Gramps Just Makes S#!T Up
Americana and folk music singer-songwriter showcase, Gramps' humor, and mostly true historical and science-related trivia. Maybe a bit of myth-busting. Any imparted wisdom is strictly by accident.
Gramps Just Makes S#!T Up
Aireene Espiritu: Color Coded Symphony
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Just in time for Christmas, singer-songwriter Aireene Espiritu is our featured guest. She shares her origin story and the motivation that drives to her help heal our world through music.
She was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States at 10 years old, growing up in the third culture: the old country, the new country and a blend of both worlds. Mainly influenced by listening to Alan Lomax's field recordings from the South and growing up listening to her uncles' Filipino folk guitar fingerpicking, her music is reminiscent of front porch storytelling, of ghosts and the living, times of laughter and tears. She tours solo as well as with her band as Aireene & The Itch.
Her fifth album, Back Where I Belong (2016), pays tribute to the great rhythm and blues artist Sugar Pie DeSanto. Also included are her favorite American and Filipino folk songs produced produced by Little Village Foundation, a non-profit label founded by venerable blues keyboardist Jim Pugh. The album has received positive recognition and reviews from KQED's The California Report, San Francisco Chronicle, Living Blues and No Depression magazines. 4.5 out of 5 stars review All About Jazz.
A Color-Coded Symphony is her latest project which premiered at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum in 2017. This performance piece is a musical experience connecting the audience’s ethnic origins to rhythms of the world and whose aim is to nurture curiosity and openness towards other cultures through music.
We also hear from Tom Smyth, the co-host of St. Nick of Niles, an annual music event that he, along with singer-songwriter Michael McNevin, have created for the last 12 years to benefit the City of Fremont's "Giving Hope" program.
A Questionable Podcast Production of Peaches Patio Presents
You're listening to Gramps Just Make Shit Up.
SPEAKER_00You should listen to This Make Gramps. I got a song I wanna sing.
SPEAKER_03And it's full of Well, hey there. Thank you for joining us in this episode of Gramps Just Make Shit Up. I'm your host, Lou Cunio, but you have my permission to call me Gramps. This podcast is dedicated to learning more about the singer-songwriters that I admire. I've learned that singer-songwriters are really interesting people. They have their stories, they have their talent, and they put their stories and their talent together and make beautiful music for all of us to enjoy. In this episode, we'll learn more about Irene Espiritu. After listening to Irene's story and a bit of her music, I think you'll agree that she is really cool. She is very generous with her time and talents. Hey, she spent well over an hour just talking to this old man. We're also going to learn about an event that's coming up here in Niles, California, not too far from my home, called Saint Nick of Niles. A nice young fellow by the name of Tom Smythe, one of the co-hosts of the event, will tell us more about that. So let's get this party started.
Gramps Joke (argh)
SPEAKER_03So JD, grandson number two, comes to me the other day and asked me if I could make a sound like a frog. I looked at him and I go, why would I do that? So he responds very earnestly that Grandma told him that we would be getting a larger house with a big backyard and maybe even a swimming pool. As soon as Gramps croaks.
SPEAKER_00Oh Gramps, did you make that up?
Aireene Espiritu - Part 1
SPEAKER_01Hi Lou.
SPEAKER_03Hey there, young lady. How are you?
SPEAKER_01I am good. How are you?
SPEAKER_03I'm doing very well. Why don't you just introduce yourself?
SPEAKER_01I'm Irena Spiritu, based in Oakland, California. Uh I've been making music full-time since for well, full-time for 10 years now, and full-time home free until last year when the pandemic hit. And I'm now I have an apartment now in Oakland. I play Americana, mix of everything. And uh I have a project called Color-Coded Symphony, and the aim is to encourage curiosity to other cultures using music.
SPEAKER_03I was wondering if you could tell me your earliest memory of music in your life.
SPEAKER_01Oh yes. Um can I give you two answers?
SPEAKER_03Of course.
SPEAKER_01The first answer is I I grew up with music, you know, Filipinos love to sing. And so my my uncles, my two uncles actually got me, or were the ones that were a huge influence in music for me. They have records and they have they play guitar and they would always, you know, have a guitar on hand. And whenever there's a family gathering, they would always pull it out. And uh they showed me, you know, Filipino folk songs, and the whole family would sing along. So that's my first influence. And uh number two, the first sign how much I love music was when I first moved to the US, we lived with my auntie and uncle and and their and their kids in Dumont, New Jersey. And I found this cassette in their basement, and it was, of course, I'm gonna forget the name now. Uh it was the entertainer and the tape of the entertainer. And what what's the name of the guy now? Scott Joplin. And I didn't know what it was. I'd have never heard of Scott Joplin before. And I stuck the cassette on the player and the entertainer came on. And I swear that's the only song I remember from that cassette. I played it over and over and over. And every time you play it, you know, as you know, listening to songs, you you unravel another layer of the music. And I became so addicted to it. So that was my first indication that I I of how much uh music was a part of me. And yeah, and then I took uh flute was my my first instrument, official instrument. I dabbled in guitar because of my uncles before that, but I wasn't any good on the guitar. But yeah, so that was my first experiences with music.
SPEAKER_03And having a musical family clearly veg your interest even further. Have you stayed in touch with the family in the Philippines that got you started on your journey?
SPEAKER_01Oh, yes. So they are here, most of them are here now. I do have uh my aunt and and her family there, but most of my uncles are here and aunties, uh, they're all here. We don't really get together as much anymore. They're all in California, fortunately, but um somehow, you know, the the nieces and nephews and everybody kind of have their own family, and so it's harder to get everybody together. So it's not as much as growing up.
SPEAKER_03Well, you mentioned lute was your first instrument because you uh have stringed instruments in your life and in your photographs. So how did the flute happen?
SPEAKER_01Well, uh, so in the school, the public school that I went to, you were as you were supposed to take an instrument, take up an instrument, and somehow I got the flute and I loved it. I absolutely loved playing, and I thought I was good at it, but then when my parents found their bearings and they got jobs after we moved here, we moved to Yonkers, New York, from Dumont, New Jersey, and they didn't have any flute instructors there, and it wasn't a requirement to take up an instrument at the private school I attended. So I kind of lost my flute classes, which I was really sad about. I really wanted to continue. But what stuck with me were, you know, the some knowledge of music, fifth grade knowledge of music at the time. So yeah, I haven't I stopped. Uh I uh I only played it for uh I guess however long I was in that public school, a year, a year or so. But something stuck in during that time in me. So I'm grateful for that.
SPEAKER_03Well, the guitar and the ukulele seem to be part of who you are as I know you, and of course it's been a very short time. How did you pick up the guitar then?
SPEAKER_01So the guitar, I so my uncle taught me because my fingers were small, they still are, I guess. My my uncle taught me how to play the guitar using one string, you know, the the E, the high E. So I just knew I didn't know chords, I knew, you know, note one note at a time. And then I took a guitar class in during college, and I really sucked at it. I was frustrated because I just couldn't hit, you know, the bar chords. I'm like, ah, and then my I had a really crappy guitar that my uncle gave me, and it was heavy and it kept going out of tune, and I didn't know what was in tune. And so I gave up on the guitar for a long time. And then I was watching the movie The Jerk, where Steve Martin picks up the ukulele and plays, you know, you know that uh you belong to me. And I thought, oh, I can, I can, I want to get look into that. So I bought this cheap used. This is before the everyone got into ukuleles. I got this cheap Soprano ukulele airline brand, which is what they used to sell at Montgomery Wards. And I just got hooked. I mean, I played that thing so much. I went it, it was it was with me in bed. I played it till I fell asleep. And then I, you know, I then I thought, okay, I now I I love this. What is the sound that resonates with me more? And I found my tenor ook, my Martin tenor ook. Oh, I just said blame it on the jerk.
SPEAKER_03We'll give Steve Martin credit.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_03Well, first of all, shame on me for saying ukulele, because I know very well it's ukulele.
SPEAKER_01Oh, thank you.
SPEAKER_03Well, listen, getting back to instruments, which one of the instruments that you play do you think expresses you the best?
SPEAKER_01Uh I would say the guitar. At some point it was my my tenor ook, but uh I think now uh maybe only because it's I can hear more of the sounds that I want to come out through the guitar. Uh I mean there are some songs that belong on the ukulele only, I think. It doesn't come out, it doesn't translate well on guitar, but overall I think I use the I've been using the guitar my guitar more.
SPEAKER_03And you got that F chord down?
SPEAKER_01Yes, finally, after years of practice. I mean, I I know I said earlier in my intro, I I've been doing it full time for 10 years, but really I've been doing it for you know 20 something years, you know, but I I've had other jobs in the meantime, but really full-on uh for the past 10 years.
SPEAKER_03It's fascinating how much ground you cover with your music. I was uh of course, I watch your Facebook and your posts and and uh the social media that lets us know, those of those who want to hear your music, let us know where you're gonna be. And and my goodness, you are all over the West Coast here up in at least but northern California, and thinking, how many miles do you have on your vehicle? Or um you have a helicopter?
SPEAKER_01Well, I you know, I just inherited this car. I had a Prius before that, which was reaching uh, I think maybe almost 250, 260 a thousand miles, but it finally broke down. And by coincidentally, I inherited this car from my father right when the other one died. And so the timing just worked out fortunately for me. So between that and this car, I haven't checked the mileage on this one. Well, I didn't travel much last year, so um Right.
SPEAKER_03Nobody did. Yeah. But I tell you what, you made the best out of an uncomfortable, bad situation with everybody being tied to their homes with the use of social media and and the uh the online. Uh, I really love the uh the the music that you wrote with the 10 words that were donated uh from many of your followers.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Um but I'd really like to talk more about the color-coded symphony. I think that just fascinates me. Thank you. Uh what's the origin story?
SPEAKER_01Well, it's you know, based on experience myself, just having experienced racism from various levels, uh, some people we know, some some organizationally, and straight some from strangers. And so at some point I thought, wouldn't it be nice if we can address racist racism through music? Because that's at the heart of most, almost everyone listens to music, and almost everyone gets touched by music. And I wish that that people were blind in a sense that we don't get judged by the way we look, by but just by the heart, you know, what their energy. And uh it was just something in my mind, wouldn't it be nice, you know? And we would we we would put people, mus musicians on stage, or we'd turn the lights off and just play music people in person listening to music in the dark. So I had a gig at the Asian Art Museum under the Little Village Foundation uh label. We uh did a tribute to Shigapai DeSantis. So we were playing her music, and I was speaking to the person who was in charge of the education program who did these shows and uh events at the museum. And somehow I just told her about this idea of mine, just kind of out of the blue as part of the conversation, not expecting anything. And, you know, I thought, well, maybe someday I'll do something in five years or that somewhere that along. And she says, Well, I have an opening in nine months here at the museum. The date is yours.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. So I thought, oh, well, how could I say no? Right. So I said, Yes, of course. So I had nine months to put something together that I hadn't even written down on paper. So it evolved into this three, uh, I've only done it twice because you know it requires funding and musicians. And so it's a three-part program. The first part is in the dark, and we give everyone bandana so you can wear the bandana or just close your eyes. And we play familiar and unfamiliar sounds. For example, a lullaby in different languages, a familiar lullaby in different languages, or like some percussive strange sound or something like that. And then this part two will be you can turn the lights on, and um part two will be a featured country, music from a featured country. So far, I've done Philippines and uh India. And then the third part is where the audience, I asked the audience to write down their ethnic origin on a piece of paper and I put it all in a jar. And uh, for the third part, I will pick from that jar and uh whatever ethnic origin I read, I will play an audio clip. I gathered audio from most of the countries around the world. I I worked with an ethnomusicologist who provided this. So I would play 30 seconds from that, and then the band will create a brand new piece improvised, inspired by that audio from the audience, uh, from the audience's ethnic origin. So I've only done it twice, so it's quickly, you know, it's changing here and there, depending on how how I want it to be better or how I want it to present it. And so far I've gotten a good response. And I want to keep it going. So I'm looking into grants and I would love to take it to schools and cultural centers, and it's but it's a big thing for one little engine like me. So I'm just doing what I can to keep it going. So it's but it's overwhelming, but it's rewarding once it's out there. It's just I get so excited. I feel like all my experiences, all my life, including my day jobs, have brought me to this project. So I think it's one of those things I feel like I was meant to do, you know, in this on this planet. So I'm already working on funding for the next round, hopefully by the end of this year. As you know, you know about the California Arts Council fellowship I applied to.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that was uh, and you'll be hearing from them, is it by September?
SPEAKER_01Uh hopefully. I um I actually also I forgot about this, but I applied to be a reviewer. So I'm also involved in being one of the panelists for the other categories. So that's wow, yeah, it's it's a really cool opportunity. Um anyway, but it's it's a good experience for me also to connect with the arts community. I think my focus now, now that we're back starting to come back, opening up everywhere, I am not gonna be on the road as much. It's I think we're all kind of finding our new way of being uh in our day-to-day. And I think for me, I I want to connect more with the local community and seeing what I can do here. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, God, I want to ask you so many questions about that, but we could probably take those offline. But is the color-coded symphony project part of an organization, like a foundation or some way to find benefactors or you know, people that are in besides the state government that are into the kind of support that you might need to continue this?
SPEAKER_01I think I want to take it there at some point. Right now, it's just me as an individual, individual artist, but my goal is to take it there to the next level. And I I think after the whole process of the uh California Arts Council Fellowship is over, I'm I'm looking into the fiscal sponsorship so that way I can get more funding as far as more grants. And uh again, it's a whole new, it's like another full-time job.
SPEAKER_03Well, it is. Anybody who has had a great idea for a foundation to you know make the world a better place for whatever cause, they learn very quickly this it's not as easy as it looks. That's right. There's legal issues, there's financial issues, yeah, there's all kinds of things in the background that people just sort of take for granted. But uh so true. So the Little Village, I delved into them a little bit, and they're a support as an organization of the uh color-coded symphony, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah. In many in many ways. They a lot of the people that are part of the organization are the musicians and the color-coded symphony band. So yeah, they're a big part of it. And also the connections I found are some of them are through the Little Village Foundation because their their goal is to go out and look for artists that they believe need deserve a wider audience. And and some of those are, you know, different kinds of music you may not necessarily hear uh or have easy access to. So um, so yeah, so I've I've tapped into the the roster, like Aki Kumar. He was number two uh uh on the on our show, uh, which brought in Manesh Judge, who played Tabla. And uh yeah, so everyone check out Aki Kumar. And uh yeah, I mean it's all I think it's all a network of you know musicians and community. Um and luckily here in the Bay Area, there's so much diversity here that I can tap into. Um so I'm grateful for that.
SPEAKER_03Yes, the right time, right place, right?
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_03So um you had mentioned uh uh on a couple of your uh the writings on um the different websites, you had mentioned uh people like Alan Lomax as an influence. Did I get the name right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, that's right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and thank you for turning me on to him. Uh what a pioneer he was in so many ways. Um and the and the uh the sort of the breadth and depth of the music that he was able to capture. Um has uh and you mentioned, I think, in in one of your uh bios that he was an influence, or not he himself, but the the music that he captured was a uh sort of an influence on some of the work that you you find yourself doing. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
SPEAKER_01Sure. I think one thing that drew me to his recordings, well, first of all, I didn't know anything about him until um I was just in a bookstore and the book fell off the shelf. I don't know what I don't know what threw it off the shelf, but it just fell off the shelf in front of me, and it was the land where the blues began. And it was, you know, an Alan Lomax book which talks about the musicians from the south and the Delta. And so I had started looking into it. And I also at the time, I think at the time, my timing is really off. I was dating a blues guitarist. And so between his that book and uh this guy I was dating, I was got into the blues more, and but what drew to me, drew me to him more was the stories, you know, which I I grew up with my uncles playing the guitar and uh you know, singing and all that, and and it was about just uh people playing in their because they're not because they want to be a musician, but because they they're singing the blues, they're singing their lives. And uh and it I related to it uh on a personal level because of my families and just singing on the street, you know, in our living room. And uh some of his other recordings, not just uh beyond the South, was from all over the world. He recorded people, women, you know, workers, just kind of like, you know, weaving things uh and to the rhythm to keep the work going and keep time going. And um, so I really resonated with that. Um before color-coded, the official color-coded symphony, I started recording people in their uh in their homes just recording their their music, you know, pe songs that they grew up with or songs, folk songs. Uh so I kind of like it gave me the idea to do that. And so I that was kind of like the pre-color-coded symphony um project or path, whatever you want to call it. Um so I forgot where I was going with this. What was I talking about?
SPEAKER_03We're just talking about well, I'm following you.
SPEAKER_01COVID brain.
SPEAKER_03I'd like to step away from our
Giving Hope - Tom Smyth
SPEAKER_03interview with Irene for just a few moments and introduce a fine gentleman by the name of Tom Smythe. Tom is going to be telling us about an event that is coming up on Sunday, December the 12th, 2021, right here in Niles, California. The event is called Saint Nick of Niles. And guess what? Irene is going to be playing there live. So if you happen to be in the neighborhood, please come by and hear Irene and 15 to 20 other talented singer-songwriters. It's going to be fun. Let's hear from Tom. Hi, Tom. Tell us a little bit about the Saint Nick of Niles.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I'd be happy to. St. Nick's of Niles is kind of a loose knit group of local community members that likes to do good for the community. Our little uh town of Niles, which is in Fremont. We're actually a district, but we like to think of ourselves as a separate island almost because we are a distinct area in Fremont. But we started out about a dozen years ago, and we were looking for things to enrich our community and started out with my good friend Michael McNevin, myself, and then we added a few people along the way, and we saw this cause and kind of attached ourselves to it, and the rest is history.
SPEAKER_03Well, Tom, tell us a little bit about who the beneficiaries and the good work that you and your colleagues are doing.
SPEAKER_02Certainly. Any of the monies raised, whether it's cash donations, gift cards, things of that nature, go directly to the City of Fremont's human services department. They have a program called Giving Hope. And their social workers have people in the uh Tri Cities area that they help out in various ways with housing. They have an urgent needs fund around the holidays. They provide gift baskets and you know, things like that to their. Clients and it's worked out really well. They've been doing this for a lot longer than St. Nick's of Niles has been raising funds for them. I think they're going on close to 30 years now, but it's a very well-run department within the city.
SPEAKER_03Wow, that sounds very cool. And of course, this time of year is a great time for people to not just have the benefit of helping others when they can, but I understand there's a considerable amount of entertainment that is going to be offered to people. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
SPEAKER_02I'd be happy to. And I'm very excited about this. We have arranged somewhere between 15 and 20 musical acts, primarily indie folk musicians, but they've agreed to come in to our live venue, and we'll also have an online component to this concert. And they are donating their time to do a performance, what they do best. I mean, they're all accomplished artists in their own right. So it's very entertaining for the audience. And the musicians that come in and perform for the benefit, they get something from it too. It's basically the joy of giving and sharing their craft with a larger community.
SPEAKER_03Wow, that's a lot of entertainment for uh one day. Can you give us uh the details? What is the day and the time and the location of the event?
SPEAKER_02Certainly. Well, it's coming up rapidly. This is slated for Sunday, December 12th. We're going to go from 2 p.m. to approximately 7, maybe 8 o'clock. We don't necessarily expect people to stay the entire time. They can drop in as they like. If they want to stay the whole time, they can. But this is going to be at one of our local community activists' home, uh a gentleman named Bruce Cates and his uh wonderful wife, Lorna Janes. They live at the end of 2nd Street in Niles. Anyone that knows Niles knows where this is located. I think this venue is going to work out great. And of course, a lot of the neighbors will be within the audience. It will be recorded on Facebook as well as Zooms. And we're going to have some remote performers as well. Michael McNevin, who's an artist extraordinaire, just to kind of survive the last year and a half, has really mastered the technology that makes this available to a wider audience.
SPEAKER_03That sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah. Well, Tom, I know I'm going to be seeing you down there at the end of 2nd Street. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
SPEAKER_02Well, yes, thank you. You know, we really all can change the world, but when you think about it, the change really comes from changes and making a difference in our own communities. And that's what really fuels my desire to uh to do this. And I and I also have to say, you know, even as the economy improves, many in our area and the tri-cities, they could just use a little extra help this year because they're having difficulty making ends meet. We service adults on fixed incomes. They constantly are stretching their dollars just to live. I mean, there's all kinds of needs out there. So when you give a donation to Giving Hope, whether it's directly to the city or through Saint Nick's of Niles this holiday season, you're really helping your neighbors. That's a real big deal. You can uh donate via PayPal. Very simple address. It's uh paypal.me forward slash giving hope 2021. And that's probably the easiest way to do it. We also have a donation site down at the Nile Cafe. Uh, we have an old decorated mailbox down there. People can submit donations there as well. And then, of course, at the concert, we'll have the donation baskets going around. And so we've tried to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved in this
Aireene Espiritu - "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"
SPEAKER_02uh in this benefit.
SPEAKER_03Well, Tom, that was very well put, and I really appreciate you telling us all about it. We'll see you there.
SPEAKER_02Thank you so much, Lou.
SPEAKER_00From now on, our troubles will be out of sight. Have you sell a merry little Christmas make the youth gay? From now on, our troubles will be golden days. Happy golden days of yours and faithful friends who are dear to us, yeah, the new to us one small through the years.
SPEAKER_01We
Aireene Espiritu - Part 2
SPEAKER_01pandemic brains.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the the uh yeah, Ellen's um work in in terms of capturing all over the world, literally.
SPEAKER_01That's right. Yeah, so I collected a lot a lot. I don't know if I collected all of them, whatever I f I could find, uh CD's uh recording box sets of of his recordings, just to kind of I I really got into it, you know. And um, so yeah, that's yeah, that was his influence, I think. Um so there's there's a website that that archives everything I believe everything that he's recorded.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So that's a that's available. I went to it and it's quite the rabbit hole. You gotta make sure before if you're interested in that kind of thing, you gotta make sure you got a few hours on your hands. Yeah, because the time goes by so quickly.
SPEAKER_01It's pretty cool, isn't it? And the field recordings is just you know, something else. It just takes you back there, which is which is very cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, um, the other uh individual that you had mentioned earlier earlier, uh her stage name is Sugar Pie DeSantos.
SPEAKER_01Yes, sugar pie de Santo, no S.
SPEAKER_03I DeSanto, okay, my apologies to Sugar Pie. Um, but the nature of uh of her work uh that uh God influenced a lot of people. Um, but I was able to find some of her recordings uh at the Apollo and uh some other you know venues, um uh working with uh well let's see, I'm from Georgia, so um James Brown over there in Augusta, you know, was was legend there for a long, long time, and I understand he found her as well. Um so but you did a project uh that did her uh I I'm not sure I'm saying this right, but you did a project that um recorded her music or uh Yes. Tell me tell me about that, the connection.
SPEAKER_01So this is through the the Little Village Foundation. Um they they uh they I was playing at the Folk Alliance Region West conference in Oakland. It was here in Oakland, and the founder of Little Village uh was there, and he asked if I wanted to do a re recording. It was his idea uh to record a tribute to Sugar Pie DeSanto. And I didn't know who he was at the time. Uh his name is Jim Pugh. He was uh an incredible blues keyboard player, well known in the blues uh community. But I didn't know him at the time, and and I said, sure. Um, you know, I'd love to do it. Um in fact, my friend Maurice Tanney, who you probably also know, a local uh singer-songwriter uh here, he called me up. He knows Jim, and he said, Irene, whatever you do, whatever he says, don't say no. Trust me. Uh so um he I said, of course, what have I got to lose, right? They play for all the recording costs and production and distribution, and all you have to do is show up and all the proceeds of the sales go to the artist. So all sales of the CDs and digital uh music goes to me. So it's it was a win-win situation. So we between Jim and I, we chose these songs. Um, and during the process, somehow organically it grew into part tribute to sugar pie and part uh American and Filipino folk music, where my uncles got to record uh as well. So anyway, back to sugar pie. Yeah, so so between Jim and I, we chose the songs that we wanted to include. And we didn't want it to be necessarily the most popular ones that she sang. We wanted to be wanted it to be, you know, some of the songs that kind of deserved uh some more attention. So um we chose those songs and she got to play at she got to not play, but she attended the release of the album at the Freight and Salvage in was it 2016, I believe. And it was amazing. I mean, I had I had seen her, I had known who she was for some time. I saw her for the first time at the Rogue Valley uh music festival in Ashland, Oregon. It's no longer, but that was the first time I saw her. And she's uh I'm five feet, she's 4'11, but she just takes on this. I mean, you've seen, I'm sure you've seen videos of her. She just takes on the stage and just kind of puts it on fire with her personality, you know, and she's she's in her 80s now. And uh I think she just released a new uh record and she's still at it, she's still got that, you know, amazing uh spicy, spunky personality. I like to call her spicy spunky. So um but anyway, yeah, she was very I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_03No, I was I was just babbling there. I'm definitely gonna cut this out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so she's here in Oakland. She's she also happens to be uh living here in Oakland, which is very cool.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So what did she think of the performance that evening at the Freight and Salvage?
SPEAKER_01I I got the approval, thank goodness, because I was very scared that she was gonna kick my ass if she didn't like it.
SPEAKER_03But yeah, she's that had to be pr pretty intimidating.
SPEAKER_01It was. So I didn't find out until that day of that she was in the audience. And you know, if you're gonna do a tribute to somebody, it better, you know, you want to do your best to make sure that that they that they get you get their approval. And she actually thanked me after the show. We went I I got to go say hi to her afterwards and thank her for coming. And she thanked me for keeping her music alive. So so I'll take that.
SPEAKER_03Congratulations, that's a big win right there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Thank you.
SPEAKER_03Well, let's talk about your music for a little bit. Let's talk about the current situation here. When I first uh uh met you there at the mud puddle, the legendary mud puddle, Joan and I were just amazed. Your musical talent, but it's for me, it was more your lyrics. The lyrics just come together so beautifully. And you're prolific. So, silly question here, silly interview question. How many songs have you written?
SPEAKER_01Uh, to be honest, I haven't even counted. So I can't even give you an answer.
SPEAKER_03We're talking hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of things.
SPEAKER_01I don't think it's I don't think it's hundreds. I mean, I have a lot of I have a lot of in progress, put it that way. Uh it used to take me forever to finish a song. I mean, really, I it would take me forever. But what what I've learned last year during the pandemic was, oh, well, that's not true. I I used to just blame it on the muse, you know. But if I just put if I just put you know, as as we we started the our song plus your ten words, I I wrote a song every week during the pandemic with the 10 words, and I realized and I and honestly, even though I say it's every week, I actually wrote the song for almost all of the songs. I wrote it hours before showtime. Because I'm I'm I won't tell anybody. I'm a procrastinator and you know, la la. And I think all creatives are are mostly like this. I'm just like la la la during the week, la la la. And then the day comes and we're all in scrambles and you know, ah, it's like hours before the show. So anyway, uh so yeah, I I I don't know how many songs I have, but it would have to include the in progress. So I think now that I know that I can really just focus on finishing a song, I I I have some on my list of to-dos is to go back and look up my in progress uh songs and just finish them, you know, and get them out the door as much as possible.
SPEAKER_03Well, a geek question. How do you uh find yourself uh documenting what you're writing? Do you write on paper? Do you which I think I've seen some of the evidence of that? Yeah, I I or do you use technology?
SPEAKER_01It's all on paper. I haven't really I guess I tried a little bit on digitally on on uh like a word dot. I just couldn't do it. I I like writing on paper. I write in my, you know, my journaling on paper uh every day, and it's all on notebooks and it's all you know piles of paper. Sometimes too much paper. It's overwhelming. But I like that.
SPEAKER_03Well I think the uh there's and there's a lot of uh research that indicates that writing on paper uses the brain differently than using uh word processors or technology like that. It just your brain manages the information a little bit differently, helps you remember it from what I understand a little more. That hasn't worked for me much. I try every trick in the book to try to remember my own song lyrics.
SPEAKER_01Well, I agree, it does help the memory somewhat.
SPEAKER_03And with the performing that you do, do you find it uh a challenge to remember the lyrics when you're performing? Or does that does everything sort of crystallize in the moment that it just comes?
SPEAKER_01Um for the most part, I I do remember the lyrics. Um, I kind of look at each. I mean, of course, now I'm getting older, you know, you forget a lot of things. My forgetfulness is increasing. But overall, I remember the the song by uh I do a lot of visualization. So it each verse is like a movie, like a movie clip. So I visualize the movie clip as I as I'm singing, and and also that helps with how you relay the song. You know, you want us to sing the song with heart. So you better know what you're what you're singing about. And uh so I mean I may not get the exact words sometimes, but the general message is there if you know what you're visualizing uh as you're singing the song.
SPEAKER_03Have you found in the moment of singing your lyrics with a song that you actually change the lyrics on the on the fly because it just makes more sense?
SPEAKER_01I've done that for sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I've uh I've I've done that a couple of times and and I don't uh perform like you do. I just perform either for myself or the dog and uh and Joan sometimes, and I find myself just changing things around a little bit, and I go, oh, that even sounds better. I know that the things we create are often like our children, but do you have a favorite album that you've released that uh you would recommend that I recommend for people?
SPEAKER_01I would definitely recommend uh my put back Charlie album, which was released in 2016. It's mostly original stuff. And um it's it's got a lot of, you know, is it was it's it's got a lot of sentimental value for me because it's the very first uh released full-length album of my original music. And um there's some songs in there about you know rebuilding myself. Uh I I went through a lot 10 years ago where I've lost everything, and there's a there's some songs about rebuilding and coming out of it. So I highly recommend put back Charlie of all of them.
SPEAKER_03And which song on there? If I I don't even know if I could legally do this is play uh your song, uh a song or two uh on the um the podcast, but I'm gonna try to get away with it. Sure. So the are your is your is your music um uh do you own all the rights to your music or does Spotify or some of the others that uh provide it, do they own rights to it as well?
SPEAKER_01They don't own any rights, but they they uh only you know they only send royalties to the artists. Um whenever you buy or play or whatever. Uh of course, how much of that is a good one.
SPEAKER_03So if I if I never so if I got your permission to use one of your songs or uh clip from from more than one, um which one from that album would you like to share with the world?
SPEAKER_01I would say uh only rock and roll.
SPEAKER_03I love that song.
SPEAKER_01Oh, thank you. Uh you know, to be honest, no, that's good. Uh I it was the song that I thought people would like the least. And it was my least favorite song uh as well. It was so I was surprised when people kept requesting it and people, you know, uh would say that it's that's it's their favorite because uh I really didn't think people would like it, to be honest.
SPEAKER_03Wow. See, we're not always self-aware.
SPEAKER_01Very true.
SPEAKER_03Um so in uh in in terms of the uh the the future, you were talking about uh maybe not traveling as much. Uh how do you see the next year? Uh even though last year was strange, this year of uh is a year of transition for for everybody, but especially for artists that have uh have made their their livelihood for one, but also just expressing their uh creativity through live performances. How do you see the next year unfolding for you? You're gonna try to stay local but but be able to perform?
SPEAKER_01Yes, uh I I wanna do I want to connect more with the local community here and play locally and also uh put more time into color-coded symphony. Uh I think it's that's important and it's timely now, um, especially with all the you know uh racism that's kind of come to the surface, especially with Asian Americans too. Well, everybody, really. Uh the topic of racism has been on the surface, and so um yeah, local, local, local and community.
SPEAKER_03Um I'm sorry I missed you at the uh Buena Vista Gardens.
SPEAKER_01Yerba Buena Gardens.
SPEAKER_03San Francisco is it buena vista? Yerba Buena. I knew I was gonna mess that up. So I'm gonna say that over again so I can actually uh keep it on the recording. I'm sorry I missed you at the Yerba Buena Gardens performances. Um will you be playing there again uh soon?
SPEAKER_01Uh I've been playing there uh I think every I think they booked the same artists every other year. Uh and so I played there this year, so hopefully in uh the year after uh I'll be back on. But um it's a great festival and they they do really a lot for for the community too. So um I've been playing with them for for for many years now. And um, yeah, I'd love to always love to be back. Their staff is just really fantastic.
SPEAKER_03Well, I've taken up quite a bit of your time today. I very much appreciate it. And uh thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to seeing you in person, and we'll definitely see you uh on the streaming opportunities that we have here uh uh every week. They're very cool.
SPEAKER_00Great.
SPEAKER_03And life is full for everybody, but uh I encourage everybody who is listening to this to please take a moment and listen to uh Irene's songs and encourage her to write more by subscribing. I think that's always a good way to support our uh the artists that we enjoy and the artists we love. Thank you so much, Irene. I really appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_01Thanks so much, Lou. Can't wait to see you and Joan and maybe taste some of that malasada sometime.
SPEAKER_03Oh, absolutely. Yeah, you're on.
SPEAKER_01All right, thanks, Lou.
SPEAKER_03Well, that just about wraps up this episode of Gramps Just Make Shit Up. Thank you for listening. Irena Spiritu. I can't thank that young lady enough. Look forward to hearing her playing some music this coming weekend at the St. Nick of Niles event. That is Sunday, December the 12th, from 2 o'clock till whenever they run us out of the neighborhood. Our intro and outro music was created by Dave Pasco of Late for the Train. I'd also like to thank our grandson JD for his comments early on in the podcast. I expect you'll be hearing more from JD and our other grandchildren sometime in future episodes. They always have some smart ass comment for gramps. And if you're not driving while you're listening to this, please check the show notes for more information about St. Nick of Niles and Giving Hope program here in Fremont, as well as links to Irena Spiritu's music. I have to go now. It's time for my nap.
