my Gods, this New Year...
Current mood: distressed
Category: Life

very big sigh. heavy heart.
i want to wish everyone a happy new year. i want to say and mean and make happen all the things i love to say and wish!
happy, beautiful new year!
may the new year bring you more Love than your heart can hold!
wishing you Peace and Prosperity!
and i really really wish those things. and i believe in those things.
but things are harder than ever. worse than ever. sadder than ever, more tragic than ever. deadlier than ever in the world. in gaza, in greece, in africa, in bangkok. in indonesia, in the arctic and antarctic. the weather is deadlier, the money is tighter, but the weapons are more, and the people are needier.
i deeply deeply wish for Peace, for Tolerance, for Food, Energy, Health.
i meditate, i pray.
i feel really terrible about all that is going wrong. where is it all leading? i shake my head quickly, it's a nightmare. there's a pit in my stomach as i stare at my food tonight. what is going to happen? i hope i hope that it is leading to some sort of Light, some beginning of a Global Resolution will begin!
i know there is hope. humans are amazing that way!
so, happy new year! may we all do our best to Love one another so big and so full and complete, that it helps to literally radiate Peace and healthy things into the atmosphere.
and let's please donate what we can and give time where we have it, to those who need it much more than we.
Love,
beth

4:25 PM - 2 Comments - 3 Kudos - Add Comment

singin’ in switzerland...
Current mood: aroused
Category: Music

i am nearing the end of my two-week nightly gig at the movie-scene-worthy Stublibar in St. Moritz, Switzerland. (i wish for my script-writer friends to experience this!) lately i have been paying tribute to Barack Obama in my songs. besides my own songs, i play favorite songs of the locals here. so in 'Country Roads' by John Denver, i sing, "country roads...take me home...to the place...i belong...Barack Obama...mountain mama...take me home..." and then there's... "Sweet Home Barack Obama....where the skies are so blue..."

the people love it and they are congratulating me and the US - they are very happy with America's choice of president this time!

i mentioned "movie-scene-worthy" Stublibar... here are some little gems: Five Swiss soldiers walk into Stublibar, they order beers, drink them, order another round, they are listening to me sing above the din of the crowd. the biggest, burliest one (think Burt Lancaster) approaches my stage. my brain to myself: "oh no, he's going to ask me to play something by Metallica." no no. tall, rugged soldier-boy says, in gentle, broken english, "entschuldigen, (excuse me), you are nice. can you for me play 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow?" ah, regretfully, i don't know the chords. his brother then asks, "then how about 'Killing Me Softly?" i couldn't resist that one, so sang it a-cappella, and to my delight everyone joined in! such SWEET soldiers!! no wonder the Swiss don't do war. they'd rather drink beer and sing sappy songs together. :)

a big macho German dude sitting with his friends began mocking me as i opened my set that night with Van Morrison's 'Crazy Love'... but a few songs later he was really into it. i think i won him over when i played 'Come as You Are' by Nirvana. he then listened, hooted, and applauded after every song i played. end of the night, 2am, he searched me out in the crowd and approached me with earnest. i leaned in to hear him, thinking he's going to tell me he enjoyed the music... nope. he asked me if i would call him a taxi home. apparently i look like the transportation expert in addition to the musical entertainment.

Currently listening : Howl By Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Release date: 2005-08-23

4:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

good swiss trash!
Current mood: pleased
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping

i did my first trash picking in switzerland yesterday. for two days i have walked by this chest-high dumpster and noticed a drawer... a heavy looking (and it is) wooden drawer, sort of looks medieval, with a red velvet, plush interior. a big, dark, heavy wooden drawer with an old handle on the end (turns out, both ends) and decorative useless metal rivets and findings on the sides. i needed that drawer!! for 2 days i walked by it, eyeing it, but there was always someone near enough by to see me pick the trash! and there's something about the people here... they are really nice, but i get this feeling that they are generally rule-followers - and i'm not sure what the rules are... SO - last night i walked up to Stublibar bar to see Casey Jones play (a great singer and player from memphis, now living in europe) and he is a sweetie. in fact - he fixed my guitar yesterday!! the wire inside for my pickup connection had become severed, possibly from my hard-cased guitar's trip down the mondo-escalator in zurich!! anyway, casey and i went to a toy shop, he found a 9volt do-flicker with a wire - he stripped the old wires, connected to the new ones, covered with elec tape, etc - BUT I DIGRESS. SO, since i would be soon walking up the quiet street toward Stubli-bar where my treasure, i hoped, still lay in the dark but safe looking dumpster, i brought a big shopping bag with me and this time no one was around and i got my first dumpster dig!! my first trash pick here in swanky st. moritz!! and the drawer is SO great!! and i needed it - it is an integral part of my office as of this morning!! it is now my inbox, my outbox - my papers of all kinds now fit neatly in my red velvet lined medieval drawer which has the name "Briciola" and a skull and daggers drawn on one side of the dark wood with crayon. pascal inspected it carefully and approved, and pointed out that it did indeed used to be a treasure chest, a box for special things, lid now long gone.

12:11 AM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

"Miracle Girl" from the Alps to California...and back!
Current mood: animated
Category: Travel and Places

My dear friends...how are you?? I hope this note finds everyone well and enjoying the summer!

I'm pleased to announce: My new CD "MIRACLE GIRL" is ready for release!!
PLEASE COME TO MY CD-RELEASE SHOW on July 10th!! (details below)

Hey everyone! I have just returned from 5 weeks perfectly spent in Switzerland, playing music at "Stublibar" - a lively and loved, wooden ski-bar in the Swiss Alps! I played 6 nights a week in a vibrant, crowded, smoky, oft-crazy bar. it was an absolute blast, on occasion quite a challenge, and really a privilege and pleasure. this place became special to me.

what i learned:

~ 60+ cover songs including favorites: Country Roads by John Denver, Sweet Home Alabama, Hotel California... also Me and Bobby McGee, Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire and Walk the Line were huge, and Bob Marley's Three Little Birds brought down the house. Those songs cured all in the Stublibar. They also loved my new songs Ten~Four, and Dreams Bring Me Down... Lover From Last Summer, Saturated, and Move On! (Self-Righteous S.O.B. was a little too aggro for them: methinks something was lost in translation -- they didn't get the tongue in cheek of it). :)

~ that the young men there love to stand on tables, dance, and take their clothes off - with no financial incentive!

~ that 2am is still early in the evening.

~ that Sambuca shots work great as a throat-soother.

~ that drinking beer and champagne while singing makes me burp a lot. not convenient.

~ that my fingertips have an endless supply of calluses for my calluses.

~ that the cigarette smoke smell eventually comes out of the wood of my guitar if i let my guitar air out long enough.

~that it is okay to shove a large, toothless, drunk man off of my stage - he most likely will not get hurt.

~ that it is perfectly acceptable to dismount from my stage by stepping over onto the bar and walking down the bar-top over beers and patrons (instead of the more commonly used method of - using the floor).

~ that i could make a new family of friends in a small, after-ski dive bar in Switzerland!

having said all that - i am going back next month!! but before i go...

MY NEW CD "MIRACLE GIRL" IS READY FOR ONE AND ALL!!
PLEASE COME TO MY CD-RELEASE SHOW!!

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2008, 8PM @
SANTA MONICA BAR & GRILLE
3321 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, California, 90405
with Billy Watts by my side on electric guitar!
(cross street is just west of Centinela, near the 10 fwy)
(310) 453-5001
www.smbgrocks.com
free show!

PLEASE COME - i look forward to playing the songs for y'all, and to seeing your beautiful faces - it will be my last opportunity to see many and most of you for a long time! SO LET'S PARTY!!!

and - I am thrilled to celebrate the release of my new CD "Miracle Girl"** - my latest collection of songs of Love and Brotherhood. Conceived in late 2007, then recorded and birthed all within 5 weeks total gestation period in April/May 2008.

**With my favorite playmates: David Raven producing and on drums, Billy Watts playing tasty-good guitars, and Taras Prodaniuk making it stick with his perfect bass lines. Additional production and special musical appearance by Daniel Nahmod. Photography and design by Beth.

with huge Love and appreciation for your talents, enthusiasm, Love and support all these years!!
happy independence day!!
xoxo
beth

Currently listening : Either/Or By Elliott Smith Release date: 1997-02-25

1:20 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

the latest from st. moritz, and my current set list...
Current mood: blissful
Category: Parties and Nightlife

my gigs at the Stublibar in St. Moritz Switzerland are going great. i am loving it, even though it is taxing on my voice and sometimes my energy. many interesting people passing through town, then the locals are there almost every night, and almost every night they get wild and crazy. i have learned soooo many songs - more than i learned in the states. i have a couple of regulars now that i let get up on stage with me and sing... a young man, Sandro, likes to sing Nirvana with me, and the young and beautiful Christine likes to sing Country Roads. everyone sings along, it is hysterical! and now, on a couple of different nights, when i take my break and the bartender plays deejay, the men get up on the tables and take their clothes off - two nights now of very nearly naked hot guys dancing on the tables!!

lucky me, i had my camera on one of those nights...

if i accepted all the drinks people are trying to buy for me i would be sloshed every night. instead i drink my tea with lemon, and water with lime and fresh orange for my voice... and when my sweetheart comes in when his work is through, i sit with him on my break and have a beer or sambuca.

he is the most amazing man, we share a beautiful and powerful connection... it's like we have known each other before and before. i am a lucky woman. we have taken long walks - around the lake to another little lake in the woods...long talks. he is swiss - he is teaching me some swiss-german, and i teach him more english, though he speaks four languages or more. he is very well spoken and runs deep, has some strong and interesting beliefs, great at expressing himself. it is a special time...

okay - back to the bar and my gigs... of course i play my original songs, to which the people are now singing along with somewhat - they actually request Saturated, Move On, and Lover From Last Summer... my S.O.B. song does not go over as well, maybe too aggressive and too many negative name callings...not as much animosity here among the sexes. :)

So then, alles gut...

here is my current Cover Song set list - it's so much fun!

Tom Petty - american girl, runnin down a dream, a face in the crowd, free fallin, learning to fly

Blind Faith - well all right

Johnny Cash - ring of fire, walk the line

Lucinda Williams - greenville, drunken angel, something about what happens when we talk, right in time, can't let go, still i long for your kiss

Van Morrison - wild night, crazy love, brown eyed girl

Bob Dylan - knocking on heaven's door

Rolling Stones - wild horses

Lynyrd Skynyrd - sweet home alabama

John Denver - country roads, annie's song

The Clash - should i stay or should i go

AC/DC - you shook me all night long

Janis Joplin - me and bobby mcgee, and mercedes benz (a capella)

Dusty Springfield - son of a preacher man

Tracy Chapman - talkin' bout a revolution

Cranberries - linger

Aretha Franklin - natural woman

Oasis - wonderwall

Nirvana - come as you are

Pink Floyd - wish you were here

Eagles - hotel california

it's a blast... i am learning so much. as i said, i am lucky. i Love the life i have created and found here in the Alps.

Peace and Music,
beth

10:21 AM - 4 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

greetings from sunny st. moritz switzerland
Current mood: amused
Category: Travel and Places

hello Loves...

thanks so much to all of you who have written to me. great to hear from you.
to answer a FAQ - the weather is about 60 degrees daily so far, varying from drizzly rain to sunny and lovely. hopefully it will just get nicer as the season progresses. nights are cold... but clear usually.

walked home from my gig last night - yes, at 2:30am - and enjoyed the solitude, quiet, with waterfalls coming down the hills in between houses. wow. it is about a 15 minute walk from my apartment to my gig at the hotel.

last night was my first night playing and it was fun, and hard at the same time. the cig smoke was tough. it did not bother me too much at the time, but could not get to sleep even after a nice hot shower at 3am... could still smell the smoke - probably in my mind, but... so, did not sleep much last night. there were many appreciative listeners at the show last night, and also many appreciative drunk men... it was my first night, did i mention that? the big crowd pleaser is john denver's 'country roads' - i had them all singing along!

things to note...

i thought my guitar had a problem - a rattling sound. turns out it was a piece of chocolate chip cookie inside of it. who knows how that got there. :)

met the italian musician, glauco mason, who finished in the stublibar the night before i began. very nice man, does mostly cover songs in his heavy italian accent. we talked over dinner here at the hotel. talked about music, romance, his family, my family - got along great. but now he has gone back to italy (2 hour drive for him). but before he left, he was kind enough to show me the set up of the sound system, and he also has lent me his music stand which i badly needed - in exchange for my CDs... and what he also decided was fair exchange, when i took my outer sweater off, he exclaimed "nice a-teets!" and gently pushed me against the wall and put his tongue in my mouth. those italian men are the same everywhere. i guess he took it to heart when i said i am the kind of woman who prefers the man to make the move, when we were talking about gender roles. i did not mean him!! too funny. all is well, he is gone.

i see lots of people walking their dogs - the dogs bodies are quite full sized, long hair with full buttleruffs (the term my friend kevin created for the hair - or not - that hangs down past the dogs butt at the back legs), but all the dogs have tiny little stumpy legs!! what gives? i would have thought that for a wealthy ski resort village i would see more purebreds, less mutts. have only seen one cat so far - hope to see more. no homeless cats here like there are in Rome. good for the kitties...

lots of birds chirping constantly.

the meals i am being served here at hotel schweizerhof are incredible. five course meals every night, delicious wines and coffee... very fine dining...i mean, it is perfect food - and not too much, like the crazy american portions! the table is set with at least 8 pieces of silverware for me. good thing my dad taught me to work from the outside of the table settings, inward. i am trying to at least appear cultured and european. i am being treated very well by the wait-staff - they are super sweet and fun.

my fave is 23 year old daniel... who placed my perfectly cooked, beatifully displayed pike-perch (fish) meal in front of me last night and said to me "i have found nemo". :)

my apartment - i am liking it. it is home for now. big rip-tear on the ceiling in one spot... strange. but from my bed, lying down, it appears to be a giant heart. so that is nice. the snow covered alps just outside my bedroom window are also... nice. really nice.

okay, gotta go get outside today and get as much oxygen (at 6000 feet here in the village) as i can before i breathe in tonight's dose of poison.

i Love you guys - how are YOU??
xo
beth

3:23 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Miracle Girl heads to Switzerland
Current mood: blissful
Category: Music

so, my to-do list has been head-spinning.

i am leaving for switzerland this tuesday, may 13 - for 5 weeks. my friend jordan got me a gig over there, in st. moritz, playing solo at a lovely hotel 6 nights a week for 4 1/2 weeks! i've never been, and how lucky i am. very cool.

so, i realized i needed to record more music, and take it with me on the road (or in the air and the alps, as it were)...

so, enter Miracle Girl. i am Blessed once again to have some of THE finest musicians in los angeles, nay, the world, on my new record. david raven producing, engineering, drumming... billy watts playing electric and lap steel guitar. taras prodaniuk playing bass.

my new CD - Miracle Girl - was essentially recorded in four weeks time, i designed the artwork and layout (so have mercy), and it is right now in manufacturing. i'll receive them in switzerland next week, then when i come back (if and when) to california, i'll have a bunch more... so, watch for a CD release gig and celebration.

i am going to try to get some of the new songs up and into the website here today... here goes nothin'!

thank you for reading, for caring, for sharing... just thank you for your support and your Love. i can feel it from here, right now...

Love ~ beth

7:55 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

singing to a stranger
Current mood: enlightened
Category: Life

i was heading home late last night after a recording session with david raven, in hollywood. i was stopped in my car for some time at a red light. a homeless man - or a broke one, out at 2am hoping for money from any single soul - was just outside my window, standing around at the stoplight. he smiled, waved, asked for money, called me pretty lady... i think i had about $3 in my wallet, and honestly, after giving a dollar every week to j.r. near my post office, i just was not in the mood. instead i rolled down the window and began singing to him. i was listening to Lucinda Williams' CD, "West" -- the song "Learning to Live". so i crooned to the man who looked handsome under his dirt and rags. i sang, "i'm learning how...to live....without you...in my life". he said, "me too, beautiful." me (singing): "i made the best...of what you had to give..." he: "i got nothin' to give you sweetheart." me: "all i have left...is this dimestore ring." him: "lemme see it, is it worth anything?" me: "i'm learning how....to live." he: "me too and you just warmed my heart."

...mine too. we connected and it had nothing to do with money.

people are so human underneath their "inhumanity". the more civilized folk are often the more assholized ones.

Love and Peace ~ bw

7:11 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

retreat, resurface, and sing!
Current mood: vibrant
Category: Travel and Places

hello Love, thanks for reading...

i'm just back from 10 days in beautiful Moab, Utah - Arches National Park - where i participated in a musical, spiritual, hiking, intro-and-outro-spective retreat hosted by my friend, singer/songwriter Daniel Nahmod. i was immersed in the millions of years-old natural beauty of the near-gravity-defying red rocks and arches, slot canyons, off the beaten path trails, the colorado river, pristine snow, lively streams, lovely deer, gazillions of stars... all topped with whipped cream clouds and a full-moon-eclipse-cherry. the experience was awe-inspiring and utterly breathtaking. and though words cannot truly describe it, i am obviously not at a loss for them...

the retreat went really, really well. it was a privilege to be there with the many lovely and truly awesome people. we engaged in life-changing conversations, sang, danced, laughed... went for several intense and invigorating hikes - one through "fiery furnace" in Arches Nat'l Park... it was exquisite, filled with ancient, timeless beauty, standing on 150,000,000 year old red clay soil - beheld 1000 year old juniper trees...and a 7,000,000 pound balanced rock. made me feel like a weightless baby next to them.

i soaked in all the breathtaking beauty around me, journaled a lot and quietly played my guitar every night before bed...

working on, for myself, releasing my attachment to hope that 'things', and people, will make me happy, and looking at letting go of my fears of being unappreciated... i am feeling the sweet release of attachments and... just let what comes to me, come to me...

seems easy, but it can be elusive. it is simple, but it takes practice. so i'm practicing.

now i'm home in sunny santa monica, california -- and moving forward in my life with refreshed appreciation.

and although i could easily move to Utah and become a hiking guide and bus driver, i will next play some shows in california and see how that feels.

with Love,
beth

6:06 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

guaranteed antidepressant!!
Current mood: blissful
Category: Music

oh my gosh!!! if you are feeling at all down... just listen to The Police - "Canary in a Coalmine" (off of Zenyatta Mondatta). it works unbelievably - hidden, magical endorphins within the music... then chase it down with "When the World is Running Down You Make the Best of What's Still Around". my suggestion, turn it up AS LOUD AS YOU CAN STAND IT! and concentrate on Sting's basslines... :) music is the food.... Peace out. beth

Currently listening : The Police (2CD Anthology) By The Police Release date: 05 June, 2007

4:06 AM - 5 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment