Project Object on Tour: Tonight in Philadelphia!

Eric Slick on drums with Project Object performing "Apostrophe" in New York on October 11, 2007.

And I could not help but notice Eric has a new, very touching post up over at his blog today.

ETA #2 (as "threatened" below): Wow. Just found this review from Joe at the Full Catastrophe and click on the link to see a great Eric photo collage - thanks, Joe!:

Project Awesome

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."

What can I say about last night's Project Object show at Asbury Lanes that will properly and comprehensively convey all my thoughts? I can throw out a slew of complementary adjectives...awesome, incredible, mind-blowing, inspirational, invigorating, exceptional. But what does any of that mean to anyone who wasn't actually present in the room to experience it themselves?

It's best to describe a live concert not by the reaction of one, but of the many in attendance. So as I scanned the room throughout the evening, I saw a majority of smiling faces, dancing feet, bopping heads, tapping toes, and just an all-encompassing sense of giddiness and joy.

Calling Project Object a Zappa cover band is way too limiting. They are a group of consummate musicians who play their hearts out. Just watching them perform, you quickly understand that this isn't just about playing music, it's about being passionate about playing music.

I'll admit, the reason I was drawn to this concert in the first place was because of a 20-year-young drummer named Eric Slick. I'd seen him play several times prior in bands that are in some way related to Ween. Bands like Crescent Moon and Chris Harford & The Band of Changes. I would have loved to have seen him play with Adrian Belew, and hopefully I will on the next go around. I'd seen him at the Paul Green School of Rock Music Festival in Asbury Park. Basically, if Eric "the kid" Slick is on drums, I'll go to the show.

On a side note, I also got to talk to Eric's dad, Gary. He's the one that "looks like Jerry Garcia." He's totally cool, it was like I was talking to someone I've known forever, even though we'd only met, briefly, once before during the School of Rock mayhem last summer. We talked about Prog rock bands, Philadelphia neighborhoods, the beaches of Germany, and cheese steaks."

ETA: This just in from the Ween forum board, and I'm sure I'll be adding these "ETAs" all day long today:

"Wow.....just wow.

Me, my friend Jen and Mighty Joe spent most of the show standing on the side of the stage watching the rhythm section . I've seen Eric Slick play on numerous occasions, nothing compared to last night. Holy shit...that kid is one of the best drummers I've ever seen. In Glen terms...."He's Josh Freese good". I've never been a huge Zappa fan but I can appreciate musicianship in any form and they had it. I will gladly punch the Pope in the face or beat a nun with a shovel to get the opportunity to see these guys again. "

So yay! Tonight's the big night - Project Object and Crescent Moon, also with Eric on drums, at the World Cafe Live! Doors at 6:00 p.m. - and they have a decent dinner menu - show starts at 7:30 p.m. I really hope to see a lot of you there and even though I have now officially outed myself as completely anti-social har har, please come up, introduce yourselves, and say hi. But after that, please give me my space and let me just enjoy the music. I can't handle talking while my son is on stage, I just want to soak it all in and enjoy because watching my offspring play their music is my most favorite thing in the world. Okay? Okay!

From the (tee-hee) Frank Zappa forum board:

"Whoa! Incredible show last night in New York. This band is the real deal. Do not hesitate to get out and see 'em if you have the chance. They are all honorary alumni if ya ask me. They exude Frank Zappa from every pore, as if Frank was standing in the wings, pushing them to extremes. And they do it all with such ease it's almost disturbing.

Svalgard was a wildman, a bionic Tommy Mars, but with more charm and less sleaze. Totally blew me away. A real highlight of the show. New guy Joshua Edwards on percussion is a total fucking greaser and would have fit nicely into the original MOI. He told me he has been studying Zappa music for 4 years. You'd think he would be filling your gas tank...the guy didn't miss a trick. Dave Johnson on bass is deceptively brilliant, grounding the band. He serves the music perfectly, in total control (and he has a cute wife, t' boot).

Eric Slick is now my favorite drummer of all time. What more can I say? Ya gotta see him perform. His style reminds me a bit of the young Robert Wyatt. The ultimate Zappa player.

Jordan Shapiro guested and played some great rock mandolin. It wasn't kitschy or anything like that. Sounded great and pleasant on the ears.

Napoleon was a charmer, as always. He was on stage for about half the show (?).
And...Andre, now the sole guitar player, let it rip. Totally balls out Zappa, just the way I like it. And he even played WATERMELON (with Jerry Cucurullo sitting in on drums). Yowza!

Edit: oh yeah, P/O attracts young, beautiful girls who actually seem to know every twist and turn of Frank's music. Where were these girls when I was a young, single fella? No Fair!"
*****

"DITTO! Cool! Slick is the Man."
*****

"Don't even git me started about eric slick...my no. 1 fave too...i mentioned this in another thread already but check out this month's drumhead mag for a nice article about him and his amazing bass-playin' sister, julie slick!"
*****

"Overall the best show i've seen and i've seen a few, Belew thrice, Claypool thrice, Primus, Rush, Dream Theater, Medeski Martin & Wood, Buckethead etc.

Eric was noticeably great and i'm looking forward to seeing him again with Adrian Belew in march. Dave was incredible on bass, and Eric was entertaining as all hell on keyboards. Jordan was alright, and Napolean ruled. Andre was the man, got to say a few things to him."
********

So if that doesn't put you in the mood to head out to the World Cafe tonight, I don't know what else I can say.

Yesterday was a totally amazing fun day in my other life as Robin Slick, writer. The incredibly fabulous Stella Price joined me as a panelist where I moderated a Networking/Promo panel for writers on behalf of Philadelphia Stories. At first, we...or maybe it's just me...were totally intimidated by the huge, packed room full of academics. So it made my soul rise to see everyone furiously scribbling down everything Stella and I had to say...because really, the average literary author thinks once they are published, they just have to sit back and wait for the praise and the sales.

Err...no.

Ha ha - Stella and I set them straight and we had everyone laughing. One very scholarly fellow, after I told the group just how important the internet was for book sales, raised his hand and said "Isn't this counterproductive? You are using the internet instead of reading books which is exactly what we as authors don't want...people on line instead of buying our novels."

Err...no.

Again, my girl Stella gave concrete examples of how misguided he was in his thinking and I did as well...he was actually a very nice, attractive fellow who ended up taking our promo stuff with him at the end and I'm pretty sure we've got him on our team now.

Yay, Stella! Yay, me!

Anyhoo...next we headed to Robin's Bookstore for a signing/chat about our books where we were joined by another one of my favorite authors, Bianca D'Arc -- I love Bianca -- met her last year for the first time and we just clicked and have many similar opinions and interests -- Cat Johnson, Philippa Grey-Gerou, Marie Collins...and oh god, I'm sorry...there were a few other writers present and I did not get their names. We had a blast and then headed over to my new favorite Mexican/Cuban restaurant, Mixto, for copious amounts of food and alcohol.

Yeah, I know, I said I'm an anti-social loner but once I force myself to leave the house and hang out with my writer/musician pals, I always end up having a blast. The trick is to do it selectively and maybe once monthly...no more or I'd need meds.

Heh. Just kidding.

Or not.

See you tonight!

Later,
xo

Project Object on Tour: Montana! Asbury Park! Philadelphia!

Oh.My.God. That's Eric Slick on drums with Project Object performing Montana Thursday night in New York. This band is so good it's ridiculous - hope a lot of you can get to the upcoming shows - tonight at Asbury Lanes and tomorrow -- where I will finally get to see my first performance by this incarnation of the band -- at World Cafe Live.

So my brilliant film director/screenwriter pal Kimberly Wetherell attended the New York show last night and was so excited she emailed me twice from her Blackberry while at the concert:

"between your son and the zappa, I may effing die right here right now and my life would be complete. oxox -- k"

"This is where I'm standing... This is amazing! Wish u were here. Xoxo"



Man, I wish I could have been there last night, too, but I am so busy it's ridiculous. Speaking of that, just a reminder -- I'm moderating a panel today on behalf of Philadelphia Stories...click on the link for details but to sum it up, I'll be talking about the business of networking as concerns selling your book, and that will be at 1:15 p.m. and run for about an hour, after which I will be at Robin's Bookstore for a reading at 4:00 p.m. - for more details click here.

Later,
xo

Project Object on Tour: Tonight in New York City (and why did I post that photo of Eric wearing that particular shirt again...)

Eric Slick wearing the infamous WMMR shirt won by his father over twenty years ago in a contest held by said radio station...I blogged about it a couple of months ago and in case you forgot, here's the link.

So if you are in the New York City area, tonight you must check out Eric on the drums with Project Object at the Lions Den, 214 Sullivan Avenue in the Village. It's going to be freaking amazing!

ETA: Oh my god, I just got this You Tube from last night's show from an anonymous commenter on my blog. I'm sitting here crying like a little freaking baby right now it's so damn good.



And just a reminder that tomorrow night's show in Asbury Park has been changed and will now be held at Asbury Lanes, and on SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY, I will finally get to see this show at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia -- Eric is also the opening band with Dave Drewitiz of Ween, i.e., Crescent Moon.

Err...you can also download Wednesday night's show right here. (I cannot figure out how to do it, though...I mean, I downloaded it but have no idea how to actually play it and after the great hard drive crash of 2007, I'm terrified to attempt anything I'm not sure how to do).

But wait...here's one download I was able to figure out - it's "Echidna's Arf (Of You)/Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?" and oh man, what a tease!

I haven't found any reviews of the Hartford or Troy, NY shows yet so if anyone reading this attended either show Wednesday or last night, I would love to hear from you.

So. Why did I post the pic of Eric in the WMMR shirt, which was actually from the show Eric played with Adrian Belew back in August?

Because last night, Gary and I once again proved that we are uber parent/groupies. More on that in a minute.

But before I begin, congratulations to Al Gore for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. You can be sure that's one thing that our dangerous, demented dictator in the White House won't be winning anytime soon. Knowing Dubya, though, he probably thinks it's for most books sold at Barnes and "Nobel".

Which is another thing he won't be winning anytime soon, unless, of course, he writes his true autobiography about how the war in Iraq was all about oil..."his oil" har har. I shouldn't laugh. Thousands of people are dead because of his greed. And if you are rolling your eyes and sighing over what I just wrote, why not read this.

Okay, enough of that. I want to talk about yesterday in general.

Some days are just fantastic, you know? Fantastic on a level that doesn't involve publishing or movie deals, agents, big money, blah blah blah...but fantastic because it involves spending one on one time with someone you really love - in this case, let's start with daughter Julie. Eric is on tour as you know, Gary was at work, Julie's boyfriend Matt had a gig in New York with his fabulous band, Cheers Elephant, and so Julie and I decided to have a "date".

We had a fabulous lunch at Seafood Unlimited. Julie had an ahi tuna dish served over a slaw of cucumbers, Asian pears, and who knows what else but it was so good I kept sticking my fork in her plate. I opted for charred Atlantic salmon over mixed greens -- sounds simple -- yet they managed to make it spectacular.

Then we actually went girly shopping - I bought three new black sweaters because god knows 300 black sweaters in my closet are not enough and Julie picked up some awesome tops as well.

Next, we headed to Sianni Salon where Julie got her beautiful curly hair shaped and trimmed and Linda Zatta, the genius who manages to keep my unruly frizzy mop under control, could not resist the urge to put make-up on Julie while she sat in the chair next to me waiting for Linda to finish my hair. Oh man, you should have seen her. Julie, that is. Because she is so naturally gorgeous, she doesn't need make-up and never wears it (that's me saying that, not Julie)...but Linda put this sheer, beige shimmery stuff on her eyelids, curled her lashes, applied a little blush to her cheeks and finished with a rosy lip gloss. To say that Julie looked breathtaking is putting it mildly. So after we finished up there, I insisted on dragging her with me to Sephora so that I could buy her this stuff (which, if you check the PETA website is not tested on animals) but then we looked at our respective watches and gasped when we realized it was dinner time and Julie had to be at the restaurant where she works while the Belew tour is on hiatus. So...sob...we had to run out of there before buying anything and Julie made it to work just in time, but not before casually mentioning to me that "Pierre Robert from radio station WMMR would be there and would Gary and I like to pop over for dinner?

Err...a chance to talk one on one with Philadelphia's most famous rock and roll disc jockey? With a copy of the Adrian Belew Power Trio's Beatbox Guitar and Drumhead Magazine in our hot little hands? What do you think?

So Gary and I double-teamed Pierre and his sidekick, Jason, and handed them the CD and magazine, I introduced Julie to Pierre by saying "she may be your server tonight but she's also Adrian Belew's bass player" and then Gary, who'd met Pierre and Jason at the Ray Davies concert last year with Eric when they sat next to each other, filled them in about Adrian...anyway, we had a blast and went home feeling pretty satisfied with ourselves but wondering, because the restaurant was so crowded, if Pierre and Jason would actually read the Drumhead article and listen to the CD and help us promote Side Four Live when it comes out in the...err..very near future. Gary went out to walk the dog and took his usual route, which is right past the restaurant and saw that Pierre and Jason were still there and the place was empty. So being the uber-groupie dad he is, even though it was late at night and he has work today, said to me "You know what? I think I'm going back and talk to them some more...just so they "get it", you know?"

Yep, I know.

So that's what he did.

We are working on global domination for the Adrian Belew Power Trio and trust me, we're gonna succeed. It's such a labor of love, I can't even begin to tell you.

And if you want to read a really wonderful essay about that very subject, you must visit Susan Henderson's website today. Cool? Cool!

Later,
xo

Project Object on Tour -- Starting Tonight! (And Dark Forces = A Woman Scorned)

Project Object on stage in Bad Doberan, East Germany, August, 2007

So tonight Project Object kicks off their two week fall tour at the Webster Theater in Hartford, Connecticut.

And, as you can see by Andre's press Release below, please note that the Saturday night show in Asbury Park has been moved from the Stone Pony to Asbury Lanes:

"This gig was pulled from the flames... and saved... Without getting into details -- certain "dark forces" seek to prevent us - and many others -from performing this music.. they will never stop us, until we are ready to stop and pass the baton. The show will always go on!! Frank asked for fans to PLAY HIS MUSIC and ...we will do our small part."

Asbury Lanes 209 4th Avenue Asbury Park, NJ 07712

(732) 776-6160

Doors at 8pm Show at 10pm $15 adv $20 dos 18+ to get in/21 to drink

PROJECT/OBJECT - THE MUSIC OF FRANK ZAPPA
with SPECIAL GUEST -----NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK!

(sax/vocals, Mothers/Zappa bands 1974-76, '79, '84, Zappa Plays Zappa 2006)

We are celebrating over TEN YEARS of LIVE Zappa Music...with the amazing people who recorded it!

Other than Frank Zappa himself...we are The World's ONLY band that has featured live onstage ZAPPA ALUMNI --- Ike Willis, Ed Mann, Mike Keneally, Napoleon Murphy Brock, Denny Walley, Don Preston, Bunk Gardner, Bob Harris, Thana Harris, Jimmy Carl Black, Ray White, Al Malkin, Arthur Barrow, Roy Estrada, and even claymation genius Bruce Bickford (Baby Snakes/Dub Room movies) !!!

Other guests have included Ed Palermo (EP Big Band), Dave Fiuczynski (Screaming Headless Torsos/Kif/Hiromi), Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs/Steve Morse/Joe Satriani), Jerry Cuccurullo (Warren Cuccurullo Band/ L. Shankar/Dweezil Zappa) , Chris Opperman (Shankar, Mike Keneally Band, Steve Vai orchestrator) Tom Trapp (Steve Vai orchestrator), Joe Deninzon (Stratospheerius), Bon Lozaga (Gongzilla), Gary Lucas (Guitar/Captain Beefheart), Jimmy Wilson (Dennis Chambers Band), Jim Loughlin & Chuck Garvey (moe.), Gregg Bendian (Mahavishnu Project, The Musical Box), Adam Holzman (Brave New World, Miles Davis, Mahavishnu Project), Jerry Outlaw (Bogus Pomp), Kilissa Cissoko (Voice Of Cheez), Elliott Levin (New Ghost), and soooooo many more. We thank them ALL for expanding the scope of what we are trying to do to celebrate and promote Zappa's music.

As we look back on this great , fun decade of playing for YOU, the special supportive audience -- we are incredibly touched and honored also that... our audience members have included Candy Zappa, Bob Zappa, Carl Zappa (Frank's siblings), "Bald Headed" John Smothers (Zappa Bodyguard for many years), "Donna U Wanna" & "Janet The Planet" (fr. BABY SNAKES movie), Coy Featherstone (Zappa lighting director for many yrs), Elliott Ingber (Zappa's guitarist on FREAK OUT!), Nick Cave, Bob Musso, Matt Resnicoff (guitar historian, editor of MUSICIAN/GUITAR WORLD), Matt Groening (Simpsons Creator), Gary Green (GENTLE GIANT), Artimus Pyle (Skynyrd drummer)....Paul Kersey (drummer/Max Webster) Mark Wood (Violin Madman), Dave Dreiwitz & Claude Coleman (WEEN), John Ferenzik (keys/Todd Rundgren band), Jimmy Leslie (GUITAR PLAYER mag.)...Bob Moog (MOOG synthesizer inventor/pioneer) and sooo many more. A complete honor and inspiration -- all of it !

Indulge me as I reminisce about what a special ride it has been!! Come celebrate with all of us again.....

OCTOBER 2007
10 WED HARTFORD CT WEBSTER THEATRE
11 THU ALBANY NY REVOLUTION HALL
12 FRI NYC NY LION'S DEN (special opener - JERRY CUCCURULLO's new fusion band!!)
13 SAT ASBURY PK NJ ASBURY LANES - NEW VENUE!!
14 SUN PHILA PA WORLD CAFE' LIVE (opener CRESCENT MOON w/Dave of WEEN & Eric Slick!)
15 MON LANCASTER PA CHAMELEON CLUB
16 TUE WILKES BARRE PA JAZZ CAFE
17 WED CLEVELAND OH BEACHLAND BALLROOM
18 THU DETROIT MI MAGIC BAG
19 FRI CHICAGO IL MARTYR'S
20 SAT CHICAGO IL MARTYR'S
22 MON MILWAUKEE WI SHANK HALL
23 TUE MADISON WI MAJESTIC THEATRE
24 WED CINCINNATI OH POISON ROOM

Napoleon Murphy Brock - sax, flute, vocals

Andre' Cholmondeley - guitar, vocals

Dave Johnsen - Electric Bass, vocals

Eric Slick - drums, vocals

Eric Svalgard - keys, vocals

Joshua Oxford - marimba, percussion (sp. guest 10-16 Oct)

Coming in Nov 2007 and beyond ....Look out for DELICIOUS on tour with Andre' and Eric Slick.. psychedelic stoner rock with a twist... Satans Jamband.
********
In case you are wondering about the "dark forces", well, I'd better keep quiet on the subject because it both infuriates and bewilders me and despite all the evil corporate alleged reasons for it, let's just say in my mind it all boils down to "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"....and let's leave it at that...except that the woman in question would do well to use her *snort* clout and energy to fight the real war and evildoers in this country, not snuff out the creativity and careers of dedicated musicians who want to carry the torch of her brilliant late husband's music.

Oh. I see I didn't keep quiet after all. Too freaking bad.

Yo, Adelaide. Take a page out of John Lennon's book: Give Peace a Chance. And belated Happy Birthday to John, who would have been sixty-seven years old yesterday and probably would have kicked your ass.

Sheesh.

I just smiled at a mention of the Project Object Asbury Park show this Saturday night on the Ween Forum Board under "reasons to go to the show":

"I'm wanting go to this show for a few reasons.. 1. Eric Slick on drums, 2. I've heard great things about this band, 3. I enjoy live music and new experiences hearing bands I've never heard before, 4. Eric Slick on drums."

By the way, I just noticed those Satans Jam Band shows are November 1, 2, 3 down in Asheville, North Carolina...well, I see the one on November 3 is at Stella Blue and is it a duo of Eric and Andre? Hmm...I will get further details on this one - looks veddy interesting...

Anyway, I need to make this an abbreviated post - I'm in heavy duty writing mode but I do want to take this opportunity to thank those of you who are purchasing my two books off of Amazon. I know those numbers aren't always realistic but both Three Days in New York City and its newly released sequel, Another Bite of the Apple have been doing very well....so well, in fact, that it's totally given me the needed impetus to work on the third book in this series, Bitten to the Core...and could I possibly be doing this for Hollywood? Hmmm...what do you think?

I just noticed that Google Books has a huge excerpt on my author page in case anyone wants a bigger "taste" of Another Bite.

And I will have more on this later today or tomorrow, but it appears I may be actually moderating the panel at Philadelphia Stories Push to Publish this Saturday instead of "merely" sitting in as a panelist...oy...as I just wrote to their editor in chief, does this mean I need to come up with questions instead of just answering them?

I believe it does. And yeah, I'm into that!

Ooh, and I just realized I'm on the front page of Book Tours which is way cool, though whether that will appear on the front page of those not living in my area I do not know...but here's the link that will show up worldwide har har.

Later,
xo

Odds and Sods for Monday, October 8, 2007

Julie Slick, Pat Mastelotto and Eric Slick following their September 15, 2007 Adrian Belew Power Trio/TU Seattle show

I just realized the above photo was floating throughout the internet - it must have been posted while I was on vacation; anyway, Eric and Pat are now in the mutual admiration society which is way, way cool.

So Eric left yesterday unexpectedly for the Project Object tour which doesn't start until Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at The Webster Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. Since their vocalist/sax player extraordinaire Napoleon Murphy Brock just flew in from his home in California for the gigs, they are basically holing up at keyboardist Eric Svalgard's house for the next three days and rehearsing 24/7. These shows should really, really be awesome. Napoleon is amazing, and he's fresh off the Zappa Plays Zappa tour and at the top of his game. Though come to think of it, I've known Napoleon for five years and I've never seen/heard him anywhere less than perfect.

But wah! I miss Eric already. I cannot wait until the Sunday, October 14, 2007 gig at the World Cafe Live, and if you click on that link, you can not only buy tickets, you'll see the very serendipitous mention on the website which says:

"As a fan of Project/Object, you may also be interested in some of these upcoming shows:

...Monday, November 5, 2007 - Robert Fripp"

And just a reminder that Eric will be blogging about his upcoming tour on a regular basis right here.

So this is what I'm up to this week, though I'll be reminding you again on Friday, I'm sure - on Saturday, October 13, I'm sitting on a panel on behalf of Philadelphia Stories...click on the link for details but to sum it up, I'll be talking about the business of networking as concerns selling your book, and that will be at 1:15 p.m. and run for about an hour, after which I have to hightail it a few miles away to Robin's Bookstore for a reading at 4:00 p.m. - for more details click here...and at some point either before or after this reading we're all going to do some promo and the aforesaid networking at Faerie Con which should be lots of fun and I think I'm gonna wear my faerie crown to both the reading and the con because, well, it just seems like the right thing to do. And in case you've never seen it...



It was designed by the lovely Taryn of Heirloom Ribbon and Beadworks and she's amazing - I can't wait to meet her at the Con and maybe even buy myself another crown.

Yeah, so I'm going to be talking about networking on the Philadelphia Stories panel and I must admit, I've become an expert at that and you'd never know I'm a recluse who hates to leave her home unless it concerns live music, gourmet restaurants, or interesting travel involving live music and gourmet restaurants...okay, okay, and writing...but I'm a lot more comfortable networking from home as opposed to live events though I force myself to do it and always end up having a total blast. Except for that one unfortunate time I had to read in the dark and had to stop half way through because I couldn't see...and naturally I picked a hip New York art gallery for this to happen with my daughter present and most of my good friends from Zoetrope Studios. Oh, the humanity.

Anyway...

I've been really busy working on a new novel which both is and isn't part of the Three Days in New York series -- it's called Bitten to the Core and while my narrator remains the same, the book is somewhat of a departure from its predecessors...let's just say there's a lot more midlife crisis comedy and other suchlike angst involved. And...deep breath...I'm still sitting on some huge news but I can't share it quite yet so I'd better go before the urge to blab overcomes me and I start to spill...

Oh! One other thing -- you can now purchase the paperback of Another Bite of the Apple over at Amazon...click right here!

Later,
xo

Monty and the Roll

ETA: THIS JUST IN: ERIC HAS CREATED HIS OWN BRAND NEW blog! I'd appreciate it if all of my "regulars" would link him. Cool? Cool!

So you might be wondering what Eric and Julie Slick are up to when they aren't on tour. Well, as you can see, they've been teaching Monty the dog how to speak English. Both Eric and Monty are addicted to LeBus brioche rolls and every time Monty sees Eric with one, he goes crazy. We, err, realized that he was trying to say the word "roll" and most of the time, he aces it, so Julie got out the video camera but then Monty got a little too excited and instead started barking, However, if you listen closely, you can hear him form the word a few times and you have to watch his paw action as he gets extremely frustrated when Eric doesn't reward him with a bite or two after he says the word.

What, you don't believe Monty can say "roll"? I guess you don't believe he can say "roof", either. Oh well - you'll eat your words when you see him on Letterman doing Brilliant Pet Tricks.

So, um, this isn't really a blog post - I just wanted to make my husband smile when he sees this for the first time while at work today. I do have tons and tons of exciting news, though -- both writing and music -- but the jinx factor prevents me from blabbing any of it just yet.

Stay tuned...major announcements on the way.

Later,
xo

How I Spent My Summer Vacation - Part I

Hey hey hey - the new issue of Drumhead Magazine is available in book and music stores across the United States, Canada, and Europe, and as you can see by the above ever-changing photo I lifted from their website, there's a three page article entitled "Too Slick" all about the amazing Eric Slick with additional commentary from Miss Julie Slick and Adrian Belew.

And do I believe the Phillies won the National League East yesterday? It's not that I'm a die hard sports fanatic or anything but my late, beautiful beatnik mom was a huge Phillies fan and I have a soft spot for them because of that. It's funny -- I have outlived my mother age wise -- she has now been dead for more than half my life -- and while with each passing day the memories grow fainter and fainter, there are certain things I will never forget which still make me smile -- like the time she took my friend and me to a coffee house -- not a yuppie Starbucks but a real live coffee house where hipsters played bongos, sang bad folk music, recited poetry, etc. and we drank herbal tea with a side of banana nut bread -- anyway, my friend and I tried very hard to look like hippies even though we were like eleven years old and my mother just about killed us by wearing an earpiece attached to a transistor radio so she could listen to the Phillies game while we were there. She would shout out the score or if anyone got a homerun while my pal and I were trying to act like we were cool, wishing we were old enough to sit by ourselves and smoke cigarettes.

Ah, those were the days. Such innocence. But in any event, I love a good party, so it will be very cool this week to watch the play-offs and maybe have one of our legendary barbecues here.

So in case you haven't noticed, I'm back. Did you miss me? Oh my god, what an unbelievable, fabulous vacation we had.

And while Gary and I were at the beach, Eric was off gigging in so many places it's hard to keep track of them all, but he played an impressive show with some serious jazz musos in New York on September 22 - you can read about it here and here and see some really cool photos here.

At the moment, he's just wrapping up this jaunt with yet another band, Sounds of Greg D:


I was just over at the Ween forum board where someone had this to say about Friday night's show:

"They were super stellar last night.

Eric was ridiculous. Just ridiculous."

He'll be back home later tonight, I think, just in time to start serious rehearsals for the upcoming Project Object tour, and here's the press release for that which includes the cities they'll be hitting but you know me, I'm an obsessive compulsive who feels the need to post them here as well:

Wed 10/10/07 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre/Underground
Thu 10/11/07 Troy, NY Revolution Hall
Fri 10/12/07 New York, NY Lion's Den
Sat 10/13/07 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony
Sun 10/14/07 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live
Mon 10/15/07 Lancaster, PA The Chameleon
Tue 10/16/07 Plains, PA River St. Jazz Cafe
Wed 10/17/07 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
Thu 10/18/07 Ferndale, MI Magic Bag
Fri 10/19/07 Chicago, IL Martyrs'
Sat 10/20/07 Chicago, IL Martyrs'
Mon 10/22/07 Milwaukee, WI Shank Hall
Tue 10/23/07 Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
Wed 10/24/07 Cincinnati, OH Poison Room

The show in Philadelphia on October 14 will feature Eric on double duty -- both with Project Object and as drummer for their opener, Crescent Moon featuring Ween's Dave Dreiwitz on bass. Now you know I'm going to be right down in front for that one, so I'm hoping to say Hi to a lot of you there and will of course post many reminders in the next two weeks.

October 25, Eric flies home from Cincinnati, has a few days of r&r, then both he and Julie fly to Nashville to Casa Belew the first week of November to work on some new material for an upcoming studio recording and a massive, three week tour in February-March 2008 which will have the Adrian Belew Power Trio jetting up, down, and across the country -- both re-visiting cities where they've already wowed audiences last year and new cities/states who will be seeing them for the first time.

Life is good.

And now sit back and let me torture you with tales and pictures from our vacation. You can leave if you want...(we're just jammin', that's all) (extra credit to the first person who posts the name of the person attributable to that quote in my comments section)

So we pull up to our beach house and look - someone painted a "Welcome" sign for me on the pole outside:



"How did they know?" I asked Gary. "And err...should I be paranoid?"

Gary giggled and told me not to worry. Ah, it's nice to have a six foot tall, gentile husband.

Here's the view from our bedroom window - Gary actually got out of bed at 6:30 a.m. to take these pictures but alas these are from my camera, not his...he has the much better Canon but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to upload them so I have to wait for Julie or Eric...in the meantime these will have to suffice but trust me, the sky had way more pinks and purples than this and I will post Gary's photos tomorrow.





We arrived on Saturday, September 15 and literally just spent the first couple of days decompressing. Julie and Eric were wrapping up the Seattle gig with Adrian and didn't get back to Philadelphia until late Monday night and they were too beat to travel to the beach. Julie and boyfriend Matt were finally able to make it down on Wednesday, and they stayed through Sunday morning, which was way cool, especially since Julie took over the kitchen. And because I am insane, I took photos of the meals she prepared - seared scallops over brown rice with caramelized leeks and arugula for Julie and me: a Moroccan style chicken dish for Gary and Matt:




Next up are a couple of shots of Princess Julie with Matt -- along with our other son, Monty -- he's the one with the ball in his mouth -- and Matt, by the way, is an awesome bassist and currently gigging pretty heavily with his own band, Cheers Elephant, and ha ha, if I'm not mistaken, the band photo on that site was taken with Gary's camera which is why I am sure Julie will know how to upload his photos for me...anyway, I do believe Julie was also the producer/recording engineer on the tracks Matt has put up for your listening pleasure...she's just so talented I can't take it. So I forgive her for coming into my bedroom every morning at 5:00 a.m. and making me ride bicycles on the boardwalk in the dark before I even had a proper cup of coffee.

Me: Why oh why are you doing this to me on my vacation, Julie?

Julie: Because it's when it's the most beautiful, Mom - no people, the sunrise, the cool air blowing off the ocean...

Me: Oh my god I'm so tired I'm going to die. My legs and ass aren't used to riding a bike...

Julie: Mom! It's a totally flat ride - no hills, nothing.

Me: Okay, okay, you're right. And it is freaking gorgeous out here.

Julie: So do you thank me for waking you up?

Me: Yes. Thank you, Julie. (Whilst secretly muttering to myself Oh my god, I'm gonna die on the boardwalk in Ocean City...if I don't freeze to death first, I'm gonna pass out...fall off this bike...and assuming my death isn't immediate, I'm gonna wake up to a bunch of 18 year old paramedics pounding on my chest and about one hundred retired people in white shoes forming a circle around me which will thus insure that I have a deadly stroke after all.)

Here's those photos I was talking about:







And one of Gary, Monty dog and me:



Eric had a ton of rehearsals upon his arrival home from Seattle due to all of his aforesaid gigs but we connived him into coming down for just the day on Friday and he had such a great time we talked him into returning the following Tuesday into Wednesday morning...and those three days were basically the only days off he's had all summer. Eric was kind enough to bring us down a copy of Drumhead Magazine and naturally being the crazed groupie parents we are, Gary and I then made a million phone calls to bookstores and music stores everywhere trying to score more copies which was not easy because we were basically at least sixty miles from any major city. We finally found them at a Guitar Center a couple of towns over, so we hopped in the car, picked them up, and even we had to laugh at our extreme devotion...though not so much when we got stuck in the traffic jam from hell due to construction work on the Ocean City causeway.

Here's a couple of shots of Eric - one with Julie and Monty and one with his Dad, who, you will notice, is wearing his most favorite t-shirt:





And not to be left out, Monty also made a friend, though to be honest, as you can tell by the expression on his face, Monty prefers humans:



In fact, Monty prefers human companionship so much that he suffers terrible separation anxiety as evidenced by his behavior every time we left him alone, which, based on his heartbreaking expression, wasn't all that often:





I basically spent two weeks offline, but I did go to the library a couple of times to check my oh-so-exciting email (including one from Neil Gaiman telling me how much he enjoyed an MP3 of the Adrian Belew Power Trio and thus sending me into total convulsions of joy) and I did get a few very interesting calls from LA on my cell phone...but this is the How I Spent My Vacation post and not the Robin The Writer post though you can be sure I'll have a lot to say about that this week, including yet more reminders that Another Bite of the Apple is now available in paperback!

Anyway...

Here is the evening view from our bedroom - these pictures do not do it justice...we had a full moon shining over the ocean in a deep purple sky...ack! Why oh why is it so impossible for me to upload Gary's photos?

Because I am technology challenged, that is why. Oh well, just another one of my lovable quirks.





Anyway, I'm leaving a ton of stuff out but it doesn't matter, I will be back with more pictures and stories later today or tomorrow...and in case you haven't already seen this on one of the many Belew blogs now out there (hey, did you notice my new linkage on the right hand side?), here's a You Tube of the trio performing Men in Helicopters two weeks ago in Seattle - and Eric will kill me for saying this, but about 3/4 of the way through you can catch him doing his best Ringo imitation...you'll see what I mean...I think it's great but I can just see Eric cringing right now so I'll stop...and there is also some gorgeous footage of Julie at the very end....Adrian, as you know, is always gorgeous and yeah, yeah, I know You Tubes aren't great quality but he still gives me the chills every time I hear him perform.



Later,
xo

I am so proud of these personages -- I am touching better than in long time

So there we have the Adrian Belew Power Trio doing sound check in Mexico...well, the trio plus their amazing sound engineer Biff Blumfumgagnge...and really, I guess I don't have to say much more, other than it makes my soul rise to see how this band interacts both on and off the stage...in fact, it makes me so incredibly happy I think I'll post another photo of Mr. Eric Slick:



Life is pretty crazy right now -- in fact, I'm typing this poolside from the Beverly Hills Hotel while I wait for a limo to pick me up for a meeting...

Heh. Just kidding.

Or am I?

Oh well, enough about me. Here's a really great review coming out of the Mexico mini-tour, but the translation from Spanish to English is pretty funny so hopefully someone who speaks Spanish out there will click on this link and translate it for me properly in the comments section...but for now, here's the botched translation from Babblefish:

""This it is the best applause than we have received not to touch", joked the artist Adrian Belew conquers with impetus the scene of the Metropólitan theater

"The Work of Music is Hacerte to Feel Better"; Mission Fulfilled in the Concert

By: Tania Molina Ramirez

Hardly he had appeared in the scene, when the public excited one already was standing, receiving to Adrian Belew with a great ovación.

"This it is the best applause than we have received not to touch", he joked, accompanied of its bear and his drummer; Julie and Eric Slick, respectivemente, in the scene of the Metropólitan theater, in the second night of the Contemporary cycle live, in his 5ª edition.

It began to everything what gave, with a power impetus that followed the concert throughout, with little moments of calm.

Energy of combined young blood with the long experience of the virtuous estadunidense guitarist, that has accompanied to great personalities of the rock, from Frank Zappa to Nine Inch Nails, happening through David Bowie and The Talking Heads, but that mainly it is known being the guitarist of the legendary King Crimson, from years 80.

In this occasion Trio, integrated by the Slick brothers came with its project Adrian Belew, of 20 (Eric) and 21 years (Julie), that "renergetizaron my music. They are the best young musicians than I have listened in my life. Its way to touch is so expert, but simultaneously it has a so high level of energy that really causes that my music sounds new... and, of step, something sticks me to me. I am touching better than in long time ", it said in interview with the Day a pair of days before the Mexican ground presentations (Guadalajara, city of Mexico and Monterrey).

"I am so proud of these personages", summarized. And note. During the concert it does not let pass opportunity to return to present/display them to the public. And, sure for Eric and Julie also it is a privilege, by the experience. These young people, who live in Filadelfia, were students of Paul Green School of Rock when Belew knew them. They have been a year touching together, in Japan, Europe and the United States.

During the relatively short concert (like one hour and quarter), the trio interpreted pieces of King Crimson and the own project of Belew, with a powerful sound (and to very high volume), per moments near heavy metal.

The not very nourished public one (it filled more of first half of the armchairs in front of to the scene) was compensated with the enthusiasm of the present following faithfuls. During several occasions they were put of foot.

It is the first time that the masterful guitarist, who produced a pair of discs of Caifanes and Santa Sabina, made a tour with his own project in Mexico.

Belew, that also has touched with Cyndi Lauper, Laurie Anderson, Crash Dummies Test and Paul Simon, counted what to his to seem, it distinguishes it of other guitarists: "I have a quite ample vocabulary, I can emulate sounds, my ideas fit in very different musical styles. I enjoy discovering and experimenting sounds and causing that the guitar makes things that assumes that it would not have to do (like animal sounds)".

Ever since he was young "had good ear. To the five years, it could emulate singers of the radius. Also it could imitate personages of the cartoons. For some reason, I can discern of what the sounds are done."

When it explores new sounds do mainly through new equipment: "Right now I am doing much looping". And yes, in the concert he was present. "It is a way to cause that it sounds as if there was more than three people. The new material that I am writing is based on much looping."

Adrian Belew concluded the interview saying: "the work of music not only is to entertain, but hacerte to feel better with the life. When I do not feel well, just I put something of music and in a ratito I am grooving and feeling to me better, so, perhaps, that is the intention of the world of music ".

Fulfilled mission, judging by the faces of its followers leaving the Metropólitan Theater."

Pretty cool, huh.

Okay...I have to fly -- my fresh avocado/jack cheese omelet has arrived, along with fresh squeezed orange juice and champagne. I could get very used to this.

Oh, I'm kidding.

But seriously, I am going to be off-line for a while for vacation, etc. though I do hope to find an internet cafe/library and report back here from time to time over the next couple of weeks, and I will probably do one last long-winded blogpost tomorrow...unless I have something exciting to report later today/tonight.

You just never know.

Later,
xo

The "Freaking A!" Post -- Another Bite of the Apple-- advance orders being taken for the trade paperback -- and "Adrian Belew: The Genius of Rock!"

September 11, 2007

ETA (or, edited to add har har): I put up a short clip of Adrian, Julie and Eric performing in front of 2,000 people in Mexico last night on my Publishers Marketplace Page - go check it out!


Will ship in 2-3 Weeks - Price Special for 1st Month Release (orig, $11)

Trade Paperpack
$9.00

Yay! The trade paperback of Another Bite of the Apple is available for pre-order at a special promotional rate - for further details click here!

I'm very excited about this. And just think -- you can order and read it well before it appears on the big screen! (Or cable television ha ha -- whatever -- it's all good.)

For those of you who don't know, Another Bite of the Apple is the sequel to Three Days in New York City, and if you click the above "for further details click here" link, there's an excerpt.

And oh my god, should I be whooping it up that Media Predict has an announcement on the front page of their website regarding the selection of the five finalists in Simon Schuster Project Publish next week...and that my book is featured on said front page along with four others? Coincidence or are they just cruelly playing with my emotions? Ha!



"We’re one week away from the first cut in Project Publish. Right now, 50 contestants are competing to win a book deal with Touchstone Books of Simon & Schuster. By next Tuesday, there will be five..."

Arghh...I will be on vacation next Tuesday and without the internet unless I ride my bike ninety seven miles (slight exaggeration) to the only library on the island. Oh well. I can use the exercise...you know there's no way I'm missing that announcement.
*****

So the Adrian Belew Power Trio tour continues in Mexico - and this photo of said trio is off of Ade's newly revamped website. It's courtesy of Vance Cox, and I'll be posting more of Vance's fabulous photos in the future for sure - they are awesome.



Here's the poster for the Mexican shows - pretty cool, huh.



And the most wonderful interview appears in the September edition of The Village Idiot:



Adrian Belew: The Genius of Rock
By Kristine Sexton

"What drives you to keep pushing the sonic envelope?

My love of sounds. A new sound nearly always turns into a new piece of music which is what fuels everything I do. I'm not a natural at technology and much of it escapes me but I usually can find a way to make something interesting occur. After I have that "interesting sound" as a starting point I can begin to use the accumulated knowledge of my craft: writing and recording.

I had no idea that you co-wrote Genius of Love with the Tom Tom Club. How did that song come about?

Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth had a place in the Bahamas right next door to compass point studio (where I did my first record called Lone Rhino).

There are 2 speeds in the Bahamas: slow and stop. So we slowly built some songs in their apartment and then slowly went down to the studio, and slowly recorded them.

It was great fun and what a surprise for it to be such a hit!

What is your current guitar setup?

Two Johnson Millenium 150 amps, two line 6 Vetta II amps, one Korg ms-2000 keyboard, one Roland gr-30 guitar synth, a Keeley compressor, a Digitech whammy pedal, a Digitech Hendrix pedal, a Boomerang looper, one Eventide 8000, and a small monitor system to hear the loops and the keyboard. Phew...I'm tired just writing about it!

I play two Adrian Belew signature model parker fly guitars. One at a time.

How did the power trio come about?

Paul Green invited me to his School of Rock in Philadelphia and introduced me to his two favorite alumni Eric and Julie Slick. He said they were the best players his school ever had and I believe it. We played one song together and that was all it took.

You have played with so many amazing people, who are you favorites to work with?

Eric and Julie Slick, and Robert Fripp.

What major differences have you seen in the music from when you first started until now?

Nearly all of it has changed but I've worked through the "jadedness"that comes with having seen it all turn inside out and returned to the joyous enthusiasm I had when I started as a teenager. The business does not dictate the creativity, quite the opposite. Right now record labels are crumbling, the internet is flourishing but there's no money in it, radio plays little or no part in my music's life, so what do you do? The one thing that has remained constant is live performance. You still have to pay to see me play. They can't steal that!

What is the strangest gig you've ever played?

They all feel strange to me. I'm not an entertainer, I'm a recording artist. So it takes a certain mindset to do what I do in front of an audience. The hardest part is letting yourself go so that something magical can happen. But I experience that "transcendence" more than ever now with the power trio.

What are you listening to nowadays?

The sound of my fingers clacking on the iMac.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?

The Power Trio has a put-one-hand-each in an imaginary volcano, make a bunch of bizarre noises, and work up enough steam to blow the top off-kind of thing. (It) seems to work."
****
Oh, I'll say it works! And ahem. Out of all of the musicians with whom Adrian has performed/produced, other than Robert Fripp, Julie and Eric are his favorites? I had the chills reading that. I still have them, in fact. It's hard for me to even type this right now - my eyes are filled with tears.

So I haven't had a chance to really talk with Julie and Eric since they arrived in Mexico, but I did instant message with them for a bit and learned the following:

Adrian is a celebrity there and is asked for autographs wherever he goes, even on the plane -- they are flying from city to city in Mexico for each of the three shows and are on a very tight schedule.

Julie and Eric had one of the best meals of their lives at a restaurant called Il Latino...for appetizers Julie had shrimp and salmon ceviche followed by crab with chipotle aioli over tortillas smeared with guacamole; Eric had pan seared lightly breaded brie with a long piece of toast with a tomato coulis; Julie's entree was dorado with a mild paprika sauce and a salad with fresh mango, papaya and cucumber; Eric's entree was huge, grilled portabella mushrooms with asparagus. For dessert, they had a vanilla ice cream ball with hot fudge almond coconut crunchies.

Ha ha - they have their priorities straight -- I get the food news first.

I spoke to them online before their first show and that's the last I've heard from them so I have no idea how the concerts went...I guess no internet connection where they are in Mexico City but I am hoping to hear from today in Monterrey. If not, they are due back home tomorrow evening and I'm sure I'll have much to report after that, along with some fun backstage and touristy photos - Julie told me they took some amazing shots so far.

So that's it for now I think, but since this is me we are dealing with, you never know.

Later,
xo

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This...Who am I to Disagree?

Okay, yeah, that's a pic of me screaming which I know I've posted before but in light of certain circumstances, I thought it would be appropriate to post it again today, even though what I'm about to say is hardly anywhere near close to a done deal and I am certainly grounded and realistic enough to know that by this time next week, I could be right back at square one.

But let me tell you about what happened anyway because it is just far too cool to keep to myself, and in the event things don't pan out, as I laughingly wrote to a friend yesterday, "Oh well, at least I'll always have September 6, 2007."

To sum it up, yesterday I corresponded/spoke on the phone with (1) a mega literary agent; (2) an LA film producer; (3) an uber...and I mean uber...west coast film agent, who, when I found out that she was involved and went to her website, almost sent me to the emergency room...I wasn't sure if I was having a stroke or a major coronary when I saw the luminaries she represented and the deals she'd made.

My conversations with all three included optioning film/television rights for Three Days in New York City and Another Bite of the Apple, foreign rights for both, and my new book, Daddy Left Me Alone with God.

By the end of the afternoon, I was clutching the edge of my desk, alternating between whooping and feeling nauseous.

But like I said, this is a very tough business and I am only too aware that this is a tiny baby step...though for once I am not paranoid about how I handled things...I spoke in coherent sentences, do not recall saying anything that would cause me to cringe for days afterward (though naturally that might change...I'm liable to remember something any second which will send me flying upstairs under the covers in the fetal position for the next five years)...and well, thanks to all of the wonderful people at Backspace Writers Forum, especially Karen Dionne, Tish Cohen, Lauren Baratz Logsted (to whom I would probably owe my first born child if she wasn't already 21 years old), and my incredible pals from Zoetrope Studios, Steve Augarde, who just wrapped up his brilliant "Various" trilogy and the lovely, wise, and ultra-talented Ellen Meister, whose paperback edition of Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA is now in Target stores as one of their Emerging Authors BREAKOUT selections. Yikes...I forgot Susan Henderson at LitPark, the person responsible for introducing to me to most of these writers via her extraordinary website.

Oh god, look at me thanking people like I've won the Academy Award. Have I mentioned what a dork I am? But it's true...the above list of writers are just incredible friends/people and I wanted to give them a shout out because they are also incredible authors and I cannot encourage you enough to buy/read their amazing books. And they all helped with/talked me through the events of yesterday -- let's just say that without them, I probably would be a complete basket case by now.

Alrighty then, that's enough about me. As I was told yesterday, "these things take time and it's in your best interest to be patient, Robin." So...err...stay tuned.

In other news, the Adrian Belew Power Trio are currently getting ready to board a plane for Mexico, where they will perform September 8, 9, and 10 as follows:

September 8 Guadalajara, MEX Teatro Diana
September 9 Mexico City, MEX Teatro Metropolitan
September 10 Monterrey, MEX Teatro De La Ciudad

And how freaking cool is this - if my life wasn't exciting enough yesterday, imagine my delight when I visited Adrian's website and saw this:

"SOMETHING FOR LINE-6 GUITARPORT USERS

For those of you who have the Line-6 GuitarPort there is currently a piece on Adrian on GuitarPort which allows you to play along with live versions of "Writing On The Wall" and "Three Of A Perfect Pair". You can chose to play along with The Power Trio or to silence Adrian's guitar parts and play them yourself along with the amazing Slicks. How cool is that?!"

For more information, click here.

That is just fantastic. And I'm guessing that "Writing on the Wall" and "Three of a Perfect Pair" are off of the soon to be released Side Four Live CD...and ho ho ho, I finally have some idea of the release date but it isn't up to me to announce it...keep watching this space though, because as soon as Adrian puts it up on his website (which I am afraid I do stalk obsessively compulsively), it will be posted here seconds later. Just know that you will all have it in plenty of time for Christmas!

Okay, that's more than I should have said. Let me rephrase it to read "In a perfect world, you will all have it in plenty of time for Christmas!"

So that's my news for now...I need to seriously finish making a decision on the final selections for the 39 and Holding Anthology I'm editing for Phaze, and yeah, yeah, I need to do some more google research so that when uber agents throw out terms like "three month options", "foreign rights" and other suchlike phrases I know what the hell they are talking about...

Later,
xo