Samovar Tea Lounge

Oh my gosh, so this isn’t about music…but I just have to tell you about this place.  I met some of my girls at Samovar Tea Lounge at Yerba Buena in San Francisco yesterday.  What a great place to meet someone.  Really lovely environment and great tea and snack selection!  I had the “Moorish Tea Service” and it was gluten-free and so tasty!

Go check it out!

Overheard as I was walking to Samovar:

A group of costumed characters (age 40ish) were walking ahead of me (attending WonderCon at the Moscone Center).  “…Frankenstein was running with his monster and the towns people were chasing them and Frankenstein’s higher self says…“  (I’m sorry I missed the rest of the sentence, but I was tripping on that last bit!

Samovar Tea Lounge - San Francisco

TTFN,

Jenn

I’m Passionate!

In the spirit of shameless self promotion…check out the new article about moi at The Glass Hammer .

I got placed in the “extraordinary life” section, how cool is that!?

Please go check it out and remember…leave comments…good ones !
Thanks
Jenn

He’s Baaaaack (and better than ever)!!!

That’s right ladies!  Our sexy guitar god is back in residence with Urban Fiction and living the good life in the Bay Area again.

Didier, Jenn and Denise 'D Dog at the beach on Denise's birthday

We’re hard at work now pulling together a tasty rhythm section for your listening pleasure and then we’ll be hitting the clubs again.  We’ll be playing our originals from the first CD, the upcoming CD, Excavation and the rocking guitar god classics we all know and love.

Oh and if you just can’t wait for the rock, Didier is a guest musician with Ramana Vieira on February 13 at the Gallo Center in Modesto at 8pm. Tickets are $25-$45. Make the drive for Ramana’s lovely, honey toned, Portuguese Fado and Didier’s, melt your heart, guitar.

Stay tuned!

Jenn

Seattle Rocks – Gluten Free Friendly City!!

I just got back from Seattle and I gotta tell you, this city rocked my world!  Well…at least my tummy!

A Little Background:  A celiac is someone who can’t eat wheat/gluten or they get sick. Think food poisoning that lasts for 3 days plus eyeball searing migraines and you’ve got the picture of how important it is to stay away from foods everybody else eats without a second thought.

Freaky:  This means that I feel like a freakin diva when I eat at a restruant. I either have to call ahead or check the web site or draw attention to myself by having a special chat with the waiter. That chat usually includes the waiter going to check with the chef to make sure I won’t accidentally be poisoned by some marinade or even soy sauce they included in the dish but didn’t include on the menu.  I hate this part, but it’s important.

Seattle:  Amy Flaa, my cool sis-in-law, did some research and EVERY DAY I was there, I got to eat at a gluten free friendly place!  I ate pastries at Da Vinci and pizza (and garlic bread) from Romios and Italian at Cafe Piccolo.  AND they were all very tasty to my SF trained palette!  Pastries, Pizza and Italian – it’s been years since I’ve eatten those things!!  Oh and a lovely chocolate birthday coma from Whole Foods to top off my lovely weekend.

Thanks Amy!  Thanks Seattle!!

Anyone else with GF favs in Seattle?

Jenn

Sneak Peek

So, the last blog entry gave you a blast from our past…the first song we wrote.  So, it’s only fair that we let you peek into the future and see what we’re working on now.  We liked how Asylum turned out so we’re heading off in that direction for the new album – rocking harder, edgier.

Here’s a peek at Dr. Evil.  Vox and lyrics are intense (warning: adult theme) and a f* awesome guitar solo by Didier.  Caveat:  this is a home recording, we haven’t engineered, mixed or mastered it.  I was the last one to add my part, so the vox is abit more forward in the mix than the final result will probably be.

This link will only be live for a short time.  If the link is missing, you’ll just have to wait for the studio version.

Whatcha think?

Jenn

Live To Rock

Here’s a blast from the past. The first song we ever wrote (not counting the little dittys I scat about all the time) is up and living in the webverse.  Didier of course has a tasty guitar part, Slate’s bass line is fun and I’m singing lower that I usually do.  We performed this live in SF awhile back (RockIt Room, Red Devil Lounge and a club in Palo Alto whose name escapes me). Check it out:  Live To Rock

Excavation

So, this is a bit weird to write just as our first CD is being released, but we’re about 1/2 done with the next one, Excavation, our first full length album.

This one has been really exciting to work on because we’ve been excavating some very old, deep stuff – a very rich emotional canvas to draw from.  We’ve eeked closer to metal, the guitar and vocals are richer and more soulful, the lyrics are truth-telling.  There are passages that bring tears to my eyes when I hear them.  There are two very rich ballads.  Which is weird for me since I usually fall asleep singing ballads but they’ve got the Flaa-Bouvet touch and they are our intertwined and combined stories…so I guess no one tires of telling their own story.

My brother gave me a wall hanging for my house after my divorce years ago that says “Your story begins at home.” boy does it ever.  This is our raw excavation from the childhood wounds of Dr. Evil, to the aural picture of the dark night(s) of the soul in The Haunting to the heart aching I Want You Here that doesn’t resolve itself back to the root.

I’m hoping track #12 will be Power, ending on a note of hope and fulfilled destiny. The trouble is…I’m kinda still living this one, figuring it out from day to day.  So, like so many tidbits in my notebook, it is images and stories and visions and melody and even an arrangement but I’m still scratching my head with “now what’s this song about?”!!!  How do I put all that into a 3-4 minute story/song poem?

Maybe it’s not one song.  Maybe…we have to finish excavating before we can build a “power”ful core.  …whatever.  We’ll all find out together, I guess.

But it’s darn fun while we’re creating this series and ohhhh lala, wait till you hear the juicy guitar licks Didier has laid down for you – he’s on fire, that one!

Happy dancing…even while excavating the murky depths of my soul. hehehehh, thank goodness the pain turned out to be worth it in the end – an ironic muse.

Happy Thanksgiving.  Check out what I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving.

Oh and I’m really grateful for the happy reception our new CD is getting.  Thanks for listening, liking the songs and supporting us!

j.

CD Release!

Yeah, it’s finally here.  How fantastic it is, after all the dreaming and envisioning (and work…and money) to finally hold the actual product in my hand!  To put it in the stereo and actually like how it turned out!  To turn off the inner critique and just give a little happy dance

Hope you enjoy it.  It’s available on our website and soon on CDbaby and itunes.  I’ll let you know when the release party is…Life is a bit crazy right now.  It’s only $5!

xo,

Jenn

Loosing A Hero

I just learned that our “server dude”, Rob Stewart-Douglas, passed away recently. Rob has taken care of Vettanna’s servers for at least 10 years and Urban Fiction’s server for the last 2 years.  He’s always there to answer a question or do what it takes to support us or our clients (no matter where in the world he is!).  So, when he didn’t return my calls or emails, I thought it very odd.  This wasn’t the answer I was expecting. I wanted to hear that he was on some new adventure in yet another foreign land. I wanted to hear he’d been hanging out with his son.  No one expects a vital, 38 year old man to, well…leave.

You’ll forgive us if our site has hiccups in the coming weeks as we transition the tasks that Rob handled so seamlessly and invisibly. The main site will be down while we work things out, but there’s plenty here for you to enjoy.

Rob, you are well missed.

j.

CD and Party Update!

Yeah, the CDs will be here in October!!  You can already order them from our page.

Jenn in MN

So, we’re thinking about throwing a masquerade party for the CD release, stay tuned for more info. heheh, sounds like fun already!  We may even get Didier to come down for it.

Oh, talk about great genes.  Here’s Jenn with my Aunt Carrie on her 100th birthday and Aunt Frances in Jackson MN.  They’re still spunky and act like they’re 25…so that explains a lot, I think.

Finally, I had the opportunity to film a little web commercial for UF.  Check it out (and learn to count) better yet, check out the out-takes!  Mucho thanks to the beautiful Celestine Star from Golden Star Productions.

That’s the scoop for now, more to come sooooon.

xo,

j.