We’re All In This Together

Our week in L.A. is coming to a close, and we’ve covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time.  I got to hang with my buddy Bob Massey from The Gena Rowlands Band early in the week at The Cat and the Fiddle.  While we were having a drink, Jarvis Cocker came in.  If you know who he is, then you can freak out.  If you don’t know who he is, then you don’t care.  I thought it was to see him.  I like Pulp. 

We are staying at one of the Motel 6s that we frequented this summer, while recording The Long Tail.  You know, they totally leave the light on for you.  That’s for real.  

Shawn and I just got to L.A.  He drove all day yesterday from Eugene, OR to San Francisco. So, it was my turn to drive after the San Fran show to L.A.  I pulled over around 5 am at a rest stop, but I didn’t really sleep…just kind of rested my eyes for an hour.  I got back on the road and drove until about 9:00(I think…).  We got gas and coffee, then switched places.  

I’m in Kennewick, WA.  We are living high on the hog tonight, boy.  Days Inn.  I think the bathroom is bigger than most of the Super 8 rooms we usually get. 

I’m in Alexandria, MN.  It’s about an hour southeast of Fargo, ND. 

This tour has been a treat, so far.  Matt (Theft) met up with Shawn and I in Des Moines on Sunday and we’ve been having a blast.  He’s been playing drums/percussion on half of my set, and it’s a welcome new addition. 

Tomorrow, we play The Aquarium.  It will be my first show in North Dakota…then off to Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. 

Shawn thinks we’re going to see a UFO up there.  Perhaps, we will get abducted…or maybe they will give us a lift to San Francisco.  That would be pretty cool.  Like the movie ‘Flight of the Navigator’. 

Compliance?

I’m headed out on the road again tomorrow.  This tour is taking me out to the northwest, which is a part of the country I haven’t been to yet.  Also, I’ll have a drummer backing me up.  My friend from L.A. Matt will be joining up with Shawn and I in Des Moines this Sunday.  He’ll be opening for me from then on.  Check his stuff out here.  www.myspace.com/theftspace  It’s going to be really cool to have some different instrumentation…for me and those of you coming to the shows! See you out there.

This is what the people are saying.  Buzz is good, but buzz don’t work if you’re not out working it.   

 

“There’s a buzz about Andy Zipf and it is building…” - http://www.xponentialmusic.org/sxsw07/

The hard work of relentless touring (over 200* dates since 2005), writing new material, building a solid fanbase and an ambitious fundraising effort that allowed him to work with established producer James Barber (Courtney Love, Ryan Adams, Aimee Mann), is at last paying off. There’s a buzz about Andy Zipf and it is building beyond his hometown of Washington, DC. It’s landed him on the Today Show, XM Satellite Radio, VH-1 and MTV. Winning Disc Revolt’s unsigned artist contest is now his ticket to a coveted SXSW showcase.

One key to his success has been taking charge of his career - joining the vanguard of young artists taking their clever promotion and tech savvy to new ways of reaching fans such as Podjacking (using an iPods broadcasting capabilities to send bursts of short targeted marketing messages). However, without talent, his efforts would be fruitless. Zipf’s stunning falsetto often leaves a crowd in wowed silence.

 

*It’s actually more like 350 now.

Have you been to Daytrotter?  These guys are in Rock Island, IL.  I really like what they’re doing.

 http://www.daytrotter.com/

Kami, from http://www.bandsundertheradar.com/ played Find You and Keep On in her #25 podcast.  Go check out it out(near the end, around 20 min left) and hear the rest of the bands she played too.  Really good stuff.  Manchester Orchestra, Wilco, The Features…to name a few. 

This is amazingly creepy and awesome at the same time.   

  

  

Keith Richards: `I Snorted My Father’

By Associated Press

2 hours ago

LONDON - Keith Richards has acknowledged consuming a raft of illegal substances in his time, but this may top them all. In comments published Tuesday, the 63-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist said he had snorted his father’s ashes mixed with cocaine.

“The strangest thing I’ve tried to snort? My father. I snorted my father,” Richards was quoted as saying by British music magazine NME.

“He was cremated and I couldn’t resist grinding him up with a little bit of blow. My dad wouldn’t have cared,” he said. “… It went down pretty well, and I’m still alive.”

Richards’ father, Bert, died in 2002, at 84.

Richards, one of rock’s legendary wild men, told the magazine that his survival was the result of luck, and advised young musicians against trying to emulate him.

“I did it because that was the way I did it. Now people think it’s a way of life,” he was quoted as saying.

“I’ve no pretensions about immortality,” he added. “I’m the same as everyone … just kind of lucky.

“I was No. 1 on the `who’s likely to die’ list for 10 years. I mean, I was really disappointed when I fell off the list,” Richards said.