Karen Joy Brown: News

If you’re keeping up with KJB news, you’ve already heard rumors of my eminent departure to a foreign country. The most common response I hear when I lay out my plans is, “Of course you‘re going to Spain for a year! That makes perfect sense.” It is an equally abrupt and thoroughly predictable move.

It would be an understatement to describe the past several years of my personal life as tumultuous, and music has had me drive all over California to show after show. I’ve made a concerted effort to stay put since January in an attempt to get my affairs in order, as well as some clarity on the next step.

This evaluation process has revealed some realities that are unpleasant to face, but I am determined to make decisions based on things as they are rather than how I wish them to be. Truth be told, my eighteen year (I’m not kidding) residency in Chico that started as a grand adventure involving college, marriage, teaching, and finally music is like a glass of rich, complex, ruby-red wine that I have drunk down to the last drop. The bottle is empty, the buzz is fading, and it’s time to go to bed.

There’s a lawyer joke that goes something like, “What do you call a hundred lawyers on the bottom of the ocean?- A damn good start.” What’s happening for me and so many of my friends is exactly that- a damn good start. I’ve got girlfriends getting married, adopting babies, and creating beautiful, dignified lives after divorce. I sense the need to create something new for myself with the basic ingredients that I know inspire me. Even more, to surround myself with those things in abundance. More low-riding than white-knuckling every aspect of my life.

If you’re reading this blog, you know that no matter what I’m doing, music and writing will be a part of it. I would be delighted to keep in contact with all of you friends and fans while I’m overseas via blog, email, photos, etc. Dialogue that springs from these mediums has continually encouraged, inspired, and challenged me and I’ve come to rely on it. Please keep coming back, and wish me a buen viaje.

I'm always busy aquiring new fans, and this week is no different. I'm currently working on my "Fans Under Four" subgroup, meaning under four years of age or four feet. I got to sing to and with the fine kids of Room 22, and it was about as much fun as any concert as we all belted out a chorus of "Home on the Range" and "Darling Clementine". In case any of these smart and funny little second graders read this message.....Hasta el almuerzo!

Thursday was just one of those rough days for no apparent reason other than the fact that it was cold, rainy, and that put a lot of people in bad humor. I was substitute teaching as usual, except that I had none of the usual patience for high school attitudes from kids I’m being paid to teach.

I knew I had a show, and call me strange, but I like to start off feeling confident and sassy when I’m playing my original music to a crowd of people. That wasn’t going to happen, so I had to put on my game face, and wait for the actual moments on stage to transport me outside of my self-perpetuated, introspective gloom.

As usual, I wasn’t disappointed, and seeing my beautiful comrades, Marquesa and Robin, when I arrived lifted my spirit a bit. We had worked hard to prepare this event, and I certainly didn’t want to curse it with my unfounded malaise.

If you didn’t make it to this show, you really missed one of the most widely attended Coda events I’ve ever played. Standing room only was the theme of the night, and the crowd was alternately rowdy and attentive.

I’m proud to say that the three of us as well as the backing bands played some excellent sets. Once again I found myself musing over what an honor it was to be playing with the cream of Chico’s music crop. Of course there are many other mountains to scale, but it’s a good policy to enjoy the view along the way.

Check out some of the incredible pictures taken by Alpine (of Alpine Photography) at www.alpine.myphotoalbum.com. This is the same talented guy, also a local R&B/gospel singer deluxe, who took some great shots at my CD release party last April.

Plans are in the works for more collaboration that I’m excited to be a part of, so see you there next time!

Happy holidays, folks. I'm enjoying a glass of wine(or two) this Christmas Eve before I head down to the bay area for some family fun.

Maybe it's the wine, but I'd like to give away my favorite song from my new album, Fabulous Junkyard, called "Thinking of You" at www.myspace.com/karenjoybrownmusic

The holidays are a beautiful time that mysteriously make us feel wonderfully together and terribly lonely. This song embodies both musically and lyrically the tenderness and connection we all feel with those we love, and reminds us that even the act of thinking of one another links us in ways we can't fully understand.

You'll be able to download "Thinking of You" for the next couple of days, and then the window of opportunity closes. After that, you'll have to visit iTunes at
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=254484413&s=143441

Merry Christmas, and remember that I'm thinking of you.

Karen

Trying to write a look-at-all-I’ve-accomplished blog entry in the midst of some holiday melancholy makes things interesting. While it’s too true that I:

1.Recorded and released my first album, Fabulous Junkyard.
2.Got nominated for Best Acoustic/Folk act for Chico Area Music CAMMIE awards.
3.Received a special mention for my poem, “Let Love Fall” the News & Reviews first annual poetry contest.
4.Completed a round of touring with some delightful bands this summer and fall.
5.Played my first out of state show in Ashland.

It’s also true that I:
1.Filed for divorce.
2.Moved out on my own for the first time in my adult life.
3.Tried dating for the first time since I was fifteen.
4.Felt the thrill and fear of supporting myself financially via substitute teaching and music gigs.
5.Faced the fact that I’m thirty-fucking-five years old and trying to build a career and a decent concept of a loving relationship from scratch.

Well then. What’s next?

Here’s what I’m thinking. I’m not the type of girl who can politely take a sip and then say, “Oh no, I couldn’t possibly. Goodness gracious, little old me?” So, now that I’ve taken the plunge I’m going to try to play with a little strategy, a bit of finesse rather than the blindfolded pinata swings I’m so darn good at. Don’t let looks deceive you when for the next six months I forsake a NoDoze tour/work schedule for a more subtle approach. I plan to:

1.Submit some of the best songs I already have recorded to song contests, TV, and film opportunities.
2.Go after getting my stuff on some more internet stations like Pandora.
3.Get my press kit together so I’m well prepared for the next round of summer/fall touring.
4.Work with other local musicians for possible band/ensemble shows, recording possibilities, and just for the joy of it.
5.Record a single I’m really proud of.
6.So much more……
Thanks to all who have supported me musically and personally this past year. I can only hope that this next one will bring a little less relational tragedy and more healing and hope than we know what to do with. In fact, I invite enough love and success to make us all feel downright uncomfortable.

The Chico News&Review caught my eye the other week when I noticed that they decided to follow up the ever-popular "Fiction 59" contest with one designed specifically for lyrical writers.

Several friends made me quite proud this year when they entered their fiction and won third place as well as a few honorable mentions the first time they ever submitted material. I figure I can at least give it a shot.

Of course, here I am painfully choosing only THREE of my poems(read:children) while the rest gaze wistfully at me as I press "send" only hours before the deadline.

Having tracked Fiction 59 entries over many years, I have a pretty good idea of the quality and content required and appreciated for that particular milieu. Not so for the new game, so I suppose I'll just have to wait until the November 15th issue to see what kind of verse and meter make the cut.

Here are the three I entered:

#1
The Future is Quiet

You speak of Europe, house projects,
and San Francisco
animated and hopefully.

There is no
echo
to confirm these great ideas.

Only muffled, muted
sadness.

#2
Transparent

Everything I see
at home
is becoming
transparent.

Like living inside a
memory
that is the
present.

It seems I
could pass my
hand right through the
coffee table
and our conversation
is as familiar
as lines from an
old movie.

Why do I feel
compelled to keep
watching
though I know
exactly how it
ends?

#3
Let Love Fall

Let love fall like
tiny
white
petals
of spring.

Holy snow that won't
melt.

Cover the asphalt
in a carpet fit for
kings
so
commoners
like us can tread
barefoot
on this living
kindness.

I am about to experience two consecutive days off at the same time many other citizens are experiencing this phenomenon- Saturday and Sunday.

There are no official gigs(except for a possible sit in at Bidwell Perk with Dave, Matt, and Becky on Sunday), and no SAT tests to proctor.

What's a girl to do?

I'm thinking about:
1. Finding a good book in which to lose myself.
2. Enjoying the delightful combination of a Sierra Nevada Octoberfest and a shot of Jameson. Again.
3. Getting some delicious produce at the Farmers Market.
4. Taking a hike.
5. Doing whatever I damn well please.

Sing the title of this blog entry to "Jackson" and you'll get the feel of the tour this last weekend. I was pleasantly immersed in the old school country/americana feel of the various band/solo/duo configurations of Ashland's own One Horse Shy. They played songs full of wisdom and wit set to beautiful finger/flat picking and toe-tapping rhythms that could make you get up and dance, laugh, and cry at the same time.

As if such a delightful discovery wasn't enough, Garth Michael McDermott and the Fingerprints rolled into town to fill the Jefferson State Pub stage with some incredibly well crafted acoustic pop/rock played with passion and precision. I felt like I was in an exalted school of rock classroom, and I was hoping to get some serious detention.

Sunday night didn't let up when I finally got to hear the solo work of One Horse Shy's bassist, Mysha Caruso. This seemingly soft-spoken guy enchanted the audience with his poetic lyrics punctuated with Dylanesque harmonica and guitar.

I feel quite tired and quite enriched after an incredible weekend of inspirational music and conversation, and can't wait for our next shows together. Especially when I get to introduce Chico to these people at our October Cafe Coda show!

Today marks the first time I'll go out of town; out of state even, to open for some like-minded musicians. I can't decide if I'm more excited to play music in an artistic town I've always wanted to visit, or to meet the talented and friendly songwriters who invited me to come along for the ride.

Four shows in three days will make things move fast, but I hope to get a bit of a feel for the lovely town of Ashland, Oregon that I've heard so much about.

Be sure to check in again with this news section or my myspace blog in the next few days to find out what kind of crazy adventures ensue when you drive to another state to play music with people you've never met except through cyber space.

Paulo Cohelho's novel The Alquimist tells the story of a young Spanish
shepherd who leaves his flock in search of a treasure he saw in a dream.
His search takes him on a physical and spiritual journey across the
deserts of Egypt. While traveling across the desert, he learns to adapt
and learn from the silence and vastness that surrounds him.

Creativity and understanding require silence for life's experiences to
develop and take shape. As a songwriter, I'm becoming more and more
familiar with the feeling of thoughts and ideas stirring and kicking
inside me. Although I perceive those signs of life, I'm also starting to
sense when those ideas are ready to see the light of day.

Here are some lyrics to a song that recently came to be through that
process, but requires further practice to be able to pull off in a show.

Wish Me Well

I didn't want to be just another broken heart
Never thought I would see my story on a statistics chart

But tonight, I'm alone
And tonight, I know you're at home

I cannot imagine what you are feeling now
and you can't even fathom, cannot understand how

tonight, you could, turn down the heat in this hell
if tonight, you would, just wish me well

Now I'm spending my days work to pay the rent and spinning stories
Up 'till three am smoking cigarettes, going from glory to glory

Maybe tonight, another shooting star
baby tonight, I'm going to see how far

Yes, tonight, I'm going to live to tell
tonight, the world is wishing us well


Tonight, I wish you well

As usual, I get on board with trends about five or ten years after they become popular. I therefore faithfully report that I’ll be starting up a daily blog that will be posted on both myspace and the KJB website.

The inspiration arrives via various channels, one of which includes my musical endeavors. The music industry had changed, and it’s no longer a question of being discovered by a label, but about directly reaching and cultivating fans. I want a place for those fans to connect where there will always be some new tidbit awaiting. Another reason involves a phrase, “An unexamined life isn’t a life worth living,” that I heard somewhere and has stuck with me.

I find myself at a very strange point in life where I’ll admit that I’m lonely, damn it. My songbird’s mind is always musing about something and I need a place to put my thoughts other than their mad orbit inside my mind.

Some say that loneliness is the result of purposeful or unintended estrangement from friends. Many of the wise have declared it the basic human condition. I think it’s most likely both, but no matter the reason, it’s a common painful experience that can be slightly soothed by knowing someone else understands.

Some of the stuff in this blog may not be appropriate for those without the taste for such emotional pornography. Those people would rather keep that kind of intimacy and exposure behind a closed door and most certainly not mentioned at the dinner table. Anyone who’s listened to my music, or spent five minutes with me ought to understand that I’m not in that camp.

Today is the first installment, and I’m delighted and honored to share my naked attempts at living a mindful, free, and passionate life where I say and do what I mean, and reap all the wonderful benefits and consequences of my risks.

I'll be at Monk's tomorrow at 9pm for the second time this summer. Looks like I'll be able to round up guitar guru Dave Elke for a few songs after his 6-9pm gig at Johnnie's. Who says musicians aren't hard working? We've got some arrangements for Goodbye My Beautiful Ocean, Gathering, Song Bird, and more that are worth staying up a little late for.

Speaking of hard working and staying up late, it's going to be a busy fall for me between some serious substitute teaching and traveling gigs.

I'll be heading up to Ashland for a three day weekend of four different shows in September to team up with a really fine band from the area called One Horse Shy(www.onehorseshy.net) We'll be mixing it up with show openers, whole band shows, and singer/songwriter in the round presentations. I've been wanting to get connected like this for some time, and I think my grateful heart is going to make for some good music.

Who says you have to be playing the Greek Theater to have an after party? One of the reasons I do what I do is because I love the rock and roll lifestyle. Allow me to clarify.

I love playing music, talking to people about music, meeting new people all around Northern California and finding connection even in our differences. When you take all that and combine it with some good friends, good beer, and tunes from the juke box at the midnight hour you’ve got magic.

That’s what I’m looking for and what I’m offering when I go out on tour. Music has always been about heart connection whether it was the worship songs at church, Duran Duran alone in my room, or my guitar and voice serenading the lone woman with her glass of wine listening with eyes closed.

So far the weekend has been full of good times. First St. Café was packed and people were doing their summertime job of having a good time very well. I had a first winner of a CD giveaway contest where a guy named Cody recognized the guitar solo I vocalize during “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”. I met some Chico people who just happened to be visiting a friend in Benicia that night, and got to hang out with both my sisters.

Saturday night brought the unexpected pleasure of sharing a show with my San Jose singer/songwriter friend Alesandra Valenzuela. The whole thing evolved into a sing along, pub-like experience ending with an impromptu duet of U2’s “With or Without You”. What else could we all do but head over to downtown Saratoga at my favorite bay area bar, “The Bank”. Friends and fans stayed late catching each other up on life circumstances and choosing the perfect late night songs from the juke box like Alesandra’s crowd pleasing choice of Van Halen’s “Jump”, and my insistence on old school Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You”.

Let’s see what other pleasures await as I head over to Santana Row for a 4-7pm outdoor show and stop by Sacramento’s infamous Fox &Goose Monday night for a feature spot of the open mic. Let ‘em roll.

When you're broke, a few dollars make you feel loaded, and hunger makes the best sauce as the saying goes. The beginning of this year had me running around in teacher mode most of the time which left me feeling a bit musically bereft. So, this weekend really felt like money in the bank.

Friday night filled me up with some jazz/rock/fusion bliss by local kick-ass trio Bright Size. Saturday unexpectedly whisked me off to the High Sierra Music festival where I was blown away by powerhouse singer/guitar goddess Carolyn Wonderland, old school bluegrass king Del McCoury, and the creepy funkiness of Les Claypool from Primus.

As if all of that weren't enough, I had to haul myself out of bed on Sunday morning to bring my own music to the Spiritual Enrichment Center here in Chico. I was hoping just to perform my couple of songs with as much soul as one can expect before noon without coffee and was kindly surprised by the turn of events.

My songs met with thunderous applause and even a standing ovation at the second service! People enthusiastically expressed their delight, bought cds, and demanded to know where I would be playing next.

What a privilege to be part of the give and take of the spiritual/carnal riches of music.

Things heat up in July with a couple of Thursday Night Market gigs on the 5th and 17th. You'll find me next to the squash and tomatoes trying to hold on to my guitar as sweat drips down my neck. If this sounds like the beginning of some sort of twisted fantasty, feel free to stop by and check it out as long as it ends with a little cash in the tip jar....

After that, I'll be driving around the North State with a beloved First St. Cafe gig on the 13th, Frescaroma in SJ on the 14th, and then a little open air gig on Santana Row Sunday afternoon. Later that week I'll be in Modesto for a first time gig at Queen Bean Coffee.

The end of the month combines business and pleasure when I play at the Headlands Coffeehouse in Fort Bragg. That makes for the second time I get to commune with the ocean after an impromptu visit to Cambria at the end of June's boggled tour week.

Check back to the calendar for more updates.....

I cruised into Sebastopol in a rental car due to a mid-week tour car catastrophe yesterday afternoon. The name of this pub expresses perfectly the feeling you get as you walk in; like you've discovered something that might get you to the end of the game and maybe even come out on top.

It's got a great little outdoor seating area where families, post-work drinkers, and bikers all come together over a fine brew. I simply plugged my guitar into their sound system and settled into a three hour musical mystery tour.

The crowd was so responsive and warm that I knew I had to come back to this laid back almost costal community.

I talked to professors, fathers recently gifted with 12 string Taylors, and ladies who understood what I meant when I asked, "Who was your favorite Monkee?'

Who wants to get dealt in to my next trip?

As I approached dowtown Willow Glen for the show last night I knew something was up. Scores of people were walking the streets(this is the bay area- people don't walk), and the streets were closed off.

Well, how does one haul 50 pound speakers from an illegal parking spot for a block? One just does. After about 45 minutes of weight lifting and deciding to park in front of some dumpsters the show began.

Right outside the window was a platform with an eight piece band playing and people dancing in the streets. Soooooo, I just turned up the speakers and avoided the heart-touching slow songs and let 'em have it.

More people got a chance to hear my music than a normal night, and people respected me for "the show must go on" mentality.

To top of the disaster to delight scenario, my high school pal who taught me guitar, Rich Ajlouny comes in with his old band mate and music collaborator Mr. David! I even got them to get up and do some songs for the appreciative female audience that suddenly developed when they took the stage. Check these guys and their extremely creative and joyful approach to their many musical projects: www.myspace.com/richajilouny, and www.myspace.com/mrdavidmusicworks

If you can't make it to Europe this weekend, head over to Monsieur Beans at 8pm tonight in Willow Glen, or Frescaroma on Sunday at 3pm. I'm packing up my gear as soon as I finish this, and voila-I'll be on my way.

Since the Fabulous Junkyard album was technically made in Chico, I figured that would be a good store to sell some cds. So, if you happen to require a copy ASAP and you don't want to buy it over the internet, and can't wait to buy it at the next show head on down to Made in Chico and buy one!

I'm always looking for a decent in-town gig, and therefore recently was in contact with The Albatross. I'm sure I'll be scheduling more dates with plenty of advanced notice, but I was recruited to do a show tonight from 6-9pm on the patio due to a cancellation. So, if you have the means to enjoy some delicious food while relaxing in the beautiful outdoor patio area, be my guest!