Kay Hanley

Miley was the featured performer at the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show last night so the whole lot of us - band, dancers and crew- got together again to put on a show for 74,000 people. Billy Ray joined the band for 2 songs while Hannah changed into Miley and absolutely brought the house down. If you had told me 6 months ago (or ever, for that matter) that I would be two steppin’ and singing backup vocals on Achy Breaky Heart I would have, um… I have no idea what I would have done but it would have seemed unlikely. Now that the absurd scenario has become reality, I will state for the record that it was totally awesome.

Rodeos are kind of weird if you don’t mind my saying so. After our 3 hour sound check (grr…) I took care of what I needed to in a hurry so I could get back and watch the cowboys riding the bulls.We had plum position from our backstage area, which literally put us within spitting distance of the riders and animals. The cowboys were looking sharp with crisp shirts tucked perfectly into brand spankin’ new dungarees. Top that look with a sweet cowboy hat, some well-worn boots and a lasso and I turned into a drooling fan girl. Who knew? Needless to say, I was giddy to see the guys do their thing, which I was guessing would involve riding and then getting thrown off of a very strong and scary beast. Yum! The first guy came out of gate on a turbo charged horse. But hold on a second, he’s chasing a calf who is running for his life to get away. What the…?? Within 20 seconds, the cowboy had lassoed the calf by his neck, an action that jerked the calf’s body violently and slowed him down enough so that the cowboy was able to leap from the speeding horse and wrestle the calf to the ground where he tied the hind legs together and threw his arms into the air to stop the clock. The little calf just laid there helplessly until he was untied and led back to the cattle area. I started bawling. What a buzzkill. I watched this same scene unfold about a half dozen more times before I shuffled back to the dressing room all woebegone. I ended up missing the bucking broncos and stuff. Meh.

The good news? Anyone can be a sexy cowboy with the proper acoutrements! You can buy everything you need right there at a rodeo. One need not wrastle one single calf, either.

vashon, i do declare! 

Our stage was a huge disc that spun like a carousel. Not slow either. The stage would do 3 revolutions in one direction and then stop with a lurch to begin turning the other way. One of the stage hands told me that the clunkiness of the turning experience was due to the fact that the stage was built a long time ago and was operated by a guy using little more than bathtub knobs to control the thing.

Yee haw!  It was great seeing everyone. Can’t wait to do it again real soon.

margaritas are tastier in texas 

xok

I just got home from the Knitting Factory where Michelle and I went to see a band called Haim that we are absolutely in love with. They are 3 sisters in their teens from the Val (holla!), write weird, amazing pop songs and can play their asses off. Mish and I left with a new sense of hope that the next generation of bands might not be lost to the cult of posing and selling out after all. 

After the show, Mish and I stood out on Hollywood Blvd. in front of the club talking shop for about 20 minutes before we finally realized that our kids were asleep for the night and that we could actually stay out if we wanted to. With great vigor and vim, we skipped across the street to the Roosevelt for a drink and somehow managed to avoid the papparazzi who sneakily pretended to not notice us. Hint: if you ever find yourself in that part of Hollywood, don’t be afraid of the Roosevelt. Even though you have every reason in the world to loathe the vapid, disgusting, cultural and moral bottom feeding that the owners have chosen as their “re-branding” mission, you will be pleasantly surprised as long as you avoid the mucky muck. Go directly through the front doors and find Dakota, which is the steakhouse there. It’s really comfortable and chill and the staff happily sidesteps the douchebaggery usually associated with the Roosevelt.    

We started rehearsals today for the Hannah/Miley gig at the Houston Rodeo, which takes place this weekend. Highlight from today’s rehearsal? Singing backup vox on Achy Breaky Heart and I Want My Mullet Back with Billy Ray Cyrus.

My favorite verbal exchange??

candice: “i cant wait! i haven’t been to a rodeo in sooo long!!”

me: “…….” 

I’ll post new pictures and stories as soon as possible, but right now I must sleep.  I will leave you with a picture of me and Angie C (now shaw) whom you Boston people may know from the ‘FNX days. Angie and her sweet little family just moved to LA (redondo beach, actually) but we haven’t been able to coordinate and hang out. That is, until the MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSsTONES SHOW LAST WEEKEND!!!!! We had a blast. I really wanted to see The Streetdogs, but sadly, I missed them. The Bosstones made me and Angie feel like we were at the Rat in 1991 again. Thanks Joe the Kid for the list action and also for being a sweetie.    

last hurrah uh-huh, do it again!!

 xok

Lexington, KY kicks off our re-cap.

Apparently, we played in front of more people at this venue than any other on the tour thus far. Almost 40 million people in attendance! Can you believe that? I finally remembered to bring my camera on stage with me for the occasion.

my perspective on thingsj joe jonas in flight

me and candy-o punching the clock 

 CINCINNATI

Then we went to Cincinnati and played a show, I guess. I don’t remember a single thing about what happened there but here’s a picture that Stacy took of a crazy old bag lady that was hanging around outside of our bus one day.

 poor dear.

TORONTOThere was much hand wringing and gnashing of teeth regarding our border crossing into Canada for the Toronto show. People were extremely concerned about concealed contraband, weapons and criminal records. Me? Clean as a goddamned whistle. Except for that little thing about the stuff and the thing a few years back. It was not even my fault, but whatever. Can we stop talking about this now? Jeez.

 

Toronto, Canada. i love Canada. I spent my childhood summers in Nova Scotia. Some of my favorite bands of the last decade hail from that part of North America. Beautiful, wonderful socialized medicine is a hallmark of their sense of social justice and political enlightenment. The people look foxy but are still polite and friendly. These days, Canada could even be described as a tophat on a turd, but only for another year or so. I hope. I love you Canada, and I hope you and I get to spend more time together. Let’s not just say it, but really MEAN it this time.Anyhoo..we got to Toronto and it was snowing. We had a day off before the show but I spent most of the day sleeping. Michael has been telling me forever about his favorite Toronto restaurant, Kit Kat and with the aid of our lovely concierge we were able to score a table at the last minute. I award Kit Kat 4 “hollas” on a scale of 1-5, which is nearly a perfect score, given my level of food-ish knowledge and snobbery. Oh, and I promise to stop using the word holla as soon as I get back home and I have to act my age again.    

We went back to the hotel for a nightcap and ran into a bunch of our other tour people who had the same idea. Management was returning from a very high powered meeting over steaks and red wine and Miley had just come back from a play with her mom Tish, whom I do not socialize with much outside of work. I really like her so it was nice to have a regular conversation that did not revolve around the task at hand.

 candice, miley, tish & me 

Then my 15 year old friend made us crash some company’s christmas party at the hotel. Did it occur to me to put the kibosh on the tomfoolery? No. I seriously have no self discipline, but I do have a very fun life, so here we are. gatecrashers 

 I danced for awhile and then snuck out so that I could catch Michael and the kiddos for a video iChat before they went to bed. I am so close to seeing them, I can hardly believe it. We will be living the life of Riley when we get to Boston.  zeros and ones make a happy family  Toronto, to be continued….xok

I have no idea why I love truck stops, but ever since I started touring as a wee lass, I have not been able to resist the late night lure of beef jerky, bad coffee, crappy videos and creepy lurkers. Last night we had an 800 mile drive from Kansas City to Detroit, necessitating a fuel stop and of course, the opportunity to scavenge the aisles of a Flying J. I’m not sure if Mike is humoring me or what, but I’ve managed to convince him to accompany me into the last 2 truck stops.

mikey likes it!

Nobody is immune from the special feeling that comes over you when you see that cartons of cigarettes are $25 and that towels are now included with your $8 truck stop shower. I think this picture of Wildman and Larry (our irrepressible drivers) really nails the sentiment.

nothing but love, baby

We arrived in Rochester, Michigan to find that winter has arrived in certain places. It was not a happy discovery. I am woefully unprepared for snow and freezing temperatures. Miley and some of the dancers invited me to go shopping but then I would have to actually put on every layer of clothing in my posession just to walk back outside. Also, there is something about shopping at a suburban mall with a police escort and 2 bodyguards that seems a bit off-putting, y’know? I think I will spend my day off in my beautiful room and order obscene amounts of room service.

ahhh..pretty and warm.

xok

The show in Little Rock was marred by illness (more on that in a moment) but Candice and I got permission to do our hair differently so as far as I’m concerned it was the best show of the tour so far. Ask anyone who was there and they will tell you that my and Candice’s hair-dos and resulting performances were off the chain.

The other highlight for me was at the previously hyped Benihana (before they tried to poison everyone) when I ran across this interesting crew:

ladies..

….and gentlemen

They were all coming from a cotillion! I’m still not exactly sure what that is but I know that the tradition has strong roots in southern culture and is meant to promote manners and respect between the sexes. I thought it was so cute that the kids (all 6th graders) had spent the afternoon mingling as little adults and then the second they got to Benihana they split ranks entirely. Ah…those were heady days if I remember correctly.

But all was not bliss at Benihana on that night. The food was fairly gross to begin with but poor Stacy and Charlie spent the next 24 hours vomiting. That left the rest of us wondering if we were next. I couldn’t tell if my tummyache was a sympathy one or if all hell was about to break loose but I am happy to report that nothing major came of it.

we should have seen it coming