Cali Blue

I'd like to meet:

Everybody… one at a time…specifically,I’d love to meet: God, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, Shannon Hoon, Nico Hoon, Nel Hoon,Rogers Stevens (6/13/08),Glenn Graham (6/13/08) Brad Smith (8/10/08), Christopher Thorn (8/10/08), Travis Warren , Tennessee Tuckness,Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir,“Pigpen” McKernan, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart,Donna Jean Godcheaux, Robert Hunter, Bob Marley, Rita Marley, any Marley offspring, Anthony Kiedes, John Frusciante, Flea, Chad Smith, Jack and Meg White, Adam Duritz, Ray Manzarek, Robbie Krueger, John Densmore, Iggy Pop, Layne Stayley, Sheryl Crow, Bono, Robert Johnson, Warren Haynes, Greg Allman, Chris and Rich Robinson, Eddie Vedder, Alanis Morrisette, Kurt Kobain, Dave Grohl, Ben Folds Five, Ani Difranco, Gomez, Jack Black, Kyle Gas, Joni Mitchell, Ani Difranco, Buddha, Allen Ginsberg, Linda Ashcroft, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Lawrence Ferlenghetti, Friedrich Nietzsche, D.H. Lawrence, Mother Theresa, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, Van Gogh, Walter Anderson, Hieronymus Bosch, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Salvador Dali, M.C. Escher, Edward Munch, Dalai Lama, Jaan Wenner, Cameron Crowe, Ben Fong Torres, Lester Bangs, Hunter S. Thompson, and Annie Leibovitz.BIGGIES I'VE MET: North Mississippi Allstars(Luther Dickinson, Chris Chew), Anthony Gomez, Eddie Money, ZZ Top (Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill), A/C D/C (Angus and Malcolm Young, Brian Johnson, Cliff Williams) The Who (Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Kenny Jones (see blogs).

Music:

Blind Melon, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, White Stripes, Bob Marley, The Wailers, Alice in Chains, Widespread Panic, Gomez, North Mississippi Allstars, G. Love and Special Sauce, Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Galactic, Ben Harper, String Cheese Incident, Trey Anastasio and Phish, Stone Temple Pilots, Sublime, U2, The Schwag, Anthony Gomez, A/C D/C, ZZ Top.Best Live Shows I've seen: So many awesome shows, but these are my faves - Aerosmith – Jackson, MS. The Who – Memphis, TN. A/C D/C – Jackson, ’89, Monsters of Rock -Memphis ’89, Rockfest – with Counting Crows, Jewel, Third Eye Blind, No Doubt and Bush, Dallas, Texas ’99, U2 – Popmart Tour, Stone Temple Pilots, Mud Island ’01, The Wailers - Memphis in May ’02, Black Crows –Memphis in May ’02, The Schwag, New Daisy Theatre, May 04, Iggy Pop, Voodoofest ’04, Bonnaroo – ’04, Widespread Panic, Jackson ’06, Blind Melon, Starkville, MS ’07. Show I would love to have seen...Woodstock '94, Blind Melon!

Movies:

Too many to mention, but some faves are: Almost Famous, Easy Rider, Apocalypto, No Direction Home/Bob Dylan, Don’t Look Back/Bob Dylan, Wonderland, The Grateful Dead Movie, Festival Express, Live From Bonnaroo 2002/2004, Coffee and Cigarettes, Clerks II, Go, Pulp Fiction, The Doors, Storytellers – The Doors: a Celebration, Rock Star, The Pick of Destiny, Shallow Hal, Bongwater (classic Jack Black Fan).MUSIC DVD’s: “Blind Melon – Letters From A Porcupine”, “Blind Melon – Live at the Metro”, “The Grateful Dead - the Closing of Winterland”, “The Doors -Live in Europe”,“The Doors - Soundstage Performances”, “The Doors – Collector’s Edition”, “Sublime -Stories, Tales, Lies and Exaggerations”, “Red Hot Chili Peppers - Live at Slane Castle” and “Red Hot Chili Peppers - Greatest Hits and Videos”, “Bob Marley and The Wailers - Legend”, “Woodstock – The Director’s Cut”, “Woodstock ‘94”, “Woodstock ‘99”, “Black Crowes - Freak’n’Roll Into the Fog”, “Alannis Morissette “Jagged Little Pill Live”, “Jimi Plays Berkley”, “Lennon – Legend”, “Tenacious D – the Complete Masterworks”, “Stone Temple Pilots - Thank You”, “Ben Folds Five – The Complete Sessions at West 54th”, “String Cheese Incident – Live at the Fillmore”,“Nirvana – Unplugged and Live in New York”, “Widespread Panic – Live from the Backyard, Austin, Texas”, “Phish IT”, “Alice in Chains Unplugged”.

Television:

Books:

Beat Poetry and Literature, Music Biographies/ Autobiographies – favorites are “Scar Tissue” by Anthony Kiedes, “Wild Child” by Linda Ashcroft, “No Woman, No Cry” by Rita Marley, “Slash” by Slash, “The Tragic Romance of Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson”, “Piece by Piece” by Tori Amos, “Don’t Try This At Home” by Dave Navarro and Neil Strauss. Art and Writer Biographies/Autobiographies like “Approaching the Magic Hour” by Walter Anderson’s wife, Agnes Anderson, “Basquiat” by Leonhard Emmerling, “Van Gogh” by Ingo Walther and Rainer Metzger, “I Celebrate Myself- The Somewhat Private Life of Allen Ginsberg” by Bill Morgan, “The Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch” by Henry Miller. Any book I may write one day :B ____________________________________________________________ __The following is an article I wrote on Blind Melon- posted under archives @ BeeMelon.com ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ > When I found out that not only were Blind Melon reuniting, but were already touring and performing the night of my college graduation, I knew that would be my "walk." Sheepskin and tassels were soon to be replaced by the songs "Skinned" and "Paper Scratcher"; Blind Melon's timing had perfectly coincided with my own, and nothing could have been more apropos than witnessing the reincarnation of my favorite band. My "graduation party" made the two hour trek to Starkville, Mississippi in my current-day "Galaxy", a 98 Buick LeSabre. We brought the guitars so we could play every Blind Melon tune we knew on the way, and dedicated "Change" to Shannon.We arrived hours early to a desolate parking lot and club, Rick's Café Americana, a pretty cool place out on the edge of a college town. With three-fifths of the band hailing from this area (Roger Stevens and Brad Smith from West Point, and Glenn Graham from Columbus), it was like stepping into their song "Tones of Home" where they challenge the narrow thinking they had perceived as holding them down in their youth. A little homegrown animosity reeking in the shadows could be interesting, but I figured they had probably moved on from that phase. Some interesting conversations could be overheard out on the patio regarding rock and its casualties, and who had influenced who the most. We had heard this was a small, intimate venue, but dwarfed crowds meant closer proximity for the fans, and that Blind Melon was holding true to their roots of preferring small venues over larger ones. The ticket prices were low for a band that had formerly graced the cover of Rolling Stone, played world-wide stages including Woodstock, and received multiple Grammy nominations. The minute ticket price was proof they were willing to earn their way back up the ladder, but the question remained…was somebody really good enough to pull off Shannon's vocals and authentic enough to perform in his place? I had read that when offered the job as new lead singer, Travis Warren was "psyched but concerned". Aware of Melon fans' and even his own fanatical devotion to Hoon, he predicted he might be hated. I wasn't feeling hateful or suspicious…but I was curious, and elated to finally have the opportunity to see the band live.The stage was low to the ground and accessible, with colored lights strung around the drums and some of the amps, making a cool visual effect . By the time the opening act was over, the place was packed and energized. When Blind Melon walked out, I was shocked that the guys seemed to look exactly the same, maybe even better than they used to. It was so good to see they were doing well, and I hoped it was a sign that the music could be the same too. When I first laid eyes on Travis I wasn't sure what I was looking at until I realized he had on a mask. The mask took the attention off of him for a while, and put it back on the music, which was kind of cool. When they cut straight into "Galaxy", the energy shot through the roof, and from there on out, every note seemed as cosmically relevant as the day they wrote it. The audience was involuntarily turning the show into more of a sing-along than an artistic performance, but Blind Melon's songs had taken on a life of their own apart from the band. This is the point where things became surreal– the resurrection that would never be. We'd "never had the chance to say goodbye", so it was like treading sacred ground at a funeral and a reunion. The time capsule was dug up, and everything was coming back as clearly as if it was only yesterday we first saw the images of Blind Melon in that grassy field with the bumble bee people. Was it was only a minute since the mud people in "I Wonder" only wanted to be sixteen and free? Or that a heavy-hearted, golden Shannon bemuses his struggles in "Change," hoping to leave his mark "on the face of the day" before they "paint" it?In retrospect, during the show it was hard not to think about or compare the band to when Shannon was there. Brad and Shannon's vocals created what Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead called a perfect "blood brother" harmony and tonal quality, evident throughout the entire synthesis of the band. Shannon also had this phenomenal creative ability and self-knowledge to tap into universal energies and puree them into fare fit for the commonest earth-bound junkie, acting as a musical shaman of sorts. Always pushing the envelope, he naturally assumed the role of a cosmic trickster who develops the reflex and intellect of his people. He told you things about yourself that you didn't know, or weren't able to express. When you hear early Melon, you can honestly believe that Shannon meant every word he sang, and that it could apply to the day he was having. . Now, seeing Travis bring on some of that authenticity sent chills up my spine. His vocal range was equivalent to Shannon's, but his original vocal stylings were reminiscent of Jeff Keith of Tesla, or Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction . I knew he had paid his dues with his own repertoire of song-writing and performances with his former band, Rain Fur Rent. Some of his personal MySpace (Travis T. Warren @ myspace) originals are long mood trips through romantic landscapes, or raw ballads with sexy offbeat rhythms and syncopated melodies, some a bit darker than his Blind Melon site counterparts. The sound of his solo performance at the show was markedly different from the performance with the band, but it was amazing and showed that he had the talent to stand alone as well. By the end of the show, I had to agree with the band. Travis had the chops, and the show was a standout, a top live performance in my list of shows to see. Everyone knows that Shannon will always be a part of that, but I left the show with a new perspective; I could no longer think of Blind Melon as the band that suffered an unfortunate, tragic end. The music is alive and well, and LIVE as well, and considering the situation, it can't get any better than that. Blind Melon has been through heaven and hell, blindsided in their Galaxy. I like to think that navigating their way back may have taken the guidance of an angel, or even just some giant cosmic towtruck (with Shannon at the wheel, of course). The Galaxy may have sat up for a while, but baby, it still runs like a dream. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~"So now I'll take a little glueI'll put together a new glittered room for youSo I can start sitting so prettyInstead of sitting here not seein' clear… " (From "Toes Across the Floor" - Blind Melon 1994) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~"It's time to help youget back on your feetand on your wayIf the tables were turned aroundI know you'd be there for me…it all works out-I hope that it all works out."(From "Wishing Well" - Blind Melon 2008)

Heroes:

People who think outside of the box & leave their own mark on the world. All Big dreamers. "when your deepest thoughts are broken, you gotta keep on dreamin, boy...