Music: January 2008 Archives

Chantootsie incomparable Jill Sobule is trying an experiment:
She is turning to the internet to raise the funds for her next album. On her website jillsnextalbumcom she posts this:

MESSAGE FROM JILL on her website

I have always had trouble asking for help, so I have asked... my mother to do it:

Hi, I'm Elaine, Jill's mother. As you all know, my daughter is a real talent. She has put out 6 great CDs (which never leave my stereo), and has been on 4 labels -- two of which went bankrupt; the other two were also farkakte.

This time she wants to do it on her own. She has some wonderful new songs (although she has not sent them to me, like I asked). She also has lined up some wonderful musicians and guest artists.

So help and be a part of her new album, in exchange for some wonderful gifts and services.

Much love,
Elaine

Thanks, mom. So, last November I sent out a letter toying with the idea of recording a fan-funded CD. It would be a sort of patronage thing, where you guys are the Medici family, except I give you prizes for donations of certain amounts. Here's what I've come up with:

• $25 - Polished Rock Level: An advance copy of the CD. Weeks before the masses.
• $50 - Pewter Level: An advance copy and a "Thank You" on the CD.
• $100 - Copper Level: All the above, plus a T-shirt saying you're a junior executive producer on the album.
• $200 - Bronze Level: Free admission to my shows for 2008.
• $250 - Silver Level: All the above, plus a membership to the "Secret Society Producer's Club," which means you'll get a secret password to a website where I'll post some rough tracks, or... something worthwhile.
• $500 - Gold Level: This is where it gets good! At the end of my CD, I'll do a fun instrumental track where I'll mention your name and maybe rhyme with it. And if you don't want your name used, you can give me a loved one's instead. What a great gift!
• $750 - Gold Doubloons Level: Exactly like the gold level, but you give me more money.
• $1,000 - Platinum Level: How would you like to have a theme song written for you? I'll have a song you can put on your answering machine and show off. Again, this could be a gift.
• $2,500 - Emerald Level: Mentioned as an executive producer of the album -- whoop-di-doo!
• $5,000 — Diamond Level: I will come and do a house concert for you. Invite your friends, serve some drinks, bring me out and I sing. Actually, this level is a smart choice economically. I've played many house concerts where the host has charged his guests and made his money back. I'd go for this if I were you.
• $10,000 - Weapons-Grade Plutonium Level: You get to come and sing on my CD. Don't worry if you can't sing - we can fix that on our end. Also, you can always play the cowbell.

I basically want to come up with $75,000 for recording and other related costs. I'll keep up you up to date on the tally (like the Jerry Lewis Telethon) and once I arrive at my goal, I'll show you where the money is going... Atlantic City! No, I promise to make you all a great record, with your help.

[Donate now]

This is exactly what the internet was supposed to be about: letting artists find a more direct route to their audience. So check it out . Jill's already more than a third of the way there. Tell her Tommywood sent you.....

Rolling Stone reports that Amy Winehouse, fresh out of rehab is considering recording some Hanukkah songs, such as "Kosher Kisses" -- see below

Grammy-nominated DJ and super-producer Mark Ronson tells Rolling Stone’s Nicole Frehsee that he’s seen his most famous collaborator (other than Bob Dylan), Amy Winehouse, recently, and they discussed new music. “She’s writing songs, and we talked about getting a studio,” says Ronson. “I have to finish a few other things first, but I imagine we’ll go into the studio this year.”

Ronson also said there may be another, more unusual project in the works. “We’re talking about making a holiday record, with Christmas songs on one side and Hanukkah songs on the other,” Ronson explained. “She’s got songs called, like, ‘Kosher Kisses’ and ‘Alone Under the Mistletoe.’ She was kind of fucking around, but I was like, ‘You have all these amazing records to play for Christmas, like Motown and Carla Thomas and the Charlie Brown Christmas, and unfortunately, us Jews have nothing that cool to listen to. So we should do something.”

Mark Ronson, the DJ turned recording Artist, who most recently did a Bob Dylan remix, is from a family of talented, creative and charming folks, including sister Charlotte, a designer, uncle Gerald (British tycoon), stepfather Mick Jones (of Foreigner) and mother Anne (a whirlwind of charm) --  you can read more about him and his family in a recent story in the UK Guardian here. But if you want to see a great video, see his recording of "Valerie" with Winehouse on vocals.

First the cause

Over the weekend, entertainment attorney and media strategy consultant par excellence Ken Hertz  (or my friend Kenny, as I usually call him) hosted an informational salon at his home for FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums), an organization whose mission is, in their own words:

“To shine a light on the human face of sentencing, advocate for state and federal sentencing reform and mobilize thousands of individuals and families whose lives are adversely affected by unjust sentences.”

I could tell you about the heartbreaking personal stories of non-violent offenders we heard – such as Michael Riggs, a man who shoplifted a $23 bottle of vitamins, and who the State spent almost $400,000 keeping in prison for more than a decade, before FAMM working with the law firm Mayer Brown (who worked on the case pro bono) was able to file a habeas corpus claim to free him. (see http://tinyurl.com/2ca8dm).

Now, the entertainment: organized and MC'd by JILL SOBULE

But I am here to tell you about the music Jill Sobule organized for the event. First of all there was Jill, who performed her beautiful heart-breaking ballad “Mexican Wrestler”. She also performed with Julia Sweeney – doing a bit from their “Jill & Julia” show coming to a theater very soon – Jill sings a song and then Julia tells a story on a related theme – and it works! (I actually hope they start recording some of their bits and posting them on you tube – that’s my suggestion for what it’s worth).

 

Also performing was Wayne Kramer. WAYNE KRAMER!!!! It’s possible you might say, Who is Wayne Kramer? Or be surprised that it’s that Wayne Kramer, the legendary icon of the Detroit Rock scene, founding member of the MC5, (who knows a thing or two about serving time for drugs) and played with Johnny Thunders in the band Gang War. Fellow Detroit musical genius DON WAS produced his album, “The Hard Stuff.”

Wayne Kramer performed an amazing song about "The Promised Land" so-called.

 
Don Was, at one point was talking to me about doing a documentary about the history, the meaning, the importance of Detroit Rock. Somewhere along the research I found out that a documentary was being done on the MC5 and that Wayne Kramer was working on it and that seemed to cover the territory. On Sunday, I asked Kramer what became of that documentary and he told me that he parted ways with those filmmakers but, with a sly grin, he said he hoped that he would find another way to get the film made. I hope so – the importance of Detroit in American Rock and Roll has never got its due (beyond Motown – which also deserves a more prominent place in the history books). I have never been to Detroit, but when I go, one stop I must make is to the Motown museum.

 As well as the great Jude --

Next up was Jude --- one of the great voices and great singer-songwriters around. His last album “Redemption” was released in France on the naïve label (which is also home to Carla Bruni). Jude was part of “The Low Stars” a CSN&Y type supergroup which you might have seen next to cash register at Starbucks.

Last and certainly not least, was Lissie, a new artist whose voice filled the room – remember you heard it here first -- Jewel is the poor man’s Lissey. She’s opening this Thursday for Lenny Kravitz at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium – and I’m eager to see if she blows away the crowd (and the critics) as she did at Ken’s home.