i become mesmerized....the latest from kristen hersh

"Rubidoux was written in the back seat of Rob's car, somewhere between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Rob drove, Billy and I bought the gas and we all laughed hysterically for about six hours. My face ached from laughing that day.

Bernie wasn't with us, he was up in Seattle and I wanted to include him, so I tried to text him everything that was said, then lost track when the sun went down, fumbling with my phone in the dark. I promised him that 50FootWave's last drive down the coast would not be our last ever. "Watch out for owls," he said before I turned off my phone.*

Rob and Billy sat up front, listening to the radio, but Rubidoux played louder and louder in my head until it drowned out the suck-ass songs the boys were dancing to up front. So dark and blue and sweet, this new song seemed to make everything look beautiful. Even the In-n-Out Burger trash on the floor looked good.

Back home in New England, I recorded Rubidoux late at night with Rizzo. In the stillness around midnight, you could hear waves breaking down the street: midnight is dark and blue and sweet at Rizzo's. Still recovering from a bout of laryngitis (the Scotland Sorrow) my voice was creaky and difficult to control, but all the other instruments worked.

Because I'm in California again, Rizzo and I have spent the last few days tweaking the mix via mp3 and telephone. Rizzo's board exploded, was sent away and replaced and we continued to tweak. I