Frankie Rose in the NY Times for her solo efforts and her all-girl band Dum Dum Girls.

Kelly Clarkson responds to Taylor Swifts manager, badmouths American Idol winners–but Kelly’s defense is not only really classy, but she talks about how everyone has bad shows–including her.

Austin TX tour dates during SXSW are confirmed:

3/19 at Girls Rock Austin event (afternoon, location TBA)
3/20 at 3 pm at Domy’s Bookstore

I have not been even kind of good at keeping up this blog. I hope to re-begin again, soon!

I have to say I am pretty impressed by Lilith Fair’s 2010 line up–Tegan and Sara, Mary J., Erykah Badu (my fave) and Miranda Lambert. Miranda Lambert who has had three huge hits about avenging bad boyfriends, including “Gunpowder and Lead” which is about shooting an abuser. New country girl stars are a lot more intense than they used to be.
I have really distinct memories of seeing Crystal Gayle on TV when I was five or six. Country singers don’t come much tamer, do they?

Anyhow, I am psyched that the tour has some rad ladies on it. I hope they get some good rock bands, so it’s more than just singers.

In case yr local and not going to the Pixies show on Friday and want some free pizza and want to discuss books there is a big YA author blowout, in which I am participating Friday.

The main thing I hear from girls lately is I CANNOT FIND ANYONE TO BE IN A BAND WITH. Which means you are either going to just work on your solo album or make due with whatever and whomever you can enlist. Right now, there are plenty of duos going–here are a few with unconventional line-ups who still have a full band sound and presence. Example #1: ultra-hyped Brooklyn band Sleigh Bells, who just are guitar and vocals, along with pre-recorded tracks. You can play along with pre-recorded tracks and it doesn’t have to be like, Britney-style lip-synching–it can be cool and sound huge.

Sleigh Bells “Crown on the Ground” LIVE at Le Poisson Rouge NYC from AbzPunkPhoto on Vimeo.

Sleigh Bells.

And also from Brooklyn, Christy & Emily. Dreamy pop with no drums. Despite not having a full band, they have a pretty full sound with keys and guitar. Keys and guitar are the two parts of the band that are easiest to find usually.

La Roux are normally an electropop duo–but this is them “acoustic”–bass and guitar, making it happen.

They are no less a band.

Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, old timey style family band from London. Kind of loving them.
Teen r&b n’ blues enthusiasts.

‘If guys don’t want me to write songs about them, they shouldn’t do bad things! And if they’re afraid, going into the relationship, that they’re going to end up having a bad song written about them… Well, then they don’t have the best of intentions, do they? It’s a nice weeding-out process.’

One of the half dozen or so really good quotes in this extensive Taylor Swift profile in the Daily Mail.

There are a lot of reasons I really love Bjork, though the main ones are the same reason everyone loves Bjork–she has a supernatural voice unlike anyone before or since and she’s got an incredible and inspiring artistic vision for everything shes does, pulling in all the coolest artists and directors and musicians you have never really heard of and collaborating with them. AND. She’s I think 43 or 44 now, and her music is more youthful and cutting edge and with it than anyone typical expects. When you get older (44 is not old, 70 is old) it’s expected all your youthful vim and vigor are firmly behind you and that your new albums will never be as potent and alive as your first one or two. NOT BJORK.

Anyhow, here is an interview she did with some Frenchy dudes in INTERVIEW magazine; they are trying to interview her and their questions are pretty typical, but then Bjork says “I have some questions for you” and starts asking them “How many hours a day do you wish you could work outside?” and about how easy or hard it might be to build your own hut. I started it from the third page, where it starts getting going, you will have to click back if you want to read the intro/etc.

The Girls Guide to Rocking comes out today in the UK, so tell your friend in England/Ireland/etc.

Also, there is this inspirational thing: and interview with Agnes Varda. She is not a musician but she has a musician’s spirit–and she is in her 80’s now. When she was about 25 she started making films in France. She was a photographer and she just started making films with no real “training”, but had a lot of inspiration, and her first film launched “the nouvelle vague”–or the French New Wave of film making–which freed up, revolutionized even–filmmaking as a whole. Her latest film, Beaches of Agnes, is a documentary about her creative life that she made and it really inspired me–I am thinking about it still months later, all the time. Anyhow, in this interview, she is very precocious and French and not what you expect of a grandmother–she is so cool and a lot of what she talks about relates to making music, and being a beginner and just doing it.