Once we arrived in Miami, we took Benjarvis out for his birthday, and he selected a restaurant called Piola in the Brickell district.  It was AMAZING, and the service there was awesome.  They have these sake drinks that are mulled with fresh fruit…fantastic.  We made some friends there, including Yoanny, who hooked us up!

Today we will be picking Hornsby up from the airport and heading straight to rehearsal for the shows.  Looking forward to a great weekend!  More to come…

The new album is called “The Fire and the Flood”.  For me, its a coming of age record.  It follows me through the last couple of years as I made new discoveries about money, love and cold.  There are songs about letting go of the impossible, and songs that revisit the painful.  It’s got classic whiskey and cheating tunes, but I tried to make it more than that.  It’s about learning how to dream the right dreams, and hold on to them.  The album is dark, but its soft and delicate, even hopeful at times.  The stories explore a meandering path that is green with acoustic guitar, piano, rhodes, organ, strings and even a few euphoniums.  The production is dry, warm and at times playful, but never over-done.

As we finish up the last few finishing touches, I have become so excited to share this record with you.  I hope that it tells the story of not only where I’ve been, but where I’m headed and I hope the invitation to come along with me is clear.

I love you all and hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Be on the lookout for Album Release shows in January and February…

something terrible
rushing through
i escaped
rising up
bad people
muddy water
who would pray
children float
there’s dry land
something terrible
it’s been raining
rising up
bad people

Thank you very much,
Your creepy friend Leticia

Horny Jokes with John and Billy

It should come as news to no one that imaging is an important part of selling music. It’s obvious to anyone who has so much as dipped their toes in the cesspool of popular music. Since the slow extinction of prehistoric record labels began, I have seen many advances in this area, but right when I think maybe a fat guy will be a pop star or an old gal will have a hit, tales from American Idol and Nashville Star rise up like from the crypt and gross everyone out with their absolute lameness.

Last week a friend of mine got a call from someone putting together a band for a very well known future pop sensation. My friend was on a short list of players that were being invited to try out for the gig. He was on the list because he has not only music directed for several artists, but he has also been in a couple very well known original bands.

As the person that called him continued talking through the logistics of the gig, including salary and tour schedule, the conversation became more and more friendly. My friend started feeling pretty comfortable with this guy, and so as the phone call was winding down, he finally just decided to say what both of them were probably thinking. “Man, I know how this genre works. I’ve known guys who had to step on a scale every Friday to keep their gig. I don’t want to waste $600 flying out there and 20 minutes of your time for you to see I’m not a 26 year old hottie.”

The guy paused. He began to tell my friend that he had a command of his instrument that was unparalleled. He told him he was a monster on stage. He told him that he was more than qualified for the gig and that he was by far the best choice musically. Then he said this, “All that being said, you are far too unattractive for this gig.”

That’s right. He said it. My friend actually got him to say it.

The guy told my friend not to feel so bad and proceeded to tell him that no one in their right mind would want to work for this company or this little douchebag. He also read my friend an email from the guy that runs this particular tv show and label about what kind of musicians they were looking for to make this band. It was actually a list and it was bullet-pointed.

I don’t remember the entire list, but I have two favorite things from it. One, a bullet-point that simply said “Myspace Hair” and two, an asterisk stating that the musical talent came secondary to finding someone with the look.

I am not making this up. This is the world we live in. This is what we’re up against, so if you wanna be an idol or get the opportunity to play with one, spend your money on personal trainers instead of music teachers and headshots instead of gear.

I’d like to leave you guys with a picture of what I believe is “myspace hair.” I’ve never heard this band, so I’m not making fun of them. They could be an amazing band WITH amazing myspace hair.

The very sexy pig that was hanging behind the stage at Ruby’s in Asheville, NC.

A few pictures from the Shed courtesy of Ms. Booe.

Hornsby’s GIANT hand trying to squish my wolfhead while I recorded scratch vocals.