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.

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MY FRIENDS ARE GROWING UP & SHOWING UP ON LATE NIGHT TV

First it was my friend Baron Vaughn on Conan O’ Brien. Baron was always a comedian who was going places, but I just remember him cornering people in my living room in Brooklyn to try his jokes on them. Maybe he still does this at parties. But suddenly, he looks like a man comic instead of a boy comic.

Then Stephen Squibb, another fixture in my Brooklyn apartment, showed up on Keith Olbermann this week. Stephen was always super academic, heart-on-sleeve, with fly-away hair.

Here he is talking about the arrests in Occupy Boston. Despite what I’m guessing is a pretty high stress, high emotion, low sleep situation… he sounds unbelievably articulate and thoughtful. Lead my revolution!

STEPHEN DISCUSSING OCCUPY BOSTON ON KEITH OLBERMANN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os4oxWbGXv0

Suddenly, he’s gone from a guy who could talk about political movements and social theory to someone who’s doing something. I’m so proud of my friends!

It’s strange. I leave New York to pursue my dreams, and my friends did too. And within just two years they start popping up in really awesome places.

It’s like they’re laying the rungs of this awesome ladder that I too will climb up.

Fuckin’ hard work & a lot of heart. That’s what it takes.

Ps—You know why they’re arresting people in New York & Boston? Because they’re afraid the message is actually taking hold and starting to spread. They were willing to indulge a bunch of kids getting their yah-yahs out, but now it’s getting a little real.

Think about the cost of education, healthcare, and how many jobs in this “strong Texas economy” are really minimum wage jobs, then ask yourself if we as a country are really investing our money in ourselves, our people, our futures?

Watch In the Time of Butterflies (free on hulu) if you’re feeling the revolutionary spirit – based on a book by Julia Alvarez about three sisters who helped topple the Dominican dictator Trujillo.

But we’ll leave you with a laugh…. Thanks, Baron.

MY FRIEND BARON VAUGHN ON CONAN

http://teamcoco.com/video/baron-vaughn-wishes-he-was-in-plane-crash

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Sept 11th: Thinking of the People Back Home

As a diehard, in-the-heart new yorker, september 11th is always a strange day for me.
sad, momentous, exciting... as the years go on, i feel a tremendous sense of relief simply that we're all still here doing what we ought to be doing.

For me, that's music.

This evening, i will be at momo's with a few friends, playing a few songs in homage to the city that lifts me up, turns me upside down, always leaves me dazzled, exhausted and hungry for more.

Please come raise your glass with us! 5 to 7:30pm, 6th & rio grande, Austin TX, free

I wrote a few just for today.
Bedroom cellphone recording of *when september comes* coming soon.
What's your fav new york city song???