Ramble On- March 30

Lucero--It gets the worst at night



I hadn't listened to much Lucero until lately, which is unfortunate, because I'm loving them. This song especially. Because really, if a song can't make me cry, then whoever wrote it didn't try hard enough.

My favorite country song ever?

I dare say so.



I know this should embarrass me. It doesn't.





Let me just tell you, sing this song to me and I'm yours. I don't care if you're a singing parrot. Doesn't matter. Still yours.

But on a serious note, can you teach a cat to sing? I'm gonna try and find out.

Ramble On--March 18

Chris Cornell--Call Me a Dog



"You say it's bad luck to have fallen for me"

This has been my song today, on repeat over and over. Things are weird and all mixed up, Im turning 25 in a few days,and, oh yeah, I'm living with my parents again. So I need constants to keep it together. Chris Cornell has a voice that is a constant for me--never disappointing, never changing. Good day or bad day, the song remains the same. His raw voice and the pure honesty that comes out in every single word- it grounds me when I'm on the verge of blowing away. And that is just what I need right now.

Ok, I'm going to go watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for the 15 millionth time (it's another of my constants--my favorite movie ever) and wonder if I'll ever find someone to love me soooo much that i can talk him into getting "meet me in montauk" tattooed on his arm. K bye.

New Music Tuesday Part 1- Mona

This is a really exciting new music Tuesday for me! Two of my very favorite bands released new stuff that I can't wait to share.

Mona is a band that I honestly loved from the first time my ears ever heard them. They were making music that was different, vibrant, alive, moving and real. Mona has a Kings of Leon-ish feel, but with a much more upbeat, fun side to it. They rock, but not in the way that all this current over-produced radio bands rock. There is an element of passion that's just inescapable on their first self titled album (which I can say with little doubt was my favorite album I discovered in 2012).

So when I saw on Twitter last night that they had released the first new single from their upcoming album, I was ecstatic. I bought it immediately, without even previewing it. I was so hungry for new Mona that I didn't care if it was garbage. Luckily for me and my $1.29, it's not garbage at all.

"Goons (Baby, I Need it All)" is different from old Mona, not quite as epic and mind-blowing, but still a great song that is just so different from everything else out right now. I highly recommend you get it, as well as their first album. And most definitely check out their live show-- I go to a lot of shows, but I can easily say the two times I have seen Mona have been two of the best rock shows I have been to. They are really that good.

The song is streaming now on Spinner.com http://idj.to/12LYYvy or you can get it on iTunes. Go ahead. Just buy it. You won't regret it.

Ramble On--March 8

A wonderful recommendation that I'm too stubborn to admit I'm appreciative of.

Tyler Bryant and The Shakedown--Being Here



"You rescue me from the place I disappear"

Good music can rescue you from anywhere. And it is always there, waiting to pick you up when, "like a leaky faucet", things get bad and keep getting worse.

Find the song, the one you need. Play it on repeat so many times that you begin to anticipate every beat of the drum and strum of the guitar. So many times that you feel the words before they are even sung. Maybe cry, maybe hold it in until you're better suited to handle it.

Close your eyes, and just know that the song is there. There to wrap you up and sing you to sleep tonight, and the next night, and the next. It's always there, as long as you need it. And one day you won't anymore. And you can push it back out of your way. You may never need it again. But just in case you do, it's still here to rescue you from the place you disappear.

Making the Video: January in Louisiana

I was super lucky enough to be asked to help with Blake Judd/Judd Films & Fifth on the Floor's video shoot for the first single off their new album (Ashes & Angels, available nationally NEXT WEEK March 12!). The "January in Louisiana" video is set in a jail, and we had a perfect location in the old Jessamine County Jail. It was dusty, decrepit and quite frankly, creepy as hell but provided the perfect vibe for the song.      

I took a few pictures of the shoot while I wasn't busy production assistanting (which really just consisted of trip to pick up Taco Bell and one of the actors. I was a terrible assistant, actually. But completely available if anyone else is interested in hiring me!). I was mesmerized by the whole process, which was so professional and so legit. I felt like I was on the set of a real life, famous band's shoot ---and I guess I was. Fifth is kind of a big deal. And they have a badass merch girl. Or so I've heard.

I only took pictures of a couple of scenes when I wasn't too busy being all fangirl. Most are from the first scene that they shot, but there are also a few from the rest of the 12-hour day. (See, I'm a very hard worker, you know you want to hire me to be your merch girl, assistant, nanny, dog walker, child walker, etc. Mama Kelli is broke, y'all.)

The end of the video is going to be breathtaking, just absolutely mind blowing, so I purposely didn't take any pictures of it, as not to leak any spoilers. But even if I had wanted to take pictures, I don't think I could have. I was too busy sitting outside the cell, peeking through the bars with their peeling old paint, with my hand covering my mouth, cold chills covering my arms, eyes on the verge of tears. It was that awesome. 

The "January in Louisiana" video is going to be ahh-mazing. As soon as it is out you know I will post it here to share with you! Until then, here is the song (if you like it, it's available now on iTunes! I think I deserve a raise for all this promo....). Listen as you check out the pictures from the set.

 

Not gonna lie, I loved getting to sit by Blake and watch what was being filmed bu Cory on the monitor. Other than losing the feeling in my toes in the icy jail. But who really needs toes.

Justin Wells. Professional Cameraman. Or cameraman you need when the professional isn't quite giant tall.

Original old jail registry

Last scene of the night. It was freezing outside, but I didn't want to miss a thing. Or be alone inside that surely haunted jail

Old friends and new friends, all amazingly talented people.

And after the video shoot. Celebrating a sucessful day.

Murica.

Can't keep a diva off the stage.

Thanks again for showing me how to do this, Blake!!

We will stay in your establishment until we drink all your booze and annoy all your employees. Sorry, not sorry.

Steal hats, take pictures.

I like goats.

I was just thinking to myself that I like videos of goats screaming much more than I enjoy the Harlem Shake videos (I know you've been dying to know my opinion). But then I found the two combined, and now my day has been made. It was exactly what I needed as I drank my breakfast green tea (yes, it is noon, but I'm in kind of a bad place so I sleep a lot. Don't judge me, especially after I just shared this piece of cinematic gold with you). As I contemplate the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad decision of whether or not I want to move back in with my parents, I just keep watching goats dance. Maybe I just need a goat. Can anybody lend me a pygmy goat? Or a fainting goat? He'd have to be a hearty fainting goat, because I would be scaring the shit outta that little baby allllll dayyyyyyy long.  

tour blog 12

Friday, February 22

Old 33 Inn

Wapakoneta, Ohio

I'm not sure why I become a selfie taking monster when I get into my seat in the van. Also, I love mascara and pink lipstick and wearing white in the winter time.

Well thank goodness. I was worried that we came all this way for nothing.

Tell me this looks impressive. Because I spent a crap ton of time getting it reorganized after the disaster I left it in following the cd release party.

And then I got head-butted and confused my reflection for someone else in the bathroom mirror. But I made lots of money so it's ok!

Anddddd cue post show self portrait photo shoot at the bar.....

Best pic of the night award goes to...

Hey you, new friend, smile with me!

 

Someone told us that we had to eat at the diner in the TA truck stop because it was the oldest in America or something like that. I googled this and found no evidence to back it up. But they did have some damn good coffee and biscuits and gravy. 

And pics like this make me question why in the world i'm still single. A natural beauty, really.

So. Much. Coffees.

New friends (who we probably terrified, per usual)

Saturday, February 23

Dillinger's

New Albany, Indiana 

I day drink like a girl. Gotta get in those fruits!

Touchdown Jesus!

I have never seen quite so many giraffes.

I miss my red lipstick. This lipstick is more hot pink what your drunk grandma wears to bingo lipstick. Imma keep wearing it, but still.

Found this in the van. Mine now!

Louisville. That's the same as New Albany, right? Close enough. Drink more now.

Giant Jenga? Game on.

And then I lost giant Jenga once. And then I lost again. Moral of the story? I suck at giant Jenga and should not play any game where the loser has to buy drinks, as I am always the loser.