That's So Trixie

Set to Music

I've been busily revising the sequel to So Lyrical...and it's taking waaaaay longer than I expected. Probably because I never realized I was going to write a second installment with the same characters, and I want to make sure they are true to themselves.

In the second story, normally balls-out Trace finds herself in something of an identity crisis, questioning and censoring everything she says around Zander because of residual paranoia from his sneak-attack breaking up after she dropped the L bomb by mistake.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying, a while back I got stuck on where to go with the story next, and ended up writing these funny lyrics (read: bad poetry). I envisioned a girl trying to do anything and everything to make a guy like her (dressing preppy, pretending to be into everything he's into, etc), before finally realizing what crap that was and saying, "Screw it. I'm going to look and act and dress the way I want to." Anyway, here's the chorus:

But now the sun is shining on my brand-new tattoo
Pierced my belly, my eyebrow and way down there too
Turned my brown hair black, and my brown eyes blue
Get the message I'm sending?
I'm done with pretending
Here's the real me for you

Bonus points for adding music. I've got to get back to my story.

Being Heckled

Apparently, I'm being merciliously heckled on geekstinkbreath.com (a Green Day fan site) because I thanked not only Green Day in the acknowledgments of So Lyrical, but also--God forbid!--Good Charlotte and MxPx. Basically, the message boarders are saying I have crap taste in music if I could actually like the latter two bands.

But here's the thing: First of all, what I said in my book was I'd like to thank all of them for making fun music I could play along with...because at the time, I had just picked up the guitar and couldn't even begin to handle barring or complicated chord changes or crazy solo stuff. And so I relied on tunes by bands that use a lot of power chords--like GD, GC, and MxPx (who even my guitar teacher heckles, calling them Mix-Pix).

Second, if you asked me what my favorite band is, the answer would be Green Day, hands down (followed in a close second by Led Zep, how's that for a weird contrast?). I've been a fan since Dookie, so don't give me shit. The mad message board people were probably still in diapers when that came out.

Third, I'm just glad someone gave my book a shout out on a cool web site...even if the flames came along with it. My favorite went something like this: Yeah, Green Day totally deserves to be thanked, but I was like wtf, Good Charlotte? And seriously, I do understand your confusion. The Joel and Hilary thing is so not punk, right? Kind of takes what little cred GC had left and sends it further down the drain...

And finally, why do I care? Oh wait, I know. Because I think I'm still 16 and I have to defend my honor. So you decide: Does that make me young at heart or exceedingly immature?

Fatal Error

Went to a really cool street festival this weekend and saw two great bands. The opener, The Katie Todd Band, was fun for a variety of reasons, but mostly because I love seeing a woman front a band of male musicians. Their songs had a great poppy vibe, Katie's voice was sort of a cross between Edie Brickell's and Lisa Loeb's, and I loved the juxtaposition of the sweet vocals with the crunchy guitar sounds.

At one point, when the guitarist was playing something particularly intense, I got all depressed and turned to my husband  and said, "I'm gonna be in a wheelchair before I can solo like that." His smile told me everything I needed to know.

Later, when the inimitable and possibly crazy Cowboy Mouth took the stage, I was psyched to see their bass player was a girl. She was really cute, bopping around and having a great time. And that's when it hit me: Damn! I should've taken up the bass two years ago, not guitar. Everybody and their brother wants to play guitar, but bass players are always in demand. Especially girl bass players.

Plus, and this is not to knock bassists because they are clearly integral to a band, but you know, bass solos are kind of few and far between. And you only have four strings to deal with instead of six. I bet it's really hard to become a great bassist, but I also bet you can become semi-decent much faster on bass than guitar.

So I got all depressed again and turned to my husband  again. "I should've learned how to play bass, right?" And once again, his smile spoke volumes.

Anyone interested in giving me bass lessons?

Living the Rock Star Dream

I am a totally weird dichotomy. I've always dreamed of playing in a band, but I hate being in the spotlight. I love to do "concerts"--being the undisputed queen of karaoke revolution at my house--yet haven't had the guts to sing publicly since ninth grade (and even then I think I was fortified by a little Southern Comfort). Basically you've got the, "Yeah, I wanna be a rock star" part of me fighting with the "No freaking way am I getting up there and looking like a fool" part.

Well, tonight I am proud to say I accepted an invitation to sit in with a band in town--thanks Bob for Internet-stalking me, you rock--and had a blast. OK, I have to admit I turned my volume waaaayyyyyy down, sometimes to the point where I might as well have been unplugged, due (mostly) to the fact that I was unfamiliar with the songs and was just trying to follow along...and still didn't have the balls to sing, though it was encouraged...but all in all, I'll give myself a B+ for effort.

Honestly, I'd give myself a B for just showing up, seeing as I had never met any of these people before and I was pretty worried I was being punked. I'm actually still not 100% positive whether Ashton Kutcher wasn't hiding in the closet and my performance might end up mortifying me for years to come on MTV, sort of like how Linda McCartney and Enrique Inglesias must have felt after Howard Stern relentlessly played tapes of them singing horribly off-key a few years back.

Anyway, I'm claiming the grade not because my playing was stellar (believe me)--the plus part is because I totally went for it, looking like an ass be damned. Who knows, maybe I'm finally growing up.

Or maybe not.

Anyhoo, a big thank you to the Dads Gone Bad for letting me be the token girl/token novice guitarist at rehearsal tonight. It was a huge thrill, you did me a big favor, and I thank you profusely.

And won't blame you one bit if you never invite me back.

Concert Queen

So, I've gone to a bunch of concerts in the past few weeks. First up, Lenny Kravitz at this cool old theater in a completely random part of Chicago. My girlfriends and I staked out places right up front during the warm-up act, maybe three people from the stage, so when Lenny appeared, we'd have full access to his hotness.

So, the show was rockin'...though a little schizo. Lenny was at turns a preacher (hence, the Electric Church tour, duh), Vegas-era Elvis, Stevie Wonder (my one friend was convinced that Lenny can't see without his sunglasses) and sometimes James Brown with all the fancy footwork. Kind of split-personality confusing!

Every so often he'd head over to our side of the stage and give the crowd what another friend called the total f*** face (she meant it in a very good way, like he was totally sexy). Anyhoo, his singing was great, I absolutely love that there is a lead singer left on earth that plays his own guitar solos, and the music was cool. Best part: When he finally stripped down to his tank top and showed some skin. My ears stopped ringing three days later (we were right in front of the stacks...) and all was cool in the world.

A few days later, I headed out to the U2 show with a friend. Here's where things get sticky: As much as I like U2, and have for longer than I'd care to remember, this one had a lot of elements I don't love about concerts. The whole thing felt Vegas-y and overblown and cheesy. Costumes, goosestepping, Hitler images, political pandering, yuck. I just want to hear you play, dude. Just sing, OK? Here's how it goes: All is quiet, on New Year's Day... I totally respect that you use your fame for the good of starving children in Africa--that part I didn't mind you talking about--but it is supposed to be about rock 'n roll, isn't it? Dancing around an egg-shaped stage with the cheesy light show in a huge venue while flashing pictures of Clinton and Bush just doesn't do it for me.

And don't even get me started on the girl who got up on stage and pretended to play guitar. SHE FREAKING WASN'T EVEN SWITCHING CHORDS OR STRUMMING ON CUE. It was just like before I took up guitar, I thought Lindsay Lohan was really playing in Freaky Friday and it pissed me off she had learned to rock in like, 6 months. Then, I saw the movie again after I started playing and realized she was faking it. Dupe city.

Bottom line on U2: They're great, but it all felt soulless to me. I think I just prefer to get up close and personal with up-and-coming bands in much smaller venues.

BTW, opener Kings of Leon were totally rock 'n roll. A little grungy, a little loud, a little raspy. Loved them! Gotta go get the CD. Or download it from iTunes.

Final show of the week...don't laugh...Billy Idol. This one was SO much fun, what a great surprise. I had gotten the tix as a b-day present to my hubby, so I expecting him to have a lot more fun than me, but no. We both had a blast. First let me say--whatever you've been doing to that bod Billy, keep at it. He had six-pack abs and biceps to die for. Somebody told me (that you had a boyfriend that looked like a girlfriend...no wait, that's a different band) that he was on VH1's "Remaking" show but I've yet to confirm that one.

Anyway, Billy looked good, sounded good, knew how to make the fans up front happy (this time we were sitting in the balcony of that same little theater I saw Lenny at) and wasn't afraid to make fun of himself. I mean, don't you hate when those older bands refuse to play their hits (the reason you came to the damn show)? That's crap, and Billy didn't do that one bit. Sweaty, stupid fun, all of it.

Can't WAIT to see Green Day in August. I LOVE Green Day. Completely obsessed, I am. I'm sure I'll see a lot more shows before then, though. What's everybody out there listening to?