Latest blog entries
07.22.2009 - yeah I know...it's been a minute y'all!Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, we been constantly on the move to the next gig. We are gonna get the blog back on track asap...promise. stay tuned, we got stories! Holler
- Peace fo'real, see u all soon, Lil'Bell
02.26.09 - ROSLYN, SNOQUALMIE, EUGENE AND THE LOSS OF A GOOD FRIEND
Hey folks!! It's been a while. We are gypsy style living in the trailer. Got back 2 weeks ago from our favorite place Roslyn. Love going to that town. Seeing old faces and meeting more new and wonderful people. Ryan and Piper thank for making it all happen. We played at Marcos and had a blast. We set up on top of the pool table, the dance floor was open for everyone to dance and they did. At Marcos u can bring ur dog inside, so george was on stage with us the whole time. That night we stayed at Becca's. Groups of friends kept stopping by, we all drank and ate til the early morning with an awesome old wood stove keeping us warm.
The next morning Leah woke us up to some delicious coffee and our day got started. Drove into town, stopped at Tom's market for some rolling tobacco and to say hello. Settled in at the Brick and ran into our favorite person on this trip, Trish. She was drinking a mimosa so we joined with 2 bloody Mary's and talked all afternoon. We played the Brick that night and all the peeps came out. So awesome seeing u all...Barter Faire!!! CJ, Ray, Dan, lil'Emily, Emily, Stephanie, Magenta all my local lovelies,Tom, Chris, Roy, Lea, Beca, Liz, Stephanie, Glen, Dougie fresh, Faby, Steve, Matt, Ivonne, Bill West, Nick, Krissy, Adam, Sara, Nicole, Garth, Jessica, Jen, Brent, Tammy, Susanne and so many more, we love u guys.
Off to the next gig at Whiskey Pete's at the snowqualmie pass. WOW!! So beautiful a blanket of white snow all around us and the sky so blue and full of stars. We saw some peeps at the pass as well. The biggest surprise was seeing Aaron, the last we heard from him he was in Peru.The show went off we killed it, Roy joined us with his trombone for Roots Reality and Grasping. Sounded so good. Reny broke 2 strings after playing for 2 hours and the crowd wanted more....what a nite. We so wished we had the chance to catch with everyone, but we got kidnapped to an after hour party, hey what can we do...gotta go.
That nite we partied with Skot, a cool ass snowboarder and his friends, we all got faded. We crashed at Trish's that night, Reny went to bed and Trish and I stayed up til 4am drinking tea and eating home made bisquits that she just whipped out. Love u Trish i will remember that nite for ever. Day off Yeah!! we slept in rested, meet Cedar Trisha's son and enjoyed a home cooked dinner. We ate and hung out with Gustav and Petra. Two other jems. Gustav is an amaizing musician, he can play all nite and did not repeat a song. We sat in the kitchen drank 6 bottles of wine between Reny and Gustav we sang all nite long. People kept stopping by through out the nite to hang. This is living!!
Next day was sad, don't like saying goodbye. We had breakfast with Trish at The fast time and ran into more people giving us love. Gave everyone a hug and we hit the road. It was a sad drive home, but we also missed our kitties and needed to be back. Everytime we come back from a tour we are glowing. The high and the love we get from all our friends stays with us for weeks. Back in Ptown playing at the Radio Room on thursdays and sometimes friday.
LOSS OF A GOOD FRIEND
Last friday we played at Papa's and u know we ate and drank like rock stars. Papa always takes care of us. We got to see Ronnie again, our friend and fan, always there giving us love. We didn't know that would be our last time seeing him. Sadly he was premuturely ripped from our lives this week. Im so glad we got to see him, hug him and tell him how much he means to us. You will be missed fool....we can't believe it!!!!!! YOU WILL BE MISSED MAN!! Life is hard and we gotta remember what is important, family, friends, community, love and respect. We will be in Ptown for a bit, the markets are starting and spring is near.
-Peace fo'real, see u all soon, Lil Bell
01.07.09 - Red Bicycle Bistro, livin' in a trailer, 66' Ford Truck, New Years Eve
So...long time no blog, sorry. We been tryin to keep the train on the tracks...jus' doin' our thang and gettin by.
Red Bicycle Bistro, Vashon Island WA
We just got back from a trip to Vashon Island and the Red Bicycle...what a blast we had. Pete and the crew were super cool as usual and Pete the sound guy took care of us (sorry to see him go) and all the fans came out in bunches. The housewives night out was one of the best (young housewives out on the town, and they chose us) and the rest of the crowd was up and dancin the whole night. Great seein Lisa and Mel and thanx to Alexis for the drawing. Thanx to jannell, Melody and Heather for puttin us up for the night, we had a great time, and Gabriel for the sessions. Love the hell outa that island. Oh yeah...Hillstomp was on point as always!
Livin' in a 1967 Shasta trailer
Well last blog I mentioned the RV we were supposed to buy...fell through. So we searched for a small trailer to pull around and live in for a couple months while we toured around the SW. With minimal funds we were limited to only a few choices, one of which was over 200 miles from Portland, but, it was only a couple hundred bucks. So...our crazy asses decide to drive all the way there to pick it up...sight unseen!! Many hours on the road and many detours later we found ourselves lost on a dirt road with a quarter tank of gas and no cell reception! Freakin out we, can't decide weather to turn around or continue down this road, that could possibly be the way we are supposed to be driving. So...we turned around, made our way to the proper road and back on track, only to find that the road would have actually led the right way had we continued.
Long story short, we picked up the trailer (nothing like we had pictured...broken down and in need of way more work than we anticipated) Intent an makin the trip worthwhile regardless of it's condition. We then made our way pack to Portland over two large passes and many a hill...with our little 4cyl truck, needless to say we went over the hills in 2nd gear and doin 20mph. Upon returning to PDX we then had to try and wrap our heads around the daunting task of makin it livable!
These are pics after we reassembled the whole thing, it was literally in pieces pryor to that.
But..I got the job done in the week or so time we had to do it and she looks pretty cool and it's pretty damn cozy. Check it out.
It cost us an arm and a leg to get it all legal (tags, reg and such) but it was worth it. Unfortunately we had the reg on our truck come up at the same time so thank god for friends...good lookin out! The one sad thing about getting the trailer is that we realized that our little truck (affectionately named Lois after my mom) could not pull it comfortably. So we decided to sell the truck, and that leads me to the next section of this blog, about our new truck and the journey we took to make that happen.
1966 Ford F100 LWB truck with a 352cid 3speed w/ granny gear
Once again we had very little funds to make the deal go down so we had to search far and wide to find the kind of truck we wanted for the loot in our pockets. This time it ended up bein a little closer...but not much. We drove to Tacoma Washington, which is about 145 miles from PDX to get it. The major issue was that Bell doesn't drive, so we had to figure out how to get it back with only me drivin two trucks. We ended up having to use our friends AAA to tow it back...only thing was they would only go 100 miles, which left us in a small town 45 miles from Portland, at a gas station. So we left our little Chevy truck and drove our new (old) 1966 Ford F100 LWB with the 352 v8 in the pooring rain arrived at 4:30 in the morning. The next morning at 9:00 we took our ailing friend Becca too the doctor then raced to pick up the little Chevy before it got towed. We made it, and we made it safely home Portland...with a sweet truck. Holler
New Years Eve at the Radio Room Portland
New Years Eve was lots of fun. We played at the Radio Room in North Portland and rang in the new year with some really cool new friends. Strangle Darlings were awesome and we had a blast jammin with alla y'all and actin silly. Thanx to Brian for puttin us on, yer awesome and you got great taste. hehe. Thanx to Brian and Erika and Becca and everybody for comin out and especially all the new fans.
Upcoming gigs
Well we are in the process of booking our spring touring schedule and will be posting the dates ASAP. But we are playin at Sam Bonds in Eugene on the 9th and we will be playin at Snoqualmie pass and getting in some snowboarding while we are there. Lookin forward to that. We'll keep y'all posted. Holler
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny 10.11.08 - Red Bicycle, The Brick, Broke My Nat (YES I FUCKING DID!)
Red Bicycle Bistro, Vashon Island WA:
Well folks I got good news and bad news... the first night of my tour I was on stage at the Red Bicycle, when two songs into our first set my new Delphi, the one National made specially for me, fell out of the stand and broke. I calmly excused myself, went outside, screamed at the sky, composed myself and proceeded to put on one of the best shows Bell and I did in a while. Dancing, screamin and so on. Great vibes and great people. Thanx to the whole staff, Pete and Pete were fuckin cool as hell, we made a bunch of new fans, Mariah, Anthony and Danika came out from Seattle and we just barely made the last ferry off the island. Killer time...especially with all things considered. Awesome island with awesome people and great vibes. We are goin back in January and we are super excited cus we finally get to play with our friends Hillstomp, now that should be a killer night of dancin and hootin and hollerin.
Here's a couple clips from the show:
Sidestreet Reny at the Red Bicycle 11-07-98
Sidestreet Reny at the Red Bicycle Bistro 11-07-08
The Brick, Roslyn WA:
We hung out with Mariah and Tony the next day, blazed a bunch, ate food and wondered around Seattle all day. Then we hit the road for Roslyn. Upon arrival we find out that the mountains have been all buzzin about our return (love that town!!) especially since the epic Barter Faire show. All kinds of folks drove hours to come see us and apparently folks had heard talk about our Barter Faire show all through the region. I was amazed... I still am! So anyway the show was amazing there was a packed dance floor and therefore Bell and I played a bunch of extended versions of songs and went into new ones without stopping, sometimes for a half hour at a time. (felt like Jerry G hehe). It was great, it seems like every time we come back it's just bigger and better and all that much more debauchery. Can't fuckin wait to get back up there ASAP I actually miss it when I am not there and count the days till the next show. Love all you guys up there!!!
Thanx to lea and magenta for making us sound good. Shannon loved ur friends i hope u enjoyed the rest of ur birthday, without any puke stories. Chris thank u for dancing and being u. Ryan always looking out thank u.To all our good friends thank u, CJ, Chris, Ray,Tom, Suzanne, Piper, Erika, Roy, Liz and scooby, Adam, Doug, Mc Gruff and all the rest, hope we didn't forget anyone.
Buyin a Winnebego and hittin the road harder!!
So we made it home safely to our babies (the cats fool!) and our little ranchito and decided to go have some beers with our good friend Becca and Mike where we bumped into a friend of hers from Montana, and it seems he has an RV for sale and he is gonna sell it to us dirt cheap. So that means we are gonna be able to travel a bit furthar and be out their longer if not indefinitely hehe. So all y'all folks from the midwest and down south West that have been requesting SSR we will be comin to yer town soon I promise. And keep suggesting venues in yer towns it helps alot and is much appreciated we have gotten a few good gigs from fans suggestions, so keep em comin. Holler
- Peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny and Lil'Bell w/ Love and Respect
August 18, 2008
Hello people. Our 3rd NW tour up thru Washington into Canada and back a couple weeks ago was a blast!! We went to Roslyn again and also played at Slims in Seattle and went up to BC for the Forward fest. Man that festival was cool, so so many great folks up there. Little raggamuffin baby's runnin around and beautiful dreadie hippies abound. We sounded so great comin thru the big ole sound system and all the folks in the audience were so into it, hangin on every word and note!!
Daniel, the cat who held the festival, was one of the coolest guys I met in awhile and his fam was super sweet too. They fed us the whole time, kept us in the smoke and then... payed us... quite well. Respect and praises goin out to Daniel aka "Prince Pauper" and his wonderful crew.
Ras Michael's performance was inspirational! Canada is beautiful and the people are stoney and warm. Can't wait to go back.
I mentioned Slim's in one of the last blogs and of course Roslyn was killer. Mariah and her fam showed up again and Portable Morla (Mariahs solo electronica project) opened for us, she was great. Then we all hung out in our room upstairs, drinkin, smokin and jammin till like 3:00am when we realized that everybody left in the room was locked in, so everybody had to jump off the balcony to go home. Even the grizzled old prospector guy (a local who played spoons and looked like the quintessential haggered old mountain man), he was like sixty somethin and he was the first one over the edge. He hit the ground, rolled, popped up then skipped away like a cartoon or somethin. Then all the hesitant young bucks finally got up the courage. Shit was so funny... we were so faded!
Let's see... oh yeah, the Market. We have been busking on the streets and at the Saturday Market in between gigs and it has been quite lucrative. Sellin cd's and posters along with tips. Trippy thing playin on the streets, you get this big cross section of people, all age groups and interests. Amazing thing for us is how many different types of people are into the SSR sound. Lotsa young folks and alotta older folks who are typically not into alot of the things that make up my music sans the blues of course. Point being, they are feelin our music, some even tell me, man, I can't stand rap music but I love what yer doin... it don't piss me off. Other older folks are like man ya took me back to my southern roots or whatever. The young folks are cool too, like 16, 17 yrs old and fully into it, which in my opinion speaks volumes for the way the kids up here are raised. They obviously must have cool parents to be so open.
Well that's about it for now, it's Monday and that's the day we do all of our booking and buisness crap. Packages for radio, more reviews and next yrs festivals. Busy busy... allotta work.. lovely work. Holler
- peace fo'real, SSR
August 16, 2008
Hey y'all, ya know what? I forgot to mention my Moms visit to Portland. When I said to my Ma that we were movin to P-town she immediately said "oooh I gotta come visit you, I hear it's very nice". To which I replied... you have no idea. So she flew out from Brooklyn on a budget flight, and mind you I haven't seen my Ma in few years, so I was really excited.
While she was here she got to see me perform for the very first time in my 20+yr career (I left home when I was 16). She saw us play a few gigs, watched us busk on the street and even got to go to the most beautiful "wedding" ever.
Our good friend Simon honored us by having us perform on his very special day. It was a non traditional wedding where all participated and I mean participated. I cried like a baby. There was so much love in the general vicinity. We performed under an old growth Oak tree and the whole thing took place on some property in Wilsonville by the river... beatiful!! So glad my Mom got to experience that.
We also took her up to Thorins amazing river house so she could get some much needed peace and relaxation amongst the trees. Thorin and Jinx took me Kayaking down the river (class 4 rapids) for my first time ever, while Bell and Mom chilled out and had drinks in paradise, then we ate BBQ and had drinks until the wee hours. Good times.
All and all her trip to P-town was quite enjoyable... always love seein my Mom!! She is a great woman and has been a heavy influence on my life, from music to art, and of course the love, I owe her allot! Love ya Ma!
So, yeah the NW rules, however there is one bad thing about Portland, which is that our best friends Vanessa and Michael and of course upright bass player and longtime great friend Bako Billy aren't here, otherwise... paradise. Hope we get to play with him again soon, miss'em. But, touring as a duo is hella fun and cost effective, so it's all good for now... and no immediate plans of replacing him. Besides... the duo brings it! Betta reconize!! Hehe
Great gigs, great people and an abundance of good reasons why this is the place and time for SSR (kinda like "the Dude" hehe). Stay tuned for more adventures with Sidestreet Reny and Lil'Bell in the Great Northwest. Holler.
- peace fo'real, SSR
August 12, 2008
Portland has been really great to us already, we are makin a humble living with our music and the folks up here are awesome. Playin' as many gigs as possible (all paying btw) and busking in between. Couldn't be more stoked on the move we made and the place we are!!
We bought ouselves a little truck to get around in (with money made at gigs and playin at the Saturday market) it's a 82' Chevy S10 Durango with a 4 banger in it and 85,000 miles on it, apparently the owner pulled it around behind his RV. We put a shell on it and we are tour ready once again. Yay!!
Our good friend Thorin and our new friend Jackson (sick assed drummer) are going to share our house with us. Overhead shmoverhead!! It's all good. We can also now afford to tour as often and as hard as we want... the universe sure does provide... if ya keep yer ass on point. Thanx universe!
Just booked a bunch more shows in the NW for Sept. and starting on Oct., man every venue we have played up here has been so fuckin cool, the people are welcoming and the crowds are more than happy to submerge themselves in the music and, to my surprise and elation... the lyrics!! Seattle's Slim's Last Chance for example. We played there with two amazing, like minded acts, Lonesome Shack was my fav. Point being, the staff, the other musicians and the crowd were so damn nice, food was killer, they got us drunk, then payed us. and... that's not even an uncommon experience up here... on the contrary, that's just how the NW rolls!!!
Fuckin' greeeaaat (w/ heavy Scottish accent).
Well it's time to go buy Bell a new washboard and go play at 4th and Yamhill. Busking is so fun.
- peace fo'real, SSR
July 12, 2008
Every track on this CD is unique and it is all self-penned with powerful, emotive and often critical lyrics. It is a total mixture of Blues infused with roots, folk, hip-hop, rap and soft rock all played with fingerstyle and slide on 1932 National Triolian, with double bass, drums, Blues-harp and washboard. It's taken a century of US musical heritage out of its boxes, redesigned into new textures and shapes. The opening track, 'Intro', is best described as the Blues meets the Buddha! 'BK' is hip-hop infused Blues, with real moralistically profound lyrics. On 'Money Blues' that National underpins Sidestreet Reny's grit blue vocal, with Lil'Bell's sweet vocal harmonies and steady drumming combining Bako Billy Fuller's upright bass to proclaim lyrics which discuss the evils of money. Then they throw a curveball - 'Jeannie', a well-crafted melodic soft rock number reminiscent of the '70s band Bread. Rap and especially hip-hop are often regarded as being highly negative forms of music, 'Hungry' readdresses that criticism - a poignant comment on the condition of certain quarters of disenfranchised youth. An album for us critics to rave about, hopefully a few music fans will take our word for it! - reviewed by Carol Borrington, Blues Matters UK
Wow... of course we are really happy with that review, she really got it! Thanx Carol and Blues Matters. Holler.- Peace fo'real, SSR
May 31, 2008
Well it's been a minute folks. Sorry. We been real busy tryin to keep the train on the tracks... chuggin along.
Our coverage in Blues Matters in the next issue... can't wait to hear what they think. Lots of new radio play, and coverage coming in other sites mags and radio.
Our little tiny tour up to the nor Cal area was pretty fun. Saw some great music and played some cool shows... well the one in SF was alright... the radio spot on KDVS was fun, hot as hell up in there. Y'all can peep the show HERE, the sound was kinda poor but came off alright, I think. The gig at Sophias in Davis was cool we played with our good friends Graveroad (Marty, Stephan and Anna are the coolest) and saw Jay Brown and Calli Price the night before, they were great.
Got my new guitar from National a week or two ago... love it... but I am having another one made out of all metal rather than brass/metal combo. Shoot I'd play em all if I could. Don and co. at National are the greatest. BTW I just built a new myspace page for National Reso-phonic... peep it HERE.
Alright here it is... We are movin to Portland Oregon in July!!! Yep L.A. has sucked it's last drop of blood outa SSR and we are soooo excited to be able too breathe and most importantly be able to afford all of the touring we are planning this year. Look out Northwest... here we come!! Holler
- peace fo'real, SSR
May 17, 2008
May 2, 2008
Hey y'all, hope all's well on yer ends. We are just chuggin along... doin our thang. Got a bunch of reviews and coverage comin up in some cool publications and got booked at some great festivals this summer. Still waitin to hear back from some more of'em.
UPCOMING GIGS
May 6, 10:30PM - The Good Hurt - West Los Angeles, California
May 8, 11:00PM - Cranes Hollywood Tavern - Hollywood, California
We played a gig at EVFA this last week... it was cool... art show vibe. But we met Richard Edson (o.g. drummer for Sonic Youth and indie film actor, namely my favorite film "Stranger Than Paradise") It was way cool, he smoked a doobie with us and we gave him a cd and talked about the flick and I gushed and probably sounded like a teenager. Dope!! Hope he likes the disc... maybe he will play it for Jim Jarmusch... now that would be cool!!!
Witchy Poo has gotta be the best friend ever... she is officially family now, as is her beautiful daughter Mikayla and wonderful mom Lola. Spent a few day's relaxing at their house this weekend... smokin and drinkin and just hangin out. Good times. Love ya Witchy.
Our other MYSPACE page has now popped up on the Myspace charts at 1 IN BLUES and 6 in FOLK and like 16 in Acoustic and our main page still isn't anywhere to be found on the charts, after being 1 in all it's genre listings for a while, then we just vanished. I don't know what the deal is but maybe it'll help spread the good word and folks will end up at our main page eventually. Ya know... I am pretty sick of this FOXspace anyway... at this point it's just a necessary evil... I guess. Charts schmarts!!
Well, guess that's it for now, I'll get at y'all soon. Keep ya head up and focus on the horizon. Holler
April 13, 2008
Well folks, we made it home!! We all love each other as much if not more than when we left. Everybody was really stoked on our music, the shows went better than was expected. Great turn outs every night, sold tons of cd's and almost every venue payed us and or put us up in a room for the night. All the people we met were just fuckin awesome. Vibes were soooo positive the whole time and so was every new fan and friend we made.
Man, we did'nt spend any extra loot, payed for it all with cd sales and gig payments, we smoked bud all day everyday, drank beer for breakfast and partied till we all passed out... and still broke even!! Good times!!
Thanx to Witchy Poo for comin along and lookin out for us. It made all the difference in the world. She is as far as I can tell, now an indespensable part of the SSR team. She was awesome, takin care of the books, reciepts, payments, keepin the vibe and morale high and casting spells to keep the cops off our tail. She was the mediator, the spiritual advisor and just an all around great friend and we LOVE her!!! Thanx mama!!!!!!!!
Here's the rundown of the last couple shows of the tour...
EUGENE OR. PAPAS SOUL FOOD:
This was one of the best shows for sure!! Papas was the coolest dude ever, we had alot in common and alotta the same obsessions with old blues and culture. Had some real cool conversations and some of the best food ever!! Collard greans, pork ribs, bbq chicken, black eyed pees, hushpuppies, fried ocra, bbq pork, bbq beef, mashed potatoes, potato salad and mo beef. KILLER! The show was great, the people loved us and so did the staff and every one was super nice! Can't wait to go back and I can't wait to get papa doin some washboard on some Sidestreet Reny tunes, he said he was down so I'ma hold him to it. :) In short... We love Papa and his kitchen!!!
BERKLEY CA. STARRY PLOUGH:
Well the last show was in Berkley, we were tired and a little loopy so the show was really fun with lotsa laughing and some cool stories and some really good vibes. Billy's wonderful sister Denise took us out to breakfast and and let us get some shut eye at her crib before the show and came down with friends for the gig. Billy was really amped cus she had never seen the band play... she was really proud and very impressed. The boys from Last Hurrah did a great show and the sound man was really cool and took good care of us. Sold a grip of cd's, got faded, then got a hotel outside of town (thanx to Denise and friend) and ate some mushrooms. We spent the night watching Bob Marley in concert and laughing the night away... Billyt fell asleep and made funny noises to entertain us the rest of the night.
So that's the way the shows went. I am going to put together a documentary about the tour with footage from shows, travels, friends and fans and all the great things we saw along the way. I will also be writing some more about the tour in the next blog so stay tuned. Holler
- peace fo'real, SSR
April 10, 2008
Alright everybody, we been on the road for five days and we all still love each other! Had a great first couple gigs, hungout in a crazy house in Santa Cruz with some rally cool peeps from American Hemp Co. who laced us all up with fresh gear for the road (T shirts, belts, pants and stickers and stuff) great company with great intentions and we are glad to align SSR with them.
The gig in Portland - fuckin great, mad new fans, and a bunch of old ones. Ryans parents put us up, came to the gig, made us breakfast. Super cool fam, with lotsa love to give. Venue hooked us up + got paid!! Saw some old friends, made some new ones and got hooked up with some of the stinkiest bud we had in a while (80 buck’s for a 1/4!!!).
the gig in Roslyn - Fuckin great, lotta really cool new fans, met some crazy snowboarders along the way and they all came out to the show, then followed us to the show lastnight in Seattle (I’ll get to that in a second), so cool and really into it. The venue was really great, got paid (well!) got all the free food and drink we all wanted and an apartment to stay in for the night, highly recomend the place to any bands comin thru. Mariah and Phantom Oscillator were killer and her parents were awesome.
the gig in Seattle - Cool... but the venue Fuckin SUCKED! Well we played well, of course, our good friend Marty came out and all the new snowboarder friends came out and we made a bunch of new fans and sold alotta cd’s and the venue payed us... but... the sound man was possibly the biggest IDIOT we have all come across in I don’t know how many years. At some point thru the night myself, witchy Poo and Billy all almost came to blows with the guy and he even tried to sabotage our set... but we are sooo bad ass that he could’t throw us off nomatter how hard he tried (putting slapback echo on vocs at random times, turning Bell up twice as high as me, turning my guitar way down then way up , had the heater on on stage, lights full blast, turning the mics off on the drums etc. etc.) Witchy Poo at one point even invited him outside... seriously... she was gonna throw down. Not only that but the rest of the staff were all surly and bitchy too. Fuckin wierd!!! We were told to go on three times then told not too when we got on stage... with attitude, we were booked for 9:00 didn’t go on till 12:00. Man o man!! So I don’t know if it’s Seattle or the area or what but, the Central Salloon can definitely suck my DICK and I don’t think I’d swerve if the soundman was in the road!! But... Marty comes from there, so Seattle can’t be to blame, I don’t think, I mean, Marty is definitly one of the coolest peeps we met on the trip. Love him and the peeps from Summit too. Thanx.
Well that’s it for now, pictures and video in abundance so stay tuned. On to Eugene tonight... it’s BBQ time!!! Holler
- peace fo’real, Sidestreet Reny
March 26, 2008
Hey people, hope all's well. We are gettin ready for our lil' NW tour, Billy's comin' as well as Witchy Poo. So we got the drivin covered now, and we are so excited, we filled the last date... the 10th at Papa's Soul Kitchen and Blues Joint in Eugene Oregon, the food looks sooooo good, cant wait. We been gettin pretty good response from the peeps up North... sounds like a grip o' people are gonna come to the shows, thanx for the responses folks! Here's the dates...
Apr 7, 9:00P - Ash Street Saloon w/ Last Hurrah - Portland, Oregon
Apr 8, 9:00P - Brick Saloon w/ Phantom Oscillator - Roslyn, Washington
Apr 9, 10:00P - the Central Saloon w/ Ratfish Bone - Seattle, Washington
Apr 10, 7:00P - Papas Soul Food Kitchen & Blues Joint - Eugene, Oregon
Apr 11, 9:00P - Starry Plough w/ Last Hurrah - Berkley, California
We went to see the New York Dolls a week or two ago, that was cool, went with Vspot and Auggie and of course Bell. Had a good time, lotsa aging rockers to keep us entertained, ran into Native Wayne from Indie 103.1, he remembered us and said he wanted a copy of the new record.
We had a really odd gig on Friday and Saturday nights at a comedy theater, small turn out but the comedians were hella funny. Had a pretty fun time, I guess. It was an experience.
Our new pressings of "Not Seen the Light of Day" all eco friendly packaged and the discs are printed on little 45's have arived!! So we are about to send a third of'em out to radio and publications, man I hope folks dig it. We have had such good response that it makes things always seem too good to be true, like somethin's gotta go wrong. I even have a new song called "Worrysome Mind" all about that subject for the new album. Anyway... I made an album I am proud of so hopefully others can be too.
All kinds of drinkin, smokin and the usual activities have been the order of the last week or so, Bell and I are pretty tired today. I think tonight is gonna be a chill night. Oh wait Robin is comin over, so, we probably drinkin. ;)
**TOOTING OF THE HORN... OR, WHAT'S GOIN' GOOD FOR SSR**
I am after 15 years playin National guitars (both old and new), relying on the tone of these guitars to shape the SSR sound as well as being the main ingredient in all I do, ever since I first picked one up. Well... SSR is now being endorsed by my favorite company in the world National Resophonic Guitars!! For those of y'all that don't know, National is one of the last great American companies, they are hand made in the U.S.A. and the company was actually handed over to Don Young the owner by the Dopyera brothers, the guys who invented the resonator guitar and started the company at the beginning of last century. National is an undeniable icon for the blues and roots music both in tone and visually... instantly recognizable. I am proud to have their stamp of approval and support. Thanx Don!!
We are gettin alot of attention from publishing people about placements in film and TV and have been added to a couple more catalogs, so hopefully we gon get somethin soon, sure could use the loot... partyin is expensive. Hehe. Gotta fuel the SSR machine... touring and promotion isn't cheap, and in case y'all don't know, we live in L.A. without a car.... yep no car... jus bikes. I mean, bein green is great, but, we gotta get to gigs... thanx to our good friends we been gettin around alright, though that can't last forever. Rite?
We are really stoked to find out that our highest position on Mypaces music charts was #8 on 03/25/08 in the ROOTS-MUSIC genre and #15 on 03/23/08 in BLUES and #16 in folk on 03/23/08!! Thanx to all the friends/fans that keep spreadin the word and to all the new people just findin us, yer all appreciated... without the audience there's just a tune. Keep listenin y'all.
We are getting alotta great reviews over at Garageband.com and have been the featured band three times. Here's what folks are sayin'...
Original distinctive powerful sound!
Bouncy! I like that dobro-thing, or whatever it's called. Raw grizzled vocals just perfect for this. Unexpected female chorus a startling and nice touch. Innovative rhythms. Fine lyrics. Blues with a real distinctive touch. This is hot stuff, totally pro. Band has picked some of the coolest sounds from the 20s or so right up to the present, and somehow made a marvelous gumbo of it all. Great job!
- JamesWHarris from No Where, Georgia on 25Feb2008
oh yes my friend!
i absolutely love this. the hook is insanely hott. everything is on point, i mean u name a part of this song and it is top notch. his voice mingles on smooth aromatic tones with heart and structure that could make u dance, laugh, cry, make babies, and ex wives!
memorable lines/verses------------
"well i tried to work, sum how it seems i just cant take an order//
even when i can, my head seems barely buv water."
"man i been drownin, spend it on my herbs and i give the rest to the super market.
empty as my pockets"
completely raw, im lookin to buy and work with this guy!
- HoodlumzENT from Portland, Oregon on 17Mar2008
10 out of 10
This sounds like a Captain Beefheart track called 'Sure nuff'n Yes I Do', then the female vocal came in, which made it very different.....sort of geeky blues. I think this is a very good track and one of the most offbeat takes on an old formula, and it was only the female vocal that did it. The resonator playing was great. The vocal tones of the singer fitted perfectly.
- Jankers from United Kingdom on 23Mar200
and some of the awards for "MONEY BLUES"....
Track of the Day on 28Feb2008 in Blues
Track Of The Week on 24Mar2008 in Blues
Best Male Vocals in Blues, week of 3Mar2008
Best Male Vocals in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Male Vocals in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Female Vocals in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Guitars in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Guitars in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Drums in Blues, week of 3Mar2008
Best Drums in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Bass in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Production in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Production in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Lyrics overall, week of 24Mar2008
Best Lyrics in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Lyrics in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Melody in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Melody in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Beat overall, week of 24Mar2008
Best Beat in Blues, week of 3Mar2008
Best Beat in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Beat in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Best Mood in Blues, week of 3Mar2008
Best Mood in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Best Mood in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
Most Original in Blues, week of 3Mar2008
Most Original in Blues, week of 10Mar2008
Most Original in Blues, week of 24Mar2008
and some of the awards for "BK"...
Track of the Day on 1Mar2008 in Folk
Best Male Vocals in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
Best Male Vocals in Folk, week of 10Mar2008
Best Female Vocals in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
Best Production in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
Best Lyrics in Folk, week of 10Mar2008
Best Melody in Folk, week of 18Feb2008
Best Melody in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
Best Melody in Folk, week of 10Mar2008
Best Beat in Folk, week of 18Feb2008
Best Beat in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
Best Beat in Folk, week of 10Mar2008
Best Mood in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
Most Original in Folk, week of 18Feb2008
Most Original in Folk, week of 10Mar2008
Rocking Track in Folk, week of 25Feb2008
The SSR debut cd is sellin pretty good over at CdBaby and the other digital retailers such as iTunes and Amazon and we are goin to be distributed over seas thru a roots music co. out of the UK. We have also been approached by a couple festivals in Europe about comin over later this year... that'd be great... Bell ain't been yet, neither has Billy. Our SW tour is in the works, we are booking for Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma... then it's the Delta, can't wait for that.
Well... guess that's it for now, take it easy folks and stay creative. Talk soon. Holler.
- peace fo'real, SSR
March 15, 2008
Hey party people. Great show on Thursday at Cranes. Good turn out, lotsa new people and some even came all the way from Huntington Beach. There was dancin' singin and a generally funky time had by all. Tryin to keep up the love so the list is as follows...
- 1. Witchy Poo
2. V Spot
3. Hotsauce
4. Layla
5. Willies Bones
6. Michael
7. Brosnen
8. Brosnans friend
9. Gabe
10. Josh
11. Kelly
12. Nick
13. Zack
14. Matt
15. Guy from Oregon
16. Collin
17. His girl
18. girl from Chicago
19. Dude from Chicago
20. Kyle
21. George
22. Kevin
23. Yamulet
24. Monica
25. Auggie
26. Satan
27. Matt
28. Smith and Wesson
29. HB friend 1
30. HB friend 2
31. BH friend 3
32. HB friend 4
33. Isolda
34. mystery fan
35. mystery fan
36. mystery fan
Thanx for comin out and showin love and remember folks if we ain't met ya yet holler at us after the show, we'd love to hear from ya. The support is appreciated Y'all. Here's a list of the fans we missed...
- 1. Carly
2. Kelly
3. Emily
4. Memin
5. Olivia
6. Carol
7. Ashley
8. Anna
9. Daisy
10. Pam
11. Josh
12. Ross
13. Johnny
14. Anna
15. Jenna
16. Ceejay
17. Gregg
18. Ryan
19. Kacee
20. Jesse
21. Matt
22. Brian
23. Norik & friend
24. Josette
25. Chris
26. Melita
27. William
28. Rena
29. Timothy Michael (Queens in the house)
30. Katie
31. her boyfriend
32. Cindo
33. Ryan
34. Freddie Boy
35. Matt
Hope y'all can make it to the next one. Man that's a good crowd if we could get y'all there at the same time.
Hey speakin' of which, we are playin' a show in Santa Monica on Friday and Saturday night at the Westside Eclectic. It's a comedy variety show, so there will be all kinds of entertainment, comics and skits etc. (Kinda like Conan Obrien). It sounds like it's gonna be real fun, so don't miss it y'all. Holler.
- Peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
March 11, 2008
Hey folks. Hope y'all are well. We been just tryin to get ready for our little tour, getting the cd artwork ready for the new packaging, and findin time to party. Hehe.
We had a pretty cool show at the Good Hurt the other night even though it was last minute (booked the night before) some folks showed up, some came all the way from HB. With one days notice, damn. Sold some cd's got mad drinks and the bar tendress was super sexy. The bar tenders wear little black nurses outfits... the good hurt.... Playin there again soon fo'sho.
We are playin at Cranes again on the 13th at 11:00pm and our boy Root Hub is gonna be playin too. So get ya asses on down there and have some drinks, a lil' smokie smoke and some foot stompin, dancin good time. Don't worry I'll remind y'all again.
FLASHBACK
I did some searchin through the web a while back and came across an old Vanessa Williams song that I rapped on like 15 yrs ago. My first professional payin gig. Anyway this was all before the obsession with the blues and roots music. Although even then I sampled mostly jazz, soul and blues for my rap stuff... Johhnny Guitar Watson and tons of STAX stuff. But it's OK go ahead get ya laugh on.... Reny was a pop whore when he was a kid. Anything to get some shine time. BTW thats my lyrics she's "rappin" at the end too.
I found some more pop shit I did back in the day... Before I got the blues. :) Stay tuned. I'll post some more. I think it's funny.
Well let's see... Oh yeah. Check this out. I am a published author! My poem/song Jeannie was entered in a poetry contest in England at...
and it made it into the finals. Anyway, it is going to be published for the world to see. Kinda cool. I even misspelled they're and put there instead. What a dork.
A bunch more radio stations and video pages playin SSR aswell as some upcoming coverage in some cool blues publications, namely Blues Matters Magazine UK (the coolest blues mag around, they cover alotta alt. and avant type stuff and they're international). I'll get those new links posted asap and the review links as soon as they come in.
Now that's a nice review. It's so good that the polar opposite seems all the more scary. If somebody could hate it as much as Susan digs it... wow. Anyhoo, thanx for that one. Don't worry I'll post the bad ones too. Holler.
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
March 4, 2008
Hey all you good people, hope yer all doin fine and dandy. I am. Been spendin time getting our spring tour all squared away. Can't wait to hit the road, but unfortunately Billy might not make it, so I gotta do all the driving seein as Bell don't drive. Hopefully he will be able to come, but it don't look too promising. He has a torn ACM and possibly a torn ACL too so we'll see. Now to cover for him, I have a friend called... my thumb. Hehe. And our friend David Ralicke (horn player extrodinare) says he might be down to play tuba for us, atleast on some recordings. Cool.
As promised, here's the pics from the Temple Bar show. All you beautiful people make this music thing all the better. I mean I love playing, and I would probably play to a tree or something if not for an audience, but, man it's great when there's love in the room. Thanx everybody.
We are, well if you are lookin at this at ssrtrio.com, then you are aware. But for those who don't know yet, I finished the first incarnation of our new website. All coded by hand in html and java, by yours truly. I used some ILL cartoons drawn by our friend Alar from Bullfrog Brown who by the way... made the most amazing animated video for us. It's still being edited, but the initial version is up on our Youtube page . That shit is so fuckin cool!!! Thanx again Alar, you rule!
Well, lets see... what else? I been so sick for like two weeks. Sniffle sniffle. Just can't seem to shake it. Haven't had a beer in a while. Wow. And my herbs taste funny. But we have a gig comin up at Cranes Hollywood Tavern next week, that's gon' be fun I am sure. Especially if all you lovely folks come out and support again.
We are sending our order out for more cd's tomorrow and I am happy to say they are goin to be 100% plastic free... well I guess the shrinkwrap is considered plastic, almost 100%. So as soon as the shipment gets back, like a week or so, the line forming at cd baby can be sent their cd's. Thanx by the way to all the folks buyin the cd and dowloads, much appreciated. Slowly but surely pickin up steam... choo choo. Hehe.
Well, I guess that's all for now. Take care everybody, and don't take any wooden nickles. Holler.
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
Feb. 22 2008
Well we had the killer show last night, thanx again to Witchy Poo and Hotsauce for promoting the show. We got a surprising amount of friends and fans out to the west side and made a lot of new ones. So in the spirit of showin the love heres our thank you to all of y'all....
Hey people, we had 36 heads so if yer one of the missing 4 or don't see yer name please let us know so we can remember ya.... yer all loved (how sweet, hehe lol).
And all the new friends and fans...
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
Feb. 19 2008
We are going on tour in April with our good friend Devin (from Minds Of Boggle) and his new band The Last Hurrah. We are starting off in Portland Oregon then headin South. Can't wait I been wantin to hit the road for a minute. Just hope Billy is up to it with his torn ACM ligament (like he's a fuckin football player?) his endurance is much shorter. But he is a trooper so we gon' be alright. It is gonna be a fun trip, George the pug is comin with and I think our boy Hotsauce is gonna cruise with to a couple shows.
I really hope we get to play with Hillstomp while we are up there!! Organic Apples yo (inside joke)! Hehe. And we are lookin forward to seein and playin with our friends from Helix Resonator and hopefully Sugar Farm in Washington too.
While we are in Nor Cal we are also going to record our new album!! Completely analog from start to finish. Two inch tape, Neve console, vintage mics and compressors. I am giddy with joy, this shit's gon' have to be pressed on vinyl too. We are hopefully gon get more sides than we know what to do with, atleast that's the plan since we are recording the majority of it live in one room, shit's gon sound like an old Chess recording. ahhh shuuuucks!!!!
Last but not least we have been slowly but surely gettin noticed around the web and on the airwaves. Here's the lates bullet points stylee.
Well I guess that's it for now, hope y'all are doin fine and I hope to see as many of yer smilin faces in the audience on Thursday at 9:00 at The Temple Bar, it's gon be some fun!! Holler.
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
Feb 8, 2008
DAMN.... Y'ALL!!!! Great night at Cranes, wow what a turn out and the love was just about overwhelming. Folks were singing the verses to BK and Grasping... and in key might I add. We are very happy to have one over some new fans as well, hope to see those new fans at the Temple with even half the enthusiasm. Must of been the full moon.
Thanx to all our new Youtube fans, the folks buyin the new cd and for spreadin' the good word. Always appreciated!
I wanna thank miss Witchy Poo and mr Hotsauce for promoting and Venessa, Carly, Layla, Amy and Michael for helpin out, and thank all our friends and fans. To prove we care, heres a list of you beautiful people!
and if we forgot anybody please let me know, cus yer all important. Thanx for startin' this year off great. We love and appreciate you guys, all of you. Lookin' forward to seein' y'all at the Temple Bar! BTW we promise it will be a longer set! One love. Holler.
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
Feb 7, 2008
Hey folks havin a cup of Joe and gettin ready for the gig tonight. Hopin alot of y'all can make it, it's always fun when alot of cool folks show up.
Our youtube page has been blowin' up pretty good this month since I started posting videos. It's only been a month and we are gettin alot of loyal viewers, waiting in anticipation for the next one. Check out the comments under the videos, it's pretty cool, I think.
Gotta go to the doc today so I can renew my medicinal Mmmmm prescription, and, subsequently keep myself from loosin' my mind. Hehe. Then it's home to run through our set one more time and wait for our girl Robin "Witchy Poo" to come back from her final exam (with good news of course). Then it's drinkin time and off to our show!
- peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
Jan 20, 2008
Hey party people, hope y'all had a nice new years eve and a great new year. Woweee! we saw Paula Fuga and Corey Harris last night at the Ghetty museum, it was fuckin' great as would be expected. Got to meet Corey and catch up with Paula alittle. Ummm...oh yeah we got a bunch of videos posted on our Youtube page and a lot more to come. Holler.
- peace fo,real, Sidestreet reny
Dec. 26, 2007
Hey people, merry X-mas, Happy Channuka, lovely Kwanza, blessed Ramadan and a peaceful Tet. Spent alot of last night while my friend Michael and my girl Bell were cooking and enjoying the season editing ringtones and working on our new website, which is located at ssrtrio.com and should be up within the next few days. I also recently set up our own little online shop so y'all can now buy the cd directly from us on all our websites. Stay tuned for more shwag to come (T- shirts, stickers etc.)
So all of you people of good will, enjoy the rest of the season and grab a ringtone for ya phone while yer at it. The good lookin' girl or guy (depending on yer pref.) behind ya in line at the market will think yer super cool when they hear ya phone blowin' up the spot with some Sidestreet Reny. :) Holler!
- One love and peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny
Dec. 1, 2007
Hey folks the Debut retail studio cd is finished and back from pressing and it is gonna be available JAN. 08' at CD Baby and on iTunes, Rhapsody, BuyMusic, Emusic, the new Napster, AOL's MusicNet, MusicMatch, and many more to come, for Skip-a-beat Records. There are also some acoustic and old trio cd's being re-released such as Tonal Tonics and Musical Elixers (our 2004 ep), Breakbeat Blues and the Road Less Travelled + other classic tracks. Sorry again for the delay people. Holler!
- One love and peace fo'real, Sidestreet Reny