UH HUH HER!

This afternoon (7/21/08) at 2:30 I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey, collectively known as the pop rock duo Uh Huh Her! And for those who are into the TV thing, uh huh, that is her…Leisha is also an actress, well known for her role in The 'L' Word. But I'm sitting in the San Fernando Valley offices of MSO, the powerful and hugely successful PR firm owned by Mitch Schneider. And, I'm VERY proud to say, the PR firm in which my lovely daughter, Angie, is a proud Associate Publicist! I've interviewed many a rock star over the past 20 years in the very same conference room where I'm setting up my microphone and recording gear in anticipation of my conversation with Uh Huh Her. I've worked with the good people of MSO (Mitch, Todd, Marcee, Kristine, Libby, et all) for almost 20 years. Some of their clients include David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, George Thorogood, the Allman Brothers Band, etc, etc, etc, all I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with through the years. Oh, but wait, we're here to talk about me talking to Uh Huh Her. I got sidetracked because the MSO office is very special to me, indeed!

OK, so Uh Huh Her has a new album called Common Reaction. I direct my first question to Leisha and ask, "You were born in Okinawa and grew up in Nebraska, the heartland of America. How do one or both of those experiences affect your songwriting today?" The very first word out of Leisha's mouth is – very ironically, "Huh," quickly followed by, "Wow, nobody's ever asked me that question." I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! People, that to me is the BIGGEST compliment anyone I'm speaking with can pay me!! That and, at the end of our conversation, "That was a great interview" or "I really enjoyed that." So, though I must confess, the album is not really my cup of tea, we had a very good conversation, though, at times, a bit of a struggle to pull answers out of each, only because both are very soft spoken and were a bit uncomfortable dissecting their lyrics and songwriting. But, hey, that's OK. I'm not a critic – I'll NEVER – be a critic…I'm a reporter, yes, an "interviewer," and so I get what I can out of the artist and the music. Sometimes they are very open, other times much more reserved. In either case, I always go in prepared with what I hope THEY will find as interesting and educated questions about their work, their art, and then it's up to them how they decide to answer…or NOT answer.

I said my goodbyes to the MSO staffers, including my daughter, and on my way out, was handed a fantastic 9-CD box set of hard rock classics called Hard + Heavy, available through Time Life. I'm a happy camper, life is good and it's time for me to race back home, finish writing my daily Pop, Rock and Classic Rock Music News columns and prepare to head out to the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood for an album release party/concert celebrating the release of Candlebox's new…FANTASTIC…album, Into the Sun, which comes out tomorrow! So, I'll tell you all about that……next!

Peace
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