Ballad of the Merch Girl

Thanks, Conrad!

On Song Contests, Competition, and Judging Art

I've been meaning to address this thought since last weekend but I've been knee deep in packing boxes. As of Thursday I will have to be completely out of my place, so phew! No more time to procrastinate. I'm kind of sick of updating my Facebook status with something involving boxes, packing, or re-locating said boxes to a new place...but that's what's on my mind so that's what you FB peeps have to see. Anyway. The Songwriter's Serenade Contest in Halletsville turned into a really fun weekend. It was part of the larger Fiddler's Frolic competition, where I guess fiddlers from across the nation gather to...fiddle. It was cool. I was selected as a semi-finalist so I was one of 20 writers that performed Friday. The top 10 on Friday moved on to Saturday. I did not make the top 10. That's a weird feeling because as an artist and writer I vacillate between "I AM AWESOME" and "MAYBE I SHOULD GO BE A BARISTA SHUTUP JANA" and then there's the between nitpicky things like "you should be practicing," "you should be making money," "you should do something with that song," "don't tell me what to do with my art," "I am cooler than that dude/girl/hamster over there," and other sundry and not very pleasant thoughts. I also have genuine emotions that run more like "I am so happy to be here," "this is such a cool experience," "I'll do better next time," "judging contests is subjective," etc. It's a giant mind mess, really. All of us who write or compose or play out constantly spout the mantra that Art is Subjective and hey man, what works for me might not work for you. But then we throw ourselves at the mercy of songwriting judges just in case what we do works for them. And then we try not to be jealous and jerky when it's not. It's a weird process. I guess my ultimate thoughts on the whole thing are that there ARE some solid criteria for a good song, and those can be judged. Period. My thoughts on Halletsville are that my performance was not my A game. I didn't show up in that way that day. I played "Paper Rock Scissors" which I believe is an A game song. When you don't perform up to the standard of the song, how does that get judged? (That's a rhetorical question). Long blog post summed up: I'll keep entering these things, I'm pleased with my reaction to not winning (i.e. no crying and screaming haha), I will improve my head game for competitions such as this, and in the process I always meet new and interesting writers. Win. (And watch out next time cuz heads are gonna roll heehee).

Holy Kerrville, Batman

Firstly, my Easter gig in New Braunfels was lovely and full of good folks and Katie sang my song "Ritalin" because she rocks it and it was so good. Thanks, Katie! All right. So in case you're not familiar, the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Contest is "the thing" to enter if you are a singer-songwriter. Every year. Rain or shine. You send in your 2 songs and then in April, you check the New Folk Finalist list. You kind of check it with maybe one eye shut and one squinted toward the screen because there's always a morsel of hope. This was my second time entering. So yesterday I squinted at the Kerrville site and did not see my name and was not surprised because there are people like Lucy Wainright Roche on that list. (I love her, go see her). So then I kept reading about what happens and then there on the site it says: "In addition to the above finalists, we selected regional performers to appear at the BALLAD TREE to sing one of their songs." And then I saw THIS: Woooohooo! I got a little giddy. And maybe told everyone I know. And announced it to the whole lobby at Red Leaf. And I'll be toasting with Adler & Hearne in Winnsboro this weekend when I open the show at their lovely venue Crossroads Music Co. Even neater. And I get to play my tune on the same day that Susan is playing her main stage set at the festival. Neatest. So this news doesn't ultimately help me pack boxes or send out emails, which is what needs to be done this morning...but it's nice to hum to in the background.

Pinky Fingers

The iPhone as a Songwriting Tool

Ok I'll stop the iPhone love gush one of these days but I've had mine less than a week so this is allowed. Here's why this thing and all it's magical little apps you can download are awesome. Today I'm working on a new song... 1) I pull up some words I had jotted in the notes section this week. None of them actually got used this round but oh well. 2) I emailed some buddies from the phone to fact check a scenario for me...as in, "This line makes sense, right guys?" Jamie nearly responded with a spreadsheet and graph because she's so on it (she's an editor). They said I was in the affirmative. Phew. 3). I use Biblical references sometimes. So I pulled up the app that contains every version of the Bible...in several languages even. Did a content search of the whole thing and pulled up a story about Joshua to make sure I had it right. 4). Then I downloaded a rhyming dictionary app to get some help. 5). Then I decided to take a photo of my large piece of paper and blog it. All from the phone. The only reason I left my bed was to get cereal. Thank you Apple. But you don't get royalties. Yet. Blogged from Outerspace

Live Version of "Fortunate" up on Myspace

Check out a live track from my weekend in Port Aransas for the Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines workshop last month...we did a show that weekend and my tune was "Fortunate." That's Lloyd doing the introduction. Hear it on Myspace, yo! (And if you dig the tune, probably my favorite version so far is on Youtube with Susan Gibson and Marian Brackney jammin' along at Artz Ribhouse in Austin). (And if you really, really dig the tune...get your copy of The Early Year. Woot!)

Life's A Song 2008

Well this took me a while. I seem to be wandering between solid internet connections all the time, and it took me 3 days to get 13 photos uploaded to Flickr properly. There's no excuse. Needless to say, the Life's A Song workshop with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines was a great experience and I met and re-met a lot of great folks this year. Not a bad way to spend a birthday, either. I got play some of my new tunes for Terri that are possibilities for EP 2, and the feedback was definitely useful. The jams were awesome, even if it got cold enough to make us move inside and away from the campfire. I didn't think it got cold in Port Aransas. (In my mind if you drive that far to a coast, you're pretty close to Jamaica. My mind isn't very geographically accurate, however). Here's some photos...and while you look, go to Terri's Myspace page and listen to her new tunes! Some from her new retrospective album and some from her Christmas EP. "Bring 'Em All In" has been a favorite of mine at live shows for quite some time... Cruising around Port A... Lloyd and the dobro go together like PB&J. Campfire Jam! Inside jam! Terri harmonicas it up. I recorded "Switzerland" with Lloyd being his kickbutt producer self. So there you go. If you have any interest at all in the craft of songwriting, I encourage you to attend a workshop like this...get yourself on the list for Life's A Song or check some of the other ones across the country. They're good for you.

Another year older...

And wearing a wiser t-shirt. More workshop today! Much fun and much learned so far!

And so it begins...

Yeah, I get to spend my birthday with Terri and Lloyd and a bunch of fun people. Score!

To Port A!

Time for the Life's A Song workshop, folks. My good buddy Kate Hearne and I are going to drive down to Port Aransas in oh, about 20 minutes and get our songwriting on. Very excited! Reports from the scene, of course. I have all my cables wrapped and chargeable items charged.

Tracking the Early Year: 12 Hours By Car

It is 750ish miles from Austin to Albuquerque, and that takes 12 hours to drive if you're doing right by the speed limit. I'm not one for stopping anywhere to stay the night, so I just do the whole thing in a day. That thought informed the chorus for this one -- some days Albuquerque feels so far it might as well be across the Atlantic. Then again it's nice to know a 2 hour plane ride will get me there, too. The rest of the song is a true instance of coming out in about 2.5 hours on a Saturday morning with much coffee and Garageband to keep track of things. I'm pretty sure none of it existed before then. I remember feeling exceptionally accomplished for it being 11 AM on a Saturday when I finished it. It was the first song we tracked for the record, and when it came time for some percussion, Dan thought quarters would have a ring to them...so somehow he compiled a handful of quarters and I stood there for the entirety of the song dropping quarters back and forth from hand to hand. A few made it to the floor, but mostly I was an adept quarter slinger. It makes me think of a ghost walking down a hallway. The banjo added a nice vibe to the whole thing. Lyrics: i am numb, i am numb two shots per feeling is my rule of thumb and i am tired, i'm so tired of being the one who sets wind to the fire it is thin, wearing thin life is a butterfly stuck on a pin i am still, i lie still behind enemy lines and i have taken my pill 'cause i don't know where you are two hours by plane means twelve by car that is the way we are twelve hours apart by car here i am, here i am spilling my soul on a string and a can can't you see, can't you see? i always thought maybe you'd be good for me but i don't know where you are two hours by plane means twelve by car that is the way we are twelve hours apart by car every day looks the same if the sun makes it up then i'll be ok 'cause every day looks the same if the sun makes it up then i'll be ok 'cause i don't know where you are two hours by plane means twelve by car that is the way we are twelve hours apart by car Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP)

Tracking The Early Year: New Mexico Boy Part II

(Part one of this non-saga lives here). "New Mexico Boy" was pretty fully formed by the time I was playing it out a lot, but it's actually gone through a few major "renovations," if you will, to get it to the version you hear on The Early Year. It's a long song. It has five verses. That's indulgent, but I like them all, so I wasn't going to chuck anything out. It got its first facelift when I was at the Life's A Song workshop with Terri Hendrix. We got some one-on-one time with Terri to go over whatever we wanted, and I played her this song. She had the same assessment about the length. At that time the chorus was: Drunk on Friday, home by 2 AM Mass on Sunday, bread and wine again You wonder who's your saint Cuz sure as hell you ain't Does confession to the Mother bring you joy New Mexico Boy? When you sing that 3 times, it makes your long song even LONGER. Terri drew some lines through the "saint/ain't" lines and said that's what needed to go. She was right. But I still LOVED that line. I went over that with Dan and he suggested those lines could be moved to the bridge, which at the time was kind of taking up redundant space: Airport's running out of planes Scared you won't wake up the same Airport's running out of planes So not only do I have this really long song but I'm REPEATING myself. Right. A little cut and paste and we ended up with what you hear now: Airport's running out of planes Scared you son't wake up the same You wonder who's your saint Cuz sure as hell you ain't And it worked, and it was all there, and the choruses were shorter, and the heavens parted and birds sang. Well, in my mind, anyway. This songwriting stuff is hard work. New Mexico Boy Lyrics superheroes, superstars live so far from where you are where crazy things fall from the sky but nothing's shown you how to fly cruise all night and sleep 'til noon tortillas, juice, and old man gloom spread butter on your daddy's bread turn off the news, go back to bed drunk on friday, home by 2 am mass on sunday, bread and wine again does confession to the mother bring you joy? new mexico boy no history you care to claim no county kickbacks in your name just a pack of dreams rolled up your sleeve to make it big you'll have to leave drunk on friday, home by 2 am mass on sunday, bread and wine again does confession to the mother bring you joy? new mexico boy airport's running out of planes you're scared you won't wake up the same you wonder who's your saint 'cause sure as hell you ain't cinderblocks like hollow hearts stacked up in piles along boulevards a fortress in your own hometown but this ain't china, walk around no this ain't china, walk around drunk on friday, home by 2 am mass on sunday, bread and wine again does confession to the mother bring you joy? new mexico boy Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP)

Tracking The Early Year: Blonde on Blue

(Go to Jana's Myspace page to hear this track!) "Blonde on Blue" was the harbinger of all the songs to come for The Early Year. It came together from a bunch of pieces of things I had lying around for a while, but in a very present, descriptive way that made me think, "Huh." Sometimes you surprise yourself when you finish a song; this was one of those cases. It informed the rest of my writing for this record and continues to do so, because I appreciate the honesty and descriptiveness of the moments in the song. The vibe was brought on by a tuning I had just learned/stolen from Susan (who says she learned from Ani DiFranco...share the tuning love!) -- EBBF#BE. Try it, you might like it. It's got a fantastic sound to it. Then came the riff, then came the melody, and there we were. The whole thing is yet another fictitious story from my head, but I feel like a lot of the detail is stuff we've all actually experienced. Passenger seat, cigarette ash glow out the window, stopping for gas and coffee, all that road trip stuff. The chorus was inspired at first by the image of blonde wheat fields and blue sky -- prominent things in my vision of a road trip because so much of my life's road tripping has involved New Mexico, Texas, and Kansas. "Scorch on sun" was actually a bit of a placeholder line in my head when I first played it for Dan, who promptly identified it as his favorite...so it stayed, and now I love that image, too. Weird how things spill out and you're not quite sure they will stick until you try them on someone else. Lyrics: I am sitting on the starboard of your only way back home There is weed and rocks and turnstiles that we have to get around The rearview mirror betrays you, oh my god I hope it does me too Something in this breakdown's bound to show just how bound I am to you I could fall in love If only I could follow through The minor ways I operate, they are shifting with your hands And all I care is you come with me while this world and I take each other in Orange friction ash on air from smokes that pass the while Keep one mile under the limit, your passenger is volatile I could fall in love If only I could follow through Like ink on paper, scorch on sun You on me, blonde on blue I am an editor of tongues you say, I always skip my turn And these scratched out words I am telling you; they are making my lungs burn Oh forgive my innocence and my array of messed up starts We'll find ourselves a redemption town, we'll meet our Maker's Mark I could fall in love If only I could follow through Like ink on paper, scorch on sun You on me, blonde on blue I think I am useful I'll take good notes along the way I'll prove that 2 stops for gas and 3 for caffeine is all we need anyway I could fall in love If only I could follow through Like ink on paper, scorch on sun You on me, blonde on blue Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP) Track Info: Jana: vocals, acoustic guitar, Backpacker guitar, banjo, piano, bass Daniel Barrett: background vocals

Tracking The Early Year: Paper Rock Scissors

(Check out the player over to your left on the blog or go to Jana's Myspace page to hear this track!) "Paper Rock Scissors" went through quite a few formations before getting to its finished form. I was taken with the playfulness of the game itself, except usually when people play it there is something at stake, giving it the potential to have important consequences hidden behind the simple "1-2-3-go." My favorite part about this song is the layers it has were unintentional when I wrote it; I don't sit around thinking about how people are going to interpret things...but after talking it through with a few writer friends, it's like this tune is a disco ball. It reflects very differently on different points of view. Nifty. It's the first song I wrote in the DADDAD tuning, which is fun as all get out. I stole it from Patty Griffin. When we tracked it, I got to bust out on the snare drum and tambourine...and previously I had requested to Dan that there be hand claps somewhere on the record. Dan decided if a track was going to have them, this was going to be the one. We clapped through the whole tune twice, making for a total of 4 sets of hands clapping. ("What is the sound of 8 hands clapping?") That's also the only instance of anyone but me playing an instrument on The Early Year...it was good to have a hand clap buddy! For the guitar track we went for a smooth Duke Levine-like vibe because...Dan and I both love us some Duke Levine (he plays for Mary Chapin Carpenter a lot. A lot). Lyrics: Took an offer for a ride to Amarillo It was 23 miles by a drunken crow Be careful who you talk to when you roll down your window And you can't call home Cause I'm from great plains and greater superstition And my mother I know - she is a very good Christian Between church bell chimes and late night dimes I never really was Now paper beats rock and rock beats scissors And the note on the table cut me to slivers And I quote God in the middle of the night When I say, "Let there be light" Started asking around 'bout where the circus went I got pointed to a prophet in a Bible tent And the preacher leaned and the people cleaned Down in the river with the water and the lye So I got held up for the winter in Wichita I guess something didn't read on the radar It said "Jesus saves" on family graves But I knew they didn't always intertwine And now paper beats rock and rock beats scissors And the word on the stone broke me to splinters And I quote God in the middle of the night When I say, "Let there be light" Get down into the cellar The storm will blow over, the storm will blow over Everything's gonna get better The war will blow over, the war will blow over And now paper beats rock and rock beats scissors And the word on the stone broke me to splinters And I quote God in the middle of the night When I say, "Let there be" Paper beats rock and rock beats scissors If the book is so good why can't we deliver? I quote God in the middle of the night When I say, "Let there be light." Words and Music by Jana Pochop © 2008 Patient Grasshopper Music (ASCAP)

Tracking The Early Year: New Mexico Boy

This one makes me smile because it kind of brings a neat story full circle for me. Susan Gibson was nice enough to sing background vocals on this tune, and by now you all know she is one of my favorite singer-songwriters and has been since I was in college. We met in 2001 when she played in my Music Appreciation class. I was a freshman thinking about majoring in political science but secretly wanting to find a way to be a musician (and had been doing as such since about 5th grade). There wasn't a whole lot of example around Albuquerque of songwriters who toured and recorded on a sustainable level. Success to me meant a record deal and VH-1...which was totally out of reach. But THEN...I see this songwriter perform in my class who is making the music business work as a career without selling out to MTV, and who is writing honest and brilliant lyrics with a powerful guitar style. Um, hello? I was smitten. Suz came back to New Mexico a few times over my college career and we got to know each other a little more, and when I moved out here to Austin she offered her help countless times to this very green-behind-the-ears kid new to the scene. She didn't have to do that, but she did. Lately I've been her Merch Girl and have gotten to see parts of Texas and the USA that I probably would not have for a while otherwise...and I'm psyched to be able to do my part and work the merch table magic. When I opened for her during a couple of tours of New Mexico last year, I would always request a little harmony love on "New Mexico Boy" because she made it sound fantastic...so it was a no brainer to preserve it for posterity on The Early Year. Thanks, Suz, for everything. Shucks.

Loveliness from Mary Chapin

I love this tune!

A Music-ful Day

Phew. I have that happy tired feeling when you know you did your job well but it took a bunch out of you. I spent a lot of the morning rehearsing a new tune because it's a co-write (my first "real" one, I think) and I know the parts I wrote really well, and am having to internalize the other lines a little more. Fascinating. Cheat sheet. I also have a wild hair on a new chord and picking pattern, and today brought some workable words...so there's something new in a holding pattern. I spent a chunk of the afternoon trying to flag it in. We're still circling the airport on that one, but I like where it's headed. Who knows. Then I had a voice lesson. We sang "hee hee hee" over and over again and I learned about where your "hee's" should come from. Not your throat. Stop that. Then there was the gig, which was very fun. And since Year 2 of Folk Music Grad School is shifting into focusing on "outer" stuff...like performing...Red Leaf's new Stage Performance teacher came to see my gig. She took notes. That was a little nerve-wrecking, but she's way cool and we meet tomorrow to go over her notes. It's perhaps best we are meeting right before my next gig so I can apply her thoughts to the show. (Her name is Jess Klein and she is awesome and you should totally check out her music, and I hope she does not mind me blogging about her because I just did!) I don't know if part of the outer training will be how to haul a PA around without breaking a sweat, but I could use that class, too. Yay summers in Austin! I'm so ready for fall. And thus ends my random day.

San Angelo to Switzerland

I'm off to be Merch Girl in San Angelo tonight, kids. In the meantime...here's a tune too new to be on EP 1, but I am pretty set on having it on the next record. It's my $20,000 History/Poli Sci degree at work! Switzerland from janapochop on Vimeo.

Be Intrigued.

I had some words tumble out the other day and I think they might be a chorus of a new song, but I'm not sure where they're going. All I know I like the words, the vibe, and the cadence. Bottom line, whatever my pen inked out is intriguing to me, and now it's like a fun scavenger hunt. That's what songwriting should be to the songwriter each time; intriguing.

Blonde on Blue

How I got the visuals for Blonde on Blue...