DeBlois Milledge Band: LETTERS

I am on my way to Atlanta for Rebekah's wedding(my college roomate) and I stopped in at Cocoa Beach where my friend Lee is having the last hoorah of the summer with her kids. Lee and I were thouroughly entertained by knee high windchop and sandcastle building. (the kids had fun too)

Once I am in Atlanta I have bridesmaids responsibilities, I told Bekah that my strengths lie in light construction and beer buying, rather than fashion consulting and women's lunches.... lucky for me she totaly understands this.
Additionally Ihave several gigs in the ATL, mostly at Marlow's Tavern which another college buddy Gabriel hooked me up with.
I am trying to convince Carlo to come and join me for his birthday and three shows next weekend, maybe we can even tuck Buffalo in the trunk, and tada! I'll have my band of choice!
Well anyway here's hoping.....
send your friends to me in Atlanta.
xo
Deblois

So about halfway through our ten days we sadly lost the Carter Brothers, who by this time were good friends great music kind of people to us.... but we gained Haydn Vitera and his band of talented troubadours.... very cool Mana, meets Los Lonely Boys, plus a little Willie.....
What can I tell you the Hog's Breath is eclectic about their musicians, (lucky for me).

Some othere really cool things happened like Jeff convicing us to get up at the crack of dawn to snorkel and jet ski and parasail on the ULTIMATE ADVENTURE, on the Fury, a boat that runs right out of Key West there.....
wow. what a day, Jeffrey hooked us up with locals connection and so we were treated like part of the gang, "Hog People", our adorable parasailing instructor said, "your pictures are for free." And thank goodness because that one of Buffalo and I parasailing is downright priceless! Jeffrey was nice enough to lend Carl all the extras he would need for his drum kit, and the last two nights of music down there was like a dream and I mean it. You have good shows and some not so good shows out on the road, its hard to tell how people will react, but Key West gave me the warmest welcome I have ever experienced, for a bunch of drunk tourists they had volume, and my die hard locals in Key West like Penny, Kenny, Adam Dude, Brent, Cindy, Randy, Michelle, Jeanie, both Scottys and Captain Pat knew just how to direct the energy so that there was a roar at the end, encore!

whoo it gives me chills just thinking about it. I love it that Art was there to see our last show, hopefully the Hog will have us back.

The next day it was home again home again jiggidy jig, on the Key West Express, public transportation that makes sense with a friendly staff. (and a full bar).

Now I am in Miami getting ready for a cd release at Tobacco Road, send out your friends, 8pm to midnight Thurs Aug 9th,
on the Patio.
xoxo world,
Deblois

Well we rolled into town on a Thursday which is why we couldn't float in like usual, the ferry only runs on the weekend, but our set of shows started Thursday, so Buffalo and I stole Dempsey's car and headed down to KW. We were met at the bar by our dear friend Jeffrey, who played congas with us all week. He is the best and has all the little chickens of the Hog's Breath eating out of his hand.... that's all fine until Rocket jumped from his hand to the rim of my beer cup....
Randy I'll have another please, yes I know this one's still full, but.....
We had a pretty good show that night just the three of us getting it dialed in, but it wasn't long before the other musicians on the island came cruisin around to see what the buzz was about. What a great feeling to look out in the audience and see all the players I spend all my spare time chasing around. George Victory, Randy Morrow, Yvan Agbo, Freemont John, Kenny Fradley, it was an all star line up out there.

I made it real clear early on that I wanted to get on the water with any one and everyone. First up, a kayak trip with Randy. He's got a couple of sit on top Ocean Kayaks just like Jungle Joe's in Costa, so I was right at home. We paddled up into some mangroves and were able to free dive some nice little holes with grouper, snapper, some interesting sponge and coral formations, and some Florida lobster. There was a heavy tide running, full moon and all, and so we battled it pretty heavy through a narrow stretch in order to get the picture perfect float on the way back.
As our shows got better and better Buffalo and I came out of our shells just a bit and started making friends with the bands that play after us.... their sets end at 2am, and then we were frequently talked into a cocktail at "the parrot" the nick-name for the locals only feeling pub down the road, the Green Parrot. there is some kind of shot they do there a root barrel? a rum rooter?
Anyway Timmy and Danny Carter are amazing guys and musicians and we had a blast listening to them, although it was a high hangover price.

To clear my head after nights like these I would wake up at the band house and dive directly into the pool for a quick lap session, much to the amazement of the landlord. We had to be at work everyday around 5pm so the best was the afternoon chill time and getting on the bikes with Buffalo for our afternoon joy ride.

I have a rehearsal that starts in 10 mins so I gotta go, but the second installment of Key West will be up soon...
xoxo
Deblois

Hi,
I am writing you from the super nice hotel in Miramar Beach Florida
that my gig put me up in and if I didn't miss the comraderie I might
think it was better than staying on the collective couch. At any rate
I am sqeezing in an extra hour of luxury by requesting a late check
out, and thought I'd write you all a little update.
I brought you some fish stories from the Bahamas and they have
already started to exaggerate themselves so I figured I better send
out the email quick so that you get as close to the truth as
possible.
I knew I wanted to go to the Bahamas and hang out with all my
buddies, but I wasn't sure exactly how I would get there. I have an
amazing group of laid back friends who seemed to think, no worries,
someone will give you a ride. And low and behold they were right. In
the end I found a ride (or should I say that Beak and Lizzie found me
and Joe a ride) with Sean on his boat and so away we went; crossing
the Gulf Stream was no problem, and the first place we stopped was
shark rock. We jumped in and swam around with 10 or 15 sharks,
mostly reefs and nurse, although Joe saw a bull, (my cue to get out
of the water) Later on that day after we connected with Mac and a
few of the kids and the Tiptons we went back to swim some more, take
some pictures and all, and Joe and Sean both were in the water when a
big hammerhead came around... I don't know, but conservatively
guessing: eight feet long. These sharks are beautiful creatures,
very majestic and much less nerve racking when seen from the boat.
CJ speared his first fish, (not at shark rock by the way), which we
ate for dinner. We were diving a neat little artificial reef where we
saw a Lion Fish, which isn't from the Bahamas but is released by
aquarium owners (tsk tsk).
The girls all decided to throw a party for the jam session and
invited the whole island, it took Jill and I nearly all day to buy
beer and ice, and catch up, such is the pace of the islands.
Mac found me a Bahamian guitar player to round out my band (which so
far had consisted if me, and John Tipton on the water jug) so Pitt and
I took a ride down to the fuel dock to collect Alex (the guitar
player) who was working on a fishing smack. Alex turned out to be the
hit of the party and taught me a pile of old Bahamian tunes like "Who
Put The Pepper In The Vasoline" and "Bang Bang Lulu" We also sang
some gospel, a little Kenny Rogers, some Bob Marley... and a few of
my originals. A very eclectic night of music. The whole trip was
magical; every day we were on the water, and every night was family
night with stories and music, and fresh fish.
On the way home we went treasure hunting, and came up hog heavy but
booty poor, and we decided to sleep on the hook out at Riding Rocks.
We made a feast of celery, radishes, beer and fish (literally the
entirity of our rations). The next day we crossed the stream again
and came upon several gas canisters which were floating, the guys
picked them up and after some deliberation upon arrival in Miami we
dumped them into my car, which got me almost all the way to Miramar
Beach which is where the Radio Live gig was, a friend told me he
heard the live broadcast on the web, how cool is technology?
Now I have traveled to Jax Beach and am writing from the kind of stop
over I like the best, a friend's house. Thanks Whitney and Valerie for
housing the band, now I'm just waiting on all my boys to show up,
Buffalo and Carl with Dempsey in tow arrive tomorrow. Today I
managed to acomplish quite a few errands, oil change, guitar strings,
and I saw Dee Dee, owner of "Sweetwater", the surf school we used to
run together in Costa Rica and she gave me the Jax Beach surf report
which is as follows: knee high and pretty in the morning, Anybody
want to longboard tomorrow?
Hopefully I'll see as many of you as can make it Saturday night at
Twisted Sisters.....
because I got the CDS!!!!!!! and they look fabulous: 15 bucks cash
money, although I can do barters and trades and I owe yous and pay it
forwards etc...because of all the beautiful unlikely things, and
thanks to the continuing support of so many of you: I own it!
Independant music lives on.
If you preordered and want to pick them up, just show to the gig.

So here is the long tale of my travels to the great American
frontier:

I just got back from Big Sky Montana where we played two gigs to
wonderful audiences, and we got to go to Yellowstone National Park
and see Old Faithful and some elk and a bald eagle.
Danny and I arrived in the clown car on Monday night, followed
closely by Buffalo who flew in, and we were met by my friends Kevin
and Tracy who set the whole thing up, they had dinner on the grill
and a ice cold one waiting for us. After dinner we settled in to our
chalet (and it really was a "chalet"; ever so much higher on the food
chain than the usual econolodge). The next day we went for a band
hike, very beautiful, although the altitude was killing us, and that
afternoon we went to play our gig at the Half Moon Saloon's annual
3rd of July celebration. They roasted a big pig and had the most
spectacular fire works display I've ever seen. The venue backs up
against a creek and they had a fire circle and a great little deck.
Everyone loved the music and they decided to hire us for Thursday
night as well.

The next day (Wednesday) Kevin and Tracy took us on a hike to a
waterfall, and out to lunch where I gambled the $20 Tracy gave me and
won $100!!!! By this time the tour had been so flawless and the red
carpet so extravagantly rolled out before us that Danny and Buffalo
thought I was the queen-bee, and figured to rub the top of my head
for good luck.

Thursday we went into Yellowstone and saw how amazing and vast it is;
we watched Old Faithful (which is a famous geiser in the park) go off
and even took a few pictures. And best of all Kevin drove; Danny and
Buffalo and I technically did all fit in the tiny fuel efficient car,
but it was a little tight to put it mildly....and you can guess who
would have had to sit in the trunk! On our way home from the park we
stopped by the place we were supposed to play and found out that they
were unexpectedly closed!!!! Yipes!

We decided to embark on a gig relocation program and started driving
around looking for a venue....
Luckily we happened upon the Wrap Shack, a very hip little joint near
to our chalet that Jill and Tim (friends of mine from Costa Rica)
recommended since they know the owners. We ended up setting up
outside on their patio, just a chair, snare, high hat, and tamborine
played with the bass drum pedal for Danny (kudos to your creative
critical thinking) a borrowed acoustic for Buffalo, and me doing my
thing sans microphone, for a very cool and respectful audience that
grew until the end of the night when people spilled out into the
parking lot to sit on cars and benches nearby to hear the music. It
was such an organic fun gig, Buffalo was on fire and Danny played
groovy quietly rocking beats for me to sing over, we met some killer
local players and made contacts for future gigs in Montana. Plus we
caught a very sweet buzz, Thanks Wrap Shack for rollin' with the
punches!

We left the next day to head back towards our respective
responsibilities: Buffalo to a gig in Toronto, Danny back to his
family and gigs in San Diego, me to miss my plane in Salt Lake... (I
guess some of us are more responsible than others.) Having missed my
flight I decided to just cruise on to San Diego with Danny, and see
what I could set up out there for my California tour in Sept and
Oct.... And I actually had quite a bit of luck, so Cali people look
for me in the fall. I was also lucky in waves in SD; Kenny and Ryan
and Danny's brother Mark all took me surfing and I got good waves
each time, thanks guys for making the time and lending me boards.

A bit long winded as usual, but so much can happen in 7 short days,
believe it or not this is the seriously abridged version. I wish you
all well wherever you are, and hope to see you this summer for some
music and some times,
Deblois

Wowsisimo.So Bonnaroooooooooooo,
oh my goodness, what can I say? where can I start? Michael Franti was
amazing, high energy positive music with a message about where the
world is going, and how we can make a difference in the final
destination. Ziggy Marley carrying on the torch of his father's music
and bringing it heavy with his own soul. Wilco, (I know Joe has been
telling me for years now how great they are), but their live
performance finally stole my heart, I am now a huge fan. Regina
Spektor, so endearingly feminine and funky, Ben Harper, you know what
I'm talking about. John Paul Jones ( from Led Zeplin) sitting in with
everybody from bluegrass artist Gillian Welsh to hard core southern
rockers Gov't Mule. These are just some of the highlights from the
big stages, and I haven't even mentioned the Police on their reunion
tour (unbelievable.), while all around us were smaller upcoming
artists (maybe I'll be one next year), some of my favorites were
Sonya Kitchell, Dave Barnes, and Sam Champion.

There were about 10 stages and about 100,000 of my closest friends
there. Father's Day fell on Sunday, and so I stood in the charge
your phone line to call Daddy and tell him Happy Father's Day, he
said that Bonnaroo was makin' the papers. It is located on a piece
of land 100+ acres, and everybody all camped out for 4 days, ....
At the end I have never been so happy to stay at a roadside motel in my life,
but on the other hand Bonnaroo was an other-worldly experience,
filled with networking opportunities for the future and enough good
vibes to make it seem like you're not actually networking at all but
rather just eating and breathing music and I am so glad I went.
Buffalo was our kind hearted bouncer and so Lizzie and I were safe
and sound, and Miami's Brendan O'Hara joined us for the morning jam
session at our campsite, we drew a small crowd and tons of
compliments.... I'll be sharing a show with him in Ashville, NC on
August 8th, check him out at
http://www.myspace.com/brendanohara Buffalo won the prize of best natured, least slept person, he made
sure to see all the bands including Tool at 1 am and all the movies
and make friends with all the Bonnaroo staff and still wake up at
7:30 in the morning with our residually intoxicated neighbors, and
manage a good mood and excellent guitar skills, are you guys
impressed? I was. Lizzie and I had the cutest campsite, "the Queen's
lair", even I had to ask permission to enter. Our neighbors ended up
our friends and fans and even squirreled their way back into Lizzie's
good graces by saving the day with jumper cables, cold beer and
priceless one liners like "you know you're a redneeck when you have a
beer in one hand and coffee in the other", a frighteningly true story.
On our last night I missed getting to ride the Ferris Wheel by a hair,
but made up for it with good company and the sounds of Widespread
Panic. Over all Bonnaroo was amazing and exhausting, the music, oh my
word, the music. Some bands I forgot to mention, the Flaming Lips,
Chris Thomas King, Ornette Coleman, Deirks Bently, Manu Chao. I
could go on but I am making myself jealous and I was there.
I wish you all could have seen Buffalo poking his lion dreadlock head
out the back of the Element to sing every morning
Bonnaroooooooooooooo!

So here is how its going:
AMAZING.
We cut the drums and the bass, today we are working on guitars. I had both Rogerio Jardim and Danny Campbell on drums, hot awesome players, and cool guys to boot. Bill is working his butt off making sure that everything is running smoothly. We got some killer players lined up for the rest of the record, and I am so excited, I can hardly stand it.
Thank you so much for giving me the chance to come out here... I know that it is my community and friends and family and fans that make it all happen,
You all rock!
yours in music, dutifully rocking out in California,
Deblois McSpeed

I am just about beside myself so excited about the new cd. I have been preparing and preparing and driving myself crazy with the details. I have some cool pictures, one of me in my crib in the John Boat which perfectly matches the lyrics of South of Okeechobee. Lee Bailey did the artwork for the cover, it looks amazing, she is a genius.
I have the Garden Concerts on the 4th and 5th, the 6th I leave for LA and play the Viper Room that night, the 7th we start work in the studio, begining with drums....
I gues I better sleep on the plane, cause that's a hell of a schedule.
Billy arrives into LA from Costa Rica the week before I do to do all kinds of Producery things that I don't have to handle and thank goodness.

The players I have lined up on this record make me nervous just thinking about them, the talent is electric and you can feel it when they walk in the room. Lucky for me, I have spent time with all my key players, making music, or surfing or taking shots in a parking lot, the kinds of moments that put you at ease even if their cool factor is off the charts.

I just talked to Billy in Costa and we are all lined up with a studio, my pick of musicians, demos of all the songs, everything in readyness. I am still shy some money (of course), but Velveteen is selling nicely and it doesn't even exist yet. I am pretty hopeful about the future. Bill has been a great help throughout this whole process I feel super blessed to have him on my team. I leave May 6th to go to L.A. for three weeks, and coming home with the master in my hot little hands.
I am still on the road but due home for jury duty on the 17th....
Cheers to one and all
d

whoever you are that read these letters into space.....
I am in Johnson City Tennessee, its kind of like a ghost town, but with a nice vibe, I am in no hurry to leave. I have met some of the local musicians and checked out the venues, I am about to play my gig... Pixies Debaser on the radio, wi-fi at the coffee shop, over all a very satisfactory way to pass an evening. I have been on tour with Lizzie Easton, she has been my tour manager and merchandise executive, workout partner and drinking buddy. Not to say wing-man, we haven't had our mojo so to speak. Anyway all is well. Traveling in the Element is a dream. I reccomend it to all touring musicians as long as you don't have more than three band members or 2 dogs.

The surf report is pretty dismal, I just missed it in jax, Tennesssee is needless to say flat, and the North Carolina coast is my last hope, although i did get it good there last tour....

I am raising money for Velveteen on the tour, preselling the record is going well, but I think I'll still be shy of the mark. I have decided not to care and follow that great American Dream, which begins with 20 thousand dollars in credit card debt and ends with a job at Denny's or winning the lottery.

I'm willing to take my chances, having always been a gambler, even back when we were kids, getting Lucinda to turn on the light so that Dempsey and I could play Canasta until 2am...ages 6,7,and 8.

Hi everybody, I am back home from Costa Rica, wow, a little culture shock... But I am pulling it together and I am planing on leaving to tour Florida Georgia and North Carolina in mid March.
I will be traveling with my friend Lizzie, and I am of course stoked to be on the road again. I have 13 copies of Leviathan left and so I REALLY need to reorder, I don't think that will get me through a month on the road. Lizzie is driving this time, so I don't have to overhaul the car, and Lucky still gets to go; we plan on camping some, staying with friends some and once in a while splurging on a hotel. (Lucky is a pro at sneaking in the back door; she never makes a sound and she never gets caught, its uncanny really).

Here are the dates and times and places...

Thursday, March 15th, 2007
And All That Jazz Cafe
7pm
Cocoa, FL
Price: $5
This is a fabulous intimate little cafe with a real ear for music and
great food too.

Friday, March 16th, 2007
Flavors Eatery
7pm
19 and 1/2 George St
St Augustine, FL
This place has excellent food, and is kid friendly, but don't worry,
they do serve wine and beer.

Friday, March 23rd, 2007
Oxford College of Emory University
7pm
Oxford College Campus
Oxford, GA
playing at Dooleys Tavern, a killer little shack in the woods where people are every bit as likely to enter through the windows as the doors...

Saturday, March 24th, 2007
Block Party by Grant Park
3pm
right by Grant Park (call for details, 305.310.2163)
Atlanta, Ga
Price: $5 suggested donation
BYOB, but we'll provide the coolers and ice, and grill space. My
sweet friends Emily and Bernie hosted this event last year and it was
sucessful and fun, the whole block got involved with their kids and
pot luck!

Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
Twisted Sisters - http://www.twistedsisterscafe.com 6pm-9pm
1266 Beach Blvd
Jax Beach, FL 32250
There will be wine tastings and gorgeous women, live music and ping
pong, how could you possibly resist?

Sunday, April 1st, 2007
Acoustic Coffee House - http://www.acousticcoffeehouse.com 8pm
415 W. Walnut St
Johnson City, TN 37604

Friday, April 6th, 2007
House Concert at Wenny's
8pm
Durham, NC
Price: $15
Ticket price includes a CD, the concert and Beer!
One of my all time girls is having a killer concert in her backyard
which is an awesome slice of North Carolina woodlands, and I get to
be the entertainment. RSVP to Wenny or me, 305.310.2163

Saturday, April 7th, 2007
Bella Festa - http://www.myspace.com/bellafesta 8pm
Willmington, NC

Thursday, April 12th, 2007
Ocean Grill http://www.oceangrill.us 7pm
Carolina Beach, NC

Saturday, April 14th, 2007
House Concert Benefit for Cancer
5pm
Willmington, NC

I have had such a killer time down here in Costa Rica, I am all surfed out and happy and the music has been going real well, I am thinking about going down to the Harbor Reef tonight to sit in with the boys, Jungle Joe and Billy Rio, they´re the best!

I worked with BIll and finished the demos for the new cd, 12 songs. Bill lives in a little jungle bungalow tucked into the mountain side right next to the Boca del Rio, good waves, cool place to sus out a record, the monkeys hanging out right outside.
I also had the chance to work with two of my favorite women surfer artists, and we talked some about the cover art... poco a poco here we go.

I hope everyone is doing well, and walking the good line.
Deblois

Lizzie Easton is the president of EastonBravo Productions (along with
Tanya Bravo); a music production company which founded and produces the Latin Funk Festival in Miami and New York City. She also happens to be a radically powerul young woman whose energy I love! After practicing midwifery for 3 years she took a trip to Spain with her best friend and ended up on Ben Harper's tour bus for 3 weeks. After that
experience she decided she would forever like to be a glorified groupie. She has worked with such artists as Nil Lara, Suenalo Sound System, Lila Downs, Yerba Buena, Cultura Profetica, Spam Allstars and many more. Lizzie is determined to get the Miami music scene out to the rest of the world. She plans to start a booking/management company by the end of this year.
She will be joining me on tour in March to gather information in order to send other Miami bands on tour and of course for the adventure of it!
She will be handeling all my business matters (thank God and at long last!) and documenting the tour with her photography! (also not a particularly strong point for me), and we will be researching together potential venues and gathering contacts in Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina. We'll be gone for a month, so wish us luck and send us your mix cds to listen to,
whoo -hoo!
here we go.....

I am just back from a 24 hour whirwind tour of the Southeastern coast of Florida. I was eerily reminded of highschool surf trips as we checked break after break racking our brains to remember which tiny road it is that you turn down, and was it the north side of the inlet or the south? and where was that BBQ place again?
only to surf at last where the waves were by no means the best, but where our friend Andy was, which proves yet again the theory that its not what you surf but who you surf with that determines how good a time you have....
Thankfully the gas and all our food including the delicious BBQ that we did in fact find, was paid for by the gig in Cocoa Beach, a stellar little Irish Pub where we felt free to let down our hair and rock out for a hefty audience of about 15. (this is emphatically not our fault: the Surf Expo is going on in Orlando and Disney World was giving out free passes to ThunderMountain, so we lost a bit of our usual crowd. Anyway, they are the ones who missed out because we were on fire, McG's buddies from college were there, and Carlo and I were in the pocket. We stayed at our friend Taj's house, (thankyou girl!!!) and the MVP award for the evening goes to Brendhan who suffering from cold and flu rallyed to make our evening spectacular and didn't fall into bed till after 3am.
Well done team.
Boys, you done good and you can come on tour with me anytime, and I'll pay for everything as long as we put a cap on how much food Carl gets.

The Surfrider Foundation is holding a friendly inter chapter competition this Sunday at Sebastian Inlet, and the guys have asked me to be the girl on the team. Pending the waves we will surf at 7am Sunday morning and may the best Chapter win! You may not know this but Surfrider is an organization dedicated to keeping our beaches clean and accesible to surfers, and they advocate all sorts of political and grassroots efforts to keep the public involved in what happens to our oceans. They are one of my favorite organizations and I am honored to be a part of this contest, hopefully it will help to introduce chapter members to each other and raise awareness about Surfrider as a whole.
find out more here:
http://www.surfrider.org So wish me luck please,
xoxo
Deblois

Hello again,
I am planning my spring tour and this is the rough outline.
Leave Miami Feb 28th, for Jax beach then quckly down to Cocoa Beach for a night (yes I know this doesn't make sence and is part of why I so desperately need a booking agent) then over to Talahassee, where I don't have any gigs but Carl's brother and sister in law have been handing out my cds to influential people and my "little sister" Tilly is a student at Tallahassee Community College and so between them I ought to be able to scare up a job or two.

Then I'll cruise through Atlanta to see some old buddies and play the Red Light Cafe and maybe a house concert.. or a block party like last time, that was fun.

then I want to go to NC and see Ashville and the "triangle" Raleigh, Durham, Chapell Hill.
That will definitely be enough time inland to make me crazy but i haven't seen my godchildren in way too long so I will head to Roanoke where they live and I might hang out with their parents too (my best friends since the crib) Lucky for me Blacksburg is right there, so I hope to play in that town as well.

Since I'll be so far North I think its about time to go see Tory too, she lives in Mass, and there are quite a few folky venues there that are smokin hot.

I have got to be back in Fl by April to play the Lake Worth Folk Festival, and throw one more Garden Concert at the big house to scrape together the last of the funds for Velveteen (the new record)

Which I leave to record in L.A. May 1st.

So if you live in any of these towns I am spending about a week in each place. I want to see you, Lucky and I both need a place to stay, and we are looking for new venues to play always.

So..... I am going to get my fill of the surf before the heavy lifting of supporting a new record sets in..I leave for Costa Rica Jan 22nd.
my best to all,
Deblois

It is a brand new year.... I have a few resolutions as usual, we'll see if we can get the ball rolling the right way. I am headed to Costa to teach a group of doctors how to surf, I'll be there from Jan 21st thru Feb 15th. While I am there I hope to work on the new record "Velveteen" with my friend and producer who lives down there Bill Macpherson.
My drummer Carl will also be along on the Costa trip, giving massage through the hotel Blew Dog's and playing music with me at night. I will only play 5 shows the whole time I am there, hopefully that will keep them begging for more.

I watched the movie 8 below the other night all about sled dogs in Antartica, and was reminded of just how lucky I am to have Lucky. She looks kind of like a husky even though she is clearly at least half something else... and she is my best girl. In 07 we plan to tour the Eastern seaboard and hit all our favorite spots, Jax, ATL, NC, (and not just the beach this time but the Raleigh Durham area and Asheville), Virginia, RI, NY, and Mass... so we'll be busy, but Lucky is stoked that we are going by car which means she gets to go.
I wish you all a very sucessful and fun filled new year,
xo
Deblois

I know I have been out of touch, but I just couldn't bear to sit at the computer with all of the excitement! So here at long last is the play by play that you deserve....
I arrived in Maui to a fresh flower necklace and a cold beer. Too late to surf but we could just check the waves at Ho'okipa in the fading light. Huge. Really really big. The next day it was still huge but on the West side of the island things were a little more managable, like tripple overhead. Honolua Bay was an intimidating scene of local boys scampering down the cliff to the break and the tent was already set up for the Womens' Billabong Pro Contest that was scheduled to start the next day. There were maybe 40 guys out. Many of the breaks at the Bay were working, but the Cave looked the best. In a couple of hours I saw 4 guys break their boards and a few with nasty looking cuts from the reef. We checked a bunch of other breaks on the island but nothing had the form and shape of Honolua Bay and so we decided to paddle out there and to hell with the consequences. I sat in the channel most of the time and watched the locals catch stand up barrels as they rocketed straight towards me. Joe was a little braver than I and paddled into the line up and waited paitiently for a turn, picking off a couple of good ones. I stayed safely in the channel to watch, and cautiously got one at Kaki Bowls and paid a heavy price as the set waves rolled in over top of me, threatening to sweep me towards the cliff wall or pin me on the reef below. Hell of an introduction to big wave surfing. These were the best waves that I saw the whole time I was there, although Kanaha, and Ho'okipa had really fun well overhead clean surf later in the week.

I spent a night at my friend Dominique's house, she lives on a peice of land upcountry with a big garden and surfboards every where you turn, in a house that her boyfriend built. Their guest bedroom is a concrete slab with a big tarp stretched over it, and a very cool hammock type spiderweb looking thing to chill in and look up at the stars or down at the creek; (take a look at the picture under photos)
Domi and I did yoga in the morning and I felt refreshed and well rested at my next surf session.

As for the music....
Thanks to my friend Nicole, who found my music on myspace and got the whole thing started by getting it on the radio in Maui, I was invited to do a live radio interview at the ManaO' Radio station, a listener supported radio station kind of like NPR but with a little Aloha, and it went great. I was interviewed by a remarkable Hawaiin woman named Sandra Lee and she was very sweet on me and my music. Nicole was there at the station to cheer me on as I played Felt Like Waves, Leviathan, If You Want to Know, Don't Blink, and South of Okeechobee live in the studio, and she played several tracks off the record including Sing Softly, Peaches and Talk About.
In the interview I was able to talk about the gig I had coming up at the Maui Film Festival and Sandra Lee invited me to return to the studio that night and jam with the ManaO' Orchestra, a group of native Maui rockers, primarily DJs at the station, who do a live broadcast of a concert in the downstairs studio.
When I showed up for this session I was greeted by "Uncle" Don Lopez, on bass guitar, Vince Esquire, a 21 year old guitar virtuoso, Dorthy Betz, a singer songwriter in the classic fashion of Janice Joplin, a cute drummer who spent the whole night in his little isolation room.... sounded good but I didn't get to hang with him a bunch and a keyboard player whose name escapes me but whose playing I remember well.

At the end of our session, high on the music, the engineer handed me a CD of the work we had done. I will make this available to all as soon as I figure it out from an hour into individual song tracks.

Then, as if there could be more, I played the Maui Film Festival at the MACC the Maui Arts and Cultural Center. Stella Rivers who booked me for the show, had the stage all ready for me and let me know what hallowed ground it is... everyone from U2 to Billy Joel, to Derek Trucks has played there. I played a fairly short showcase set of about an hour and 20 minutes, all originals with the exception of People Get Ready and Built For Comfort.
I sold some cds but more than anything I feel like playing the film festival will open doors for me in ways that I cannot yet guess.

I also went on a camping trip to Hana with Joe and we saw Charles Lindberg's grave, the red sand beach, the seven sacred pools, a breathtaking waterfall at the end of a hike through a bamboo forest and a day later we hiked the Iao Valley. Joe is knowlegable about the history of the island and what all the Hawaiin names mean so every day was like a mini cultural history lesson.

I truly had the time of my life and I definitely will go back to visit when I can!
A special mahalo to my friends on Maui, Dominique, Joe, and Nicole, for putting me up and getting me gigs and showing me around and lending me a board, camping gear, car, baseball cap, yaga mat and aloha!

Yours very truly in music,
Deblois

The women's competition is going on at Honolua Bay and I saw with my own eyes Layne Beachley pulling into the sickest barrell you've ever seen!!! I am truly amazed at the waves here on Maui! Every bay and beach break and reef is totally unique and powerful and breathtakingly beautiful!!!!

Well I should definitely be asleep... my plane leaves in about 6 hours. At least I am packed. I have a show tomorrow night in San Jose, "Chepe" as they say, and I am very excited about that. The next day I will be either riding in style with Carlo, or squashed in the van with the band to Nosara, about a 4-6 hour drive depending on who is driving.
In Nosara I have plans to make all the demos for my next record, an ambitious goal since I'd like to put 13 songs on the next one. My friend and mentor Bill Macpherson is armed with a digital recording device called a BR8 that has so far proven to be jungleproof-ish.

Since its late and I'm rambling... I was thinking about these:
Velveteen
You Rang
Romeo
We're the Water
Rock-a-bye
Chocolate for breakfast
Felt like Waves
South of Okeechobee
Circle
Adrenaline
Straight to You
Sweetwater
Back in the Day

These are my choices so far, although they are definitely subject to change.... I'll be in the studio in May 07 so I have a while to mull it over.

So I hope you are all happy and well whever you are. Lucky is having a sleepover at her friend Gumbo's house while I am out of town, lets hope it doesn't rain as she is absolutely inconsolable in a thunderstorm.... I miss her already.
I'll check in when I get back from Costa Rica,
ciao!
Deblois

Well I saw one of my all time favoite bands; Indigo Girls, at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland OR, they were amazing! I got to go backstage for a little chat, even took a picture with Emily. What an inspiring way to begin my own tour out here.
I went by Music Millennium yesterday to check out the venue I am to play today, and they had my name in big lights on the marquis!!! That was very cool and Dempsey took about ten pictures. The weather is not nearly as cold as I feared and I am actually quite comfortable having discovered the beauty of furry slippers to wander around the house in.
A special thanks to Annalise and Greg Briggs, Chris Leland and Ryan Messick for all their hard work in booking this tour for me!!!
Also thanks to Lulu who is watching Lucky for me!
Love to all wherever you are,
XO
Deblois

I love the South! There is just something about the attitude, and it carries over into the water. Plenty of waves with a nice punch to them, offshore wind all day, a fish taco and a beer to top off the day and make it truly perfect....
I am having fun in North Carolina, my accent is deepening by the moment and I have my last concert in a few hours. My friends Kim and Lenny have set up their backyard with chairs and chili and beer, and their little girls have helped me set up a merchandise table with t shirts and cds. Wenny, a college friend of mine is driving over from Durham bless her heart and I am in a good mood that an earthquake couldn't shake. (Nothing to do with perfect barrels....)
Love to all wherever you are,
Deblois

I am making money, which is great and incredible. I had a little car trouble but managed to get it all worked out with a new battery. I had fun in Jax Beach, and felt warmly welcomed. Even though I had three shows right in a row they were all well attended.
I am up in North Carolina now, bad luck with the surf, Skiba says it hasn't been this flat since the last time I was here about 5 months ago, and of course I just missed it... should have been here yesterday.
Oh well,
I hope you are safe and happy wherever you are,
xo
Deblois and Lucky

I just found out that they are playing Don't Blink and Leviathan on the radio station in Maui Hawaii!! So I've decided to jump the puddle and go see these people, and surf some big winter swells and have myself a grand old time. I should be in decent shape for the trip since I'll be fresh out of Costa Rica, where I have a smattering of gigs lined up and plan to do the pre-production work for my next record.
So now I know where I'm going next: surfing!
love to all, try not to hate me for my magical life, I know I'll have to pay sooner or later....
Deblois
p.s.
don't tell Lucky I am doing all this traveling by plane, she doesn't get to go and will be ticked when she finds out!

Hello people, I am feeling a little lost suddenly. The concert was a smash! So fun to see so many familiar faces and talk ablout feeling comfy at a venue!!! but now as I book gigs and look ahead to the coming months I have the sense of being on the right path but still not knowing where I am going. I need a little help, and I thought I would reach to you friends first.
One thing I need is some time with an IT guy. Somebody who can make my website look nicer, figure out how I can synchronise my calandars so I don't have to update my site, my myspace account, and sonic bids every time I get a gig. For the moment I am a high roller; paying for your time in food and beer.
Another thing I need help with is a radio campaign. Follow up is critical and there is only one of me and ten thousand little stations. I am also looking for investors and donations for my next record, do you have marketing ideas? want to help me make a business plan? I need 12 thousand dollars by May 2007. Is anybody up for this????
Me either.
All in all I beleive that if Lucky and I keep getting in our car and bringing the music to your door the world will react eventually.
my very warmest regards to all and anybody with forwrad moving ideas for me should call me as I am all ears!
305.310.2163
XOXO
D