I LOVE KANSAS CITY.

I love Kansas City. Thank you, friends and family.




And thank you, Brian Stevens, for the very cool picture.

It's Pumpkin Time!

Have you ever seen "Flight of the Conchords?" I think it's on HBO. I don't know much about it except that two really funny guys from New Zealand, Jermaine and Brett have a knack for writing really funny songs and creating shows around the songs. My favorite song is probably "Part Time Model," ("and when you're walking down the street, depending on the street, you are definitely in the top three...depending on the street...you could be a part-time model, but you'd probably have to keep your normal job..."). Pretty funny, huh? I'm laughing right now just thinking about it.

Anyway, this past weekend I traveled to KC with Eric Vinson and the Vinyls and Eric's lovely wife Laura. And we entertained ourselves on the ride home with a few episodes of "Flight of the Conchords." I heard "It's Business Time" for the first time...and now it's stuck in my head. So as I typed the title for this post I was hearing Jermaine and Brett in my ear singing, "It's pumpkin, it's pumpkin time." Google "It's Business Time." You'll get it.

I love fall. I love everything about the fall. Especially pumpkins. I was very upset about a month ago when I tried to make pumpkin cannelloni and found out that all of Nashville was out of canned pumpkin due to a poor pumpkin crop this year. Lame? I know. I had to make it with sweet potatoes instead. So sad.


So last weekend was incredible. Kansas City was so good to us. The Crosstown Station was amazing and it felt SO good to be home with all of my friends and family. I loved it. It was fun to debut "this & that," too. But, as all good things must come to an end, we couldn't stay. So we drove back all day Sunday, only to hop back in the van Monday afternoon to drive to Knoxville...where we had another great show. Thank you, Preservation Pub, for all the good memories and good times.


And on the way back we stopped at IHOP and I got to eat some pumpkin pancakes. Heaven.


So now I'm sitting at my desk in Nashville, scheming ways to play more shows and trying to think of something really creative to write a song about. Any ideas?

And The Grammy Goes To...

This, That And The Other

Guess what!? This & That has it's own blog and logo now!
Please go check it out:

www.thisandthatmusic.blogspot.com

I am going to be kicking things up a notch with this little duo of mine. I hope to get us out more and playing as much as possible.

Speaking of shows, if you are a Kansas Citian you need to catch our show (and my show) this weekend at Crosstown Station by the Power and Light District. It's Saturday night (Oct. 17th) at 8pm. It will feature Red Guitar, Sometimes Three, This & That, Eric Vinson (the other 1/2 of This & That) and yours truly. Please come! Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Seriously, don't miss it.

In the meantime, check out www.thisandthatmusic.blogspot.com - become a fan or a follower or whatever you call it...and make sure you download the music for FREE.

Love you all.

LJ

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

I recently found an old friend on Facebook and Blogger. Her name is Alison Walla. I met Alison sometime around my senior year of high school. She is a few years older than I am, so at the time of our introduction she had just moved back to Kansas City after having spent several years in New York pursuing her Broadway dreams. I wish now that I would have asked her how she felt about coming home. I don't know how long she'd tried - I know the dream didn't come true the first time around. And looking back, I don't know why she came home...I doubt it was to give up. I never got the idea from Alison that she felt defeated.

My point is, the other day I was going through some old keepsakes.

Sidenote: I am "one of those kind of people." The kind that keeps everything 'cause it means something. My friend Julianna did not understand why I'd kept a letter she'd written me 6 years earlier. I'm sure she'd said something nice about me in the letter and I thought maybe I'd need to read it again someday for an emotional boost. Julianna says I should read letters and throw them away.

So, I'm going through my old keepsakes and I come across a Playbill from the Broadway production of "Into The Woods."

The summer that Alison and I became really close (2002 if you were wondering) she got a call from her agent to come try out for a part in "Into The Woods," opposite Vanessa Williams. She lived in Kansas City at this point. Not New York, mind you. I remember when she flew out to audition. I remember when she got the call back. And I remember when she flew back to New York to start her new job! And then she sent me a Playbill. And her name was in it. And I kept it. And I look at it now and then. What a good reminder for me and my dreams.

Alison also gave me a tiny little photo frame with the Bible verse, "You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride," to remind me who I am. I still have it. Another precious reminder.

I haven't seen Alison in years, but because we're friends on Facebook (and hopefully still friends in real life) I get to keep up with her. Now she's been in several Broadway shows and touring productions and TV shows, etc. Not that you have to have all that good stuff to be a success. But her dream did come true.

Doesn't that just make you feel good??

Ahhhh!!! I love it.

I think you get the point. Never give up. Good things happen whether they're what we thought they'd be or something completely different. There are blessings all over the place.

The end.

LJ

PS - Alison has her own blog. She is an amazing knitter (I'm jealous) and cook...and she has all sorts of great things so say. So check it out: http://www.lepetithibou.blogspot.com

Sweet Home Alabama

I think that I might be magnet for strange people. Weird things happen to me all the time. And, granted, sometimes this is my fault. I'm not sure I'm good with reactions. One time, a guy at the apartment complex I used to live in saw me getting out of my car and came up to me. He asked me if I'd wanna get a drink with him that night. Other than the fact that I'd never met or seen this guy before in my life, I suppose this wasn't too out of the ordinary. But I didn't know how to respond. I feel like saying "no, thanks," is kinda mean. So, instead, I just turned around and walked to my apartment with no response at all. I can't believe I did that. The poor guy asked me a question and I just walked away and ignored him completely. In that instance, I would be the strange, awkward one.


This past weekend I went with Eric Vinson and the Vinyls down to Madison, Alabama to play a street festival. It was quite an ordeal even getting into the place because by the time we arrived all the streets were blocked off. So we couldn't get the trailer anywhere near the stage. As we were standing around trying to come up with a plan of action, I heard someone say "Hey, Lindsey," behind me. Thinking it must be someone I knew (since they knew my name), I turned around excitedly only to find a strange man with a huge lizard on his shoulder. He got the lizard about 5 inches from me and started swinging the lizard tail in my face. I was so surprised that I'm almost 100% positive I made a really awkward sound. Some kind of a screech, I would imagine. I just know I was so caught off guard that I did not play it especially cool. I realize this is kinda one of those "you had to be there" sort of things, but please trust me. This was so weird. Eric and the other guys kept talking about it all day. They all agree it was one of the strangest human interactions they've ever seen. Despite that, though, the festival turned out to be a huge success.

I had searched for venues to play in Alabama and I found a "Top 10 Things To Do In Alabama" list. The Madison Street Festival was on it. They were so sweet and generous to us. So thank you, Madison. We really did love your festival, lizards and all. Oh, and there was one booth in particular that caught my eye. It had a huge sign that read, "Are You A Good Person Or A Bad Person? Take This Simple Test And Get A Free Souvenir." I'm sad I did not take that test because I still don't know the answer :) And I really would have liked a free souvenir. Maybe next time. I wish we'd had more time to walk around but we had to get back to good 'ole Nashvegas in a hurry.


In other news, I've met some new friends that I'd like to introduce you to. Farewell Flight. They are an awesome band and you need to hear them. Don't forget!

That's all for now. I need to keep better track of all the strange things that happen to me. Does anyone else feel like they attract weirdness??