Hella Stella

Even though I had that disastrous gig not long ago, things have actually been going pretty well on the music front. For one thing, my music web site ran out of CDs!

(Granted, it took three years of pretty infrequent sales, those are details I'll gloss over for the moment. It's still exciting.)

Right now, I'm putting together a little package of albums for my distribution company so they can keep mailing them out to the kind folks who order. I still don't know what my iTunes sales were like following the radio broadcast, but eventually I'll get to take a peek. I'm hoping it will be enough to let me take my BH out on a hot date, which is my motivation for a surprising number of things. I'm also squirreling away funds to cover Christmas expenses, which isn't really a hot date, but still worthy.

My gig at the Elmdale is coming up soon too: October 29. Mark it down, folks! I'm playing first, which is good for you (early night, should you choose) and good for me (post-set drinking). Maybe I'll take the next day off work. That would be wise, no?

There are so many holidays coming up. Thanksgiving totally caught me off guard, but it will be fun because (I'm hoping) there will be pumpkin pie at one or all the meals. Halloween is always fun, but this year will be especially good... My Venus Envy gals are throwing together another Certain Sort that night! And Christmas / Hannukah.... Well.... I know it's too early to plan it in detail, but I do love those holidays.

Something should really be done about the vast expanse that happens after Christmas. It's like a fun vacuum. Valentine's Day is hardly enough to bridge the gap. Maybe a national Bulldog Appreciation Day is in order? Who am I kidding. I do that ALL THE TIME.

Okay, I've got some stellar Morty pics coming your way soon... Happy long weekend to the lot of ya.

Last night I got this insane idea that I needed to make a gigantic dinner and use up just about everything we had in our fridge.

I guess this isn't really so unusual... I love to cook, and I especially love to cook stuff I know my BH will enjoy. I tend to give myself a mental high-five when I make something that gets the "this is reeeeeally good" reaction (hint: using chipotle increases the odds significantly).

But dudes, I think I spent three hours cooking and cleaning. There were potato wedges, roasted beets and radishes, a giant green salad, and about thirty mini-quiches. I was toast by the end of it. Remind me to read this post next time I tackle a four-course meal for two. I did four effing sink-loads of dishes.

In other news...

I recently joined zip.ca, and have been loving the random movies that show up in my mailbox every few days.

Yesterday, I finally got around to watching Shut Up And Sing, which was surprisingly excellent and made me want to run out and buy every Dixie Chicks album I could get my hands on. If you want to see a nasty side of the music industry, and an even nastier side of "redneck bullshit" (my favourite line in the film), I recommend this little movie. You don't even have to like the band to watch it, but I bet that you'll think pretty highly of them by the end of it.

What a week.

I've spent the last month preparing for an Exciting Musical Opportunity that took place last night. It's not the sort of thing I can explain at length here, sadly, but I'll give you all the juicy details when it all blows over. I will say that the experience has been both flattering and terrifying, and I occasionally (usually) feel totally out of my league.

That being said...

I now have a lot more faith that I'll be able to turn music into an actual career someday, which is not something Practical Stella would normally consider. Just gotta slay that debt, baby.

Anyways, now my voice is tired, my fingertips hurt, and I could use a good sleep. The only musical event on the horizon is my show at the Black Sheep next Sunday (the 7th) and then I'm pretty sure I've got nothing booked for a while.

By the way, you're all invited to that show... It's a matinee, my favourite, starting at 4pm. There will be plenty of songwriters there, and we're releasing a CD of recordings from the Gallery concert series (the church that houses the music studio where my album was recorded). And I'll be playing with my cousin Brian! He's the best.

Got all that? There will be a test later.

Unrelated: My notebook arrived in the mail and now my life is complete. I missed that pile o' papers something fierce.

People don't usually call me in the morning hours, probably due to the fact that I am not even remotely a morning person.

Naturally, when my cell phone rang as I was squishing peanut butter onto my toast this morning, I assumed something was wrong. Not only that, but the phone was ringing with Heather's special ring tone. Something's wrong, and Heather's in trouble, said my sleepy brain. Disaster! I was already planning how I would save her while I rifled through my jean jacket to locate the phone.

In fact, Heather was fine. No need for a rescue plan. She ordered me to turn on CBC Radio 2, and BAM! There I was! They were playing one of my songs!

This is so much more awesome than a badly-planned rescue operation, I thought to myself (the fact that I was even thinking this proves how much I am NOT coherent before 10am).

"I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS SO COOL!" Heather exclaimed. "YAY TOM ALLEN!"

Yes! Yay Tom Allen! And yay for Heather, without whom I would have had a boring tea-and-toast start to my day.

On a completely unrelated note, the washer and dryer are installed. My BH expertly hooked them up, with only one minor water explosion and swearing fit. Good thing too, because I am shit at fixing machines. My next experiment will be to see whether proper facilities will actually remove some of Morty's hair from my clothes. I'm beginning to wonder if my last washer just pushed the hairs in further.

Well, thanks for all your nice comments on the last post! Sometimes doing crazy scary things is worthwhile, whether or not it works out in the end.

I've decided not to stress about the process and just stick to my one summer music goal: create more time and space for writing songs. The rest will come. That's the theory, at least.

We're getting our replacement washer and dryer today*. The story is long and strange, but I will say that I have never been more excited to throw on a load of underwear and socks. I'm also hoping the new machines will give us an excuse to turn the apartment upside down and do some much-needed spring reorganization. It's been a bit messy what with all the piles of clothes underfoot. Perhaps a spring re-org could be rolled into creating a songwriting space for me... ?

We have a small portable grill tucked away in the basement, and I think I'll break it out this week. I'm starting to crave BBQ again. Spicy tofu patties? Curried tilapia? Fresh veggies? Mmmmmm. Can't wait.

*A dryer! You mean next winter we won't need to fill every inch of our home with drying racks?! Amazing!

Well, thanks for all your nice comments on the last post! Sometimes doing crazy scary things is worthwhile, whether or not it works out in the end.

I've decided not to stress about the process and just stick to my one summer music goal: create more time and space for writing songs. The rest will come. That's the theory, at least.

We're getting our replacement washer and dryer today*. The story is long and strange, but I will say that I have never been more excited to throw on a load of underwear and socks. I'm also hoping the new machines will give us an excuse to turn the apartment upside down and do some much-needed spring reorganization. It's been a bit messy what with all the piles of clothes underfoot. Perhaps a spring re-org could be rolled into creating a songwriting space for me... ?

We have a small portable grill tucked away in the basement, and I think I'll break it out this week. I'm starting to crave BBQ again. Spicy tofu patties? Curried tilapia? Fresh veggies? Mmmmmm. Can't wait.

*A dryer! You mean next winter we won't need to fill every inch of our home with drying racks?! Amazing!

I did something scary this weekend. Not horror movie scary, but personal risk scary. Let me rewind.

Months ago, my BH and I were chatting about my next album and what it might sound like. He asked me who my dream producer would be, and I told him - we'll call the producer Karl. He asked why I haven't contacted him, and I responded simply that he was way too cool to talk to someone like me. I'm a huge fan of this guy, and I could see no reason why he would ever want to chat with a broke songwriter.

Fast forward to last Friday.

I was daydreaming about the album, I looked up Karl's website, and I sent 100% shameless fan mail to him. I also mentioned that I would love it if he would consider producing my next project.

Not only did he respond, telling me he had listened to (and loved) my songs, but he also called me last night to talk about the album. Called ME.

During the conversation, I had to shut down the part of my brain that was shouting "This guy is too cool for you! Don't waste his time!" It was nerve wracking, partly because I respect his work so much, and partly because I am not really ready to start recording. This is the planning phase for the album. The phase where I start writing songs and grant applications. Not the phase where I drive to Montreal and start laying down studio tracks. I mean, to be honest, I never really expected him to respond to my e-mail in the first place, so I wasn't as concerned with the timing of things.

Luckily, he was okay with that.

Now of course I am incredibly concerned with the timing of things. I'm writing up a giant to do list to avoid feeling in over my head. It's too late for that though - I feel completely in over my head.

I'm not sure yet if he'll actually end up producing me, but in the meantime he's given me loads of contacts and a few places to start from.

Scary. But really damn cool.

Since my rush of gigs this fall, music has slowed to a crawl.

It's fine - my brain hasn't really been down with planning and booking and all that jazz. Other than snagging a few winter gigs (including one for Bywords on Feb. 1, come on out!), I'm happy to take things a day at a time.

Except that sometimes I remember why I love to play, and why I sometimes get the urge to book every show I can get my hands on. I had such a reminder this morning when I was listening to the new Beyonce album at max volume.* There I was, head bopping to the music, fists pumping in the air, and I started to plan out my next musical venture: a Beyonce cover band.

Granted, both my previous bands featured Destiny's Child covers at one point or another. It was good, clean fun. They were even good, clean songs (we obviously didn't cover Bootylicious).

But a full Beyonce cover band? My heart swelled as I imagined the outfits, the wigs, the dancing and the SYNTHESIZER. I started making the musical arrangements in my head, trying to place everything, trying to figure out how many instruments I could fake on my keyboard. The keyboard I don't own and would need to buy to pull this off, but hell, isn't Beyonce worth it?

Then I started to get that rush I used to get when I would plan shows. All the searching, coordinating and pretending to practice. Aaah, I can't wait.

Whether or not this comes to fruition, it's been worth it just to remember that I love doing what I do.

All I need now is a wig or three.

*Surprised? I love Beyonce. LOVE HER. There's nothing wrong with a mouthy banjo player crushing on B the Diva. You know it.

Click here for a fabulous Beyonce song that is part ironic, part sarcastic, part demeaning and ALL GOOD.

************

Just a heads up y'all. Zoom has made a tofu-related bet with me that she will lose, and I can say this with full confidence. Not only will she lose, but upon losing she will need to post a video or either her or Duncan doing something amazing, and potentially acrobatic.

You're welcome.

This bet was made at Raw Sugar Saturday evening, when Zoom, the GC, my BH and Milan all shared a table. Which reminds me... Milan, can you pretty please write a post about those crazy birds that can't seem to stay alive? That shit is seriously funny.

To prepare for last week's visiting newborn, I did some cleaning around the apartment.* Namely, the one spot that seems to always be messy: my music collection.

I have a lot of CDs. I'm one of those weird few who really loves CDs and prefers them to all other formats, including vinyl (although I do love me some vinyl...). MP3s don't cut it for me, and I use them only out of convenience on my Creative Zen. I don't stream music from my laptop either, for many reasons that are too long-winded to go into here. Cassettes, well, other than sentimental attachment, I don't use them for *actual* listening anymore. But CDs? I love them. I still buy them regularly and will probably keep it up until they stop being made.

For a while now, I thought I had about 500 CDs. Not that I could remember the last time I counted, but that seemed like a good number. As I went through my collection, filing, dusting and categorizing, I wondered if perhaps I had counted wrong. There seemed to be a lot more than I remembered.

I also began noticing that we had a lot of doubles, since we hadn't gone through our music when my BH and I moved in together. We just amalgamated our stash. Needless to say, we both liked a lot of the same music (minus the extensive amount of Pearl Jam I found myself sorting through....). I grabbed a big basket and started chucking in the albums that were either doubles, or that we weren't going to listen to anymore. There were about 50 by the time I was done.

Plus an additional 650 or so CDs we were keeping.

"Christ," I thought. "No wonder it's been so messy. I've been avoiding sorting and alphabetizing 700 CDs."

But now it is done, and I find myself patting my shelves of music lovingly, instead of glaring at them when I walk past. It's a relaxing feeling.

Guess who's done his final exams? My BH! I am So. Freaking. Psyched. I realize he's not out of the woods yet, but it brings us one step closer to the eventual end of his degree, and into the wonderful world of two incomes. It's going to be sexy!

Tonight is also a special night. We decided that instead of giving gifts to our little posse of friends, we would all meet up for a big dinner somewhere and enjoy each other's company. Tonight is the big event - food, booze, and the hilarity that comes with a large group of drunken pals. EXCITING.

I'm also getting excited about all my old friends who are coming into town. Maybe that's the best part of the holidays... Catching up, laughing, and getting mildly boozed.

And then drunkenly cuddling Morty until he gets flatulent.


*I realize the newborn doesn't give two shits about what the apartment looks like, but it was as good an excuse as any.