NEWS FROM ODDVILLE: POSTPONED

Update: The show has been postponed due to snow. I'll post the new date as soon as I have it. Now go on outside & have fun making snow angels!

Well, this isn't a Sob Sisters gig, but some dear friends of ours will be performing - including Mr. Brian King, Mz. Noodle, Little Red Coquette, and Uncle Shoe. I'll play a couple of tunes on my trusty uke too. So come on out and support the arts in Lowell! (The flyer for this one is so divine, I had to share it...I want what she's wearing!)

CAST YOUR BALLOTS

Mood:  lucky
Our humble webiste has been nominated for "best website" in Boston's 2005 Noise Poll! Please participate in this year's poll, and by all means vote for sobsisters.com if you like our site. We're very excited about the nomination.

Stay warm...

(EXPLODING) CIGARS ALL AROUND!

Mood:  celebratory
Hello, strangers!
I know it's been crickets for the most part around here for the last few months...but to say that things have been crazy in our non-musical lives woiuld be an understatement. It's been a pivotal summer, indeed. The happiest news by far is that the stork made a visit to our own Ms. Kitty Heels and Mr. Kitty Heels, Spleen Eck of Lilac Ambush!
Now, we all do the obligatory, polite goo-gooing over new babies, I know...but if you ask me, the truth is that most of them look like Mr. McGoo posing for a jail-booking-mug-shot. Not little C. Thurston! It is plain from his adorable expression that he's going to be a character. Get a load of him!

All together now: "Awwww!" Someone suggested that he looks like a little glowworm...
I think so, too! In the most flattering way.
Ms. Kitty is doing well and says she plans to be a "rock n' roll mama". What I am wondering is if someone beat me to the punch on my (un)original idea of a tiny saw as a baby gift...
Looks like our next thing together is a performance at the Boston Public Library on November 3rd. Stay tuned for details!

APOLOGIES...

Mood:  bright
So....thanks to Karen for keeping these updates going. So much has transpired in my circumstances, but I shall endeavor to keep you all in taches and sarcasm nonetheless.
One of biggest things is that I have moved from the Boston area down to Providence...but do not think that the distance will impede our Sob Sistering!
What is it they say about hell or high water..?

That was evidenced by a spectacular evening we had as part of Uke Noir Cinq. What a wonderful crowd...wonderful music....well, Karen about covered it in the last post.
For some proof, check out the photos at the congenial Mark Occhionero's site, Jazz Ukes! Best evening I've had in...well....since Uke Noir 4, I guess!
Stay tuned...once I have a computer other than this one at the public library (ooo! Did I just get a "Times up!"?!), you'll get your taches back.
Til then, enjoy the summer. I am!

A GOAT IN THE HAND...

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who attended the two charity shows we played this July. Rumor has it, we all raised enough money to buy *two* goats for hungry families...and we couldn't have done it without you! {Pssst... if you missed your chance to donate, you can still contribute to Hiefer.org via their website.}

Thanks again to the kind folks who organized our mini "Goatstock" tour, and to the other performers, and to the venues. Big round of applause for:
ASTRO AL
TIM MUNGENAST
MICHAEL BLOOM
THE LION HEARTS
LOOSE ENDS
WINNEKENNI CASTLE
THE NAVE GALLERY


And let's have another round for everyone else who gave their support...thank you!

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM...ICE CREAM!

Greetings, gentle readers.
Just wanted to remind you all that the Sob Sisters will be headlining an "Ice Cream Jam" this Sunday, July 17 at the beautiful Winnekenni Castle.

Winnekenni Castle | 347 Kenoza Ave (Rte 110), Haverhill, MA. | 2PM | All Ages | $5.00
Click here for directions!

All proceeds from this event will go to the Salvation Army, Heifer International, and Winnekenni Castle.

Performances by: The Sob Sisters, Michael
Bloom, Astro Al, Loose Ends and The Lion Hearts.
Hope to see you there!

COINCIDENTAL TACHE

Mood:  suave
So I know it's been a while since I threw a Tache o'the Week out there...but give a girl a break. It's been a wee bit hectic around here.
But never fear, as I have a great one for you now.
Imagine my astonished surprise when I was sent this image by dear Mr. Hill. Took a tiny artistic liberty, and voila!
Dreaming tache...
Could it be?! There must've been a wrinkle in the fabric of time, as darned if the object of the dapper gentleman's reverie doesn't bear an uncanny resemblance to your humble author-stupid expression and everything! Fancy that!
Is it evident yet that I have no pride?
Ahem...

In other news, Karen just lined up a neat performance for us at the gorgeous Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill on July 17th. Dunno all that much about it, but it should be quite fantastic! More details as they become apparent.
Also, if you want to do something really cool this coming Sunday, come to Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain for their great Treasure Hunts and Trolley Tours! Karen will be throwing down some old-timey ukulele tunes with our pals Craig Robertson and Davis Sweet, outdoors. There'll a brass band, rides on a trolley, and even high-wheel antique bicyclers! Sounds like a total blast, huh?

THE MORNING AFTER

Mood:  spacey
What a great show at Skybar last night!
Thought I'd share a few photos....
We went on first, and it amused me that some of our friends missed us because we started earlier than they expected. Isn't that a great way to perpetuate the legend? I made sure to tell everyone afterwards that it was our best set ever, and I didn't botch a single solitary note, and we brought down the house..."Too bad you missed it!" Ha!
It was a lot of fun, though, and thanks as always to Joe Feloni, things sounded great. I really think he particularly enjoys the sound-mixing challenge of Miss Kitty's saw!
Here's a neat photo of Karen and Miss Kitty tearing it up as the latter relates the sordid tale of
"Makin' Whoopee":

Here's another taken during "Am I Blue?", with Karen on ukulele, Miss Kitty on saw and kazoo, and myself singing the sob story, like all good sob sisters should:

After we ended with a nice "Aloha OY", Turkish Queen took the stage for a wonderful, often
enchantingly ethereal set...Karen joined them for a few numbers, too...always inspiring to see her rock out like that!
Pamela Martinez was next with her band, reminding me very much of Bjork and Portishead at times...lovely!
Finally came the phenomenal, red-clad Tuna Helpers (I am feeling lazy, so if you want all the linky linky action, go down two entries to the post with the mermaid flyer and find links to all the bands.)
all the way from Austin, TX. Poor Adrienne was not feeling well, rumor had it, but you'd never have had an inkling from their performance!

Bethany is a master at American Sign Language and the keys (not to mention the xylaphone), Khattie beats a mean drum, and what a set of pipes on that Adrienne! That's not even mentioning the delightfully disturbing puppet show that accompanied a few songs. They were just magnificent, taking everyone to a different world.
We hope the rest of their tour goes well, and that someday we'll meet again.

Yes, a very memorable evening!

EXCUSE MY EULOGY....

Mood:  sad
It is with great sadness that I report the death of one of our favorite accompanists...
Jackson "Jackson" Parakeet, 199?-2005

He was a cheerful bird of stunning plumage, his twittering an integral part of the atmosphere in my living room, and always happy when I was playing music...especially when the three of us were playing together. We have many early scratch recordings in which you can hear Jackson and his beloved missus, Belinda, lending their warbling tones into the mix. Poor Belinda is desolate now. I am sure that having to sit there for however long while I was at work, with her dead mate slumped on the floor at her feet was not a comforting thing, either.
Or, who knows...maybe she's a black widow...?
Who among men can delve into the mysteries of the budgie heart?
Nonetheless, we'll miss him.
A moment of silence, if you please.
In lieu of flowers, millet sprays will be accepted.

The silence will not last long, anyhow...as there's already a new sheriff waiting to don the badge of the Sob Sisters' avian mascot.
That's Larry the starling. He's still a baby, an orphan that I've been feeding the past few weeks. The thing is, he's gotten waaaay too tame and imprinted on me to release, and I have come to find out that people keep starlings as pets. Mozart even had a pet starling! They are total clowns and they have amazing powers of mimicry.
Check out these videos of talking pet starlings,
here. Totally bizarre, huh??
The mind reels with all the things I want to teach Larry...tunes to whistle, yodeling, old fangled expressions...too bad "Hey, liverlips!" is already taken by the one in the video. He's becoming quite a character already, though!

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY...


Come to the Skybar in Somerville, MA for a truly fabulous lineup including:
The Tuna Helpers from Austin Texas
Pamela Martinez
Turksh Queen with special guests Joe Turner and Karen Langlie
The Sob Sisters
and maybe some art by Tylr McPherson???

Sunday, June 19th | Doors at 7:30, show at 8
Skybar | 518 Somerville Ave., Somerville, MA | $7 | 21+

Supercute Tuna Helpers picture and some Texas trivia behind the cut...