| McNewsletter Sept. 24th 2006
Well
we are now in Ohio and it's been a very smooth transition
from one band to the other. I mean if I didn't turn
around and look...! So Neilsson is playing the bass
and Captain Kirk is driving the drums and steering our
intergalactic spacecraft for our tour through the universe.
Naturally the first stop was Columbus Ohio. Playing
with Tony Joe White last Friday was truly a blast! More
soon Cheers
-Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan
McNewsletter July 7th 2006
Ah
well, my one month free trial of Dreamweaver will expire
in less than 24 hours and I will be website updateless
once again just like the starving millions all over
the universe. And I was just starting to get the hang
of html and all that stuff. Seeing as I currently spend
25 hours a day on the computer it may turn out to be
a good thing. Now I can spend 23 and get one hour's
sleep. I could spend that one hour in slumber dreaming
of updating my website and maybe I could devise a way
of doing so in the non-physical realm. As far as the
4th of July went, I heard plenty of firecrackers but
I never saw any fireworks per se. But I do love a good
fireworks display so I was rather disappointed. Maybe
next year... We never had a revolution in Australia
so it's quite novel for me to be in a country that did.
Viva la revolution! myspace.com/annemccue
is much easier to update!
McNewsletter June 15th 2006
I can't believe how long it is since I have written here. We will have copies of the promo Cd for 'Koala Motel' next week or so. Making plans to be in Australia in November/December to see all the little cherubs who I miss so much as they grow up. Family, friends and fiends to catch up with. Summer's really here and the water is beautiful. I read 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close'. I could have done without those letters in it. But worth reading. I skimmed over the letters.
McNewsletter March 14th 2006
How time dribbles at a fast pace! It's already almost next year and soon it will be the next century! Time is relative and Bob's your uncle! Music slows down time to a certain amount of beats per minute.... Well, on Saturday, I believe we finished recording the new album. The last touch was applied around midnight. All done. John Doe came in during the week and sang on 'Driving Down Alvarado'. Jules McCue has painted a triptych for the CD artwork. Cisco Music is releasing my album Amazing Ordinary Things on vinyl in May. It sounded great in the mastering session. I went to the factory and saw the vinyl pellets go into the thingo, then get melted into a hockey puck, then get squished and trimmed and pop out at the end looking like a real record.
McNewsletter February 24th 2006
My favourite album by Elliott Smith that I have heard is either/or. That song Rose Parade is the ultimate existential anthem. But I love other songs also like Alameda, Ballad Of Big Nothing - now that's #$%^@#$! cool. Pictures Of Me really rocks. That guy is interesting, and how many current artists can you say that about? I ask you, for (s/he who shall not be named)' sake..... I'm interested in the experience of his soul. And it continues and we bear witness to the meaning of his music over time. "Sugar me up...".
McNewsletter February 23rd 2006
I'm listening to the Best Of The Motels. Strangely enough, Total Control DOES turn out to be their most powerful song. The chorus of Take The 'L' is brilliant and so is the bridge, which was later nabbed by Fat Boy Slim in Praise You. But I'm not finding those verse lyrics hold up 20 years later. Cor @#$%$#@ blimey!!!! How time passes and leaves us HERE!!!! (Only The Lonely is cool.)
McNewsletter February 10th 2006
Let me just say that when a lovely flame dies, smoke gets in your eyes. Feeling nostalgic lately and have been listening to The Sunnyboys and The Church. Watching movies - Donnie Darko, Garden State, Brokeback Mountain and listening to Radiohead's Amnesiac. Writing more music with Dave Raven for our new band. Waiting for people to call me back about invitations to events which don't exist. Listening to Grace Jones, Walking In The Rain. Doing what I'm doing, feeling out of place. Listening to the best of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Wondering if I should call folks and never getting around to it. Putting things on the backburner and forgetting to turn off the stove. Losing track. Being overwhelmed by underwhelmsion. Receiving gifts and being thankful for my friends. Dreaming about playing the guitar. Maybe one day....
McNewsletter Mid - November 23rd '05
It seems like this is one of the craziest years I have had so far. In fact, chaos abounds all over the planet. Thank God for Harry Potter. What an incredible life that boy is leading. And he's growing up rather nicely too. Great casting yet again in the true story of this fabulous magician's life. C.J. from West Wing stars as a slim giantess and Brendan Gleeson is wonderful as Mad Eye Moody. We have lost some of our best people this year including the poet Heather Zir and the remarkable guitarist/writer Chris Whitley. Clarence Gatemouth Brown also met his Maker. Plus other truly loved friends who chose more private lives. Here's to all these wonderful lives well lived and now past, and to ours as we continue on, dreaming up our own realities. Our hearts grow bigger each day. Cheers.
McNewsletter Mid - September '05
It's been a red tide at the L.A. beaches lately which turns the water a lovely brown colour and the waves have been real dumpers. Saw a few boards go up in the air in a classic arch of pain. Too much for this koala to bear. Speaking of koalas, the new instrumental we recorded called Koala Motel would be perfect for a surf movie so if you know of any in production.... It could also be used in a Western but would probably be suited to any Hollywood blockbuster soundtrack that is going to generate millions of dollars. Speaking of which I saw Flightplan on the weekend. It's like two different movies stuck together. The first half is really classy - the lighting is really stylized - harsh and modern, fluorescent. And Jody Foster allows all possibilities as far as her character is concerned - a complex performance, as you can't be sure whether she is crazy, sharp, deluded, brilliant, murderess or victim. Quite an achievement there. Then about halfway through there is a scene that was obviously (?) filmed later and from that point on the intelligence quota on offer here goes from adult to child. It seems like some movie exec. made the writer/director explain everything and that a plot line was imposed upon the movie that may not have been there in the first place. There are two possible versions of what happened here: 1.This film has been hacked by the film studio or 2. The writer didn't have a story till halfway through the movie. They wouldn't have got away with this in the days of Billy Wilder. Is it my imagination or is it true that once upon a time a movie had to be complete and make sense before it got a major release. I think someone panicked here and whoever it was took control of this movie about halfway through. Seeing as the first half is so good, it's a pretty disappointing outcome.
McNewsletter End of August
I guess it's been a little while since I wrote something here. We have finished recording the album and are now trying to relax. It's hard not to be moving so we are going to the desert to escape reality for a few days and have some fun. Life has been crazy this year so far and I am sure will continue to be so for a while. Been listening to The Best Of The Church. Can't stop listening to Under The Milky Way Tonight. One of the best recordings I've ever heard. Unreal. It was recorded in Los Angeles by Waddy Wachtel of all people. Well he wasn't the engineer! Bought a typewriter because I'm sick of computers. Bought a surfboard because I'm sick of standing on the ground.
McNewsletter July 12th 2005
Just read Tom Wolfe's new novel 'I Am Charlotte Simmons'. I really loved it. Fascinating for a foreigner like myself to read about Frat boys and Sor girls. (sic) Good grief! Is the human race mutating into one of the so-called 'dumb animals'? MyTheory of De-evolution holds up after reading this one. Great characterisation. I couldn't put it down. Since then I played in Ottawa at the Blues festival there. I called up my old friend Jeff Manol in Toronto to see if he would play bass and on the day before the gig we met drummer Sammy Kohn (The Watchmen) for a rehearsal. Those guys were unreal. And Ottawa was hot this time as opposed to the last time I was there at the Winterlude Festival about five years ago when I played outdoors in a snowstorm. Saw Daniel Lanois, Alison Krauss and Xavier Rudd play. They were all good. More recording this week with Dusty, Dave and Carl. And the album I have been co-producing with Michael Starr by artist Leila Florentino has only one more song to mix, this time courtesy of Joe Chicarelli. Peace and pleasant dreams, night and day.
McNewsletter April 1st 2005
Back in the USA. The trip to Byron was, as expected, fantastic and it was a great way to finish the tour. We went out with a bang which is always a great way to go out. I enjoyed the air up there and the ocean and the full moon. Standing side of stage at Bo Diddley was the highlight for me as an audience member and the 4 o’clock show we played on the Saturday afternoon was unreal with a great audience. Cheers to my brother Mark McCue for being so incredible on bass and vocals and to Simon ‘the likeable’ Dawe on the skins!
To be honest I feel rather wasted now because we drove up and down the East Coast of Australia several times, from Brisbane to Port Fairy and back again and then back to Sydney. Now that’s a lot of kilometers! But it was great to be in Australia for such an extended trip. The food is so great in Australia. I like ordering the hamburger with the lot with no meat. It is a meal unto itself with all the different fresh ingredients and it’s great to see that the family run Milk Bars haven’t completely disappeared off the face of the earth. It’s important to maintain originality and individuality in the face of global homogenization. I’m still catching up on sleep - I could sleep for another week and still be tired, I think. Peace to everyone, sleep well.
McNewsletter
Well it's already January 18 2005. I was just out on the road with Lucas Cheadle (bass) and Scott Lorenzini (drums) and we had a really good time out there in the subzero temperatures of the midwest. Kansas looked lovely in the snow. It wasn't quite as flat as I expected but it was pretty empty so I'm not sure where all the people came from when we played in Moundbridge. It's one of those places where your next door neighbour lives 20 miles away. Kansas City was a rockin' good gig at Davey's Uptown and the hospitality was impeccable. Great Chinese food! We played Hangman on KAKE-TV (Wichita) because it was Martin Luther King day. Chicago had got us off to a spritely start and we hope to be back at Fitzgerald's for the 4th of July celebrations. It was the coldest day in Ames Iowa for 5 years when we were there but fortunately there wasn't much need to go outside. And a good time was had by all. I'm re-reading all the Graham Greene novels. What a master! One of the very greatest novelists of the 20th century. 'The Power and the Glory' is amazing. Cheers till sooner than later.
McNewsletter 10.04.04
I am now in beautiful Edinburgh having just begun the UK tour. I am still recovering from the Heart Tour but be that as it ay we are heading off to Manchester tomorrow. Should be cool. Also, I will have the band for the Buckingham and London dates - as I'm getting a bit lonesome playing all by myself out here. The Guinness is good and I'm enjoying the cold weather. Any excuse to buy some warm clothes (we don't get that in L.A.). Just bought the Led Zeppelin book and finished Graham Parker's Carp Fishing On Valium which I thoroughly recommend. The last story is particularly brilliant. More Soon! xo
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 8.23.04
Mt. Pleasant, MI. Well I've had two days off in a row and am beginning to realise how exhausted I really am! I'm not a gambler, rather more of a rambler, so I'm not putting any money on the tables. And it's no show tonight as for some reason there's no opener here. I think it's the adrenalin of playing every night that keeps me going to tell you the truth. We are dead in the middle of Michigan if you're wondering. Had a great fun jam with Nancy, Craig, Ann and Bill the other night into the wee small hours: alot of Neil, some Lucinda and Ben Smith (drums) and Mike Inez (bass) have been sitting in with me each night on Machine Gun which is very cool if I do say so ourselves. Such are the dreams of the everyday solo artiste. Tomorrow is St. Louis and Friday London. And did I tell you I went to London and Dublin last week? (Not to mention Des Moines!) I got a real kick out of seeing the double decker buses, the old red telephone booths, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The Thames, Piccadilly (all courtesy of Janie Romer's Sunday evening tour) and I started to read the fifth Harry Potter in London which was a real treat as it's a very British story. What else? Saw the Brothers Finn playing at the BBC when I went there to do the Bob Harris shows and I've just bought the DVD of the Old Grey Whistle Test which I can't wait to see: Bob Marley, John Lennon, The Police etc etc etc. Looking forward to a week off so I can recover my lost youth but at the same time can't wait to play with Paul kelly and Heart again. Such is life when you're having the time of your life! And I must thank Dave Bronze and Pete Thompson who played at the Borderline with me with absolutely no rehearsal. Plus there was that gig at The Troubador, L.A. with Dusty, Carl and Eric which I loved... I really get to play with the Greats! And the road continues with it's white lines and cheap hotels....,
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 6.7.04
Just getting my feet back on the ground after the Graham Parker Tour which covered thousands of miles. It was great to be on the road with such a nice bunch of blokes. In fact, I haven't really been home for several months, travelling through snow on the East Coast and swimming in the temperate Pacific at Solano Beach. The wind was blowing voodoo chilly in Asbury Park when I was there several months ago. The buildings were all boarded up and deserted, "the amusement park riders" of the Boss's song, now ghosts of a distant era. It was a scary, empty place and when I got out of the car to look at the Atlantic and walk along the beach, I was careful not to walk too far in case I never came back. The Atlantic was less friendly than the Pacific, that day anyway, and greener and wilder, the wind strong. And the sign which said 'Welcome to Asbury Park' seemed ironic, given the desolate feeling there, like a ghost town. The ferris wheel, motionless. And then night came and it was even colder in the band room than it was outside, where it was freezing. And there were a handful of people there and they stayed till the end and I got a t-shirt, then drove through the night to some place I'd never been before - Philadelphia. And I turned up there in the wee small hours, after having driven through the pouring rain with the trucks - I dream of semi-trailers and road maps - and my host very kindly got out of bed to help me in with my stuff and I slept in another strange bed, seeing America in my sleep. Cheers,
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 3.15.04
Dear Folks,
The CD is actually out now with all 13 songs intact which is cool. I'm heading out to Austin this week for SXSW but not before play a little blues set with Michelle Shocked and co. at Molly Malone's in Hollywood Tuesday night. I won't be sleeping much that night...as it's early morning travels next day. I'm an afternoon/evening type of person. Looking forward to Austin though and then I meet up again with Chris Whitley in Winters, Ca then on to Eugene, Seattle and Portland. Dusty, Dave and Carl will be playing with me in Austin on the Thursday night (Pecan St. Ale House) and Friday afternoon (Maria's Taco's) so I won't be lonely out there and a good time will no doubt be had by all.
Must get some sleep,
Cheers,
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 2.08.04
My Fellow Human Beans and Other Legumes, It's that time of year again for my State Of The McUnion address....Well, 2004 is underway and seems to be in a bit too much of a hurry if you ask me. But I think if we all get together on this, we could really work at slowing it down a bit, and we'll all live longer. (Any suggestions would be appreciated). The world is a different place now than when I first
came to the U.S. five years ago. In those days, the economy was booming and there were 'help wanted' signs everywhere. There was a general sense of optimism. How times have changed and so quickly! (I know it's the same in Australia, too.) But, although most of us are experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety than we used to, now is no time to give up on the human race and all the other animals that rely on our decisions. Call me an idealist but I still have a lot of hope and faith that human beans can live in peace together somehow and I believe that most people would prefer it. Luckily, democracy caters to the majority (at least in theory) so naturally there must be a peaceful outcome. Simple!? I have a very close friend who is now on his way to be stationed in Iraq, so peace there is even more personally significant to me than it was before.
On the professional side, this coming year is starting to look busy. I've got dates booked hither and thither with more to come in and my new CD 'Roll' will be officially released in the States on February 24th on the Messenger Records label. Lots of new songs and a couple you may have heard before including a live-in-the-studio' version of Machine Gun, the Jimi Hendrix song.
May All Beans Be Happy!
Cheers
Anne McCue of the McCue Clan
McNewsletter 1.29.03
Well my fellow human beans, this being my first missive for 2003 I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It seems a little crazy out there but perhaps we are on the verge of World Peace and we don't even know it yet. I had a great time in Australia catching up with the McCue Clan and I'd like to thank the folks who were able to come out to the gigs. It was really a blast to play in Sydney and Melbourne again. In the latter city I was joined on stage by the Sea Dogs, rockin' good fellas all three of you and I'd like to thank Simon Dawe for organizing that. I didn't get to ride his board but nevertheless he beat the skins good and proper. People were very hospitable to Yours Truly even more so perhaps because I've mainatained my Western Sydney twang despite all my travels. So I'm back in the thick of it here, the hazy smoky desert and I've recorded a couple of songs with Dusty Wakeman which has been fun. Gettin' those good Southern sounds. I got to play plenty of slide which I always enjoy and I'm thinking of releasing a good ol' 45 just for something different. I don't know about you but I still listen to records. Me and Regis McNicholas are forming a new band - more about that later. And my brother shot a video for my new song, I Want You Back. We went up in a helicopter over Sydney Harbour. Quite magnificent. I'm off to Nashville for the Folk Alliance which is this music conference where all these songwriters get together and play their acoustic guitars. Should be interesting. That's next week, so see you when I get back. Cheers
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 11.21.02
Can you believe, I'm still reading the Bob Dylan book. Actually I put it down for a while and read Lady Chatterley's Lover. At the time it was written it wasn't well received as a work of art and in the foreword, Lawrence Durrell says it's one of D.H. Lawrence's worst novels.But eighties years later it seems to be the most relevant of his novels. He talks about the effect of the new money culture on the human spirit and the relationships between men and women, and what it means to be a man, and what it means to be a woman in a culture that has little to do with nature. Nothing much has changed then. I've been working on this compilation CD of L.A. songwriters and it goes to press tomorrow, finally. More about that later. I have two more shows in L.A. before I go to Australia. A sneaky loud electric show at Taix on the 30th and a more acoustic show with string section at The Hotel Cafe on Dec. 7. Should be fun... Better go get ready. Cheers
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 10.28.02
Dear Folks, I'm turning into one of those biography junkies. It all got started back with Malcolm X and now I can't stop. This year I have read the biographies of Neil Young, Lauren Bacall, David Geffen, Marianne Faithfull, Katharine Hepburn, Harry Potter, David Bowie and now I'm reading the Bob Dylan one. It's written by Clinton Heylin and is called Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited. It's a very scholarly work and gives Dylan the distance and respect he deserves. I really recommend it. Heylin ain't no psychophant and he ain't no jaded fan turned biographer. He takes as his model Richard Ellman's celebrated biography of James Joyce. Music wise I've written some new tunes and for my show at The Hotel Cafe in L.A. Dec 7th I'm going to play some of my rarities with strings and oboe and maybe some Ebow and who knows what. I want to make it as different as possible from previous shows. It'll be a different take on my usual annual Christmas show. After that I'm heading out to Australia for the Silly Season as the folks back home call it because everyone drinks alot of beer and gets all silly. Apart from that, there's some great music happening here in L.A. The scene is very alternative and secret and pretty exciting. Top notch world class bands playing in little smoke free bars. Cool stuff. You won't hear any of this on the radio because radio, in general, sux. Well, on that note, cheers.
Anne McCue of the McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 9.14.02
Dear Fellow Human Beans, Me and Dan and Jesse have had a jam or two and are gearing up for our jig at The Mint Oct. 5th. I've got a couple of new songs for it. This week I head to Nashville to play two jigs there, one of which is the Australian festival. I'm playing with Rick and Bryan from Buddy Miller's band. We get in one quick rehearsal before the shows so we'll be flying by the seats of our pants which is always fun, makes you feel alive. We're getting this live CD together, looks like it might happen... It's very lo-fi, recorded straight to minidisc and all the bum notes will be included, so beware all you Mariah Carey fans. You will hear notes previously only heard from the likes of Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. Original notes.... Polytones, millitones etc. McNotes, as it were. Again I must thank Lucinda Williams for putting my song on that new compilation CD. Well signing off now. Cheers,
Anne McCue Of The McCue Clan
McNewsletter 8.19.02
Dear Folks, I'm back from the five shows I played with those soul sisters of rock, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. And did they rock... It was an awe inspiring show. It was great to see Nancy play her guitars and mandolin and I think Ann has the best rock'n'roll voice I've ever heard. They played the Zeppelin songs Battle of Evermore and Black Dog and ripped 'em up good. Zeppelin is more than alive and kickin' in those girl's hands with Ben, Mike and Scott on drums, bass and guitar backing them up. Great band. Magic Man is such a classic song. It gave me goosebumps every show. Lately I've been listening to Ronnie Hawkins, Nirvana, Neil Young, Mike Stinson, Jim Bianco and Heather Zir. The last three are all brand new CDs and worth a listen. I read Neil Young's biography 'Shakey'. It was a great read. He used to record the bands learning the songs the first time around and use those takes on his records. The musicians would be flabbergasted and a bit frustrated by it. If ever anyone said to him, that sounds great, he'd record it again just so it didn't sound TOO good. A true imperfectionist. Anyway, now I'm reading David Geffen's biography. I've got to say it's a great read. I love that era of the early seventies and that's when Geffen really got his start. Jackson Browne and The Eagles used to hang out at his house skinny dipping in the pool and on occasion the whole lot of them would get in the jacuzzi together. Interesting stuff! If you like that sort of thing. Anyway I'm off to Portland this week to play with Dave Alvin at the Aladdin and then San Diego to play with Lowen and Navarro at Java Joe's. See you when I get back. Cheers. Anne McCue of The McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 7.17.02
Dear Fellow Human Beans And Any Aliens Posing As Human,
As I have just been reading the Harry Potter stories
I’d like to include any witches, warlocks, goblins etc.
It’s been sometime since I’ve written in my journal
due partly to lots of travel but mostly to those kinds
of computer shenanigans which we all face on a daily
basis. In short, my computer ate my software and it’s
taken me all this time to get it up and running again.
I’d like to send a cheerio to all the people I met on
the Lucinda Williams tour. I filmed lots of stuff on
the tour and am making it into a DVD which should be
available in a couple of months. We travelled across
the western half of the USA and into Vancouver. I’m
quite ready to cover the rest of the country. I have a
few dates over on the East side but I could do with
about forty more.
I’ve been listening to the first three Leonard Cohen
albums which has been refreshing. What a poet! I think
he’s my favourite one in ‘pop’ music. And he writes
some great melodies too.
I read Quincy Jones’ biography which was pretty
interesting. He befriended Ray Charles when they were
15 and 16 respectively. Ray Charles’ mother was
determined that he wouldn’t end up begging on any
street corner so she taught him how to live
functionally despite his sight loss. She died but he
went on to be a successful professional musician by
the time he was 16. I wish I could be so fearless. He
asked a friend, ‘What’s the farthest city in the
United States from here?’ And he travelled on his own
all the way to Seattle. The young Quincy was in awe
of Charles’ independence. I think Ray’s mother must
have been a pretty amazing woman.
Quincy worked with this guy, Rod Temperton, on the
Michael Jackson album. Temperton would “come in with
33 of his own songs.... with ten to twenty-five
alternate titles for each song....” How peculiar!
There’s a guy who doesn’t care what his song is about
so long as it gets on the record! I wish I could be
like that.... Maybe I’d have seen more silver
dollars.... But whenever I’ve tried to sell out I’ve
been turned back at the Gates.... Ah well. That was
one of the great things working with Lucinda
Williams.... She hasn’t got a clue how to sell out.
She doesn’t know how to compromise. Richard Thompson
seems to be made of that same integrity-weave cloth.
We are all on our own paths and are in the right
place.
Soon I will be back out on the road with Lowen &
Navarro, Heart and Dave Alvin. Ann and Nancy Wilson
(of Heart) came to the Lucinda Seattle show and we
talked about movies and love and the usual stuff....
Anyway, they have asked me to play 4 dates with them
in July/August here in California. A couple of weeks
ago I played with INXS in Phoenix. They were nice
regular guys which was a relief and put on a great
rock show. They are all such quirky guys on stage kind
of in the Australian tradition of Mental As Anything
and Split Enz and it’s a fun show to watch. At the
Celebrity Theatre the stage goes around and I must say
I felt a bit queasy during my show.
I still have dreams of being a novelist and have been
pursuing that in snail fashion. Other than that I’m
looking forward to getting back out there and playing.
Hope to see yous soon,
Cheers
Anne McCue of the McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 01.27.02
Dear Fellow Human Beans And Any Other Creatures Who Can Read,
The new year is moving fast so it’s important to get in the moment and slow it all down.Electric cars are starting to appear around town which is a nice antidote to all these massive vehicles that are overrunning the streets. Soon people will be driving army tanks...
Anyway, I had a fantastic time on the Lucinda Williams tour. In short, it was unreal. Lucinda is as cool as one would expect. One of the very coolest artists in rock/pop/contemporary folk/country (But why try and categorize?). The audiences really contributed to making the shows great. As we all know, there’s a real art to being a good audience member. Listening plays a big part! So good on you all you people in Ohio, Boston and Toronto for making the most of life, which is all too short if anyone’s asking me......
I think I’m going to get some new guitars this year. I can feel it in my bones. Not that material objects are all that counts, but music and new sounds definitely do. I’ve been getting around L.A. a bit as a ‘sideman’ which is something I really enjoy. I’ve played guitar for John Barnett, Sean Wiggins and Buddy Quaid.
It’s been rather freezing here in Southern California with some arctic-style winds blowing up the pollens and leaves. An exceptionally cold winter for these parts. Snow in the San Gabriels. I recorded the U2 song ‘One’ for a compilation CD which will only be released in Japan. It’s on SYN records. Other artists include Lenny Kravitz and Robert Palmer and it’s a Valentine’s Day Special. I’d love to go play in Tokyo if anyone’s asking..... Also a batch of CDs went out to Germany so Berlin may not be out of the question. I’m ready should the need arise. Have guitar, will travel. Somewhere in my DNA there’s either a gypsy gene or a Kalahari Desert gene. There’s definitely some wanderlust in my make-up. If I don’t get to do some touring fairly often I get rather edgy. I’ve been listening to The Virtues and Lonnie Mack copping some great guitar licks......
Books:
The True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey. If you want to know the history of white Australians, read this book. It tells how the English, after having invaded the country, turned it into a prison for the Irish and the poor and how they were given practically nothing once given their freedom in the wild and unruly bushland. It’s by far Carey’s best book as it has a beginning, middle and an end, something which often eludes Australia’s greatest living writer. The most frightening aspect of the book is that the same people are still running Australia now....the inheritors of the English squatters who got all their land by inhumane methods....racist, belligerent, school bully types......
Movies:
Gosford Park: 5 Stars. Great.
Lantana: I think it’s one of Australia’s finest mainstream movies to dates. Great ensemble cast. Wonderful script. Sophisticated direction.
The Big House: A quite incredible short film directed by Rachel Ward and produced by Brian Brown. Set in a prison somewhere in Australia. Again great acting and direction. I saw it on Sundance channel.
Words:
‘Republican’: in the USA it means ‘Conservative’; in Australia it means ‘radical’ as Australia is yet to claim independence
‘Liberal’: in the USA it means ‘sort of left wing, for the people etc.’; in Australia it means
‘conservative’.
Strong words today. I must have a political bone in my body after all....
Oh well, as Cole Porter said: ‘accentuate the positive’ and have fun and all that.
Signing Off,
Anne McCue of the McCue Clan.
McNewsletter 08.11.01
Dear Fellow Human Beans and Any Aliens Who May Be Tuned In To McNewsletter:
My NEW VIDEO for 'Desert in the Rain' is currently screening at a computer near you. Netthistv have got the clip up and running at:
http://www.netthistv.com/Music/Vault/annemc.html
The video was shot in Toronto, the Big TO....by these two girls who usually do metallic sculptures like the one they did for the Smirnoff's ad... We all had a great time at my Swampy Midnight Gig at Taix Lounge on July 28...I had a GREAT time...Playing ALL new songs was a complete blast. I love to live on the edge and since I haven't indulged in alcohol etc. for a couple of years, I have started to find more creative ways of getting my kicks, like going out and playing a whole set of brand new material unrehearsed, including two songs I'd written in the last day or so. McThanks to Dan Marfisi and David Zasloff who hadn't heard the songs until they played them that night, and Johnny Fargo...his band rocked! Did you know that Dan played percussion with The Carpenters when he was just a kid in Reno? He and i have been recording the new songs. He has a website actually for his musical productions.(See Links)
My CD is now available to everyone everywhere via:
http://www.cdbaby.com/annemccue
There are four songs up there to be listened to...
It's a double Aussie bill at The Mint Thursday September 6th. Western Australian band The Waifs are currently undertaking their North American Tour and will play at 8pm. I'll go on with my Band of Extraordinary Human Beings at 9pm sharp. The Waifs are a GREAT live band so if you're anywhere near Hollywood that night don't miss 'em.
Thanks to Gary-7 who is helping me update my website!
BOOKS I read a wonderful book called The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan. Great characterizations and funny. Tan is a very natural writer. Also, a futuristic science fiction trilogy: The Fear Principle, Fear of God and Learning Fear by B.A. Chapaitis was a great fun read with the most wonderful female superpowerhero ever...
MOVIE Aren't human beings amazing, yet ordinary? Only they would spend all that money, time, resources to make something that could have been meaningful and positive into something so shallow and meaningless...PLANET OF THE APES. Actually, I enjoyed it anyway because I loved Planet of the Apes when I was a kid (which was cheaper and much more profound) and the love triangle was fun....The theme of equality between living creatures on planet earth is overridden by the economic need to make Planet of the Apes 2....c'est la vie in the 21st century.....
More McNews soon,
Anne McCue of the McCue Clan
BEAUTIFUL 04.26.01
My new guitar hero is Tony Joe White. He leans back in his chair, biker sunglasses and a full head of hair, lays into those grooves one after the other like perfect breakers on a beach. Perfect in their imperfection. I watched him two nights in a row from side of stage and I have to say it was one of the highlights of my life so far. I'll never think about guitar playing the same way again. I was mesmerised. every song full of groove. He had the meanest downest dirtiest guitar sound I ever heard. Just him and a no-fills drummer.
In fact I witnessed four days of incredible guitar playing at the Byron Bay Blues Festival last week. The festival takes place on the north coast of New South Wales, twelve hours north of Sydney, in a Land Downunder. We drove up on the Thursday, left at six thirty in the morning. There's been a lot of rain in that part of the country recently so everywhere was green and lush and pumping with life. Has it ever been so beautiful there? I can't remember. The further away from the city we got, the more fun we started having. We started to relax, started laughing. Next day I went and played on the beach for Bay FM. It poured raining. And then it stopped. Then it poured raining again. Then it stopped. Everyone was soaked but it wasn't unpleasant. When I got to the festival, Buddy Miller was playing his last couple of songs. Sounded great. I heard it, didn't get to see it. Business to take care of. People to see. Exploring to be done. The line-up that night was extraordinary. Tony Joe White, Emmy Lou Harris, Joan Armatrading. I watched TJW and Emmy Lou from side of stage. Fantastic. Emmy Lou was diggin' the TJW set before she went on. She has such a cool vibe.
Joan Armatrading had an exceptional concert. She was fairly overwhelmed by it I think. She has written so many great songs. I have never seen such a big, beautiful smile as when she came off stage and the crowd was going off. The Mojo was truly working that night. The people at Byron sang 'Willow' in one voice. I have rarely heard anything so beautiful, so tuneful, in my life. It was a crowd of people, humans, at their best.
The festival was all about music. Nothing else. People who loved playing it and people who loved listening to it being played by people who loved playing.
I have never been so early to a gig. The suspense near killed me. I was there for a full three days before I got to play. I was lucky to be able to just drift around listening. I was swimming in music, surfing guitars, riding guitar sounds, drinking in songs. It was sweet.
So the next night I watched TJW again. I'd bumped into Floydy who was playing with Joe Camilleri (who by the way has formed a world-class act again, this time called The Revelators). We got the perfect listening spot. TJ sported his black cowboy hat for the encore. We could only see the silhouette in the distance as he waited to come back on for the hooting crowd. It was another great show. How much great music can a human bean stand. I needed to sit down. Great music overload. We went to have a quiet beer and a chat. To revitalise. I had a cup of tea. My favourite beverage besides water. And there was plenty of water to be had. A fine drink. A very good year. Me, the Sharpsters and Chrisna Mac having a chat. A distillation process and a couple of anzac cookies. The Waifs came out with their upbeat, acoustic storytelling pop/folk rock. In a similar vein to Things of Stone of Wood the crowd was digging it. Josh : another very fine guitarist on show. They are embarking on a North American Tour so try and catch them...
Seeing Midnight Oil for the first time was nothing but thrilling. The crowd was packed in to the Mojo stage. And everyone sang along to every song. They must be one of the best live bands in the world ever and no doubt should have been headlining this night so that they could have played another hour or so. The illusion that politics are alive and well in Australia lasted as long as the Oils played. Then it was gone. All in all we're a pretty apathetic lot, myself included. I'd love to hear songs from their first album like 'Shit Storm'. I suggested this to drummer Rob First later but he just laughed. I might have to include a couple of these songs in my own set one day, if no-one minds. The John Butler Trio rocked out both gigs, despite power failure. They are ready to rock the world.
I got there next day to see Mick Hart. I was playing with those guys the day after. The Hart band had the big wall of sound happening which was cool. We got a surf in in the morning and I realised how unfit I have become. Nothing like swimming on this side of the Pacific. Ben Harper played that night. It was a subtle show for such a big arena. And everyone listened and enjoyed.
One of the cookingest gigs I saw was Chris Wilson and Jeff Lang. They had two drummers and young Shannon played guitar as well. When Chris sang those songs and prowled around the stage like a wolf, intense, in charge, predatory I was pretty much engulfed. It was an audient's dream. That was the Chris Wilson I had been looking forward to seeing. He handed out the solo duties like a conjuror and the boys played them. Jeff Lang, as everyone knows, is an awesome talent. His reputation had preceeded him. I'd heard of him first in Canada when I was up there. This was the first time I saw him play. He is his guitar when he plays. I know Shannon from the Melbourne blues jams. Incredibly gifted himself, he played master's apprentice to those satanic riffs. One of the best bands ever.
Next day I finally got to play! It was an early gig but nevertheless a good crowd turned out and I had a great time playing. I had my Les Paul with me which is always a treat and I believe my Maton just sounds better the more travelling it does. My guitar has truly become experienced. For the last few songs Jerryand Guy got up and played rhythm section with me and we jammed it up a bit. Mick Hart played his tele on the last song. We finished with a big sound. It was great to see all the folks from my hometown there and many other associates and friends from days gone by. Then it was time to listen and enjoy for one last day. Harry Manx and Janis Ian: two lovely guitar players and Ian is such a prolific songwriter. She played At Seventeen and then strutted her stuff, a very fine guitar player. Me and my sister called out for "Jessie" and she played it. I think it is the saddest song ever written.
This week I supported the wonderful and soulful Eric Bibb on a five night spree. He was accompanied by Big Dave Bronze on bass and Dave played a song with me last night, the wrap-up gig. We did five nights in a row in Sydney, Melbourne and the Blue Mountains. It was great to play at the Continental again, and the first time I played at the Basement. The Sharpsters helped out with the tour and we're all sporting our Eric Bibb CDs.
Three more gigs in Oz before my return to the U.S. mid-May. The Universe provides.....
.....And a good time was had by all.
McNewsletter 03.09.01
Hi Folks, Punks, Rockers and Opera Fans,
My recent World Tour of Ontario was quite a blast. Armed with my Les Paul, a battallion of pedals and my Maton acoustic, I played to some wonderful audiences in some cool venues. One of the highlights was when I played to 3,000 people at Roy Thompson Hall before Erin Brockovich gave an inspiring talk as part of the series Unique Lives & Experiences. The sound was immaculate and the audience laughed at my jokes. Who could ask for more? Erin proved to be a wonderful human being with an important message and it was a great pleasure meeting her. I shared the bill with some remarkable musicians on my travels and jammed with a few along the way. Playing outdoors in a snowstorm and sub-zero temperatures at Winterlude in Ottawa was unforgettable. John Williamson was there and he is a very fine singer/guitarist. I hadn't heard much of his stuff before and it was a nice surprise.
'Anne with Erin Brockovich.' 03.09.01
I'm looking forward to returning to Canada late March for Canadian Music Week. I am scheduled to perform several shows in and around Toronto and Ottawa and I am playing before Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, the prizefighter who was wrongfully imprisoned for much of his life. (You may have seen the Denzil Washington film). I'm reading his biography at the moment. Here is a human being with an incredible spirit.... (This week in Pollstar I was pictured on the same page as Erin B. and none other than Fidel Castro....My destiny lately is bring me into 'contact' with some powerful social activists...)
In April I return to Australia to play there again for the first time in almost three years!
'Francis Firebrace, an Australian aborigine storyteller, with Anne in Ottawa.' 03.09.01
I'm playing at The Byron Bay Blues Festival www.bluesfest.com.au Some of my heroes are on the bill, including Emmy Lou Harris, Joan Armatrading, Janis Ian and Midnight Oil. It's tres exciting...and I'll be playing shows in Sydney and Melbourne also. In the short term, I shall be playing at The Mint in Los Angeles Saturday March 10th at 7:45 pm. I will be joined by the irrepressible Jeff Manol, the jovial Dan Marfisi and the one and only Billy Di Cicco. This will be my only real gig in L.A. for some time.
Dan and I recorded a new song on the weekend which I wrote with Jenny Yates and we had a lot of fun. Paul Schwartz in New York (ARIA, State of Grace) has done a tres chic dance mix of "My Only One". It's being mastered this week and then we'll be sending it out to those funky D.J's out there in clubland a.s.a.p
Some great new CDs I have got recently are Tex Perkins 'Dark Horses' (Charlie Owens is one of my favourite guitarists and he stretches out here on other instruments as well), Cecilia Bartoli singing Vivaldi (she is one of the most amazing singers ever), Television (I hadn't heard Marquee Moon before and I quite like it.) I have a real hankering to hear Midnight Oil's first album again. It had a black cover. I wonder if it's still available. And also Robert Wyatt's album "Rock Bottom': I wonder if that's easy to find.
The album is still scheduled for release in the States in June. Thanks for listening...
Stay Happy if you can and Don't Worry if you can't...
Anne.
P.S. If you need the album now, please write to me at annemccue@yahoo.com and we can arrange a mail order.....or write anyway....
McNewsletter 09.08.00
As the leaves fall in Southern California I am preparing to head up north once again to Canada Eh? Yesterday it rained here in L.A. and it made headline news! A shot of raindrops trickling down into a puddle and a man fixing his windscreen wipers. The segment was called 'Stormwatch'. If you've seen L.A. Story you'll know how little the weather changes in this town. This Friday November 3rd I'll be playing in Seattle at:
11:00PM - 11:40PM
Starbucks
1600 E. Olive Way
Seattle, WA
David Gray played in this very same venue two weeks ago so that's makes everything okay with me. I am playing as part of the Rockrgirl Convention so alert all your friends and fiends or friendly ghouls who live in the hometown of Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain and Bill Gates. The week after that I leave for the Great North. See below for exact dates in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Guelph and hopefully The Tour Date Segment of this site will be updated in the next few days.
I finally finished reading Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. It was full of depraved characters and at the end there was seemingly no point to the very clever narrative and characterisations. A brilliant writer with no philosophy. (What's your opinion?) Otherwise, I'm just going to watch comedies for a while and try to be light about things.
Writing new songs and working on a filmscript, staying positive......
Love from Planet Earth,
Anne. Xo
McNewsletter 09.08.00
Greetings Fellow Earthlings and Any Aliens Who Can Read Australian,
For those of you not in the know we just completed a two-week tour of Canada playing for the most part Breakfast TV shows. Do any of you wake up that early, ever? Playing at six in the morning certainly was a new experience but we got through and even enjoyed it immensely. On drums there was our man Dan Marfisi. Jeff Manol played some sweet textures on guitar and Jim hanson layed down those bass parts. It’s like a dream to me now, a good dream (to quote a local prophet). Our only gig at night this trip was at The Legendary Horseshoe in Toronto which was a cool place. Everywhere the people were lovely to us and we got some great digi-footage of the trip. Host with the Most Award goes to Rajiv Narang who was tireless in his caring for us. None of us has forgotten that Indian meal in the fair and beautiful city of Edmonton. Thanks to everybody else who assisted us on our way. Check out our bassplayer Jim Hanson’s website to see snapshots of the trip. http://www.paradogs.net Click on Canada.
Back in L.A., the city of dreams, I finished the Johnny Cash autobiography and I’m now tuned into The Autobiography of Malcolm X. It’s not only rivetting, it’s engulfing stuff. He was a man interested only in the truth. I bought another copy of OK Computer (Radiohead) as my other copy disappeared into the netherworld. Another good record I’ve been listening to is White Ladder by David Gray and of course you still can’t beat Grace by Jeff Buckley which is angel music. And then there’s a whole lot of new records which I haven’t heard yet. We had a great show at The Mint (Aug. 29) with Peter Himmelman (what a guy and what a band), here in L.A. and sold out of the CD. It was great fun and a great audience! And we’re playing at the Mint again October 5th. Before that the ASCAP showcase on Tues. September 19th at LARGO in Hollywood should be a blast. I’m looking forward to playing all over the world and perhaps the universe in the next year or so. So See You Soon, Keep Well & Be Happy Anne. xo
'Larry Klein demonstrates the various uses of the Marxophone.' 08.01.00
Greetings fellow earthlings and any aliens who may be able to read English....
What a great night was had by all at the Mint in L.A. on July 15th. It was a wonderful attendance (a full house) and I'd like to thank all of you who were able to be there for the great part you played in the evening's proceedings along with Jerry Wagers, the Wayward Boys and Harry Dean Stanton who played that night on his 74th birthday. Since then I went to Washington D.C. to play at an Australian Embassy event at the National Geographic Society headquarters. It was another great day and another fun gig.
The trip homeward on Sunday was interesting and involves the record time (?) of SEVENTEEN HOURS to return BY PLANE from D.C. to L.A. That's longer than it takes to fly to Australia! Nine hours delay at Atlanta airport put me out of contention for the Sunday night open mic at the legendary Canters Deli Kibbitz Room! Should I sue?!?! The story involves mechanical failure, thunderstorms, illegal pilots, illegal flight attendants, food vouchers, boarding and de-boarding, a charming eighty year old Vietnamese woman and a broken down conveyer belt at Baggage Claim (which earned the final round of applause). After having left D.C. at 4:30a.m. (L.A. time) I arrived at LAX at 9:30 p.m. !!! All in all, it was actually quite an unusual and kind of enjoyable day.
Well it has been a very productive and interesting past few months!!
First there was the recording of Angel Inside with Larry Klein. Larry has collaborated with Joni Mitchell on her last five albums and has worked with Shawn Colvin and even those punky gals, The Murmurs. So it was a little nerve wracking stepping up to the microphone, especially with the Joni connection and all. And I was very lucky to get to see Joni Mitchell perform with a seventy piece orchestra at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It was truly a magical night.
Speaking of Canucks, I next made my way up to Canada to make my introduction there in the North. The Relentless label was launched to the tune of some of my songs and I played at the North By North East Music Convention. Four gigs in all and an appearance on the TV show Nightlife were a lot of fun. I returned to L.A. with plenty of maple syrup courtesy of Relentless Records.
I recently played at the legendary McCabes in Santa Monica to a sell-out show before those mighty songsters Lowen & Navarro. The gig was Cybercast world-wide. And now my album Amazing Ordinary Things (Relentless Records) is on the shelves in Canada and available on the internet. The album is cross-latitudinal and cross-longitudinal, capturing brief eras and even moments. Much of it is studiophonic, some live. These recordings are snapshots of my songs, frozen moments, while the songs live on, changing, growing, being played on different instruments by different musicians who offer their personal magic touches. I hope we play for you soon, wherever you are!
Upcoming events---an eight day promotional tour of Canada doing lots of TV shows including the national CBC Morning News, and one live gig at The Horseshoe in Toronto on Aug. 15. Then back to L.A. for a much anticipated gig at The Mint on Aug. 29 with Peter Himmelman!
More McNews as it comes to hand.....
Keep Well and Be Happy,
Anne.
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