Kiki played Asheville, NC the other day; as part of a fundraiser for the Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance. Not only did we have a blast and raised some money for the Theatre’s two upcoming performances (the first of which features both the Dole and Kiki… holy split personality, Batman!), but I was introduced to an army of Asheville’s finest entertainers. We knew and loved Holiday Childress, lead singer of the Goodies, a band that Jump used to play with often, but for some reason I had never been introduced to Holiday’s gorgeous friend Stephanie, of Stephanie’s Id. She sang an appropriately silly song for the fundraiser but made her mark on my easily crushed  (crushy? crushable? crush-prone??) heart, and the next day when I returned home I bought their CD “Spiral In” on iTunes. And it’s beautiful. Critics hear Bjork, Jim Morrison, and Portishead… I’d agree on most points, but in general it’s just a lovely piece of work. Shirley Manson of Garbage likes them, so you should too.
We met two members of the Rebelles, Asheville’s all-female burlesque troop, quite a formidable bunch. In many ways they’re the Kiki of Asheville, but have been doing it a lot longer; they mix in political jabs and skits to their creative undressing, and from what I saw it’s a show worth seeing.  We’re trying to work out a coastal-mountainous collaboration in the coming months; stay tuned.

It was a night that will be hard to beat. I’m learning so much about myself, by being someone else for an evening. There is freedom in that… freedom in being able to stretch myself so much all at once. The learning curve is so much sharper than it was in a rock band, at least for now, and that’s pretty intoxicating. Now I just have to start taking yoga or something so I can do all the ridiculous stunts I try as Jonny and not wake up with a stiff back. Fucking hell.
Before I go, I’d like to mention that my buddy David Mead’s new album, Tangerine, is yet another masterpiece of luscious pop, perfect songwriting craftmanship. Does that guy ever stink? Ever? He’s coming to Charleston this week, so I guess I’ll have to leave the house for a good cause.

Cabaret Kiki’s first show last Thursday could not have gone better, for an opening night. Somehow it all came together, and some of it even at the last minute. Though the concept began at least a year ago, and some of us have been working on it practically for that long, the pieces seemed fit just right on Thursday. And the buzz about the show was “buzzier” than anything I’ve worked on. We sold out Tuesday’s show (tonight), almost a day later.

I’m bragging, but there’s a point. I just can’t believe that after all this time, all this hard work, it actually happened, and happened so well. The goal of this project, first and foremost, was to create an arts collective, just as they did at the end of the century in Paris. A group of artists that were dissatisfied with the way things were working, and the way things “had to be”. So Biv, Bill and I used any sort of clout we had to get the best dancers from the ballet theatre, the best musicians from the symphony and modern music group, the best writers and photographers, designers and even project managers. We wanted everyone to play nice, and make a little “art for art’s sake”. So we didn’t put any constraints on what was going to be happening. That’s the nice thing about a Cabaret… anything goes!

And it could have failed miserably. No one has made a dime from this show, yet. Everyone has worked for free, in their own free time. And there are so many of us; with so many artists banded together there is sure to be some element of melodrama. But somehow we escaped that. And since there was nothing but the love for the idea and the willingness to make it work, we were focused together, rather than fighting within.

It doesn’t change the world. It doesn’t change anyone’s careers, necessarily (more, though, about that on another post). But it did make a mark, and I really hope that we can keep that up. This town needs a swift kick in the ass. It needs motivation to strive for bigger and better things. We did, with Kiki, and thankfully, it’s working. And it’s so much fun.