We took a long, hot drive up to Sacramento today to hit up some out-of-town thrift stores...I really need a train case for the tour van as well as some new baseball pants since I ripped the knee out of mine last weekend. We totally, totally scored. Damn.

Check out this rad Captain & Tennille postcard I found at this weird little hole-in-the-wall store. The only reason we even found the place was 'cause there were a couple teenage girls standing on the corner with a handmade sign which read "Thrift Store Sale ------>." So, we turned, parked, and were introduced to a treasure trove of 1970's junk. Wait 'til I take some photos of our Coors bottle glasses. Truly rad.

Only the luckiest of my postcard penpals will get this one. The upcoming entertainemnt on the back includes The Osmonds, Lou Rawls, Natalie Cole, Merle Haggard, Sister Sledge, Crystal Gale, Loretta Lynn (who would have thought?), Neil Sedaka, and Tony Orlando (sans Dawn?).

When we got home, I could not, for the life of me, think of a single Captain & Tenille song. So I downloaded their biggest hit, "Love Will Keep Us Together," and I swear I've never heard that song in my life. Miss Rodeo America on the other hand instantly started clapping and singing along. I'm going to assume that I grew up in a household with good taste, although I know this is not altogether true.

I did, however, find out that the Captain of the duo (Daryl Dragon, dig) is so named because he used to be a touring musician with the Beach Boys, and Mike Love started calling him Captain 'cause he always wore a yachting cap onstage. And that, my friends, is when you know that BLCKYLLWBLCK has hit rock bottom, we're talking about 70's cheese duos and Wham! is the MP3 of the week.

Uh, uhm, yeah. Go stream the summer mix!

(click here to stream the mix!)

Ah, finally. A summer mimi-mix, and the 10th in my minimix series over the past couple of years. This one runs the gamut of stuff I listen to, from Western Swing to Pop Vocal stuff, Blues, Guilty-Pleasure 80's New Wave, Seventies Rock N' Roll, and even a plug for our new record. Drop this onto your iPod and hit to road, 'cause I'll be doing the same.

(Thanks to Ryan @ The Catbirdseat for the streaming audio help. Go check out his excellent July MP3 mix for more goodies)

I love summertime, which is why I'm both excited and bummed today. I leave for tour next week, so I'll be travelling the country playing music, but also missing out on all the fun Oakland activities: barbecues, softball (or "mossball"), porch-b-ques, dinner trips to SF, jacuzzis, swimming in the city, wine country visits, all of it. Sigh.

Today's the day I should have / would have posted some weekend photos (including the hot tubbing / steak eating trip to my Mom's house on saturday), but I instead opted to catch a ride up to the Napa Valley to go wine tasting. Well, I tasted wines at once place, then at lunch, then fell asleep in the car (sorry ch!). I'm in love with this stuff called Maderia, which is part port and part brandy, and the next time someone gives me $37 I'm driving back to buy a bottle. Yummmmmmmy!

New MP3 of the week. Ha ha. It's a long story, but this song reminds me a lot of Mexico. Love it!