February 26, 2004 - 12:23 AM

Victoria and Stolie, Better Than Thunder

Holy cow it's raining like a mother right now. I don't know if we are in "the rainy season", or even if L.A. has a rainy season, but for nearly a week, it's been some combination of overcast/drizzly/precipitatious. Which, of course, has made for treacherous goings on the road. I briefly lost control Sunday morning at the exit ramp from the 405 going to Tony's apartment, taking the turn too fast and skidding/slipping as I applied the brakes. Luckily, there was enough space behind and in front of me so that there were no collisions; since then, I've made sure to take all turns and exits at a deliberate pace.

As for today, it's been raining non-stop since about 4 PM. What's strange about this rain (and most rainstorms I've experienced in my 3 years in L.A.) is that there is no lightning and no thunder. From what I'm used to in Maryland and in Massachussets, if it's raining this hard and for this duration, the tears of heaven are usually accompanied by the bolts of righteous fury and the booming of angry celestial voices. Not here, though. And, honestly, I miss those thunderstorms. I was never really scared of them...I found them to be reassuring. More noise to fill in the background while I worked, watched tv, or slept.

I managed to drive down into Hollywood tonight to see my friend Victoria perform at M-Bar. Joining her on stage was another singer-songwriter named Stolie; those two, together with my best friend from Berklee, Kellie Lin Knott, have taken to touring around as duos or as a trio whenever they can. Unfortunately, Kellie didn't make it out here this time, but I'm hoping that she will in the spring.

There were perhaps a dozen people in the audience, which was a shame because the girls put on one hell of a show. And I'm not just saying that as a biased friend of Victoria. This was one of those blessed shows where I was fully enraptured by all of the songs; both of the girls are talented songwriters, but there was the added treat of each girl supporting the other's songs with vocal harmonies, bass guitar parts, and various percussion. Victoria even had a friend join her on the Djembe (an african drum), and he remained on stage for the rest of the show, filling in accompanying rhythms, even on songs that he had never heard before. Tori and Stolie traded 2 song combos back and forth for a little over an hour, amusing us with snippets of hilarity in between. They've been on the road together since the 5th of February, and it's given them time to work out some really killer harmonies; their voices compliment each other so well, and they know how to use their ranges to the best effect. I love it when I'M inspired to work on my music after seeing talented performers live. It fills me with such a great vibrant energy, and really boosts my spirits.

I wish you guys could have been there. Maybe you want to go check them out with me this Saturday at the Derby in Silverlake? 8PM doors, 9PM start-time. It's a bit pricey (15-17 dollars), but that's because it's a fairly large bill, including headliner Neko Case, who I'd describe as Patsy Cline with a punk-rock soul and a murder-ballad heart. Should be a real humdinger of a show.

Now Listening To : Liz Phair-Exile in Guyville
Random Thought : If I hadn't asked for tonight off to go see Victoria, I probably would have been working with Missy Elliot.

What I Just Wrote Before - What I'm About to Write

The Five Most Recent Entries

Here's a hand-picked playlist of 40-plus songs for you to listen to: