Tuesday nights are really not my ideal going out night, but Tuesday’s with Tom Freund at The Stronghold in Venice is tempting enough to get me out. Especially when it’s his new EP release party. Opening acts for Tom included Shane Alexander and Chris Joyner, two amazing singer/songwriters in their own right. But I was there for Tom, my favorite male vocalist, a guy I’ve been following for a couple years now, and who hit the jackpot with his new release, FIT TO SCREEN. Independent singer/songwriters are hard to find, if you are looking at the big box stores. But they are everywhere, when you look local, and you have the patience to find a gem. Tom is one of these treasures. His soulful voice, amazing talent, and group of friends he rocks with makes you feel good. The venue was awesome. The Stronghold, by day sells jeans on Abbot Kinney in Venice, by night, the upstairs loft turns into a listening room for great local performers.

There is one thing about the evening that disappointed me. REALLY disappointed me. The crowd was loud. Not in a “yay Tom, we love you!” sort of way. In an obnoxious “I won’t stop chatting even when the musicians are playing their hearts out” sort of way. Truly Mellow Tom politely asked the peeps to chill, to no avail. Pet peeve here…if you are going to see talent at a small venue such as The Stronghold, pay respect to the artists! Being steps away in an intimate setting is special! It made me angry to listen to the girls giggling behind me, and my husband wasn’t thrilled with the guy leaning across his body to talk to the girl on the couch next to him. I have to say, Tom was polite. He could have yelled at them, like the band Mars Volta did. But he stayed cool, and played amazingly all night. Kudos, Tom! Rock on!

A week ago, the most “superbad”  guy I know, went for a hike. He didn’t return. Matt Chidgey, a Conejo Valley icon, will be forever missed. His energy, love and laughter were infectious. You couldn’t NOT be drawn to him. He had more friends than anyone I know.  Tonight we pay tribute to Matt at the Canyon Club, where, every Thursday since 2006,  you could find Matt playing “Curtis” the bass player for The Spazmatics, the 80s tribute band that rocked our world.

Soon after hearing the news of Matt’s passing last Friday (the story can be found here ) friends and family began a tribute page on facebook. A look back at what a great guy Matt was through the eyes of people that knew him best.

Matt, 40,  a Thousand Oaks native (practically, a young transplant from Houston actually), stomped our grounds from grade school till  now. From Glenwood to Redwood, to Thousand Oaks High School “back in the day”. His icon status started early. If you didn’t “know” Matt, you knew of Matt. In high school (in the 80s) he drove the Suburban you couldn’t miss. Pink, with purple zebra stripes.

Matt stayed close to home for college, attending California State University Northridge, and continued his love for music with local bands Vomit and Theatre in the late 80s and 1990’s. He was also a main “character” in the tribute bands Boogie Knights, Dr. Funkenstein, and lately, The Spazmatics. His charisma was catching, and his ability to play the part of one of these characters, while continuing to be a music genius both on stage and behind the scenes as engineer were amazing.

Most of my memories of Matt come from my brother and sister, good friends of his. My brother Rick loved what a “kid at heart” Matt was. He loved inventing new games out of old board or other “classic” family games. Toss a Cross blindfolded comes to mind. Or the Operation Chidgey game, a personalized version of Operation.

So, with a heavy heart, I join my friends and family tonight to say goodbye to a great guy, who loved life, family, and friends. And who will be sorely missed for his presence, both on and off the stage.

Matt Chidgey, on 1/17/10, performing with The Spazmatics.

I live in the Eichler neighborhood in Thousand Oaks. An eclectic bunch of mid century modern homes in northern TO with an eclectic bunch of families. This year marks the fifth year in a neighborhood tradition of a progressive caroling party.

The jist of the gig is to start at one house, warm our voices with some singing and spirits, and hit the neighborhood “fa la la la la-ing” and “decking the halls”. We end at another home, and eat, drink and be merry. I have to admit, the first couple of years we weren’t very good. At all. In fact, I think some neighbors cringed the second year when we showed up at their doors. But we sure were spirited. With the help of some talented musicians in the neighborhood, Chuck Barth and Dan Fitzgerald, we have gotten better.

Part of it was cutting the set list back from 10 songs to 3-4 songs. Another part was putting the kids up front. And this year, when a non-Eichler neighbor joined us with his violin, we were all impressed with how much better we sounded. The year a neighbor offered us traditional Swedish Glogg, we sounded really great…at least we thought so.

Now, Out Here the weather doesn’t always cooperate with the holiday mood. One year I lit a fire in the fireplace despite the 70 degree weather, and we opened up all the sliding glass doors and ended up hanging out in the atrium so we wouldn’t roast our chestnuts.

Think about starting something like this in your neighborhood. Don’t forget to include a few ringers so the rest of you don’t have to work so hard. I find it particularly satisfiying to stand next to someone with a really good voice, and ring my jingle bells proudly.

So every year the tradition continues, and the group diversifies, but the spirit remains the same, even when the weather outside is mild.

Gaby Moreno performing at the Apple Store in Santa Monica

Okay, so I know exurb is about “out here” but sometimes you gotta get away from “out here” and go “in there.” Especially when your favorite female vocalist is playing “in there.” I headed to Santa Monica to see Gaby Moreno play at the Apple Store on 3rd Street Promenade. Although we have a good sized Apple Store “out here” I’m not sure it lends itself (demographically, at least) to hosting indy musicians as much as the store in Santa Monica.

Moreno, a Guatamalan native living in Los Angeles, has a soulful sound you would expect to hear coming out of a woman twice her age.  She moved to LA in 2001 to attend school at The Musicians Institute. She writes her own songs, and incorporates both English and Spanish into many of them. She made history as the first Latin category winner to take home the “Maxell Song of the Year” Award for her song “Escondidos,” written with Ari Shine and Victor Indrizzo.

While you may not know Moreno as a household name (yet) you may recognize one of her songs. She composed  the theme song for NBC’s hit show “Parks and Recreation” starring Amy Poehler. (Don’t hold that against her.) Songs of hers I love include “Wrong Side of the Road” and  ”Little Sorrow” from her 2008 first album Still The Unknown. But, really, every single song on this album is beautiful.

Want to see her for yourself? She’ll be playing (a little) closer to home on the 12th of December at Kulak’s Woodshed in North Hollywood with Mark Goldberg and David Piltch. A treat you won’t want to miss!

To my surprise, another young singer was playing with Moreno,Vicci Martinez of Seattle. Just as soulful, and a little more animated, Martinez has

become my (second) favorite female vocalist this year. And as discovering new talent always feels like Christmas to me, I discovered Martinez has been on the cusp of mainstream stardom with successful appearances on CBS-TV’s nationally syndicated Star Search and winning the regional tryouts for American Idol in 2000 at the tender age of 16. But she has turned down such offers in favor of pursuing success on her own terms and staying true to her musical vision. Inspiration to my ears!

Lucky for the small crowd at The Apple Store, we got both highly talented young ladies in one evening. It may not be the most intimate setting, shoppers, retail workers and lots and lots of background noise, but I was thoroughly pleased to be the one with the camera and a good seat.

Ok, so I’m like, six days late on being “first” to review New Moon…but it was HARD to 1. get a babysitter that wasn’t watching the movie herself 2. get a ticket that wasn’t already pre sold to said target audience (aka babysitter material) and 3. convince hubby that this would be a great date night…so Tuesday afternoon…five long days after the BIG day, I snuck out for the 2 hours and 10 minutes of bliss I would achieve by entering the world of Twilight.

I’d be fooling myself if I said the movie was better than the book, that goes against everything I know about novels turned blockbuster. But, I admit, it was good. It was better than the first. Some of the scenes were very true to what the book depicted. And if it weren’t for the incessant giggling coming from the tweens to my right, I would have been fully absorbed in the love triangle of vampire/human/werewolf, known to most of the world as Edward/Bella/Jacob.

After ignoring all the vampire talk for a couple of years, I plunged into the series this summer. And like most other fans, finished the series (all 1800 + pages) in a little over a week. I can’t compete with those who got to spend three straight days with Edward and Bella…I had kids to bath and feed in between sessions.

I admit to being a Team Edward fan. Even after Jacob removed his shirt, for the first time, in New Moon.

There is something about Edward, maybe his intellectual demeanor, his witty humor, or okay, I admit, his passion to want to both love and devour Bella, makes him highly attractive and delicious. I know he’s not supposed to be MY target “hero” , but he is, and I am (not really) proud to admit it!

I know I’m not the only one. With the highest pre sale of tickets in history, the movie was a success. Long standing? We’ll see. I was one of 11 movie goers on Tuesday to enjoy New Moon. I’m sure the tweens there were seeing it for the second (or third) time, but we’ll see how the movie holds up to other blockbusters like Titanic and The Dark Knight.

I do know, however, that I will be buying tickets in advance come June, for the third movie in the series, Eclipse. I want to be one of the firsts to review that one. I’ll have to start looking now for a sitter who won’t mind missing the opening. Are you available? I’ll pay double…