12 songs inspired by friends and fans

If you haven't seen our tweets or status messages, Chris Taylor and I are writing songs from friend/fan suggestions for some upcoming duo performances (TBA) and possibly a home recorded CD (or live web broadcast - in office concert). Chris will be taking the lead in writing half and I'll take the lead on writing the other half but we will most likely collaborate on all.

These are the song topics and the friends/fans who suggested them:

Taken from Chris' peeps

Jenni Warren: left home to find myself, found home instead

Paul Q-pek and Rodney Boerm: John Mayer Stole My Girl/ You've Ruined Me/Any man that wants her should be a better man than I (all worked into one song)

John McJilton: tension between justiec and turning the other cheek

RedBeard Dread Cantu/Kim Possible: There's Beer in my Tears and Crazy Keeps me Sane

Paul Soupiset: local landmark song

Matt Barker: where do all our lost thoughts go and please can I have them back?

 

Taken from Laura's peeps:

Miguel Villerreal/Darrin Newhardt/Nikki Young: true friendship male/female - just friends

Mitchell Connell: If you believe - the power of belief and how it's used for good and evil with Mitchell as guest guitarist

Rudy Sanchez: That's what I said but this is what I meant

Carl Charles: Gotta Be A Reason

Ruben Lopez: Haiti

Margaret Vasquez: fix your own damn self

 

Alternate: 

Chris Callanen: Daddy is home (definitely an idea I want to work on but we were hoping to rock out a bit with this project and I think "Daddy is Home" needs something sweeter)

 

There were so many great ideas! We truly appreciate every single one, even the suggestions we didn't choose. These were all ideas that we felt like we could run with right away. 

 

Stay tuned!!! - LM

 

 

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Some things I learned on my trip to Marfa for SWRFITA

Some things I learned on my trip to Marfa for SWRFITA (SW Regional Folk Alliance 1Day Seminar in Marfa, Texas) :

1) You can make it from San Antonio to Fort Stockton on one tank of gas but, if you don't top off the tank before you get there, those last 10 miles are the longest you'll ever drive.

2) Hospitality abounds in West Texas. 

3) Really great pizza exists in the most unassuming places. (learned that in Italy too)

4) Some roads actually do lead to no where

5) The Marfa lights really do exist and, no, you won't be able to figure it out either

6) The stars at night ARE big and bright...

7) We're all in this together and the "folks" really get that

8) You've got to go your own way but pay attention to the people who cross your path. They are there for a reason. 

9) A good girl talk in the morning can make all the difference

10) Those name brand freeze dried packets of coffee will do in a pinch... believe it or not

Thanks to all the folks who shared their music, their experience, their room and their supplies. :)

If you are a singer-songwriter in Texas, I highly recommend this event for next year as well as the upcoming SWRFA (SW Regional Folk Alliance) in Austin, Texas on the first weekend of October. The deadline is tomorrow, August 10th to submit your music for showcase consideration. Do it. 

Love - LM

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Untitled

Today, I went from "Why does this keep happening to me?" to "What can I do about it?". From the musician who accused me of being afraid to work with people of his race when I turned down his offer to collaborate to the dental assistant who assumed I would share her view of "blacks" as a race of people prone to violence, the past week has been a doozy. I understand that stereotypes are based on experience. But here is the thing, they are based on LIMITED experience and very little understanding.

I'm not denying that we are culturally pre-disposed to some behaviors. I'm hispanic and I can identify with some of the stereotypes but don't reduce me to them. I'm more than that . I am a human being capable of making decisions and taking actions outside of a group. So we come from different backgrounds. So what? As our environment changes so does our behavior in that environment if we allow it. It's a choice. It's an individual choice. And I'm not saying that we all have to conform to the same behaviors but we do have to share space on this planet and either we do it together or we destroy one another. Which do you choose?

Whether you are allowing yourself to be who other people make you out to be or you are allowing yourself to dismiss the humanity of another human being because they are black, white, asian, arab, hispanic, gay, lesbian, transgender, conservative, liberal, libertarian, athiest, christian, buddist, agnostic, american or otherwise...whatever. Your statements about others are more of a reflection on you than they are on them. You can not possibly fully understand another human being unless you are that human being so why don't you just give people a break? As far as I'm concerned, the only choice we have is to act with love or not. For the rest of my life I will do my best to choose love. I don't expect to be perfect but I'm certainly going to try. 

 - LM

 

 

Blindside

Bone dry, inside my mouth but let my words fly

My hands were shaking, made my fist tight

‘cause I was about to start a war

it was a good day, the blue sky blazing with the suns rays

then I saw nothing but your cold hate           

In words I wish I could ignore

Yeah, it seems like you were patiently waiting on my

blindside, just walking the pavement and the

worst sign was that I couldn’t take it 

No, I can’t go there ‘cause you don’t play fair sometimes 

 

You know that nothing’s right just because you paint it on a

big sign. Just because you care to take your piece of mind

and cast your fear into the world

I thought I knew this,

but my anger built beneath my surface

and before I knew it, it unfurled

Yeah, it seems like you were patiently waiting on my

blindside, just walking the pavement and the

worst sign was that I couldn’t take it 

No, I can’t go there ‘cause I don’t play fair sometimes

 

I wish I could take and make the world right

Just so I see you in the best light

Maybe, if I can let it go….let it go…..let it go

 

But it seems like we are patiently waiting on the

blindside, just walking the pavement and the

worst sign is that we never make it                               

when we take it there ‘cause we don’t play fair ………

we can’t take it there ‘cause we won’t play fair……sometimes

I want to take and make the world right

If only I can let it go…

 

 - Laura Marie ©2010

Download now or watch on posterous

Blindside2.mov (14778 KB)

 

 

 

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My heart over floweth...

Yeth, I am very thankful ;)

There is so much to say here about all the people who made the new EP possible and for all the people who came out to support it's release last month. I'm going to be brief. Not awards ceremony brief but, c'mon, there are a lot of people to thank and they all mean so much to me. I could go on and on and on but you'd never read that long. Perhaps you've already stopped...don't 

The team players. The people who actually put the music together. I don't know how I got in a position to work with such talented people. At one point, I looked around the room and said "I'm the least talented person here" and I'm not fishing for compliments, I really meant it and that being in that situation was awesome. I want to be surrounded by people to learn from so, thank you for being you:

Mack Damon, Anthony Diaz De Leon, Joe Cortez IV, Jason Ybarbo, Robert Cherry, Justin Schneider, Jake Owen, Nate Davenport, Wes Harllee and Matt Adler. And thanks to Steve Fallone at Sterling for mastering and Colton Holiday at http://www.krop.com/coltonholliday/ for the artwork.

I would love to tell you about each of these people and why they are so amazing both personally and professionally. I won't here but, trust me, amazing. 

The muses, producers, collectors and contributors whose very generous contributions enabled me to present Last of the Ones in the best way possible:

Liza and Bella Stevens, Marc and Kathleen Weiss and www.solesupportmedical.com, Randy Langford, Virginia Valenzuela, George and Marcy Valenzuela, Veronica Wood, Rebecca Rojas and Rachel Marsh. 

Margaret Vasquez, Celia Barrera, Viq and Tom and the Watkins Family, Dew at Dewberry Jam Community Radio http://am1670.net and Wild Bill Rowan (Swamp Angel too!) of the same station, Nate Davenport at www.natedavenport.com, Kevin Clougherty at http://turingtest.com, RB of www.rbacoustic.com, SQUIRREL :), Darren Ramirez, Mig Villarreal and special thanks to Steve Circeo at www.T4TX.com for his support and participation in the CD artwork. 

There is also a long list of people near and far who also pre-purchased the CD in support. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Then, this happened....

The CD release party was amazing. Many of the people listed above were present and my heart was full to see so many friends and family members in one place. I felt like I was having another wedding. My face hurt from smiling. 

The artists who performed in support of the event are all amazing and deserve your attention. 

Chris Taylor -could not have pulled it off without him either. Full on emotional support and running sound. Count yourself blessed if he is among your list of friends.Though, you probably already do  http://www.facebook.com/christaylorfanpage

Wes Harllee and Adam Flohmeyer -Um...amazing and they're just getting started http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wes-Harllee

Wendy Colonna -a beautiful, wonderful force of nature. Attention San Antonio people, she drives down from Austin to play here. Get out and see her! http://www.facebook.com/wendycolonnamusic

Jake Owen who performed with me. Jake rocks. Period.

*******

The people OMG! The people who were there.  My family, my friends (since grade-school), my new friends, my biz friends, musician friends, their 'fans', FB friends, Myspace followers,Twitter and social media people, ...here is a partial list of the businesses/organizations who were represented (I list them this way because, besides being great people, their work in this city should be recognized) and families:

Hollywood Studios, Rockhills Church, Texas Music Coalition, G2E Services, Primadonna Productions, Melissa Ludwig Band, D'Anthony Salon Spa, San Antonio Film People-Dora Pena et al, Tesoro friends, SA GoGirls, SAPodcasters et al, Navarrete Consulting...I know there are more but I'm drawing a blank...

Families: The Valenzuela and Kleffner families, The Harllee family, The Vasquez Family, Chris and Cat's Rock Group :), my music family (Reza, JP)

*******

And, I can't forget The VIPs 

The night was possible because Pete Kleffner, Margaret Vasquez, Irene Ruiz, Chris Taylor and, yes, Mack Damon made it so. 

Please tell me I didn't forget anyone!!!

Oh yeah, CDs available here: http://lauramarie.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

 

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GoGirls Love

Friday night Invasion of the GoGirls during Austin's SXSW. See that tiny person on stage in the picture below (wish I had my zoom app)? That's Melissa Ferrick. If you don't know who that is, let me 'splain.------ For you So Tx people, think the female version of Monte Montgomery. Some would compare guitar skills to Ani (I don't know Ani well enough to say) and her voice has super powers. She was thrilling------- I was honored to be on that same stage and it was great to hang out with Addie Brownlee (NY), she is 'good people'. Madalyn Sklar was rockin' the chatroom and Carol Plunk (who plays that stage tonight) was a wonderful stage manager.------ Looking forward to my gig tonight at Thunderbird Coffee. A little more laid back, I'm sure but I'm still aglow from last night. It was so wonderful to have so many friends in from San Antonio, familiar Austin/ Buda faces in the house and to have Chris Taylor with me on guitar and my old bandmates JP Leal and Rudy Diaz (both of Bombasta) on bass and drums. Good times!--------

All my best, Laura Marie (sent via mobile)

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See! It's easy :)

So easy, in fact, that it makes me wan to do more -LM

All my best, Laura Marie (sent via mobile)

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Tiger destroys lion at San Antonio Zoo

Tiger destroys lion at San Antonio Zoo. 

In a ferocious attack at the zoo's play center, the tiger was quoted as saying "I can haz you on a platter!" 

You're next!

Photos by Z.A.K.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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