Sunday, November 30, 2008

the nourallah weekend update

friday night i played joey's supper club
in aubrey
it was the closest i've come to denton
in 2 years
by staying out of the city limits
i guess i avoided the curse!
joey's is a cozy little acoustic venue
on 380
we had a great time
our hosts treated jayme gavin and i
(plus lisa and lee)
like royalty
the food was phenomenal
in fact
i wish this place was closer to our house
their authentic italian food kicked the living daylights
out of my favorite places down here
i'd be hanging out there all the time
joey (see picture) even made a couple of our appetizers himself!


saturday morning we went to the spiral diner
in oak cliff
it's a vegan diner
with exceptional food
and a great retro decor
s.j.s. recommended the tacos
which aren't on the menu
they were ridiculously good
after eating we wandered around the bishop's arts district
i gotta say
i was a bit disappointed
not really anything i was very interested in
and a couple of stores that left me wondering
how on earth they're gonna stay in business
still
we had fun
and it felt like we were in a different city entirely
which was cool
at least they're trying to get something going there
that's out of the norm

it was another wonderful weekend
and i enjoyed every second of it
the viscious pink art show
rhoti grill with L and L
"let the right one in" at the angelika
then buzzbrew's today
with a bonus jd/amanda hangout
this afternoon we worked on jayme's squirrel house
went for a run (which felt GREAT after 3 days of non-stop eating!)
then we pulled all our christmas boxes out of the attic
and went to town
4 hours of nourallah family christmas fun
nate king cole sang some mellow christmas tunes
as we put up and decorated our tree
seeing how happy it made J and G was the best part of my entire week
i wish i could've bottled the moment forever
to always be able to go back to
videotape just isn't enough...

at 8 eric tj and rich showed up
for a 2 hour rehearsal
we practiced songs off of constellation
for the 1st time
"western hills"
"stranger in my own skin"
"be here now"
"don't mind me"
"pictures collected"
and "saint georges"
the band absolutely blew me away
i don't remember ever feeling more energized
after a practice
they instantly made all the intricate parts on the record come to life
and the new blueprint was finally brought to fruition

i can't wait to start playing shows in this format
i guess i won't have ot wait long though
the 1st one is this sunday at barley house!!

Friday, November 28, 2008

the BEST THANKSGIVING EVER!!

on our way to jayme's parents house
gavin proclaimed
"this is the best thanksgiving EVER!!"
we hadn't really done anything yet
but i guess he already knew...

when we sat down for the feast the grandparents had laid out
G threw his hands up in the air and said
"what am i supposed to eat?"
there was a bunch of strange foods he'd never seen before
he passed on the corn casserole
no to the mashed potatoes
"that turkey's dead!"
enough said
come pie time though he was a happy camper
a little apple
some of momma's pumpkin
with whip cream on top
not the most nutritious or balanced meal for a kid
but what the hell
it was THANKSGIVING!!
i somehow managed to not stuff myself
or fall asleep on the soft pleather couches
bound and determined to break those traditions
G and i hopped the backyard fence and went for a walk on the golf course
it looked like we could've been in maine (without the snow)
serene ponds with ducks
majestic trees with their orange and yellow fall leaves
G ran around with a pair of binoculars
shouting instructions to the wildlife
we went back and got bread and jayme
so we could feed the ducks
grandpa even broke away from the football
to join us
after that i had the misfortune of catching the jonas brothers
halftime show
i found the pumpkin pie wanting to make its way back up again
thankfully
i escaped before their fist pumping tight pants finale that would've surely
induced a thanksgiving hurl!!!!!

we waved goodbye to the grandparents around 5:30
to head over to the semrad's house in oak cliff
from plano to the o.c.
now there's a schizophrenic metroplex jump for ya!
a massive spread of meatless delights was waiting for us upon our arrival
we even had adorable little place cards
and ahhhhh.........no football on the tv!!
we ate
the kids played happily
then the adults played "the cube"
the kids played some more
the adults moved to the front porch to mingle
the kids dueled with lightsabers in the front yard
paul put on "london calling"
the kids ran around and into the gigantic fortress bush
i got to practice "snowing in my heart" on the aereosonic upright piano
i glanced up at the clock and it was already midnight
where did the time fly?
what a fun night we had
we didn't get home until 12:45
it was the latest G had ever stayed up
although he was still ridin' high from the day's festivities

it's 11am now
J and G are still sleeping
i guess they were worn out by
the BEST THANKSGIVING EVER!!

tonight we all head to Aubrey for my show at Joey's Supper Club
L and L are coming up from Austin
i have 3 more days of time off
this party has just begun!!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

delusions of grandeur

the anju gill show saturday was amazing
i'd never seen more people packed into club dada
it made me proud of dallas music
and proud of YOU for supporting it
thank you to everyone who attended
and performed
we have a lot to feel good about...


the day before the show i was gripped by the random idea
to go back through the SN vaults
and cull the best material for a double disc 24 song explosion
which i'll call
delusions of grandeur
i've got so many tracks that have been sitting
and waiting
some of them are even favorites of mine
like the 1st recording i ever made with john dufilho
"dancing fool"
or
"stick you (on the way down)" which was done during the
avoid danger sessions and features the primal scream
d.o.g. is gonna be a sprawling mess of a record
every hair outta place
badly in need of a bath
and new shoes
i can hardly wait
i picture it loud and clear already
the running order
the cover
everything
it's gonna start out with jayme making her one and only appearance
on any of my songs
get ready
it's not what you think
she's not singing!

it feels like i'm about to start a new chapter
so i guess cleaning house is in order
delusions feels like part of that house cleaning
to get anything that's been laying around
collecting dust
out of the cupboards
many of my talented friends dedicated hours and hours
and days of their lives
to come over here and record these songs of mine
so the least i can do is eventually release them!

so that's it for now
delusions of grandeur speeding your way
look for it's release sometime in '09
after constellation

Thursday, November 13, 2008

bring on the dancing hippies

when i was a boy
back in el paso
i used to dream of nights
like the ones i just had
this past weekend
singing my songs
to people who cared
smiles
and singalongs for me
a feeling of being appreciated
and loved
i never lose track of that dream
handed down to me from a misfit child
many years ago
i don't take any of it for granted

"when you've spent most your life
being put down
it's so nice to be part of the in-crowd..."

some of the songs on "constellation" partly revisit
those days i spent growing up in old e.p.
the dreaming
the escapism
the alienation
i felt as a youth
i'm fascinated by the blissful ignorance of childhood
i think it's beautiful
it's a state of being where anything is possible
the world is waiting to be explored
and conquered
failure and disappointment are not a part of the equation yet

"life was but a mystery
a work of art that we'd conceive
and all it's gifts would be revealed
laid out at our feet"

the hope and optimism that has sprung
from last week's election
actually reminds me of being a kid
when i was a boy
i never even considered for a second
that i could be a "well-respected"
or "normal" member of society
with a name like salim nourallah
phewey!!!!
i definitely knew being president was outta the question for me
but now we have a president named barack
i guess i shouldn't have made such sweeping negative assumptions
this country has allowed so many people to live a life
that's brought to fruition many the dreams they had as children

...me included...

it's amazing
and wonderful

a wave of hippie euphoria has swept over me
long haired dancing girls sprinkle daisies
over my beaming face
as i gaze up at the boundless blue sky







Sunday, November 09, 2008

opening bell mosaic

i've been enjoying a near perfect weekend
last night's show at the opening bell mosaic
was another really good one
it was a superb bill
bob g. from flat people played 1st
his songs "for the birds"
and "abandoned" (a new one) were amazing
i think he's one the best unsung songwriters around
brent adair played 2nd
he'd made the trip up from austin
i'd heard of him through billy
who produced his last cd
brent's set was great too
and he couldn't have been a nicer guy
i'm looking forward to doing more shows with him in the future
the new opening bell location is just what dallas needed
it's already the best acoustic venue in town
excellent sound
cool mod decore
nice employees
you could hear a pin drop while each of us played
the audience was awesome

today i woke up feeling great
an email from bo in sweden saying he picked up beautiful noise
at a record fair and loved it
was a nice way to start
i poured G a bowl of kix
and after jayme woke up we all watched some spongebob
in bed
then i kind of went on a domestic tear
i did some laundry
watered the plants
emptied the dishwasher
did more laundry
went out to my studio and opened it up
put on some babybird and gave the whole thing a thorough cleaning
vacuumed
windexed
swiffered
sorted out the mess of mic cables in the tracking room
put away all the ciphers and live at PL cds jim sent me
then i watched jayme bond with sam the squirrel
who she's been domesticating with sunflower seeds
she's almost gotten to the point where he'll let her pet him
G and i went for a walk
the weather was absolutely perfect
sunny
70ish
we held hands
and sat in front of his favorite stop
the "castle house"
i got lost in the moment
enjoying every bit of this time spent
with my delightful 5 year old son
after our walk we all went up the street
and had lunch at a new place called quesa-d-ya's
it was really good
i hope they put a patio out front so they can stay in business
i think a lot more people would eat there if they had that
anyway we'd been hoping for a good fast food tex-mex joint to come
back to our neighbourhood
G liked the chips
jayme and i liked the fresh salsa
the whole day was perfect really
i worked a little in the evening with stu dicious
we finished up his e.p.
it felt good to knock another record on the head
"constellation" got mastered by dave mcnair
in NYC on wednesday
i've been listening all weekend to make sure it was ok
the verdict is that it's
DONE!!!
tomorrow masterdisk will send a cop off to germany
so they can go ahead and press the promos
it's a great feeling i have about this record
another beautiful experience making music
with one of my friends
(who also happens to be another one of my genius friends)
i know how lucky i am
trust me
i'm glad to be alive
there's nowhere i'd rather be than right here
right now
this is a beautiful life i have
i'm grateful for every second of it


love


s

p.s. don't forget this saturday at club dada is the anju gill megabill
10 bands on 2 stages
see myspace for details!!