I saw Neko Case last night at the Herbst Theatre as part of the city arts and lectures Talking Music series. It was so, so great. I’ve had a pretty big crush on her for several years now. Hearing her talk was a real treat. I haven’t had that many belly laughs in one sitting for quite a while. As an extra treat, Callie Khouri was her interviewer. Callie probably mostly famously known for writing the screenplay for Thelma and Louise. She’s also co-written and directed Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Something to Talk About, Mad Money, and Hollis & Rae. We had the pleasure of receiving a phone call from Callie’s boyfriend, T-Bone Burnett in the middle of the lecture who asked her a couple of questions about some of her lyrics. She talked about her life, how she got to art school, and her thoughts on the music industry. We heard strange stories about working in a meat packing room at a grocery store, and got to hear about her writing style. For her doing the dishes seems to be a prime activity for spontaneously conjuring lyrics and ideas. Her music was, as always amazing and Kelly Hogan was there with her. I hadn’t realized they had been working together and I am also a Kelly Hogan fan. I think her voice is amazing. The first time I saw Kelly, she was playing with the Old 97’s and her voice brought tears to my eyes. The whole evening was inspiring and wonderful.
When I got home, Tom had cored and cut an apple. It was waiting out for me like a proud soldier. It was a Cameo from Haight Ashbury market and it was crisp and delicious. I ate it while catching the lat of “Bank Job” with Tom huddled up together on the couch. He’s the best.
I’m very bummed to see that I missed Stephen Merritt of Magnetic Fields. Maybe they have an archived recording of it on cityarts.net