Sonny Smith (Sonny & the Sunsets) has written a monologue, an hour long story, called SEES ALL KNOWS ALL. A tale of LOVE, SEX, DRUGS, SPACESHIPS, ROMANCE, HALLUCINATIONS, BITTER TEARS and CHAMPAGNE. A story set in a fast-disappearing San Francisco. A bohemian quarter-life crisis (in six parts) told by a man who never had anything to gamble with, but his life. As Sonny put it “Sort of a Spalding Gray typa thing if Spalding Gray had a band and wasn’t himself but was me.”
Sonny premiered SEES ALL KNOWS ALL live with a band at The Lost Church in San Francisco. The run lasted five nights and each night featured a different musical guest: Kelley Stoltz, Tim Cohen (Fresh & Onlys / Magic Trick), Kyle Field (Little Wings), Alexi Glickman (Sandy’s), & Sun Foot (Chris Johanson). It was very much a San Francisco thing. A nod, perhaps, to both Eggers and Ferlinghetti. Indeed, excerpts from this story have been published in San Francisco’s reknown literature, arts, and culture magazine, The Believer.
We made a little video trailer for the LP and you can check that out along with an album chapter all about an Ayahuaska trip to nowhere at FLOOD MAGAZINE.
Narrated by Smith, this audio recording of SEES ALL KNOWS ALL features sounds made by a talented group of local musicians including Kelley Stoltz, Shayde Sartin, Rusty Miller, James Finch, Germán Carracosca, Jordi Llobet, and Sonny himself. The result is a Joe Frank meets Michael Hurley meets R. Crumb production: a dry, witty, autobiographical look at the meaning(s) of life from an underdog with deep nostalgia for America’s lost folk culture and a kinship with the marginalized. Perhaps you saw one of the live performances; or maybe you are familiar with Sonny’s stories via the tiny comic books stashed in his early vinyl releases… but you probably have never heard him try to pronounce “Panaderia”. So, light a fire/joint, get comfortable and lose yourself in a man’s attempt to find himself; or at least, exert a shred of control over his own destiny.
SEES ALL KNOWS ALL is limited to 300 blue powder (the stuff of the universe) splattered LPs via Empty Cellar Records. Each LP is packaged in a deluxe old-style linen jacket and features artwork by Bay Area greats: Chris Johanson, Shayde Sartin, and Shannon Shaw (Shannon & The Clams).
The Cairo Gang:
7.31 – San Francisco, CA (solo) @ The Chapel %
8.3 – Felton, CA (solo) @ Don Quixote’s %
8.8 – Los Angeles, CA (solo) @ El Cid w/ Jessica Tonder, and Paz Lechantin
8.21 – Los Angeles, Ca (solo) @ Holy Grounds(el sereno) w/ Will Ivy, and Shannon Lay
9.05 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios $
9.07 – Vancouver BC @ Biltmore Cabaret $
9.10 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club $
9.11 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon $
9.12 – Ames, IA @ Maximum Ames Music Festival $
9.14 – Cleveland, OH @ Happy Dog #$
9.15 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place#
9.16 – Toronto, ON @ Adelaide Hall #$
9.17 – Montreal, QC @ Pop Montreal at Fairmount #$
9.18 – Allston MA @ Great Scott #$
9.20 – Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater #$
9.22 – Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall #$
9.26 – Portsmouth, NH – 3S Artpsace $
9.27 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s $
10.2 – Jackson, MS (solo) @ Duling Hall $
% with Ty Segall
$ with Mikal Cronin
# with Calvin Love
Tim Cohen:
7.26 – Makeout Room, San Francisco, CA
Cool Ghouls:
7.27 – SF at GAMH, Social Studies Record Release
8.07 – Portland at SMMR BMMR Fest
8.09 – Reno at Holland Show Space at Rainshadow *
8.10 – SF at Rickshaw Stop *
8.11 – LA at the Echo *
8.12 – San Diego at TBA *
9.17 – Oakland at Leo’s ^
9.18 – SF at Brick & Mortar ^
9.23 – Los Angeles, CA El Rey +
9.24 – Pioneertown Pappy + Harriets +
9.25 – Santa Ana, CA Constellation Room +
9.26 – San Diego, CA The Casbah +
9.27 – Las Vegas, NV Beauty Bar +
9.29 – Denver, CO Larimer Lounge +
10.01 – Dallas, TX Three Links +
10.02 – Austin, TX Saengerrunde Hall +
10.03 – San Antonio, TX TBD +
10.04 – Houston, TX Rudyard’s +
10.05 – New Orleans, LA Siberia +
10.06 – Atlanta, GA The Earl +
10.07 – Durham, NC The Pinhook +
10.08 – Asheville, NC Mothlight +
* with La Luz
^ with Natural Child
+ with Shannon & The Clams
Magic Trick:
9.01 – The Chapel, San Francisco, CA w/ Ducktails
Sonny & The Sunsets:
7.25 – Quiet Music Festival – Seattle, WA
7.26 – Quiet Music Festival (solo Sonny Smith) – Portland, OR
7.02 – High Sierra Music Festival – Quincy, CA
7.11 – Phono del Sol Music & Food Festival – San Francisco, CA
7.17 – Haymarket Whiskey Bar – Louisville, KY $
7.18 – The Mothlight, Asheville – NC
7.19 – Ocean Grill and Tiki Bar – Carolina Beach, NC $
7.21 – Black Cat (backstage), Washington, DC $
7.22 – Baby’s All Right – Brooklyn NY $
7.23 – The Press Room – Portsmouth, NH $
7.24 – Mohawk Place – Buffalo, NY $
7.25 – The Silver Dollar – Toronto, Canada
7.26 – Mo Pop Festival @ Riverside Park – Detroit, MI
7.27 – BEAT KITCHEN – Chicago, IL
7.31 – Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR
8.01 – Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR
8.02 – Pickathon Festival – Happy Valley, OR
9.02 – dB’s – Utrecht, Netherlands
9.03 – Merelyn – Nijmegen, Netherlands
9.04 – Misty Fields Festival – Heusden, Netherlands
9.05 – Into The Great Wide Open – Vlieland, Netherlands
9.06 – End of the Road – Salisbury, United Kingdom
9.07 – Shacklewell Arms – London, United Kingdom
9.08 – Espace B – Paris, France
9.09 – Le Troc Cafe – Strasbourg, France
9.10 – La Batie Festival @ La Parenthese – Nyon, Switzerland
9.11 – Treppenhaus – Rorschach, Switzerland
9.12 – City Club – Augsburg, Germany
9.14 – Basement Club – Prague, Czech Republic
9.15 – ACUD – Berlin, Germany
9.16 – Loppen – Copenhagen, Denmark
9.17 – Geronimos FGT – Stockholm, Sweden
9.18 – Revolver – Oslo, Norway
9.19 – Pustervik – Gothenburg, Sweden
“Like the sapphire Schethiya, The Sandwitches, the crown jewels of the Archangel Lucifer, fell from Heaven. Is there any question the distinctive singing of Grace Cooper & Heidi Alexander represent mercy & severity? Roxanne Brodeurs’ beats the brazen pillars of the Flesh? Their latest effort is a sanctuary of spiritual illumination crossed with earthly splendor, a hushed witness to the perfect virtue of equilibrium, a flaming sword for the listener to thrust into the coronet of their adversary.
The ten songs on Mrs. Jones’ Cookies stand as a doorway leading to the House of God. The music of these three cascade in and out like active and passive expressions of the Divine Energy. Sometimes high, sometimes low, Sulfur and Salt, Good and Bad, Light and Darkness, that, when placed in the proper chamber of initiation graft into one androgynous creature that blazes forth eternal verities revealing temporal truths.”
Engineered by Donny Newenhouse, mastered by Paul Oldham, and featuring guest appearances by San Francisco swingers Shayde Sartin, Dic Stusso, and James Finch Jr, Mrs. Jones’ Cookies come in CD and LP flavors. All LPs include a complimentary digital download.
Usually, we add less than one item a month to our store… but last week we went a little overboard, so we figured it deserved a post. You can click on the covers above or links below to learn more about these solid vinyl releases by Empty Cellar related artists.
San Francisco record label Turn Up! has taken Sonny Smith’s most ambitious project of all time to a whole new level of ambition. This winter, they are releasing the second recorded volume of Sonny Smith’s 100 Records Project (the first being a very limited edition portfolio of Prints and tunes). The thing – titled I Miss the Jams – is beautiful! It is a fully decorated box (designed by Sonny) carrying five 7″ singles (45rpm), each encased in a stunning full color glue-pocket sleeve featuring artwork contributed by a slew of amazing artists that participated in the 100 Records Project. Each box comes with a download code too, so you can listen to Sonny’s jams anywhere you go with a mobile listening device.
Best of all, the music is ballin’ and features an all-star cast of San Francisco musicians including: Ty Segall, Heidi Alexander (The Sandwitches), Tim Cohen (The Fresh & Onlys), Donovan Quinn (Skygreen Leopards), Kelley Stoltz, and members of Citay. HAWT DAWG!
Listen to “I Wanna Do It!” from I Miss The Jams by Earth Girl Helen Brown (Heidi Alexander of The Sandwitches) below:
[audio:http://www.endlessnest.com/mp3player/source/05IWannaDoIt.mp3]
The 7″ Box is extremely limited (only 300 in existence), so get one quick from Turn Up! or the Endless Nest Store. Don’t worry if you miss out on the box, because the CD version will be made available starting this tuesday.
Tune in to 100 Records Updates at the Turn Up! 100 Records blog.
Facebook
Instagram
SoundCloud
Twitter
YouTube
Vimeo
News feed (RSS)
