greetings from the Bruce Cockburn "life short call now" tour that is rumbling across canada on a bus that is carrying 8 canadian dudes and ME!

if you live near seattle, i have a few gig announcements that might interest you;

1. the bruce tour has 3 shows that are sort of near seattle (we already played seattle proper in late august, but we're coming nearby, so i thought i'd send a shout out).

they are:

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 3 at the Centre Theater in VANCOUVER BC
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4 at the McPherson Playhouse in VICTORIA BC (Victoria Clipper anyone?)
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7 at the Washington Center of Performing Arts in Olympia, WA.

the bruce tour is going into its home stretch with only a couple weeks left. it's truly been an honor to have been invited so deeply into bruce's music again, and to be in a trio with bruce and drummer gary craig. we've gone on some crazy-ass musical adventures together. also, a shout out to the guys on the crew, who are so good at what they do. you know, when you're rolling down the road with a bunch of folks on a 45x10ft bus, you just hope that everyone can get in a flow and work together and enjoy one another -- this is a good group, both in terms of skill and being nice folks. come see us before the tour ends if you can.

2. my dear friend Karen Pernick is having a much anticipated CD release concert/party in seattle at the Tractor Tavern Sunday NOVEMBER 5. You should go! I am taking the Victoria Clipper myself from my night off in Victoria to get there and hear her and join in the celebration!! Karen is magnificent, and the Tractor is just the most fun place.
"With Pernick, whatever is, is right. Melancholy and longing are syncopated to perfection. Her voice goes up that enviable octave or two in just that heart-stopping spot. In the title song of her record, Apartment 12, she sings, "I wish that I could find a way into that other clear refrain." The thing is, that's exactly what she does." - The Village Voice

and here's something that you don't have to live in seattle to get excited about:

my dear friend sandy cioffi is making a documentary film called Sweet Crude; it is a trustworthy, honest and bold examination of what is happening in Nigeria's Niger Delta.
From the website:
"Sweet Crude, a documentary currently in production, will tell the story of Nigeria's Niger Delta - a story that has never been captured on film. Here, in the most populous country in Africa, at the mouth of the Niger River, billions of dollars of crude reside under the feet of a desperate people. This is a region where vast oil revenues and abject poverty stand in stark contrast. Where families face enormous challenges amidst environmental devastation. Where the issues are vastly complicated, the answers slow in coming.

This is the story of people struggling to eat in a land with no more fish. To live with the constant threat of war. To navigate the complexities of meaningful solutions to the most serious of circumstances. To simply survive, perhaps even thrive, if non-violent political solutions can emerge in a hurry. Whether they can succeed is our concern..the stories unfolding in the Niger Delta affect us all."

i have just joined on to score the film, which i'm thrilled about. also, my twin sister kate is the post production supervisor on the film, so it is truly a family affair.

go check out what sandy is doing -- it's such good and important work.

lastly, i have become a toronto maple leafs fan. i guess it was inevitable, living on a bus with a gaggle of canadian guys. go leafs go!

- jw

was telling a beloved about this a few days ago.
thought it worth sharing here:

a few days ago i played massey hall in toronto with bruce cockburn.
bruce, a nice guy from canada who writes devistatingly beautiful and evocative songs.
massey hall is the site of my first ever live ani difranco gig.
ani, a nice girl from buffalo who also writes devistatingly beautiful and evocative songs and who's band i played in for 4.5 years.
i was having so many memories of that first day;
each room held a different totally new experience.
this was day one.
april 1998.
i was just meeting the crew.
just getting to know jason and andy and ani. (bassist, drummer, folksinger)
new girl.
hoping i could land my marks.
if i could be creative and expansive, all the better,
but please god, just let me land my marks.
oh jeez, what should i wear?
is ani wearing a latex vest?
um, i think i might need to get some different gig clothes. (little did i know i had a shaved head and disco-ball hip-hugger bell bottoms in my future)
i wonder what will ani's audience think of the new girl?

that's the night i met bruce cockburn.
and here i am with bruce, 8 1/2 years later.

i love that.

if you do, get yourself over to berkeley tonight, august 27, 2006, and hear my friend vicki randle . she's just released a gorgeous debut album called SLEEP CITY, and she'll be playing tonight at the Freight and Salvage in berkeley at san pablo and addison. i wish like hell i could be there to cheer her on. you go instead! more on vicki soon -- for tonight, you just need to know that she'll be playing with the lovely bonnie hayes and nina gerber, and they will delight you. i promise.

to all gals out there: if you are not already at the michigan womyn's music festival, drop what you are doing and get there. for real. you will not be sorry.

marinating:
i eat pork. let's get that on the table - i'm a nice jewish girl who eats pork, also known as the devil's meat. i marinated this pork tri-tip a couple weeks ago that my neighbor lulu is still talking about.
it's simple. combine in bowl:
worcestershire sauce, organic orange juice, garlic, (also a little garlic powder if you like), chili flakes, fresh ground pepper, a little bit of kosher salt, sliced onions, sliced organic peaches, sliced organic oranges (peels on)
marinate meat and fruit and onions for a long long time.
put on grill.
put the sliced goodies in foil and on grill. baste all things on grill with the marinade.
prepare for sweet and savory goodness. (eat oranges with peels on. it's GOOD.)

melissa:

i just made a record with melissa ferrick in the end of may. it was a coming together of some great folks: first of all, melissa and i have talked for years about the possibility of working together, and finally were able to get our schedules to line up. secondly, my dear dear friend daren hahn played drums on the record, and another dear dear friend ethan allen produced it. melissa daren ethan and i spent a week in the studio together and had a BLAST. i'm proud of what we made together, and i'm very excited for melissa -- i think these songs are beautiful and strong and she's singing her heart out and her ass off. congratulations to melissa, and many thanks to her for bringing together some old friends and letting us really be ourselves and contribute. watch for her record: IN THE EYES OF STRANGERS.

while i'm home for a bit, i've been taking a samba work out class with my pal barbara higbie. the abdominal exercises make me want to vomit, but damn it is good to sweat and work out to samba music. our teacher is a gorgeous, muscled, lithe and energized brazilian woman named dandara. barb and i were sure she was in her mid 20's, but it turns out she is 40! how inspiring!! i just turned 40 myself, and while you probably won't find me teaching a work out class anytime soon (i think wanting to vomit during abdominals precludes me from having a career as a work out instructor), our lovely dandara is inspiring me to bust into my 40's in full bloom. here's to blooming.

i'm playing tonight at sweetwater in mill valley with fabulous vicki randle. and she is opening for (and playing with) fabulous bonnie hayes. i'm strapping my accordion on my back and heading out to mill valley for a 9.30pm hit. it should be a barn burner -- have you ever been to that club? it's very charming and has vibes for days -- a lot of music has happened there.
last i wrote, i was waxing rhapsodic about brussel sprouts. lots of life has happened between then and now. i'm still rhapsodic about brussel sprouts, but i have also been marinating a lot.
i also have played some really fun shows and done some really fun recording sessions. details on music and marinating soon.

i love the berkeley farmers market. and i love brussel sprouts.

ok bruce cockburn knocks me out. he wrote such beautiful songs, and he invited me so deeply into them. we had a blast at puck's farm studio's, which is about an hour drive from toronto. we'd have our morning thing of meeting up and getting coffee'd up for our drive, and we'd make our way out into the country. there was snow. lots of it. so much so that there was a complete power blackout one night that forced us to shut down shop. it was late anyway, but can you imagine how dark it gets in the country. oh, and there were ponies. not kidding. snow and ponies and bruce. that is dreamy. and the rest of the folks were dreamy too; jonathan goldsmith was helming the producer's chair. besides being the producer, he's a stunning pianist/keyboardist and played some gorgeous fender rhodes on a tune. on bass was david piltch, who was so soulful and beautiful. and he and i quickly realized we were twins separated at birth (except i already have a twin). i went mad for david and can't wait to play with him again. on drums was gary craig, who had such a huge pocket and grooved his ass off. and what a sweet sweet man. he has an incredible touch and was very tuned in to interplay with bruce's guitar playing. and then there's bruce; people, let me tell you, mr. cockburn was unflinchingly solid and funky and soulful and spot on. all day. all night. he really shows up and brings his beautiful self to everything. i am so proud to be part of this recording. i can't wait to hear where it goes and what it becomes after all is said and done. we did 4 days of basics, and i did 2 days of all-julie-all-day overdubs. i got to play a pump organ. i got to sing weird intervals. i got to groove hard on the accordion. i got to play a fender rhodes that used to belong to motown. and i got to sing with bruce, which is truly sublime. truly.

my goodness it's january. happy new year to all. i hope everyone is having a good beginning to their 2006. i find myself on a little west coast indigo girls tour. it is great to be with these folks - not just amy and emily, but their whole road gang. the music is so good, and the hang is just as good. i'm glad to be here. i play with the girls through their jan 27 gig at the fillmore in san francisco and then do a couple of gigs with cris williamson at the herbst theater in san francisco. the gigs are jan. 28 and 29, and they are in celebration of the 30th anniversary of cris' legendary album THE CHANGER AND THE CHANGED. i am honored to be part of that -- my older sisters wore out their vinyl copies of changer and the changed when it came out, and therefor, cris' music was part of the soundtrack of my 10 year old life! it's such a trip that 30 years later, i am taking part in this music. i like that. things come around. i also like that i'm getting to do so many gigs around my bay area home. that's a special treat. after cris' gig at the herbst, i will leave for the frozen tundra of toronto ontario and record with mr. bruce cockburn for his forthcoming album. i hardly know what to say -- it is such a great great honor to be asked in on this project. i love bruce cockburn. very much. then i'm back in the bay area making a trio recording with my dear friends allison miller (drummer) and jon evans (bassist). i'm excited to see what we create together - my guess is that we will get into some funky trouble. i hope so. i am in santa cruz california today, and i spent hours this morning standing at the edge of the tide. that's good medicine. warm wishes to all. - jw