leftovers

Even though a lot of terrible things happened to a lot of people this year, I personally can't complain too much as I had a good year despite some major heartbreaks. The loss of my aunt Mary, and my collaborator Amy Crosby, were both extremely sad moments this past year. My hometown of Paradise, Kansas, suffered terrible floods in the spring, and then just a couple of weeks ago, catastrophic wildfires that destroyed many peoples' homes and livelihood. My ancestral home, the Stielow/Strecker farmstead, was one of the places decimated by fire. We had just all visited it following the celebration of life for my aunt Mary back in July. Having said all that, I had many great moments this year, if things were different due to the continuing pandemic. I got to spend time with my parents, niece and nephew several times throughout the year, including a great Thanksgiving trip together to Newport Coast. I was able to make it to the 4th annual Paradise Fall Festival to see my uncle Ronnie...

Since Amy passed away last month, I have been intent on archiving all the music, video, photos and files I have from our time together as Shitting Glitter. In addition to our two albums and one EP that have been available online and streaming services, we have so much more music that's currently out of print. I have hundreds of video tapes of our performances, and so many photos.  This week, we have finally made our 2004 single "R So" available again as a grey/purple 7" vinyl single - our only vinyl release to date. R So by Shitting Glitter   In 2003, many things changed for the early lineup of Shitting Glitter. While it had been formed by the nucleus of myself, Amy, and Von (who were a couple at the time), one day I got a phone call that rocked my world. When the dust settled, Amy and Von were split up, and my brother Brandon - who had "temporarily" come to LA to help us produce our debut album - was now in the band, and in a relationship with Amy. I did...

I met Amy Crosby in either late 2000 or early 2001, at a gay bar in the valley. I don't remember exactly which one, because I had seen her here and there at various Karaoke nights, where I had noticed her amazing ability to sound just like the artist she was emulating. Whether it was Cher, Alanis, Melissa Ethridge, or Traci Bonham, Amy would get up on stage and channel her inner diva. I think the first time I got up the courage to speak to her was at Apache in Studio City, which like many places I frequented in my twenties in Los Angeles, is no longer there. At the time she had her hair bleached blond and was adopting more of a "lipstick lesbian" persona, due to the fact that the "police were after her" after some sort of car accident or something. I thought, boy this girl is interesting! From the first moment we met she was telling me tall tales that seemed too incredible to be true, her (at the time) partner Von by her side, deadpan, not giving me any indicati...