it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Ho ho ho, it's that time of year again.

Put on your Sexy Santa outfit.... cry your heart out into your stocking.... whatever route you choose, we're with you, as long as it's not traditional.


And on that note, we have a little video for you. It's the Chipmunk Song redone -- a track I recorded with Mark Addison at Aerie Studios in Austin, TX. The video was made by Anna Mumford in NYC.


I was totally obsessed with Alvin, Simon & Theodore as a kid. Carried their dolls with me everywhere.


      Fast forward 20 years. Throw a little Brasilian guitar in there. A naughty streak. Some updated lyrics about blue jeans & iPhones... and voila.

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdV7jgjlAHk

Our free download: http://www.jessietorrisi.com

On an interesting side note, Ross Bagdasarian, the composer of this tune, passed away nearly 40 years ago. But when I called him estate to get permission to sell this, they turned me down. They did not appreciate my lyric improvisation or sexualizing of the old classic.

Hey boys, have a sense of humor! Or imagination! 

   It's a cartoon afterall.
     And if you won't let me sell it, I'll give it out.
      

So Please, Please Me foot soldiers.... go forth and spread the love. Or music as the case may be.

   Forward the link, post it to Facebook.... Alvin, Simon & Theodore would be proud.


ps --- Get over to our website & you can download the track fo' free. Along with another original holiday tune.
                That's right...... FREE!
          We could use a little more of that this time of year.


pps --- My birthday is christmas... no joke! What i want is another year of rock 'n roll awesomeness.  And a little financial help making this next record.

              *                                  *                                  *                                      *

WHO'LL BE OUR HOMECOMING KING & QUEEN SATURDAY??

This week, I drove 30 hours straight (through torrential rain in NY, VA, TN, NC) to get home to you sweet Texas.

Lenny Kravitz said it, It ain’t ‘til over it’s over. Summer, that is.

So TONIGHT, Agustin, Mandy & Duncan – my fearless road warriors – will join me for the final show of our summer tour at Hole in the Wall. We made it through earthquakes, hurricanes, grumpy soundmen, & the van shakes…. So please come support. Lotsa new songs from the forthcoming record.

SATURDAY at HOLE IN THE WALL

24th & Guadalupe, 11:30pm, $5

w/ Petals & more

* there’s lots of great parties happening this weekend to raise money for people hit by the wildfires. Check out this list & Go spend some $ to help your neighbors.

**please note the Beauty Bar show Sunday is not happening (sorrrrrry for the change up)…. Anyone looking for in honor of 9/11 & new york city Sunday night, get in touch! I’m going pudding wresting.

MORE TOUR PICS & VIDEOS COMING... HERE.

Highlights:

1) Chicago – vegan eggs benedict at 3am outside the booty shakin’ clubs

2) Cincinnati – buying new used tires from ex-cons for $30 each

3) Milwaukee – NPR taping, the best sounding club & my fav new band Delta Routine (think Citizen Cope meets Robert Johnson) who I hope to do some writing with soon.

4) Philadelphia – mom’s homecooked pasta

5) Boston – hurricane!

THANK YOU to those of you offering us car advice from the road. You’re lifesavers… literally.

Xoxo ~jessie

Take that Bob Lefsetz

Not sure how many of you follow Bob Lefsetz's blog on the music biz....

He's a blowhard for the revolution; he has a lot of great ideas on why the industry's broken & what it'd take to fix it. He LOVES music.

Only one problem. He seems to think those who live for the art of it, to write a great song, chase the muse, or bring an audience to its knees died off around 1985.

We know he's wrong. The world is fuckin' overflowing with talent, amazing young artists coming of age in a DIY world.

So here's my response to his blog on creativity & James Taylor. (his original rant here.)
* * *

Dear Bob--

People still write like this...every day.

They stay up 'til 3am, even though they have to be at work 'til 9am, because they know there's something longing to be said if they can just be patient enough for it to emerge.

They show up late to important business meetings and dates with pissed-off boyfriends or girlfriends because they were obsessed with nailing down that last line to the bridge, because the hook took off good but didn't land quite right.

I just spent 4 days in a Marriot hotel in Memphis for the Folk Alliance. Hundreds of artists (a few agents, labels, promoters, but mostly artists) cramming into bedrooms & jamming, usually unmic'ed, 'til 4am every night. The whole time, I hardly left the hotel. I got to sit in a song circle with Ron Sexsmith, and he was just as humbled by the talent of young New York, Texas, California writers there as we were by him.

I am not a folk artist but damn am I glad I went. Because now I know I'm not alone in my madness. And that 90% of what I worry about when it comes to "making it" (read, building a career), while important, doesn't matter to me half as much as BEING GREAT.

There's a lot of us out there who are hustling and sweating... ticking off the 10,000 hours... wanting nothing more to write a great song, make a great album... one that captures all the whimsies and soul and comi-tragedy of life, of us.

There are a lot of us out there who think Nashville is bullshit... who constantly devour music and have no clue what's up in Top 40 world. And we pour out songs that would make James Taylor, or you crack a smile and lose the everything-great-happened-30-years-ago speech.

I wish you would talk more about us. We're out there. We do it because we can't not. And we're trying desperately to connect with you, with all the great music lovers still out there.

~Jessie Torrisi

Go Midwest Young Band

Wow, our 1st Midwest Tour was off the hook.

A picture of the boys in the van.

And a boy & a girl on the bridge.


Midpoint Fest rocked our world.
Quote Dave, "This is a big fuckin' deal."

Personally my favorite moment was the next day in Cincinnati. We were playing around with our beatbox pedal on the sidewalk when we were joined by a surprise guest. "i'm just a lonely boy, you're just a lonely girl."



We'll leave you with an original song.



More soon. Thanks a gajillion.
~the Please, Please Me

Back in Action: New Rolling Stone Q&A

David Fricke/RS: Dear jessie, what's up? Why no blogs recently?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: Well David, ironically, the better things are going, the less time i have to blog. I've been a busy rock 'n roller as of late. Doing shows in Bryan, New Orleans, we finally broke into the Parish in Austin. Demo'ing some new stuff with the band. And, get this, I'm also a college professor. I've been teaching an Intro to Mass Media class at ACC.

David Fricke/RS: Inculcating young minds?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: While I've been playing rock star & trying to make sense of how the whole world is charging, I'm also getting to study the digital revolution in communications, new business models and teach students how to make the most of how the world is changing. *Blog all about it.* But sadly, or apologetically, by time I get home at night, the last thing I want to do is log on. I'd much rather strum a few chords and finish that new song that's been nagging. Or have a beer with friends. Or read a good book.

David Fricke/RS: Did I hear you say studio? Do tell... what's brewing with the band? Are you working on the 2nd record?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: Well, let's start with the good news. We've been recording four brand spankin' new songs out of Carlos Mendoza's living room studio the last few weeks. These are songs that have really evolved with the band -- having the drummer decide to give the whole thing a James Bond soundtrack twist, or having the cello & trombone come to me with harmonies that make the hairs on my neck stand up. And 6th & A, the one heartbreaker ballad, an ode to New York City, being lonely & drunk in the East Village (think Ryan Adams) would have probably never seen the light of day had Carlos not helped me rewrite it. So for once, it's a real band effort. I mean, I came up with The Please, Please Me as a name because I wanted people to think of me & the whole experience we create as that of a band, not a singer-songwriter. But now it's happening. As a result, I think I'll measure up to some of my indie songstress heroes with these in a whole new way.


The Impromptu Please, Please Me Kazoo Chorus

RS: What are you going to do with these recordings???

JT: That's the $20 million question. We're still waiting to see if the results will sound hi-fi album ready, or that we need to go into a fancier studio or grab William Berlind (my producer in NYC), and find a way to lure him out here to record it. I would really like to go that route, but it seems I've spent all my money on touring and kazoos as of late. Am hoping that by having these demos a few interested labels or possible sponsors of the arts might come forward and decide to really make this happen. Y'know what Prince says? Money changes everything. I'd like to start working on a 2nd record, but if it's not in the stars, we'll release an EP, or give away new tracks one by one in exchange for fans support/email addresses/help in other arenas.
*** like if you can silkscreen Please, Please Me panties or make a cool video, we'll prob show up at your house every morning for a month and serenade you.

RS: Does the uncertainty worry or frustrate you?

JT: Definitely. But when I lived in New York, I had not near enough time to really live art, make music my life. In just a year in Texas, I feel i've truly become a musician & a performer, not just someone who wants to be one. I'm a much more masterful songwriter. I have a kick-ass bands, fans, songs I'm really proud of. But I had more better ways to make money in New York, and here, I'm still trying to find my way in the marketplace.

RS: But you'll be back in New York soon, I hear.

JT: Oh well yes, one summer in Texas was enough for me. 60 days over 100 degrees last year. Besides you can take the girl out of the city but not the city out of the girl. Last summer, I happened to be in NYC when they did a 20th anniversary sing-along screening on Purple Rain in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. These kinds of things -- the experience of shouting Purple Rain into a night with 10,000 other New Yorkers from all conceivable walks of life -- they change you. They make you feel unity that can only come from art & diversity & a certain electric current that runs through the city. I can't live without that completely.

RS: Ok, yes yes, I get that. I mean, sometimes you think the price of working at a major magazine is having to live in a crowded, dirty, noisy city. And other times, you think Thank God, I'm stuck here.

JT: Yes, it's the question that never answers itself. If i can't find peace of mind in New York City, can I manage to feel fully alive elsewhere?


Jessie Torrisi & the Please, Please Me at The Parish

RS: So you're hitting the road again soon. What do you want to leave readers with?

JT: Well, to everyone I've met this year.... in Colorado, Portland, Philly, and TEXAS, especially all those dancing easy-going fools here Austin who turned out at SxSW, who kazoo their hearts out, who show up to the Parish on last-minute notice, THANK YOU.

(If you want to hear the new EP, or catch us live, just drop a line to rockstar@jessietorrisi.com. Our new website's not up yet, so for now, this is the best way. If you have a vote for what song we should make a video for, or live somewhere we should come play, we'd love to hear that too.)

The record's only been out 6 months, but it feels like more. And y'know, If a rock 'n roller gives the show of her life & no one's there to hear it... it doesn't make a sound. It might be perverse to measure success in comments on my Facebook page, or fans who send me annoyed emails b/c I didn't send an invite out in time & they missed the show, or how many kazoos I need to rush to print, but I do.

Tour Photos: NYC- As Dark Lit & Lovely as Ever

We here at Please, Please Me headquarters are finally recovering from the SxSW plague, sweeping that scruffy indie rock boy (crashing in the living room by the amps) dust out & reveling in SPRING in TEXAS.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out the awesome footage we collected on the Winter '010 tour. If you missed it...East Coast, Pacific Northwest, then Colorado en route back to Austin.

It all started in New York City! Where else...Neither blizzards nor back pain from hauling guitars onto subway platforms could stop the rock.

Thanks to David Bowles from MTV for capturing the magic at the Living Room.

(Will Berlind-piano, Ryland Kelly-upright bass, John Brodeur-drums, Matt McDonald-trombone, All of You-kazoos!)

Photos: 1) setting up, 2) audience kazooing on Cannonball (nyc still holds the record for # onstage), 3) me drumming & singing on Runaway Train (how long before a reviewer compares me to Levon Helm??), 4) the band, incl. Josh Wise (electric guitar on record) 5) Me showing off a red-shot kazoo (matches the Living Room walls!)

THANK YOU NYC! SEE YOU SOON.

SxSW!

My southby ssssucked last year.

My Aunt Dot died. My scooter (which belonged to a friend in Nicaragua) was towed & took some fancy forgery to free. My best friends from New York came but I'd just started this crappy waitressing job & couldn't hang. I had a wristband & hardly got to use it.

I missed all my fav artists. I'd just moved to Austin & didn't have a band yet... or gigs. I had to sit there & absorb the noise assault while riding down 6th St. every day to shitty job.

But this year I vowed it would be different. And it will!
The Please, Please Me have been on a tear... & there are no signs of slowing down. So get ready for our SxSW assault.


1) Friday, March 19, 7pm, Botticelli's
The full band will take it to Austin's prettiest wine garden, right on South Congress across the streets from Jo's Coffee in case you need a pick-me-up

2) Saturday, March 20, 2:30pm, Rethink Pop Music Showcase
At Chupacabra, run by Couch Professor Entertainment, 400 East 6th St. by Trinity

The Couch Professor crew's got their shakin' booties on the pulse of everything hip & rockin' in Austin these days. Party line up's here.

3) Monday, March 22, 1pm, Waterloo Records @Airport
... And they all go home. If you're killing time at the airport (& you should get there early - i can tell you horror stories of years past), Alissa & I will be doing an unplugged set at Waterloo, Austin's indie record store. Bring yr fav musicians home with you. (Otherwise, you're gonna have to explain to your gf or bf what you were really doing during southby.)

we'll be in the Hear TX listening station at the regular Waterloo Records as well


*other hot tips: don't miss Xo Publicity's Thursday party @ Stompin' Grounds, 3601 South Congress w/ American Songwriter & WOXY (maybe you can help me convince ben sollee we should go on tour together; at least don't miss him; Yo Yo Ma for the hip-hop generation.)

& Dart Music's global pop round the clock showcase @ Mi Casa, 503 East 6th St. i've heard that White Denim is especially worth your time.

Bring on the hungry masses! We're ready.

*i won, i won*

I distinctly remember sitting on my grandfather's lap as a 7-year-old, explaining that i was the 2nd smartest kid in my 2nd grade class. I often see myself as a strong contender, but never the front runner. Which is why, at this particular moment, i am jumping up & down, yelling *i won, i won!*

Every december, i read rock writer Tom Semioli's Best of list. This year, to my surprise, i was on it.

BEST AMERICANA ALBUM FROM AN ARTIST BORN IN PHILADELPHIA

JESSIE TORRISI – BRÛLER BRÛLER (Wild Curls Music)

Ryan Adams, I think you married the wrong girl. You knew her as the ace glam-rock drummer in Unisex Salon, Les Fleurs Tragiques, and Laptop. On her debut solo outing (which translates as “burn burn” in French) Ms. Torrisi reemerges as a roots rock goddess. Loaded with hooks and a hazy behind-the-beat croon, cuts including “Hungry Like Me,” “X in Texas” and “Storm Clouds” ache in all the right places. Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynne and Patty Griffin eat your heart out.

for your further entertainment:

Tom's Annual Best Of: Volume 13:

Friends, Roman Polanski, and Countrymen: loan me your ears! As a “distinguished music journalist,” (as per Grammy Award winning recording artist Jon Secada), voracious record collector, and semi-retired musician (with notable exceptions), I humbly share my abstract ruminations on the year in music as I heard it. As my new wife tolerates my numerous inadequacies (sexual, intellectual, emotional et al.) please beg my indulgence. Very few are chosen, and fewer still are called… have a great 2010, and remember to support live (and recorded) music!

--Tom Semioli

thank you, Tom Semioli.
thank you, New York City.
thank you, Rock 'n Roll!