chica y los gatos

Mark your calendars! I open Aug. 20th at Blue Monk for the Jeremy Wilson Band - Press Release

First Anniversary Celebration Benefit Concert for the Jeremy Wilson Foundation
Portland, OR, August 20th, 2011

For Jeremy Wilson, 2011 has been both daunting and empowering. Many fans might have expected the leader of the 2011 Oregon Music Hall of Famers The Dharma Bums to take it easy after his third (and finally successful) heart surgery this past April. Instead, Wilson began composing and rehearsing for the Jeremy Wilson Band, overhauled MastanMusic (his Water Avenue recording studio), launched Blue Room Music Lessons, and tends to his rapidly-growing nonprofit, The Jeremy Wilson Foundation.

The Jeremy Wilson Foundation (JWF) provides financial aid to uninsured and underinsured Northwest area musicians in times of medical crisis. Like many organizations, the JWF has staged benefit concerts as its main form of fundraising. But Wilson is eager to unveil what he believes will be a long-term and continuous money stream for the JWF: the “One-Song Record Contract.” Each month, the JWF plans to release a digital compilation of artist-donated songs for a music licensing library, the royalties from which will be equally split between the artists and the Foundation. “It was important to us that everybody win,” says Wilson.

The Jeremy Wilson Band will headline the JWF’s first anniversary benefit concert August 20th at The Blue Monk, where they will debut a new album of original Americana roots music. With Dylan-Thomas Vance on lap slide guitar and Matthew Rotchford on upright bass, the band’s sparse instrumentation provides a fierce backdrop to his deeply personal songs. The band has already begun recording these songs, which will also feature local favorite Ezra Holbrook on drums as well as other surprise guests.

Jazzy folk-pop singer-songwriter, Renee Muzquiz of Chica y Los Gatos, will open the night, and DJ Highway 7 will spin classic vintage blues and smoky R&B from seven-inch records between sets. Music starts at 8pm. The Blue Monk, 3341 SE Belmont, Portland, OR. Sliding scale $5 – $10 donation. All proceeds benefit The Jeremy Wilson Foundation.

Donations to The Jeremy Wilson Foundation can be made online at www.thejwf.org.

How to Live Correctly Without Money

Today, as I passed a homeless man, I heard him tell another man, “I’m educatin’ him on how to live correctly without money.” Mind you, I was walking briskly to my downtown bus stop on Broadway, so that was taken out of context—but that short sentence struck me.  Just last night, I was sitting with Kelly at the kitchen table and imploring about money and how it’s such an obsession to this world, such a necessity and a burden all at once, and if only I could figure out a way to stop worrying about it.

I admit, I’m like my mother.  The second I see that my paycheck is a little less than I expected, or I spend too much at the grocery store, or I have an extra expense for the month, tears well up in my eyes and I tense up.  I immediately feel as if I will never have the tools or funds to mine through the barren bedrock of lower middle-class-dom to the soft, rich topsoil in order to thrive as the happy, healthy human being I envision for myself.

“How to live correctly without money.”  Does that mean you have to be homeless, in order to exist without money?  You have to give up everything you own and throw yourself to the hounds?  No bathing, no healthcare, no computer, no guitar, no car, no traveling far, no going out for drinks, so no social life at all, no credit to your name, no driver’s license, no proper nutrition, no organic food, no sunscreen, no shelter, no resources to raise a child, no job, no resume or recent job experience, no continuing education, no taxes, no rights, no voice, no ownership of pretty much anything at all. Basically, I’d be off the map.  To anyone else in this country, I would be dog food.  And I am unwilling to be genetically modified corn-stuffing-mixture-crap for some poor domesticated animal.  

I’m tired enough right now to feel as if I am not really getting any sort of point across.  I guess I’m of the mind that we should all just trade favors and barter.  But what would I barter?  It’s like you need money to buy something to have anything worth bartering. And I don’t.  Anyone want the couch I picked up on the side of the road five years ago that my roommate’s dog puked on twelve times over the course of a year?  I’ll have to wrestle it out of Ramon’s apartment, but a little steam-cleanin’ would make it good as new!

I guess that leaves me with only one choice.  I’ve gotta do what I know how to do, and hopefully, that’s worth something. 

“The Clearing” Review by Levi Griffin

I have to say that I feel super grateful and lucky whenever anyone takes the time to listen to my music, and I am truly floored by the several paragraph review that Dentonite, Levi Griffin, sent me when I asked him to simply, “Let me know what you think!”  I thought I’d share.  Thanks for reading. :)

Hi Renee. As I told you a few months ago I wanted to at some point write you feedback on your new album. “The Clearing” is now, like your first CD, also in my “Fav Albums” section that I created on my iTunes account. It is considerably different from your first album but yet still signature and just as good. Hard to make out how it’s different, seems more earthy to me; both in feel and in the lyrical mentions of animals and elements of nature. It also seems somehow more singer/songwriter and based on personal experience than was the more composition intensive Perfect Weather.

I love the sax at the end of the opening track and the horns, organ, and harmonies on the 2^nd track. Happy Bunny would be too querky for so many artists to pull of without coming off as too silly, but you made it work. Interesting backup vocals on “You Monkey” and again the horns worked like a charm on it!!! The lyrics are also terrific and remind me of your content theme of ‘romantic drift’. Track 5 seemed to have a Radiohead feel to it, but subtly enough so that I could be off the mark in that observation.

The new version of “Lighten Up” was of course still good and again I like the background vocals. Both “Clearings” I think are a pleasant, deep, epic break from today’s ‘byte size’ pop culture. It seems like songs, shows, and internet are increasingly geared towards people on the go or not wanting to concentrate since they are distracted and/or multi-tasking. I really liked the way the instruments seemed to mimic sounds of nature as they were being mentioned. Also very interesting and original prog-like guitar work. I will eventually get the depth of those “2” songs but I will need to hear them more times than the other tracks on the album.

I like the chord progressions and tempo of track 9. “Be Single With Me” is the one I listen to the most. It has an anthem feel, in a way like Spooky Folk’s “Bible Belt” – though it sounds totally different. I love the lyrics and the message. It’s something I can relate to. If we all weren’t so afraid of being the odd one out / odd numbered wheel then many more of us could have a much better time in life by hanging out together without social pressures to pair up with someone. Anyhow it’s about time someone wrote that song!

Again the lyrics are bravely personal and the compositions are one of a kind. In summation, Renee Muzquiz has done it again! I sent your web link with the album on it to all of my fellow musicophile friends and of course mentioned that it was free, so hopefully some of them will go ahead and listen to the album and download it. Anyhow I hope my eccentric points of view made for some good, or hopefully useful, feedback. Good luck with the scene in Portland and let me know if you gig in the area for a night if you happen to be in town.

Thank you, Levi!