U Street Music Hall Mix.

We're super excited to present this new mini mix we've done to support our upcoming show at U Street Music Hall in Washington, DC on Sat Jan 29th. This is the first Smalltown Djs show at Uhall - and we're couldn't be more fired up about it. The mix features some of out current favorites in the Garage, Bassline, Club, & UK Funky realm. Hope you like it. Thanks to Prince Zimboo, Slarta John, Tittsworth, Will Eastman, Fort Knox Five and see you at Uhall on Saturday night.

U Street Music Hall Mix - Smalltown DJs by Smalltown Djs

UHall Mix - Tracklist

1. King of the Tweets - Tomb Crew
2. Twinkle feat Spyda (Baobinga Remix) - Gella
3. Loving the Vibe - Smalltown Djs
4. Hold Me feat Katy B - The Count & Sinden
5. Block Off - Peruz, Sala & Takeshy Kurosawa
6. Chango (Malente Remix) - Teenage Mutants
7. Broadway feat Buiza - Kid Kalo
8. Sausage Party - Doorly
9. Chambacu - Schlachthofbronx
10. Special (Toddla T Remix) - Madslinky
11. Taking it Down - Brenmar

Uganda 2011

1/24/2011

Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing to say thank you to everyone who supported me through prayer and monetary gifts to go on the mission trip to Uganda. I have been back for 2 days now. It was truly one of the most amazing and eye-opening experiences of my life. I am moved beyond words. Here is my feeble attempt to try and share some of this trip with you.

On the flight to Uganda I read “Radical” by David Platt. It is an amazing book and was the perfect read to prepare me before my trip. I highly recommend this book to anyone. The sub title of the book is ‘Taking your faith back from the American dream’. This book spoke to me and started to break my heart and convict me before I even arrived in Africa.

One of the things that struck me the most on the trip was the mile upon endless mile of extreme poverty. Countless children stood or walked along the roadside without shoes and sometimes even clothes. If they did have clothes they were often filthy and ripped or worn out. The amount of under-loved, under-cared for, and under-fed children in Uganda is mind blowing and absolutely unbelievable to me.

We visited 6 different villages while were in Uganda. Some of the villages had support from churches in the United States while some of the villages had absolutely no outside support. It was amazing to see what a little support from a single church in America could do for a entire African village. In order for a child to go to school for a year and have at least one daily good meal at school only costs $250. The cost of supporting a teacher for a full year is $365. The cost of supporting a church congregation and costs that go along with that is $250 a month. In order to support a Vicar and his family it is $100 a month. We visited villages that, because of support from the United States, were able to have water wells dug or were able to build a church, school or workshop. We also visited villages that did not have these things or lacked some of these things. The one thing that remained the same in all of the villages was the excitement and pure joy and happiness that the children had when we would pull into the village. They would swarm the van and they would be reaching out to touch us as soon as we stepped off the bus. So many of the children just want to be held and loved. The amount of joy that they had is something that is not frequently seen here in the US. They loved having their pictures taken and would love to then see the digital pics of themselves. For many of them this was probably the first time they had seen a picture of themselves. Often times they would all start singing when we would arrive.

We also had the opportunity to meet some of the vicars that were supporting various congregations in the different villages. These men of God leave their families to go to seminary in Kenya so that they can become ordained pastors and preach the word of God to the villages. They are not paid and they rely on the congregations to support them and their families. Since most of the congregations do not have money, the vicars struggle to get by and support their families. Each of these vicars has multiple congregations that they minister to. It was humbling to meet these men and see the sacrifices they are making.

Two of the villages prepared great meals for us. We had cabbage, beef, chicken, rice, and peanut sauce, a dish made from plantains, potatoes and greens. I really enjoyed the food and was moved by the selflessness of the villages. Those of us on the mission trip and a few key people in the villages were the only ones who ate the meal. To prepare such a meal for us cost the villages a large amount of money. It was one more thing that wrecked my heart. These people living in poverty sacrificed a great deal and made us a better meal than they ever have enjoyed themselves. They sacrificed for us when they have nothing. Wrap your mind around that.

We handed out candy, super balls, stickers, cross necklaces, soccer balls, soccer uniforms (shorts, jerseys, shin guards, socks), dresses, and Bibles to the children at the villages. We were also able to present the teachers of Bufuula with goats (part of their pay). They were extremely grateful and so happy. The smiles of the children are images that I will never forget. We also helped to paint the church in Nakabango and build some benches for the church. We were there for the dedication of the church and it was the most amazing church dedication that I expect I will ever be a part of.

While we were there we had the opportunity to attend a few different worship services. We were able to celebrate baptisms, confirmations and also take part in the Lord’s Supper. The congregation would burst out in celebration when the children were baptized and confirmed. It was beautiful to see such celebration for the Lord. Even though they live in poverty they praised the Lord to a degree that is not frequently seen in the American church. I truly feel honored to have been able to attend these services and visit these villages.

I am planning on staying involved with the long-term missions in Uganda and I plan to go back as frequently as possible. I feel like I am being called to support the missions in Uganda on a full time basis. I have no idea in what capacity or what it will look like but I am trusting that God will show me how I can be used for His Glory. Yes, these villages and children need money, but they also need relationships and the love of Jesus Christ. My prayer has been that God would burn these images into my consciousness, not just in my memory. I am also in prayer that I would be a better steward of what God has given me. I now have a whole new understanding of how truly blessed I am.

Again, I want to say thank you for supporting me on this mission.

I will continue to update this blog as God brings clarity on how I will be a part of supporting the missions in Uganda.

http://shawn-emily.blogspot.com/

You can also follow me on twitter.

http://twitter.com/shawnroller

In Him,

Shawn Roller

PS - here are a few pics

BEST OF 2010 - SMALLTOWN DJS

Alright folks - here it is. 2010 was a subliminally awesome year for music. We've been making these 'Best of" mixes for three years now and its so fun to put together these tunes that didn't usually get lots of club play by us or other djs, but got played a ton at other times over the year - hotels, house parties, airports, office time, wherever. There's a bunch of great stuff that didn't make it on but so it goes. All your feedback is greatly appreciated - last year it was awesome to hear about the various times/places people were enjoying the Best of 09 mix.

BEST OF 2010 - SMALLTOWN DJS (Direct Link)
Right click Save As to download

BEST OF 2010 - SMALLTOWN DJS (Mediafire)

TRACKLIST

1) Go Outside - Cults
2) The High Road - Broken Bells
3) Shine Blockas feat Gucci Mane - Big Boi
4) All Summer feat Kid Cudi - Best Coast & Rostam
5) Heaven's on Fire - The Radio Dept.
6) Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Remix) - Adele
7) Sprawl 2 - Arcade Fire
8) Cocaine Blues - Escort
9) Superstar (Prince Klassen Edit) - Ghostface Killah
10) Congratulations (Erol Alkan Remix) - MGMT
11) Round and Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Grafitti
12) Norway (Skinny Friedman Edit) - Beach House
13) Change - LCD Soundsystem
14) Take Me Over - Cut Copy
15) Dancing on my Own - Robyn
16) Revival - Deerhunter
17) Baby I'm Yours (Siriusmo Remix) - Breakbot
18) Count Your Lovers (Eli Escobar Remix) - Clubfeet
19) Coma Cat - Tensnake
20) Church - The 2 Bears
21) VCR (Four Tet Remix) - The XX
22) Real Life - Tanlines
23) Home - LCD Soundsystem
24) Releaserpm feat. Lizzie Bougatos - Win Win
25) The Gaudy Side of Town - Gayngs

Jim Henson

I just finished reading Street Gang - a bio about Sesame Street and Jim Henson. It brought back so many awesome memories, and reminded me what a genius Jim Henson was. Kids from our generation were so lucky to have a show like that. The music was unbelievable, and it was funny. And the Muppets are the best thing ever. Anyways - I would recommend the book unless you are a sad grinch who hates fun.


Speaking of the Muppets, this is fun:

Justin Robertson

I've been a big fan of Justin Robertson for years so I was mad excited to see him include In Flagranti's remix of Party Motion on his new Dj mix. I guess he has an album coming out, and his newest project is called Deadstock 33s - so keep your ears peeled for that. And check out this mix - filled with acid, house and goodness.



JUSTIN ROBERTSON-SNAKECHARMER-DJ MIX-DEC 2010 by justinrobertson/deadstock


Justin Robertson Snakecharmer DJ Mix - Dec 2010 Tracklist

1.Wonky Tonk Dirty edit -Ivan Smagghe mix
2.Murphy Jaxx-Its The Music [Alden Tyrell mix]
3.The Deadstock 33s And Stopmakingme-A Rising Madness
4.Stopmakingme-Smint
5.Siskid-The Lord with Practise
6.Kikumoto Allstars-iIll make you jack
7.Smalltown Romeo-party motion [Inflagranti mix]
8.Firemire-Firemire [Remute mix]
9The Deadstock 33s-Snakecharmer
10.Matthew Johnson-Blame the Midget
11.Jon Giovanni-take off [night dub]
12.Para One-Animal Style
13.Silver Columns-Brow Beaten [Optimo mix]
14.Retro Grade-Escape Sequence

Just believe and you can't go wrong.

I'm so damn lucky and SO grateful for the experiences I've had, am having and will continue to have. Everything is on the up! Literally, every dream I've invested myself in, made my ENTIRE life for the past few years, its all well on its way to coming true. Its true, I've been a shit blogger as of late. But you know what, I've gone through soooo much bullshit in the past six months. And now, there's no bullshit. There are petty responsibilities, but I'm not upset. I'm goddamn elated. So yes, hardly anything coming from me, but why? Because I'm living it! Everything this blog is about, everything I've dedicated myself towards, is the very reason why I'm sitting in London right now. As I flew over, feeling nauseous, I made sure to take notice: Michelle of a few years ago would die right now. I don't want to be jaded.

Its amazing to think that all I did was once listen to a few choice records. Records that inspired me so much, that I listened to more records like it, records that inspired those artists, records that were inspired by them. I became infatuated with London and carved out a life for myself. I couldn't have been more far removed from that life. For the record, I am still leagues away from the aforementioned life I carved out for myself. But I'm on the fast track. I'm like those bitches at Disneyland who you curse for spending more money and getting to cut in line. (Or, just get a wheelchair. It works.) But I didn't spend more money (or feign an illness), the inkling of magic that has trickled into my life has come entirely by my own merit. Its come because I'm willing to do everything to get to my dreams. Its come because I have such a sensational amount of faith. I've taken on this guise, this mantra of sorts... Whenever something doesn't happen, I think, "Its not supposed to happen yet. I'm not fully prepared to take it on completely and reap its every benefit." Because, I shit you not, there are things that I forgot I dreamed about, that are now happening. And I'm still dreaming. Whenever I accomplish something, I dispose of it. Its true and its unhealthy as fuck, but its true. So I must admit, prior to writing this, I felt sort of strange about not being as excited as I was the last time I came here. Seriously? Jaded on trip two? Get a grip. And I am. Because I'm seriously in the infant stages of everything. I am getting accustomed to my surroundings. I am getting more comfortable will wholly being myself even when I'm intimidated (its honestly the best route) and if you're nervous or out of your league, just say so! People find it limitlessly refreshing when someone is so not shy about who they are. I mean, don't you? And yeah, people are just like you. They are you, right? Cut from the same cloth. I personally loathe when someone puts on a facade, so why the fuck would you want to do the same?

This post was intended to be a super serious look at how music makes me feel and how its led me here, so that when I go, "Hey let me interview you! [Blog link here]", people go, "Oooh! She gets it. She gets why I'm in music in some form." But this could actually mean nothing to a particularly fascinating interview-worthy individual, but those who will get it are the ones who know what I'm about. The ones who, over the last... year and a half(?) watched me prosper. Watched me grow, and stall, and dream, and wish, and get excited. Unabashed excitement. This used to be my total creative platform and now I just cringe and think, "Fuck... I'm lame."

This has nothing to do with anything - but I love the vibes of the Tupelo Honey set.

But it is, it is about the music. And I intended on that subject, because its something we all know. You're not in music, or you don't read silly music blogs, if you don't have it. Even the most jaded, money-hungry fuckers you'd run across, they know it. They feel it. Its why we're all here. That's why everyone (uh, or those who aren't utterly deprived), go to gigs, listen to records. We all love that feeling. So, no ego, anywhere, ever. It all boils down to the same thing. Musicians are just fans (even if they often want to be thought of as super-Gods), and they're just chasing that feeling. I always remind myself that even the people you worship and admire, they're just babies in diapers somewhere. Little pipsqueaks who know nothing of the world. They are those people, and like everyone else, they still bear a bit of that baggage. (Honestly, when you cut it down to the basics and think "Even John Lennon had to be potty-trained", well then, how can he possibly be a God?)

I love that feeling and I love chasing it, and I hate that I haven't been hit with anything incredible lately. Or rather, I hate that I haven't written about what's hit me. But I love where my life is heading. And I promise that next time something TOTALLY inspires me. I'm gonna come write about it. That is the only difference between myself now and before. And, well, now I can hole up in a room and just do it - luxuries, man!

Won't You Call Me, Miss O'Dell?: Q&A with Chris O'Dell

She worked at Apple and George Harrison ("Miss O'Dell") and Leon Russell ("Pisces Apple Lady") wrote songs about her. She worked for and became closely acquainted with everyone from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. After a chance meeting with Beatles press officer Derek Taylor in Los Angeles, she soon moved to London to aid the Beatles in their radical Apple schemes. She was twenty and they would soon churn out The White Album. She sang on "Hey Jude", watched the Beatles unravel and was present on that fateful rooftop. Soon after, she lived with George and Pattie Harrison, acting as a personal assistant and general cohort at their manor, Friar Park. With her acquired skills and worldly experiences, she was recruited as a member of the Stones' touring troupe. She ran drugs for Keith Richards and can be seen on the cover of Exile on Main St. But unlike many other tell-all tales of the period, O'Dell offers an interesting perspective, that of a working woman, a viable component in the rock and roll machine. She was one of the very first female tour managers, helming touring operations for the Stones, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, George Harrison, Bob Dylan and countless others. She experienced her first love and heartbreak with Leon Russell, just as he had turned from session mastermind to solo star. Another boyfriend, Jim Gordon (then of Derek and the Dominos, who later fatally stabbed his mother due to diagnosed schizophrenia), chased her rabidly around the band's London flat with a knife, while under the influence of cocaine. Chris O'Dell experienced rock and roll's prime period from every angle, before a quick jaunt in English aristocracy, as wife of the Honourable Anthony John Mark Russell, and mother of son William. O'Dell now works as an addiction counselor in her home town of Tuscan, Arizona. She penned the illuminating tome, Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days And Long Nights With The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton And The Women They Loved.

Visit. Friend. Follow.

Prior to your run in with Derek Taylor, what goals did you have for your future?

Can't say that I had any concrete goals.  I was just taking life as it came at that point.

Can you even imagine what life would have been like, if not for that serendipitous meeting?

I probably would have stayed in LA and in the music business.  Or gotten married!!

Of all the surely memorable music moments you have witnessed – from James Taylor serenading you in your bathroom, to the Beatles on the rooftop, to the countless performances you saw from an intimate point of view on tour - which stands as the most stunning musically, not necessarily historically?

I always remember being in the room when George was playing guitar and singing at Friar Park.  Or other places where it was just him playing spontaneously.  Same with Eric with him strumming his guitar in the den.  Those were the private and special moments.

If you can, sum it up for me in a sentence or two, what about the power of music kept you around for so long?

Music says what we cannot say ourselves.  It reaches a deep spiritual part of us and every time I sat in the studio or on the sided of the stage, I felt so complete.

You vaguely mention Lauren Bacall paying a visit to Apple, whom is one of my utter favorites. Were you there for that? If so, do tell!

Yes, I remember her coming with her two children one day.  They landed in Derek's office, I believe.  I don't remember if I actually saw them or the rumor just spread through the building - as it often did.

After your relationship with Leon Russell, it seems you found love vital to happiness – strongly contrasting your previous casual flings. Is that true?

I think it was my first rejection/broken heart.  That wakes anyone up to the value of relationship and love.  I certainly, like many girls, had the fantasy that there was this one guy out there for me.  But in fact it was several!!

The Jim Gordon incident is absolutely horrific. How was revisiting that tale and how does it feel in light of his later fatal attack on his mother?

Scary!  But at the time, I didn't realize the implications.  I just thought he was too high.

It seemed that at the time, you viewed your life as sort of boring if you were not in the company of people like George and Pattie Harrison. Would you say that is reflective of your confidence at the time?

Well, that would certainly be true.  But what was also true is that they were my friends.  I liked being with my friends.  Life was not boring however.  I was still hanging out with other friends like the Dominos and Mick Jagger.  But Pattie was my girlfriend.

I just recently viewed Cocksucker Blues for the first time, and you are included in a bit of that footage. The film depicts the Stones’ world as rather dark and sometimes unappealing. Did you see it that way? You do not particularly portray it that way.

That movie made every thing looked pretty base.  But that is how Robert Frank photographs life also.  He goes for the rough, dark side of life.  It wasn't quite that dark.  But it was nuts at times.

What became of the book on women in rock and roll you were writing with Pattie Boyd in the mid-eighties?

Still sitting in my closet.

I adore your tidbit about Cameron Crowe – any other charming tales of bumping into him throughout the years?

Cameron and I became great friends for a while.  He called me when Elvis died.  Today we have little contact but he did email me and congratulate me on my book.

You worked for Bill Graham, one of rock’s most powerful at that time. What were your thoughts on him personally, and how did it feel to be an important asset to that machine?

Bill was an amazing man.  I think he is the one man I worked for who was fair and loyal to his employees. I admired him.  But he was also rough and brash.

Nearly everyone that you worked with, from Bob Dylan to Mick Jagger, has a persona that has become synonymous with their existence. Would you say you plunged the depths and saw these people for who they really are – rather than who they’ve been made out to be?

I'm really not sure they are that much different.  They aren't actors who take on characters.  Musicians are who they are to a degree.  So, yes, I may have know them better - their vulnerabilities - but they were still the people we all saw.

You only briefly discuss your time spent touring with Led Zeppelin – what moment spent in their company was the most fun?

I actually only participated in one concert in Frankfurt.  After the concert we went to a club and got smashed.  That was fun.  Pattie reminded me recently that we went to a party after one of their concerts in LA and Robert Plant pushed her in the pool.  I don't remember that.

Now for general music talk, what was the last album you listened to in its entirety?

Leon and Elton's new album. [Leon Russell and Elton John's The Union]

Who and what are your top five favorite artists and albums?

I love Smokey Robinson, I love a lot of R&B.  In fact, that's about all I listen to now.  Classic Soul on XM.  But of course, the Beatles' music is also high on my list.  I have just about heard enough for a lifetime by now, however.  Love the Stones.  They are such a great rock and roll band.

Is there anyone you wish you had known, or known better?

I wish I had known Smokey Robinson.


You seem to have an optimistic outlook on life, what goals do you have for yourself now?

Right now, my goal is to help people with addiction and eventually retire with my husband to an island!!

Rye Rye feat M.I.A (Smalltown Djs - Video Remix)

Download the video edit for the Smalltown Djs Sunshine Remix here:
http://to.ly/9fvG

Twitter.

I'm officially on Twitter... Until I catch up on sleep, school work, writing and settling in, that'll probably be the best way to track my London adventures. I caved and I'm ashamed, but there it is... Me, Twitter.