Karen Joy Brown: News

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!

Thanks to all who participated in the voting process for the CAMMIES. It brought me some great publicity, and I was really touched to hear from alot of folks around town who stopped to say that they cast their vote for me.

I actually surpassed my goal for the year which was simply to attend the CAMMIES this year, so it's really a win/win situation. But there's always next year....

The polls are closed and now I can only wait until May 5th to find out if I'll win the acoustic folk category for the CAMMIES or I just got a bunch of free publicity, shows organized and promoted on my behalf, and a cool new thing to put on my resume.

I do invite one and all to come to the show where one band from each category will perform for exactly 8 minutes, and people go up and make silly acceptance speeches. I'm planning a funky outfit, so it may be worth it to come just for that.

It's time for me to shamelessly ask for your vote in the Acoustic/Folk category for the Chico News & Review CAMMIES awards. Whether you're a die-hard KJB fan, or just visiting this site for first time, you can still join in the fun!

All you have to do is click this link- http://www.newsreview.com/chico/ballot/cammies07 to cast your ballot for Karen Joy Brown. Then, if you want to go above and beyond the call of duty you can spam everyone you know and make them do it too! Voila.

I'm sitting in Monsieur Beans on a Wednesday afternoon of the spring tour partaking of the wi-fi.

Take a look at the photo section to see some wonderful photos taken by Chris M. Woodcox who just happened to come by the party with friend Dave Elke.

Lucky for me, Chris does professional photography and was kind enough to drop a disk by of shots from the party. They're great!

Catch a lovely article written by Chico's own Christine La Pado in the current News & Review by clicking: http://www.newsreview.com/chico/Content?oid=302919

Friday marks the day I'll be celebrating my first full-length cd at Cafe Coda. I've got the dress, a date, but I'm still waiting on the CDs....

Even if you've got other plans for the evening, I'd love to have you stop by to say hello and pick up a CD hot off the press. I'll even sign it for you!

So here are the only F words you need to know: Friday/Fabulous Junkyard/Fifteen dollars/Fun.

"You like me, you really like me!" O.K., I promise not to make the Sally Fields acceptance speech. I probably won't be making any acceptance speech, but it is quite an honor to be recognized by the local music scene enough to generate a nomination.

Chico's 1st Annual Cammies Awards started last year modeled after Sacramento's "Sammies". It's a mixture of public and industry voting where the local music industry nominates who they believe to be worthy characters, and the public gets to vote on their favorites.

Once again my competitive hackles are raised, torn between the mindless desire to be number one, and some disgust at pitting artists against each other when each one offers quality work with their own flavor. I’ve already won in the sense that it’s a great batch of PR to get as I’m releasing my album. Also, it’s always helpful to have something else to enforce credibility on the resume.

Voting starts April 3rd and goes on until the 25th, so I’ll post the information again when it gets closer so you and any random human cruising the website can put in a vote. Until then, here’s the link to see who else is on the ballot. http://www.newsreview.com/chico/Content?oid=287904

Spring and I are in step as signs of new life and rain alternately set the daily stage.
As the tulip tree flowers defy gray skies to announce something beautiful happening, I see the album taking shape. The final mastered CD is on it’s way in the mail waiting for my approval and subsequent sending off for duplication. The graphic design is in the last stages, licenses for Eleanor Rigby have been secured, and the songs titles are being processed for registration with ASCAP as we speak. Once again I’ll put my unperfected creative work in the world to be criticized, ignored, and enjoyed.

Within that whirlwind I’m still substitute teaching and tutoring, booking and gigging, and writing new songs.

I’ve had some great gig experiences this last month including an unplugged jam session with other musicians featured on First St.Café’s compilation CD, a cozy night at Chico’s new Café Coda, and a delightful discovery of another favorite on my list at Lodi’s Old Arch Brewing Company and Restaurant.

I’ll be doing some more traveling in early March with two weekends in Benicia, back to Lodi, and then another Monday night at Café Coda on the 12th. The next one will be none other than the Fabulous Junkyard CD Release party back at Coda Friday the 30th! See you there…

I’ve returned in one piece from the 1st Annual Girls Roadie Weekend. It’s going to be tough to top the experiences that rolled out like a royal red carpet for us all weekend long.

We experienced delightful accommodations at Chez Hambleton (aka-Dude, we stayed at my mom’s.) followed by a packed house at Monsieur Beans. Fans, dogs, and family made for a lively audience that egged me on to some silly monologues I am wont to indulge in from time to time. I was pleased to meet a new fan who saw a flyer at the café, checked my website, and decided to attend because he liked what he heard. Isn’t that encouraging?

We had a leisurely morning that included brunch at the classic south SJ site, Alexie’s Diner, and then slowly made our way to Benicia to check in at the Union Hotel replete with oversized digital clocks juxtaposed with antique armoires, and Jacuzzi tubs. Righteous.

There’s a phenomenon performers talk about that ponders the mysterious connection between an audience’s level of anticipation and participation and how it affects a show. Saturday night’s show at First St. was the embodiment of the best case scenario of said mystery. From the first strum at 8pm to the final song at 11:30, the entire audience ate out of my hand and begged for more. The sound was great, the crowd was living it up with good wine and conversation, and I was on fire. A night like that doesn’t happen often, and I’m convinced it was the love and support of my dearest friends and sister combined with the always wonderful staff and patrons of First St. Café. It didn’t hurt that as I was playing “Look upon me with Love” I noticed a table of enthusiastic fans singing along! I found out that these ladies saw me a month before and had bought my CD. They were there expressly because they heard that I was coming. Love it.

I’ll only mention a bit of the after party to keep the heat off of some anonymous participants. Basically, we added four people to our group who were at the show and we tripped the lights fantastic at Choices (lame name, great music) until closing where a kick a** soul band was playing. Later we strolled the waterfront until the wee hours of the night where apparently that is not the local custom according to some uniformed officers.

Thanks to all who made it such a memorable weekend, and let us look forward to next year!

It feels good to be playing music again. The last week and a half has taken me from Pangaea Pub in Quincy, to a Women’s Health Specialists open house, and on to the bay area this weekend.

Pangaea Pub was a gold mine of a find up in the beautiful mountains off of highway 70. I had no idea what an artistic little town awaited me with free wifi, great beer and food, and a nice little crowd. I got to meet the KHGQ board of directors who were there to partake of the music and beverages. I’ll definitely be back in the spring and summer when the Quincy farmers market is in full swing and the place is packed.

Tuesday took me to the Women’s Health Specialists open house where I was invited to play some background music while community members toured the facility and ate some incredible Indian food. As some of you may know, I had been on the board for another clinic in town that focuses on supporting women in the midst of a crisis pregnancy but does not offer abortion services. It was an interesting spiritual process for me to visit another clinic where there are similar stated goals (supporting/empowering women) but different methods. I was inspired by the messages on the walls and in the attitudes of the workers that expressed a fundamental trust that the clients coming in are capable, thinking women. Music continually takes me on a path of growth that constantly challenges me to participate, think, and stand by those ideas.

This weekend is a gladly anticipated girls roadie extravaganza to Monsieur Beans in San Jose, and First St. Café in Benicia. For me it’s a time of connecting with my tribe as they follow me into my sacred world of music making what is mostly a very personal experience even while I’m performing into a party. I’m looking forward to playing songs as I watch my beautiful friends laugh, drink wine, and listen to me with the pride and encouragement we all need to keep going forward in our calling. We’d love to see you there too.

Hi. My name is Karen, and I’m a lifelong member of People with Ridiculous Expectations Club, or PREC (read “prick”). One can always tell another member by the alternate surges of respect, irritation, and jealousy you feel upon meeting them. PREC members frequently spend their time wondering why things aren’t moving fast enough, why they can’t seem to do everything all at once, or survive and prosper in the midst of family and relational crisis. This grateful PREC member would like to take this opportunity to recognize the many events of the year that qualify me in this remarkable organization.

This year the foundation of my life as I have known it has shifted and regrouped with all the cataclysmic glory one might expect from a 8 point earthquake in Mexico City. The friend group I have hung with for over a decade dissolved and reformed by means of divorce, soul searching and space giving, and some much needed growing up. Not to mention the losing of my lead guitar player and confidant Amos Clifford so I could focus on some personal issues. Don’t forget my fourteen year marriage being stripped down like a Mercedes in a dark L.A. alley followed by attempts at repair via counseling and some good old fashioned honesty.

As the ground was shaking and the buildings crashed around my head I also managed to:
- get my music on iTunes - do a week long summer bay area tour complete with a radio interview on KKUP
- do a few shows with an old high school friend who’s also doing the singer-songwriter thing, www.alesandravalenzuela.com - won the Wild Oak Record Spring Songwriting competition followed by a showcase performance at the Sierra Nevada Taproom
- got picked to be on the News & Review’s Chico Area Music Compilation CD followed by a showcase performance on the Chico State campus
- played at the Oak Grove farmers market
- joined ASCAP as a composer/publisher
- performed at Sacramento’s Fox and Goose open mic as a special guest
- sang at at least six different Borders locations in Nor Cal
- played at Chico’s first annual women songwriter’s Chillith Fair
- got a song on First St.Café of Benica’s compilation CD featuring their regular performers for charity

As you can see, I have truly distinguished myself as a PREC member, and I only hope that some of you readers are experiencing those aforementioned surges and can count yourself a member of our ever growing family.

I'm smack dab in the middle of the "coal mine" phase of my music plan. As the saying goes, nothing valuable is free, so I'm substitute teaching to pay for the printing/duplicating costs of the upcoming CD.

My method of motivation is to tell myself that being in the classroom IS music is several ways.

First, it is music because music comes from daily life. The interactions and observations an attentive mind makes are the components of a good song.

Second, it is music because any work I get paid for from catering to the classroom makes it possible for me to tour, buy guitar strings, and go to music conferences.

Third, this journal entry is starting to look like the paragraphs I've been teaching the fourth graders and it's making me nervous.

It’s high noon and I’m sitting at the desk typing while still in my robe and slippers. What does it mean?

The deeper meaning can be discovered by the following facts:

-There’s no school this week, so I can’t be “Super Substitute” traveling between classes while students yell, “That’s my favorite sub!”
-I’m still recovering from my FAR-West conference where the sleep hour total was under 8 hours for the whole weekend.
-My husband isn’t here and I get the house to myself!

I spent yesterday going though all the business cards I accumulated during the networking madness and started to contact people and add them to my rather gaunt friend list on myspace. I had made notes like, “Talked to him at breakfast on Sunday,” and “Incredible musician and wine drinker.”

I’m still a little bit high from all the fantastic music I heard and the kindness of everyone who took me in and shared their songwriting communities with a first time attendee. I’m still trying to figure out how to link all the great people I heard so you folks can check them out. I’ll probably create a link group just for FAR-West people on my site as soon as I get through the Thanksgiving gauntlet.

I’m a little concerned that I could be facing the above headline when I tell you that that the November/December show calendar is sparse to non-existent.

Just maybe, I can deflect the looks of wounded wonder and bewilderment when I explain that there are good reasons:

#1 I’ll be making two important trips during November. First to the FAR-West conference where I hope to make some good connections with other folk musicians, venues, and festivals.www.far-west.org
#2 I’m heading to Middletown, CA to Matt and Kristy McCabe of www.finleysound.com to finalize the mixes for the first six songs of the album, and hopefully record the last few songs too. If not, I’ll go back there again at the end of the month.
#3 Everyone is so busy cooking turkeys and cleaning the house for the in-laws’ visit that no one really has time to come to a show.

I’ll start up again in January for sure with a Café Flo show, and then San Jose and Benicia at the end of the month. You’ll have to hope it doesn’t rain so I’ll do Sunday morning at Bidwell Perk.

I'll be heading out for my first show in Davis on Friday, November 3rd. Luckily, Roadie M will be at my side transforming a lonely drive into girlfriend fun.

I've only spent a few brief moments in Davis, some I'd like to forget from my psycho Christian days. Not that there's anything wrong with Christians, but let me say if you haven't been to a pentecostal youth rally you haven't really lived!

This time the only spirit that will be moving is a little caffiene at Espresso Roma on E Street and that's plenty holy for me. So if anyone from Davis is out there, join me at 8pm!

Saturday night marked Chico’s First Annual Chillith Fair. Join Chico with Lilith, and you get Chillith where eight women singer/songwriters played to a rapt audience in the Pageant Theater.

I didn’t know what to expect from an evening packed with so much music in so little time, but saying that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. The evening purred along like a well oiled machine finishing with hardly a lull between performers.

When I say performers, I mean that each woman was truly a performer whether in their formative stage or at the start of a prime that I personally can’t wait to experience. My breath was taken away by complex, witty and wise lyrics sparkling in the setting of the delightful finger picking, keyboard playing, and captivating voices of each unique artist. I felt like I had taken a special trip to the city to see a show but I was right here at home!

By the time I took the stage at the end of the night I was in a state of humbled gratitude and quiet delight that made it difficult to get in gear. I was reminded that it’s not about getting the next gig, or hoping that people think well of me, but about being a part of the mystery of music; the something that comes from nothing to make life seem less of a mistake.

I’ve got a lot of hopes coming out of this show. Hopes of feeling less alone on this strange path, hopes of sharing the stage with some of these ladies again soon , and of being inspired again and again to believe what we can do when loving friends and strangers gather to hear what new song has decided to come to life through our hands and voices.

It's the time of year when shows start to slow down a bit due to the fact that Jingle Bells and Joy to the World aren’t high on my set list. I’m busy planning a week long spring tour, a three week summer tour, and of course, don’t forget about making the album come together!

I’ll also be attending the FAR-West Conference (Folk Alliance Region) in Sacramento in a few weeks. The conference will hopefully help out with the former list items by connecting me with venues and other performers within my genre.

Don’t despair, because I’ve got two shows to choose from this weekend. Saturday night brings the Chillith Fair to the Pageant Theater at 7pm. I’ll be playing a 20 minute set along with six other women singer/songwriters. Weather permitting on Sunday at 9am, I’ll be back at Bidwell Perk enjoying a mellow morning of coffee, newspapers, and music. See you there!

Thanks to those who stayed out late enough to hear me at the Chico News&Review's showcase for the release of the CAM Cd.

It was an intimate evening in the basement of Chico State's BMU where I got to rub elbows with some of Chico's finest musicians and give our local paper a good show.

Check out Chico State's award winning publication, The Orion's article:

http://www.theorion.com/media/storage/paper889/news/2006/09/20/Entertainment/Compilation.Album.Flaunts.Chico.Talent-2285894.shtml?norewrite200609261831&sourcedomain=www.theorion.com

You are now reading the news of an official ASCAP member. Now the royalties from my songs can start pouring in. Well, acutally I have to register the songs, but at least it's a first step!

Singer songwriter David Wilcox has a touching, ironic song called “Start at the ending” that suggests that approaching relationships and life from the ending makes so much more sense. The breakup would be over with so we wouldn’t worry about that, and you’d get a gold watch the first day of work.

I’ve been reading a book that has me making goal lists starting from a base palette of life/dream goals, to ten year goals, to five, two, and one. The idea is that by starting with dream goals for life and work you get the big picture, and from there you write down where you want to be in ten years so you know what small decisions will help you arrive.

It really does make sense, and by the time I got to writing down the five year, two, and one I started to see how the small steps I’m taking actually bring me closer to my destination.

The Saturday, September 9th Café Flo show fits because one of my ten year goals is that I want to become somewhat of a Chico legend. There. I said it. I’ve only been playing in town the last 4-5years, and I want to eventually be a familiar, respected part of the Chico music scene which takes time. Each time I play a farmers market, Café Flo, I’m working toward that goal.

The Friday, September 15th show at Common Grounds also supports that goal by being recognized by my local media, Chico News& Review. I need hometown fans and media behind me wholeheartedly in order to go out and achieve my other ten year goals which you can read more about by checking back to this KJB news site……..

Breaking news via email informed me that I made the cut for the CAM (Chico Area Music) compilation Cd! I submitted my stuff at the beginning of July amidst a lot of personal brainwashing talk (You have to try, it’s ok if they don’t choose you, those s***heads should if they know what’s good for them, etc.). It comes at a time when some encouragement would be nice, so I’ll take it where I can get it.

There will be several shows around town featuring the various bands/artists and mine is slated to be September 15th at the Common Grounds café located on the Chico State campus in the BMU. I’ve been wanting to play there anyway, so I’m thankful for a chance.

I wouldn’t even think about trying for things like this without the kind and encouraging words from all of you that are so generously offered when I’m playing the farmers market or I see you around town. Thanks for your support that allows me to take risks that help me move forward with my musical aspirations.

I'm getting ready for a three show run starting tonight at the Chico farmers market, followed by the Blue Rock Shoot show with Alesandra in Saratoga, with another First St. night in Benicia as the chaser.

Speaking of Benicia, the folks there are getting very close to releasing the charity sampler CD featuring First St. Cafe performers, inlcuding me! I felt like a VIP yesterday when I was signing mechanical liscensing agreements and getting back in the mail so the project could go forward. I'll let you know as soon as it's out and how to get it. There's some good music on there!

I'm looking forward to playing every day and further brainwashing myself that I AM a musician.

Confucius, or Lao-tzu, or one of those smart guys said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” So often with music I feel like where I want to go is so far away that it seems useless to try. However, I also believe that any big accomplishment is comprised of countless small decisions, efforts, and risks.

On the docket this week of my “first step of a thousand mile journey” is joining ASCAP (a songwriting/publishing rights organization), meeting with a drummer to work on songs for the album, and going back to the bay for a few shows.

I want to learn to approach these and similar tasks with an attitude of curiosity, playfulness, and enthusiasm, but too often I find myself freaking out about details or doing it right.

Whichever way I approach it, I acknowledge that I am on my way.