A partial spilling of the beans...

The Adrian Belew Power Trio in California, November, 2006 (photo by Gary Slick)

Okay, okay, I can't take it anymore. I at least have to spill some news.

Eric is currently on a plane for L.A. on his way to The Namm Show. What's that? Here's a blurb:

"Today, a record-breaking 1,535 music products manufacturers from around the world will fill every square inch of the Anaheim Convention Center with the latest innovations in musical instruments at the 105th NAMM Show, the industry's largest annual event in the United States.

The NAMM Show, which opened today in Anaheim and runs through the weekend, is only open to the trade and draws thousands of music products retailers and manufacturers eager to check out the products, attend valuable professional development sessions and network with their peers"

So what does that have to do with Eric?

"The stars come out in force during the NAMM Show. Throughout the show, a steady stream of legendary musicians and celebrities drop by to sign autographs, take photos with fans and check out the latest gear. Past star sightings include Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Dave Navarro, Peter Frampton, Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, Gene Simmons, Kevin Bacon, Keanu Reeves, Kelly Clarkson, Brian Wilson and even Shaq."

Err...no, really, what does that have to do with Eric?

Okay, I'll tell you. Eric has landed an endorsement with an internationally premier cymbal company, Paiste Cymbals. Who are other Class A artists endorsed by Paiste? Oh, just Stewart Copeland, Carl Palmer, Nigel Olsson, Nick Mason, Alex Van Halen...the list is pretty fucking incredible. So yeah, Eric will be featured on their website any day as well as appearing in ads endorsing Paiste...plus he gets to pick himself out a sweet set-up of the cymbals of his choice this weekend at NAMM in return for exclusively playing Paiste cymbals on stage. Ha ha - that should not be too hard as they really are the best cymbals in the world. It's an incredible honor for Eric and he's going to be hanging with some real heavyweights from the music world over the weekend and sitting alongside them, signing autographs. I gave him my digital camera and the cable for his laptop and begged for photos so we'll see if he's able to pull that off. I admit it, I groveled.

The other piece of news is yep, Eric is playing drums with Ike Willis and Project Object on February 14, 2006 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but it's just been confirmed that Ms. Julie will indeed fly out the following day, because the Adrian Belew Power Trio will be performing there on Thursday, February 15, 2007. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has not updated their website beyond January, 2007 so I do not know if you can purchase tickets yet, but naturally I'll post a link as soon as I find one.

Following the Thursday night performance, there is a possible chance of a gig in Columbus, Ohio that Friday night, but it's been confirmed that there will be a very special gig for the Adrian Belew Power Trio at The Southgate House in Newport, KY (which is really the border of Cincinnati, Ohio) on Saturday night, February 17 (though right now, the website incorrectly lists it as "February 27" but when you click on "buy tickets" it does give the correct date of February 17). Why might this gig be very special? she asked mysteriously. Err...take a look at the venue and read about it.

Hmm...is that the only reason it's going to be special?

You'll just have to go and find out, won't you. Right now I'm trying to figure a way for Gary and me to both attend this show. Technically it's my turn since Gary did the west coast tour and we have a dog we refuse to put in a kennel which is why we never go anywhere together. But in this case, Gary and I would kill to be there and it's not fair for either of us to stay home (Why? Hahahahaha...I love this intrigue...I can't believe I'm not blabbing, but since I don't want to jinx anything, I am biting my tongue. HARD.) so as soon as I'm done this blogpost, I'm going to see if I can find a pet friendly hotel because we are nuts enough to drive from Philadelphia to Cincinnati with said dog...what the hell, it's only a six or seven hour trip. I do wish the dog didn't always get carsick but oh well, I've had vomit duty since having babies and it doesn't really bother me. Just call me Nurse Robin.

Alright. That's all I have permission to talk about so far. But watch this space. It's only the tip of the iceberg.

In other Eric news, there is an incredible discussion going on over at the Frank Zappa forum board in which Eric not only gets praise from several die hard Frank fans but he participates himself in some highly intelligent and thoughtful posts. He uses his real name, so if you want to read something very interesting about the whole Zappa Plays Zappa/Project Object experience as well as some very cool stuff about Eric and Andre's thoughts on the subject, click right here. This is actually page 2 of this topic; I posted pretty much all of what's on page 1 in prior blog entries as they had to do with reviews of the Project Object shows as they happened last week as well as reviews of Eric's performance, but if you read pages 2 and 3, there is a lot of new commentary, and I have to tell you, I am more than a little proud of both my son's thoughts on the subject as well as his stellar writing. So again, here's the link -- let me know what you think in my comments section or better yet, post your thoughts on the Zappa forum board. But please, be positive and supportive...Eric certainly doesn't want any enemies in the Zappa family or Zappa Plays Zappa band...he toured several times with Napoleon Murphy Brock and considers him a great friend and mentor. If you read Eric's comments, he is a huge fan of ZPZ himself.

Now. This is kind of embarrassing, but I need to ask for your voting help again. Apparently I've been nominated for three independent book awards - favorite author, best short story, and best novel of 2006. Unfortunately this is in the "romance" category (grits teeth and snarls) but I guess they didn't know where else to put me and these days everyone insists on labeling everything. Now this vote is kind of a pain in the ass because you have to leave your name and email address and then they send you an email to verify that you voted which you have to click on so that your vote is counted; this is to prevent people from cheating. So if you wouldn't mind, here are the links -- just don't forget to scroll down and enter your name and email address after voting, okay? Okay!

Best novel: Another Bite of the Apple

Best short story: Buenos Noches, Justine

Favorite author: Robin Slick

Oh man, there's so much more to say but I don't want anyone shooting me and again, I am extremely superstitious...so all I can tell you is, watch this space!

Later,
xo