Finding Rock Here: The Mother Hips

When I was a meek, dorky 9th grader, I used to sit in Dr. Littlefield's class (desks in a circle of course, this is California) and stare at Keith Nietupski. I don't know what it was about him-- it wasn't that I had a crush, necessarily, it was more that I thought he was cool, and clearly he thought he was cool, and I really wanted him to think I was cool, but he didn't. He frequently wore a shirt that said "The Mother Hips" on it, and I didn't know what that was, but I would always kind of nod my head knowingly and say "yeah, the Mother Hips", to which he would give me that blank high-school-boy look that meant "I can't even muster the enthusiasm to look at you disdainfully, but if I could, I would be looking at you disdainfully right now" and then would walk away.

I don't know why I remembered Keith and his shirt through the years, but it set off a chain of events that has a lot of meaning in my life, and I thank him for that.

If it weren't for his shirt, I would not have seen the band's name in the paper, grabbed some of my college friends at UCSB and then stood on a chair at Soho in 2003 with my mouth agape at the magical rock power that was unfolding in front of me. They sounded like this:

A few years later after moving back to Santa Barbara,  I wouldn't have gone to see Tim Bluhm play solo at the same venue and been deeply affected by his voice and his songs.  I bought  his album California Way, and I don't really have words for the way that it moved and inspired me. All I can say is I still get that weird tight feeling in my chest, like my heart is actually aching, every time I put the album on and hear the opening lines "Steinbeck's eden is dry and dusty..."

If Keith hadn't worn that shirt, I never would have learned about The High Sierra Singer-Songwriter trip, where Tim  and Steve Poltz take ten or so people to the wilderness for four days and hang out and write songs. That trip changed my life in ways too numerous to list here. But it looked like this:

I came back from that trip so inspired that I recorded an album! Please buy it.

I made very good friends on the trip. And then I made more good friends because of the trip.

I also got to know  Ms. Nicki Bluhm, who is now my favorite singer. She is the real deal, and she inspires me to get my shit together. I want to be just like her. She and her band the Gramblers are coming out with a new album soon, and I'm counting down the days. Their song Jetplane gets stuck in my head and I never mind at all.  I will watch this video 100 times a day until the album is released.

So if you want your life to change too, come to Soho tonight and see The Mother Hips play. Or, The Whale opens. I'll be in the front, come find me.