I'm sick to death of jam bands and white hill country blues bands.

I just am.


Hill Country Revue and North Mississippi Allstars should be the only white dudes allowed to play hill country blues.

Why?

Cause they don't try to recreate the exact sound.
Cause they've got soul and the other white acts just don't.

I'm also sick to death of dudes starting bands just for the heck of it, cause they can. That should not be allowed. There are too many bands and singer/songwriters out there with no talent who get popular because they're cute and can string a bunch of cliches together into an alright song. Music is a serious fucking thing, it's art. If you're not an artist, then don't do it. Not everyone is an artist and you have to come to terms with that. Just because you're a music enthusiast and you can talk intelligently about music does not give you permission to pick up a guitar, start writing songs, and join a band. I think that if some people would get this through their thick skulls the industry wouldn't be such a fucking mess and the people with actual talent would have an easier time getting noticed.

It's sad that Cory Branan or Lucero can't be really huge rockstars because talentless fucks like Colbie Callait and Nickelback are in the way. Yeah, the latter can write a pop hit, but can they write something timeless the way that Cory and Ben have? No, they can't. "Bubbly" or whatever is gonna be forgotten in a year or two. Nickelback is off the fucking radar.

It all goes back to money though, Cory won't make anybody any money so they won't support him. It sucks.

That's my rant.

You better take the hand of the Lord or the right hand of the devil. You better take it like a man!

The title of this blog is a line from a Caleb Sweazy song. Caleb is absolutely amazing. Wow. More on that later.

Warning: I'm gonna go on and on and on about music and my writing in this, so git ruddy!(or get ready...whatever.)

This week has been such an inspiring week in a really musical way.
Hell, it's just been a great week for me and my favorite vice, music.

Wednesday night I saw Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt perform together at the Orpheum.

First of all, let me just say that the Orpheum is one of my favorite venues of all time. I saw Ben Harper, Jonny Lang, John Prine, North Mississippi Allstars, Cory Branan, and Lucero there. Amazing. The place is so beautiful and filled with a great history in Memphis. This year is its 80th birthday and what better way for me to celebrate it then to go see these two living legends, right?

Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt were onstage together with their acoustics just shootin' the shit, telling stories, and playing really amazing songs that I absolutely am in love with. It lasted 2 and a half hours and I cried for the first hour. Tears of joy. I mean, I've been raised on their songs and just soaking it all in. I was just in complete awe of these 2 men. And what I love most about them is that they are both music fans, through and through. I'm sure that if I had the chance to shower them with compliments, they wouldn't think twice about 'em after I left.

I believe that if you put John and Lyle's songs together you've got a songbook on how to love a Southern woman. It's so true. Their songs are how I'd like my husband to love me when I get married. I'm pretty sure I want Lyle's song North Dakota to be the first song my husband and I dance to at our reception. Oh, but I'm so fickle I'll probably change my mind in a few months. Ah, well. I'll try to stay true to this song.

This morning, while at my sister's place watching the munchkins, I get a call from Shangri-La Records saying that my Rick Danko LP had come in. I told 'em I'd be in midtown that day and they promised to hold it for me. Damn. I'm so lucky to have found this. It's a rarity, I'm tellin' ya. Completely worth the 20 bucks and 25 cents that I paid for it. I can't wait to whip out my dad's record player and do 2 things: 1)Listen to this sweet vinyl gift from God and 2)Record it onto the computer so that I can put it onto a CD.

Why I've been searching for this LP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2WRijXGfho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbzB9stgfdQ

Awesome, right? Rick as a performer was just so raw and passionate. I love it. He, along with every other member, was such an essential part of the Band.

Tonight I had the pleasure of spending my evening absorbing good live music and having awesome conversations and writing down new awesome ideas at Otherlands.

The awesome conversations gave me an oppurtunity to have actual adult conversations with people I have things in common with. I love Chauncey, but what you can discuss with a 4 year old is limited. Katelyn, her Aussie friend, Mason, James, Dan, Colin, and Mike are great people, I love 'em. I love to talk and they were genuinely interested in all that I said, or so I thought I saw by the expressions on their faces and what I heard by their responses.

Caleb Sweazy could be knocked down by a strong wind. He looks like what I imagine Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie look like. His songs are so amazing and I'm so mad at myself for not giving him a chance long before tonight. He inspired me to write this:

Kind Words
Only when I fell through the cracks
Only then did you search me out
But I didn't lose any sleep
The thought of you didn't drive me wild

Don't walk away darlin',
I only meant it in the kindest way
You know I'll only say kind words
About you and I
And how we'll never be

My mama musta called you
Probably told you it was your fault
Your fault that I'm worse for wear
She only said it cause
Mama don't like to see any fault in her baby child

She calls me angel heart
And you best believe I am
You best believe that the best of hearts
Raise a little hell sometimes
Some of the best hearts can fall through the cracks

Babe, you're a fair weather man
You're a roll with the punches man
You're the man who falls for everything

Don't walk away darlin',
I only meant it in the kindest way
You know I'll only say kind words
About you and I
And how we'll never be

I don't think that it's done yet, maybe it is. Huh. I have no clue.

Dan Montgomery was just amazing as usual. He's a Southern songwriter and he does us proud, even if he is from Jersey.

Colin Gilmore is Texas, from his sweet west Texas accent to his cowboy boots to his songs to his guitar slinging style. He exudes charm and kindness. I've been bugging the hell outta him since Folk Alliance Conference back in February to bring his ass back to Memphis. Like we agreed on tonight: Austin is a hole, but Memphis is a hole with a gravity pull. So true, so very true. His set(I missed the last few songs) was just inspiring. It was everything I expected from him and more. I loved Texas before, but now I love it even more.



I love writing. I have a love/hate relationship with my muse. It strikes when it damn well pleases and my ass had better adhere to it. I love that I haven't settled on one median of writing; I love writing poetry, short stories, and I'm working on that ever challenging script. I found my place in the world. God is good.

www.myspace.com/colingilmore

My 3 favorite Texans are Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson, and Colin Gilmore.





I dare anyone to disagree that those 3 fellas are in fact the coolest Texans around. :)

And I'm just like that bird, oooooohhhhhh, singing just for you.

It's such an amazing thing when the muse hits you in the head and you just sit down and write something. It's a wonderful feeling, you feel like you're really making some progress, like you're getting somewhere.

Right now, I'm trying to write this script about a girl named Ramona who decides to follow Bob Dylan's first tour since his motorcycle accident in 1966. It's set in January and February of 1974. I've done research on the tour and just a few minutes ago I wrote a scene and started planning a soundtrack.

I won't divulge what the scene is and what I've told you about this project so far is probably all you'll find out until it's finished. I'm so happy with it. I've really found my niche in this world, I'm good at something.

I'll give you my ideas for the soundtrack.

1.To Ramona-Blair Combest
2.Blowin' in the Wind-Chris Chew(bassist for North Mississippi Allstars)
3.You're a Big Girl-Cory Branan
4.If You See Her, Say Hello-John Elliot and the Hereafter
5.Maggie's Farm-Colin Gilmore

That's all I have so far and I'm NOT open to suggestion cause this is my baby. HAHAHA! ;)



I'm in love with being creative and creating things.

Why have thoughts of being a screenwriter/filmmaker suddenly entered my brainwaves? As if I need more castles in the sky! Don't I have enough?

It's frustrating.


My brain keeps stretching and reaching new bounds, and it's hard to keep up with.



Oh, and Bob Dylan, or at least the idea of him, has suddenly become a central theme. Maybe you'll read it or see it one day.

I've come to realize that I don't really have any friends outside of my dog. If I knew how to play guitar then I could say that my only friends were my dog and my guitar. What a helluva way to live!

Don't misunderstand me though, there are tons of people out there that can count me as their friend, but I don't really count them as my friend. Why? Because I haven't really found anyone that meets my definition of a friend. Okay, maybe Ryan does, but I hardly ever see her. It's not her fault though cause I know that she's really busy these days. Whenever we talk she blames herself and calls herself a 'bitch' and a 'horrible friend', but I just don't see it that way.

Katelyn got hit by a car the other day. I just found out today. It really affected me because I've been hit by a car and I know the feeling. I know that I put a lot of fear in the hearts of the ones that I love. It's just such a hard thing to go through and it changes you, it changes you forever. You're more cautious and you hate it when others aren't as cautious as you are.

I need some adventure in my life. I've decided to move to Ireland in 2 years time. I have no idea how long I'll live there, I guess as long as the government will allow me without becoming a citizen.

I have so many big dreams. I'm gonna live 'em whether my family likes it or not. Fuck it. I'm my own person and, with the exception of my parents, they don't know me at all.



I have a weird yellow mark on my right breast that looks like a bruise, but when I press hard on it it doesn't hurt like a bruise would hurt when you press on it. I plan on ignoring this. If my boob falls off, so be it. I'm sure there's some perverted freak out there that likes a woman with one boob, right? Right. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! It's nothing. Just me and my silly thoughts.

I see my light come shining From the west unto the east.Any day now, any day now,I shall be released.

You get to a certain point in your life when you realize what kind of people are harmful to your survival, your self-preservation. Every moment spent with those people after coming to this realization then becomes a chore that chips away at your very being.

Sometimes these people can be your family, and while you love them, you know that it's best that you keep them at arm's length. You know that after you've given them every chance, but every chance is turned into a game or accusation or even a misunderstanding. You give up on trying with these people because you don't see the point. You don't see the other person trying to return your efforts or affections.

Eventually, the person who is a poison in your life, the vinegar to your water, needs to be put out of your life. Maybe not completely out of your life, but out of personal affairs and decisions. Some people just don't deserve to be a part of your life.

To quote Nikki Giovani:
There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.

I love it when someone takes the words right out of my mouth.

I can't wait to be free of my chains.

I love Eric Clapton and Luther Dickinson.

So, I was sitting on my backporch just enjoying listening to my iPod and hanging out with my best pal in the world, Tuesday.(my dog) All of the sudden, Little Wing(the Derek and the Dominoes version) comes on and I'm taken to a world of love and peace, and it just moves me.

I get to thinking that I absolutely admire Clapton's career. From the Yardbirds to Blind Faith to Cream to his solo career, the man is absolutely amazing. Music buffs, blues purists, and housewives all love him. He seamlessly moved from project to project and contributed a really great music catalogue to the history of rock'n roll.

I want that kind of career for Luther Dickinson. I think that him being in the Black Crowes is absolutely brilliant. I think that he should continue to try out new projects. He's got this style that's absolutely his; it's a little bit Johnny Winter, a little bit Jimi Hendrix, a lot Duane Allman, and ALL Luther Andrew Dickinson. I think that he's ambitious enough to have the versatility it takes to be a part of several different bands and then later in his career do solo stuff. I know a lot of the Allstars fanbase would balk at me for even suggesting Luther do something as a solo artist, but it just makes so much sense to me.

Right now, though, he needs to stick to adding his flavor to a bunch of bands. He's got so much skill and soul in his fingertips that you can't help but to be in awe of his playing. You can tell when you watch him that playing guitar is all he's ever gonna wanna do for a living. It's like when he picks one up, it becomes a part of his body an extra limb if you can imagine that. He's so fluid and it pours out of him so easily that watching him, as guitarist, would either encourage you to do better or make you wanna quit. ;)

Enough of my talking about him, let this video speak for his playing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6PEtwqudHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT8-2PIDMvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHUXUDJSVjo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DwQmCws97Q

Radical Ideas.

I'd like to state right now that I could really care less if you disagree with/are angered by the things in this blog. These are my beliefs and I hope that I'm able to express them well.
These thoughts have been going 'round in my head since the 8th grade. They've been growing and developing into very strong and unmoveable(is that repetitive?) beliefs. I feel this so strongly because my head and my heart cannot hold themselves back and cannot ignore these things.
In learning about slavery and the civil rights movement, I came to my own conclusions and I feel like they're radical in their own way.
In my eyes, slavery did not end until the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Segregation is just another form of, another word for slavery. Segregation in schools, housing, or hiring is a way to keep a people from the inalienable rights that they were born with, it's enslavement. It's keeping them in the place that you think they should stay at, a low place in this world.
I'm so grateful for the civil rights movement because it opened the eyes of the citizens of this country, of this world to the injustices that were being served to our fellow human beings.
Even today, the civil rights movement continues, only today it's not just racial prejudices that we're fighting. It's the prejudices that we show to our gay, lesbian, and bisexual brothers and sisters.
Your sexuality is not what should define you. Yes, I'm a straight female, but that's not how I want to be defined. I want to be known as a daughter, sister, and friend; on my epitaph it won't say: Natalie was a heterosexual female. It will say: Natalie was a daughter, sister, and friend.
I think that the reason that this country doesn't pay attention to the civil rights movement today is because majority of this country are so close minded to different kinds of love. Love is love is love. I believe that as long as you are a decent, law abiding, and loving person you deserve the same rights as I. Yes, I'm a Christian, but I don't consider the ignorant fools who call homosexuality a disgrace are truly Christians. I don't believe they are Christians when they speak with disgust in their voices and hate in their hearts for a fellow human being.
I don't believe that the fight is being fought loudly enough.
I, also, don't believe that racial injustice has been stopped completely. I believe that Asian Americans and Mexican Americans are still being treated poorly and are suffering the same exact injustices that African Americans did and still do suffer. There's still a lot to be done and said before 'equality' and 'democracy' can be said and used by every person in this country.
I believe that once these things are achieved that it is then our job to help any other country that expresses a want for equality and democracy in their own country. I believe that we should only help those who ask for it, whether it be the government that asks for help or the people of the country themselves. It's none of United State's business to butt into a country's affairs unless the circumstance is dire and the people are not able to voice their need for help.

I'm a humanitarian. Put that on my epitaph too.

Who knows where thoughts come from? They just appear.

I used to think that my ideas, thoughts and life experiences were less than those of the people that I look up to and am in a sort of awe of. I thought that no one would want to hear what I have to say because my life isn't some epic story or it isn't filled with all of these struggles and hardships.
That just isn't true. People want to hear about someone living a common life and hear their childhood stories, as simple as they are. That's what's interesting. Writers aren't writers because they led/are leading an incredibly interesting life. They're writers because they've got these grandeous ideas, these idyllic views on life that they must express or life just doesn't feel lived in. I have to write because I feel like I'd be doing a disservice to myself and to the world. Imagine if Bob Dylan or William Shakespeare had decided that their life and ideas just weren't as interesting as everyone elses. Just imagine.
I'm not Dylan and I'm no Shakespeare, but I have to put my thoughts out there. No one's thoughts are worthless. Some people are either not clever enough to express them or are too frightened of the outside world and how it may react to what they say, sing, or write.

Just write. I'm not brilliant, by any means, but I have to do it because I have to breath.

Yeah, I'm calling you an alcoholic.

Rock'n Roll Hero

You know, you used to be like a hero to me
I'd stand in my spot
You'd be on that stage
And the songs that were played
Sounded like they were just for me

So, go ahead and take that next drink
Let it burn in your throat,
Let it numb all the pain
You'll cause a big scene
You'll have a grand ole time
Tomorrow morning it will all be a blur
But tomorrow night you'll be at it again

Rock'n roll hero,
What happened to you?
Was it that fire inside you,
Did it all burn away?
Cause people could see it
It shone for miles and miles

Rock'n roll hero,
Can't you hear what you're playin'?
You stand up so tall
On that big stage
All the kids are loving it
They think you're loving them too

Rock'n roll hero,
What town are you in?
Your girl has stopped calling you
You've lost all of your friends
Yeah, you feel the pain
Things will never be the same

Rock'n roll hero,
The bottle took your wings
Never had that halo,
But you always had the wings
The bottle must have been so alluring,
The promises it told you
Yeah, you let the bottle take your wings

Never again will it be the same
When you grace that stage
I will not be there
You'll stumble through the songs
The crowd will give great applause
Cause you were once a
Rock'n roll hero

This was written Tuesday morning around 6:15am. It's one of those things where you get up and write it and think how effin' brilliant you are, but then you read it again and it ain't THAT great.

I swear, this is NOT aimed at anyone in particular. Take it how you want to.

So, yeah, I'm a copycat.

Sometimes I just want to write blog after blog and it seems kinda pathetic to do it on myshrine, like "Is this all you do? Post blogs on myshrine?"

I guess Sheridan and her friends starting blogs on here sorta influenced me even though I'm already on livejournal.com and myshrine. Ah, well!

The next 3 blogs will be ones that I posted on myspace, but I want 'em on here too. :)

-Hurricane Natalie