Happy 5th Birthday to In Her Own Write

Okay, okay, I know I said I wouldn't do anything as cheesy as a five year birthday tribute to my blog, but yeah, I just confirmed today is the day and since I do have some other stuff to talk about, why the hell not.


Drawing by the late, great John Lennon (and if you didn't know that and the fact that this journal is named in his honor, you are not cool enough to be here so go away. Or not. You know I like to kid around because hey hey, I'm still a kid even if the mirror tells me otherwise.)

So yeah, happy birthday, blog! Thanks to you, I've met some really cool people (oh, no one special...just Robert Fripp (who remarked, "I've read your blog", causing me to almost swallow my tongue while mortified that I had a camera in my hand which I desperately tried to stuff down the back of my jeans while simultaneously attempting to croak out an answer...and anyone who is familiar with Mr. Fripp understands the gravity of that camera situation and my subsequent horror/terror), also from DGMLive Sid Smith, California Guitar Trio, Tony Levin, Barry Eisler, David Morrell, Neil Gaiman, Amanda Palmer (well, sort of when it comes to Amanda -- I bumped into Neil and Amanda at the Highline in New York City a week or two before they "came out" as a couple but anyone who follows them on Twitter or their respective blogs had to have guessed months earlier; I was at the Highline with Eric to see some friends of ours read their six word memoirs published by Smith Magazine; anyway, I saw Amanda and Neil together in the audience because Amanda was the musical portion of the show following the reading and blurted out (much to Eric's humiliation yet again) "Ooh, I'm telling the internet!" Amanda turned around and laughed but due to the Eric factor, i.e., I'm running out of free passes for mortifying him in public, I didn't wait around to chat any further and hustled past to the bar)...and of course, last but not least, all of the fans, both of my books (all 4 of them!) and of Julie and Eric and the Adrian Belew Power Trio.

So yeah, having this blog has been a gateway and diary to all kinds of fun, and if you check out the archives, particularly in 2005 and 2006, you'll find everything from our infamous pizza date with Eddie Vedder; Julie and Eric's performances with everyone from Jon Anderson of Yes to Ann Wilson of Heart to Alice Cooper, Stewart Copeland blah blah blah...and yeah, the whole evolution of their respective careers - Eric landing his first professional drumming gig with Project Object, Julie's brief stint with punk skateboard band McRad and their tour of the UK (yeah, I went. So shoot me.)...and then the call from Nashville when they landed the gig with Adrian.

Hey, speaking of Project Object, Eric, who has been home all of three days from the ABPT west coast tour and is taking off with Julie next week for two weeks of gigs in Turkey and Russia, anyway, Eric will be joining Project Object for their winter tour and here's the preliminary info on that, though I suspect more dates are going to be added:

SUN 12/27 - Sellersville Theatre - Sellersville, PA

MON 12/28 - 8 x 10 Club - Baltimore, MD

TUE 12/29 - Rex Theatre - Pittsburgh, PA

WED 12/30 - Beachland Ballroom - Cleveland, OH

FRI 1/1 - Martyrs - Chicago, IL

SAT 1/2 - Martyrs - Chicago, IL

SUN 1/3 - Miramar Theater - Milwaukee, WI

THU 1/7 - BB King Blues Club & Grill - New York, NY

FRI 1/8 - Regatta Bar - Cambridge, MA

SAT 1/9 - Revolution Hall - Troy, NY

SUN 1/10 - Toad's Place - New Haven, CT

Also, I've been remiss in that I should have posted this earlier, but better late than never...here's a note from P/O's founder, Andre Cholmondeley:

"Hello folks...

Hoping this message finds you well.

While there have been real high points and really great moments --It's been a very hard year for me and my loved ones, most of you know about the tragic & sudden loss of my mom in July, 10 weeks ago today. Many of you also know that day arrived against a backdrop of very tough times -- my other half and love of my life Cheri Jiosne has been fighting breast cancer for almost a year now.

She is doing as well as one can, in fact better I think - she looks great, feels great and is several months into an intense program combining various schools of herbalism, holistic methods, Qi gong, Acupuncture and diet with a low dose Alternative Chemo program called IPT. We're at a crossroads now, looking at what the next move in her fight needs to be.

It's ironic (or not) that the current national debate has been about health care -- we too are amongst the millions of Americans without health care insurance. The small amount she had at one of her jobs ran out -- and we are dealing with this out of pocket. We are looking at creative ways to keep paying the bills, and one idea was to do a benefit in NYC. The ACOUSTIC PROJECT/OBJECT benefit went fantastically - especially on a Sunday, and a major Jewish Holiday. THANKS SO MUCH for showing up, sending in donations, letters, emails, cards etc. The silent auction run by our dear friends Laura Dardi & Rob Bruce went fantastically - thanks to those who bid. The support from all corners has been touching and amazing. We are trying to plan a benefit in MONMOUTH COUNTY NJ somewhere before the end of the year - stay tuned here and on the email list. Once more --THANK YOU IMMENSELY.

- Andre', Project/Object

We have a pay pal account as well as a PO Box you can send a donation check/money order to. Here are other options:

You can go to paypal.com and make payments to projectobject (at) earthlink.net

You can send a check or money order written to
CHERYL JIOSNE to:

Cheri Jiosne Cancer Fund
PO BOX 16672
Asheville NC
28801

Thanks! No amount is too small.....Stand by for further info and please forward this to anyone you think would be interested.

Thanks so much for all your support, in so many ways through the years. She is a fighter and we will make it thru this difficult time, with victory over this!

- André Cholmondeley"

I know personally that Cheri's medical bills are freaking staggering (God Bless America and our fucked up healthcare system) so every little bit helps and perhaps in the spirit of the approaching holidays you will keep them in mind? Hope so!

So I know I said I'm turning this blog back over to my writing career, and that's true, but it's kind of ludicrous for me to say I'm never going to write about Julie and Eric again - they are my best friends, my family, and hell yeah, I'm gonna shout it out when cool stuff happens in their lives.

And trust me, cool stuff is in the works...I can't talk about any of it yet in detail, naturally, but well, I can sorta say some stuff. California Guitar Trio has asked J&E to contribute bass and drums to three songs on their new CD...in fact, here's the mention right in Bert Lam's diary:

"Wednesday, October 7, 2009

This past weekend Paul, Hideyo and I met in Louisville, Kentucky, for a recording session at Funeral Home Studios, with sound engineer Kevin Ratterman.

We recorded several strong pieces: Chacarera, an original piece by Paul, based on an Argentine rhythm.

Next was Hazardous Z, a piece by Hideyo. Paul came up with some Spanish 'flamenco style' chords, and I composed a new part on classical guitar. Sessions were fun, and went very smooth, thanks to some good preparation, and the professionalism of Kevin.

We've sent out tracks for some of our friends to play on: Tony Levin, Julie and Eric Slick, Dilek Engin(viola), and Daniel, Shri and Colty from the UT percussion ensemble.

We now have recorded about 10 pieces, and a few improvisations; plenty of very strong material for an all-originals new CD release."

Ha ha, Julie Slick and Tony Levin, together again. Heart be still.

Julie and Eric have in fact laid down their respective tracks but of course it will be up to the CGT to make the final decision as to whether to officially include them or not or ask for changes...whatever....you know it's all good!

Also, as soon as they return from Russia/Turkey, J&E will be recording an EP with their new band, Paper Cat, featuring astoundingly fantastic guitarist Robbie "Seahag" Mangano and while I could really go to town blabbing on that one, I will stay quiet and simply post this.

While on tour, I received so many emails I cannot possibly respond to all of them; we were in the car for over eight hours most times and I had limited internet access in a lot of venues and hotels. So I thought I'd put up some of letters I received here because they deserve some recognition and a huge thank you!

From Frank Jordan:

"I saw them play this last week in Santa Ana, and was simply blown away. I saw Ade's Trio a few years ago, before Julie and Eric came aboard. It's mentioned in several reviews, how they have ignited Adrian with their youthfulness and talent, but it's all talk until you see and hear them live. Unbelievable. My friend and I were able to meet with them for a few minutes afterwards, and as a parent, I must say that your children are so far beyond their years in how they interact, and so open and friendly with the fans. I'm a drummer also, and when I'd asked Eric about his snare drum, he invited me up onstage so he could show it to me up close. That was very kind of him to do. The show was again wonderful throughout, and I especially loved the new material from "e". You know, you read alot and hear alot about how good they are, and they seem to me to be as good of people, as they are musicians. I love the passion for what they are doing. (And, at least Julie puts her socks on after the show for the fans). I know it makes me feel worthwhile when someone says it to me, so I'll say to you, you have great kids, Robin."

From Dan Reagan:

"Robin,

I just saw Julie and Eric tearing it up with Adrian last night in Portland, OR at the Aladdin theater.

I just wanted to say that your children are truly awesome musicians; they blew my mind. I think the future of music is in very capable hands.

Take care,

Dan"

From David Reynold:

"Greetings!

I met you this evening (Oct 13th, if anyone cares) behind the merch counter at a small, out of the way venue to see -- OH WAIT, IT'S YOUR PROGENY! wow.

What ever it is you have done, you have done it well. As a single dad, I work hard to make sure the lizard (Elizabeth) has a good grounding in classical education (that is, I pay for piano lessons and get up in her face about homework and how it applies) and do my damnedest to make sure sure she can still have fun. With luck she will be the next 'It Girl' out of Hollywood, but that's only 'cause I'm a pushy stage parent and my cousin is a producer.

You are patently not THAT and have been an obviously good influence on your progeny; Thanks for letting them tour, and even more -- thanks for coming with them -- you probably can claim 'BEST MOM EVER" just for that.

PS: They _better_ bring flowers on Mother's Day..."

From Stephan and Kim in Calgary:

"Hi Robin!

We had a blast getting to know you guys at PikNiq after the show in Calgary.

Like I said on my Email to Adrian, they are great musicians ( we knew that) but more importantly, you are great persons. Your kids are wonderful, probably because you are too.

Hopefully we will see you again here or in Quebec city.

Big hugs, stay warm and enjoy the road to Vancouver,

Stephan and Kim, Calgary"

And my personal favorite, from Patrick Gaumond of Quebec, who incredibly enough is good friends with Stephan from Calgary - they were in a band together in high school and how insane that we ended up having drinks with both of them in different cities a month apart:

"Dear Power Quartet,

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful musical and social evening. You let me stay in your bubble and be part of your tour memories and I’m really thankful for such an honor.

I didn’t take any picture or made you sign my whole CD collection because I wanted you to feel at home in my City. I tried to be a friend, not a fan.

Eric, thanks for the subtle drumming on your “non-Bozio kit”, your funny eye contact with the crowd and your kindness.

Julie, thanks for your “almost Hendrix” moment, your French effort and your "joie de vivre".

Adrian, thanks for your unstoppable communicative smile while you perform, the music you share with us and your warm humanity.

Robin, thanks for answering my first email, thanks for having trusted your kids' talent and your devotion. I owe you for the rest of my life.

It’s been a pleasure chatting with all of you. You made me felt very comfortable. Let me write it again: “You have a perpetual invitation whenever you come in Québec City for vacation or playing music, whatever the group, venue or else. I’ll always be happy to help you get food, attractions and fun”. I'm in the phonebook, I’m easy reach by email and it will always be a pleasure to meet any of you again.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A really happy guy,

Patrick"
********
And so many people took such cool photos! Ack, that will have to be another post. It will take me forever to link them all and my publisher has taken to sending people to ABPT shows to hound me for my edits on my latest book so I better end this post right now and finish said edits before I no longer have a career.

But um, speaking of that, please notice to banner on the top of this page. It will take you right to my Amazon page. Those reading today's blogpost and my series of journal entries about the trio would probably really dig my latest book, Daddy Left Me Alone with God. I'm not gonna lie, a good chunk of that book is based on Julie and Eric and the beginning of their career...i.e., the School of Rock years. Is the rest of the book fact or fiction? Ha ha - you will have to decide that for yourself. I'm not saying a word.

And I couldn't help but notice a few really great reviews have popped up while I was on tour...like this one over at Coffee Time Romance:

"DADDY LEFT ME ALONE WITH GOD
ROBIN SLICK
ISBN#: 9781607670308
February 2009
Tease Publishing, LLC
www.teasepublishingllc.com
Paperback
$12.59
368 Pages
Contemporary Romance
Rating: 4 Cups

Annie has an opportunity that few receive. Through her talented children, she can revisit her teenager rock star god, Mick. Her father was once her dealer, and after being left alone with a god, she became his enthusiastic lover; leaving behind her first love.

Mick is a rock star who has always remembered little Annie and often wondered wistfully how he let her get away. Now he wants her back, even if it means stealing her from another man. Her husband and first love is the man she chose to marry when he stood beside her during a difficult period of her life, but is his love and support enough to keep her.

Annie starts out sure that her marriage is over; especially if she can have Mick back. Her children are grown and on their way, and now just may be the time for her to have what she thought she had always missed. But did she really miss anything and is the gamble worth giving up the man who has loved her for so long?

Daddy Left Me Alone With God is all about getting a second chance and the choices we would make if we had it to do all over again. I enjoyed the character of Annie because she was never portrayed as a perfect woman but as woman with all the flaws of a real woman. The road trip from hell made the story so funny, sad, and poignant, depicting the end of an era and the beginning of the next. Well worth the read; I would recommend that everyone make it least one visit to the world of Robin Slick.

Delane
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More"

And on Amazon:

"Daddy Left Me Alone With God tells the story of Annie, an aging rocker who's accompanying her children, gifted musicians in a rock band, while they play gigs across the U.S. Here's the hook: In her youth, Annie had a torrid affair with rock god, and he's the headliner on the tour, while her children are the opening act. Part travelogue, part road story, part romance, and definitely a coming-of-age story, this book was witty and wildly entertaining while straddling the literary line. Annie is a conflicted woman with a difficult past. Her kids are her heaven, but her every day home life is lacking and she struggles with her advancing age while being tempted to recapture a piece of her past. We generally think of coming-of-age stories as youths getting a taste of adulthood, being forced to make choices or sacrifices or having their eyes opened to indignities of the world. But life isn't a one-and-done experience when it comes to growing up, and we face major transitions into different stages of life. The male experience of mid-life crisis is well documented in literary fiction, but the female's perspective is generally ignored or trivialized. Annie does suffer indignities, but they're hilarious, and she gets tested on her adult status, and ultimately has to make a choice. Throw in the will-they-or-won't-they tension, and this book certainly kept the pages turning."

So I hope that tempts you to at least click on the link and consider buying "Daddy" as well as my other titles with Phaze, which are erotic comedies, and I cannot stress the word "comedy" enough. In fact, I stumbled upon a recent review of my first book for Phaze, Three Days in New York City, and I wanted to share it here because it really made me feel great:

"Three Days In New York City (a book review, sorta)
September 28, 2009

A few years ago I came accross this book called Three Days In New York City by Robin Slick. I read a review in a blog I frequented regularly and it sounded interesting so I thought I’d give it a try. You see the blogger talked about how funny and quick witted the book was.

Oh sure! Don’t get me wrong! It mentioned other stuff but what drew me in was the fact that the reviewer/blogger mentioned how he hadn’t laughed so hard yadda yadda… how funny it was, etc etc.

That is what drew me to it. Not the “other stuff.” The funny stuff.

The day my book order came in was a day that my boys had baseball practice.

“Yay,” I thought! “Now I have reading material for the two hours that we are gonna be stuck at practice.”

So there I go! I got to practice and took my book out and started reading.

Page one umm… hu?

Page two: WHOA… whatta?

I was only able to read about a page and half. OK OK so maybe it was three. It was then that I realized I had to stop reading it.

IMMEDIATELY!

I was shocked at the content.

Don’t get me wrong. It turned out to be a very funny book but…

well….

you’re gonna think I’m a dumb ass..

and I should have known better..

Don’t judge me! I’d never read this “type” of book.

I mean, I could sort of imagine… but I guess I really didn’t know…

It’s labeled EROTICA.

And yes, while I know what the word means, I guess I didn’t really “KNOW” what the word meant?

Yes, I can be slow like that. I’d never read erotica before and didn’t really know what to expect. Well, ok maybe I just figured it would have a passionate kiss here and there and maybe a description of a nipple being perky or a private part tingling with anticipation. But I wasn’t exactly figuring it was gonna be how it was.

The book starts off with phone sex while she’s on public transportation on her way to meet her lover at a hotel in New York City while wearing a short skirt with no panties, per HIS request. And by phone sex, I mean VERY EXPLICIT phone sex.

Ummm yeah. Definitely feeling “funny” but not funny-ha-ha. Feeling a little bit more like “funny, I never expected THIS!”

So anyways, after reading a little bit my face started to feel a little flushed. I looked up and felt like all the other baseball moms were staring at me. With INDIGNATION!

Oh my GOD! Did they KNOW?

Can they read my thoughts as I’m reading?

Can they tell that my heart is racing?

Can they feel my sweaty palms?

Did I accidentally mouth the words as I was reading?

Or worse…. did they have Three Days In New York City at home?

Did they recognize the cover?

Are they judging me thinking, ”BAD MOM, reading that smut while at at her kids baseball practice? I mean, what kind of mother does that?”

The crack-ho/nynpho kind, that’s what.

– So I very discreetly put the book back IN my purse, looked around to see if anybody had been able to read my thoughts.

*If I was Catholic I would have quickly recited ten hail Mary’s(is that what they call it?)

DAMN.

I can’t even remember what those prayers are called. Not that it matters since I’m not Catholic, so even if I did know what it was called and how to recite them, the Catholic God would look down at me from heaven and say, “Nice try, Twinkie, but you’re not fooling anyone!”

Bad Twinkie! Erotica is the devil~

That evening I went home, made dinner and did all that other motherly/wifely stuff, then once everyone was in bed, I finished the book. Devoured it, really.

I was like a perv in a brothel.

Don’t judge me! To my defense, like I said, not only is it “EROTICA” but it’s really funny too.

The book follows a sexual escapade between a married almost 40 year old American woman going through a sort of mid-life crisis empty nest syndrome. She’s bored with her corporate job. Regrets not following her dreams as an artist and decides to take a cyber-office romance with an overconfident, freaky Brit to the next level.

What ends up happening between this unfullfilled but very vanilla American will make you laugh out loud till your stomach hurts.

It was a short and very easy read.

Since then? Erotica became my very own guilty pleasure.

Don’t worry though. I’ve learned my lesson. From now on, if the cover has certain key words like sex, erotic, for dirty crack ho nympho’s only, etc on it, I will NOT take it to my kids practice. In fact? I will ONLY read it in the privacy of my bedroom. With the door shut."

Ha! I really do love that review. And you should know that there is a sequel to Three Days, called Another Bite of the Apple, and a third book, which is tentatively scheduled for release December 7 ASSUMING I EVER FINISH MY EDITS ARGHH, called Bitten to the Core...and you can purchase them at Amazon or directly from my publisher, right here.

Oh wow, there's something else I'd better mention! I'm doing two readings, one in Philadelphia on November 5 and one in New York on November 7! Here's the details...

As advertised on author Greg Olear's Facebook page:

"The Totally Killer Book Tour / Philadelphia
Let's get ready to mumble!
Host:
TOTALLY KILLER by Greg Olear
Date:
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Time:
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location:
Moonstone Arts Center
Street:
110A S. 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA

"I'll be in the City of Brotherly Love as part of The Nervous Breakdown's Literary Experience, the traveling roadshow of the web's premier address for creative nonfiction.

Joining me on stage:

-- ROBIN SLICK, author of "Daddy Left Me Alone With God," and mother to two-thirds of the Adrian Belew Power Trio

-- J.E. FISHMAN, co-author of "Life is a Series of Presentations" and writer of the mystery "Mr. Gloom and Pollyanna Fight to the Death," soon to appear in serialized form on TNB

and

-- ELIZABETH COLLINS, my fellow Madison High School alum, the event's hostess and organizer, winner of the Columbia University Nonfiction Prize and the Best Essay of Literary Nonfiction at UNI's Critical Writing Conference, finalist for The Missouri Review's Nonfiction Award, and author of several YA novels."

And regarding my New York reading on November 7, I'll be at Barbes in Brooklyn as part of Dime Stories, reading my piece, Picnic, which, as you can see, was previously published in the absolutely fabulous Smokelong Quarterly.

Finally, November 1 begins my yearly ritual of National Novel Writing Month, where I will attempt a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. Hey, trust me, after being on tour all summer/fall with the trio, I have more material than I know what to do with.

Muhahahahahaha...

Hey, if I don't get back here tomorrow, Happy Halloween, everyone. I know I promised a restaurant/foodie heaven review of the tour, and yes, I will post links to all the great photographers I've mentioned above; I've got some great film footage as well...stay tuned. But for now...gah...my edits await and playtime is over.

Later,
xo

Adrian Belew Power Trio in Guitar Player Magazine

So much for my statement that I'm resigning as unofficial publicist for the Adrian Belew Power Trio to concentrate on editing/writing my new book(s) but I had to make an exception because the trio is featured in this month's Guitar Player Magazine.

Here's their video interview with Julie and Eric Slick:



To see Guitar Player's interview with Adrian and to watch their footage of the trio's performance at Slim's in San Francisco last Sunday, click right here!

I have much to talk about - hopefully see you back here tomorrow.

Later,
xo

Almost home...

I've never been so homesick in my life.

Okay, so it does look like I'm having a good time catching some rays and reading a fantastic book (Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo) in Redondo Beach, California, that is true:



Though I was seriously terrified when leaving Phoenix for Utah when we had to make a bathroom stop and this was the only place for 400 miles.

"You ladies have come to the right place," the men outside said when Julie and I walked by.

Oh. My. God. Inside, they had hand printed signs that they'd "cut and freeze whatever animal you'd shot and killed." It was a combination gas station, convenience store which sold saddles for fuck's sake, and a bathroom which was so disgusting I sat about 12 feet in the air above the toilet. But the best was it was also a saloon, and they had five dusty half-empty bottles on the shelf: Tequilla, Wild Turkey...hmm...that may be it. I am a city girl but I was positive Julie and I were going to end up chopped in little pieces in the walk in freezer, later to be identified by our dental records, assuming they didn't eat our teeth, too.

"We should have told Adrian and Eric if we're not out in ten minutes they need to come in and rescue us," I said to Julie.

She laughed. We both knew we'd be the ones to rescue THEM.

But it was cool. I don't know if you can see it in this photo, but it was such a cliche. Everyone wore cowboy hats and there was even an ancient hound dog snoring outside with flies buzzing around his head.



But then we got a really cool surprise. When we punched the address of our next destination into the GPS system, it told us we would be going through the Grand Canyon. Are you kidding me? I got little kid excited.

This is just the beginning of what turned out to be the most beautiful drive of my life, and I thought that had happened two weeks earlier when we drove through Jasper National Park in British Columbia (see post below).



And here is the official Adrian Belew Power Trio shot taken adjacent to the Canyon - the first time Julie ever approved of my photography skills:



Well, duh, I had to have my photo taken as well. When the fuck am I ever going to get to the Grand Canyon again?



Erm...actually, that's not the Grand Canyon. Now that I carefully look at that pic, I think it was taken in the parking lot right outside of Zion National Park in Utah a few hours later. Oh well. Whatever. Most gorgeous drive/destination EVER. And if you don't believe me, have a look at the rest of the photos from our Utah gig:







Here's a shot of both Eric and me in the parking lot of the hotel where we stayed in Springdale, Utah...it was called Majestic View and yes, it was the most magnificent view ever...but the lodge, oh the horror, inside it was taxidermy heaven...I looked away from the big stuffed bear and various deer heads but when I saw the tiny stuffed mountain lion hanging on the wall in the restaurant where we had breakfast, I gagged and was once again proud to be a vegetarian. If you click on the photo of the lodge Julie took and enlarge it, I believe you can see pretty clearly what I'm talking about.





The Bit and Spur in Utah where the trio played that night was another one of the more pleasant surprises of this tour. Not only was it incredibly gorgeous, it was a Zagat rated restaurant which catered to people who liked their veggies, and owned by two really cool, laid back guys who came to Springdale via LA and Chicago...they went on vacation to Zion National Park, were mesmerized by its beauty, and decided to stay forever. Their place boasted an outdoor deck which faced the mountains no matter where you sat; the sky was so starry we could see the milky way, and have a look at the menu. We started off with the evening's special, a coconut, ginger, carrot bisque; I followed that with butternut squash canneloni -- thyme roasted squash with spinach, shallots, goat cheese and heirloom tomato sauce with field greens and balsamic vinegar. Actually, we all had the bisque; Eric followed that with the roasted pecan fall salad and Julie had a (non-meat) soft taco special.

Naturally Adrian had the strip steak, but maybe some day he'll join our team. Or not. Whatever.

In my next post, I will show you photos of our dessert as well as a more comprehensive write-up of the wonderful meals we had on the road as promised, but for now, it's time to leave Aspen and head for our final show in Littleton, CO at Toad's Tavern where once again the band is listed as "Adrian Belew" and not "Adrian Belew Power Trio" and there are no photos of Julie or Eric on the poster...are you sensing my frustration here? I don't think I'm being out of line after three and a half years, do you?

Oh well, I guess I'm just exhausted, cranky, and frustrated because I'm ready to go home and work on my edits for my upcoming book and really dive into the new one.

Anyway, I digress. Getting back to our tour travels, after we left Utah, we headed for Aspen, and get a load of the scenery on this drive - we stopped a couple of times to take photos:











If I were to tour with the trio again, and trust me, I'm not, I would have to get a t-shirt printed up which says 'YES I AM" because at least fifty people say the same thing to me every single night after the show: "You must be so proud."

Of course I am so proud. But not just of their musicianship - I'm proud that Julie and Eric are honestly kind and decent human beings and everyone they come into contact with notices it right away and comments on that to me as well. My God, they are both so humble and three and a half years on the road with Adrian has done nothing to change that; if anything, they are warmer and sweeter and more intellgent than ever because they've traveled the world and gotten to see how the other half lives in more ways than one. And when I say "the other half", that refers to people who bicker, people who think money is the key to happiness...you know...all the petty bullshit that I personally have no time for. I think Gary and I should be proudest of the fact that we did pass that on to them in addition to supporting them in every way imaginable and giving them the confidence to know that anything is possible. Maybe it's because I lost my own mother as a young girl; maybe it's because Gary has been to hell and back himself and it's made him so much stronger and such a wonderful father...but yeah, J&E have their heads screwed on straight and after spending most of the summer in such close confinement with them on tour, I admit it, I've never been prouder of anyone in my life and I never will.

And speaking of that, here's a fantastic interview with Julie Slick. My thanks to John Wilcox of Prog Sheet -- I hope you all enjoy this piece as much as I did.

Do you believe this tour has had us traveling in a minivan almost 7,000 miles across America and Canada in 21 days through snow, sleet, treacherous mountain passes and ten hour drives after which the trio has to perform without a day off? So much for the rock star life, huh. My brain is exploding and heiny hurts!

And on that note, I think I will end this post...I cannot wait to go home tomorrow...but ugh, our plane has stopovers and even though we take off at noon; we won't be home until 9:00 p.m. It would have been nice to have a direct flight but there you have it...welcome to the music biz, 2009...or at least as we know it at present.

Oh well. As I always say, onward and upward!

Later,
xo

The Slick Famiy on Tour...More Tales from the Road

Well, we’re in the final stretch of the tour and to say I’m homesick is putting it mildly. All I want to do is sleep in my own bed in between my two guys.

Oh wait. That didn’t sound quite right, did it. Oh well, Ha ha, get your minds out of the gutter, I’m talking about dogs. Oh Monty, I miss you so much!



So as I indicated in my last post and as you may have read on my Twitter feed, this marks my swan song as merch woman for the Adrian Belew Power Trio as well as unofficial publicist. I am knee deep in my own writing, and it’s time to focus on my career after three and a half years. It’s been an interesting ride, but it’s time to fly.

But rest assured you haven’t heard the end of me – I am writing a non-fiction book which will address many of the ups and downs of life on the road and my personal behind the scenes account as “groupie mom”. It won’t be a sensational tell-all but it will be a comedy, that is for sure.

Anyway, now that I’ve got that out of the way, I may as well have a last hurrah or two and talk about some of the awesome things that have happened on this tour. For one thing, if you follow us on Facebook, you’ll know that Pete Docter and Andrew Stanton, founders of Pixar Films, are huge Adrian Belew Power Trio fans. So they showed up at our show at Slim’s in San Francisco , were blown away by my brilliant offspring, and invited us for a personal guided tour of Pixar the following day.

Well.

What an experience that was. I get the feeling that if you work for Pixar, you wake up each morning and say “Huzzah! I get to go to the office today!” Because dear God, what an “office” it is. Words cannot even begin to describe it. So here’s a few photos to start with:







Our tour started with a private screening in what had to be the most amazing theater ever…the ceiling was a planetarium with shooting stars. Because I no longer have little kiddies, I may have missed the two greatest films in recent history – Up and Partly Cloudy. Got to see trailers for both of them, as well as the trailer for Toy Story 3, coming out in June of 2010. Oh. My.

Eric and I freely admitted we cried during all three screenings. Our eyes filled up – from the sheer genius and pretty much from excitement, too…and maybe even a bittersweet feeling as well.

Instead of cubicles, Andrew and Pete went out and bought a bunch of sheds at Home Depot and each employee has their own shed which they decorated any way they wanted. One guy had a tiki hut with bamboo everywhere; but the absolute best was a guy who didn’t have a shed, but a corner office where he found a crawl space. Holy cow, look what he did…the world's coolest secret room. I don't know about you guys, but a secret room is like number #1 on my top ten list of fantasies.







Here's Adrian, in an extremely fitting photo given his approaching *cough* 60th birthday, using the cane which was a prototype from "Up"...check out the tennis balls...



Here are picture and story boards used for every film...as a writer, this just completely fascinated me.





And get a load of Eric, standing at the very mic used by Ed Asner, Reese Witherspoon, Danny DeVito - well, virtually every star that ever lent his/her voice to a Pixar film. Oh, by the way, that secret room I showed you? The wall is full of autographs...everyone from all of said stars...I saw Robert DeNiro's (I signed next to his signature since we share the same birthday of August 17) and the Obama daughters, who visited just last week!)...



Here's our very reluctant good-bye shots...





In other news, I had a blast yesterday at Redondo Beach. I was feeling really claustrophobic after all the long car rides I’ve endured with the trio these past three weeks so I took off on my own and went for a long walk down by the ocean and then sat down, took huge gulps of the salty air, and read a fantastic book by Richard Russo, "Nobody's Fool", which I picked up at Powell’s when we were in Portland. Oh yeah. Powell’s. Man, I may take a vacation to Portland just so I can spend two weeks in that store. I’d like to buy a sleeping bag and just live there for a while. And that’s not just because they carry all of my books, either. (Though okay, I will admit - what a thrill that was!) Which reminds me…oh hell, I’d better get my ass to the hotel desk or a UPS store because I’ll never get all the books I purchased on the plane with me.. I got over 20 books for the ridiculous sum of $125.00…stuff I didn’t even know existed by my favorite authors (I’m talking to you, Nick Hornby and Mr. Russo and Jane Smiley…oh man, I am set for the winter). Anyway, yeah, I sat on the beach reading all day; then I went off to dinner by myself at a new French/Asian Restaurant on the waterfront called Maison Riz. It seriously may be one of the best meals I’ve ever had anywhere, and to say it was gorgeous…right on the water, the waves crashing literally under my table and next to me, seagulls flying by but on the other side of the glass where they couldn’t hurt me or eat my food (ha)…a cool breeze, a perfect view of the sunset…a salad of white and green asparagus,…oh oh oh. And a green tea tiramisu for dessert that may rank as the most insanely delicious thing I’ve ever eaten.

Hard to believe that I sunned myself yesterday after being in a blizzard in Canada last week but oh joy, I get to relive that in a few days when we go to Aspen and Littleton, Colorado.

And then last night at the show I met Keith Wechsler, sound man/engineer for Keith Emerson and the Beach Boys, to whom I genuflected and also, Doug Lunn, who I already met when he played a gig with Eric and Mike Keneally. What an amazing fucking bass player he is!

Next, Andre introduced me to Carl Restivo, who plays with Perry Farrell and Tom Morello -- just click on that link and sigh like I did. He was totally enamored with Julie and Eric and gave them some interesting incentive to hang out in LA this January. I say GO FOR IT!

I was in freaking groupie heaven.

It was way cool watching Doug and Carl and Andre talk in front of me at the show. Doug and Carl have never met but they’ve played with all the same people so they bonded big time and I just ate that up.

In Seattle, I met Ade’s adult kids Audie (of “Oh Daddy “ fame) and Udo and their significant others, Larry and Autumn respectively. I loved them. Audie is drop dead gorgeous and could be a stand up comedian and Udo is so handsome and sensitive….he also makes music and gave us his CD…amazing, beautiful stuff. I hung out with them after the show and they are just awesome.

Speaking of party girls, I also got to meet long time Belew fan Rena Fay, a/k/a Tickledrop, who came to four of the west coast shows and she came bearing gifts of wonder and delight and let’s leave it at that. Ha! Oh get your minds out of the gutter again – she brought us a basket filled with avocados, fresh fruit, cheese, olive oil, bread, bilanis, apple tartain, really sick cookies…anyway, look what Julie made us for breakfast in our hotel room with the contents two mornings in a row:



Other way cool people I met at Slim’s – Anil Prasad and Barry Cleveland, Mike Molenda, and Jude Gold of Guitar Player Magazine who interviewed Julie and Eric…there’s going to be a video up shortly on their website along with a clip from their show and naturally I’ll post a link as soon as it’s up. Anil took Julie and me out to dinner at an incredible vegan restaurant, Herbivore, but that’s not why I love him. We met on Twitter of all places and it turns out he’s been friendly with Andre for years; anyway, we started an email friendship a couple of months ago and when we met in person, it was as if we’d been friends in real life forever. I suspect we will be hanging out again in the future – at least I hope so!

Also met Gary Platt in San Francisco – he’s the one who mixed “e” – Gary is a character and I understand I blew a chance to hang out with him and Rena after the Slims show, damn it. By the way, we stayed at The Phoenix "How many hotels can claim that Keanu Reeves, Joan Jett, Vincent Gallo and Little Richard have graced their mattresses (no, silly, not all at the same time!)? How many San Francisco hotels are the crash pad and launching pad for world-renowned bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Psychedelic Furs and Pearl Jam; and up-and-comers like The Killers, Bloc Party and The Shins? With so much creative energy swirling around you never know who might be strumming a guitar, posing for a photo shoot or just kicking back by the pool."

Yep – coolest hotel ever – but I’m such an old fuckwit, I was already asleep by the time they arrived.

Oh well. I guess staying up late does not fit in with my new vegetarian lifestyle, anyway. Hey, this may be a coincidence, but I’m no longer huffing and puffing walking up hills or stairs. Could meat, sugar and butter really have been the culprit? Hmmm…I’ll be curious to see what happens when I visit my doctor when I get back and he draws some blood. I know one thing – he’s going to freak when I get on the scale. I haven’t weighed myself but my jeans are falling off me and when I see a photo of myself now, I’ve definitely lost one of my three chins.

Andre told me "Hey, look at you - reversing the aging process!"

As they say out here on the west coast: "RIGHT ON!"

One hilarious incident happened when we walked into this dive for breakfast. It was a place right out of 1950 and there were all these old hobo looking guys at the counter. One was actually named Earl (we heard the waitress say his name). Anyway, we came strolling in and Earl says “Whoa, look at this gang. Must be movie stars. I’ll take the blonde in the dark glasses.”

Score!

Yep, that’s what it’s come down to. Me and Earl.

It happened to me again yesterday on the beach. Some guy on a bicycle stopped, screeching in his tracks, to say Hi to me.

“Are you married?"

Erm…I pretended not to have heard him but he was a persistent bugger.

“I’m sixty-six. How old are you?”

Lovely.

Let’s see. What else. I’ve met a ton of fans from one of my cyber hangouts, Progressive Ears so it’s been way cool putting faces to names, or screen names I should say. In Portland I finally got to meet Ade’s brilliant photographer Mark Colman, and I understand congratulations are in order because Mark is getting married to his sweetheart, Amy. According to Twitter, he just proposed to her and she said yes! I’m so happy for them.

Man, in watching/listening to Eric drum solo last night, he just gets better and better and the crowds know it, just as they do with Julie. Bit of a bummer that Ade cut Madness from the set but I guess he has his reasons. Julie really rocked out on that one – there’s going to be some disappointed fans out there but I’m through trying to analyze shit, or run peoples' lives – it’s a liberating feeling and it’s all good. ETA: Eric had a meeting with Adrian post-show last night and Madness is back in. Hurrah! Smart move on a lot of levels and um, no further comment necessary.

You know, I read Amanda Palmer’s blog and Trent Reznor’s manifesto on the state of the music business in 2009 and how you need to be ultra creative and think of different ways to promote yourself but at this point it only frustrates me because it’s not my band and like I said, no sense banging my head against the wall repeatedly. Bottom line is the music is great and if that’s not enough, well, it’s not my job or my place to fix it though I will use their brilliant business models for my own career and I can only assume Julie and Eric will do the same in the future.

Mmm…the trio also did an amazing version of Beatbox. . It takes on a life of its own every single night. Ack, it drives me up a wall that people do not know about this band. We drive for hours and hours to play for rooms that should be sell-outs but…

Okay, I said I would be quiet about all that and now I will forever more.

In my next post, I will be talking food, baby. We’ve had some really memorable meals on the road…I’ve got to do a restaurant travel guide for you in case you visit any of the cities we hit on this tour…even though I’m not quite sure you’ll ever find yourself in Kamloops, British Columbia, but still.

Oh yeah, before I end this post, speaing of Kamloops, to get there, we drove through the most magnificent national park (Jasper) to get to our destination…here are some breathtaking shots







And that's a wrap for today.

Later,
xo

Well, here I am in California with daughter Julie...

And this pretty much says it all...



Notice my skinny vegetarian body? Ha ha, I'm freaking starving to death, but oh it's so worth it.

Also notice my new banner. You know how Frank Zappa said "Play My Music"? Well, here's my version: "Read My Books!"

In the next few weeks, my blog will undergo a transformation. Julie Slick is doing such a wonderful job over at her blog I think I will defer to her and concentrate on my own career as a writer among other things.

I mean, I will still have plenty of Slick family stories to tell and tales from the road, etc. (I'm talking about you, naked guy and toe nail polish dude)...but you know, life is all about change and I think it's time to shake things up a bit.

ETA: Julie and Eric have joined forces with brilliant guitarist Robbie "Seahag" Mangano to form a new band known as Paper Cat. To hear samples of their music or to download their new live CD, go right here.

So stay tuned. I promise you we will still have fun.

Cool?

Cool!

Later,
xo

Update from the road

Dear Blog:
I'm sorry I've lost interest in you lately, especially as we are coming up on your five year anniversary this month. I was going to do something special to celebrate, but then I thought to myself: Robin, it's a blog. What the hell are you thinking?

Truth is, and I know this is sad, but I've kind of lost interest in blogging. Between writing an actual new book, editing one I wrote a while back, Twitter...and I'm even losing interest in Twitter, too, it's just been a drag lately. Even more shocking, I've lost interest in the internet.

Yes, it's true.

Know why? Real life has been way more interesting. As I said, I've been doing a lot of writing, a lot of reading, I went on a fantastic vacation with my family and my "baby", eleven year old Monty dog, and in between all that I've been touring all over the United States and Canada with the Adrian Belew Power Trio, selling their merch, i.e., their new CD "e" and t-shirts.

Tonight, for example, I'm in a place I never thought I'd find myself - Edmonton, Alberta, where they had five inches of snow yesterday and it feels like it's twenty below zero outside. One week ago today, I was on the beach in New Jersey, throwing a ball to my dog wearing nothing but a t-shirt and light cotton cargo pants. Today I'm desperate for socks and a winter coat -- neither of which I brought with me on tour.

I mean, c'mon . Ir'a October 9 for Christ sake. In Philadelphia that is still summer.

Oh yeah, speaking of that, a moment of silence and a Happy Birthday to the late, great Johns: Lennon and Entwistle.

The show tonight has been pushed back to 11:00 p.m.; I'm at my merch table bored to tears and I just realized I'm here for another two hours before the trio takes the stage, so I said to myself Oh okay, why the hell not, do a blog post for your fans. Ha ha, just kidding, what fans, but you know what I mean. I know there's a bunch of you out there still swinging by daily looking for an update, so what the fuck, here it is.

Let me backtrack for a minute first. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know that I also sold merch on the August/September ABPT run and I did do live tweets back then but so far on this run this is the first time I've had good working wireless and we're already on the 4th show. And having already done the Twitter thing, I just haven't had the urge to do it again. But I digress. When I last left you, I probably didn't tell you about the seven hour train ride home from Pittsburgh with the lunatic on the cell phone I wanted to murder; I may have mentioned I became a vegetarian on that tour...well, I'm still a vegetarian and almost but not quite a vegan now, and having spent the last couple of days in Canada, if I wasn't a vegetarian before this tour started, I'd sure as hell be one now. More on that in a minute.

So yeah, I got home from the last tour on September 13 and then on September 14 had the first of four periodontal surgeries. Let me give you all some advice. If anyone ever tells you to have periodontal surgery, just take a gun to your head instead. It would probably be far less painful. I required a week long prescription of Vicodin after that experience (and now I know why people love that stuff; but no, I did not...I slept in a hazy fog for seven straight days). On Saturday the 19th, I took off for two weeks to the beach house where I continued to recuperate - that's how bad it was -- and even the first few days of vacation were spent gingerly trying to eat. I was still on a pretty strong antibiotic at that point and couldn't even ride a bicycle. So that kind of sucked, but eventually I felt better...the only bummer is I need three more of those surgeries and now that I know what it entails, I'm not real motivated to go through with the next one. But it must be done, and I guess that pleasure awaits me next month when I return home from the tour.

Anyhow, I was at the beach until October 3; I got home that Saturday, ran and got my hair trimmed that afternoon (ooh, and I totally changed my hair which I did not plan to do but I have a fantastic stylist named Shari Sigafoos who works at American Mortals - she's a friend of my son, Eric ad he turned me on to her -- anyway, she's brilliant, she told me I should cut bangs and I said Sure, change is good. A lot of fans have taken photos with me on this tour so if any turn up of me and my bangs, I'll post one. I've also managed to lose over ten pounds on the new veggie diet so it's like transformation city here. (Did I mention I've pretty much given up sugar and butter, too? Yeah. I can't believe it, either.)

Ran home from American Mortals just in time to throw another suitcase together for three weeks on the road and a couple of hours later I hopped on a plane for Minnesota. The first show on this run was in Minneapolis on Monday, October 5. I met up with Julie, Eric and Adrian there on Sunday night, October 4.

Man, there were a lot of people in football jerseys there. You know why? Our show was scheduled the same night as probably the biggest Monday night football game in history - Brett Favre, who now plays for the Vikings, was set to face his old team, the Green Bay Packers.

When we learned this, we gave a collective groan. That did not bode well for the show. Hell, Adrian, Julie and I would have been home watching that game ourselves. (Not Eric...Eric is all about the music). So we were kind of bummed but we made the best of it - we enjoyed, at least vicariously, all of the celebrating going on (The Vikings won) and yep, even got to watch the end of the game after the concert. The venue where the band played was pretty cool and the people who did attend were devoted fans who were extremely enthusiastic - they not only missed "the game" for us, they braved what had to be a massive traffic jam because the venue was pretty close to the stadium where the Vikings and Packers were playing.

It was fun.

The next day, though, we had to drive to Canada. Hey, to get there, we had to drive through Fargo, North Dakota. Did you guys see that movie? Of course you did. Well, having seen Fargo up close and personal, I now understand. Har har. Anyway, it was bleak and the weather was pretty awful, too. Lots and lots of rain. Bleh. And then, for the second time in two months, we got flagged at the Canadian border and had to exit the car and answer a bunch of questions. Oh, those crazy rock stars, eh? I guess they had to do computer checks on all of us; I just prayed that all the nasty letters and emails I've been sending to Republicans since 1972 didn't appear on my record anywhere but whew, I was cleared along with everyone else and off we went to Winnipeg.

Winnipeg was really cool. I love Canada. I may live there some day. Or not. But I really dig it lots and the people are super friendly and laid back. I love the accent, too. Oh, who am I kidding I'm not leaving Philadelphia any time soon. Philadelphia rocks. In fact, the more I travel all over the world, the more I realize what a cool little city it is. In fact, I'm homesick just writing about it now.

But man it was a long drive from Minnesota to Winnipeg. Brutal. It's one of many 14 hour drives on this tour. Thank God I have some great books with me. I just read Straight Man by Richard Russo. Somehow I missed reading it all those years ago. If you haven't read it yet, just do it. Trust me on that one. You can thank me later.

My next book is one on Zen Buddhism by Alan Watts. I actually started reading it yesterday. Yeah, yeah, I know. First I give up meat; then I give up the internet, now I'm reading books on buddhism.

Just call me Robin the hipster.

But wtf, it's where I'm headed. There's all this hate and greed in the world right now -- especially in the U.S. -- and I'm having a really hard time dealing with it. I was naive enough to believe that having Obama in the White House would bring us all together as a nation; instead, it's brought out the haters and those who worship Fox News. As I mentioned recently on Twitter, I have a new rule: I'm no longer going to speak or even be civil to anyone who is a regular voluntary watcher/fan of Fox News.

But I congratulate our President on having won the Nobel Peace prize today and as Julie, Eric and I pondered this over breakfast, we hope it raises the bar for him to work even harder and fulfill his campaign promises. I can just imagine what the haters are saying today. I think I'd better stay away from all television for the next several days, though truth to tell, I stay away from it anyway.

I'm digressing again, aren't I. Well, one more hour until Adrian et al take the stage and I still have much to say so where was I. Oh yeah, the tour.

So the show in Winnipeg was fabulous! Packed with people; I talked to some really interesting fans; it was a joyous evening.

Except we had another fourteen hour drive ahead of us to Calgary. We had the next day off, and we decided to divide the trip into two seven hour days on the road. Except that we didn't count on SNOW, and a one lane highway with insane oil trucks who were passing on a double yellow line. Yeah, I was pretty sure we were going to die in Canada but somehow we made it. We drove over 400 miles in a place I can only describe as...hmmm....like being on the moon? There was no greenery, nothing to look at...just flat yellow land with weirdly placed bales of hay (someone please tell me what that's about) and then, we'd come across these beautiful cows, close enough to see their eyes staring through our car window. Hence my line about being a vegetarian. I could never eat a cow again as long as I live. And then we saw the pig trucks - cold, silver metal vehicles taking pigs, already marked for death and I mean that literally; they have marks on them made by the farmers, squealing through tiny slits as they were being driven to their execution.

I am chilled to the bone just thinking about it.

Meanwhile, I had a "meatloaf" tonight made of lentils and nuts and it tasted better than any real meat I've ever had. So I invite you all to join my team.

Oh God, who would have thunk it . Not me. But I feel so fucking great it's ridiculous.

Anyway, Calgary was very cool as well...great show, damn near perfect in fact, awesome fans...and woo hoo, only a three hour drive to Edmonton today.

And now I must go, because people want to buy CDs and talk to me, and I'm trying not to think of the massive two day drive to Vancouver tomorrow for our show there Sunday night...can you believe it's Thanksgiving here on Monday? How insane!

I'm really looking forward to Vancouver though. And in a perfect world, I'll be back for an update then.

In the meantime...

Later,
xo

Hurrah!

So I've been at the beach all week, and I've been missing Julie and Eric Slick something awful...well, that's about to change. Eric is on his way here as we speak, and Julie will be arriving tomorrow morning and finally, we'll have a real baseball team again!



That's a pic from the amusement park here circa 2006 - I am going by the length of Eric's hair in the photo combined with the fact that I think it's the last time they wangled their father into going on that ride of terror and doom.

You notice I'm not crazy enough to be there...well, I was the photographer, nothing more.

Anyway, in case anyone is interested, and I should really not be so lazy and download the photos of some of the beautiful meals I have had over the past few days, I've not only maintained the vegetarian diet down here I've been, with only two exceptions, a total vegan, and naturally the one time I was not vegan and pigged out on pizza with lots of cheese, I got deathly ill. So it was immediately back to vegetables for me, and I've been grooving on everything from chargrilled portabella mushroom sandwiches to salads bursting with fresh avocado, artichokes, olives, chick peas...I'm so healthy I can't stand it.

I even have home made ratatouille over brown rice for when Eric comes today, but I bet even he will want pizza for lunch. That's the trouble. The pizza is really great here but you must exercise moderation, which, if you are a faithful reader of this blog, you know I do not know how to do.

Anyway, that's not the reason I'm here blogging. The real reason is I found a great Adrian Belew Power Trio review, and I just couldn't let it slip by without posting it. So here's the original link but to make it easy, a cut and paste for quick gratification:

"The Adrian Belew Power Trio
September 1, 2009 by trevorhults
Ginger Baker & Jack Bruce, John Entwistle & Keith Moon, John Bonham & John Paul Jones: all on the short list of engines, fueled by blood fire, of the truly great rhythm sections. Soon to be added: Eric & Julie Slick, graduates of the Paul Green School of Rock. They make the case for human cloning. I soon hope to procure my very own pair of Slick clones (I have yet to tell the rest of the band). Eric and Julie’s prodigious talents were on display this past Saturdy with the Adrian Belew Power Trio at Maxwell’s in Hoboken.

The Power Trio played through the material on their new album “e” with a few Crimson covers and early Belew classics interspersed. As always someone in the crowd called out for Crimson tunes that clearly weren’t on the set list. Seriously, Dinosaur… that’s the tune you just have to hear? At times thrashing and lumbering like a Viking horde, at other moments playing with deft virtuosity. In the midst of their wall of sound Mr. Belew continues to be the most innovative and amazing of all Zappa alumni churning out a steady stream of music that’s truly a unique voice. He stood in a circle of amps, effects, and gizmos looping layer upon layer of jagged, screeching, and twisting guitar parts. He turns the traditional trio format into a vehicle for rock orchestration.

Adrian has no rivals and continuously reinvents the vocabulary of rock guitar. Belew has secured the future of rock music by bringing the Slicks into his belewniverse. Great rhythm sections define great power trios: Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Rush, The Police and now The Adrian Belew Power Trio."

Ah...I loved that. I mean, come on, anytime another person notices the obvious similarities of Jack Bruce/Ginger Baker and John Entwistle/Keith Moon and John Bonham/John Paul Jones to Julie and Eric Slick, well, I must applaud them on their fine musical knowledge. So thank you, Trevor, whoever you are....but please do take note that I have corrected the spelling of "Entwistle" for you....there is no "h".

Later,
xo

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Well, I'm back home from touring; I have about nine million stories, all of which you can read in my new book tentatively titled "Merch Woman" because it would be a travesty to blog about them for free har har, and in case you haven't caught up with my agonized posts on Twitter, my first day back had me at the periodontist on Monday having the absolute world's most painful dental surgery so I need to make this brief -- I want to go back to bed and sleep this off!

I'm on Vicodin for Christ sake and woe is me, I like it. Not good for someone who gets addicted to everything from shopping to chocolate but luckily I only have twelve pills and it's a non-refillable prescription.

Oh, I'm kidding. Like I'd really allow myself to get hooked on narcotics for a tooth problem; I'm just happy it works because Oh Boy Do I Feel Pain when it wears off but unless I develop an infection, the discomfort should be gone by the end of the week, anyway, and I only like the Vicodin for the relief it gives me; not the weird high. Seriously, that feeling of not being able to touch bottom is not cool.

Here's a photo I adore that Julie took of Eric and me, wearing my e-shirt of course, in my favorite city in the world other than Philadelphia, namely, Quebec...but oh, add to that list Toronto...but I think that is mainly because my two best meals of the tour were had there (dinner at Utopia, where I had dinner consisting of curried zucchini soup, tzatziki with grilled naan, and mushroom and goat cheese salad which contained warm sauteed portabella and white mushrooms, goat cheese, roasted red peppers in a warm soy & balsamic dressing over a bed of field mix and plum tomatoes and sprinkled with walnuts -- and breakfast at Auntie and Uncles, where our server, a very funny guy and a huge prog rock fan who inexplicably loves Genesis but didn't know Adrian gave us complimentary "prog cakes", i.e., fresh berry wheatcakes); I met Martin Popoff***, and had the absolute world's best after party at the Mod Club until 3:00 a.m. -- Hello, Sasha and Emily! Hi, Jason!



I have even lost more weight since that photo - the new vegetarian me has now lost a total of ten pounds since August 20...I realize this is in good part due to my dental surgery this week and will taper off but I am determined to lose another ten by the end of October. I'm liking how I am looking and feeling (other than my teeth) in a big way!

Anyway, I'm sure most of you have already seen this, but in case you haven't, The Buffalo News contains probably the best review ever of an Adrian Belew Power Trio show...when I first read it, I burst into tears. It does contain one inaccuracy, though, which is that "e" is not available yet. "e" is not only available, I was at the venue that night, selling it, and woo hoo, I will be at the merch table on the entire west coast tour beginning October 5 through October 25. To see where I'll be, and in case you are in another part of the world and would like to buy "e" off of Adrian's website, please go right here!

Belew Power Trio delivers exuberant set

By Jeff Miers
NEWS POP MUSIC CRITIC
September 12, 2009, 7:05 AM /
Adrian Belew has nothing to prove.

"He’s already had a hand in the most interesting, creative, and groundbreaking music of the past 30 years. Whether working with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Talking Heads, the Bears, King Crimson, or with his own bands, Belew always went for the creative jugular, and in the process made a significant mark on whatever musical situation he found himself in.

Most musicians who have done far less have already taken the incentive package and semiretired to the “play your couple of hits over and over again” circuit. Belew, on the other hand, has proven to be an artist of an entirely different temperament.

On Friday, the Tralf Music Hall hosted Belew’s Power Trio, and an appreciative audience acted as witness to Belew’s testimony. The man has played on many “hit” songs, can write a pop hook like almost no one else, and has proven his deep love for the craftsmanship of the Beatles repeatedly. Going for a higher commercial profile and playing bigger places was definitely one of Belew’s possibilities whenever he took a break from his ongoing role in King Crimson. The man definitely took the less-traveled road.

Fronting the Power Trio — 22 year-old drummer Eric Slick and his 23 year-old sister, Julie, on drums and bass respectively — Belew offered a dense, challenging and exuberant set of music centered around an album that hasn’t come out yet. That record, “e,” out in a few weeks time, is a song-cycle based on repeated, expansive motifs, polyrhythms, daring harmonies and a jarring interpolation of grooves, to boot. Not exactly a case of coddling the audience, Belew and company’s set, but an exhilarating encounter for those willing to take the risk.

Belew opened with an early, pre-Crimson favorite, “Big Electric Cat,” but before anyone at the Tralf caught the whiff of nostalgia, the three ran off into dangerous, rocky and previously uncharted terrain. The Trio’s new album, “e,” was revealed in segments, and the first — encompassing the initial four movements — spent a quarter of an hour moving from a lyrical, classical introduction, through bits of industrial near-metal, African polyrhythmic motifs, a purely “free” section of improvisation, and some Beatle-esque psychedelia before its race was run.

The crowd, unfamiliar with this unreleased material, offered a visceral, chaotic response to its airing. Belew and the Slicks seemed pleased.

Belew is a wonderful singer, with a pure, high tenor, and a penchant for heartrending melody. That particular aspect of his genius was perhaps underrepresented on Friday, but when he did take the mic for a more pop-structured song — say “Ampersand,” “Young Lion,” “Of Bow and Drum,” though none of these follow any of conventional pop’s rules — he made it count.

It should be noted that the Slick siblings have developed, since their stop at the Tralf in 2008, into two of the finest rock musicians extant. Eric’s drumming was superb throughout, blending elements of Bill Bruford, John Bonham and Chad Wackerman into a wholly new hybrid. Slick is simply a stunning musician.

Bassist Julie brought low-end oomph, substantial melodic invention, and dizzying, John Entwhistle-like flurries of blues scales and more “outside” patterns to her side of the stage. Throughout, the Slicks appeared to be communicating in a manner that transcended language. It was all quite incredible to bask in.

And Belew? The man appeared to be walking on air, so comfortable in his element, so childlike in his enjoyment of the musicians around him. When the joyous interplay between the musicians on the stage can be parlayed to the audience, when those gathered take the journey with the players— that’s a beautiful and rare thing."

Ah, I love me a good review. It's sad, but with newspapers going out of business all over the country and laying off writers, it's becoming more and more difficult to actually have a real live rock music writer at your shows.

Which leads me to Martin Popoff and the *** I put next to his name. So here's that footnote:

***Martin Popoff is an amazing highly credentialed rock writer. Please click on the link I provided above and read all about him because it was such an honor to have him come up to me during the show and tell me that Eric may be the best drummer he's ever seen -- and this is a man who wrote extensively about Neil Peart -- and he was blown away by Ms. Julie Slick as well. Look for an interview/review he is writing on the ABPT to appear in a future issue of Goldmine Magazine.

Alas, he is not the mystery special guest to whom I referred while live tweeting that night -- Martin had invited Rush's Alex Lifeson "and friend" to the show but if Alex and friend were there, I did not see them. So to those of you who speculated that Robert Fripp was in the audience...no.

Oh man, I have so much more to say but it's going to be the best book I ever wrote - for real - and my first true work of non-fiction although trust me, I couldn't write fiction crazier than some of the stuff that happened...so I better end this now before I blab too much.

Love you guys, and oh, starting this coming Saturday I will be collapsing for two weeks at the beach and working on said novel; then the very next day upon my return, October 4, I hop on a plane for Minneapolis to begin the west coast leg of the tour which will take me everywhere from Vancouver to San Francisco to Aspen, Colorado...but yeah, yeah, I'll have the trusty laptop with me and will certainly live Tweet the entire time...you should really follow me on Twitter, I am both entertaining and informative. Ha ha, and apparently an egomaniac as well.

Oh, and one more thing - make sure you read Julie's account of the tour. She is really hilarious though yes, when she hit her head in Piermont, New York, I was not laughing and I did scream that I was terrified that this could be another Natasha Richardson incident. I was glad to be there because I was the one who ran to get ice and watched her carefully to make sure she wasn't concussive. Hey, once a mother, always a mother, eh?

Later,
xo

The Tour So Far...

Hey hey:

For all of you wondering where is Robin and why isn't she blogging from the Adrian Belew Power Trio tour, frankly, so much has occurred I've got the material for a hilarious and interesting (I hope, anyway) brand new book so as much as it pains me, I need to control myself and refrain from writing anything other than (1) It's been a blast so far - Adrian, Julie and Eric are making music each evening that grows more incredible by the day if that is possible; (2) Life on the road is HARD...you go to cool cities and towns but you are so tired from the long drives and then there's load in and sound check and remembering to feed yourselves so really, unless you get a day off, all you see is your hotel room; (3) It is not that hard living a vegetarian lifestyle but it is difficult doing it properly while traveling and on a budget and while I'm enjoying what, judging by the notches on my belt, is pretty rapid weight loss, I am getting cranky from hunger; (4) you really do live out of your suitcase and I'm just glad that unlike the trio, I overpacked so I haven't had to utilize the laundry rooms at said hotels as much as the rest of the band but my suitcase is way too stuffed and heavy so that's the downside (Adrian teased me when I told him how much I brought. "What did you do, pack for a summer at camp?" he teased.)

Yep.

Oh that I smuggled some food with me but trust me, the west coast run in October will have me traveling with a suitcase full of peanut butter, jelly, and protein bars instead of 25 t-shirts and six pair of pajamas.

Getting back to my list, (5) I've met incredible fans but some are insane (ha!) though having worked with attorneys for over two decades, I am used to crazy people and have only lost my temper once and it wasn't with a fan so that's cool; (5) been loving the opening acts in a lot of venues (Hey there, Nerd Parade and Cheers Elephant!)...

Anyway, I just looked at the time - today is our day off but we have an eight hour drive to Quebec (Please kill me); luckily no one ate beans for dinner last night...so I am out of here until either late tonight or tomorrow.

But in case you haven't noticed, I am tweeting live from the shows every night and I've also managed to figure out Facebook finally so please look for daily updates there.

Oh, P.S. Never, ever, ever stay at the Best Western Hotel on the Hudson in Nyack, New York. They have not heard the end from me - see my updates on Twitter and Facebook. Not only did the shower just die on me in the middle of shampooing my hair, I was nearly electrocuted by a defective coffee pot. The blow dryer didn't work, either, big surprise, and the check in clerk was surly and rude. They are a monstrosity...oh yeah, and the lobby smells like backed up sewage. Every other hotel on this tour has been lovely, except for the Edison in NYC, where I was almost killed by a falling headboard attached to the wall and not the bed in a room that not only charged for internet, didn't have three prong outlets. Not to mention lamps with frayed cords and filthy shades. But huge kudos to Crowne Plaza Hotels, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn...and a lovely little boutique hotel in Cotuit, Cape Cod called the Santuit or something like that.

Later,
xo