Kodak moment.



Meanwhile, the entire time, I was feeling sicker and sicker. My head ached, my throat burned, and my stomach...well...let's just say I spent more time sleeping on the bathroom floor than in my bed. I thought for sure I was going to die on the flight home to Philadelphia the next morning, and I spent the next seven days sick as a dog in bed, pretty sure I had the swine flu, which, all things considered, seemed like a fitting end...

But all is cool now and I'm back and ready to write.

Stay tuned for some more news tomorrow about Eric's ever increasing gig list (including his participation in yet another band...which is probably the worst kept secret in Prog World right now) and photos of some ultra cool gifts from ABPT fans!

Later,
xo

It's all about Eric Slick, anyway

Morning.

Well, I've been back from Florida for almost a week and this is the first time I am up for blogging...I've been so fucking sick it's ridiculous and all I could think was that I did not want to be known as "the first reported case of swine flu in Philadelphia - a woman living in the Art Museum area"...anyway, I still feel like hell so instead of telling you all about my fun and games at the RT Convention last week, I will quickly bring you up to speed about Eric Slick, who has a ton of really cool gigs this month while the Adrian Belew Power Trio is on brief sabbatical until June.



So first up is tonight, and here's a big secret -- if you are a fan of the Grateful Dead and want to meet them, now is your chance. Eric is playing double drums with Bodega at the Official Live Nation Dead Tour After Party and yes, yes, the Dead are going to show up and jam after midnight following their show at the Spectrum tonight. I have never been a fan but it still should be a blast and c'mon, it's the TLA...it was originally scheduled for a smaller club in West Chester but they just moved it for obvious reasons.

Tomorrow Eric is playing SHREDfest at the Rotunda in West Philadelphia starting at 7:00 p.m.



On Monday, he takes off for a secret location for a rehearsal with a top secret band...if all goes well, see you at Nearfest on June 20?

Continuing on...May 9 Eric will be gigging with Ellis Ashbrook at the Bowery Poetry Club in New York City...on May 10, he'll be with Travis Woodson at the Tritone in Philadelphia...and of course June 10 he'll be with the Adrian Belew Power Trio at the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga...and I think that covers any and all interesting and notable gigs he has at the moment but you never know with Eric, something is basically always happening but these are the best of the best...and in closing, I want to leave you with a few You Tubes that just popped up from a couple of years ago when Eric played the World Cafe Live with Chris Harford and Mickey and Aaron from Ween...just some gorgeous, gorgeous stuff...





Okay, back to bed for me. I'll report back about the RT Convention either tomorrow or Monday...it was way too much fun, I can tell you that.

Odds and Sods for Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Good morning!

So today I take off for five days in sunny (well, in theory) Orlando, Florida, to participate, i.e., sell/sign my books and hit the many open bars, at the RT Convention. But before I go, a couple of tidbits remain from last week's Adrian Belew Power Trio tour.



Here's a fantastic interview recorded just after the show in Illinois -- amazing! (Highlight: Adrian says: "If I could be the drummer of my dreams, it would be Eric")



Here's another sparkling review:

"Adrian Belew in a Sold Out XRT Show at Old Town School
By Terri Hemmert ⋅ April 21, 2009

If I e-mailed you Adrian Belew’s musical resume, your hard drive would crash. It’s no wonder Zappa, Bowie, Talking Heads, King Crimson and more wanted to play with him. He’s a brilliant musician, and has such a joyful personality. I’ve seen King Crimson many times over the years, and never saw Robert Fripp smile unless he was playing with Adrian. So when the Adrian Belew power trio took the stage, I thought maybe he was playing with his kids. Well, they were someone else’s kids, but they did turn out to be brother and sister. Julie and Eric Slick were young enough to be on Spring Break, but could they play. Any rhythm section would be challenged to play with someone as brilliant as Belew, but they did better than hold their own.
They were great!

The trio opened with twenty minutes of instrumental work that will be on a new album to be released in June. Adrien has all kinds of technical tricks, but it only enhances his talent. And thankfully he did some vocals. I think he’s a charming and underrated vocalist. And he continues to be one of the most brilliant guitarists this music fan has ever seen. If progressive rock had followed Belew’s lead, the film Spinal Tap would never have been made. While prog rock went off the deep end with musical and lifestyle excesses, Adrian keeps it real.

A note on the venue. Adrian clearly loved the room and sound at the Old Town School. I’m not a mindreader. He said so. I’m just sorry I wasn’t there the night before to see Loretta Lynn’s big pink tour bus. That was a photo op, I bet."

So that's very cool and definitely made my morning...but for now I must pack for an early flight. I will have my laptop and camera with me so my plan is to blog from the convention...erm...you really can't quite believe what goes on there but this time I'll have the photos to prove it.

Later,
xo