Tuesday, August 28, 2007

WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

My book promo covers arrived yesterday. Danielle (my editor) was right. They look amazing.

In the meantime, I am writing again, but this time about a bridge. My father-in-law and I drove from Detroit to Goderich, ON to go to a Friends of Ball's Bridge meeting and I took on an assignment from the group to write a "history" book that we'll self-publish. I also volunteered to design some brochures for the area hotels and the Tourist Information Center. AND I'm designing a t-shirt for the group!

While we were in Canada, we got to visit with Erik, Molly, Angie, Bruce, Mary, Doug, Carson, Riley and Mason. (All relatives who were staying at our family cottage.) I got to see them all again yesterday at Grandma Willer's house for a very enjoyable pizza/pool party back in Detroit. A bunch of Willers--I haven't seen in ages--were there. I got to show off my book covers and got lots of promises from people willing to come to a book signing next April.

AND...I am excited about this. An idea for a children's book came to me in a dream. I am very excited about the possibility of writing a book in which my sons (at the ages of 8 and 6) will be characters. I gave them my pitch while we took Barney and Ozzie for a walk and we chose their fictional names. They will be Robbie and Jimmy Dewberry.

Dylan has his first High School soccer game tonight. Go RAVENS!!

John's drawings for Ernie Harwell's Tiger Stadium proposal were fantastically received at a presentation.

Monday, August 27, 2007

LOS ANGELES EOMEN'S MUSIC FESTIVAL

Filmmaker Kate Perotti has been following around The Mydols and other similarily minded rock bands for nearly 3 years. Her documentary "Momz Hot Rocks" debuted at the Los Angeles Women's Music Festival this past weekend.

You can see the trailer at the Momz Hot Rocks website.

Friday, August 24, 2007

MY FIRST BLOG FOR GOGIRLS


My first blog for GoGirls Elite:


“The rules of motherhood are being radically rewritten with a snarl, cymbal crash and power E-chord that would make the lads in AC/DC stand and salute.”—USA Today

Thanks Madalyn for inviting me to contribute. You pass on so much valuable information to all of us out here rockin’ our asses off. (We appreciate it. You have no idea.) While I imagine most of your followers are nubile girls, there are a few out here on the-wrong-side-of-forty who are trying to not to burn dinner (again) while we check out your blog. I’m one of them. Here’s my story:

On June 25, 2004, The Wall Street Journal introduced “a new wave of garage bands featuring Mom on guitar, Mom on drums and, on lead vocals.” In her article, Mommie Loudest, Nancy Keates described a nationwide phenomenon called “mom rock" --a wave of maternal minded rock bands. The article included: Frump (Dallas), Placenta (San Francisco), The Candy Band (Detroit), Housewives on Prozac (New York) and my own band The Mydols (also Detroit). While Suzie Riddle (Frump) got the idea to start a mom rock band right before her 40th birthday and Joy Rose (Housewives on Prozac) used music to energize herself while recovering from a kidney transplant, I cooked up the idea to start a band with some neighborhood mothers at a Memorial Day barbeque for no other reason than because I could. (After years of spoiling the kids, I decided it was time to spoil myself.) While each of the “mom” bands mentioned in the WSJ was acting alone, together we rated as a phenomenon. It wasn’t long before producers of the Today Show were calling and people were asking me “Who is your publicist?”

Our publicist was me.

I started The Mydols in 2002 (at age 42) with no musical background. The only word in the phrase “mom rocker” I knew anything about was the “mom” part. I saw Jack White (White Stripes) play his guitar at my sons’ elementary school (it was before he was really famous) and just like the kids in attendance, I decided right then and there that when I grew I up I wanted to be a rock star. I had a distinct advantage though—I already was grown up. I signed up for guitar lessons the next day and soon after carefully chose my band mates (I’m joking—my only requirement was a pulse and a purse full of dough. Hey, being in a band is expensive!) The Mydols were born and within a few months—we hadn’t even mastered our instruments—signs began popping up around Detroit at grocery stores, gas stations, day care centers, jails—you name it—announcing gigs. We had what one music reviewer called “Riding-the-learning-curve” charm. We took our home town by storm and before we knew it everyone was calling us for interviews including the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune.

Why? Here’s my best guess.

--Talent is huge but so is "gimmick". We couldn’t even tune our guitars the first time we played BUT we sure were different than the average all male bands people were accustomed to seeing and hearing.

--And while we were different, we soon found out there WERE other bands out there in America like us. At first, I was bummed to find out there were other “mom” bands until a friend of mind told me that 3 bands doing the same thing becomes a “scene” and a scene is always bigger than one little band on its own. It turns out that he was right.

--And finally, we drew attention because I’m delusional. The Mydols even went on to appear in People magazine. When that happened I got a lot of “Did you ever dream you’d come this far?” and my answer was “OF COURSE I did!” If I didn’t dream it who was going to? I never finished a conversation with anyone without mentioning my great little band. The plumber, my boss, my Auntie, my mail lady—they all got an earful.

The Mydols—a band that should have lasted 5 minutes—has been around for five years. Next April, I’ll publish a memoir about my experiences in a book called Rock Star Mommy (Citadel Press) that chronicles my experiences as a music fan, a mother, and a musician. With a little courage and a lot of humor, women—even mothers—can do the unimaginable. My book urges women to take chances and follow their hearts, and to remember that it’s never too late. Bob Seger once sang, “You can come back baby. Rock ‘n roll never forgets.”

READ WHAT MY PUBLISHER HAS TO SAY


Citadel Press says:

When suburban mother of two Judy Davids picked up a guitar and conspired with the neighborhood moms to form an all-mom rock band, she never imagined it would actually happen. But within weeks, The Mydols were born.

Rock Star Mommy chronicles Davids’s experiences as a music fan, a mother, and the leader of The Mydols (one of the first “mommy” rock bands in the country); and tells the story behind the band’s creation, its path to success, and the inspiration it gave to Judy—and so many other moms—to embrace their creativity and live their dreams.

With gentle humor and biting wit, Davids explores themes of music, creativity, and motherhood—and where the three overlap. Packed with fun anecdotes from Judy’s experiences—such as dying her hair pink, and tricking her husband into buying a thousand-dollar drum kit—Rock Star Mommy features entertaining sidebars such as “Signs You’re Ready to Rock,” “Mommy Rock Lingo,” and “Out of the Mouths of Moms” (wise and wisecracking quotes from moms who rock).

Engaging fun interwoven with poignant observations, Rock Star Mommy is a rallying cry
for any woman wants to pursue her dreams and be a mom at the same time. More...

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

"MOM ROCK" DEFINED

"MOM ROCK" gets defined in the URBAN DICTIONARY with words like hXc, feen, nano nap, voicejail, and Wii elbow....

2. Mom Rock: On June 25, 2004 The Wall Street Journal announced "There's a new wave of garage bands featuring Mom on guitar, Mom on drums and, on lead vocals....Mom." These suburban hausfraus kick out the jams to tunes like “Take Out the Trash”. The moms play so loud, they can’t hear their kids dialing the runaway hotline.

This genre of music is commonly referred to as "Mom Rock". Examples include The Mydols, Housewives on Prozac and Hormone Replacement Therapy.

BOOK PROMO COVERS


My editor at Citadel wrote to me today:

"I just received the promo covers for your book—they look amazing, and I’m putting copies in the mail to you this week."

YAY!!!

A DATE WITH ERNIE

How strange that a few weeks after going to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown that John would receive a phone call from one of its most beloved Detroit inductees--Ernie Harwell. Ernie has a plan to save Tiger Stadium and he and his attorney called John today at work. John will be meeting with the famous broadcaster this Friday to review the "plan" and see if he can be of any assistance.

It's been a long time since we've enjoyed the friendly confines of our bleachers seats. When we originally got involved trying to save Tiger Stadium I was 29-years-old. Geeze it's hard to believe it was that long ago. If you missed the whole debate nearly 20 years ago please visit The Fabulous Ruins of Detroit.




Monday, August 20, 2007

RAVENS, DOGS and BARACUDAs


I spent Saturday afternoon in Grand Rapids at a Freshman soccer scrimmage with Dylan. The boys had 3 games and were 1-1-1. They looked great. In the meantime, John stayed back with Willie and the dogs. They all went to a Dream Cruise party at the Cahaney's. (I was bummed I had to miss it.)
When Dylan and I got back, John told us how many people he ran into at the Cruise that knew Dylan was the only Freshman on the soccer team to run 3.5 miles in under 28 minutes. He's famous! And so is Barney. I guess every kid that saw him thought he was Underdog. I know what he's going to be for Halloween this year. (Ozzie is always a vampire.)
And speaking of Halloween costumes, a guy that I used to work with in the '90s has returned. He stopped by my desk and reminded me how I made his son a Barney (the purple dinosaur) costume many years ago. (His son is now 16.) He said his daughter ended up wearing it, and it is now in the possession of a neice. AWWW! Makes me want to pull out my sewing machine. Maybe I'll just make an Underdog costume tonight.

Friday, August 17, 2007

RAVEN SOCCER

Congratulations Dylan! He made the freshman high school soccer club after a grueling 3 day tryout in which 100s of boys showed up. Dylan had the best freshman time in the 3.5 mile run. Had he not made the soccer team, we would have encouraged him to run cross-country.

The team had practice twice a day this week, which is challenging for us working moms and dads, but we are managing with the help of other parents. The team has a scrimmage this weekend in Grand Rapids so I'll be spending 2 1/2 hours in a car with 6 sweaty teenagers. FUN!

We are super proud of Dylan!

We also brought home Barney, the 3-year-old Beagle yesterday. He has a lovely bellow and a nose that won't quit! We took Ozzie and Barney (don't their names sound like a couple of old TV dectectives?) to Grandma's house yesterday and Barney's nose led him to a circus peanut under her couch! We were all impressed with his great detective work, however that's about all he has going for him at the moment. (Other than the fact he is adorable.) He has been on his own for so long that he doesn't know any commands--even simple ones like "sit". And his name? Well, his foster mom gave it to him and he doesn't know it either. We took him for a walk down town yesterday and one of the shop owners tried to get his attention and he looked at me and said "That dog's name is NOT Barney." (Maybe his name is Sebastian. Another shop owner tried to convince me to take him to a dog psychic to learn about his past. Royal Oak is filled with lots of friendly nuts and I manage to meet them all.) We'll never know....but he looks like a Barney to me so I think we'll keep it.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I MADE THE LIST!

I'm on Adam Turman's "To-Do" list. I've got a little PR project I'm working on with him. Think "Thin Lizzy" meets "Shirley Partridge".

Here's a photo of us in St. Paul, MN after The Mydols played in front of 2000 people at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. We were the halftime entertainment for the Minnesota Derby girls. The Mydols have been asked to come back and play at the FINALS next April so I am hoping to catch up with Adam again.

If you aren't familiar with his artwork, check out http://www.adamturman.com/.

MEET BARNEY


Meet the newest member of our family: Barney. He's a 3 year old Beagle found running loose in Detroit. (His collar was in-grown so who knows how long he's been on his own.) We met him yesterday. Ozzie, our Black Lab, seems to like him just fine while Barney seemed to worship Ozzie. Ozzie peed and then Barney peed. Sometimes Ozzie peed on Barney! Barney's going to need to wait until he's finished to hit the same spot.
He's VERY affectionate and CUTE! Really cute. (I mean, just look at the picture.) And little. We plan on babying him. He needs to have a little surgury (ouch!) and then we can bring him home...hopefully in the next day or so.

Friday, August 10, 2007

CUZ CHICKS ROCK


I am so excited. I've just been invited to be a contributer to the GoGirls Elite Blog team. GoGirls is the oldest & largest online community of indie women musicians, supporting ALL music genres! GoGirlsMusic.com's mission is to promote, support and empower indie women in music! Madalyn Sklar started the organization in 1996 with a vision of bringing together independent women musicians from around the country. 11 years later, GoGirlsMusic.com has become a welcome destination for women in music through networking and events. GoGirls produces the GoGirlsMusicFest, Invasion of the GoGirls, Battle of the GoGirls and more. I feel so honored!

ROCK STAR MOMMY


I'm back from vacation feeling like I need a vacation! I'll be off to Oakland, CA in a few weeks to play with The Mydols at the Art & Soul Festival. In the meantime, I've been talking to some exciting people about new opportunities for The Mydols...and keeping my fingers crossed! I am also working (again) with the coolest graphic artist in the UNIVERSE, Adam Turman. He's a busy guy! I contacted him yesterday, about a brand new project I am working on, to do some artwork for me. Adam and I have worked on many Mydols' projects together and I have so much respect for him. I met Adam after he saw The Mydols on national TV (CBS Sunday Morning). He emailed me and I traded him a CD for a poster design. It was the best deal I ever made.

Friday, August 3, 2007

SAY HEY


Yesterday we left Bar Harbor, Maine. It has to be one of our favorite places in the U.S. We did a little hiking, swimming and, of course, lobster eating while we were there. We stayed in a little cottage overlooking the ocean.


We drove through New Hampshire and Vermont stopping at the Ben & Jerry's factory for some ice cream on the way and marveling at all the covered bridges. Today we went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York. John is member. He donated the "Cochrane Plan" in 1991 and it is in their archives. His official status is "donor" and they gave him a lifetime pass. The head librarian treated us to a behind-the-scenes tour of the library which was very cool. We got to go in vaults that only 12 people have access to. It was very interesting.

Tomorrow we are headed to Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

NEW COVER



Some changes to Rock Star Mommy...
The subtitle has been shortened from "Motherhood, Music and Life as a Rocker Mom" to just "My Life as a Rocker Mom". And now there is a little more me and the washing machine is gone and the background is a little lighter.
My agent Kate Epstein is going to be featured in an article and she has chosen my book (and cover) to accompany the story!