FIVE (5) FAVORITE RECORDS OF 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007

In no particular order:

1. Amy Winehouse -- Back to Black
Screw the tabloids, this chick is the best thing happening in pop music. Go Wino!

2. The Izzys -- The Violent Bear It Away
Incredible, effortless Stonesy rock from this NYC band.

3. Spanking Charlene -- Dismissed With a Kiss
Sassy friends and favorites.

4. Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings -- Warren Zevon
Sleep now that you're dead Warren, but would somebody please open up the bootleg vaults?

5. Icky Thump -- White Stripes
For "Rag and Bone."

And the five records I'm most looking forward to in 2008
1. Chip Robinson's new one.
2. Terry Anderson & the OAK Team's new one.
3. KEITH CHRISTOPHER'S DEBUT!
4. Led Zeppelin Live at Madison Square Garden 2008 (bootlegged on a cell phone by me)
5. THE NEW HEATHENS SECOND ALBUM!!!

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And To All A Good Night...
Sunday, December 23, 2007

The New Heathens with a very special guest at the Rodeo Bar.

Good night? We had a GREAT night at the Rodeo Bar on Saturday! Santa, along with a slew of other fun folks, came out and we had a party.



I joined the dancers in the aisles...



And Domenick kicked out the jams, even with a candy cane on his microphone.

Gonna' take a long winter's nap & get ready for 2008!

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July 1, Near Helena, MT on Dec. 14, in Baltimore, MD
Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Huge thanks to Richard, host of Roots Rock Radio, for this really cool video.



Check out the better quality version on his website: http://richardtaylor.tv/Pages/NewHeathens3.html

Just finished a great, gala Holiday gig that Brandy put together at Kenny's Castaways tonight. We sang and listened to so many talented singers belt out so many great tunes and best of all we raised a heap of food for the Food Bank for New York City.

Lookin' forward to Saturday night at the Rodeo Bar.

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BRANDY PASSES THE AUDITION
Monday, December 17, 2007

Brandy Passes the Audition

It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. For some reason Domenick, Mr. Miller-Lite-Drinking-Domenick, demanded the hard stuff.

“I need whiskey!” he bellowed out just before the last song of our second of three sets at Baltimore’s hopping Waterfront Hotel.

We careened into “For Crying Out Loud” and a dude appeared with five shots of whiskey in little plastic cups on a tray.

Domenick grabbed his with his right hand and downed it so quickly there was barely a pause in his rhythm playing. Butch did the same. I gulped mine down in between lyrics.

But not Brandy.

When the man brought the tray around to Brandy she bent her body forward and snatched up the shotglass with her teeth. She held it there for a moment, all the while keeping the chugging bassline going with BOTH HANDS ON HER INSTRUMENT. Then she rocked her head back and made the brown liquor dissapear.

She didn’t miss a note. Not a single one, folks.

Amazing.

That was the highlight of the Heathen Holidays tour. We had a hoot at Hank’s saloon in Brooklyn on Thursday and it was great to meet Mick, a dude from the UK who I’d e-mailed with about our mutual love of the Yayhoos. He came to visit the US and we got a chance to hang out.


(Mick, friend, Stonehenge)

I discovered there’s another dude in the world whose two favorite bands are the Yayhoos and Queen. See? It IS possible!

Baltimore rocked ass. We always have great gigs down there.


(Butch and I in Baltimore, I'm sporting one of several scarves that audience members draped over me during the course of the night.)

In the morning we went to our favorite restaurant in Baltimore for breakfast, The Golden West.


Yes, we ordered cake for breakfast.


And Butch loved it.


(Meanwhile, Brandy ordered a fancy looking drink.)

We also had great Barbecue in Richmond that night, at Buz and Ned's Real BBQ. Eric loved it so much he went shopping online today for a Buz and Ned's shirt.

Our set in Richmond was a little rough. We were on a club stage, not a bar stage which is our comfort zone. But we did get to meet Brandy's mom Sue, her dad Frank and fiancee Bart, so it was a real pleasure to be at Alley Katz.

And the two bands we played with, The Atkinsons and Sin City Revival, were just incredible. Best of all Brian from Sin City had both bands back to his place for an after party.


(Singing, dancing, carrying on.)

We busted out acoustic guitars in his living room and jammed until EIGHT IN THE MORNING. We played songs by Whiskeytown, Willie, the Stones, Gram Parsons, the Supersuckers, the Allman Brothers, Paul McCartney, Old Crow Medicine Show and the New Heathens. Jams that good are a beautiful and rare thing.


(Brian, from Sin City Revival, with PBR Jamie from the Atkinsons, Dave, Sin City's drummer,with guitar.)

Just finished up practice with telecaster-master Alan Lee who is going to join us on a few Christmas songs at Brandy’s New York Food Bank charity show at Kenny’s Castaways on Wednesday. The music sounded hot, real hot tonight. We’ve got some choice holiday selections and even a brand new New Heathens holiday song called, “Nobody’s In Love This Christmas.”

Our great friend Richard, host of Baltimore's Roots Rock Radio took this video of us playing "Feelin' Lucky Again," the last time we were down there.



Thanks Richard!

Labels: Baltimore, Brooklyn, Heathen Holidays Tour, Richmond

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