Out On a Limb (Live at The Utah)

Here's a very early performance of this song, a rare recording with Lee Mallory on Bass. Out On a Limb (Live at The Utah)

Somewhere On The Road Tonight

I figure if I can't laugh at myself, who can I laugh at, so here 'goes nothin'. I've started taking guitar lessons with Alan Thornhill in my old hometown & I've been meaning to ask him if he likes Tony Rice's playing (how could he not?) Meanwhile...

Last week I picked up another Tony Rice CD at Amoeba's on Haight Street, it had some fine songs and all kinds of great picking. So here comes one that sounds pretty familiar, wait, i know that song. Scanning memory, who sang it, mmmm, I think it might be on one of Alan's CDs. I've already misplaced this CD cover, wonder who wrote it, when did it first come out, I'll have to look it up on Alan's CD & learn it, etcetera and so on, like that.

Next day, I dig out the CD cover, oh yeah, Chris Hillman, and what's this Matilija publishing, wait, Chris Hillman lives in Ojai? Rewind, reread the credit and lo, Alan's the other writer. Like I said, if I can't laugh at myself, who can I laugh at?

Gigging

The hard rainy time and pneumonia have passed and now it's allergy season. Yet we persist! A funny thing happened after I recovered, my low range kicked in pretty strong. I'm out & about, having played with Stephen Foster's Indie Songwriters' Tour at Skeleton Key Folk Music Center in Big Bear and Bazaar Cafe in San Francisco.

Now I'm listening to a lot of Spooner Oldham's songs (I call it Spoonerversity 'cause he's a master of groove...) and scheduling gigs.

Top o' the hill to you

12/11/09
Friday morning
San Francisco, CA

Just back from a walk around the hill. Some days life really is just a walk in the park. Neighborhood’s still changing. Today I saw a Land Rover & an Audi parked in front of remodels at the top of my street. Used to be mostly jalopies all over the neighborhood. Some of them might have been mine, I’m not saying for sure, but… alrite, I confess I named my green F100 The Incredible Bulk and bums would use the bed for a bench because the tailgate went missing.

Today some guy was being picked up from the yuppie mansion in the aforementioned block by a limo with smoked out windows. Back in the day there was a crack house across the street and another one at the corner up from his house. “Course during prohibition we had bootleggers. When I first moved to the neighborhood even taxi drivers got lost on our convoluted narrow streets and the cross street was a drop off point for stolen cars.

Now we have a dog park with a drinking fountain for the dogs, one for kids and one for the bigger folks. Only the spigots for dogs and kids are working. We have our priorities. The New York Times writes us up and now tour buses go up there to show off the view. ‘sAlrite, a city always has changing tides & I’ve been bobbing up & down on the waves of this city's history for over 30 years. And people still drive the wrong way on our one-way streets, but nobody comes knocking on the door claiming they need money for Pampers and then turning down the package I have on hand.

In guitar news, I’m still working on healing my left hand, probably have to get sprung from OT and get another cortisone shot soon. I sure wish those tendons in my thumb would calm down! Meanwhile, I may only be able to play one note today, but I’ll make it a good one.

And I’ll take the time to say hey as I pass by.
See you in the music.

Uke 092609

Uke 092609, originally uploaded by ninajosmith.

I've been fooling around online enough today, time to get back to practicing uke.

update

It's been awhile since I've blogged here. Been a few places & back again. I'm still trying to heal my hand, am between bouts of OT, waiting for Brown & Toland to approve another 8 sessions. Meanwhile, ow.

I did get to go to Hawaii for Joey & Takako's wedding last month. Can you believe that sunset? That was their wedding day! While there at Turtle Bay I had an amazing Lomilomi massage where Lei (the masseuse) tied my Psoas muscle in a bow around my neck. Couldn't believe the intensity of that massage, and it was truly the massage of a lifetime. Worth the trip to Oahu for that alone!
I continued on down to Pahoa for several days. Lee was very close the whole time.
I picked up a ukelele in Kona. I've arranged Make Love Not War as a raggae song and am working on a new song inspired by the wedding. (The Lee Side of Love)

Thunder? Storm!

I've been bouncing around the state recently, San Francisco, Ojai, Big Bear; even bounced over to Alabama for awhile to launch my People Places & Sings project. It's a slow cookin' backwards tour.

In LaFayette, Alabama, Janice Key-Walding, The Southern Herbalist, graciously hosted me. It took a couple of weeks, but the trip bore a song called Snake In The Rafters (true story.)

Thanks to Deborah Crooks, you can read more about it at: http://deborahcrooks.blogspot.com/2009/07/nina-jo-smiths-people-places-sings.html