[Tradjazz] Rock Candy interview and 2 shows this weekend

[Bliss Blood]

Hi Everyone,

We are thrilled to forward an interview with Bliss which appeared in the
Rock Candy blog on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch website this week, and to
invite you to two perfomances this weekend in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

See you soon!


*MO PITKINS closing its doors Oct 20, last time to see us there!

*Friday, October 12, 7:00-9:00pm
* MO PITKIN'S HOUSE OF SATISFACTION <http://www.mopitkins.com/>*
34 Avenue A, between E. 2nd & E. 3rd Streets
212-777-5660
$12 cover charge
Also playing: *M Shanghai String Band, 7pm
Delta Dreambox, 8pm

M Shanghai String Band play original bluegrass in the traditional
Grand Ole Opry style.  Don't miss this excellent early evening night
of music!
*

*THE MOONLIGHTERS*

Saturday, October 13, 9pm
* JALOPY THEATRE <http://www.jalopy.biz>*
315 Columbia Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-395-3214
$10 suggested donation
JALOPY now serves beer & wine!

*Blissing out with the Moonlighters* 
<http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/entertainment-rock-candy/2007/10/blissing-out-with-the-moonlighters/#more-15983>
Matt Fernandes <mailto:mfernandes at post-dispatch.com>, St. Louis 
Post-Dispatch

Sultry vocalist Bliss Blood is New York's caretaker of bygone music 
genres. In a past life, she sang for a 1980s Goth band. Now, the multi 
instrumentalist has established a reputation in New York as a top-notch 
canary.

Blood's main gig is with the Moonlighters, a classic acoustic band that 
plays original jazz, ragtime, swing, country and blues. The secret 
weapon is their infusion of Hawaiian lap steel guitar and ukulele.

If you like the Asylum Street Spankers 
<http://www.myspace.com/asylumstreetspankers>, you'll likely dig their 
CDs, including the latest, "Surrender."

Blood told me she's been singing her whole life and has always projected 
well vocally.

"On a fourth grade field trip in a bus full of kids, my teacher 
castigated me for talking when EVERYONE was talking at the time," said 
Blood, who grew up in Omaha, Neb. "This also happened in seventh grade 
art class. At the time I felt like I had been picked on and singled out, 
but now I think it was the quality of my voice that made it easier to 
hear among the others. I guess singing was my calling."

After moving to Houston, Bliss Blood co-founded Pain Teens 
<http://www.myspace.com/painteens> in her early twenties, an 
experimental industrial noise band that achieved regional and national 
success. The band had an 8-year run from 1987-1995, releasing a 
half-dozen LPs and several more self-released cassette tapes.

Blood grew weary of the industrial genre just as the general public did 
as well, and moved to New York for a fresh start.

"I became disenchanted with that music as a vocalist and started getting 
into jazz and 1920s music," Blood recalled. "I taught myself ukulele and 
moved to New York in December, 1995."

Blood first got the idea of exploring the uke after seeing a photo of Al 
Bowlly playing one with Ray Noble's Orchestra.

"I didn't know music theory," said Blood. "But within six months I 
started playing solo gigs. Since then there has been a whole ukulele 
phenomenon up here."

Blood started the Moonlighters with another unlikely musician, long-time 
Helmet bassist Henry Bogdan.  Bogdan left the Moonlighters in 2002 and 
is now living in Portland.

Blood has soldiered on, though, keeping the band afloat through several 
lineup changes. The current lineup includes Cindy Ball, on vocals and 
guitar, Peter Maness on bass, and Mark Deffenbaugh on steel guitar.   
St. Louis native and former Squirrel Nut Zipper Ken Mosher has played 
guitar, banjo and sax for the Moonlighters, but is leaving the band this 
month.

Similar to the Spankers (though not as crass), what sets the 
Moonlighters apart is that the great majority of their material is original.

"I studied all of the Tin Pan Alley songwriters and people like Cole 
Porter, Annette Hanshaw, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and the Boswell 
Sisters. I've tried to cultivate their craft," said Blood. "William 
Gilbert (of Gilbert and Sullivan) is someone I would especially try to 
emulate. He was funny, smart and tricky all at the same time."

Blood also sings for delta blues band *Delta Dreambox* 
<http://profile.myspace.com/deltadreambox> and crime jazz band 
*Nightcall* <http://profile.myspace.com/thenightcall>.

The Moonlighters will embark on their third European tour, in Germany 
this November. They hope to make it to St. Louis in 2008. In the 
meantime, check out their four records: http://www.blissblood.com/music.html

*Website: http://www.blissblood.com/index_moonlighters.html*

*MySpace: http://profile.myspace.com/moonlightersny*