Goat Family and 5 Cent Coffee play the Eagle Tavern

NEXT Thursday July 24th, 5 Cent Coffee will be performing at the historic Eagle Tavern in good ol' San Francisco CA! We are proud to be sharing the stage once again with our heroes The Goat Family as they kick off their pacific northwest tour! Also you will swoon to the extraterrestrial, PBS nature show sounds of Cheetahs on the Moon!

Its gonna be a hoot, so come on down! Yeeha!


Below is the skinny:

The Goat Family www.myspace.com/thegoatfamily
Cheetahs on the Moon www.myspace.com/ohmycheetahs
5 Cent Coffee www.myspace.com/fivecentcoffee

LIVE @
The Eagle Tavern
398 12th St.
San Francisco, CA

Thursday July 24th

9pm-ish

21+

$5 cover

breasts and boobies!

this sunday June 15, come on down to the Stork Club for the Festival of Breasts
you may see megan's from plasterkatz, and possibly mine... not to mention all the barbie doll boobs they have in that place. really weird, that barbie doll collection.
it's a bbq, and they generally have weird food in the back room, all free for you.

stork club, sunday june 15, on scenic telegraph avenue in oakland

hey come on down

it's tonight, it's oakland, it's FREE
and most of all, there will be BOOBIES!!!!!

Tom's words of wisdom

www.antilabelblog.com/

so ric prevailed and got tix to the Phoenix show... man oh man! so anti records put up this little gem today and it really makes a great read even if you're not a rabid tom waits fan... i've snipped my favorite bits below... go to the link to see the whole thing.
tom is the man.

TOM WAITS’ TRUE CONFESSIONS
(A conversation with himself)

Q: What’s the most curious record in your collection?
A: In the seventies a record company in LA issued a record called “The best of Marcel Marceau.” It had forty minutes of silence followed by applause and it sold really well. I like to put it on for company. It really bothers me, though, when people talk through it.

Q: What are some unusual things that have been left behind in a cloakroom?
A: Well, Winston Churchill was born in a ladies cloakroom and was one sixteenth Iroquois.

Q: List some artists who have shaped your creative life.
A: Okay, here are a few that just come to me for now: Kerouac, Dylan, Bukowski, Rod Serling, Don Van Vliet, Cantinflas, James Brown, Harry Belafonte, Ma Rainey, Big Mama Thorton, Howlin Wolf, Lead Belly, Lord Buckley, Mabel Mercer, Lee Marvin, Thelonious Monk, John Ford, Fellini, Weegee, Jagger, Richards, Willie Dixion, John McCormick, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Hoagy Carmichael, Eurico Caruso.



Q: What’s wrong with the world?
A: We are buried beneath the weight of information, which is being confused with knowledge; quantity is being confused with abundance and wealth with happiness. Leona Helmsley’s dog made 12 million last year… and Dean McLaine, a farmer in Ohio made $30,000. It’s just a gigantic version of the madness that grows in every one of our brains. We are monkeys with money and guns.


Q: Do you have words to live by?
A: Jim Jarmusch once told me “Fast, Cheap, and Good… pick two. If it’s fast and cheap it wont be good. If it’s cheap and good it won’t be fast. If it’s fast and good it wont be cheap.” Fast, cheap and good… pick (2) words to live by.

Q: What is on Hemmingway’s gravestone?
A: “Pardon me for not getting up.”


Q: What’s heaven for you?
A: Me and my wife on Rte. 66 with a pot of coffee, a cheap guitar, pawnshop tape recorder in a Motel 6, and a car that runs good parked right by the door.

domo arigato gozaimasssssssssssssssssssss

Ric's notes on our Japan trip will give you most everything you need to know, so I'll just try to fill in some details from my POV. Suffice it to say, our meager writings do not do justice to the feelings stirred by this experience… it was beyond anything I can explain. But here's my report:

First images of Tokyo were glimpses from the Narita Express far outside the walls of neon and ordered chaos that we would soon be immersed in. Once inside, cherry blossoms, strips of green, well tended pots of flowers and a river flowing gave the impression that nature was still important, even in the uber urban landscape of the tallest buildings and most incredible neon signage humans have created in this most populated place I've ever seen.

The cherry blossoms were glorious. Everything you've ever heard about Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan is true – it's gorgeous everywhere, in the city and in the countryside. Soft pink petals exploding everyplace, drifting on the breeze like magic snow, onto the river below our train as we whizzed to Shimokitazawa. As haggard as we were toting our heavy baggage through the labyrinth of Tokyo's subway system, I was still astounded by the beauty of the city and its people. So stylish they are in Tokyo. The style lately seems to be thigh high socks with very short skirts and shorts – and I'm not sure how they do it, but high heels. Pretty girls everywhere you looked --Yano, Aaron and Ric didn't mind at all ;-) – oh and the school girls. Whoooaaaa. I couldn't believe how cute they were – and in Tokyo proper, if you looked closely at their socks… they were all wearing Playboy Bunny logo socks—kind of hotly wrong.

Yano-san, the true hero of our story, was bemused by the largesse of Aaron's bass case, and this trunk of ours that contained, among other things, an 18 pound chain, a bucket, kazoos, washboard and my accordion. Immediately he guessed the thing harbored the chain, and made a motion about the heaviness of it and tried to take it from me in true gentleman fashion. The look was priceless when he discovered exactly how onerous that thing was. We all hated it. There's nothing quite like heaving a steamer trunk weighing 80lbs up and down stairs, escalators and navigating through 34 million people at Shinjuku station.

After a couple days of that we all vowed to destroy it in horrible ways, take photos like a snuff film and send them to Yano. How we explained all that to him, I don't know, but somehow between the English words he knew, the Japanese words that I was constantly looking up in the hon (book), and hilarious games of charades – we all understood each other pretty well and even had really deep conversations.

A note on names: we opted to use our stage names so we constantly introduced ourselves: watashi wa spitshine, doodles, and slick. or Watashi wa go cento cohee for 5 Cent Coffee.But the "les" portion of doodles stumped the Japanese tongue -- so I became doo doo. Yeah, really funny -- and with the term of endearment added -- Yano dubbed me "DooDoo-chan" and that's what everyone's called me for two weeks. I've gotten pretty used to it now.

Yano is an amazing musician and all around terrific guy who seems to know everyone in Japan who is interested in, or plays American roots music, and apparently was pretty central in starting the roots music scene in Koenji. We witnessed some pretty amazing music, all styles from gypsy jazz, jug band, ukulele, swing, blues, psycho billy and everything in between – umpteen jazz standards and traditional old American songs, from Que Sera Sera to Paper Moon, all performed flawlessly in Japanese with soul and true artistry and creativity (one band we saw had a tap dancing washboard player and also had a girl that could play the melodica with one hand while she played the piano with the other! The psycho billy band had a bass player that did the slap style so fast all of our jaws dropped – especially Aaron's)

I was amazed by the people. They have to deal with a lot of hardship (not having any room to practice, sometimes no place to bathe), but still they are so enthusiastic, genuine and generous to a fault. Gift giving was extreme – people were really touched by us, and when we returned the favor and gave a gift, we literally were faced with such emotion and real tears in people's eyes that our hearts were full. One night at our Moonstomp residency, one girl started chatting with me excitedly after the show and had me sign her CD (that's the other thing, the Japanese are really into souvenirs and having you sign things – it was pretty fun to be hounded for autographs) and showed me that she had on our Tshirt, and I thanked her profusely over and over for how kind she was to buy both things, but then she gave me a gift – a small postcard with a piece of Japanese art on it. I was floored that.


Later on, I saw her again and presented her with one of Jessica's hair flowers and demonstrated how she could clip it on to her hair, or her blouse. And said, "Gift. For you." She held it in her hands and literally burst into tears and threw her arms around me. She came back the next night wearing the flower and in fact came to our last show in Tokyo at the Son House, wearing it again. And that's just one example – so many people were so gracious and beautiful in that way.

We were honored and touched again and again by their generous hearts and amazed by their virtuoso playing. And not one superego among them – no one had attitude at all, though they would certainly deserve to, given their ability musically. But instead, they loved Yano, their scene and just plain enjoyed playing together. The end of night jam sessions were usually called by Yano – and he generally wanted to keep it to two or three songs, though we broke that rule in Osaka and showed everyone how long an American session can go, when you're playing glassware and spilling beer and people are drunk and dancing.


The streets of Koenji and Shimokitazawa, the two neighborhoods in Tokyo we spent most of our time in, are narrow and lined with shops of all kinds, 2nd hand and vintage clothing, little ramen shops and weird amalgamations of western food done Japanese style – and the bars. So many bars; tiny little places with some sort of western theme and usually oddly named in English – stores were like that too, one was called Rinky Dink Studio. There's a fascination with fireman and paramedic wear – there was a whole store dedicated to American police, fireman and other professional wear from those professions and tee shirts with graphics from fire and police stations.

One of the most fun afternoons we had was shopping in Koenji and south Asagaya, on our last day, where with Yano's help I was able to get two beautiful 2nd hand silk kimonos and obis – truly a magical experience, the elderly shop keeper had me put it on and showed how to tie the obi, but there's no way we'll be able to replicate the crazy maneuvers she went through again. In an alley off Koenji street we sat at a little yakitori shack and had beer and grilled skewers of liver, chicken skin, a mystery patty and other more recognizable things. It was like being on the set of BladeRunner – the narrowness of the street, cooking outside, the lean -to look of the place. Yano also took us to his favorite 99 yuen store and we collected a few things to take home.

The funniest store name I saw was actually in Okayama, a drug store called "Love Drugs" – which made us all double over laughing as we sat near a city canal in a park drinking our favorite beer "ajiwai" which was 9.9% alcohol, and sipping some suntory times from a can.

Okayama and Osaka were a blur, but I really dug Osaka – the local specialty is a kind of seafood pancake made from octopus, squid, pork and egg called Okonomiyaki. And it's AWESOME. Aaron picked out a place very near to Bar Pow Wow where we ate from a Teppan grill right in front of us. Tasty!

Staying in the love hotel that night was pretty hilarious – like a shabby vegas brothel, condoms and porn on channel one. We joked with Yano about channel one, and the boys immediately set about plans for a Channel one blues song. Sadly, all the good parts are pixilated in Japanese porn. But that bathroom!

Japanese bathing is a true art. Brilliant even, at least, when you get it. At the Onsen we went to in Tskuba there were saunas and mineral baths and they even gave you little pajamas for when you're done to sit in the sleeping room on a recliner. The Japanese believe in a bathing stool which you sit on to really get the grime off with a handheld nozzle and soap they provide, which I noted was very gentle – you could even remove false eyelash glue and a pound of eyeliner with it. Then, when you're clean and your hair is washed – you can then climb into the tub full of hot water and relax. Sublime! This set up is imitated in a smaller way in hotels and in private homes or apartments (if they can afford the space – Yuko had such an apartment for instance). Showers don't exist like they do in America. In Japan – it's the tub and the bathing stool with the handheld squirter. But I must say, it's a very civilized way to get clean.

Japanese toilets are an interesting phenomenon also – they're either traditional (meaning a hole in the ground you squat over) or western. But the western ones are magnificent devices with warm seats, music and different bidet settings. We spent many happy times on great toilet seats in Japan – especially great if you haven't gotten to go to the onsen in a while – you can practically shower in the toilet. One of the funnier things is the setting on the seats (at least in womens bathrooms) for masking your farts or poop noises – seriously, they had that in the nicer department stores and at Shinjuku station.

Train bathrooms were not as nice, but they did provide you with seat sanitizer wipes – which make a whole hell of a lot more sense than the silly paper seat covers we have in America. What a waste of paper, when if you just disinfect it – you've cleaned it off instead of absorbing the muck and then trying to sit upon it. A lot of Japanese things made much sense to me. The bidet for instance – I got hooked on those in Italy and was pleased to have two weeks in Japan to use 'em. Ric and I are considering the purchase of a Japanese toilet seat – he actually priced them. Ah, soon, we shall have sublimely clean sphincters all the time!

Anyhow, I digress on Japanese cleanliness… mostly we were foul and dirty drunks, draggin' ourselves to the next show. Just like we like it. Boy can the Japanese hold their liquor. We mostly held forth, but they don't seem to need any sleep. It was amazing. We even slept in a bar on our last night in Tokyo! But the show was worth it.

The last night was absolutely amazing. We could do no wrong – everyone was loving it, and we had incredible guest musicians sitting in for stuff. We performed the most fabulous Devil Woman ever -- Ryoma from Lightning Stacks played a mean harmonica and made it sound so sweet. Yano played slide blues on his banjo for October – and then we all howled on St. James Infirmary. It was priceless.

Then we went out for ramen (I had, unintentially, Hokkaido style, which was like a swimming pool of ramen). I had some great conversation walking over there with Yasu and Pippo. Ahhh. Our last bowl of ramen.

Ramen is a pretty serious thing in Japan. And we had our share. This last bowl was as tasty as the first we'd had, and I was happy to share with the banjo player we played with the last night – who had mentioned to Aaron that he had just paid his rent and probably wouldn't be able to eat for the next week. After all the generosity shown to us be these kind people, that choked me up.

We're going to work on getting Yano and Yuko to come out in August for the SF Jugband Festival, and get them other gigs around it to try to return the enormous favor and incredible generosity that they demonstrated by hosting us in Japan. It was moving and heartfelt, on the platform of Shinjuko as we boarded our last train back to the airport, Kumai breaking into his best English and trying to be so formal, but we could all feel it – Yano gave us all bear hugs and all three of us had tears in our eyes as the train sped away and we waved frantically through the glass.

Sugoy. Nippon ai shite ru!
San birru kudasai… Compai!

(Wow, do I ever love Japan - 3 beers please -- Cheers!)

hey we're in the paper today!

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi

junkyard blues on saturday night?

Hey Kids,
5 Cent Coffee is raring to go to Japan (a 10 date tour, we leave in April!), but before we go, we're very excited to be back at the Downtown Restaurant and Bar in the lovely town of Berkeley this Saturday March 22nd. We'll be playing 2 full sets from 9-11pm. The food is delicious and the staff is top notch, so come on down and have some dinner with us and perhaps a fine alcoholic beverage! All ages show, since it's a restaurant!

*Also Look out for a feature on 5 Cent Coffee in the 96 Hours section of the SF Chronicle this Thursday!* Grab us a copy!

Here's the show Skinny:
5 Cent Coffee
LIVE @
Downtown Bar and Restaurant
2102 Shattack
Berkeley, California 94704
Saturday March 22nd
9-11pm (2 full sets)

No Cover! And...since it's a restaurant, you don't have to be 21!

Hope to ya'll there!

-Spitshine, Doodles, and Slick


--
"Red meat and gin."
--Julia Child's secret to longevity

Neo Skiffle Junk Yard Blues!
www.fivecentcoffee.com
www.myspace.com/fivecentcoffee
tribes.tribe.net/5centcoffee

come on down and help us out!

Hey Kids,

Here at 5 Cent Coffee headquarters, we've got a whole hog-pen of things cooking, all over Northern California this coming weekend... and the following weekend we ESPECIALLY need your help on March 22nd!

First, on Saturday March 15th we are thrilled to return to the beautiful town of Sutter Creek to support the fabulous Dave Hanley Band (feat. the legendary Romona Howe on fiddle). That's all going down at a little bar called Tilley's (info below)

Next, on Sunday March 16th we will be playing live on the air at OzCat Radio in Vallejo on the Mike Vinyl Show! We should be on the air around 1pm to play a few songs and have an interview with Mike. We can also have a studio audience, so feel free to swing on by! (the station is about 3 blocks away from 5 Cent Coffee HQ, so there will be a post show Cervesa or two on our porch I'm sure.) If you are close enough, tune your radio to: 1670 AM or you can listen online at: www.ozcatradio.com/

Sunday evening March 16th we will be heading on down to San Francisco for a "Pre-St. Paddys Show" at the Plough and Stars! We are proud to be sharing the bill with our wonderful and talented home-dogs: The Goat Family! It's an early show, from 6-9pm. So don't be late. No cover! Drink Beer! Chase Snakes!

Nextly, and here's where we need help: We're playing at the Downtown Supper Club in Berkeley on March 22nd. There's no cover, but it'd be great if you got a table and ordered some food. We need a lot of friendly fans to turn out for this one - cause they're really expecting us to bring out some folks. The pressure's on, argh!

Hope to see you and one or more of these fine fine venues this weekend - or save it up and come on out to the Downtown Bar in Berkeley!

Here's the skinny:
Dave Hanley Band - davehanleymusic.com
5 Cent Coffee
LIVE @
Tilley's Club
18 W Main St,
Ione,CA (in Gold Country)

Saturday March 15th
9pm
FREE SHOW!!

-------->
5 Cent Coffee
LIVE on the Air @
OzCat Radio (1670 AM) www.ozcatradio.com/
1104 Georgia St,
Vallejo, CA 94590

Sunday March 16th
1pm-ish
ALL AGES
FREE!!!

-------->
5 Cent Coffee
The Goat Family - www.myspace.com/thegoatfamily
LIVE @
Plough and Stars
116 Clement Street at 2nd Avenue,
San Francisco, CA

Sunday March 16th
6pm - 9pm
FREE SHOW!!!


Most Important! <--------- and hey, getting a table is kosher for those under 21
Saturday March 22nd
Downtown Supper Club
2102 Shattuck ave. @ Addison Ave
Berkeley CA 94704
9-11pm No Cover, but get a table and order some food!

over and out,
Doodles, Spitshine and Slick
--
"Red meat and gin."
--Julia Child's secret to longevity
www.fivecentcoffee.com
www.myspace.com/fivecentcoffee
tribes.tribe.net/5centcoffee

congrats to heather and misha - whoa vegas!

some favorite moments:
everyone wearing the hotel robes around like we were in some kind of cult
rey's best man speech which made ric verclempt, and watching misha's face when he realized rey was being serious
heather and misha's genuine love
the bathtub
seeing 'o' through ric's eyes - and scotch
the ending of 'o' always makes me cry -- the image of the piano being submerged is just too beautiful for words; the fire and the water, the ritual of the show
julie's dress! she looked like a warrior mermaid. amazing. wish we could have hung out more!
dinner at circo - venison chops and duck
playing roulette until 4am with ric
going to pool en masse
the VIP lounge where the nice man would make us a coffee cup full of scotch
the buffet sun morning. whoa. prime rib for breakfast?
5 whore stud! the best game ever

happy mardi gras!

ap.google.com/article/ALe...yfwD8UK8FIO0
laissez le bon temp roulez everybody
i wish i was in new orleans

that is all. :-)