skipheller

02:47 am: DJ Skip at the wheels of steel


brought to you by imeem

05:04 pm: I am chilling in NoHo
http://homepage.mac.com/skipheller/iMovieTheater180.html

Until I get back to Philly (Thus night), this'll have to hold ya.

05:27 pm: update
wolf gets mike'd

Just got back from the Gulf Coast, and have the following to report:

1) Michael Moore should get angry more often.

2) While down there in the Gulf Coast, I produced a new Lisa Christian EP that will HARM you. She's so amazing, and this time we concentrated mostly on her own songs, plus one each by John Hartford and Doug Fieger. Jim Cavender played bass and sang, David White played snare drum and hand percussion (no kick drum or toms on this one), and I played guitar, piano, and harmonium. Lisa sang and (finally) played guitar. We cut it at Nomad in Daphne, run by a fellow named Barry Little, who is a very premium engineer and a total sweetheart besides. I don't know what it is about Lower Alabama, but the engineers I've worked with there (even Chris Spies recording our rehearsals in his trailer on his little tiny rig) all have the touch.

3) There was an occasion on Section St in Fairhope that I will commemorate in song soon enough.

4) New Orleans. Me, Newt and David threw down one of our best shows ever at DBA to a tiny but maniac crowd. NoLa is still the Paris of our country.

05:31 pm: sister rosetta tharpe has no tombstone
click here and be amazed

Those of you who know me and my playing will not exactly be shocked to hear that I am a HUGE fan of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the guitarist/vocalist who did much to help invent rhythm and blues.

Now: She is buried in Philly, where I am hanging my hat at the moment, in a cemetary in the north part of of the city.

AND SHE HAS NO TOMBSTONE.

This is inexcusable. For a mere 500 bucks, we could do something about this.

I propose a day of different bands/musicians all around the Flat 48 each donating their talent, playing a local gig, and donating the proceeds to the GET SISTER ROSETTA THARPE A FUCKING TOMBSTONE ALREADY fund. Who else is with me? We can set up a Pay Pal account with a gravemarker company and just go for it. This needn't be difficult.

06:33 pm: advice for young bands
Click here to see how bands should speak with club bookers and record labels.

A seminar given by Alec Baldwin and his hair.

07:25 pm: this is a public service announcement... WITH GUITAR!!!
THESE ARE YOUR RIGHTS! ALL THREE OF 'EM!

Just saw an advance copy of Julien Temple's Joe Strummer doc. Unbelieveaby good. Felt the need to share.

02:28 am: Dallas (or, no, Newt didn't get prettier)


Newt Johnson couldn't make it, so Arcoiris Sandoval, a ridiculously talented musician with whom I first played at Tucson, came on board with David White and I.

Dallas: Hot, sweaty, Frisell was playing a FREE show the same night as our first gig (thanks for that, Big Guy), our buddy Spike Sikes came to the rescue when Frontier Air lost Arco's luggage by loaning us an amp and a keyboard.

Friday, we played Pearl At Commerce, which is one of my favorite venues in the country. OOne of the most aggressive shows the trio has played in recent memory. Spike was watching as his keyboard was being throttled by this furious creature that moments before had been a sweet, angelic young woman saying, "Thank you so much for letting us use your gear. I appreciate it SO MUCH."

Spike's lovely and amazing wife Katherine invited us for Saturday breakfast and stuffed us. Our Saturday gig got cancelled, so Arco and I played an impromptu duet gig at Pearl at Commerce, then she, I, and David (who recorded the duo thing), got some ribs and watched GLEN GARRY, GLEN ROSS on my laptop.

A really lovely time, and Pearl at Commerce asked for us back in September.

11:48 pm: philadelphia -- it ain't in the rearview
and in our ongoing "cowboys to girls" series

Part 2 in our "cowboys to girls" series of how we roll. Sometimes, the classics say everything better than anything else ever could.

On behalf all of us who have our musical heart in the City of Brotherly Love, here's some love.

(Yeah, this means Lisa Christian and I are gettin' ready to hit it again, gigwise. Gotta circumcise our watches, musically.)

10:35 am: my last official act as an angeleno
voodoo that he do

Those of you who remember my chaotic little life as I was leaving Philly in 1995 will remember I was working on a Dionysus Records reissue of Robert Drasnin's VOODOO album.

Well, Bob composed a follow-up, I produced the sessions (with Philippe Aubuchon on board as my co-pilot) and here it is is, and if anyone needs me, i'll be in philly again for a minute. Full circle.

VOODOO 2 is now out and of course on Dionysus. It's a very nice way to come full circle.

01:05 am: home
philly

Sitting on the steps here on Sansom Street, listening to the Intruders sing about how a young man makes the transition from cowboys to girls. Slight humidity, and a faint breeze coming west from the Delaware River. Makes a young man feel good and alive.