DJ Emily "BabyMama" Smith

San Francisco Fusion Exchange 2012

2012-01-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

Biggest and best year yet! I'm on such a high from the adrenaline of being at a 400+ people event! It was so great to see so many friends, to have amazing dancing, to hear great music all weekend, and to be in San Francisco once again. I love that city.
With a well-organized team of people running this event, it seems they had everything covered from a professional sound-guy all weekend to a pre-event city-wide scavenger hunt for those who came early. This event just keeps getting better every year.
There were almost always 3 rooms of dancing in the evening, and a DJ during the lunch hour during the day for those who attended workshops. In short, there was always music playing to dance to, and always someone to dance with. The many who I've talked to returned home sore, exhilarated, and satisfied.
This year, I stayed on staff as the main music coordinator. It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun! I got to meet and work with a lot of DJs, I learned how to push passed my own level of comfort and become more professional, and I got to watch the magic unfold as the DJs and bands we chose filled each room with their fantastic music. Way to go music team for making this event so amazing!

And now I will lists my sets for you -
Friday main room 10-11pm band break blues set
Ray Charles - It Makes No Different Now
Moreland and Arbuckle - Variations on Juke
Watermelon Slim & The Workers- Hard Times
Otis Spann - One More Mile to Go
Tuba Skinny - Frosty Morning
Janiva Magness - That's What Love Will Make You Do
Muddy Waters - I Love the Life I Live
Ernestine Anderson - Please send me Someone to Love
Blue Harlem - Drown in My Own Tears
Charles Brown - I Lost Everything
James Cotton Blues Band - Soul Survivor
Susan Tedeschi - It Hurt So Bad
Luther Allison - Little Red Rooster
Bettye Lavette - Joy
Mikel Lander & Meridith Moore - Heaven
Taj Mahal - Cakewalk

Sunday room 3 10-11 Jazz-blues set
The Solomon Douglas Swingtet - The Mooche
Diana Krall - Stop This World
Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers - Pink Champagne
Count Basie and Joe Willians - Hallelujah I Love Her So
Sidney Bechet - Blues In The Air
Tuba Skinny - Nobody's Blues But Mine
Gene Harris - Down Home Blues
Gordon Webster - Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You
Dream a Little Dream of Me - Bar Scott
My Blue Heaven - Norah Jones
Mikel Lnder & Merideith Moore - Ramblin' Man
Jimmy Forrest - Flight 3-D
Maria Muldaur - Empty Bed Blues
Nina Simone - Since I Fell For You
GRP All-Star Big Band - Stormy Monday Blues

My 3rd set during Saturday late night was shared with A'lan. It was a great set, but it was only an hour long and was spit between the 2 of us. I only ended up play 6 songs, which I am not posting unless someone absolutely requests that I do.

It truly was a great event. I learned a lot helping organize it, I learned a lot during it, and I am continuing to learn as we prepare for what lies ahead next year!

For those interested in how we took care of the kiddos. This trip was particularly challenging, with a newborn and a 2-yr-old. We decided to leave Evelyn home with some friends, but needed to take Kaylee since she is still nursing. Having Kaylee at the event was really fun, but it hindered actually being able to dance a lot. Someone always needed to be holding her since she's bit colic-y and hates the car seat. We were fortunately able to solicit a little help during the weekend (thanks, Carly and Carrie :), but it wasn't he easiest task keeping her happy all the time. She's used to her swing, and her bumbo chair for comfortable sitting, both of which were left at home. We had arranged housing with a close friend, so we were at least taken care of on that front. And we had a rental car for safe and warm transportation. There was no way I was going to add trying to take the BART everywhere to my complications, especially since the neighborhood was rumored to be unsafe.
This is the first trip that we did almost have to call it quits early for our kids though. We got a 4am call after Friday's dance from the people taking care of Evelyn. Her minor stuffy nose had turned to a sever cough overnight. She was coughing so hard she couldn't breath and our friends were afraid for her life. They decided they were no longer comfortable caring for her in the condition she was in and they asked us to catch the next flight home. In a panic, Michael and I pulled all resources, including our pediatric 24-hr nurse, Michael's cousin who is a nurse at Children's, and friends who might be up for caring for a sick 2-yr-old. Fortunately, Anna, our housemate, was on her way home from her Alaska trip and was happy to bring Evelyn home and take care of her. Having Evelyn sleeping in her own bed with some instructions on ways to treat her cold and help her be comfortable, in addition to having family on call, saved our weekend for us. Thank you SO much Anna, Alan, and Dave, for coming in last minute and caring for her when we could not. Coming home early would have been difficult, expensive, and would have turned months of planning into a complete failure of a trip. Of course, if she really would have been in distress enough to need emergency care, we would have been there. We had the travel agent on the phone and all we had to do was say yes and we would have been on the Saturday morning flight home. We were happy it was simply a cold. A BAD cold, but a cold non-the-less.The lesson we learned from this seems so obvious now that I can't believe we didn't think of it before hand. Always leave the pediatrician's information with care givers, and a signed note that gives them permission to take her in for care.

Where have I been?!

2012-01-09T09:34:00.000-08:00

The last 2 events I attended very sadly did not get blogs written on them. I will now do a quick summary followed my excuses for missing it:

PBEx - coolest event ever! What an experience! This event was seriously unlike any blues event I've been to. Live blues all day and into the evening, a cruise ship experience with live and DJ'd music, and late night dances to follow it all up. I wish I would have been less pregnant so I could have enjoyed it a bit more. I can't wait for next year's!

ECBF 2011, the last one! It was a great event, but it seemed to me that this event hit it's prime a few years back. The best part about this event, for me, was the Friday night trapeze venue. What a place! And of course, I always love Brother Yusef :) I didn't get to experience a lot of the event myself because I had a brand new baby, and the recovery from the delivery took its sweet time.
This year, I did the housing for the event and actually really enjoyed it!

So, if you didn't get this news earlier, I had a baby on September 24th, so I've been unavailable for dancing and events since about mid-July, when my body stopped allowing it. With my first pregnancy, I continued to get out at night a lot. That's because I could sleep during the day. With this last pregnancy, I had a toddler to care for during the day and thus, needed to take things a little more easy.
The good news is, I have 2 beautiful girls, and I won't be getting pregnant again any time soon. Even better news, my babies love to dance! HOORAY!

Show Me Blues 2011

2011-06-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well organized with local highlights like Kim Massie, Show Me Blues has once again won me over.

Kim Massie, although sick for her performance (nausea), sung her heart out and did amazing. Everybody loved her, as they always do.
The Friday night band was good at playing authentic blues music, but could have probably tailored their set more toward performing for dancers. I still enjoyed them.
Steven Watkins, no surprise, played great sets. Due to his relationship with Kim Massie, I don't think that event can function without Steven :) Nor should it!
The DJ battle took a lot longer than expected, but I think that's okay. The DJ choices for next year will be great! It was a tie between Tyler Robbins and a very handsome man whose name I knew last week. The other DJs for the event did really great too! I like how much jazz-blues is played when I travel east.

The Saturday activity - St. Louis City Museum. I brought Michael and Evelyn with me to this event specifically for this activity. It was so fun! It will be more fun when she's older, but we had a great time going through the cave tunnels with her, 6 month pregnant belly and all. I worked really hard to stay in shape throughout my pregnancy just for this museum and it's tunnel-climbing. What a BLAST! More pictures will soon be posted on my facebook profile!

I got the DJ right before the band on Friday, and the band breaks. I love to DJ band breaks! The energy is always so high in the room! The downside this time was that because the band wasn't accustomed to playing for dancers, they didn't understand that they needed to give me a warning before they stopped playing. It was kind of a shocker to be watching the clock thinking "the scheduled break is in half an hour," and then hear the band say "we're gonna go take a break now." AH! Okay! *run to the front of the room, open of the laptop and quickly find an awesome song* Unfortunately, the first time this happened I was in the bathroom. I came out to a bunch of people saying "everyone's looking for you!" THAT was exciting ;)

Sunday night dancing started at 6pm and ended at 6am! WOW! And it was awesome. I got the DJ the very last set, so we were there till the bitter end, which is a set I want every year! The last hour became a total party hour. The sun was coming up, it was the end of the weekend, and we'd all passed extremely tired and gone straight to crazy!
My set list from the weekend:
Robert Lockwood, Jr. - Take a Little Walk With me
Ernestine Anderson - Please Send Me Someone to Love
Josh White - Woman Sure Is a Curious Critter
Mikel Lander and Merideth Moore - Ramblin' Man
Ray Charles - I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town
Big Mama Thornton - Sometimes I Have a Heartache
Tommie Lee Bradley - Walkin' After Midnight
Koko Taylor - Piece of Man
Atlantic Jazz - Evenin'
Fiona Boyes - Mercy
Lowell Fulson - Everyday I Have the Blues
The Fabulous Thunderbirds - She's Tuff
Elvis Presley - Steamroller Blues
The Yardbirds - Take It Easy Baby
Muddy Waters - I Just Want to Make Love To You
Luther Allison - Little Red Rooster
The California Honeydrops - Rain
Sam Lay - I Gotta Find My Baby
Esther Phillips - Double Crossing Blues
Susan Tedeschi - It Hurts Me Too
Louis Armstrong - When It's Sleepy Time Down South
Louise Hoffsten - Love to Love You
Taj Mahal - Statesboro Blues
Asylum Street Spankers - Song With No Words
Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham - Midnight Mama
Etta James - You're Gonna Make Me Cry
Shuggie Otis - Sweet Thang
The Allman Brothers Band - It's Not My Cross to Bear
Fiona Boyes - Good Lord Made You So
Mark Hummel - Black Night
Preservation Hall Jazz Band - Rockin' Chair w/Louis Armstrong
Gordon Webster - Mo' Better Blues
Eva Cassidy - Stormy Monday
Josh White - One Meat Ball
Stevie Ray Vaughan
James Cotton Blues Band - Love Me Or Leave Me
Louisana Red - Sad Night
Delta Moon - You Got to Move
Lou Ann Barton - One Good Man
Louis Armstrong - La Vie En Rose
Andrew Odom - Farther Up The Road
B.B. King - Blind Love
Etta James - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man
Wildsang - Come On In My Kitchen
Johnny Copeland - Down on Bended Knees
Irma Thomas and Jimmy McCracklin- Tomorrow
John Lee Hooker - Down Child
Rufus Thomas and Carla Thomas - Sixty Minute Man
Ellen Whyte - Over My Shoulder
Shuggie Otis - Gospel Groove
The Bodice Rippers - Bad Girl
Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch - Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby
Billie Holliday - Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You
Mavis Staples - Step Into the Light
Blue Harlem - Drown In My Own Tears
Betty Harris - Cry to Me
Solomon Burke - You're Good For Me
The Jackson 5 - Whatever You Got, I Want
*Birthday Jam to F*** You*
Kristin Andreassen - Crayola Doesn't make a Color For Your Eyes
Rising Appalachia - Honey Baby Blues
Blues Man Group - Sing Along
Cake - Let Me Go
Quix*o*tic - Anonymous Face
Soup Dragons - I'm Free
Marc Broussard - Home
David Keogh - Firecracker

The gem song I heard for the first time was one played by Steven. I can't remember the artist, but the title of the song is "I Left My Baby." The original was done by Count Basie.

Traveling with a toddler and pregnant belly? We made it our family summer vacation together. Eva was still under 2 yrs, so she sat on our laps on the plane. . mostly Michael's since mine is so small. We were extremely fortunate to have an assigned babysitter - the main organizer's daughter, Natalia! Natalia was at the dances and would randomly entertain Evelyn for some time while we danced. She also slept on the floor where Evelyn was sleeping on Friday night, and stayed home with her on both Saturday and Sunday night so that we could put her to bed and leave her. The best way to travel with a toddler to an event you want to sleep in at is to travel somewhere with at least a 2-hr time difference! In Seattle, she goes to bed at 8 and wakes at 8. In St. Louis, that stayed the same, except the clock said 10! WOOT! So, we got the pleasure of dancing late, together, without worrying about her. Then we got to sleep! (In the past, she wakes up right as we get in and want to go to bed. That sucked.) Traveling pregnant? That was my last trip on a plane until SFFX. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't easy. In addition, pregnancy causes the immune system some stress, so it was really easy for me to pick up whatever floating virus was on the plane.

Thank you, Jenni, and Jeff, and Natalia, for the amazing family weekend we have! I can't wait for next year!

SLOx 2011!

2011-05-04T13:16:00.001-07:00

*Sigh of relaxation* This exchange, for me, outlines what every exchange should be: a vacation, with good dancing. There were places for just chilling out and having a good conversation if you needed a break from dancing. At many exchanges I feel like I have to remove myself from the dance to stop dancing. Here, you could take a break and still feel like you were part of the night.
The day events were my favorite part. No, the bands were my favorite part. No, hanging out with my friends was my favorite part. No . . . I could go on :)

But I'll start with the day events.
Lindy games in the park. Because WHO CARES if you're dancing on GRASS?! It's a game day! We want to eat powdered doughnuts and throw water balloons while dancing and you can't do that just any dance floor. My feet got green and my skin got sun-kissed, and I haven't laughed so hard while dancing since . . . . I can't remember. With this growing pregnant belly, I couldn't participate in many of the games, either because you had to move to fast for me to keep up, or because I was afraid a water balloon would hit me in the belly, but they were hysterical to watch! Banana Bal was the one I did and we probably could have gotten a lot further in the game if we hadn't been laughing so hard! The great part, majority of the time at the park I didn't even dance. I was just hanging out in the shade, seeing old friends, listening to Dexter serenade us, eating snacks, and re-connecting with the people that I only ever see at exchanges. Sunday day event: SAME THING only this time at the BEACH! Take 100 dancers, plop them on a beach. YES. Games, lying in the sun, playing in the water, and a random live band on the boardwalk that you could choose to dance to or to hang out and listen to. It felt like a vacation with my dancer friends. It was absolutely incredible.

Evening events were equally as fun. A wide variety of tempos, music, and a packed blues room. There was also a lounge outside the dance room for when you wanted to not dance but still socialize. Once again, you didn't HAVE to dance to feel like you were part of the exchange. I absolutely loved it! The dancing was good, the bands were good, the DJs were awesome. AND let me just say, this is one of the most organized events I've been to! Those college girls (and guys too). . . ;) They were all right on top of "are you ready for your set? Do you need some water?" They made sure everything I needed was taken care of immediately. They new exactly what to do, and when to do it. They knew what happened before me, what happened after me, and where to go if I needed help with anything like sound equipment. And, from where I was standing, it looked like they were also able to participate in their own weekend and have a great time with it. Way to totally nail it! VERY impressive.

The blues room. OH the blues room. One word to describe it: SATISFYING. Every DJ was totally rockin' it. I was the closing set on Saturday and the room was still full at the very end of my set. What an amazing energy to be a part of!
Because every DJ was so amazing, I'm going to do something different with this blog. Rather than post my set list (unless anyone reading it really really wants me to post it), I'm going to write down, for my own record if nothing else, all of the new music I was introduced to that I absolutely loved!

MSG acoustic Blues Trio
The White Ghost Shivers
Tipsy Gypsies
Lipbone Redding
Melody Gardot
Joe Henry

There are many more that I didn't get to write down, regretfully. All the same, the music was amazing and this event tops the charts for me.

Babies: Evelyn stayed in Seattle with my mother, who was thrilled to have her. While in SLO, it was easy to identify that, with the right housing arrangements, we could bring kids to this event. We could have brought our freakin' DOG to this event, it was so family friendly. This weekend made me want to MOVE to SLO because it seems like a great place to raise a family. The pregnant belly - I was sore, I won't lie, but it was worth it.

Oh California, I love you.

What is fusion?

2011-04-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

Rising in popularity are fusion events and venues.

When you hear the word “fusion,” what kind of music do you think of? Right now, many DJs and dancers expect to play/dance to experimental songs that fall under multiple categories: dub-step, trip-hop, electronica, hip-hop, and whatever else stretches the dancer to experiment with the dance techniques and try new things. “Blues fusion” can be any song that you can potentially blues dance to that isn’t actually blues. Sometimes, hopefully more often than not, “fusion” means combining 2 different dances; other times, it means anything goes.

Fusion has so much potential for growth for all dancers because it provides an environment where multiple dance styles are encouraged. However, I really feel that the term “fusion” should be saved for when you’re fusing 2 dances together, like “tango-blues fusion,” for example. A song that you can potentially blues dance to that isn’t a blues song, I feel, should be called “experimental” rather than “fusion.” Fusion, in itself, is not a genre, and I think the term has gotten very ambiguous in the dance scene. When someone is scheduled to DJ a “fusion” set, what does that mean? I’ve come to expect just about anything, which makes me feel like there is absolutely no structure to what fusion DJs are being asked to play.

“Can you play a fusion-y set?” hmmmm . . . . . okay so a blues song maybe every . . . 4-5 songs? And what do I play in between? Anything you potentially blues dance to, which means something different to everyone. Play all the music that makes you want to dance that you can’t play anywhere else. That makes me want to play “Lean On Me” by Club Nouveau.

I would love to see more required of fusion DJs. Give us a reason to really learn the dance! Fusion events and venues organize these kick-ass classes, but those classes will produce little results if the dancers aren’t pushed to use those skills on the social dance floor. This is why I like the traveling fusion exchange so much – they have assigned sets for WCS, tango, and blues. There still are “fusion” sets, where anything goes, but you at least have multiple opportunities to dance the dances you’re learning in the workshops.

As far as “fusion” dances and venues, I think the DJs need more structure. If your lesson is on Tango, hire a Tango DJ to trade 3s with a blues DJ; do the same with WCS, Lindy-Hop, Salsa, or any other kind of dance style you’re focusing on that night. Because what it really comes down to what the DJs are playing. You can talk and teach these multiple dances at the beginning of a dance or during workshops at an event, but you’ll get nowhere if you teach different dance styles at fusion workshops and then send your dancers off to evening and night dances that aren’t full of this kind of music. Right now, there’s no salsa played in a fusion set. There’s most definitely no upbeat big band to Lindy-Hop to. I do like hearing tango-alternative music, or pop for WCS, or real blues in these fusion sets, majority of the songs you can dance all 3 of these styles to. THAT is great “fusion” music. Tango, blues, and west-coast dancers can dance to many different kinds of music and there is a lot of music that you can do all 3 dances to in one song if you want. However, the “experimental” songs, the ones that are not blues, not good songs for WCS, not Tango songs, but just something a little different to stretch the imagination for your dancing, are being classified as “fusion.” I’ve seen it called “liquid” or “alt-blues,” which I think are both appropriate. I believe this is where there is exponential room for improvement. This is where there is very little structure, and very little requirements for DJs. We need guidance! Leaders, give us direction! WHAT IS FUSION?! When you ask me to play fusion, what exactly are you wanting me to play? Because everywhere I go, it’s something different.

In the future, I plan to host a Lindy-fusion workshop and dance specific to the blues dance community who started out doing blues and haven’t yet taken the jump into the world of Lindy. More to come on that later.

Urban Blues Recess 2011

2011-04-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

I've taken time figuring what to write on the blog for this event. I like writing a review about the event as a whole, but as I didn't see much of this event, it's difficult. The parts that I did see I didn't really enjoy because it just wasn't my thing. I will say this, however, this event certainly has my mind racing, finding my own definition of what fusion means to me. That I will post in a later blog. This blog is my reflection of the event.

It started with Friday evening for us. We were planning on leaving Seattle around 6-ish. Around 4-ish, I found out, from a friend, not from the event itself, that tent city was totally packed and there wouldn't be any room for us so we had no where to stay. The warehouse venue had to be changed last minute; last minute meaning 10 days before the event. Being that we were planning on bringing Evelyn, we can't exactly find somewhere random to crash last minute, and we weren't up for getting a hotel since I was only committed to one set, which was during the Saturday workshop lunch break when everyone leaves for lunch. Aside from the fact that we didn't hear this from the event itself, and the main organizer of the event had personally told me that we could stay there, I was less than happy about this. So we weren't going to go at all. Then fate happened to have a friend who had bought a house the day before and had not yet filled it, giving us plenty of space for a toddler and her pack n' play. Had it not been for this friend, we wouldn't have gone, for sure. Thanks, Dennis, for buying a house and sharing it with us and Jean, for inviting us to stay there with your group.

Friday night venue was split between 3 different places: 2 bars and a coffee shop. With Evelyn in tow, we chose to spend the whole night at the coffee shop. I actually loved this venue and probably would have gravitated toward that one regardless of having a toddler as company. The only downside was that there was only one blues set. The rest was "fusion." (Hence my recent contemplation of what that even means). I like blues dancing because I LOVE blues music. Take that away and I'm just not that into it. Old school R&B, modern electronica, hip-hop and trip-hop are fun to experiment with for one song here and there, but I like the night to be brought back to blues during a set with those kinds of songs and these sets didn't. There was very little blues at the Urban BLUES recess (not too surprised since I read a description of the event).

Looking over the workshop schedule, I was impressed by everything that was offered! He really had a great line-up of teachers and an extremely wide variety of classes, ranging from ballet to wresting to acro to education about female health (taught by Midwife Mindy :). Very cool. The part I didn't like was actually the one set I was assigned to DJ: the lunch break blues set to keep people dancing during the lunch break. What I did not know what that this was also the schedule time for the preliminary competitions, and they didn't want blues competition songs, they wanted "fusion-y" competition songs (again, what does that even mean?!?!). I had 10 minutes to prepare. I have plenty of blues competition songs ready at any moment, but alternative, hip-hop, electronica, soul competition songs? Not really. I would have, had I known at least a day in advance. They gave me 10 minutes. What was also not communicated was that they needed to be 2-minute segments. As I was trying to find the right music, I was not paying close attention to how long a song was going. I think I even let one song go the entire 4 minutes. Sorry. I had Ruth talking to me when I couldn't hear her and was feeling the pressure of finding the right non-blues song when I'm primarily a blues DJ. I could have done so much better had I known before-hand. Oh well. That scenario has inspired me to examine all of my non-blues danceable songs and star the really awesome ones in case that ever happens again.
I will give props to Justin for finding my laptop charging cable that I left at the venue. I didn't notice I'd left it until I got home. He found and mailed it to me a week later. THANK YOU!!

*deep breath of frustration* Moving on.

The evening dance. A public, social dance for a national event. I guess I can't say I wasn't warned. The event publicized the theme. I didn't fully understand until I showed up. I'm sorry, I'm just not into that. Perhaps it's the pregnancy, but dancing without clothes on just isn't appealing to me, in any circumstance. I don't want my hand on some guys sweaty back unless I'm . . well . . in a completely different setting . . . Majority of the crowd, men and women, were dressed in women's lingerie. Some men pulled it off really well (Chris Harris with his blond wig ;), some didn't (dude in the shiny-silver, crotch-wrap thing). I mean, I know guys have packages. I don't enjoy seeing them outlined in their clothes. Some people are into that and those people had a great time, and that's awesome! A majority of the crowd was totally into the theme. The ones not into it were ostracized. I like themes and all, but I like themes where the people who opt out of participating can still have a good time. This was not one of those themes. If you weren't into it, there were a handful of people you could dance with, and rest of the time, you were uncomfortable.

Two really great things came out of this event: the organizers, although lacking in a lot of organizational skills during the weekend, did an amazing job bringing in great dancers from all over the country. There were many teachers and DJs with only one set to spin and/or one class to teach. That quickly gets a lot of really talented people at your event. I had a great time seeing and spending time with friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. I love that about dance events. Item #2: This event has motivated to me to really think about how I feel about blues, fusion, and events as a whole. My mind is somewhere different as I'm listening to my music every day. My opinion has strengthened (or changed. . I'm not really sure), about what blues means to me and about what fusion means to me. I have a new motivation to make improvements in the scene and I'm excited to see where it takes me!

Here is my lunch hour set list, and the songs I played for the competition:
Basin Street Blues by Ray Charles
This is Hip by John Lee Hooker and Ry Cooder
Zip a Dee Doo Dah by the Fabulous Thunderbirds (this is from the Blues Album we bought for Evelyn: Big Blues Blues Music for Kids :D )
Come On In My Kitchen by Rory Block
Blood On the Ground by Richi Sambora
One Meat Ball by Annie Ross
Come On Baby by Jimmy Reed
The Walk by Big Bones

comp break. Then:
Round & Round by Bonnie Raitt
I Prefer You by Etta James
Step Into the Light by Mavis Staples

Competition songs:
Swamp Dream by Roy Rogers
Gospel Groove by Shuggie Otis (sorry I let this one play too long :(
As I Am by Alicia Keys (Contemplating over this one, I should have let the beginning of the song play, but I didn't because it doesn't have a dance beat.)
Death Letter (organized Noize Remix) by Johnny Farmer
Baby, Don't You Tear My Clothes by Louise Hoffsten
I Don't WAnt You On My Mind by Janiva Magness (definitely should not have played these 2 back to back for a comp, but didn't have time to find something else)
Sweet Thang by Shuggie Otis
Money by The Lovin' Spoonful
Wade in the Water by Mavis Staples
Long Way to Go by Little Axe

Next time I DJ a "fusion" comp, I'll be a bit more prepared.

With Evelyn, we brought her to the Friday dance and traded off for the Saturday dance. We skipped the workshops. This was not an event for kids, at all, and it sent me home with fantasies about having a family-friendly dance event. . .

Boston Fusion Exchange 2011

2011-01-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

I’ve taken some time to think about how to describe the fusion exchange this year and I can’t seem to find the right words. It was more than amazing, more than phenomenal. How do you describe an indescribable event?

The venue, SpringStep, was made for an event like this. 3 different rooms, 1 being the main large room, a medium-sized room, and a room perfect for what a friend calls “kitchen blues.” There was so much variety that you were sure to find something that made you happy. With an eclectic collection of different DJs and a schedule that gave people great dancing, great performances, and time to celebrate the amazing-ness of the weekend, you couldn’t help but feel the energy in the entire building. If you didn’t like one room, you had 2 others to try out. If you wanted to just relax, there was a comfortable mezzanine with comfy chairs and food at almost all times, day and night. Like I said, the perfect venue!

A learning experience for me: Ivy hired me on as the DJ coordinator, originally as the assistant, than getting promoted when the main coordinator had life priorities to attend to. I loved it and I learned so much. I enjoyed being a part of the event enough that I’m going to do it again next year and I couldn’t be more excited!

Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to attend the workshops, so I have no opinion about them. I had family responsibilities to attend to during the day time. But I will say that the class that seemed to get the most buss was Orville and Kelly’s acro class, regardless of if you can apply those moves to dancing or not J

I had 3 sets, but one was at the very beginning of the last night. Since attendance was so low, I am not posting that set list. But, here is my set list for the other 2 sets, both blues:

Friday evening in the main room:

Rising Appalachia – Nobody’s Fault

Mavis Staples – Down in Mississippi

Steve Guyger – Walkin’ Blues

Christ Thomas King – Cheatin’ Women Blues

ZZ Top – A Fool For Your Stockings

Robben Ford – Good to Love

John Lee Hooker – I’m in the Mood

The Insomniacs – Hoodoo Man Blues

Sonny boy Williamson – Unseen Eye

Betty LaVette – Joy

Louis Hoffsten – Komposten

Mikel Lander and Merideth Moore – Ramblin’ Man

Janiva Magness – I Don’t Want you on my Mind

Koko Taylor and Willie Dixon – Insane Asylum

James Cotton Blues Band – The Blues Keep Falling

B.B. King – My Own Fault

Kim Massie – Good to me as I am to You

Little Walter – Mean Old World

Deborah Coleman – Roll With Me

Tom Waits – Chocolate Jesus

Taj Mahal – Leaving Thrunk

Saturday late night set in the middle room:

Robert Lockwood, Jr. – Take a Little Walk With Me

Junior Parker – Drivin’ Wheel

Lady Bianca – Ooh, His Love is So Good

Nathan James & Ben Hernandez – Run Me Ragged

Bonnie Raitt – I Feel the Same

Set Walker – Since I Fell for You

Janiva Magness – Everything’s Gonna Be Alright

Scrapomatic – Louisiana Anna

Muddy Waters – Rollin’ Stone

Blue Harlem – Drown in My Own Tears

Lowell Fulson – Sleeper

Taj Mahal – Cakewalk Into Town

Nick Moss & the Flip tops – Night Has Fallen

Muddy Waters – Mannish Boy (live)

Rufus and Carla Thomas – Sixty Minute Man

Norah Jones – All Your Love

Atlantic Jazz – Evenin’

Hank Ballard & theMidnighters – Dr. Lover

Shuggie Otis – Gospel Groove

Nina Simone – In the Dark

Peggy Lee – You Don’t Know

Louise Hoffsten – The Seduction of Sweet Louise

Roy Rogers – Swamp Dream

Gordon Webster – Mo’ Better Blues

Elvis Presley - Relax

Gem songs I took away from this event? It was hard to keep track of all the new, amazing songs I heard, but there were a couple that stood out. Allyson Rice (LA) played a song by Yuri Lane called harmonica beatbox that was really fun to dance to! It's only misfortune is that the song was played while most people were upstairs in the main room watching the instructor performances. Kayce Spear (Portland) played 2 amazing songs in a row whose title I didn't get, but the artists were Beth Rowley and Dana Parish. The 2 songs were fusion-y, not blues but had a great, slow, bluesy beat. I loved it!

What'd we do with Evelyn? Well, that's essentially why I missed the workshops. On Saturday night we left her with Micahel's brother, who, conveniently, lives in Boston. Unfortunately, when we walked in the door at 6am, she woke up and was ready for the day, while we wanted to go to bed. We made it work though, trading off hours. On Sunday, we brought her to Springstep to run around the big room and get some dancing in for her :) It was fun!

Emerald City Blues Festival 2010

2010-11-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

ECBF, an infamous event, happens in MY city every year. I get to host new people in my home, which is a different experience every time. I get to feel the pride of knowing that one of the year's top blues events happens 10 minutes from my home. That pretty much rocks.

This year was a little different for a couple reasons. First off, there were no tracks. All of the classes were aimed at all levels. This got rid of the stresses of doing a "placement" dance early Saturday morning. Instead, they did the prelims early Saturday morning.
It was also different because there was only one band that played twice as they created a live album of their songs. Solomon Douglas played for Kim Massie, and just about every song they did together was incredible. That woman can sing!

The energy level, just like every year, is so amazing I can't describe it. People come to this event from everywhere, and everyone's so excited to be there. Every person that comes contributes to the atmosphere, and I couldn't help but stop a couple times just to look out over the dance floor and watch as the music was interpreted differently for every person, for every dance.
I did not get to DJ this event, as this year, Martin did not hire local DJs. ECBF is a national event, not a local event, and is not made to reflect the local dance scene. The Seattlites that did work the event - Solomon Douglas, -topher and Karissa - travel nationally in their roles. As a DJ, I have not been able to travel as much as I'd like, but I was happy with my role as a venue coordinator for ECBF. I enjoy being part of the staff, regardless of whether or not I get to DJ.

The food, made by Matthew Blair, was great! The unique recipes are made with local food, designed to be much more than a snack. He had barrels full of different kinds of soups (one with kelp, another with squash, and others that I didn't get to see). He made pasta. There were snacks, but it was more than that. The food at this event is unlike late night food that I've seen anywhere else, ever. There was also the infamous espresso bar this year, since it was so successful last year.

The cabaret was not what I expected it to be. There were some really great performances in it, but it wasn't exactly the show that I was expecting. I can't individually point out the ones I like the best (okay, it was the fan dance), but I will say that Evelyn enjoyed it very much, despite the fact that she was awake until 1am.
The DJs were great. There were always 2 at the booth, so I never really knew who was DJ'ing when, but I enjoyed most of it (I'm not really one for funky-blues, which one DJ seemed to really like). For the most part, the songs were so great that I couldn't sit down.
I didn't actually get to experience the workshops since I was the venue coordinator, and I had Evelyn with me the whole time, so if you want insight on that, you'll have to ask someone else. :)

Hosting was a different experience this year as well. ALL 20+ of my guests were incredibly self-sufficient! I think they figured I had enough going that I couldn't do much for them. It was great having so many people in my house, and fun to see them interact with both Evelyn and the puppy. Thanks, everyone, for being such great guests!

I'm excited to see what next year will bring!

For those interested in what we did with our baby:
We've accepted the Eva will be awake at dances when we're rather she be sleeping. Going to dances with her means I don't really get to dance with other people, but I do get to dance with her, which is getting more fun every time we take her to a dance. I took her to the Cabaret with me, where she finally fell asleep at 1:45am. I skipped the late night and took her home. Michael went to the Friday late night. Saturday we got a babysitter (thanks, Nicole). Sunday we brought her again, but it was Michael's turn to entertain her. He missed Sunday's late night and I got to dance. Eva came with me to the workshop venues, since I was the main organizer for one of the workshop venues both days. She saw those buildings as big jungle gyms. Fortunately, the volunteer schedule was set up to have my best friend as my one volunteer. She took Evelyn for rides during lunch to get her to take naps in the car. All in all, it worked out. We finally got caught up on our sleep the Thursday after :)

Burn Blue has a blog

2010-11-19T10:44:00.001-08:00

This blog defines my life! I'm so happy they started with a history of blues. This post totally resignates with me, especially Dan's comment about how big band is frozen in time, but blues is ever-evolving and continues to amaze it's followers (me). And I love the information about solo blues. It inspires me to let myself give in to the music more when I don't have someone to dance with. So many times I think "no one asked me, there isn't anyone for me to ask, so I'll just sit this one out even though I love this song." Of course, I've started to do more social solo dancing, because if Karissa and Brecca can solo dance like that, I can too. But today I learned that there's a history to it and it makes me want to solo dance all the more.
My blues community ROCKS. Thanks, Burn Blue, for putting this together. I LOVE it!

BURN BLUE BLOG

San Fransisco Lindy Exchange

2010-09-24T11:30:00.001-07:00

We left Evelyn with her cousins in Port Townsend and set off to San Fran by ourselves! I almost wanted to drive down just for old times’ sake (Michael and I used to drive to events all over when we lived in Salt Lake City). But since we already had our plane tickets . . we flew in Thursday evening and spent all day Friday being together. A much needed sabbatical day in a nostalgic city.

The exchange itself was so much fun! I’ve clearly forgotten how much fun I can have at a Lindy exchange. The feeling of watching the dancers and pointing out who I wanted to ask to dance next, getting to the middle of the dance floor, and staying there song after song after song as different people stopped me from leaving the dance floor . . exhilerating! I was surrounded by a few old friends, and got an avalanche of new friends that made the whole weekend eventful.

The blues room at THIS event ROCKED. Full and energized, I was able to play songs that are a little different to experiment with the crowd. I got to see how my somewhat different blues made the crowd react, and I got great feedback from everyone, which makes me feel really really happy. I got to dance and DJ responsible-free. I got to be just me for those few nights and I’m so grateful to the SFLX staff! As promised, I've listed most of my set list from the 5 hours that I got to play:

Louise Hoffsten: The Seduction of Sweet Louise

Bonnie Raitt: Love Me Like a Man

Ray Charles & B.B. King: Sinner's Prayer

John Lee Hooker: Every Night

Little Milton: Little Bluebird

B.B. Kind: My Own Fault

Janiva Magness: That's What Love Will Make You Do

Etta James: Hawg For Ya

Jimmy Reed: Odds and Ends

Booker T. Laury: Blues With a Feeling

Johnny Walker: The Sky Is Crying

Brother Yusef: Blues Is My Story

Susan Tedeschi:'TAn't Nobody's Business

Christ Thomas King: Come On In My Kitchen

Ruth Brown: Good Day For the Blues

Sonny Boy Williamson: Cool Disposition

The Robins: Smokey Joe's Cafe

Fiona Boyes: Red Hot Kisses

Koko Taylor: I'm A Woman

Janiva Magness: I Don't Want You on My Mind

Pinetop Perkins and Elvin Bishop: How Long

Jimmy Reed: When Girls Do It

Fiona Boyes: Canned Heat

Ray Charles: It Makes No Difference Now

The Fabulous Thunderbirds: She's Tuff

Keb' Mo': Keep It Simple

Blue Harlem: Drown in my own Tears

Earl Hooker: Drivin' Wheel

The Insomniacs: Maybe Sometime Later

Louise Hoffsten: Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes

Nathan James & Ben Hernandez: Black Rattler

Norah Jones: All Your Love

Katie Webster: Pussycat Moan

Elmore James: It Hurts Me Too

Etta James: Son of a Preacher Man

Solomon Burke: Cry To Me

Muddy Waters: She Moves Me

Bar Scott: Everyday People

Kim Massie: Come On Into My Kitchen

John Hammond, Jr.: Heartache Blues

Gordon Webster: Mo' Better Blues

Janiva Magness: Lost and Lookin'

The Staple Singers: Sit Down Servant

B.B. King: Rock Me Baby

John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt: I'm in the Mood

Stevie Ray Vaughan: The Things I Used to Do

Elvis Presley: Relax

Katie Webster: I'm Bad

Bobby Jones ft The Mannish boys: How Long Will It Last

James Cottonm Blues Band: Cotton Crop Blues

Ray Charles: Busted

Melissa Pace: Am I blue?

Albert King: Cold Feet

Ronin Rogers: Can You Hear Me Now

Martin Sexton: Can't Stop Thinking 'bout You

Charles Brown: I Lost Everything

Susan Tedeschi: Little by Little

Doug MacLeod: Sweet Ride

Mark Hummel: City Livin

Seth Walker: Sun down

Nora Michaels: Black Coffee

I say MOST of my set, and looking at it now, it's not my best work, because I usually try and switch up my artists more and avoid overplayed songs, but I have 2 excuses for that: 1)My second sound card was not working so I had a much more difficult time trying to re-listen to songs on my iPod and determine the transition quality and 2)they fit really well. My favorite complement about any set of mine ever was give after my Friday night set: "It's like you told a story with your music." Right on, that makes me feel awesome.

My music nugget is most definitely the Saturday night blues and Big Bones. That was the night that I was too exhausted to move but somehow found the energy when he started playing. Dave Madison told me all about how Big Bones used to play on the streets. Kent then filled in the details of getting the tip to go hear him at a nearby venue. Inspiring and amazing. I absolutely loved every minute.

Thank you Ben for hosting, and everyone else for the amazing weekend!

Blues in the Star Shower and Seattle Lindy Exchange

2010-09-24T11:24:00.000-07:00

It’s always interesting to me that I will go completely out of my way for an event that’s far away, but not alter my schedule at all when the event is in my own town.

Blues Dancing in the Star Shower, an event thrown together last minute by an organizer who made a lot of promises to teachers, DJs, and registered dancers that he didn’t keep, was also local. I attended one night. I wasn’t too sad to miss most of that event given that it was a camp site that we danced at, which I’m not really into because there’s no shower. And, a lot of people showed up, saw that many of the teachers canceled after they were told they couldn’t be paid, and went home right away. BUT the people that did stay made the most of it and had a great time. I salute them. They were fun to play with on the one night I did go.

Seattle Lindy Exchange came and went quickly, and I attended one night of the three, and that’s because I was schedule to DJ the late night. The Seattle scene feels so different from other scenes in that the blues and Lindy-Hop social scenes are completely different. On the night that I was there, the blues room had maybe 4 couples MAX at any given time. No one wanted to blues, they were there to Lindy with the Seattle Lindy-hoppers, who have a very good reputation to be awesome, which is a reputation they’ve earned. Seattle has an incredible Lindy scene, Incredible. There are a few national and international teachers that come from this Lindy scene, so you can bet that many of the dancers in the area have taken their classes and are on their way to becoming equally as incredible. Hence, the blues at this exchange were severly lacking. The blues DJs were all local, and all had only one set the entire weekend. That was fine with me, considering it compt me into the event, which rocks. It just created a different feel towards the blues in general. I suppose that’s why it’s taken me 2 months to write about, and why I didn’t save my set list. Sorry.

On the plus side, the Lindy a the SLX was AWESOME. I went to the Friday night dance and thoroughly enjoyed my time there.

Mourning a Mentor

2010-08-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

I don't have the words to express the loss that the world feels today. Our community, as a whole, has lost a great, intelligent man. I miss you, Keith. I can't believe you won't be here to tell me all the things you've learned.

DJ Big Papa's website. I love that he's put so many of the things he taught me about being a DJ. I feel like he's still here just by reading this.

His DJ skills

Keith's memorial page

I'm still in denial, and expect to see Keith on my doorstep for ECBF. I want him to pop up a google chat note to me and tell me it's not real. I have my phone next to me waiting for a text from him. And as I think of his 2 girls, and their need for their daddy, my heart screams for him to still be with us. Today, I hold Michael and Evelyn a little closer.

Normally, I spend my music-listening time filtering through new music. Today, I couldn't focus on music. I put my collection on random, and appropriately, this song played as I'm reading messages on Keith's memorial page: Enya - Smaointe

I love you, Keith, Summer, Anna and Ella. I pray that God give you comfort in this time or mourning.

My story, my passion

2010-08-01T00:25:00.001-07:00

I love music. I have always loved music, which was greatly influenced by my musical family. As a child, I played trumpet and piano, and danced ballet. I've since lost those skills, but learned a lot about music in the process. I joined the cultural crave in the 90's when Big Bad Voodoo Daddy was hot, and got excited about swing dancing. I did theater in high school because that's what my brothers did, and I adore my brothers. Theater is a part of what shaped me. So when I could combine all of those things and perform in my school musical in a swing number, I was thrilled! And hooked. Post-high school, I looked up the swing dance club in college. Utah State swing dance club introduced me to the right connections. This is where the addiction begins.

One thing led to another, and now I'm a DJ! The end.

Just kidding.

With the right connections, I was soon invited to my first event. Phoenix Lindy exchange 2004 was my first experience traveling to dance and I LOVED every second. I am a person who loves close connection, and in those days, blues was not as open-dance style as it is now. The connection I felt with my first blues lesson was much different than the connection I felt when I Lindy'd. The addiction grows.

I'm a very affectionate person. In my youth, I was taught that was an unfortunate personality flaw. But on the blues floor, *some* of those affectionate behavior qualities were appreciated (consider I was 19, and hadn't yet learned what appropriate affectionate behavior was, as I'm positive many of you have experienced for yourself when dancing with someone in that same stage of life).

So I meet this guy during our spring break dance trip to Sacramento and San Fransisco. We happen to have the most amazing connection I've ever felt. We later learned that we connected on many many levels, off the dance floor too. So I fell in love with him. 5 months later, when he graduated from college, he wanted to move. I wanted to move. So we chose a city we liked, took a leap of faith, and moved our lives to Seattle, together, where the dance scene is so developed that we have our pick on almost any night of the week.

What did we pick? House parties. Oh ya. They're awesome. I couldn't get enough of them. The problem was, I didn't always like the music. I'd come home and play with my music, and my boyfriend and I would dance in the kitchen to the songs I liked the most. The DJ side of me begins.

This is when I start volunteering to DJ at house parties to ensure the music would be good. I start throwing house parties of my own. My favorite house party was our engagement party. If you haven't figured it out yet, the spring break fling was Michael. And I married him.

Volunteering for parties as a DJ got me heard by local organizers. The timing was perfect. 2 people were working on starting this new weekly blues venue since the once-a-month Blues Underground just wasn't satisfying Seattle's need for blues. I got invited to the first "Burn Blue" meeting.

The first few months of Burn Blue were rocky for me, as a DJ. There was a requirement for 75% real blues music, and 25% whatever you want to blues dance to. Since most house parties are more like 75% not blues, but danceable music. I felt that if I was going to be a DJ, I'd better know at least a little about what I was doing. The research begins.

I'd collected a lot of music that I knew little about. Of course, music organization and studying never really stops, but this story is about when it started. Having the opportunity to be one of Burn Blue's first DJs sent me on a spiral of new adventures. I spent hours doing online research on websites like http://www.history-of-rock.com/blues.htm and the like. I got books from the library and spent hours just listening to music. I took a DJ workshop from Steven Watkins, and spent hours with other blues dancers talking music. "That song is jazz." "That song is classic rock that you can dance to, but it's still not blues." "Nope still not blues, that's jazz again." until I finally understand what they meant. They wanted music that wouldn't make people want to Lindy while they worked on teaching open-position blues. Many many blues dancers had started as Lindy-hoppers first, and didn't quite know hot to dance to up-beat blues.

That said, I started learning about the music I'd acquired, and realized I had all the wrong music. And so the research on blues dives even deeper. If I'm going to get new music, I'm going to make sure it's the right music. And without that research, I would never had gotten any Mahalia Jackson. I love her.

After years of being able to DJ, and volunteering to DJ at events, I finally feel confident enough to write this blog. This is my passion, this is my community, this is my life. And I love it.

Pirated music

2010-07-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

In Mike the girl's words:
http://www.facebook.com/aspyre?v=wall&story_fbid=139968789349764#!/note.php?note_id=10150198586270013

This is why I post my set lists, as a reference for you to go the store and purchase the album or song. emusic.com, cdbaby.com and of course ebay and Amazon are all good sources for new music. Used CD stores will have a blues section for you, the library is a good reference too. When you get paid to DJ, go buy a new album (or pay off the credit card you've been using to purchase music . . usually what I have to do . . :)

In addition, nothing beats live music. Go out to live music as much as possible. I totally salute Portland for making a dance event out of already planned live music performances. To be a good DJ, you find music everywhere, especially from live performances in random places.

DJ Tip #2: Creating the energy with smooth transitions

2010-07-05T02:30:00.000-07:00

Just having the right music is not enough to make a great DJ. You have know when to play which type of song. You have to pay attention to what is going on in the room and contribute to it in your own way.

The first song you play sets the tone of your set (thank you DJ Brenda Starr for teaching me this). Start with something that's going to get people off their butts and onto the floor. If you start slow, and choose a song that is low-energy, you're setting your set up to be low on energy. However, if you start too high, choose a song with an intense amount of energy, that is not something you can or want to maintain your entire set. Start with a song that will pick people up without being too much overkill too early on. If you start your set with "The thrill is gone," then the thrill will be gone.This is a general guideline. There are, of course, exceptions. For example, if the prior DJ had a crazy-high energy set, you don't want to drop that energy, you want to continue with it. This is a good time to start your set with something really high in energy.

Transitioning from song to song is an art. You want your music to flow from one to the next, but to also have variety. Let me further explain variety, a word which everyone knows, but some DJ have a difficult concept with. Variety is several different kinds. There are several different kinds of blues, there are several different levels on energy within those different kinds of blues, and there several different tempos within those energy levels. Feel them, listen to how one song sounds next to the other. They need to be different from each other, but sound smooth next to each other. A good way to make sure smooth transitions happen for you is to get a second sound card, or a way to preview a song before you play it so that you know it sounds good. It takes a little practice so give yourself a break if you get poor feedback your first couple times. Keep at it, you'll get it.

Lets talk about energy transitions.
Say I'm following a really fantastic DJ, like Steven Watkins, and he ends his set with "You are my sunshine" by Ray Charles. That song creates such an awesome high, fun energy in the room that just makes you want to jump up and scream for more! If I get on right after him and start with "Little Wing" by Stevie Ray Vaughn, it's like I'm pulling the drain plug out of hot bathtub and letting all that hot water down the drain for no reason at all. Why would I do that? "Little Wing" is an absolutely fantastic song, and when played at the right time, creates the perfect, really sexy atmosphere for dancing. But if I play it then, I suck at timing, and no one wants a DJ who sucks at timing. The idea here is that 2 songs rhythms making a smooth transition just isn't enough. All things factor in: energy, tempo, mood, type of blues (rock blues vs jazz blues for example), time of night, the people on the dance floor. ALL of these things, and probably a few things I've forgotten to mention, are important when determining the songs you're going to play. "What should I play next?" Take it from Dr. Feelgood himself and play something that's going to want them screaming for more.

One last thing to note here: When deciding what to play, please consider if you're overplaying that song. No one likes a predictable DJ.

Show Me Blues 2010

2010-06-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, going to an event over my birthday weekend is probably the best idea I've ever had. My wonderful husband allowed me to leave him and baby behind and take my girlfriend, Amolly, leaving me free of responsibility all weekend.
We arrived in St. Louis on Thursday night and started thinking about what we wanted to do during the day on Friday. Not realizing that Graceland was a drivable distance, we almost planned to rent a car and drive to Graceland during the day Friday. Then we realized that it wasn't THAT close. Next year, if we don't make it to Bluesalicious, we'll fly into Memphis first just for the Elvis touring.
So what we did instead was tour the arch and downtown on Friday before the evening dance.
The entire weekend of dancing ROCKED. Being in a completely separate scene from my own, I met a ton of new people, had some amazing new dances, and admired the different culture of the central US, including the square-brick architecture.
The City Museum is, by itself, worth the trip out to St. Louis. A giant adult (and kid-friendly) playground where grown people can climb through tunnels and go down huge slides. Incredible!

Saturday night there was a DJ battle from midnight-3AM. It was crazy fun! I love DJ battles, even though they suck what little energy I have left out of me! The first round I ROCKED it, and moved on to the second round. During the second round, I was a bit drained, and could have done better. I learned something about DJ battles: Yes, it's important to transition from whatever the other DJ is playing, but it's more important to play something that's going to blow everyone's skirts up. And so I know for next time to not let the other DJ throw me off so much!
Here is what I played for the DJ battle: some of my personal favorites
A Woman Knows by Janiva Magness
I Don't Know by Ruth Brown
Just Won't Burn by Susan Tedeschi
I Got the Blues by Brother Yusef
My Daddy Rocks Me by Blue Harlem (thanks, Karissa :)
Baby what you Want me to do by Etta James
Got My Mojo Workin' by Asylum Street Spankers
Brown Eyed Blues by Ben Harper (a poor choice, but it worked)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken by Mavis Staples (a great song poorly placed)

I learned a lot, I won my place in next year's Show Me Blues, and I made some great memories.

Fortunately for me, I got even more time to play my blues for the crowd. The DJ schedule had a few holes in the DJ schedule that I got to fill in for! My 2 sets:
Love Me Like a Man by Bonnie Raitt
You're Sweet by Jimmy Rogers
Wrong Kind of Love by The Insomniacs
Little Red Rooster by Big Mama Thornton
Honest I Do by Jimmy Reed
Walkin' After Midnight by Madeleine Peyroux
You're Imagination by Sonny Boy Williamson
I Lost Everything by Charles Brown
Red Hot Kisses by Fiona Boyes
Down by Chris Thomas King
Can You Hear Me Now by Robin Rogers
Crying and Trying by Erica Brown Band
Rock Me Baby by B.B. King and Eric Clapton
StatesBoro Blues by Taj Mahal
Rollin' Stone by Muddy Waters
Two Trains Running by Zora Young
Going' Down Country by Doug MacLeod
I'll Take You There by The Staple Singers
Cool Disposition by Sonny Boy Williamson
Death Cam a Knockin' (Travelin' Shoes) by Ruthie Foster
I Just Want To Make Love To You by Muddy Waters
Since I Fell For You by Seth Walker
Evil Ways by Otis Spann
Killing Yourself On Purpose by Scrapomatic
Roll With Me by Deborah Coleman
I'm a King Bee by Corky Siegel
If You Wear That Velvet Dress by Bono (requested song :)
Relax by Elvis Presley
Basin Street Blues by Dr. John
Homesick Blues by Charles Brown
Possum Hand by Watermelon Slim
Blues For Mama by Nina Simone

Ironically enough, the song that caught my attention the most was played by Tyler Robbins, the DJ I battled against during my second round. The song is called "Knockin'" By Luminescent Orchestrii.

To the DJs at the event, you're music is inspiring. To one of the best hosts I've ever had, THANK YOU, Jenni, you were great! To old friends I hadn't seen in a while, I'm SO happy you were there! To all my new friends, I'll be seeing you next year. You all made the weekend what it was, phenomenally awesome.
To all my friends who missed it, I hope you don't make that same mistake twice ;)

DJ Competition

2010-05-14T08:43:00.001-07:00

I get to participate in a DJ competition in St. Louis!!! WOOT! I'm so nervous! :)

Mile High Blues 2010: Denver

2010-04-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Maybe it was all of the people, and a scene I didn't know. Maybe it was the competitions. Maybe it was the specific workshops I took. Maybe it was being able to DJ next to national head-liner DJs. Or a combination of all of the above. Whatever the reason, I found this weekend to be particularly inspiring, not just for my dancing, but also for my DJing.

I only took 2 classes, but they made a big difference:

Damon and Heidi brilliantly brought dancing back to the basics, at an advanced level. I took the class as a lead, and, big surprise, it improved my follow.

Mike Legett and Reuel Reis gave everyone a 5 minute spotlight where they danced and got criticized. As many private lessons as I've taken, I have to say that Mike's feedback on my dancing was the most inspiring 5 minutes of my blues-dancing career.

Dispite the confusion of the workshops due to lack of organizational communication, the weekend was put together well. Great bands, great teachers, great DJs, and great venues. I especially loved the late-night band with Sean Morse, joined with the evening's hot harmonica player. The coolest thing to me was that there was the harmonica class during the Sunday workshops! There needs to be one of these at every event!

Once again, DJ Lil' Red, Whitton Frank caught my attention. My favorite song from the weekend was when she played "Tank!" by Yoko Kanno, from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack.

My set lists for the weekend:

Friday evening band breaks:
Ernestine Anderson - Please Send Me Someone To Love
Susan Tedeschi - Friar's Point
B.B. King - Blind Love
James Cotton Blues Band - The Blues Keep Falling
Jimmy Read - When Girls Do It
Eddie Vinson - Ashes On My Pillow
Kirk Fletcher - Blues for Boo Boo
Charles Brown - I Lost Everything
Nathan James & Ben Hernandez - Don't Forget It
Susan Tedeschi - Wait For Me
Janiva Magness - Ain't Lost Nothin'
Dizzy Gillespie - summertime
Taj Mahal - Going up to the Country
Fiona Boyes - Canned Heat
James Cotton Blues Band - Off the Wall
Howlin' Wolf - Spoonful
Brother Yusef - Love & the Blues
Ray Charles - Every Saturday Night

Friday late night at the art studio:
Nina Simone - Buck
Nick Curran - Oh Baby
Scrapomatic - Louisana Anna
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee - Stranger Here
Etta James - If I Can't Have You
Susan Tedeschi - Magnificent Sanctuary Band
Ellen Whyte - Falling
Muddy Waters - I Just Want to Make Love To You
Nora Michaels - Black Coffee
The 8th Day - She's Not Just Another Woman
Nickel Creek - I Should've Known Better
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - It's Alright
Jimmy "T-99" Nelson - Hurt Three Ways
Gordon Webster - Mo'Better Blues
Mavis Staples - Will the Circle Be Unbroken

DJ Tip #1: Know Your Shit

2010-02-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

As a blues DJ, you WILL get asked "what makes a song a blues song?" You will have people tell you if you are or aren't playing blues. You will have people request "could you please play more blues." As a blues DJ, you sure as hell better know what blues is. If you're unsure, or need a refresher, here are a few suggestions on how to learn more about blues:

Understand blues history. Go back to the roots of the music. Spend time reading books from the library about blues history, or biographies of some of the first blues musicians. You can find out who some of the first blues musicians are by looking up blues history. Seriously, just google "blues history." It's more entertaining than you might think. Videos like this are the fun part.
Listen to as many different blues artists as possible. Again, you will get this information by reading about blues. Once you have a good list of artists from your reading, go to a used CD store, or the library, and get blues music to listen to. This is also a good time to make it out to as many blues venues as possible (including live blues, if it's available), and listen to as many different DJs as you can.
Know what is not blues, but is commonly played at blues dances: jazz, trip-hop, gospel, soul, R&B, sometimes electronica, hip-hop, and classic rock. Know the differences when you hear them. You may not be able to describe the difference of genres in words, but you should know them when you them.

I'll talk about these things in more detail later, but I wanted to give you advice on how you can get started, without my biased report on what I think is the coolest thing to read about (like the cross roads, traveling blues wagons, and slave songs). Good luck, and have fun!

Burn Blue for Haiti

2010-01-20T19:17:00.001-08:00

Burn Blue has one my heart for more than one reason. Last night's fund raiser for Haiti just made me overflow with love for the organization and all those who run it. There was an amazing turn out with $3200 raised for Waid, Hans, and their families.
My contribution to the raffle was a one-hour set list, which I burned to a CD for someone to win with their raffle ticket. I'm listing it here for those who were hoping to win it. I'm including an album name with the songs so that you know where you can find these songs.

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy - The Anthology album
Howlin' Wolf - Built for Comfort - His Best: Chess 50th Anniversary Collection album
John Lee Hooker - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer - The Best of John Lee Hooker: 1965 to 1974 album
Sonny Boy williamson - Bring it on Home - His Best
Charles Brown - I Lost Everything - Driftin' blues: Best of Charles Brown album
Elmore James - Dust My Broom - The Sky is Crying album
B.B. King - Rock Me Baby - Original Greatest Hits album
Buddy Guy - In the Wee Hours w/Junior Wells - Can't Quite the Blues album
Ernestine Anderson - Please Send Me Someone to Love (Live) - The Concord Jazz Heritage Series - Ernestine album
Keb' Mo' - Am I Wrong? - Blues Gold compilation album
Nathan James & Ben Hernandez - Black Rattler - The Carl Sonny Leyland Trio Metts Nathan James and Ben Hernandez album
Katie Webster - Pussycat Moan - Two-Fisted Mama album
Ruth Brown - I Can't Seel It (I'll keep Sitting on it) - Essential Women in Blues album
Taj Mahal - Blue Light Boogie - Blues With a Feeling album
Jimi Hendrix - Red House - Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix album
Ray Charles - Night Time is the Right Time - The Very Best of Ray Charles album
James Taylor - Steamroller (Live) - James Taylor Greatest Hits album

2 good websites for finding these albums:
www.emusic.com
www.cdbaby.com

San Diego Fusion Exchange 2010

2010-01-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

What a versatile, and well-organized event! These guys thought of everything! They arranged a hotel with cheap rates that's within walking distance of the event, with a shuttle for late night venue. They organized a Disneyland day. There wass breakfast and lunch provided. There was a shuttle to a part of the city that's densely populated with fantastic restaurants. And there was all kinds of different dance styles all fused into one: Tango, Blues, West Coast, African dance, Trip-hop, Hip-hop; with classes that can be applied to almost all of those dances: momentum, flying falling, being smooth, rethinking dance, lead/follow, musicality. It was all there! Because so much was available, many of the classes were directed at the more beginner/intermediate dancers. My highlight was the exercise class which came in the form of AFRICAN DANCE!

Here is my set list from the slow blues room of Saturday night:
B. B. King - Did You Ever Love a Woman
Jeff Beck - Drown in My Own Tears
Ray Charles - Every Saturday Night
Shawn Pittman - Reap What You Sow
Otis Spann - Dust My Broom
Johnny Charles - Memphis Blues
Percy Mayfield - Lost Love
Lonnie Mack - Stop
John Lee Hooker - Early One Morning
Robin Rogers - Can you Hear Me Now
B. B. King and Eric Clapton - Rock Me Baby
Chris Thomas King - Wicked
Nina Simone - In The Dark
Teddy Humphries - What Makes You So Tough?
The Black Keys - Lies
Junior Wells - Come on in the House
Muddy Waters - (I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man
Todd Rhodes - Blues for the Red Boy
Watermelon Slim - Bad Sinner
Koko Taylor - I Cried Like a Baby
Janiva Magness - Do I Move You
Shuggie Otis - Gospel Groove
James Cotton Blues Band - Jelly, Jelly
Etta James - Hawg For Ya
Buddy Guy - This Is The End (w Otis Rush & Willie Dixon)

Set list from Sunday evening:
Etta James - Don't Let My Baby Ride
Keb' Mo' - I can't be Satisfied
Muddy Waters - I Just Want to Make Love to You
Corky Siegel - I'm a King Bee
Chris Thomas King - Red Mud
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride and Joy
Brother Yusef - I got the Blues
Fruteland Jackson - Blues 2.0
The Fabulous Thunderbirds - C-Boy's Blues
ZZ Top - Just got Back From Baby's
The Robins - Smokey Joe's Cafe
Maria Muldaur - New Orleans Hop Scop Blues
Luther Alison - Little Red Rooster
Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel

My favorite new song that I heard from the weekend was played by LA's Whitton Frank. It was already one of my favorite songs due to its historical story, but I had never heard this version before and I fell in love with it! The song is called "Motherless Child," sung by Bar Scott. Thanks Whitton, that was beautiful.

For those interested in what we did with Evelyn, I wrote a completely separate blog about it since I learned so much about what traveling will be like with her.

Traveling with a baby

2010-01-08T15:55:00.000-08:00

Psychologists might agree that genetic instinct for parenting proceeds the need for comfort. Otherwise, we, as a species, would probably choose not to procreate. From the beginning of pregnancy, I have not felt the entire effect of that statement. I have not felt like I've sacrificed anything I didn't want to sacrifice. Until now.
We brought her with us because I am still nursing her, and I can't leave her for longs periods of time, like entire weekends. However, in choosing to do this, we sacrificed more than I was willing to admit. We could not stay at the party house, and no one wanted to split a hotel room with us. Luckily, the hotel was within walking distance to the venue, and the event provided a shuttle for the downtown late night venue. We chose not to rent a car, thinking we could probably get rides or walk. We walked every time. Getting a ride for 3 was impossible because we couldn't be split up. In retrospect, the rental car might have been worth the price. Lesson learned.
The biggest sacrifice, sleep. Big surprise, right? It's more, though, when we all stay up till 5 dancing, and Evelyn wakes up at 7, ready to take on the world. I can handle that for 1 day, but not for 3. I would have liked to dance more than I did, but my constant sleep deprivation had me stumbling all over myself like a drunk by the end of the night.

The upside, we were at most of the workshops. We traded off. I would just watch with Eva on my lap while Michael participated, and then we would switch for the next class. We got to dance with her, and enjoy seeing her reactions to the music and dancing. We got to feel really close to each other, like we are really equally sharing this responsibility. We spent less time partying with others and more time talking, walking, and loving on our nuclear family unit; and we didn't get sick of each other by the end of the weekend!

All in all, I learned quite a lot this weekend. Mostly, I learned what to expect for next time. I'm crazy about my girl, but if it can be helped, I will travel without her in the future.If we do bring her, we must plan to spend the money on a hotel and rental car, and miss out on most of the late night dances.

A Champagne and Roses New Years!

2010-01-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

This was the best New Years I've had, ever in my lifetime. I mean, Rhythmic Arts was incredible when I went, but that was before my DJ career. Being involved in creating the atmosphere of this event has given me such an incredible high that I've barely noticed my complete lack of sleep. I can hardly believe this event was put together in just 4 weeks! 3 nights of house parties, 1 night at a venue, 2 live bands, Champagne, Roses, GREAT FOOD and awesome new friends! I hope this event happens next year, and you can guarantee I'll be one of the first on the guest list! Thanks, Jeremy, Karissa, Joshua, and everyone else, you have successfully ROCKED ME SOCKS OFF!

As requested, here is my set list for the weekend:
Thursday night/Friday AM:

Bonnie Raitt: Love on One Condition
Bob French: Burgundy Street Blues
Muddy Waters: Rock Me
Janiva Magness: Workin' On Me Baby
Ray Charles: Night Time is the Right Time
James Cotton Blues Band: Heart Attack
Etta James: You Can Leave Your Hat On
Taj Mahal: Blue Light Boogie
Elvis Presley: Relax
The Holiday Cafe Presents Winter Songs album: Auld Lang Syne (Charity Medley)
Diana Krall: Gee Baby, Ain't I good to You
Amos Milbourne: Lets Rock a While
Koko Taylor: All Your Love
Doug MacLeod: Sweet Ride
John Lee Hooker: Bottle Up & Go
Rufus Thoms: Sixty Minute Man w/Carla Thomas
Bono: If You Wear That Velvet Dress
Roy Rogers: I'm With You
buddy Guy: She's Got the Devil In Her
Smokey Smothers: Com On Rock. Little Girl
Big Mama Thornton: I Feel the Way I Feel
Maria Muldaur: Empty Bed Blues
Brother Yusef: Blues Is My Story
Nathan James & Ben Hernandez: My backyard
Nick Moss & The Flip Tops: Check My Pulse
Christ Thomas King: Red Mud
Melissa Pace: What'll I Do

Saturday night at Lenora's Ballroom:
Johnny Farmer: Death Letter (Organized Noize Remix)
Ben Harper: Brown Eyed Blues
Carsie Blanton: Take Me Along
James Taylor: Steamroller (live)
Becky Barksdale: Satisfy Me
Robin Rogers: Color-Blind Angel
Janiva Magness: I'm Glad You're Mine
Isobel Cempbell & Mark Lanegan: Come On Over (Turn Me On)
Susan Tedeschi: You Got the Silver
Etta James: Son of a Preacher Man
Norah Jones: All Your Love
Nathan James & Ben Hernandez: Balck Rattler
Ernestine Anderson: Please SEnd Me Someone to Love (live)
Ike & Tina Turner: I Smell Trouble
BB King & Eric Clapton: Rock Me Baby
Bejofondotangoclub: En me/soledad
Portishead: Roads
Otis Taylor: Few Feet Away
Nickel Creek: I Should've Known Better
Bettye LaVette: Little Sparrow
Jimi Hendrix: Red House