Playing catch-up

Eric Slick, Adrian Belew, and Julie Slick backstage at Zappanale on July 16, 2006

So it's time to play catch up on all the news happening around here as concerns Ms. Julie Slick, Mr. Eric Slick, the Adrian Belew Power Trio, etc., etc.

First of all, Andrew Greenaway penned his annual diary of Zappanale 17, but of course me being me will cut and paste one pertinent part right here. However, please click on the link as Andrew does a great job of summing up the various performances and there are more mentions of my family, including the elusive Gary, within.

"...it’s time for Mr Adrian Belew’s set proper. Outside of Keneally and Vai, he’s one of the few whose career away from Frank has been truly apart and worthwhile. Stripped to a three piece with borrowed/missing effects, he was just unfassible (though his vox did get a little lost in the mix somewhere). Young Eric and Julie Slick (on drum ‘n’ bass) were amazing – I already knew Eric was, but the barefoot Contessa was equally impressive. Adrian is rightly proud of this current Power Trio – saying “Gee, I wish I could do that. Don’t you wish you could do that?” after ES’s audacious drum solo. Only 19 and he knows how to. What more can I say about this elixir? How did Julie manage to replicate Tony Levin’s stick on her fretted bass throughout Elephant Talk? How good was the lone rhino on The Lone Rhinoceros? Shame they were unable to play Matchless Man due to the absence of Ade’s backward guitar gizmo..."

United Mutations has a nice blurb on their site and again, here's a little teaser:

"... Headliner Adrian Belew did what everyone expected from him. He played an astonishing set: old and new songs, both from his solo career as from King Crimson.

I was told that his gear-box was missing, but I don't think anyone noticed. The loop-box worked and the feedback sounded like it should. Another highlight. And with former PGSoR's Julie Slick on bass and Eric Slick on drums this power trio was the perfect ending of an impressive festival..."

The Zappateers have a ton of photos in their scrapbook (obviously click on Z17)...

And so does Mose Moses -- click on news and photos.

Another favorite would have to be comments from this guy, who says:

"...So I can say that Adrian Belew knocked out a killer set despite not having any of his regular amps or effects. He is admittedly gear-dependent for some things, but if you are a listener you know that a lot of his music is clean or straight guitar. So he toughed it out by playing the set with his parker fly into a marshall half stack. He had a boomerang that I think he packed in his luggage, but it was only used a few times.

The result is that I can go to my grave knowing that I got a really special chance to see Belew melt some faces, and I saw it from the rail in front of the stage. Jaw freakin dropping. Big Electric Cat with just that pure raunch tone. Heaven. Adrian was bugged about the gear delay (it showed up 3 hours after his set), but the set itself was spectacular. His trio with Eric Slick and Julie Slick is super heavy. Look for a shot of Julie in the Girls with Basses thread. Eric is about 19 or 20 years old and is already one of the best small-kit rock drummer I have heard. Julie is a few years his elder and she is everything you could want in a rock bassist. These siblings are "grads" of the Paul Green School of Rock Music (see: Rock School, the documentary)."

Naturally, I had to see what the "Girls with Basses Thread" was and um, almost had a heart attack -- not really but I was momentarily taken aback as I wondered what treatment Julie would be getting when I found the applicable "shot of Julie" he mentions as here was the first photo/post I came across:



But no, I should have known better and here's how they posted about Julie:



"I caught Julie with Adrian Belew at the Zappanale 17 festival in Bad Doberan, Germany, July 16, 2006. Her brother Eric is the drummer in Adrian's new power-trio. She can rock that bass, for real."

So how cool is that?

Anyway, things have been crazy here as the kids get ready to resume their tour with Adrian Belew this coming Tuesday night at B.B. King's in New York City. Julie has been working non-stop building her dream state of the art recording studio where she hopes to record various bands during her down time on the Belew tour. Eric meanwhile is picking up gigs galore, including a few with Dave Dreiwitz from Ween and Chris Harford that are very, very interesting. Some possibilities include playing an outdoor gig at Grand Central Station in NYC and oh my god, opening for one of the headliners at a huge closing concert planned for CBGB's at the end of September. I think Eric may also be doing a gig this weekend with some of his fellow musicians from Project Object and as soon as I get those details, I'll immediately post where and when, though I vaguely remember him telling me something about "Newark, NJ" when I was in and out of sleep last night...I crashed on the sofa because my bedroom air-conditioning picked a major heat wave to die on me. It was awesome Eric came home when he did, because normally I would have been asleep at midnight, and instead I was instantly wide awake, which meant I immediately turned on the Jay Leno show so that I could maybe, possibly, fingers crossed hear Lisa Kudrow plug Ellen Meister's fabulous new book. And she did! She did! Lisa narrated the audio version and she told Jay a funny story about how she thought she had to do different voices of all the characters instead of just doing a straight read...and so that's what she did, and she was warm and wonderful but I think all of us who are Ellen's friend and watching Lisa all had collective heart attacks when for a brief moment, she totally forgot the name of the book, paused, stammered, and then blurted out "Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA". She didn't say "by Ellen Meister" but oh my god, how insanely fantastic was it that she just happened to be a guest on Leno (to plug her own Emmy nominated DVD) the same day Ellen's book was released.

Can you say superstar? Cos' that's what Ellen is going to be.

I have more writing and other news but this post is already too long and I need to save something for later or tomorrow so...

Later,
xo

She may not have heard an orchestra playing Stars and Stripes on her front lawn this morning...

...but I did

So today is the release of my good pal Ellen Meister's incredible, incredible book "Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA".

To learn some really fun things about Ellen, please visit our mutual friend Myfanwy Collin's blog.

And here are the first stellar reviews for Applewood:

From Publishers Weekly
Cat fights erupt among Applewood's soccer moms in Meister's eager-to-please debut. The local PTA, driven by über-wife Suzanne Podobinski, is raising money to build a small stadium at the elementary school when a location scout, searching for a place to film a movie starring George Clooney, happens into their Long Island town. The PTA quickly dissolves into factious committees, and Meister uses the ladies' competitiveness to delve into the histrionic relationships of suburban housewives: lawyer Maddie Schein has an inferiority complex that's exacerbated when she imagines her chiropractor husband has a crush on his cousin; brash, show-offy songwriter Ruth Moss secretly longs for satisfaction after three years of caring for her impotent, half-paralyzed husband; and mousy Lisa Slotnick, married to a millionaire computer geek, is in for a rocky ride after her alcoholic singer mother shows up. As tension mounts, the ladies cast aspersions, scheme, connive and resort to blackmail (a ploy that comes in handy after Suzanne is spotted in a poolside ménage à trois). The comic book"inspired cover and Lisa Kudrow blurb are the icing on this cupcake of a novel. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
It's every woman's fantasy to have a film--location crew select her hometown for the next movie starring a major cinematic sex symbol (in this case, George Clooney), and when an Applewood, Long Island, elementary school, is deemed a possible site for Clooney's upcoming flick, the members of the upscale community's PTA go into hyperbolic overdrive to turn fantasy into reality. As members of the PR committee, it will fall to Maddie, Ruth, and Lisa to polish Applewood's somewhat spotty reputation when the producers come to town. Accomplishing such a massive public-relations coup would be difficult enough, but add Maddie's failing marriage, Ruth's clandestine affair (with the school superintendent, no less), and Lisa's alcoholic mother to the mix, and you have women facing challenges that make the typical Saturday morning PTA bake sale look like a piece of cake. With sexy characters, sharp dialogue, and snappy pacing, Meister's sassy, saucy debut novel could well turn into a movie of its own. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

I met Ellen for the first time four years ago when she was still on an agent search for her manuscript. Here we are together at brunch in New York City:



Ellen is on the first row, far right, that's me as usual hiding in dark glasses on the far left, and with her hands on her shoulders standing above Ellen is Susan Henderson, my fellow partner in crime in the Neil Gaiman fan club.



By the way, Neil and Ellen share publishers. How cool is that! Maybe they'll get to hang out at the Harper/Collins Christmas party together? Of course Sue and I will crash, or dress as maids and pass around trays of champagne...

Seriously. Buy Ellen's book. I've read it. It's freaking amazing. And...there's a chance that Lisa Kudrow will say something about it on the Jay Leno show tonight. Lisa did the audio version of Ellen's book, as well as providing her with a blurb for the cover. I've made it easy for you to buy -- just click on the Amazon link on the right under my "recommended reading". Okay? Okay!

I repeat. HOW COOL IS THAT???

So yeah, I do hear an orchestra playing Stars and Stripes, I do see fireworks in the sky, and today I am celebrating bigtime for my dear friend Ellen.

Later,
xo

Join the Rebellion!

Rebellion—New Voices of Fiction

Thomas Jefferson said,
“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”

We agree.

Rebel Press is proud to present an alternative to the safe and familiar names put forth by the major publishers.

This anthology offers fiction that is off the beaten path, by authors who write for art’s sake, for the love of the craft, authors who aren’t afraid to extend the boundaries of the short story.

Please enjoy these fresh new voices.

Join the rebellion.

Robin Slick
Susan DiPlacido
Tom Saunders
Steve Hansen
Katrina Denza
Myfawny Collins
Marcus Grimm
T.J. Forrester
Grant Jarrett
Matt St. Amand
Tripp Reade
Donald Capone

AVAILABLE NOW!
Rebel Press

A Very Sad Day

Julie Slick, Adrian Belew, Ken Latchney, and Eric Slick clowning around in the funhouse room at the Escher Museum in Holland, July 20, 2006

Today is a very sad day. Please see Eric's tour blog for further information.

Later,
xo

The insane crazy news post...

Today is a crazy day. Julie and Eric are still on break from the Adrian Belew Power Trio tour but I again encourage all of you in the Philadelphia area to please, please, please come out to the World Cafe on August 14 and see them live -- here's the link for the tickets once again; Susan Henderson, I'm sorry but I have no new Neil Gaiman photos for you (sob...what's a girl to do?) but you've more than made up with it with your lovely pictures of Steve...so really, for once I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing -- writing. So far today I pounded out a two page article for a brand new print magazine, edited four more chapters of my novel Baby Boomer formerly known as The Tour and which I'm now seriously thinking of changing to "Daddy Left Me Alone with God" so that I can meet my self-imposed deadline to send it out to a new agent by the end of this month (unless Julie attaches herself to my hip next week with her boyfriend away, in which case it will be a week or two late and I will seriously hate myself)...but I just took a little break to surf the net, and well, as you can see by the above photo, I managed to find some interesting stuff.

First, let's talk about that photo. In fact, let's not. Why not just follow the link so you, too, can learn all about Tampon Crafts!

Next, as you know I am a compulsive Googler and I've obviously been googling Julie, Eric, Adrian Belew, etc. for any reviews of their show or any other info I may have missed. Imagine my surprise this morning to find a new entry over at Icerocket for Eric Slick. Ha! I don't want to ruin the surprise, but apparently Eric + Slick = two dogs = getting carsick.

So really, I'd better get back to work before Julie fills up my entire social calendar next week (she's currently IMing me from her boyfriend's place right now, plotting out the various restaurants we'll be visiting and I just turned her on to a new vintage clothing store I discovered in Northern Liberties which I know she'll want to check out...sooo...unless something earth shattering happens in the meantime, it's back to working on the novel for me as of NOW.

I leave you with a photo of Sue's new main squeeze, a/k/a "Steve". (He's adorable, Sue, but he's no Neil Gaiman.)



Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio - two week time-out

Julie Slick, Adrian Belew, and Eric Slick following what I hear was a triumphant concert in Holland


Julie freaking out when she saw the license plate on their rental van for the tour - 2AB (two, Adrian Belew) 666? I'm glad I didn't know about that until now...creepy, huh

So things are back to normal here in the Slick household - i.e., crazy again because both J&E are home for two weeks of rest, practice, and hanging out with friends before the Adrian Belew Power Trio goes back out on the road in early August.

Saturday afternoon we picked them up at Newark airport and within ten minutes of being home there was a knock at the door -- in walked Julie's boyfriend, Matt, and within the next five minutes in walked Eric's girlfriend, Carolyn. So we ordered a bunch of pizzas and tried to pry some tour stories out of them, but, you know, they hadn't seen their significant others for ten days so Gary and I snuck upstairs and sulked. Ha ha - not really, we understand, so we left them alone like good old and decrepit unneeded except for a ride home from the airport parents and little by little we're getting some info -- from Eric, not Julie, who took off with her boyfriend after pizza on Saturday. I guess maybe we'll see her again tonight. Or not. Whatever. It's all good.

Strangely enough, both Matt and Carolyn are going out of town for a few weeks this coming Friday -- Matt to Iceland with his father and Carolyn will go on tour out to the west coast with the School of Rock All-Stars so by this time next week we'll have more Julie and Eric than we know what to do with. (Just kidding, but I am holding out hope that I can at least bribe Julie into doing something with me like trying a new restaurant. Eric is the consummate music freak and he already spent four hours alone last night just practicing on his electronic drum pad...practice, practice, practice is his plan for the remaining time off before the tour picks up again)

Eric did update his tour blog last night and it includes some great photos of the Herzberg Festival (Germany's version of Woodstock) so you can get your Belew fix from that today. Cool? Cool.

As for me, I continue to work on my novel and really can't concentrate on much else, especially this blog which I somehow stayed away from all day yesterday, but I did just read in my comments section of prior posts that Sue Henderson was adopting someone at 1:00 a.m. which sounded so covert I thought maybe she was meeting one of those cruise ships and picking up a little Lebanese baby or something; then I learn she adopted a greyhound and named it Steve, which I find particularly funny because I have a writer pal named Steve Augarde from the UK and I'm sure he'll be quite honored to know about his namesake...and to be honest, if I didn't already have a dog named Monty, Steve would probably be my next choice. Too, too funny.

I was also quite pleased that Amaretto Mick came 'round and visited my blog, saw his photos, and left me a lovely post.

Anyway, I see in one of her comments that Sue observed it feels like decades since I posted a Neil Gaiman photo so okay, even though I got in "trouble" for it last week, here's half-a-Neil...which is better than no Neil and in fact, pretty damn perfect because his head is bent down and....

He's writing, he's writing!



Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio -- homecoming!

Julie Slick in Germany -- a typical shot of Julie, pick in mouth, many admirers looking on

So yay! The Belew Power Trio returns to the U.S. today and things went so well Ade is giving Julie and Eric a couple weeks off to spend at home with their significant others before they launch the east coast portion of their tour on August 8 at B.B. King's House of Blues in New York City.

Gary and I are picking them up at the airport in a few hours, so while I run around the house blowing up balloons and arranging all the flowers (ha ha, just kidding), here are some links which talk about the tour, the band, and other assorted related stuff to keep you busy:

First, here's some preliminary commentary about Zappanale from Andrew Greenaway;

Second, here's a blurb from Krimson News;

Third, here's a bunch of photos from Zappanale 17 brought to you by our good friends, The Zappateers;

Fourth, stay on that website and go to their forum and read more about Zappanale 17;

Fifth, DGM Live gives a shout out to Julie for her contribution to Eric's tour blog as well as a link;

Finally, there's some cool stuff on the Planet Crimson forum board.

So that's it for now...I will obviously have a lot to talk about once I see J&E in the flesh and hear all about the week in Europe, their performance last night (where I saw crowd estimations at 30,000? Could that be possible? Holy crap!)...and of course any writing news that comes my way.

Later, (said the excited groupie mom)
xo

While I pound away at my novel...

That would be Eric Slick and Adrian Belew enjoying the music of other bands at Zappanale, which I just lifed from Eric's blog

Okay, so while I work like a fiend on my novel, I am referring to you Eric's tour blog, which he not only updated today, it includes what I think is a hilarious post from Julie...you have to know Julie and read between the lines to laugh as much as I did, probably, but both kids can really write (ahem...wonder where they got that from) and I just had a blast reading their somewhat different accounts of the tour so far.

And please, it is my goal to sell out the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia when Adrian and Julie and Eric play here on August 14. So in case you missed the link I posted here a few days ago, you can buy your tickets right here!.

Also, I see Neil Gaiman will be in one of my favorite cities on Tuesday, New Haven, Connecticut. Anyone want to go with me to Yale and hang out and hear him read?

Speaking of Neil, of course this could only happen to me. While Gary was in Germany, Thomas, who is German but speaks English as a second language and is the head of the Arf Society and the man responsible for the yearly Zappanale concerts, came up to him and said "How is your wife and how do you feel about her having a boyfriend? I read her blog all the time...are things okay with the two of you? She has a very handsome lover...a famous writer" (or something like that).

Gary naturally came home and asked me all about it because he doesn't read my blog. I was completely caught off-guard but then I broke up laughing when I realized who/what Thomas was talking about

Oh man, too bad you weren't all here for my explanation. Hilarious!

I finally pinned it on the dog. "I think Thomas must be thinking about Monty. I said I couldn't go on tour with the kids to Europe because of the other man in my life..."

Which of course is the truth. Good thing Gary didn't ask me "When did the dog start writing?"

Okay. Back to work for me.

Later,
xo

Amaretto Mick Gets Around!

Robert Plant and Gail Zappa with Amaretto Mick at Zappa Plays Zappa in the UK


Eric Slick with Amaretto Mick prior to Eric's performance with Adrian Belew in Germany

Ha ha -- I guess you have to either be Eric's mother or a big Zappa fan (of which I am both) to appreciate this so...here are two pics for those hip enough to have a chuckle.

Okay then. Back to working on my novel...I will return later with a Belew tour update and some other cool stuff.

But in the "equal time" department:



Me, Julie, and Julie's boyfriend Matt eating our first toasties ever (during Julie's tour with McRad) outside of St. John's Cathedral in my favorite place in the universe, the UK. Thank you Eric II from California, bass player for Leiana and many other bands. Eric II was on tour with us, took this pic, and sent it to me yesterday when he stumbled on my website.

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio on Tour -- Europe

Julie Slick on stage at Zappanale 17

So Gary is home from Germany and telling me all of these great stories -- none of which I can share here, damn it (ha!) -- and since I just noticed Eric updated his tour blog for the Philadelphia Inquirer, maybe you should just read about it here.

I will say that Gary recorded the whole show on video and we watched it last night crying. It was that good. When I saw Eric's drum solo, I got the chills.

I also cannot believe my daughter now plays in her bare feet. First she becomes a vegetarian, now she's barefoot. I love it! Gary told me Adrian even comments about it on stage.

Last night they played Italy and I'm dying to hear from J&E how that went, but luckily I got two e-mails this morning, one from my friend Andrew and the other from my new pal, Marco. By the way, make sure you click on these links. Andrew was at Zappanale and should be providing a detailed review of the show within the next day or two -- he's also the one who furnished me with the above photo -- and Marco is an accomplished bassist the same age as Julie and all of the music you hear on his site was written by him on his computer. I met him via my blog -- one day he just instant messaged me out of the blue. I usually don't instant message with strangers but his screen name was Geddy Lee and my curiously got the best of me. I usually get IMs from strangers with the names of Cliff Rigid or Lactating Female so, you know, I automatically hit "ignore" or "block" but this time I didn't and I sure am glad.

Okay, here's Andrew's e-mail in part:

"It was a great time, and I enjoyed chatting to Gary and the kids. After the Power Trio set (actually, back of the stage during the finale) Eric shook my hand and asked whether I enjoyed the show - to which I of course said "Absolutely!" I knew he and Adrian were enormously talented, but Julie knocked me out also. You're one lucky lady. Will write more soon..."

And from Marco about the Italy show:

"Hi Robin -

just got home from the Roma gig. Your kids were great. I
was impressed by Eric's playing, so powerful. Julie is a great player
too - reminded me a bit of Squire - and she's charming.

Adrian...
well, no words needed. I wish I could meet them, but I had to run away after the gig was over.

All the best, and talk to you soon."

So that's pretty cool and of course I'll be stalking Google in the U.S., Germany, and Italy for more reviews, etc. and will post them as soon as I find them.

In writing news, I didn't even realize it but I have a new story up called "Interception" at Poor Mojo Almanac and I notice they also gave me a Wiki page. Since I have absolutely no clue at all how to fill out my Wiki page or what I'm supposed to do with it, if any of you reading isn't as technology challenged as I am, please email me with instructions so I can have a nice pretty page over at Poor Mojo with I guess my bio info and publishing creds? Or knowing me, it will be something off the wall altogether but still...I hate having things like a blank Wiki, don't you?

Okay, back to my working on my "Oh my god I only have to weeks to go before I send it out" novel...will be back if I hear from Julie or Eric.

And don't forget to get tickets for the Adrian Belew Power Trio show at the World Cafe Live on August 14!

Later,
xo