Merry Christmas!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been busy taking this show on the road, demo-ing new hits and trying to keep my secret life from spiraling out of control.

In the meantime, please feel free to follow me on Facebook.

Or check out my Instagram. It's like porn for people who like cats. And for people who like porn.

Merry Christmas.

Linda Ronstadt

Historically, women have had a really tough time in this world compared to their male counterparts.

They've been treated like second-class citizens, exploited, objectified, oppressed and misunderstood.

Unless of course we're talking about beautiful women. In that case the world is their oyster and they get whatever they want handed to them on a silver platter and all they have to do is cry or pout to get their way.

Then there's women like Linda Ronstadt. Not exactly beautiful. But talented, hard-working, intelligent and still good-looking enough to not scare off small children.

Linda Ronstadt came from country/folk roots and worked w/ Eagles before they were Eagles. She was smart enough to sing songs written by the best songwriters of the 70s: Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon and Neil Young.

And most importantly, when country music went from bad to worse in the 1980s, she jumped ship and swam to Pop Island. Where the cocaine flows like wine and the hits grow on palm trees. Cocaine palm trees.

Here she is sounding/looking good - a stark reminder that although women should not be allowed to vote, they should be allowed to sing if they can sing.

(sexist)

"New" Hank Williams album

Bob Dylan - who can barely sing/move anymore, and Jack White - who is perfect in every way, are contributing to this new Hank Williams project.

The concept is simple: Unfinished Hank Williams songs/lyrics, found in Hank's briefcase when he died, will be completed by people who are (mostly) still alive.

Kinda reminds me of Mermaid Avenue.

Also cool that my girlfriend Norah Jones is also helping out, but definitely a little weird that I first hear about this news on the internet when Norah could just talk to me.

I'm right here baby.

Let's talk.

Which song should I cover?

The thing about a classic is that you can't really improve upon it.

But if I was shooting for excellence I would have stuck w/ modeling, like Cowboy Kate.

Louvin Brothers - What Is Home Without Love?



Bobby Bare - Streets Of Baltimore



George Jones - Just One More



Conway Twitty - I See The Want (To) In Your Eyes



(Sang by) Merle Haggard - You Take Me For Granted

You can now buy the CD

Right here. Five country hits for five bucks.

(If you can't afford it, just email President Barack Obama and I'm sure he'll take care of you.)

New EP, More Shows and a Message to all the little people

God knows no one else is going to talk about my music, so I'm going to do something Americans used to believe in: Take Responsibility For Myself.

My new 5-song EP It Might Kill Me is available for download on iTunes and Bandcamp.

The album was produced by myself and Matt Wignall and recorded (mostly) live to analog tape.

If you're into physical discs - CDs are available at my local record store - Fingerprints Music in Long Beach, CA.

I'll also have CDs for sale at my upcoming shows, including a "gig" at Pappy & Harriet's in September. Full schedule is right over there. -->

And for those of you who don't/won't download music, can't/shan't make it to my shows or simply enjoy the buzz of receiving mail, I'll soon have a little store set up where you can order the CD for delivery. (UPDATE : The CD is available for order!)

Lastly, I'd like to say how thankful I am for the all the folks that performed on these recordings and that I couldn't have done it without you.

I'd also like to remind those same people that you couldn't have done it without me. So it's not like I owe you or something. I wrote all the songs and I'm the lead singer.

And when I inevitably rise from obscurity to stardom, I won't forget all the little people I used to call "friends". I will also do my best to remember your names and pretend to recognize you if we ever bump into each other. I'll even try to be 'cool about it' when you have to prove to some girl that you know the famous Sam Outlaw by calling me from your cell phone and putting her ear up to the phone and having me sing a few lines from one of my hits as she listens and giggles with delight.

I'll be honest - that's a pretty lame way to get a girl, but I get it.

xo

PS - That's Greg Leisz in the top pic. He was kind enough to play pedal steel on my EP and proved once again that he's the reigning king. (If you look closely at the background you can see my mind being blown.)

The Jayhawks

The Jayhawks is an alt-country / folk-rock band that was born in the 80s, but flourished in the 90s when similar bands like Uncle Tupelo (pre-Wilco Jeff Tweedy) and Whiskeytown (pre-Ryan Adams Ryan Adams) were also making delicious country-influenced rock.

The band was led by Gary Louris and Mark Olson - two guys who can both write great songs and sing like angels.

I like The Jayhawks because they produced beautiful/catchy music that never want off the Pop Music deep end.

Probably the worst thing I could say about The Jawhawks is that most of the time they sound exactly like The Byrds, but that's hardly something to complain about.

When Mark Olson left the band he continued to make quality music w/ his new band The Creekdippers - a folk band that included his then-wife psych-folker Victoria Williams.

Gary Louris replaced Olson w/ some guy no one cares about and the band pushed on for a while. Now Louris plays solo and as a member of (don't call it a) supergroup, Golden Smog.

I was lucky enough to see a Jayhawks reunion of sorts at SXSW a few years back - Mark and Gary on stage, singing Jayhawks songs together. They looked like old men but sounded no worse for the wear.

And perhaps the same could be said for me.

Sure, I'm a little older than I used to be. But each new line in my complexion holds a beautiful story. Each grey hair tells of a life lived w/out fear.

For I am eternal.

I am a SOUL.