Michfest Part 4 (Let's Get the Show on the Road)

Day 4 (8/5) Wednesday: Opening Ceremonies
Wednesday kicked off with a bang. That was the first day of two of the Brooklyn shows. First, Ganessa was on the acoustic stage and then later that night, Black Patti on the night stage. The night stage also featured the Opening Ceremonies and Von Iva. I was looking forward to the whole day.

I bought a lawn chair and headed over to the acoustic stage to get ready to see Ganessa who would also be joined by Tiffany. I hadn’t seen them perform together in such a long time so I was really excited for the show. I was the first one in our crew to get there, but soon Marya arrived. A woman named Rachel Davis was the first act on the bill. She was really incredible and a great way to kick things off.

Then Ganessa hit the stage. She did a couple of songs on her own and then asked Tiffany to join her. One thing that I really love about acoustic stage is the drama of it. It’s really the prettiest stage and it’s set up in true amphitheater style. When people come out on stage two huge doors open for the person to walk through. So much drama and I love that. It just adds to the whole performance.


[Ganessa hitting the acoustic stage]


[Ganessa & Tiffany giving the wonder twin power]

Ganessa and Tiffany sounded great together as usual. The set was only 25 minutes, which was way too short. So I’m going to see what I can do to help get her on the day stage for next year. Then she will have a longer set. I think people really need to see more of her. I know that’s that’s a bias opinion, but it is true. When that set ended I headed back to the artist area to eat, but soon we had to get ready for the night stage shows.

We had to be in the backstage area by at least 7pm and that’s when Bombshell really started working. She came along with me to do my makeup, but once people got wind of that fact that she is a makeup artist she was doing work all over the place and she also landed herself a spot dancing in a show with C.C. Carter! That’s kind of how it works on the land. If people find out that you have skills then you are put to work in some form or fashion.

Bombshell was steady doing make up backstage and we were all getting dressed when the Opening Ceremonies began. We had to hit the stage right after that was over. That night Black Patti was solid gold. Either white and gold or black and gold, but gold was the thread. Before I left Brooklyn I found these black sequence hot shorts and a black top with gold sequence. I was so excited to rock them. This was defiantly the festival of sequence for me because I wore a black dress with clear sequence for my show, but I’ll get to that in a bit.

Maritri and Christelle arrived just as the opening ceremonies were getting ready to kick off. Maritri was there to play with Gina Breedlove. Christelle of course was playing with CocoMama and blaKbüshe. So most of my gang was here. Just missing Luciana now.

I could only hear the opening this year, but all the costumes looked great and the music was wonderful. I’ve since seen pictures of people holding signs and dancers dancing. Although I could not see it, I could feel it the vibe.


[Ginger, just one of the beautiful ladies in the Opening Ceremonies]

Soon the opening ended and it was time for Black Patti to hit the stage. We were ready to roll. Hanifah had planned a big Brooklyn opening with a flag and all, shouting out Brooklyn because so many artists on the stages this year were from BK. So the plan was for Ri to trigger the loop “Brooklyn we go hard, we go hard…” and then Olive and I (in our hot shorts) were supposed to hold either end of the flag (it was on two poles) while Hanifah hid behind it. Then we were supposed to do the stripper squat (you know what I’m talking about) lowering the flag to reveal Hanifah in her “armor”. Then we were supposed to follow her down the catwalk so that everyone could see what the flag which read “The People’s Republic of Brooklyn,” turn around, and then head back to start the set. Also Ri was supposed to be hyping the crowd as well. Now this all would have worked wonderfully if the track could have been heard in the house! For some reason that just did not happen and Ri’s mic didn’t work immediately. So we were out there looking cute in semi-silence. It was a strange moment, but luckily that was not how the rest of the show would turn out. In fact the rest of the show was off the hook! Really it was amazing. I play tambourine and bass in Black Patti. In fact I’ve had to play 5-string because that’s what Ganessa plays and it didn’t make sense to have two basses out there. Some of the things I was playing Ganessa had made up so they were just better on the 5. So I went back and forth and sang some BV’s as well. When I played bass, Ganessa played guitar and when I played tambourine, Ganessa played bass. It was a lot of fun. After we got off stage I realized that we looked like the Soild Gold dancers. I might be dating myself by saying that, but those who know, know. Lol. Black Patti is Hanifah Walidah, Olive Demetrius, Lee Free, Ganessa James, DJ Rimarkable (Ri Ri Garcia) and I.


[The Solid Gold dancers! LOL! No really it's Black Patti. Doesn't my hat look like Ecstasy from Whodini? LOL!!! Thanks Christine!]

Wednesday night was set up to be a fool proof line up. It was basically near the lineup that happened last year Thursday night. [Insert flashback music] Michfest…2008…Thursday night line up. It consisted of Hanifah Walidah & the Fuckin’ Ladies, Bitch & Ferron, and Von Iva. Last year none of us had ever heard of Von Iva, but after they played, EVERYONE knew about Von Iva. I came home and ranted and raved about Von Iva. It was a magical night. With that in mind we fully expected Wednesday…2009…to be the same thing. I saw Von Iva do their sound check earlier in the day and even that got me excited. But now we are back to Wednesday night.[Insert back to present music]


[Von Iva at sound check. Go ladies!]

When I got off stage I changed my shoes, put my jeans on and got ready for Von Iva. What happened next floored me. It floored many of us who had witnessed the band before. Because I really love and care for these ladies I am not going to go into a lot of detail, but I will say that it wasn’t the show we were expecting and I could feel a bit of sadness even as Lay Lay (drums) and Bex (keys) were holding it down. I would expect nothing less. The show must rock on. Those who didn’t see the 2008 show loved the 2009 show. But those of us who saw the 2008 show, know what we did not see. That may not make sense, but those who know, know. It didn’t put a damper on the evening overall, but my heart goes out to those ladies. Besides being some of the sweetest people I know they are one of the most kick ass bands on the planet. Look them up people. Von Iva’s the name. Rockin’ the house is their game.

Wednesday was the first night of the midnight meal. The artists and workers get a meal after every night show. I can’t remember what we had, but I’m sure it was good because all the food there is amazing. We also had the great fortune of playing double dutch in the Belly Bowl thanks to Juanita. Us grown gals tried our best to keep that thing going, but many of us got caught in the rope. It doesn’t always come back like you think it will. I think Tiffany got the most jumps in, but it was so much fun to watch and be a part of. I foresee a double dutch intensive workshop next year.


[Gina getting her double dutch on. Juanita & Ubaka on the ropes.]


[Tiffany swinging the single rope. Double was getting tough. lol.]

It was another cold night in the tent. Bombshell got extra blankets. I didn’t, but I was okay. After sitting by the fire a bit I called it a night. Another Michfest opening down. Up next…Thursday.


[Michfest Video Blog Part 2]

Michfest Part 3 (Settling In/Work to Do)

Day 3 (8/4) Tuesday
Tuesday is the official start of the festival. It’s the first day of shows on the acoustic stage. People are slowly rolling in. I had to play with Hanifah on Wednesday so we had rehearsal on Tuesday. Ganessa, Tiffany and Marya also arrived that day. Ganessa and Lee jumped straight into the fray. They had rehearsal with Hanifah and Toshi Reagon for the opening ceremonies.

Hanifah’s rehearsal went well and then later in the day, I can’t remember at what time, the Brooklyn crew went around and flyered the port-a-janes with information about all the artists from Brooklyn who were playing the festival. Black Patti (Hanifah’s band), Gina Breedlove, Ganessa James, Gloria Bigelow and Shelley Nicole’s blaKbüshe were all on the bill this year. It was a banner year for Brooklyn for sure.

That day was also pretty subdued. I saw folks that I met in years past. I ran that morning with Olive and Gina, which was really great. It was so nice to run in a place where the air is clean. It makes you want to get up in the morning and exercise.

Tuesday was the first day of breast casting at the womyn of color tent. The first year I went to the festival I had my breasts cast. I still have them and they are still holding up. Lol. After having my breasts cast the first year I decided that I was going cast breasts the next. So last year I learned from the master, Cassandra. It was such a great experience. Womyn would see me later and tell me how happy they were with the cast I made them. So you see I don’t only have musical skills, I’m crafty too! LOL! This year I went over to help as well.

Tuesday night got really cold. We could feel the chill in the air even before the sun went down. Although this was my third year at the festival I still don’t know if I brought enough warm clothes. I didn’t freeze or anything, but it always seems to get so much colder than I think it will. I guess because it’s August you just think it won’t really dip too low. Well that night and some others we could see steam coming out of our mouths. Remember it’s August. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it, but we were in the northern part of the state. It just gets that cold. Bombshell and had lots of covers, but we were still very cold. I didn’t know if I would want to get up in the morning and run, but I did. You know when you are under the covers and it’s cold in your house you don’t want to get up, but imagine getting up and just being outside. It was cold, but it was only an overnight thing. So it was bearable. But damn it was cold!

Tuesday down. Let’s the events begin.

Michfest Part 2 (Rolling In & Setting Up)

Day 2 (8/3) Monday
When we work up in the morning it was raining. I prayed that it wouldn’t be raining when we got to the land because I had no desire to put up my tent in the rain. Usually I wouldn’t even think about it because the festival provides tents for artists, but this year I decided to purchase my own tent because Bombshell was coming with me and I wanted us to have enough space. As an artist you are allowed on guest for free, but the festival will not provide a tent for them. With that in mind Bombshell and I would have to share space and the two-person tent the festival would have provided would not have been big enough for us. So I made the tent investment.

Now, back to the morning at the hotel. We all came down and ate the free breakfast. We got ourselves together and made one more civilization stop at Target just to make sure we had all that we needed. I had to purchase another set of sheets for the air mattress and a few other choice things. Then we left Target and headed for the festival.

The ride was a lot shorter than I thought it would be. Bombshell drove us onto the grounds and what a site to see. Since this was the first time we drove (you might remember my dreaded Chicago airport blogs of last fest) we had never seen the line to get in the festival. When driving in to Michfest, the last place to get phone signal is Hart, MI. When you get there the festival asked us to call the office so they can inform the gate of our arrival and we won’t have to wait in the festie line (that’s the line of folks who are regular festival goers not performers or workers).

There is a 3-mile stretch of road that leads to the gate. We turned off a paved road to this dirt road and let me tell you there were almost three miles of cars waiting for the gate to open. It was amazing. People were just posted up by their cars, meeting and greeting each other, playing instruments and eating. Basically just chillin’. It was just incredible. They had either been there for a while or knew they would be, but everyone was cool. I saw a cool lady in pink who would later turn out to be my girl Christine Love and then another woman in a full on Wonder Woman costume. I really need one of those in my life. We rode by all of these folks and right up to the gate where they waved us in and we parked. It was the VIP treatment, woods style.

We unpacked the van and repacked the vans that would take us to the artist/worker area where we would be camping. When we got there everything was taken off the vans for us. That’s one thing about this festival. You don’t really have to life a finger for your things. They have folks specifically designated to help the artists with their items. All of our things were unloaded off the vans and brought into an area called Central Heating. That is basically the artist nerve center/night show green room. In Central Heating they know when people are coming in and going out, how they are traveling and who they are traveling with. It’s a seamless operation. Honestly this ship is so tight it’s amazing. I’m so glad that this is one of my first festival experiences of this size so I know how things should really go and how you should be treated as an artist.

When we got all of our things out of the van we located out tent. Lee Free (Hanifah’s drummer) and Kelly dropped it off earlier. We put everything on a cart and two workers were assigned to help Bombshell and I put up our condo tent. I call it a condo tent because it was really big and it had a screen porch.

We wheeled our stuff down to an area that I later dubbed the suburbs because it was kind of far from everyone else’s tent area, but very cool still. It took us a bit to put the tent up, but we chose not to read the instructions because they were a bit like IKEA and any one who has bought something from IKEA knows what I’m talking about. After a bit of back and forth we got the thing up and it was great. We could fit our air mattresses and the rest of our things with no trouble. I hung a clothesline between two trees across the way so that I had a place to hang my towels and such. We were home; at least for the week. Tiffany and Lucianna were in our area, but they hadn’t arrived yet. Tiff would be there on Tuesday and Luci on Thursday.


[This is my condo tent in the wood. Tiffany next door]

Monday was pretty chill. After we got set up and ate I walked around the land a bit. All in all the land is 650 acres. I went and said hello to folks at the Womyn of Color Tent (Cassandra in particular) and just took it all in. Monday night was not so exciting, but it was one of the best nights of sleep I had. I was warm that night so no sleeping in layers. There would not be much more of that. The following nights were very cold.

One day down and many to go. Well at least that’s what it feels like when you get there, but then the days just fly. Sadly they just fly by.

Michfest Part 1 (Road Trip!)

Everything is just a little bit better on the land. You become just a little bit thinner. Your self-esteem gets a little bit higher. Your skin is just a little bit brighter. Your waist is just a little bit smaller and your hips just a bit bigger (if that’s what you are going for *wink*). You play just a little bit better and the art appreciation is just a little bit higher. Everyone is a little bit funnier. You’re just a bit tanner and your body is exactly how you have always wanted it. You realize the true beauty that you are. It’s Michigan in general and Michfest in particular. It’s a whole other energy and everyone is transformed. Even those who thought they never would be. People who don’t like the outdoors or bugs develop a whole new appreciation. It’s Michigan in general and Michfest in particular.

This was my third year at Michfest, but the first year bringing my band there. In the years past I was part of Hanifah Walidah’s bands. First, the Fuckin’ Ladies and now Black Patti. Either way it’s always lots of fun. So what’s my story? I’ll start from the top because I know you all like it like that.

The preparation for Michfest this year was so much different for me because I was bringing blaKbüshe. First of all Michfest is an ALL WOMYN’S event. So that means there are NO men allowed at all. Not on sound, not on lights, not on anything except cleaning the port-a-janes and they come in and out without notice. With that in mind I had to configure an all female outfit for this festival. None of my guys could go. Some of them said they would go in drag if possible, but as pretty as they are they would have been spotted in short notice at the open showers. Oh well. Lol.

My preparation for this festival began early in the year. I had to track down the players, which turned out to be a little trickier than I expected. Ganessa was on board, but that left guitar, drums, percussion and vocals. Chuz (vocals) couldn’t come because she was working a job that wasn’t letting her go for a week or even 3 days for that matter. After a conversation with Ganessa about asking her sister Tiffany if she would come to Michigan to sing with me, we took a shot at asking if she would be willing to fly from Austria to NY to Michigan to sing with me at the festival. I really thought she would not agree because the festival could not get her from Austria to NY, but with a little finagling we made it happen! Tiffany was on board. Next drums.

I have always admired Tamar-Kali’s drummer Lafrae. So I set out to get her on board. When I finally tracked her down we talked and it seemed like it was a go. Then suddenly, not to long into our conversations, she realized that the timing for the festival was not going to be good for her. I was bummed because I was back to square one for a drummer. Let me just insert here that I was really trying to assemble an all brown, all-female band. Shouldn’t be to difficult right? Well, back to the drummer situation. I was wracking my brain and then I remembered Luciana Padmore. Perfect! I got in touch with her and as the Universe would have it she was free! So now we had bass, drums and vocals. Next stop percussion.

Last year at Michigan there was an incredible all-female Latin band called CocoMama that played. One of their lead singers and sometimes percussionist is Christelle Durandy. We met on the land last year and then realized that we knew each other form various events around NYC. So I hollered at her to be the percussionist on the set. She was more than down and to make it even better her band CocoMama was asked to play at Michfest again this year. So she was coming anyway! That’s what’s up. So we now have bass, drums, percussion and vocals. The last and biggest missing link was guitar.

This seemed to be the hardest instrument to lock down. Black women who play electric guitar didn’t seem like a hard find, but it was really a challenge. Most of the black women I know are only acoustic players. I could think of various white women, but very few black women. Sounds insane right? Then Ganessa dropped the name Pamela Means on me. I had never seen her, but after Ganessa gave me the name and Jeff and I went out one night check her at a small spot in Brooklyn. I think it was either really cold or snowing on that night so there were only about 5 or 6 people in the house. Well, Pamela did the damn thing! She really blew me away. At that point I knew I wanted her to be a part of blaKbüshe. I asked, she said yes and the band was complete.

I won’t give you all the details of rehearsals and such before the fest, but I’ll just say that it all came together. Let’s fast forward to our road trip to Michigan.

Day Before (8/1) Saturday/Day 1 (8/2) Sunday
If you are someone who travels then you know how challenging it can be to get some sleep the night before you have to leave. This trip was no different for me. We left on Sunday morning, but Saturday was a trip in and of itself. Mind you I went home to MA on the bus on Friday night so that I could get up on Saturday morning and rent my grandfather a car, while we took his van to Michigan.

I got up on Saturday morning, had breakfast at IHop with my grandparents and then went to get the rental car. When I got there everything seemed to be flowing nicely until the guy at the car rental place told me that my credit card had expired…the day before! Now how could I miss getting a new card in the mail? Did I get one? I was beside myself. In the end we just put it on my grandfather’s, but that just shows where my brain had been. So we get the car, I go back to their house to get my bag, then I head to my parents house to say hello to them and take a shower.

After my shower I chatted with my parents a bit and then left because I had to get back to New York before it got to late. Yes my crazy self still had errands to run and I hadn’t packed a lick. So I hop in the ride, wave goodbye to my family and make my way back to New York.

I can’t remember what time I got back, but there was still work to do and sadly it took all night. Not to mention that my friend Shelly Martin a.k.a. Bombshell, who was going with me, was still in the process of moving from Brooklyn to the Bronx. There was a lot going on. Too much to even repeat. Needless to say when I got to Hanifah’s house to meet the caravan I was happy to turn the wheel over to Ri when she asked for the first leg. To say I was beat is an understatement.

So who was in the caravan? In my van was Olive, Hanifah, Ri Ri and Bombshell. In the next car was Gina, Karma and Cree and in the last car was Vanessa, Alex and Michelene. We had enough room for most of our stuff in the van, but a few things we had to be strapped to the top. About an hour after our scheduled departure time we were finally good to go. We pulled off the block and we were Michigan bound.

We decided that we weren’t going to really follow each other because we all had directions and cell phones, but it was still a caravan. Our first scheduled stop was Oberlin, OH for lunch. The driving shifts went as follows.

Ri started us off and I have to give her big props because I think she drove through most if not all of PA and much of it in pouring rain. If you have ever driven though PA you know that there is just no scenery out there. I mean the mountains are beautiful, but after a while you just need something else. Then to have to drive through rain too? All I can say is power to my girl for real.

Then I took over. I figured that I would get us to Oberlin. As I was going along I felt good, but I could the feel a wave of tired coming on me. Then as we were driving somewhere in Ohio we hear a load noise from the top of the van. Olive looks back and calmly said, “Is that our stuff flying down the highway?” What??!!!!! I look in the side mirror and low and behold it is! So I pull over and Hanifah jumps out of the car. I follow suit, but on her side so not to get hit by traffic. We can see our stuff on the highway. Luckily it didn’t hit anyone and luckily it was linens and a chair, but that chair could have hurt someone for real. Hanifah and I ran down the highway toward our stuff. She tried to slow down traffic, but they weren’t slowing at all. So we just waited until there was a clearing and when she headed out onto the highway I followed. She grabbed one set of linen and I grabbed the chair and we ran back to side. The strange thing was that the traffic didn’t stop, but folks did swerve around the stuff. I guess they saw us and knew something had to be up with these black women running down the road. LOL!

We were still missing Ri’s stuff and I looked down the road and saw a dot in the road that I knew was her linens. So I just kept running down the road while Hanifah took the other stuff back. When I got down to where it was it had fallen almost on the other side of the highway. My original plan was to wait for a clearing, run out and grab the stuff, then run to the other side and wait for another clearing. Well as the Universe would have it the road just opened up. It just cleared. No traffic at all and this is the middle of the day. So I ran out, grabbed her stuff and ran back before any more cars showed up. The folks waiting by the van said it looked crazy. My adrenaline was flowing so there was no fear involved. It was actually really invigorating. I know it sounds strange, but it’s true. Needless to say I was very awake now and I drove us the rest of the way to Oberlin, where we had lunch.



After lunch Hanifah took over until it got dark. I believe she got us into Michigan. Then Shelly took the rest of the way to get us to the hotel where we would be spending the night. Unfortunately Gina got a little turned around so it took her some time to find the hotel and she was spent by the time she got there, but we all arrived alive. Very tired, but alive. One day down, one to go (on the driving front).

Stay tuned...

I am Mother Earth and this is the Earth Worm Disco!

I am so proud to say that I am a part of a wonderful kids music project by a fabulous singer/songwriter named Shira a.k.a. ShirLaLa. She just released a sneak peak of one of the songs from the forthcoming album. The tack is called "Earth Worm Disco" and I'm on the track as Mother Earth. So take a moment and check it out. Have fun and "shake it, with all your might!"

Earth Worm Disco!

For more on Shira check out www.rockinoutgreen.com
You can also find Shira on facebook at:
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BAM Café. Either you were there or you missed it!

BAM Café is one of those shows that I know about a year in advance, but I still feel like I’m running up into it. I can’t speak for all artists, but when I book shows at venues like BAM I want to do new songs or some clever covers that no one would expect. Seems like that would be easy enough, but those long lead-time shows always sneak up on me.

I managed to squeeze out one new song, but I know for many people in the café much of the music was new because they hadn’t seen me in a long time or ever before.

Leading up to the show I really wanted to write something new, but songwriting for me is not an exact science or really a science at all. It’s often all spirit. So I have to wait for spirit to move. I keep writing while I’m waiting for spirit to move, but as songwriters we are sometimes just writing knowing full well that what we are writing at that moment will not see the stage anytime soon or ever. There is a thing that happens when you know it’s right. I’ll break down the new songs in context of the show.

I had been thinking for a while that I wanted to have programs for the show. I didn’t want them to tell exactly what I was going to play, but to reflect the different movements of the show. When I finally got that together it was the day of the show. At that point I knew my programs were going to be very simple, but it was really just a reference for the people. It read as follows:

The Band
Shelley Nicole’s blaKbüshe

The Work
Womyn’s

The Set
The Blues
The Funk
The SolaRoc

The Players
Shelley Nicole
Jerome Jordan
Ganessa James
Shawn Banks
Matsu
Achuziam Maha
Kiki Hawkins
Jeff Jeudy
V. Jeffery Smith
Dexter Taylor

The day of the show was gorgeous! It was about 75 degrees. The spring energy was wizzing around. I left the house and went to make copies of the program in Park Slope. I had great timing because the bus was coming up the street as I walked out of the house.

I got to the stationary shop, which was giving me Tea Party flashbacks because we used to copy all of our flyers there before it because dirt cheap to make nice 4 color flyers at Overnight Prints and the like.

After waiting for my programs I left the shop and headed back to the bus. On my way I walked by a clothing and accessories shop that was having a moving sale. I was stopped dead in my tracks by a cape on a mannequin outside the store. It was gorgeous! It was hand painted with stars on the front by the buttons, two dancing women on the back and a killer hood. When I see things like that I often wonder what past era I lived in because that cape harkened back to a lost time. Well I guess I am a witch after all and any good witch worth her salt needs a hot cape!

I looked at the cape and then looked at the price and knew I couldn’t do it. But as I was walking away I saw the moving sale sign. So then I had to go in and see how much it really cost. I’m not going to tell you the price, but I am going to tell you that it was 75% off! What?! Now you all knew you can’t walk away from something that’s 75% off that is calling you from jump. Then I started doing the calculations in my head. You know how it is. You start thinking about your bank accounts and how you can move things around so nothing bounces or around this time of year we start thinking about when that income tax check is coming in. You know what I’m saying. Lol. I paced in the store for a while, tried on the cape, put it back on the mannequin, walked around a bit more, talked to the saleswomen, told her about my show that night and she sold me, but I was ready. Also there was another woman eyeing my cape and I couldn’t let her walk out with it. LOL! So I went back outside, took the cape of the mannequin, bagged it up and took it home. I rarely do that kind of stuff for myself. It’s a one of a kind piece so I’m very happy about it.

I got lucky with the bus again. It was coming right as I approached the stop. I headed home and finished getting ready for the evening. I called Gaetano earlier in the day and asked if he could meet me at BAM at 7:00pm instead of 7:30pm. He was cool with that. I don’t live far from BAM so at about 6:15pm or 6:20pm headed over.

When I get off the train at Lafayette Avenue, I exited the station and headed down the street to BAM. I was feeling good. There were a lot of people out front. Seems there was a show at the Opera House as well with Sonic Youth, John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin and Merce Cunningham @ 90 (dance company). I made my way upstairs to the café and met Paul who, with his crew, was doing sound for the evening. Paul informed me that my friend Mabili had left flowers for Achuziam and me. That was nice. Soon Gaetano and Scott arrived and we were ready to start putting my face on.

Little by little band members started to arrive. I think Dexter was first and told me he had never been to the café. That was wild since he’s lived in Brooklyn as long as I’ve known him, which is a long time. Paul, the soundman, told me that we might get a short sound check when the Opera House let out for intermission, but we had to make it really quick. So that’s what we did. It turned out to be a little sneak peak of the show and many of the people who were at the Opera House decided to come back to my show after theirs let out. That was cool.

After sound check I went back upstairs to finish getting myself together. We ended up starting the set late because the Opera House show didn’t get out until about 9:30pm or 9:35pm. So as soon as it was over we jumped right in.

I started the set with an a cappella prison song called “Black Woman.” I have to thank Chaney Sims for that. She is a singer and friend of mine who sings the blues. One night I heard her sing a song called “Go Down Hannah” and it blew me away. Right at that moment I knew that’s how I wanted to open the set. Not with that song, but with something that was quiet and powerful. So with my shaker in my hand, no shoes on my feet, I opened the show with a vocal libation. As soon as that ended Jeff started right in with a new song called “Out of My Mind.” I put my shoes on, took off my jacket and the rest of the show was on.

I had written “Out of My Mind” or so I thought sometime last year. I visited it for a hot second when Jeff and I were working out another new song called “I am American.” As the date of the BAM show was approaching I revisited it again. We tried it at one rehearsal, but it felt like it was missing some glue as Ganessa put it. So I want back to the drawing board, rewrote some of the lyrics, sent out the rehearsal recording to the band and asked for feedback. When we got back to rehearsal the next week Jerome came back with musical examples of Massive Attack, Jimi Hendrix and Eddie Kendricks and we used their inspiration to create some glue for the song. I love that!

Next I called up Dexter (guitar), Jeff (guitar), Jerome (guitar) and V. Jeffery (horn) to do another blues joint that’s kind of new to the people called “Gut Bucket.” When you have 90 minutes to play it gives you an opportunity to open up and showcase people. So I gave all the guys a solo on that song. It was really fantastic and fun. From there we stayed in the Bayou with an up tempo blues version of “Long Train Running” by the Doobie Brothers. I have to say that’s one of my favorites.

We soon left the swap and hit the folks with a cover of “I’m a Woman (I’m a Backbone) by Rufus feat. Chaka Khan and went into what is now becoming a blaKbüshe classic “blaK Girls.” We got sexy with “Give it to Me” and then brought things to the political side of the show with “Can’t Blame a Tree.” Jerome did a killer solo on that song! Wow! Then we moved straight from “Can’t Blame a Tree” into “Box,” but not before Matsu did a crazy drum solo. Again all I can say is wow! During “Box” I was playing bass and I noticed that people were looking up at the ceiling. I didn’t know what was going on so I looked up and saw that the sculptures of bodies hanging from the ceiling were bouncing from the vibration of the bass and it looked like they were dancing. Wild! Then we moved along to the next newest song, “I am American.”

This is one of those songs that only the chorus was floating in my head for some time, and it just floated and floated. Then Barack Obama won the presidency and it all came rushing through. I tell you people, it’s all spirit. So at the show I pulled out my picture of President Obama with PROGRESS on the bottom of it because we made progress last week with him lifting the ban on travel to Cuba. It’s about time! He also visited Trinidad last week. Now when was that last time a U.S. President visited Trinidad? I just love that guy!

We closed the show with “Go Head & Rise,” which included Jerome jumping on the speaker while playing. It was dy-no-mite! We got a standing O. I kind of feel like that part was a blur because when I came off stage Tom said, you’re getting a standing O! I looked back, but I was in a daze. Jeff and I came back and did a two-song encore with “Blackbird” by the Beatles and then the down tempo, grimy version of “Long Train Running” so the whole crew joined in.

It was a beautiful night. I could see that the room was packed, but I later found out that the room was to capacity and there was a line downstairs. Some people couldn’t get into the show, which on one hand is great, but on the other hand really sucks because I would have loved for everyone who was downstairs to be let up.

I think the quote of the night goes to a new friend who came to the show and had never seen me perform before. When we first met I was very unassuming. I am usually like that so it’s sometimes a shocker to people when they see the show. So after everything was over she came over and said “Bitch, you didn’t tell me you were a star!” She was dead serious, and I was cracking up! I supposed I should think of myself that way all the time. Not a diva, but a Star.

I had a lot of friends old and new in the house. I almost did the Romper Room magic mirror shout out to folks, but then I realized that that was going to date me big time! HA! So I opted out of that. But I have to give a special shout to Rob Fields who I later found out was twittering parts of the show while he was there. Thanks Rob. That’s how I can stay off of Twitter and still be on it and in the loop at the same time. *wink*

Till the next show...Be good to yourself.

Spring is Here!

Spring is in the air! I’m so excited to see the trees beginning to bloom and knowing that the warm weather is around the corner. If you live somewhere that is warm all the time then it may be challenging to really enjoy the spring because you are a bit spoiled, but for those of us on the east coast and in the Midwest, we know the deal. I think the south will understand this year because they had a pretty hard winter, but no need to focus on that. Spring is here!

To kick off spring for you I’m going to give you a little info about the season. Just a very quick overview and then you can take it from there. If you want more in depth info you can always check out a book I love called “Staying Healthy with the Seasons” by Elson M. Haas, MD. It’s a wonderful resource. When the seasons change the witch in me comes out. Persephone is on her way home!

Spring Attributes
Goddess: Persephone (Spring Goddess Guide)
Colors: Green and Pink
Element: Wood (About the Wood Element)
Direction: East
Quality: Growth
Sense Organ: Eyesight
Fluid: Tears
Indicator: Nails
Tissue: Tendons/Ligaments
Organs: Liver (Yin), Gall bladder (Yang)
Smell: Rancid
Taste: Sour
Sound: Shout
Emotion: Anger
Climate: Wind

In Balance
Beginnings, cleaning body, home, elimination, exercise, garden, greens, sprouts, creativity, enthusiasm

Imbalance
Still same old stuff, excess, congestion, laziness, weeds, drugs, overeating

Excerpt from "Staying Healthy with the Seasons"
The seasons change; we change. When we move outside the laws of nature, or resist change, we encounter difficulty. If we learn to live within these laws we will know health as our friend.

Staying healthy through the spring season means keeping your Wood element –your liver and gall bladder—in the best possible shape, with new attention to your nutrition, exercise, self-awareness and self-expression. Spring is the season of beginning, creation. Leave the past behind.

Nutritionally, it is a good time to fast, or do a liquid cleanse, creating a clean harmony between your inner and outer lives. Your diet will become lighter, with more raw foods, some grains, but fewer heavier foods and toxic foods

Mental relaxation will allow openness and peace of mind, while developing your ability to focus and to make clear decisions. Physical activity will help to clear and open the body and mind.

Making contact with your creative self is vital to spring harmony. Who are you inside? What do you need to express to feel free?

As you can see, a lot is going on in the springtime of life. When spring arrives, remember, “elimination equals illumination.”