First of all, September is my favorite month of every year…it’s my birthday month! (Friday the 13th 1985, for those of you who don’t know from Facebook *wink!*) I intend to fully flaunt my Virgo-ness all over town, because I am THE prototypical, stereotypical Virgo chick.
Second of all, I’d like to bid a teary goodbye to a venue I loved in my home county: Blend Bar in Ridgewood, NJ. It housed quite a few well-known indie rock, funk, and soul acts; I went to concerts there and had a blast. As a tribute, here are some fangirl photos I took there:
Here I am with pop/rock/folk singer/songwriter (slashes abound!) Ari Hest and my friend of 23 years, Jenna. We are freaking out because we love Ari and have been listening to him for years!
Here’s me freaking out even more because I am OBSESSED with Van Hunt…only like 10 people showed up for the concert, so he was cracking jokes and letting us sing backup. At a certain point I started really belting it out along with him and his impressively dreadlocked assistant, who was in the audience and looked back at me while exclaiming “wow…you can actually sing!” I blushed but I was stoked beyond belief. Then I got really bold and shouted out a request for “Who Will Love Me In Winter” off his first album…and he was like “Girl. I do NOT remember that song.” He played it anyway 
Third of all, I just played 2 GREAT SHOWS at the Cutting Room on Aug 27 and Cousin Larry’s (in Danbury, CT) on Aug 30. YouTube clips to come! You guys should really check out my shows, if not only to see my cute little mother videotaping every single one! I got everyone to cheer for her in CT, too; that was so cute, especially since it was a rap/hip-hop show and my mom felt so cool to be there!
NEXT UP…a Tuesday night mini-residency (solo show) at Therapy in NYC! Also a JamNow.com performance TOMORROW NIGHT 8/2, a soon-to-be-aired live performance on Amazon.com’s TalkMarket, and volunteer shows for LifeBeat Hearts & Voices later in the fall.
I’ll leave you with my 10 still-hanging-on-to-summer jams of the moment:
1. Nasty Girl — Vanity 6. 80s Prince protegées in lingerie…nuff said?
2. Beware Of The Boys (Mundian to Bach ke) — Panjabi MC. Classic summer-night party song from back in my college days.
3. If I Never See Your Face Again — Maroon 5 & Rihanna. Guilt-free pleasure-pop with traces of The Time.
4. Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song) — Incubus. Put this song on after midnight, and lie outside on the grass with a Corona and an attractive companion 
5. Sequestered In Memphis — The Hold Steady. Sounds like Bruce but with more of an indie bar-band feel…brand-new song in 2008!
6. Square Biz — Teenia Marie. Funky song, chunky bass, spunky frontwoman. Made for hot summer city streets on a Sunday afternoon.
7. Stone Free — Jimi Hendrix. Even if it’s cold, you can feel yourself melting!
8. Ain’t Nobody — Chaka Khan. I’ve been covering this song at shows during the past month. Can’t get it out of my head…check out all the live versions of this living in nooks and crannies on the Internet!
9. Hot Pants — James Brown. Classic, classic, classic…and it’s my ringtone.
10. Too Much (The Central Park Concert, live) — Dave Matthews Band. Tons of memories for me, of high school suburban summers.
