You can enter to win them for FREE! Visit the STATUS website or Amazon.
Getting these earbuds is one of the best things I’ve done for myself this year. The sound and comfort is incredible. I said “OHHHH” out loud when I first heard them
These earbuds are noise-canceling, water-resistant, and charge for 8 hours outside of the case, and 24 hours with the charging case. The quality is notable, in both sound and product build. They have Bluetooth and amazing wire call quality. You can update them, and there’s even an app to fine tune your sound settings and set your EQ. You can tell this team has put so much into the engineering and quality. Other earbuds, and I have several, don’t begin to compare to these.
This is an ultimate gift idea for any music lover, traveler, or athlete.
Here are a couple of blogs to end the year, that might be good gift ideas. Things I’ve had a great experience with.
As it’s getting close to Christmas, I decided to get a gift for myself and my dog. This dog is all muscle, and walking her has been really difficult. She does everything on “2 wheels,” ready to lunch at anything around us. I’ve had rope marks on my hands, and nearly had my arm removed from the socket.
I’ve tried many different harnesses and leashes, but I finally found one that slowed her down.
It’s the leash from Harness Lead. This let me do my first 2-finger walk with her, and keep her mostly at my side for the first time ever.
Their customer service is great, they suggested I might have it a little too tight at the neck. It’s not the easiest to figure out how to put on, but not the hardest, either. So there’s no confusion, their box instructions are posted below.
After a few walks, it’s much easier to put on. My dog is happy because she can now go for more walks, and I’m happy to not be sore from walking her. They have different weights and colors, and a cool canvas “Poof” bag. Anyone with a muscly dog or older dog walker should have a Harness Lead!
The frequency I work, at celebrates a 25 year anniversary this year, though I’ve been there a few years longer. During this time, I have worked for 6 different owners, in 3 different building locations. Over these 25 years, I have mixed, recorded, and remixed hundreds of in-studio radio sessions. Some performances happened off-site, at venues and record stores.
Realizing all of my backups that remain are on varied media, I tore the house apart looking for a laptop with a CD player in it. Lacking one from work now as well, I borrowed one from engineering. I found master files on USB drives, hard drives, laptops, DAT tapes, and CD’s. I listened to all of them. I set the best ones aside, and remixed the older ones with the new knowledge and equipment that I have, after many classes and years of mixing. After weeks and hours of sorting and remixing, I presented it to work as an idea to continue celebrating our 25th anniversary. I wanted a way to thank our listeners on Thanksgiving weekend, for their continued support. I presented it to the bosses and held my breath, it was thankfully encouraged without hesitation! I was going to crash so hard, if it wasn’t.
We immediately got our first sponsor, Live Nation. My friend Kristine works there, but years ago she worked at our station. I invited her in to re-live some memories. This is the podcast you’ll hear on this page. She also helped me track down a missing song from EastMountainSouth, when they played one of our Concert For Cause events.
Most of these times were magical. A few things I can’t share on the air include one of my favorite jazz bands. It was a group we didn’t even play at the time that is huge now, with an epic female vocalist. I begged my boss to get them in to perform, even though we didn’t yet play them. The sound guy went out on a limb to intimidate me. I prefer mixing solo, so I can concentrate. He said they would refuse to play if he couldn’t be in the room. It’s a tiny room. I told him he can’t touch anything. He stood close enough to me I could feel his every breath on my hair. I could see the reflection of his crossed arms in the window, and watched him wave his arms around wildly signaling them various things. It was so distracting and discouraging. I went to their show later that night and watched him run sound. While listening closely, I noticed 4 voices. Only 3 people were singing. He had created a false harmony on one of his rack units. I could see how he’d maybe convinced the band he was irreplaceable, which was a shame because this group sounded stellar in an acoustic environment.
Sometimes bands you’ve never heard of are bossy and ridiculous. Sometimes you get someone like Emmylou Harris, who is grateful for you taking the time to mix her. Joan Baez, classy all the way. Edwin McCain spent nearly the entire day with us, so many hours we weren’t sure what to do with him! I had a boss who offended Lyle Lovett by making fun of Texas, and Lyle never stepped back into our studio. That boss, last I heard, is selling cars in Montana.
Some artists are no longer with us. We had sessions with Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. Frightened Rabbit. The Portland band Amelia. They all signed our wall at one location or another.
Once I mixed Nickelcreek in the Cottage Room at Idaho Botanical Garden. I was interviewing them as well, and had schlepped tons of equipment all in one trip across the grounds. I set up 2 small cameras, my digital recorder, and a mic for the stand up bass. They wanted to use their own bluegrass mic so they could stand around it. The sound guy was like, “They’ll be here in 5 minutes, you better be ready.” Nickelcreek is a favorite of mine, so I was pretty nervous. At one point while they were doing a song, one of the cameras was starting to fall down. I grabbed it, trying to be discrete, and duct taped it to my microphone stand. I saw Sarah Watkins glance at it and give a little grin, but they said nothing about it. It’s one of my favorite performances.
There was a Jake Shimabukuru performance at the Record Exchange, but the audio engineer told me I wouldn’t be able to use it because of a ground hum he couldn’t get rid of on the ukulele. It took me about 40 minutes, but I fine-tuned a notch filter that completely removed it. There’s a lot of learning on the fly, which makes it so fun.
Suzanne Vega and this guitarist who had played for Bowie and some other epic groups, did a session at The VAC for us. I had everything set up and running great, but then the guitarist wanted something louder. I was nervous and said, “but everything sounds great on this end.” They switched his amp out for an old Fender with an output that shorted out off and on. It broke my heart. I had to edit some of his lead out and try to make it sound normal.
If you’re interested, I have a YouTube page (roxxboise) with tons of sessions I’ve mixed for both 94.9 The River, and 100.3, The X. That station is a whole ‘nother long story for another day. Check out the sessions HERE. The videos aren’t great, but the remixes are pretty good. I do not monetize it, so the artists can make money from their songs. As of today, it has 4,873,257 views!
The first version of our station eventually went on the market, and it was at a time I had a major surgery. We had a scheduled session with The Indigo Girls. I didn’t want to miss it, and was afraid of getting fired by new owners. I was supposed to stay home another 2 weeks via Dr. orders, but I drove the drive nearly to Kuna, holding my guts at every pothole. I even went to the show that night at BSU Pavilion, I took a pillow with me to protect my guts. My friend told one of the bouncers she was afraid I’d get hurt, they put us backstage on some VIP bleachers to see the show and it was amazing, and safe!
It was also at this time we had a catastrophic hard drive crash at the station, I hadn’t yet backed up a few sessions and they sadly seem to have disappeared. One of them was with Jewel, I’m so sad to not have those.
The early days didn’t have any videos, so Thanksgiving weekend will be a chance to hear many of those early songs. Some will be for the first time, as I have discovered many in the past few weeks.
At a Sheryl Crow Meet & Greet years ago at Idaho Botanical Garden, a listener asked me if I ever got tired of these things. I looked over at Sheryl Crow smiling in the sunshine awaiting winners, and said, “Never!” I felt the same away with Nathaniel Rateliff a few years ago, and The Head and the Heart this year. I hope you will enjoy the songs as much as I’ve enjoyed mixing them.
More backstage radio stories about some of your favorite groups, as they appeared live in our studio and off-site over the years.
The post Backstage radio session stories with Carrie Hoff appeared first on She Likes To Go Slow.
I should have uploaded this blog a couple of months ago, but things have been crazy. I have a new position at work that involves more hours, and training from a SF consultant. I’m really hoping I don’t lose focus on film or music projects. I’m starting to have some doubts.
A couple of months ago, I did a short film with my friend Amanda Collins. It’s called “Illuminate.” It showed locally at Colossal Cinematic Showcase. It was the final film, and a person came up to me after the credits saying she was still crying.
I’ve known my friend Amanda for many years. I knew her sister well, and when her sister developed breast cancer, my partner and I went over without missing a night, to help keep her in good spirits and supplied with good food and music. I held my friend’s hand when she passed, and took note of the time it happened. Everything blew up after that, my partner took off in a relationship with the deceased’s partner, and a couple months later my beloved blue heeler dog died. I was a wreck, to say the least. I’m literally not sure how I survived, except for maybe my amazing counselor who also recently passed this year.
Amanda stayed a true and loyal friend through all we had both been through. She eventually moved to Boise from Seattle. She posted mostly in memes, and I was never really sure how she was doing. I learned this year that she had followed in the steps of her sister, even though being monitored closely, had developed breast cancer. Diagnosed at Stage 4, she is processing how to go through this very personal experience of this being terminal.
She is one of the most chill and positive people I have ever known. She will stop mid-sentence when you walk down the street with her to drop down on her knees to make out with every strange dog along the way. If you need something, she will give it to you.
So we come full circle, about 20 years later. We did an intimate interview at her house when she was feeling up to it. I purposefully left the lighting a little dark, because I feel Amanda should have more time to share her light in this world. The film is called “Illuminate,” for this and other reasons. It’s not publicly posted, but I’ll share a link here if you’d like to see how amazing she is.
My research and film partner Stacey Guill is spending time in Spain this summer, she’s invited back to The Hemingway Conference in San Sebastian, and Bilbao, Spain.
She’s taking with her our latest project, a film called, “They Still Draw Pictures.” This is a short film about children’s art during The Spanish Civil War. They will be showing this movie at the conference, and Stacey is on a panel there.
Stacey also has been invited to do a live podcast on Hemingway’s SCW short stories!
Our film also recently became a finalist in the Madrid Arthouse Film Festival. This is a powerful short film that I’m hoping can be shown for years to come.
Previously, Stacey and I worked on a film called, “All We Didn’t Do,” about the life of famous author/illustrator Mary Hallock Foote when she and her husband lived below what is now Lucky Peak.
Stacey and I are very excited to have “All We Didn’t Do,” make another local appearance this summer! It will be a part of Global Lounge‘s World Village Fest. Details coming soon, but we know the film will be shown Friday, September 27th at Treefort Music Hall before a live music performance begins. Stacey will be there to sell copies of her book, “Stone House in the Cañon,”
Both of the above films have been helped with support from Idaho Film Collection, and the films are now archived in BSU’S Albertson’s Library to be a part of Idaho’s history.
IFC also supported and archived my film, “Pink Feather.” It’s been shown from Boise, to Stockholm, India to Tokyo, and other countries worldwide. This film was in the circuit for years, and I’d like to share a link for you here if you would like to watch it. It was shown locally at Colossal Cinematic Showcase, The Lounge at the End of the Universe, and The Balcony. We sadly lost our Director of Photography, Theresa Palmgren. She had also done stellar work for KTVB Channel 7. Our community very much felt her passing
Pink Feather by Rochelle Smith, Starring Karma Rose, Coco Freeo, JRS, Syd D’Licious, singer LP, and many others.
It’s been too hot to do as much filming as I’d like, and I’m trying to learn more about how the new required Boise Film Permit will affect a mostly solo documentary filmmaker such as myself. I understand it is needed for large film crews, and apparently a high speed chase a few years ago got out of hand, inspiring this new law. Between this law and the possible upcoming DJI Drone Ban in the U.S., I think it’s a miracle I was ever able to get some drone footage.
A short film in the works features parts of a project from photographer Andrea Scott. This will be a piece focusing on how “Basques and their dogs shaped the American West with Idaho icon, Jay Sisler.”
Working on this now, with a tie to Basque culture. San Inazio Festival is at the end of this month, and Jaialdi returns in 2025!
There is no better way to escape Boise winter weather, than heading to Anaheim for the January NAMM Show, and She Rocks Awards!
Check out the WIMN, Women’s International Music Network, and the She Rocks Podcast HERE. I watched founder Laura B Whitmore come out front several times, and watch this show with pride. Many from these groups also led some wonderful NAMM panels on female empowerment in the industry.
This awards show is unlike any other, honoring female performers and audio technicians. I am so honored to have been invited again, to cover this event. Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles, was the co-host of the show.
I arrived in time to grab a few red carpet photos, including this of Debbie Gibson.
There were so many great performers and appearances. Debbie Gibson, did a great set of her hits. Susanna Hoffs did “Hazy Shade of Winter.” I loved seeing a set from the band Vixen with Britt Lightning. They have a new song! You might not know the name Laura Karpman, but there’s a good chance you know of songs she has scored for TV and film, including the recent movie “American Fiction.”
This event is so worth the price of admission, as you get almost 3 hours of great entertainment, a wonderful buffet meal, and swag bag.
This year my friends Niccole and Trudy from Boise, attended. They had purchased a couple of raffle tickets, and later I heard my friend Niccole’s name called. She had won a custom set of in-ear monitors, worth about $2000!
It is said that only 5% of audio engineers in the music business are women. I wish I could see this number rise. It was super exciting for me to see Sylvia Massy. She has produced and won awards for bands like Tool, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince, Johnny Cash, Jason Isbell, and many other artists.
<<<<<<< NERD ALERT >>>>>>> I LOVE how innovative Sylvia Massy’s recording techniques are! Check out her STUDIO PAGE. She thinks outside the box, and creates some unique sounds. Having a good producer might be even more important than having a good songwriter or musician. They can make or break a record. I’ve been watching Sylvia invent things for years.
Want a great drum sound without such loud symbols? Use a HOSE!
Because…IDAHO…
I could go on, but get stuck in your own rabbit hole by subscribing to her stuff! @SylviaMassyKnowsStuff.
After the She Rocks Awards, I went to a Creator VIP Party hosted by Gibson. This was my first year invited to this, and it was so much fun! People with a podcast, YouTube channel, or blog, gathered to network and listen to great music. The food and drinks were free. People stood around visiting while eating cotton candy from LED holders, and we were given LED concert wristbands they synced to the live music. At one point the NAMM president John Mlynczak got on stage and spoke. He made a point to emphasis, “YOU BELONG HERE.” It just felt good to hear.
I went through a heavy amount of Imposter Syndrome. Most of the people around me were from L.A. or Hollywood, and most seemed to know each other. Anyone who asked where I was from, seemed surprised to hear the answer.
There was a photo booth at this event. I wandered into it at the end, and was told to put my hands on these metal plates. A photo was taken, and I was told to wait outside. I hadn’t realized this was an “Aura Photo,” and then the most California thing happened. A woman gave me a reading of my colors, saying I was a dreamer, and liked to do things for my community. What a great ending to a wonderful day!
It’s great to return to Boise though, and we have our first live session of the year tomorrow at noon!
COMING SOON : FEBRUARY 14TH-JOHN CRAIGIE 1pm APRIL 30TH-ASHLEY ROSE 12N MAY 4TH-RUSTY TINDER 12N
Wallflowers sold out quickly, and we just announced Nickel Creek and Andrew Bird 7/7 at Outlaw Field. Tickets go on sale Friday, don’t wait to get tickets to your favorite shows!
No plans for Valentine’s Day? Highly recommend MARCHFOURTH MARCHING BAND, 2/14 at Treefort Music Hall. Ashley Rose is opening, and all your friends will be there.
California in January is a lovely 77 degrees. That’s one of many reasons to book a trip to NAMM Show in January. It’s a great solution to Boise’s cabin fever, and I’m so honored to have been invited again to cover this event.
NAMM is an enormous music convention in Anaheim.
NAMM SHOW 2024 BY THE NUMBERS
62,000+ show attendees, including 10,000+ international attendees from 125 countries, regions and territories
1,600+ exhibitors representing 3,500+ brands
Four full main halls of exhibits, plus two packed levels of Pro Audio in the north halls
Largest ever percentage of Buyers and Influencers from all sectors
2,000+ global media, social influencers, and content creators reaching over 120 million followers
Over 6,700 students, educators, and non-profit leaders
Record number of submissions for NAMM Best in Show Awards
Something I love the most, is the educational opportunities at NAMM. Many are in person, and also streamed. I took some great workshops on AI, marketing, tips for holding an audience on YouTube and TikTok, and how to program an automated phone texting system for clients. This conference has several seminars on audio recording, and discrimination women face in the workplace. I’m very excited to learn that the on-demand classes are available through the app until the last day of February. Sometimes classes and performances would overlap, this means I can settle in and catch up now that I’m home. There are also great classes for music educators, info on publishing, rigging, lightning, and entertainment law.
At the very least, there are 150 music performances at NAMM. There is someone performing just about every 5 feet, in all the hotel lobbies, outside stages, and events like She Rocks Awards.
Here’s a glimpse of performers inside the convention.
For years, I have been trying to watch Lindsey Stirling, but I’ve always missed her show. I caught her appearance at She Rocks Awards as an honoree, then saw that she was performing on the Yamaha Stage outside. This stage is powerful, loud, and has the best sound from Yamaha equipment and technicians. Lindsey did not disappoint. She twirled, did rock n roll hair flips, spun around, and played lightning-fast signature violin. Here’s a glimpse of her Kashmir performance.
This year I saw a few friends from Boise, it’s great to see more Idaho people making the journey. I can’t suggest this enough for a winter vacation for music lovers. You could take a couple of days to check out Disneyland, literally across the street. The beaches are a short distance away. Last year I visited Huntington Beach on my last day. I didn’t have time this year, but a local was telling me how amazing Balboa Beach is near Newport Beach. If I get to go again, am definitely adding this to my schedule.
The NAMM show is magical and overwhelming. I’m still exhausted, and I can’t describe what all the walking does to your feet, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. It’s a convention for everyone and every background. People were so friendly, even the security was chill. The more I go to other locations, the more I am surprised by the sometimes hostile security approaches in some Boise venues. At NAMM, they have a few rules, but they also want you to have a good time.
The Industry Drum Circle was again a favorite. Hundreds of people were drumming, many for the first time. People from all walks of life were smiling, as music brought us all together.
There are star sightings everywhere! One of my friends saw Stevie Wonder and Geezer Butler. Several famous guitarists made VIP appearances at vendor booths and signed photos. I met with Adrian Vandenberg from Whitesnake, and Robert Sarzo from Geoff Tate’s band. You know Robert’s brother Rudy from Quiet Riot.
You can check out all kinds of new equipment at NAMM. Donner Music unveiled their brand new pedal collaboration with Third Man Hardware. This pedal sold out on the first day.
There were tons of giveaways, and I wanted to win this guitar SO bad from ClerkHound. The said they had hidden keys everywhere, and if you could unlock their amp, you’d win the guitar. I’d been all over the place and had never seen a key. The next day, I went to charge my phone and found a key right by the charger outlet! I was really hoping to bring this home, but alas, it went to someone else. The pattern is based on their own dog Capo.
The artwork and custom designs on some of the instruments is incredible.
Really exciting for me, was winning a custom guitar strap from the Killer Guitar Strap booth! I had tried to win the day before, and came back the next day to enter. This place does amazing graphics, and has straps for guitars, mandolins, saxophones, banjos, ukuleles, and more. Not only do they have great designs available, you can make a custom design for your own strap. Want your name on it? Photo of your dog? The choices are pretty endless. It’s a decision I’ll need to be making soon, and I can’t wait to see what they create! This is a family business out of Eugene, Oregon. When I won, the lady there gave me the biggest hug!
You will never see all of NAMM, and that’s okay. You’ll have tremendous fun, and want to go back.
Future dates so you can plan to go!
The 2025 NAMM Show: January 23–26, 2025
The 2026 NAMM Show: January 22–25, 2026
COMING SOON :
FEBRUARY 14TH-JOHN CRAIGIE
APRIL 30TH-ASHLEY ROSE
MAY 4TH-RUSTY TINDER
Wallflowers sold out quickly, and we just announced Nickel Creek and Andrew Bird 7/7 at Outlaw Field. Tickets go on sale Friday, don’t wait to get tickets to your favorite shows!
Here’s the last blog of the year, and I love how this one came about! I joined my friend who was doing some car shopping in Nampa for a hybrid truck. We took some test drives, and I had a great time chatting with the sales rep. He had no idea who I was or where I worked, and the more we chatted, the more I found his story interesting.
Jimmy John told me he’d spent many years on the wrong side of things. He did time in jail for some drug situations, then eventually he ended up in prison. It was there, that he met this guy Frankie Morelli. Frankie was in for a charge that involved the stock market, and his pasta “Nona Morelli.” In prison, everyone liked his Italian cooking. He ended up cooking some great meals for guards and staff. The more we chatted with Jimmy John, the more we liked him. He seemed passionate, and driven. He really wanted to turn his life around once he got out.
JJ and Frankie, along with a strong team of marketing pros and photographers, created “The MOBB Diet Cookbook.” MOBB stands for Mercy and Optimism Beyond Borders. They believe that everyone deserves a second chance in life. More than a cookbook, this is an entire culture. The mob stories are so interesting. The recipes are mouthwatering.
There are 75 recipes you can make with your family.
They won a pretty big recipe contest, you can watch HERE. On their FACEBOOK PAGE you can stay updated with health tips from Dr. Sandra Franks. They offer up extra recipes, like Two Tone Tony’s Roasted Beets!
You’ll find a 14 Week Plan, daily diet plans, and great info on basics like bread crumbs, roux, and MOBB Butter.
Listen to the full podcast to learn why San Marzano tomatoes are the key to great Italian cooking.
In Italy, these tomatoes are grown in volcanic ash. They can be ordered online, but I’m making these a staple in my garden next summer! Frankie says that a guaranteed successful sauce only needs San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, maybe a little basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 4 hours, and you’re ready to go with a vibrant and delicious fresh sauce.
SAVE 50% on The Mobb Diet Cookbook, by using the code “frankie” here at THIS WEBSITE! U.S. orders assured to arrive before Christmas, if you order within the next few days. At half price, there’s no excuse not to get at least one. This is a quality coffee table book with recipes, humor, and stories of the mafia. Get the full podcast HERE!
Learn about Frankie The Icepick, Tommy Guns, Eddy The Racer, and how prison life can bring the toughest mobster to tears. You’ll also hear about recipes that make you want to stop reading, and order The Mobb Diet Cookbook with the discount code above! Can’t wait to see their next release.
It’s fun to see the growth of my YouTube page. Just a couple of years ago, I was close to losing the entire thing. A hacker transferred all my info and changed the recovery phone number. I was at risk at losing hundreds of videos, and thousands of hours of work. I can’t tell you how stressful that was. It took hours, days, and dozens of emails working with Youtube through their TWITTER page, which seemed so strange. I was very lucky to recover it, and hope to never have that concern again.
My channel is www.youtube.com/roxxboise. I started it as a way for bands who played for us at work to have a place to share and monetize their songs. Later, it evolved into covering music conferences like NAMM, Treefort, Flipside Fest, Bumbershoot, some short films, product reviews, and even a few karaoke songs.
Want to see the MOST viewed video on this page?
Curtis Stigers
Curtis Stigers performed the theme to “Sons of Anarchy.” About 500 people per month watch this, commenting on what country they are from as fans of SOA. Catch his performance soon with Boise Phil.
These are the stats as of today :
Your channel has gotten 4,450,540 views so far
4.5M Total views for the selected date range, region and other filters.
148.1K Estimated total hours of viewing time of your content from your audience.
Subscribers
+3.1K
I’d love to see more subscribers just for fun. I don’t monetize my channel, but just love the history it provides. The best thing I ever heard a friend say to me, was “If I’m stuck in a hospital bed dying, I want to watch all the music videos on your channel to relive so many shows I’ve been to.”
Coming in at number 2, is an artist whose voice stood out in my mind. I stopped by 3 years ago to catch a quick performance from Tyler Childers at The Record Exchange. They’ve been extremely kind in sharing their raw audio files with me so I can make remixes for these videos. I only grabbed a few videos as I didn’t want him to be uncomfortable, but I’m so thankful to have captured THIS Pink Floyd cover. As far as I know, it’s not yet on an album. People lose their minds when they hear his version. I was all goosebumps while hearing it, it felt like something magical was happening. Now he’s got a sold out show next year at Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater. With his new song, “In Your Love,” this Kentucky artist is climbing right to the top. While I doubt we’ll see him at The Record Exchange again, I will never take this moment for granted.
It really pleases me that my “Guitar Faces of NAMM” video is number 3. With 158,000 views, people like to like it, talk about “hot chicks” instead of how well they’re playing, or argue that not every instrument is a guitar. The NAMM Show is in January in Anaheim. You should go.
It’s really sad to have lost a couple of amazing songwriters who are no longer with us. These are artists our PD’s have interviewed, shared handshakes with, taken photos with. They have signed our wall of autographs, all that remains of their legacy in our building.
I also mix the sessions for our sister station, 100.3 The X. Sadly, we didn’t have video at the time of The Scott Weiland appearance, but I did get audio and remix it. That version is played on both of our stations from time to time. Scott was really out of it during the performance, and sadly passed away not long after that.
On a lighter note, the most recent session was really fun. The Struts came in to do a couple of acoustic tracks. They were all very stylish. The singer was adorable, with 3″ heeled boots, and a tiny Coco Chanel purse.
I wouldn’t know where to begin on saying what my favorite session was. I love doing sessions off-site, hauling gear and figuring out how to make it work. Catching up with Ani DiFranco backstage at The Revolution Center was really special for me. Ed Sheeran at The Record Exchange was pretty unbelievable. Botanical Garden sessions were my favorites, following Brandi Carlile around (remember when she used to come to Boise?) A session there once with Josh Ritter was golden. Suzanne Vega at The VAC was really cool, and she signed my dumpster guitar.
Finally, this performance from Nickel Creek was a favorite because it was fairly stressful for me, and I wasn’t going to miss it for anything. I went out the The Garden on my own, schlepping gear like microphones, stands, cameras across the field to get to The Cottage on a deadline. They were in a hurry, so I set up my digital recorder, did a quick interview, and they performed songs around one of those cool bluegrass mics. At one point I thought I was being stealth, and duct taped a small camera onto a mic stand near me so I could get another view. I saw Sarah Watkins catch me doing it, but she never said a word!
Hope you can enjoy these experiences as much as I have. Find more of ’em HERE.
It’s been an interesting year so far. Good things include attending the NAMM show again, and having a film showing at Colossal Cinematic Showcase. The Idaho Film Collection supported my latest short film, “All We Didn’t Do,” about the pioneer life of Mary Hallock Foote and Arthur Foote in Boise. It will be archived in the BSU Albertsons LIbrary. IFC was very supportive in also helping with the Pink Feather movie many friends and I did a couple of years ago just when Covid had started.
The not-so-good, is a bittersweet thing that happened very recently. Friend and videographer Theresa Palmgren, who worked at KTVB Channel 7 and filmed my Pink Feather and 13 Stories films for me, passed away suddenly at work.
She had also helped film a surprise video with Mary Lambert, who was in town briefly for our Pride Festival. In addition to the music, she made mocktails and talked politics. This was such a fun day with Theresa and my friend Jenn Snyder.
Theresa’s passing shook the entire community. She was young, creative, and one of the most positive and helpful people I’d ever met. When I broke my shoulder and had other health stuff, she checked in on me. The day she passed, dozens of people met up and mourned at a local watering hole where we had recorded a couple of our movies. People sobbed, and told so many stories of her support.
I’ve kept myself busy, but think of Theresa every day. When I go to work, I think of how she’s no longer in the building next to our stations. We used to meet between buildings to share USB drives. I had thought we would work together on so many more film projects down the road. Whenever we lose someone, it’s kind of a jolt to look at our lives and see if we’re on a good path. With this, and my own health scare, I feel like I’m scrambling to get as many things done as I can. I hope I can leave something on this earth that lasts much past my time here.
My Youtube channel roxxboise hopes to be the closest thing to a legacy I can provide. It is years of work, hundreds of videos and remixes of bands. There are a few films on the channel, and some product reviews. My channel was hacked last year. I nearly lost it, and nearly lost my mind getting it back.
This first half of the year has been tough. I was spending $40 each week in gas all winter to learn that the last mechanic who did my tune-up plugged 2 of my spark plug wires in wrong. I spent hours trying to figure out why it ran so poorly, and this didn’t cross my mind. 6 months, $$$$ and 4 mechanics later, I found the right guy to figure it out.
2 of my coworkers I’d worked with for 12-20 years were put into surprise early retirement by corporate. It really rattled me. They are people I care about, and I can’t help but wonder what I’d do if it happened to me.
Also, the health checkups and clinical trial I’m in that I thought were free for 3 years…are much the opposite of that. I was surprised to see a bill of $4000 I hadn’t expected.
Not wanting to be the GoFundMe poster girl, this is going to be the summer of side hustles. I’m grabbing every remote broadcast they’ll let me do.
Back to some good stuff, I really miss playing music. I’d play several times a month if I could, but some of the groups I used to play with are doing different things, playing less, or playing with different people.
There will be an occasional show with SIS, the Sisters in Songwriting Group. They have an all-ages/all-gender music jam this Thursday 5/18 at Lounge at the End of the Universe, 5-7 pm.
This summer I hope to join Brook Faulk & The Family Corvidae. We’ll play 5/31 at Highlands Hollow Brew Pub on Bogus Basin starting at 7 pm. I haven’t been there in so long, and haven’t played there. It should be a fun time. Brook is a great songwriter, Emily Tipton is a part of this project, and I can’t wait to meet with the drummer and bassist.
I’m really excited to have a show, because playing music helps me forget about all the worries above, and more.
Lately I’ve gotten lost in this new guitar pedal, thanks to the NAMM Show and a sponsorship from the amazing folks at Donner Music.
Please check out my “She Likes to Go Slow” podcast, where I review this pedal and play all kinds of guitar samples. If you play guitar, this pedal will help you get out of your head for hours. Get the ARENA 2000 HERE, and while you can get the Amazon coupon.
With a built-in looper that supports up to 60 seconds of looper and 40 different drum rhythms, Arena2000 can quickly record demos or perform live as a one-man band. In order to allow you to freely create in the middle of the night, it also enables headphone output. Additionally, you can rapidly capture your inspiration using OTG and your phone.
This is my latest short film. It’s a different approach to the podcast I had recorded with author Stacey Guill, PhD, who wrote “Stone House in the Cañon.
Here is a behind-the-scenes blog that goes way beyond the movie.
For many years, I’ve taken whatever dogs I had at the time to hang out once in a while at Discovery Park. It’s a good place to chill out, and watch the water. I noticed a few things happen across the river, then a plaque appeared saying there used to be a stone house that a famous artist and author, Mary Hallock Foote and her husband Arthur Foote used to live in. Mary Hallock Foote had done illustrations in this house for books written by Louisa May Alcott, Tennyson, and many other famous authors.
Her husband was an engineer, who was trying to build waterways and dams in the Treasure Valley. While he struggled for income, his wife’s drawings and articles kept them going while they raised children in this stone house in the valley, with helpers including a cook and a nurse who lived there as well.
I found myself taking more trips out there, hiking longer, finding more clues about what life was like across the river. I studied books, archaeological digs, and years of historical documents. I discovered that this stone house was actually built on an important Native American site that had originally been an encampment to make all types of hunting blades from the nearby obsidian. The more time I spent out there, the more I saw it through different eyes. Artifacts were dug up, covered up, and locked up in special collections that most eyes will never see.
At first, I imagined Mary Hallock Foote, from her upper-class background hating the first part of her residence in Boise. I imagined her drawing from the rooms in the house, taking her kids to the beach, taking a rickety canoe or footbridge across the river, and tending horses in the park area I would hang out in. I feel in her writings, you could see a transformation of respect from resentment at times. You have to wonder how someone kept small children out there away from rattlesnakes and a dangerous river. She came to love the view, and the sound of the river.
I would guess that local people didn’t necessarily welcome them with open arms as well, and not knowing the western ways, I’ll bet the Footes were sometimes taken advantage of.
I imagined the stagecoaches traveling from The Oregon Trail and Bonneville point, being lowered down those treacherous canyon walls. I tried to imagine the river without Lucky Peak or Diversion dam. I tried to imagine women not being allowed to vote, or how the prohibition era must have been in Boise.
Going through Stacey Guill’s book, many hours of research and looking into the artwork of Mary Hallock Foote, I wanted to put Stacey’s words to some of the beautiful drawings, and take a creative approach.
“All We Didn’t Do,” was made with months of research, editing, getting photos and aerial shots, looking at library art and special reference collections. For a while it seemed to meet some resistance, I questioned myself as to why. I wondered if maybe the original spirits who reside there are tired of their land being exploited. Some might think it’s strange, but I made a special trip out there to talk to them. I apologized for the hundreds of people who had stomped around and built there without acknowledging them. I thanked them for letting a beautiful park exist there so people could imagine the same things that I have from over 100 years ago and more. I hope that everyone who goes out there takes a moment to reflect on this, and give respect to the Native American tribes who were pushed out of the area. Just a few years before the time the Footes were going to gather volcanic rock for their home with a beautiful view, a treaty forcing Native Americans within 30 miles of the Boise River, from Table Rock to Eagle Island, was enforced to vacate those areas. Even though the treaty wasn’t law, it was enforced. I stand there now on those banks, and can imagine the pain and sadness of their relocation. You can feel them there. I wonder what they think of the hundreds of paddle boards on the water on a summer day there.
Maybe this is why Wallace Stegner won a Pulitzer Prize for what seems to be a mostly plagiarized and fictionalized tale of their lives in his novel, “Angle of Repose.”
Maybe this is part of why Arthur Foote ultimately failed on his engineering plan of Treasure Valley waterways, only for Boise to have success using his very plans, once they had moved away. They did so much in planning and developing, yet I would guess that very few Boiseans know their names.
I feel honored to know about, and share just a portion of intense history of this area. I am grateful that Idaho Film Collection felt it was a project worth supporting, and this film will be forever archived at BSU Albertsons Library. They also supported my film “Pink Feather,” and I do not at all take this support for granted.
Anyway, all this to say you can see my film “All We Didn’t Do” May 7th at Colossal Film Festival at Overland Park Cinema. It is a great local film fest that starts at 4pm. Everyone going can take part in the red carpet photos before it starts, and there will be an after-party at Mad Swede on Cole. I really hope to see you there.
Also, just for fun, I was able to interview someone I’ve admired most of my life from The Carol Burnett Show.
Since 2008, I’ve had a YouTube channel. The ROXXBOISE channel has over 1200 music videos, some karaoke, and short films. Last weekend, I got hacked.
WHAT HAPPENED
While not completely sure how it was hacked, it was either a copyright email that was sent to me that I opened because it threatened a strike on my page, or a hijacked open session, as I was uploading at the time.
The first thing I noticed, was my email program alerted me it couldn’t login. I checked my backup email, and there were notices that my password had changed on YouTube, even though I had 2-factor authentication and had not authorized it.
ENDLESS CIRCLE OF CONFUSION
I followed all instruction for recovery, but the hackers had changed my recovery email and phone number. They made the recovery email the one I had no access to, changed phone number, and changed recovery to a Google key. This Titan security key I hadn’t heard of, was what the hackers were using to access my account. I’d try to login, be sent to help pages that told me to login to recover my email. It made no sense.
Google used to have 24/7 chat support, but they don’t anymore. I tried to call a number, and am sure it was associated with another hacker promising to get me into my account.
In a panic, I reached out to Facebook. Luckily I have a friend who was able to write customer support through her account on my behalf. In the help section, she found a form that promised they would call back right away. I spoke with them and got a case ID.
WHERE TO START WITH RECOVERY
If you have another gMail/YouTube account, try to contact help. I’ve found that some things work on mobile, some things only on PC. Try them both. Try different browsers. After watching several YouTube videos from people who had also been hacked with this same Tesla Crypto video, I learned this…YouTube customer service weirdly has to be initiated through TWITTER, @teamyoutube is the username. Since Twitter is a dumpster fire at the moment, I was really nervous that this is how I had to get started.After a couple of days of messaging them through Twitter, I was finally connected to a real email from YouTube, and a case number. They wanted my contact email to be another gMail address, so first thing you want to do is create a backup account if you don’t have one.
What happened next is hours and days of communication. It would take between 1 and 10 hours to hear back from support, as I’m sure they were swamped with others needing help over this holiday weekend. I learned that this Tesla [LIVE] crypto scam has been around a couple of years, they even hacked an MMA account with 5 million subscribers. My channel had 3.4 million views, but I let the copyright owners monetize their content. All I can guess, is maybe the hackers thought I had Google Pay attached to the account, which I do not.
Google emphasized to call my bank, and call the police.
Your emails with YouTube support must be extremely thorough. At one point my backup account was mistakenly shut down as well due to some confusion on the Channel ID. If you’re a YouTube Creator, do yourself a favor and do these things right now. Take a screenshot of when your channel was created, and get the link for your CHANNEL ID. They did not want to go forward without it, and I just had my channel name. Eventually I had to find the channel ID in my browser history. It starts with http://www.youtube.com/channel/thenabunchofnumbersandletters. I had no channel screenshot, so I did a Google search of my URL. The hacker’s videos came up, as well as some of my music videos.
5 days after the hacking and some lost sleep, my accounts were both restored. Countless emails were exchanged, I was extremely kind and thankful in each reply. I do wish it had taken the hackers as long to break into it as it took for me to recover it, but the support was really great and no videos were lost. After the recovery I send another thank you email, as I’m sure it’s likely most people don’t look back at that point.
AFTER IT’S RESTORED
What DID happen, is all videos were made private. I had to change the channel name, photo, banner, and most important, the sneaky Tesla watermark they’d uploaded to appear at the end of each of my videos. After a few hours, the channel is mostly cleaned up. Private videos were made public, all 1200 of them, 50 at a time. The hackers could have deleted them instead of making them private, for that I’m very thankful. The “Home” part of my page says I have no content right now, but the “Videos” page shows all of them.
Friends have reached out with dozens of hacking stories involving emails, banks, credit unions, PayPal. It’s a really different world we live in, so use that 2FA authentication, horrible long garbled passwords, change them often, and good luck!
We were so grateful to be able to get some Lucius time, as their Boise show took place the same day they had learned about several Grammy Nominations the same day! Lucius has been touring this year in support of their new excellent album Second Nature … their first album in 6 years!
Lucius has done much touring with Roger Waters in the past, and this year with Brandi Carlile. They talked about the magic of “Joni Jams,” and how Paul McCartney opened the back door for them at one event!
We met them in the El Korah green room after the sound check party for an interview, you’ll find that soon at our “10 Minutes With Tim” podcasts link at riverboise.com. Their pink room had some great old wallpaper, furniture, and Egyptian decor.
There was makeup all along the large mirror. I caught a glimpse of their open wardrobe case, it was shiny and full of bling!
After the sound check, they opened up a Q&A forum to all winners and VIP guests. They talked about many of their favorite movies and TV shows, and admitted to binging Long Island Medium Theresa Caputo and admitted to crying to it. One of the winners joked, “She told us you were coming!” They love Married at First Sight, and are obsessed with Cult Documentaries like : Holy Hell, Eat Sweet, Pray & Obey, The Jinx, The Vow, The Staircase. They watch Handmaid’s Tale, but like many of us, have to take breaks as it’s hard to watch.
Abraham Alexander opened the show and did a great set. He did a wonderful cover of “Wicked Game.” The Lucius concert was magical. The sound was great, and not too loud. At one point Lucius had everyone sit on the floor in a circle, and they performed in the middle off stage. At one point you could hear a pin drop. Lucius has never played Treefort, but they’ve heard a lot about it.
If you’re going to any Brandi Carlile shows at The Gorge next June, Lucius will be performing with her again there!
Many big cities have been hosting these events for years, and Boise is finally getting one of our own! I’m honored to be included as bass player for the house band.
SIS proudly presents: Chick Singer Night, “The world’s longest running songfest” The NEW Boise chapter of CSN will be a rocking concert series at the fabulous IRONWOOD SOCIAL in Garden City. 11/3, 6-9 pm.
The first installment of this fantastic new show will feature a smoking live backing band which will highlight the talents of these local female professional musicians ~
We enthusiastically invite you to join us for a wonderful night of music with a room full of extremely talented CHICKS!
The Band: Rochelle Smith, Emily Tipton & Meghan Kelly Watters
The Singers: Natalie Soma, Vashti Summervill & Heather Platts
Great music, great food, great beverages & family friendly!
We were so thankful Caamp made time to stop by for a session, especially when they are playing a sold-out show tonight. It shows how dedicated they are to the cause, working hard to promote their music.
The session didn’t start without incident, as the Po-Po showed up when their tour bus was parked on Fairview for too long! Tim was lucky to have dinner with the band last night, on their day off. The band was real chill and likely a bit tired, singer Taylor Meier’s voice sounded beautiful.
The band talked about their love for touring in certain cities, including SLC. They spoke of a venue called Shelby Events Center. They said the building is made of steel and sounds horrible, but they have great memories from there.
We all enjoyed a great lunch from Port ‘O Subs. Caamp says they love touring with friends, bands like Houndmouth, and Heartless Bastards. HB just played 2 shows at Neurolux last weekend, they were SO good. Tried to get them in on Friday, but they were coming from Spokane and didn’t have time to get here.
The band is keeping so busy, and they look forward to some rest after the Europe tour. They said, ” If we get through that as a band, you’ll be seeing more of us.” They’re writing some great music, we hope that is true and that they can return soon!
Coming up tomorrow, Alive After 5 with Wavves and French Tips, 5-8pm FREE on the Grove Plaza. We’ll have some games and free tickets, including a chance to see Jackie Venson at Thursday’s Great Garden Escape!
We had a session today from a songwriter passing through town, with no other shows than from within our Blue Moon Listener Lounge!
Sara Kays mentioned how her first song she learned was “Firework,” from Katy Perry.
Here’s a great song, it’s brand new and will be out next month.
She makes her home in Nashville, which Sara says is very convenient as her producer lives there as well.
Sara has moved to headlining tours now, and says that sleeping in the bus is hard because of all the bumps. Her bandmate joked that they grab Taco Bell wherever they can find it. We really hope they come back soon for a full Boise show.
Our next live session in the Blue Moon Listener Lounge, will be LO MOON. Catch our session next Thursday 6/23 at 2 pm, and their show later that night at Neurolux!
Who is the one band you wish you wish the most you had been able to see in concert? For me, it’s Queen. I grew up with a poster of Freddie’s striped costume above, and all the vinyl I could get my hands on, singing into open albums to hear myself better. Queen taught me harmonies, and a love for intellectual lyrics and musicality.
At The NAMM Show, there were surprises at every corner. I had been following news on this Queen book for quite some time. Every time I’d see press about it in my work emails, I’d get so curious about the book. When I found out that photographer Neal Preston was going to be at the Behind the Scenes booth signing copies, I knew I had to meet him. I wrote an email in hopes he was actually checking them during the convention. He actually replied and told me where and when to find him.
Neal Preston photo by Rochelle Smith
Neal Preston is someone you know. You know his photos, posters, album covers, magazines, documentaries, and more. This legend has spent 4 decades doing concert photography, best known as the Led Zeppelin U.S. Tour photographer. He has also worked with Springsteen, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Heart, Duran Duran, Live Aid, and Queen in Mexico and South America.
This book is a grand masterpiece, and I’m sure Freddie would approve. It’s a quality coffee table sized book, with many personal and tour photos of the band. As their tour photographer, Neal captured many sides of each member of the band. He also includes stories and conversations he’s had with members of the band. If you or anyone you know is a huge Queen fan, this book is a must-have. I’ve shown it to a few friends who flip through it and say, “wow, this is awesome.” I am going to savor each page of this book, and take it all in. I was on the air at a local rock station the night Freddie Mercury passed away, and announced it live, with a lump in my throat. The phone just kept ringing, as people hoped the news wasn’t true. It took me years to even be able to finish a Queen DVD or documentary without getting too emotional. This band had helped me out of some dark times growing up, where I could seclude myself and enter these colorful musical worlds they had created.
More photos of your favorite singers can be found in the book above.
The booth was very busy at NAMM, as everyone wanted Neal’s autograph. As he signed my copy, I asked if there was one specific memory of Queen that stood out to him. He just said, “It’s all in the book.”
The Behind the Scenes group is an amazing resource of suicide prevention information. Some of the proceeds this day were going to this amazing organization.
Specifically for Entertainment Technology Professionals, Basic Needs, Counseling, and Funeral Assistance grants are available through this website. Behind the Scenes resources are impressive. Counseling includes clinical, psychological, social work, and substance abuse help.
Purchase the Neal Preston Queen book HERE, and know you’re helping this worthy cause of suicide prevention.
Alice in WonderlandTHIS is how you do a booth at NAMM!Deering BanjosSteve Vai GuitarLego GuitarFruity Ukes
Imagine having Treefort inside and out, and adding a huge convention convention center filled with around a thousand booths of instruments on 3 different floors, software, stage lighting, DJ equipment, workshops, and performers. Last time it was 4 floors, but there still wasn’t enough time to see everything there. Imagine different sounds every 10 feet, where you can play your favorite guitar, drums, keyboards, ukuleles, and new inventions you haven’t even seen yet. This is NAMM.
A broadcaster’s grant helped me make this journey possible, and I’m very thankful to the Publicists who gave me media credentials for press coverage. It’s been a rough year with health stuff, and I really needed this bit of doing my favorite thing.
Fog Bubbles
I know it’s silly, but I love this fog bubble machine. I saw it during the 2020 NAMM Show, and fell in love. I’d love to see a club here get one of these. Kids love this machine.
I hit the ground running with a Women of NAMM after-party at a hotel. It was a great networking event, we were given a free beverage and fancy appetizers, while hearing music and speakers. Hotel Row is filled with many extra performances and events during the convention. NAMM is full of crazy cool tech. The workshops and seminars are really informative. I attended events like Sound Advice From Women Visionaries, hands-on immersive audio, and a double session on how to make effective videos for Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. This one was so interesting, breaking down what elements are needed at what time to keep your audience, and the importance of the first 3 seconds.
Robots
These were creepy and cool, full human-sized robots. No one else was with them, and there was a strange quietness compared to the surrounding cacophony all around.
I was inside a hotel, when I heard a sound that drew me outside. I was lucky to catch part of a sound check with Preservation Hall Jazz Band, from New Orleans. There is every style of music you can imagine, performing somewhere at NAMM.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Electronic, organic, and everything in between can be heard in the convention center. This guys doesn’t work in the booth, but makes this suitcase drum sound amazing.
Suitcase Drum
Some of my favorite things over the weekend, included meeting Neil Preston, author of this delightful Queen coffee table photo book. I will be reviewing this very soon, with much more information including the suicide prevention non-profit he is associated with.
Saturday night I attended the NAMM TEC Awards. This is nerdness to the nth degree .It honors brand new tech, some of it isn’t even in stores yet. Last NAMM I saw Joni Mitchell at this award show. I wrote a separate blog about this, products, software, mics and preamps that are the BEST of the best. Let your nerd/freak flag fly by reading the blog HERE.
My absolute favorite event was the industry drum circle. The founders of REMO drums were an incognito part of the 300+ people circled around between hotels. I grabbed a seat and small djembe, and found myself playing for an hour until I had to run to get my TEC Award credentials. I’ve done drum jams and circles for years, but never one this large. I can’t describe to you the power of this event. All instruments were provided. Everyone of any age or background was encouraged to play, reminded to breathe. We made up rhythms that would change in speed and intensity as the group felt it together. It was impossible to think about anything but drumming, and the people smiling all around you.
If you write, play, produce, film, DJ, dance, or even just listen to music, you will absolutely love The NAMM Show. Plan ahead for next year’s show, April 13-15 2023. Your entire family will love this, plus it’s near Disneyland. I really hope to be there next year, and so should you!
So, this is the 3rd week since surgery for colon cancer, which took me by surprise. I’m again encouraging anyone over 45 to please get a FIT or Cologuard test, or schedule your colonoscopy. My surgery looks to have gotten all the cancer. I’m told chemo would only help my particular situation by 2%, so the Oncologist is not recommending it. I will likely sign up for a clinical trial I am reading 25 pages about. They do blood tests. If they find you have the marker in your DNA, they suggest chemo. If there is no marker, they monitor you and keep doing blood tests for 3 years.
This has all been. SO. EXHAUSTING. Any burst of activity makes me so tired.
I wake up and still give myself blood thinner shots in the abdomen. The surgery pain has lasted longer than I had anticipated, but is finally now starting to lessen. I can go on short drives if I hold my guts over speed bumps. I have lost 20 pounds and most of my appetite.
Right now I’m trying to focus more on healing, than “what if it comes back?”
I have had amazing love and support from friends. A benefit and variety show will happen 3/11 at Somewhere Bar. Silent auction items include Treefort Tickets, merch from Old Idaho Penitentiary, Boise Brewing. A 1930 vintage MARTIN GUITAR from my friend Eric Paul! Tickets to Sawtooth Valley Gathering, donations of photography, books, music performances, art by Zella Bardsley, Michelle Bass, and more things keep coming in every day. The funds will go into my HSA to pay for bills and any upcoming treatments.
The good stuff, is I’ve found out how many of my friends and their families have endured and survived similar situations. Many friends have had a worse diagnosis than I have, and they remain strong and healthy years later. This is encouraging.
Ready for a statistic? Approximately 39.5% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetimes. This really sobering, and made me want to do some aggressive research on how to help myself get better long-term. I am listing some things I have learned about, for others who might need ideas.
I have been sent a barrage of alternative treatments and therapies. I am open to both western and eastern medicine. I am taking a daily polypore hydrosol combo made by the amazing author/herbalist Darcy Williamson from Maven’s Haven, an amazing and magical place with workshops and retreats along the Salmon River in Lucille, Idaho outside of Riggins. Can’t recommend this place enough. She is brilliant, and has a heart of gold.
A medical friend suggests a low-dose 81mg of aspirin. There’s a study that states the use of aspirin for 6 years or longer with a 19% decreased risk of colorectal cancer and a 15% decreased risk of any type of gastrointestinal cancer. My doctors haven’t suggested any after-surgery approaches yet, this may be worth a try.
Some other friends swear by Fermented Wheat Germ Extract. It looks to be anti-tumor, anti-viral, anti-everything bad. Friends are actually rounding up lab materials so I can make this at home if I can figure it out. Avemar is a commercial version of this product, which is much more affordable to make yourself.
Other friends have said they had great results with Biontology, and several have recommended I go to Tijuana to be cured at Oasis of Hope. I think this is better for higher stages of cancer, and someone with lots of money to spare. I don’t think they take U.S. insurance. I really want to go to Tijuana, but mostly for some cheap beer and tacos.
Sometimes I just get tired of talking about cancer, and wallowing in my overwhelm.
So today, I had a refreshing break, doing a podcast and interview with my new friend Jonathan Nadeau. He’s accepted my Gaelynn Lea film “Violin Scratches” into his Tournadeau Film Fest. His business slogan and podcast is, “Embrace Your Storm.”
While I deliberate the severity of the cancer I’ve been through, I find out that Jonathan had lost his sight at the age of 14 in a car accident. He is positive, successful, and wildly creative and passionate. It has given me perspective.
First things first, countless times I’ve heard people tell their friends about this artist. They say, “You’ve gotta check out this AILEN Jewell.” Or heard during Treefort, “EILEEN Jewell has a great new album!” She would likely never correct you herself, but just so we’re all on the same page, it’s pronounced “EE-len.” Rhymes with “how ya feelin’?”
Eilen kindly accepted an invitation for an interview and session during our noon hour. You’ll want to catch the show this Sunday Night, Charlie Sutton is the opening act for this show at The Olympic Venue on Main Street. This is the bar just above Mulligan’s.
We had a great visit, and she did a couple of songs for us. This is “Rich Man’s World.”
Boise is spoiled to have artists like Eilen play in town, between spots on the world tour they are planning. She’s playing Portland and Seattle this weekend before returning for the Boise show.
During our chat, Eilen said she really likes Ray LaMontagne for modern music, and Lana Del Rey. She says friends tease her for being late to the party. I asked her if there was a location in her history of touring that pleasantly surprised her. She said it was Sweden, because it is beautiful and spread out like Idaho.
Here’s one of the songs from her latest album, “Gypsy.”
If you need a comfort song, close your eyes and listen to this. I asked for a holiday song we could share next month. We will have enough now that we can do an “Eilen Christmas” Lunch in the Library! This is a beautiful classic song covered by many, including Roy Orbison. It was written by Willie Nelson.
Sometimes I forget that I get to do cool things. If I had to pick some of the coolest things from 2021, this is top 5. I mix all the sessions for 2 of our stations 94.9 The River and 100.3 The X. The X hadn’t had a session in 2 years because of Covid. I was so excited to hear that we were getting a session with the Mongolian Throat singers, “The Hu!”
I want you to know how magical it is to do remixes. With a session like this, I mix it live and then I go home and remix by isolating the tracks and putting certain EQ and effects on each channel and making them stereo, and then sync them to video. Hearing individual channels brings out all of the harmonics and crazy throat singing this band is doing, the full session doesn’t really do it justice. Many sounds are coming from each vocalist, it is very goosebump-worthy. On this next song about one minute in, they make their cellos sound like horses!
The Hu made my year, what a great session. They used a translator for the interview, and were all very kind. The instruments were all pieces of art, the cellos had horses heads on them and it was all unlike anything we’d ever seen. The mouth harp player sometimes played flute with his teeth more than his mouth. I could have listened to them all day.
FILM STUFF
There’s a yearly film competition for My Rode Reel. I will forever swear by Rode microphones for anything to do with film. Many of their mics have a 10 year warranty. Anyway, they do a yearly 3 minute short film fest. My entry this year is based on my last 2 interviews at work. This time I excluded my questions, which were fairly controversial. This film only shows the answers. It’s called “What Was the Question?” Feel free to vote if you want to. Features the amazing Mary Lambert who was here for Boise Pride, and also Orchestra Gold from Mali, Africa, who played at Treefort Music Fest. At the end of the Orchestra Gold question, I needed time to try not to cry. Both of these interviews were on the weekend with no staff or audience, so I felt a little more safe to ask non-traditional questions. One of my favorite things is to ask musicians about non-musical things.
“Violin Scratches” is in yet another film fest after 2 years on the film circuit. It will be at India’s “We Care” disability film festival. I am so excited to see this film there, as Gaelynn Lea continues to rock the world AND BROADWAY and is currently making music for MacBeth! Nothing from this amazing woman surprises me anymore! I was so lucky to interview her at Treefort and make this film.
BOISE SHORT FILM FEST
Locally, I’m really honored to be a part of Colossal Film Fest in Boise November 7th.
I LOVE this local film fest! They have been so supportive to include me in their local all-star cast of filmmakers. My stuff is usually pretty low-budget, and this movie “Firedance,” was literally recorded mostly inside of my VW van when people were most afraid of Covid. I love poi and fire poi. The biggest thing I got our of this evening was that I had watched a breathtaking fire performance from one of the artists. I asked if I could list her name. What I had just watched was amazing. She said, “probably not, because my parents had expected so much more from me.” Yet, what I’d seen was unbelievable. Please buy tickets to Colossal Cinematic Showcase HERE. It’s really fun and supportive of local short film folk. You can get a red carpet photo, grab some popcorn, then meet at Mad Swede for beers!
The featured filmmakers of the November 7, 2021 Colossal Cinematic Showcase are:
Steven Zunich- “Unter”
Rochelle Smith- “Firedance”
Heather Horner- “Affective”
Elizabeth Findley- “The Task of Reconstruction”
Hutt Wigley- “Max Helm: Curse of the Relic”
Timothy David Orme- “Grip”
Cary Judd- “Give Me”
Tom Sanford- “Going Back”
Brandon Freeman and Christina Lane Hawkins- “El Matamoscas”
Andrew Ellis- “Mentor the Drone”
Nichole Stull and Brian Morgan- “Girl From the South”
The success of my short film “Pink Feather,” has been amazing. It has won several awards, and been accepted in festivals worldwide. Any time I get any amount of extra money, I enter into another festival. This film’s message is one I’d like to see spread far and wide. Festivals can cost between $20 and $60 to enter, and only some of them will choose your film. If you’re reading and would like to help, please venmo @roxxboise. Every penny goes into film festival entry fees!
A recent acceptance includes a festival in Singapore, they are waiting to send official announcement news.
This movie was filmed mostly at “Somewhere” bar in Garden City, formerly The Ranch Club. The owners were gracious to give us early entry, and we were lucky to film before the old signage had come down. This building is rumored to have some huge Idaho history, having been a brothel and gambling house at one point in possibly Homedale. Gambling was legal there, but when it was outlawed, people took this building apart piece by piece and moved it to Garden City, where gambling was legal there a few more years. Some filming happened on Chinden, where just down the road Roger Miller wrote a song about a sign he saw : “Trailers for sale or rent. Rooms to let 50 cents.”
The Ranch Club also makes an appearance in Clint Eastwood’s film, “Bronco Billy.” This corner of Orchard/Chinden is still a mix of old and new traffic, with both new cars and horse trailers driving by. The name is different, but the pony remains.
These historical connections, and the message of acceptance, helped the Idaho Film Commission to sponsor a small grant for my film. The best part is that “Pink Feather” will also be archived into the BSU’s Albertsons Library for future generations to see!
The movie setting is 80’s-meets-now, where some redneck ranchers are in town for a cattle convention and look for a drink when the day is done. They wander into a bar that is LGBTQ+, adventures, disagreements, and finally acceptance all take place. This movie had been a thought in my brain for months. Once I finished the screenplay, I invited friends to help, and recruited friends that are new to me to help with this no-budget passion project. The support has been incredible. I love using real people vs actors. I let people play with their lines, and everyone offered up great ideas on set. Even though many of our actors are drag performers who had very late shows the night before, (Karma Rose, Coco Freeo, Maliha Gemini, Sid D’Licious, Mikey Likesit), everyone arrived early on Sunday mornings to film before the bar opened. My friend Jeff agreed to take an extremely challenging acting part. He has been in 2 of my western movies for 13 Stories, “Revolve” and “House of Helen.” I’d met Theresa Palmgren at a LezBe Kings drag performance shoot at the old prison and asked if she’d help me with this film idea. I have lots of ideas and no professional camera or new computer. She agreed and got some amazing shots. Editor Lynzsea Sky Williams made all the magic happen, hire this genius from Orphan Hilll Studios. Behind the scenes, friends helped with release forms, snacks, lighting, slate, sound, and photos. I am so proud of this cast and crew, my largest short film endeavor to date.
Boise State University will be showing “Pink Feather” for free, this Monday, October 11th. Please join us upstairs in the SUB, in The Berquist room at 6pm. We’ll have snacks, show the film, and then have a panel with myself and 3 of the actors for a Q&A afterwards. This is the film’s 4th showing in Boise. Please come and support local actors and film!
MY RODE REEL
I’ve entered a short film into a yearly competition, “My Rode Reel.” I have entered every year for several years. If you talk to me at all about gear, I will tell you how Rode microphones are my mic of choice for film. Their warranties are unmatched, often coming with an up to 10 year guarantee. I’ve had them happily repair an 8 year old mic without cost. This film competition is open to worldwide entries, films must be under 3 minutes long.
My film is called, “What Was the Question?” With permission from a couple of recent band interviews I did, I made a film of 2 very passionate answers.The film features singer/songwriter Mary Lambert, and the group Orchestra Gold from Mali, Africa.
HERE is the link to watch the film, and please vote if you like it!
Erich and Mariam made time to stop in to visit with us in the Blue Moon Listener Lounge. I was really excited hear some psychedelic music from Mali, and learn about their projects.
Miriam teaches online African dance classes. Learn more HERE.
Orchestra Gold would love to return, and bring some drumming and dance classes to Boise! We’re hoping we can help them make that happen.
It’s really fun that they encourage remixes and offer a membership to do that with. Info on The Vault, HERE.
Their full band has 7 members, and Erich mentioned he had an adrenaline crash after playing their show the night before. Their songs have so much energy!
Watch our full interview with song remixes below. We talk about music, cultural appropriation, Islam, and dancing. They were so kind and appreciative.
In the press room, I head people talking about Lake Street DRIVE, and Michael FranTAY. I loved that they were excited about their music, but the mispronunciations made me grin.
I started Day 1 of Treefort with Storyfort, and a workshop on Activism during Covid. There were some amazing stories of perseverance and privilege.
Most people were masked at the Main Stage Venue.
I saw a few other groups, but was really excited to see Lake Street DIVE. We’ve had them in studio before.
Rachel Price somehow only gets better. They played an amazing set at Treefort Main Stage, including extra songs at the end, and a couple of covers. Sorry for the lens flare, but their version of Bonnie Raitt’s “Nick of Tme” was SO good!
Today, Treefort brings us a book reading from Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast. They will be on the Main Stage tonight.
I caught mantis puppet/neighbor Bitsy dancing under the moonlight. Excuse the drunk people swearing behind me. I tried to stand in the right place, it looks like some sort of animation. LOVE the puppets from Colossal Collective! (NSFW)
The Old Idaho Penitentiary has a film fest on stories of their past prisoners. It’s called “13 Stories.” Right now I’m working on “House of Helen,” about bordello owner Helen Hall.
The fun fact about this film is that it ties in with my last film, “Revolve.” Both of these movies feature some very good friends of mine, including Jenn Snyder, Jamie Borge, and Jeff Schoedler.
Feel free to catch up on the story by watching my short film “Revolve,” on the Amazon Link HERE.
It had been well over a year since our last session. We all laughed as we were beginners again at everything. What side of the TV does the USB plug into? Did someone ask Eric for a graphic? Where's Tim's music stand? There were 2 times that I pretty much closed my eyes and pushed a button on the mixer to get where I needed to go. We could go live on Facebook, but with no audio. We were all very rusty, but couldn't ask for a better person to start our year of sessions.
Our winners were so excited to get together and have amazing lunch from Piehole Pizza! They gave us a great vegan pizza and 3 others, I was so excited to see my favorite potato bacon.
As we got ready to go live, Eilen mentioned that it was "great to live life again."
During Covid, Eilen said she did a little writing, but no full songs yet. She is just happy to have a healthy family. Before the session, she mentioned being nervous as daughter Mavis is off to her first summer camp!
Eilen spoke of the loss of a great Idaho songwriter, Pinto Bennett. I used to watch him play when Lock, Stock, and Barrel was on Emerald. Eilen and Jason had produced Pinto's last album, "The Last Saturday Night." When asked about the loss of Pinto, Eilen said, "The world just got a little less interesting."
When the session was done, listeners mingled ate pizza, shared hugs and stuck around. Our friend Carrie noted that people never stuck around as they have to get back to work. Eilen said, "There was a time when I thought this would never happen." We couldn't agree more, and no one knows if we're past this or just between quarantines. We hope you can hear some great outdoor music this summer, including weekend shows with Eilen at Kin.
A couple of months ago we did a thing. Several friends old and new, gathered to help my screenplay come to life!
Most of my films have been documentaries with few people involved. As time goes on, I’m trying to grow my film game. Pink Feather involved new equipment, lights, and nearly 16 people in actors and crew. We are all learning as we go. I was blessed with professional video and editing techs, a friend to do sound so I could direct, even people helping with makeup. A few friends and I spent hours adding the finishing touches of local music.
In the last week, Pink Feather has been shown to over 200 people, at some huge fundraising events. It was great to have most of the cast see their hard work, and especially to see the crowd reactions and see what parts they thought were funny.
It was such an honor to have the support of Idaho Film Commission in sponsoring part of our sound costs. It was, however, a small portion of budget on this important film. I’m really hoping to get this message out into the world by entering several film festivals. Those costs can be $20-$90 per festival, with no guarantee of acceptance.
I’m working on a couple of other possible Boise showings. People have asked how they can help. Covid shutdowns cut about 1/3 of my income, then I had to go and break my shoulder. There are many creative ideas in my head, but I need some things to make them all happen.
If you feel like donating to my film projects, my Venmo information is below. Funds will be used for film festival submissions, education, and small equipment purchases. These are all passion projects, and please know that your donations are incredibly appreciated! Thank you so much to those who have already supported my dreams.
2 big things happened today. First, “Violin Scratches” was accepted into its second film festival in India.
This New Delhi festival is the first that I paid to have pro subtitles added to the film, and the first ever disability festival it has been accepted to. I am SO excited for it to finally have this exposure, as Gaelynn has been so dedicated to her disability survey and upcoming book. It is so exciting to at least imagine this film showing around the world. I wish I could see it in person.
Part deux.
I was out tonight with friends, and got a notice that “my article” was ready. I answered some questions about a month ago and figured nothing had become of it.
AGENDA Fashion and Lifestyle magazine printed my entire interview! Please take time to read it HERE. I am so honored and grateful.
The “Pink Feather” film, which is my baby, is in post-production. I hope to have it out to festivals in a few weeks. After that will be another local western film featuring a female prisoner from the Old Idaho State Penitentiary. “House of Helen” features a brothel owner who was imprisoned for serving a minor.
After that, I am circling back around to documentaries. Hope to have a couple of surprises by the end of the year! Thanks for following along.
This scientist and author has been writing and podcasting about “The Hidden Brain,” for years. Shankar Vedantam’s new book is called, “Useful Delusions.” Learn about the power of both positive and negative thinking, in this intriguing interview that is well worth your time.
Rochelle Smith Productions 