My friend, Jonathan Mann, writes a song a day. While at TEDMED, he convinced my mom, Elaine, to write song #1198 with him.

My mom is healthy and very "with it". Some of her Mahjong friends...not so much.

If any youngsters (under the age of 70) have a game, please let me know.

Onstage with my mom singing Big Shoes. It's a song about how upset I was that my mom made me wear shoes from Jerry's Orthopedics.  I was born severely pigeon - toed. All the other girls wore loafers and Keds – they didn’t have enough support for me. It was harsh. Ironically, the dreaded ugly ass clunky shoes looked exactly like the boots  I just saw at Barney’s that are going for $850. Elaine (my mom) wrote a rebuttal in "rap" form.

Backstage at the Kennedy Center practicing with the head of the NIH, Francis Collins, on his song about, of course, fighting disease. Not only is Francis a super genius and a good egg, but he can sing and play a pretty mean guitar. I do get pissed, however, when doctors and lawyers can afford to have  fancier instruments than me and most my musician friends. Check out more; here. 

I wrote a new song this year for TEDMED called "Modern Drugs". Haven't you always wondered what if some of our intellectual and creative icons had access to the latest psychiatric medication? I bet my parents would have force fed me Ritalin if I had been born ten years earlier.

“If Edgar Allen Poe had Prozac he’d look into the sky, hear the little blue birds sing, ‘There’s always more, there’s always more’….

“If Kafka had Abilify he’d be satisfied, turn into a butterfly, perhaps he’d never write…

“If Einstein had been on Ritalin he wouldn’t have flunked sixth grade, he wouldn’t have had that hairdo and he wouldn’t have been on that Apple ad…”

I will try to record a version of this.

While I sang, "Lucy at the Gym", artist, Regina Holliday, painted this. If you are new to me, hear is a recording of the song - here

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Here I am with Chris Price -who recorded his amazing new record all on his Iphone - and Jonathan Mann AKA the song a day man. Jonathan wrote his 1198th song with my mom, "All My Mahjong Friends are Dead". Check it out here. Serious, if anyone lives in Denver and has a good game going, they should get in touch with Elaine.

I'm going to be on the radio today - Mountain Stage!  And I'm on the bill with Booker T. Meeting him was the best part of the whole thing!

Check it out: mountainstage.org/

I'm going to be driving today past the giant windmills and outlet stores, to the town where Sonny Bono's statue greets all the sunworshippers, senoirs, gays, and this week...TEDActive participants. TEDactive, by the way, is the less expensive, more relaxed and fun TED conference. 

Here is my Palm Springs song, for grins: Palm Springs.

In other news, I met Charo by the American Airlines baggage claim yesterday. Of course I had to go up and meet her. And...we talked guitars for 20 minutes. Did you all know she is an amazing player? She told me her first teacher was...Segovia. For those of you younger than 40, here she is:

That's right!

It's been quite warm in New York this week, so I thought I would put up this one - just substitute January for February.

This song was written on assignment about an hour before performing at a TED conference around 6 years ago? Check out the standing O by Al Gore at the end.

I'm playing in Hudson, NY tonight, Fairfield, Connecticut Friday, and Londonderry, NH Saturday.

Come on down!
 

Here is my ( gay) back-catalog song of the day:

Under the Disco Ball

Say, did anyone hear my NPR (All Things Considered) Yentl piece? I bet not. It was on during the...Superbowl! But you can get the podcast. 

Also, anyone coming to my upcoming shows? I'm in the Midwest this week, then on the Northeast, including the City Winery in NYC on the 22nd. I will buy drinks for the first 10 folks that actually respond to my website.

cheers, jill

I don't have that many happy love songs. It's not that I haven't had love in my life. In fact, I have been blessed with a lot. It's just when I am in love, the last thing I want to do is write a song. I'm not as motivated, say, as when i am devastated or pissed. Maybe it's also fear. The great love songs are rare; it is so easy to fall into cliches or sappyness. 

About 15 years ago, I went out with a French jazz A&R record executive. Now, that sounds cliche and cartoonish. Anyway, on our first date, I got stuck at his place, as the sudden heavy snowfall pouring down became "The Bizzard of 96." Two weeks later, I, vulnerable and nervous, sat him down to play my brand new non-ironic positive love song, "The Blizzard of 96." 

After finishing, there was about 10 seconds of silence, then he said, in his dick -ish French A&R accent, "it is not one of your best songs."

After that, I was even more reticent to write a sweet love song. I did, however, write some fun numbers like "Little Guy,"Bitter," and "Goodnight My Love, Goodnight ( I hope the bedbugs bite)" during that phase.

Now that I am older, much older, I may be at a place in my life where I don't care if I write something that may be perceived as corny or too sweet. And I owe someone a love song. 

Why do birds suddenly appear?

By the way, Frenchie is now one of my best friends, became a rather swell human being, and has paid for his crimes by my continuous retelling of the story to all his potential girlfriends. 

If anyone here wants me to post another semi-love song, please let me know which one. 

Thank Misery - Listen here

My 1995 cover of the fabulous Robert Earl Keen classic. Very 1995.