News / Journal
Some updates, some babbling, etc.
- July 2008 East Coast Mini Tour -
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - Reno to Manhatten: flew from Reno to Denver, then arrived in New York via delayed flight into LaGuardia. Pretty much standard proceedure. At the airport in Denver, there was an elderly lady wearing kelly green pants sitting nearby, and there was a family - a mom & dad with two small girls. The youngest girl, at 2, was cute as a button in her pink top - adorned with a sparkly heart - and her ruffly brown skirt. She was eating chocolate ice cream, which matched her outfit perfectly when a a bite of it missed her mouth and landed with an ooze onto her pink shirt. She pointed at the brown splotch and exclaimed, "dirty"...her father wiped it off as best he could with a dry paper napkin. The other daughter was about 5 and kept interjecting matters-of-fact regarding herself and her little sister. Neither of them was shy at all. The 2-year-old put on quite the show for all the waiting passengers. In fact at one point she proclaimed "I need to do my boody dance"...she proceeded to slide off of the chair backwards, belly down, stood up and start shakin it...in her uncoordinated, 2-year-old kind of way. Her father claimed she learned said "boody dance" from a 3-year-old just days before. Terrible influences, those 3-year-olds. Her father was a little embarassed, with rolling eyes and subtle smurk, but amused and proud none-the-less. A mid-20s looking lad with a guitar gig bag sat in the chair facing directly in front of me; he had sat down before the family arrived and also witnessed the "boody dancing." He was impressively amused. He was untall and wore a classic straw blues man hat or Trilby, like this:
I had my guitar gig bag as well, and wore an Irish tweed cap like this: 
I'm also untall and less tall than he. To the outsider, it may've looked like we were the perfect match waiting to strike. In fact, the father of the little hams seemed to be egging the situation on - trying to get his daughters to interact with both of us, so as to get us to interact with each other. Clearly, pops doesn't undestand the dilemma of 2 musicians dating each other. Since I've been around that block and I have a BF whose not a musician, I was reluctant. But pop's scheming 'worked' and the other musician and I began talking about the infamous "boody dance" then music, etc. Let's say his name was J. He was into some cool music-related stuff. He gave me his card, which he made on the spot by ripping off a peice of off-white textured card stock, whipping out the rubber stamp, and stamping his info on it. Quite a process. It was endearing and he seemed nice enough for networking and possible friendship. I gave him an old Sophie and the Probiotics sticker (the website is the same). We were scheduled for the same flight. He lives in New York. But he was waiting to see if he could get bumped, hoping he might get a free ticket. My seating group was called and I boarded.
On the flight I sat in window Seat A next to a man, a music lover and construction worker/instructor who was on his way to New York City to give a 1-day instruction seminar on how to use some concrete drilling machine thingy...or something like that. In Seat C, sat a lady who was a historian, on her way to a university in Istanbul to give a talk on her latest paper. Pretty interesting people. And they were both so nice and interested in my music. They almost forced me to sing on the spot, but settled for reciting my lyrics...I recited the lyrics to my song, Spider. I've never had anyone ask me to do that, but you have to give the people what they want, right? The people sitting in front of us were turning their heads....it was such a strange but cool experience. When we landed, and it was time for me to get my guitar from the overhead compartment, a young guy started asking me about my music, etc. Apparently he sat behind us and heard part of the conversation. He wished me well on my tour...how nice!
At baggage claim I ran into J. Apparently he didn't get bumped off the flight as he'd wished. We decided to catch a cab together, since we were both heading into Manhatten. In the cab, he told me that the father of the girls said to him, "You meet interesting people in airports..." wink-wink-nudge-nudge. Pops wasn't the only one rooting. Apparently the old lady with the green pants said, "Did you get that girl's number? You should get her number, you two would be cute together"....we reached J's destination first. He suggested I call him after my shows and we could get together for ice cream and he would buy my CD. That never happened. Sorry Pops and Grandma, I have a BF and apparently J was only interested in being more than friends. So much for networking. Sometimes being a girl sucks.
I reached Phil's apartment, the friend of a friend, whom I've never met and would be staying with for a few days. I sat there on his steps, waiting for him to arrive as he was on his way home from dinner out with a friend. When he arrived, he claimed I looked like a homeless musician sitting on his steps. Phil is great and such an accomidating host. He's a music lover and just moved from Reno a few months ago. No photos of Phi, but his apartment in Manhatten was nice and comfortable with an awesome view of the Church of the Holy Trinity (this photo is craptacular but the real view was lovely):
Thursday, July 10, 2008 - Manhatten to Clinton, NJ:
Getting to the Black Potatoe Music Festival was a royal pain in the arse. We drove an alternate route from Manhatten, hit horrific traffic, and ended up getting lost. When conditions are good, the trip from Manhatten to Clinton takes about 1 hour. Ultimately the journey took us over 3 1/2 hours. We arrived 1 hour after our scheduled set time. In 9 years of performing, I've never missed my scheduled set time -- guess there's a first time for everything! When we arrived, my friends Glenn and Cathy were awesome and eager to help set up and promote Kung Fu Sophie merch. I'm lucky to know such nice, supportive people : ) The good peeps at BPMF were kind to squeeze us in a short set anyway, in between the amazing Michael Crenshaw and the amazing David "Honeyboy" Edwards performances. I was originally scheduled to play after the lovely Kathy Phillips. The festival grounds are beautiful, and we played on the river stage, which is, well, in front of the river. Here's a stock photo:
Old Red Mill Museum, site of the Black Potatoe Music Festival
Friday, July 11, 2008 - Manhatten:
Sunset from the rooftop of Seth & Leslie's apartment in Queens, NY
Saturday, July 12, 2008 - Manhatten to Chester, CT
Dirt Floor Studios is a beatiful place full of lovely people and performers. I didn't want to leave...
Getting there:
Claude picking on Sophie on the school bus the whole way there.
Claude Bauschinger, bassist extraordinaire.
Windy drive
No drugs were involved, I swear. Just the wind and Claude's encouragement.
Dirt Floor Studio, outside looking in...I think Claude took this pic?
Girls on the bill, from left: Sophie, Heather Fay, MorganEve
Lawrence Rubin was also on the bill but possibly hid from the photoshoot
: (
My friend Seth, who drove our arses there and back, around 5 hours; prior to the drive, he worked that day - he'd been up since 5:30 AM. Here he sits after the show, gloating at his strength and endurance...and so ready to leave.
Awe! The Lichters of Dirt Floor Studios & moiself, from left: Inara, Sandra, Eric.
I was starving before we got there, and didn't get to eat until the trip back. McD's never tasted so good.
- More pics & stories of the trip coming soon -
12-18-07 Recording of the new album is moving along at a snail's pace, but it is moving. La la la la. Happy Holidays.
11-04-05 Reno News & Review cover story: Reno's Women of Rock! Go to this link and read of my foul mouth and "scathing comments" Ha Ha!
11-09-05 OK, I'm finally writing about my Toronto trip....
Despite the cancellation of the Ear to the Ground Festival, Toronto was awesome. Shortly after I arrived (September 15th) my cousin Amy (Dr. Amy Ralston aka Doctuh Cuz) took me to coffee and we had a lovely evening of people-watching. Doctuh Cuz, being the innovative and funny lass that she is, coined the term Canadian Man Bacon, which was shortened to CMB for the obvious purpose of confidentiality when we needed to alert one-another in public of CMB sightings....she has a long-term beau, but she's always lookin' out for her lil' cuz: moi ; ).
The next evening, I was invited to play at the Ear to the Ground Festival consolation party, the Ear Damage Party, which was held at a local photographer's studio/kick-ass loft. After searching and walking and searching and walking for a bad address in a dark, seemingly abandoned industrial neighborhood, we finally found the right party. Hipsters everywhere, not expecting an acoustic singer/songwriter, but it went well anywhoo. I met some really cool people/bands, including the band escalate. Very talented musicians, indeed, and nice chaps, too. Get the album and I promise you'll be grooving and dancing and filled with warm, happy thoughts ; ). The album was beautifully recorded by the guitarist, Jordan Kern (SWEETheart...I think he's really an angel living life on earth as a rockstar). Jordan did an amazing job recording and playing. Also, the band, In Support of Living played. Check out the "Mystery Flute Girl", Rosalind MacPhail.
The next day Doctuh Cuz took me to Kensington (so cool!) and Chinatown where much shopping was to be done and much Indian food was to be eaten. Then we went to the lab where my cousin works. I didn't meet any mice, but I did get to see some cells and stuff under the microscope. Then we went dancing with her lab mates, Leigh and Rob - what a hoot! Those two are unstopable dancin' fools. The only downside was that my cuz and I both wore wool turtle necks (didn't know we'd be going dancing), and the club was soooo hot and humid...sweaty...sticky beer floor...grody.
The next night I played an Open Mic, or as they say in Toronto, an "Open Stage" at a place called Tranzac. Many very talented singer/songwriters performed, including Corin Raymond (the host), Claire Jenkins (sooooo amazing!), and Pierson Ross.
I'm not small, Corin is tall. I'm not small, Corin is tall. I'm not small, Corin is tall.
The next day, we went to a soupuh yummy Indian Buffet in Toronto's Little India. Then attended a lab meeting led by Leigh. Funny to see him so serious, presenting a PowerPoint presentation, after seeing him shake his boodie dancin' a few nights before. We viewed photos of disected mice and learned about interesting things that have, apparently, since been dumped from my mind to make room for...air? Later, we watched Batman Begins. I had the famous Canadian chocolate bar, the Aero bar....which was thoroughly disappointing; but, ironic since we walked by the Aero bar factory whilst searching for the Ear Damage party a few nights before.
Two Ralston sweetpeas in a pod.
A quick visit to the Shoe Museum satisfied my shoe fettish for the day, and then we were off to "the islands". There we had an exquisite Greek picnic.
Here you can see my cousin, Dr. Ralston, at her finest intellectual moment...
{That's salame, not tongue}
My finest prissy moment...
mmmmmm....olive dip, rice crackers, salame....scrumptious!
The Islands are beautiful...
Spider webs & boats
Toronoto City Scape (I don't know how that dork got in the picture)
Someone's artwork--a pyramid covered with work gloves...and me taking a picture of my cousin taking a picture...
Purdy cuz
Cuz looks like a classical painting, eh?
Cool building
Cool Building 2
Doctuh Cuz summed up the trip best: "we totally burned Toronto down."
~THE END~
09-14-05
After much anticipation, excitement, concern, limbo, disappointment, and monetary expense, ALL music for the Ear to Ground Festival has been officially canceled : (. I am still going to Toronto to visit my awesome cousin, but will not be playing at an official scheduled event. I may play at the Ear Damage private party somewhere in Toronto, or I may be playing to my cousin and her weiner dog, Mr. Lunch....at least I know they'll both be attentive and appreciative
; )
08-01-05
Sophie-Size Summer Tour & Long Overdue Escape From the Desert ~ NY, NJ, Chicago, Madison ~
07-01-05 thru 07-06-05
One day, while I was in New York City, it rained elephants and cows. I bought an umbrella for $1.00. Black, indescript. I wondered by myself through some streets, jumping over potholes and gaping gutters full of rain whilst sporting very slippery, soggy, flip-flops. My long crocheted skirt soaked up the elephants and cows quite thoroughly. I slodged and squeeked by the Fluevog Shoes store and drueled against the window, mesmirized by the deliciously quirky footware. I dared not go in. (1.) I knew that all the shoes that I would probably take an especial fancying to were probably in the $200 range, and (2.) I was embarassed at my probable drenched, scraggamuffin appearance. So, I slodged, squeeked, and flippedy-flopped onward, and finally found a bookstore....where I could make a better impression by soggying some expensive paper products. I slopped in, and left the umbrella at the door in the umbrella pile (like a good, considerate customer). Bu before doing so, I wrapped the handle of my property, right then, with a Sophie & the Probiotics sticker, so that someone could not, would not, mistake their black, indescript umbrella for mine. I went over to the ART section, excitedly grabbed a Max Earnst book and settled in for a while (went to a Max Earnst exhibit at the MMOA earlier).....after thumbing through this inspiring but expensive book, and deciding not to buy it, I wondered over to the coffeeshop area. I was probably dreaming and moping about some future love of my life, enjoying some unique vanilla herba matte tea and general people-watching.......this must've been about the time when, low-and-behold, someone snagged my $1.00 umbrella. Despite MY STICKER!! For, when I went to fetch it, as I was leaving the store, it was nowhere to be seen :( ...........Dirty, rotten....... - Breathe - .......That's OK, the incident didn't dampen my spirits, especially, because it had pretty much stopped raining by the time I left the bookstore; however, it did make me think about the time I lived in Taipei, Taiwan with my mom (I was 16). Taiwan, like other tropicalish places, has a heavy-duty rainy season (more like mastadons and mammoths). The entire rainy season came and went, all the while we left our sopping umbrellas in a tub or can by the doors of various shops, grocery stores, etc., and not once did anyone steal our mistake our umbrellas. And the ONE day I use an umbrella in New York City....SNATCH! Oh well, it was only a dollar.
I played at Mickey's Blue Room July 2nd with my friends Claude Bauschinger on bass and Joanna on percussion and BGs! Both very talented musicians--lucky me ; ) Also, two thumbs up to the peops who run the joint: Sai, Sean, and Jeremiah---suuuper nice peops! Got invited back to perform the next night!
I stayed with the exceptional hosts, Seth and Leslie, who showed me around NYC : ) My Fourth of July was spent with Seth and Claude and Sai (thanks for the use of your enormous jacket; ) You perves thought the direct subject of that sentence was going to be something else, didn't you? Anyway, we watched the fireworks on an apartment rooftop in Williamsburg, with a live band and 100+ people. Pretty F'n cool.
07-07/08-05 New Jersey was RAD. I met so many cool, nice people, and had a great time playing at the 9th Annual Black Potatoe Music Festival. Claude Bauschinger played his acoustic fretless bass, while Tom Gordon played drums. Soooo much fun!! Kicked serious Kung Fu ARSE!! I'm eagerly awaiting the recording of this performance :) Although my song Poo Boy didn't seem to go over as well as others :-\ Why???????
Fireflies are THE most beautiful little creatures! I'd never seen any until this trip. I only saw one in New York and couldn't believe my eyes. But there were milligrams of them in New Jersey at the music festival. Apparently they loved our set 'cuz they were goin' crazy when we were on stage ; ) Bunches of little, magical, phosphorescent green lights. Up . down . On . off....Up . down . On . off.......made my heart go 'Oh!'
07-08-05 thru 07-17-05 Chicago was fun, interesting, weird, bazaar, nice.......I met Matt Taito Mazzoroli of Mo' Phunk Records (for the first time in-person!) when he picked me up from the airport. Played at The Cubby Bear. Yes, the sports bar. My friend maggie brought her peops, as did Andy [Andrew]. THE Andy Dicus, long-time friend and previous drummer for Sophie & the Probiotics. Andy just graduated with a Master's degree from the University of Chicago : ). He's radical. We all hung out aftersongs at Maggie's awesome, cozy apartment...everyone got tipsy, while I stayed Sopher :-\ It was fun.
Boy did I eat high-on-the-hog the entire time I was there....sooo much good food. Went to the Conservatory (full of cool plants and stuff), shopping...There was this 3-storey clothing store full of clothes that actually fit me (a rare occurance). I went a little crazy...HEY, who knows when I'll get a chance to go back?? I had to stock up. Although I couldn't, and still can't, help but feel guilty. Thinking about what a nice llife I have compared to others, like the women in the Sudan who cannot leave make-shift homes for fear of being raped. I get to go shopping and to fancy dinners--if even only a few times a year. Don't know why I think about such things, but it does put a perspective on my life. How dare I get depressed out of meer boredom, when others are struggling so much just to survive.
Geeze, now what.......Ok, happier thoughts: Saw the band Cankyree perform, upstairs in an old church. Holy moly, these guys are fantastic. Then another band (?name?) set up and played a musical score that they had written for an old, silent b&w Buster Keaton film. Poop. Can't remember the name, but it had locomotives, yankees, a maiden, a war, etc. Anyway, the band played live while the film played on the big screen. Pretty F'n cool.
07-15-05 Then, there was Madison. Maggie drove our asses up to Madison, WI to visit my friend Ivan Klipstein. Ivan is a very talented singer/songwriter/muscian/cool person who lives in one of my favoritest towns in the whole USA. Ivan met us on State Street on his bicycle, and we ate Afganhi food (YUM!). Then we went on a search for sweets (had to have my fix)...then we went to the pier. Ahhhhhhh. So incredilble. A soft blue and pink dusk sky reflected onto the gently rippling glassy water. Say that 3 times. A latin-jazz band was playing...we walked out onto one of the piers. Ivan laid his tired self down and took a little nap, while maggie and I sat and devoured brownies and some other evil goodnesses. Such a nice night.
The last Saturday in Chicago brought dressing up in my new clothes, exquisite dinner, to-die-for chocolate mousse for dessert, and then....sorry, you'll have to wait for the song.
05-29-05 ! Just in case something happens to me....say, I turn up missing or something, Ryan (pictured below) has threatened to 'kill me with his bare hands' since he discovered that I posted this maybe less-than-flattering photo of him below...but, I don't think a bad photo of Ryan exists.
05-29-05
Rockin' out in the desert with Big Bugs and Good Friends
Just got back from
the Caves adventure! It was sooo much fun! But it got pretty friggin' cold
when the sun went down. Yikes. But THE greatest
wilderness experience of all, was witnessing the masses of GIGANTIC,
HUMONGOUS 'Mormon crickets' crawling and jumping EVERYWHERE. They were just
like machines on a mission. Many of them got driven over and squashed in the
dirt road and others would come along and either drag their brother's carcus
off to feast on it in the shade of some artemesia tridentata [ok, now I'm
just being pretentious], or they would partake in some good eats right there
in public, in shameless view of humanoids and other perplexed, wide-eyed creatures.
crunch - munch - crack. I swear one of them asked me for some mustard.
'The caves' is a musicians excursion [40+ people] into the desert amidst gargantuine boulders and bare fraggle-like caves, for an all-night jam/camp fest hosted by Todd South of Burning Peace. Complete with P.A. system, stage lighting, and bon fire! Jammed with some great friends: Eric plays drums, and Steve plays guitar. They're brothers and totally the nicest guys you could ever know. I sang on some of their tunes [cool tunes], and they played on some of mine.....until our fingers went numb from cold! When we initially arrived at the camp site, we started pitching the huge tent that Eric and Steve brought. Got it all set up and spiked down....or so we thought. No sooner were we gloating at our efforts and about to celebrate with a lbelated lunch...when a menacing gust of wind scooped up the entire tent! It blew up like a giant balloon, and off it flew. Metal pieces and plastic stakes dropping off as the tent soared and twirled in the air. And Murphy's law would have it, that one of the metal braces hit the top of our camping neighbor's truck and left a less-than-discreet pair of squiggly scrapes on his camper. Ugh. The owner was Dean (friend & drummer of Mister Vague). Sorry Dean. Eric & Steve cooked up some yummy fajitas on their pimp propane stove. These guys are prepared.
So, in the tent's grand aerial adventure over the sage brush landscape, and through the clouds, one metal piece went missing. Kate, Eric, Steve, and I combed the desert (think Spaceballs) several times, and finally gave up after about 40 minutes of fruitless searching. We packed up the rest of the tent, wallowing in a bitter sense of defeat. Then, about 5 minutes after we stuffed the remaining tent pieces into their time-out corner, Eric spotted the missing metal piece in a sage brush...about 1' from the initial tent site. Grrrr! Dean loaned us his tent. What a swank guy. Thanks Dean : ]
We all huddled around the campfire as the smell of charred beef and polymer (from the non-stick pan) filled the night air. I propped up my feet to warm them up...soon the rubber souls of my Chuck T Converse started smoking. My feet were just starting to get the feeling back in them...
We went to bed and froze our asses off. Eric & Steve let me borrow an extra sleeping bag. I don't think I would've survived otherwise. No more camping in Nevada until mid-June.
04-17-05 The San Diego Sophie-size Tour was awesome:
04-09-05 Aside from Jennifer, who is an absolute sweetheart (of Mermaid's Journey), I pretty much hung out with dudes all weekend. This was not bad, especially since all of them are cute and sweet...I felt like such a lucky girl ; )
So I thought I'd lost touch with an old pal, Ronnie, whom I'd met in Reno about a year and a half ago. THE Ronnie Rock Supreme, who played guitar in a great band called The Fuzz (he's now working on his own songs). They were touring from San Diego and played in Reno way back when and that's how we met. Ironically, at the last minute before I left for San Diego, I happened upon his e-mail address (which was right in front of my nose all along--I'm a blind dork)...I didn't even know if he was still living down there, but sure enough Ronnie ended up picking me up from the airport and we hung out--he got me a delightfully earthy, hippi-esque whole grain raspberry muffin, we walked to the beach, went to a craft fair where Ronnie pointed out a "vomit gold" vehicle; a guitar shop, and and then...Buffalo Guitars. Guitars galore I tell you, antique banjos, cute funky antique mandolins--this is the place to go to check any and every kind of guitar you've ever dreamt of. Got a quick mandolin lesson, rocked out and offended people's ears, then went upstairs to check out the "higher end" guitars. Had to remove my rockstar belt before playing them...tried out a little Martin...Geeze, are you bored yet?
Then my friend Ryan (friggin' awesome drummer of the bands VAVAK, and The Luke Warm Quartet. I opt that they change their name to The Smokin' Hot Quartet) drove down from Long Beach to meet us. Ronnie had better things to do (he is Ronnie Rock Supreme after all) and he was Zoo'd out, so Ryan and I ventured off. You know, if you don't have a map, the zoo is not that easy to find--hardly any signs. Maybe the locals just don't make a big deal out of it, but Ryan and I kept watching for massive in-your-face flashing neon signs to say SAN DIEGO ZOO THIS WAY....LIONS, TIGERS, BEARS!...WATCH FOR CAPIBARA...
Nope. We had to follow our uncommon senses and some measly 12-point font signs that said zoo.....we finally found the parking lot (parked at the Rhinosourus marker), walked about 20 minutes in the wrong direction, then back and THEN we found THE ZOO!! We managed to see practically everything except the lions and tigers. And hippos were hiding in murky water, so we just saw giant shadows. Ryan insisted that bats and reptiles were on the priority list, I insisted on the gorillas, chimps, and pigs. Girraffs are the most bizarre, beautiful, graceful, gentle, HUGE animals. In case you didn't know. It was so peaceful to watch them happily munch away on a late lunch with their eyes closed...
Are you still reading this? Sucker ; )
We rushed to The Belly Up Tavern, met Martin (er, Mah-in) and Brad, the awesome sound guys, and many other kind folks. What a great place to play---these people are on it. I had so much fun, the audience was great, dinner was yummy. I opened for Tristan Prettyman and The Southland. Tristan is really lovely (go listen!) and is from San Diego, and had a big following (lucky for me!) The Southland was awesome too (go listen!). The thing that really made my night were the people who turned out for the show. I figured I was going to be pretty isolated, figured I wouldn't know anyone, etc. Low and behold, I had a posse! I think I have more friends in San Diego! ......Owen and Nelson, Ronnie, Ryan, John, Jennifer, and Jim----YOU GUYS ROCK!!! It really meant a lot : ) Oh, and of course, Matt Taito Mazzarolli of Mo' Phunk Records is THE COOLEST.
At approximatey 12 midnight, Ryan, being the studly nice gentleman that he is, drove us back to Long Beach (about 1 1/2 hr drive). We arrived at the lovely new, metrosexually-decorated dwelling of Ryan and Tony (Tony is the metrosexual one, and the awesome guitarist of VAVAK). Tony is also a very talented chef and he arrived home at just about the same time as Ryan and I. He claimed that he was really drunk, and proceeded to make a delicious gourmet meal from mere scraps in the fridge at 1:30 am! We all watched the extra special additional features of Spinal Tap on DVD (so f-in' funny---watch it if you haven't already). I fell asleep on my especially made couch-bed....
04-10-05 Ryan took me to his favorite Indian food buffet (yum!) and then to the top of a hill, which overlooked Long Beach. The day was actually clear enough to look accross to L.A., Hollywood [barely], and San Diego. We just chilled there for a while. It was very peaceful.
.jpg)
Ryan is sporting his new 5 o'clock shadow on top of the old one, and his earthquake probabilities t-shirt. It was a little breezy... ; )
Mike [VAVAK] picked me up and drove us down to San Diego for our show at Gato Loco Lounge with Ren Daversa and Mermaid's Journey. Boy did we talk about everything on that drive! Well, Mike talked mostly ; p Mike played a great set--this guy's got lungs and soul. Mike is such a great songwriter too. He writes those songs that move you like Cat Stevens. Mermaid's Journey and Ren Daversa were great too. Such pretty voices! And low-and-behold another connection from Reno came out for the show. Strange, but very cool. And of course, Ronnie was there too. He gave me a ride to my hotel, which was an adventure in itself trying to find the main entrance. 2 musicians, 12 midnight, hungry, tired. Found it, then I ordered room service---a club sandwhich, some dessert = $39.99. Glad that's on the company bill ; )
View from the Marriot, San Diego
04-11-05 Played the open mic at Lestat's, where Ronnie (of course! :) was there along with fellow co-workers Bryn & Marci, and my boss Chuck! Didn't get to see the host, Isaac, on accordian--maybe next time.
04-12-05 While at the NIGA convention, I bought a traditional cedar Turtle Island Love Flute from Mark Barfoot, donehogawa. Mark makes these flutes by hand from a solid piece of wood, so they are very special and sound beautiful...when he plays them anyway ; )
THE END
11-14-04 My friend Donia Lilly introduced me to Ari Denison. Ari is a great guy and an awesome photographer from Eugene, Oregon. Ari and I went to Virginia City for a photo shoot. Burrr! Soooo cold, but since Ari rocks, we managed to get some cool photos (despite my red nose!).
09-18-04 Spent all day improving the website (extra-special thanks, once again, to James Cohen)! Now you can sample all of the songs from A Live Sophe-size Sample plus you get to hear a demo of Boy and Girl, a preview of the next album! I look forward to recording several new songs and posting them on the website in the next few weeks!
08-07-04 Hmmmm...Just got back from falling off the face of the planet.
09-01-03 So we ended up not doing the show with Kyle after all. Nothing negative happened--he just got some other, steady, probably better-paying offers. We wish him well. But......once again, we are without an upright bassist : (
08-24-03 We are doing our first show with upright bassist Kyle Rothchild this Friday, August 29th at Walden's Coffeehouse!
08-22-03 Zephyr Cove Resort show canceled due to rain & wind on the beach : (
08-17-03 Blue Lamp w/Oma Yang! We were invited to open for Oma Yang (from Oakland, CA) on Friday, August 15th. At the last minute we discovered that there was no P.A., so Superman Todd South of Burning Peace semi-volunteered Kent Miura's P.A. ; ) and then Superman Kent Miura himself offered, so the show went forth. Despite amplification we were still little competition for the noisy bar crowd, but still managed to get some new fans, sell some CDs, and have a good time. Nick, one of the guitarists from Oma Yang, came to the rescue & helped alleviate the feedabck & monitor the P.A. Such a sweet gent. Oma Yang rocked the hai-youse--they were soooooooooooooooooooooooo loud--impressively loud (with NO P.A.!) and really really super-nice guys. And ladies, they're all very cute, too. Oh, but Nick...Nick is my absolute dreamiest favorite ; ) We all went bar-hoppin' together after the show. We met some very nice ladies and gents who were out bar hoppin' for the first time in a long time. The two ladies were exceptionally nice and gracious and quite admiring of all of us. They were so impressed that Andy (of Oma Yang) and I wore glasses....?...they just loved our glasses. One lady claimed that she hadn't been out in 20+ years! They seemed to be having such a fabulous time. We were later informed that they had all done coke that evening for the first time since the '70s....!....that explains the fascination with our glasses.....
I have been informed that Joe Rut now has the beginnings of a website!!
08-13-03 Sophie & the Probiotics on 100.1 FM, KTHX--"The X"!! Dead-Air Dave played the track Drowning Honey Bee for the local music spot!!
08-10-03 New Webpage!! James Cohen designed and created the new Sophie & the Probiotics webpage a while back and I finally put it up. James has been extremely, exceptionally supportive of me and the Probiotics--he's like Super-Fan or something! THANK YOU JAMES, YOU ROCK!! And thank you again Jon Cornell for showing me how to use my webpage software stuff that had been collecting cyber dust & cobwebs in my computer.
Berkeley Show: I played solo at the Starry Plough on Thursday, August 7th. This was my 2nd out-of-town show and it went well. I had a posse in the front, which included friends from here and there--my best friend of 17 years, Amelia, and her little sister, Cassie, who is such a cutie and so sophisticated that she managed to convince the door guy that she was beyond cool enough to be in a 21+ establishment, even though she's 13. Carli And Sarah came, dressed to kill, and Amanda Ward drove all the way from Davis! What a cool chiquita! I opened for Joe Rut and The Reverend Screaming Fingers. Joe is a funny guy--I'd link to his website, but he doesn't appear to have one and it doesn't sound like he's planning on getting one. Nor is he planning on getting his own cell phone, that I'm aware of, even though he plays a mean slide guitar with one.His resistance to the cell phone makes me feel even more empowered in my own resistance, since I'm of the same school on this matter. Funk cell phones. Despite his resistance to some of the modern things, he's quite pedal-savvy--all kinds of fun with looping, reel tape recordings, vibrators (?), etc. I was priveleged to witness Joe Rut for the first time at this show and he was awesome and hilarious. Thanks to Joe, next time I hear the music in a scarey movie, I'll be thinking about Barbie feet.
The Reverend offered his amazing expertise & talent with electric guitar on some of my new songs and made them sound even more creepy and fun than I had hoped. This show was also the first time I've seen the Reverend perform his stuff and, of course, he rocked. A few lads and lasses, including myself, joined him on some songs and it was a blast! The Reverend even has a song about Joe Rut! Amanda Ward got to play electric guitar for the first time and she did so well! I was jealous ; ) Pat (previous drummer for Ramona the Pest, and The Phantom Drummer) did the last songs with the Rev. and they rocked the hai-yowse.
Esoteric Show w/The Reverend and Joe Rut: on August 9th started off rough, with Tim having the flu and me being sleep-deprived, cranky, and time-pressed/stressed; but, it all came together and the audience was great. Andy thinks it's the best we've sounded so far. I heard compliments about everyone in the band, and this made me sooooo happy. Joe Rut and The Reverend Screaming Fingers rocked, as usual. The Rev. had an especially good time, and I as well since I got to sing on a few of his tunes. Eric Pichler (from the audience) got to play the electric guitar on "The Day I Learned to Sell" and created all kinds of fun feedback. Hot August Nights created crazy traffic and entertaining people-watching. Nothin' like Hot August Nights to bring all the good ol' fashioned white trash of America into one spot for our viewing and listening pleasure. I guess it's best the Reno cops practice their tear-gassing on out-of-towners--lucky us!!
05-01-03 Sophie's Website finally up and running! Special thanks to Jon Cornell!
