We started this year off by playing, not one but TWO New Years shows. The first was in Olympia, where we played with Some Velvet Sidewalk and Bikini Kill, then we drove (through blizzards, if you recall) to Seattle to play a not quite, exactly, legal after hours show with Modest Mouse and the Nightcaps. It was a long night, and it had been a long year, so we decided to take a break from playing out in Seattle.

In January we hibernated. In February we went back on tour. This was the second Bell tour. The first having been etched into our memory when we lost a wheel in Idaho on our way to play in Boise. We had gone down the coast, through Arizona desert, up through Zion Natl. forest to 10,000 feet elevations and we break down on the straightest, flattest, stretch of road in all of America. I mean, a road like God's bowling lane! Not only did we lose the wheel, the thing went so far that we NEVER FOUND IT AGAIN. Luckily, our tow-truck driver used to be a roadie so he took us and our van and drove us to the Neurolux where we got to unload gear off a tow truck and into the show. So that was the first Bell tour. Now we're talking about the SECOND Bell tour. You got me off track, stop it.

We took a trailer to avoid a repeat of the Idaho experience. Trailers suck in places like LA and fruit trucks stream past you like teenage boys on their way to a girl-fest. But, other than that, it's nice not to sleep on the amplifiers. Anyway, we got to play in Sacramento, where they were friendly, but some drunk guy stole my instant camera and photographed his genitalia, then gave it back. In LA, we played in a Rock-a-Billy club where the bartender credited us by saying "you're not crap… considerin' you ain't Rock-a-Billy." In San Diego, where we played the Casbah and gorged ourselves on Mexican food. We visited Las Crusas, New Mexico, where the college radio guys put us up, and the bar we were booked into was expecting something more along the lines of Bob Seger. We made a happy return to Tuscon where we played the Club Congress, which is our favorite place, and spent our food money in thrift stores. Phoenix, and then the long drive back.

Our next stop was Austin, after a week at home, where we played the South by Southwest Music Festival. SXSW was great and a little like a Tiajuana brothel—large crowds rushing to see the chick with the horse and everyone else making deals and getting drunk.

I got home and decided that I hated everything that I had ever written and went to my basement and sulked. After a month of being annoying and morbid, I emerged with some new ideas, and, armed with my four-track and a slew of amateur rhythms programmed into a drum machine, began working with the band on new material. That process got stalled when Chris Livesay (Chris 2 for Bell aficionados) left the band.

In August, after several months of fishing around, we found our new bass player. Her name is Susan Larson and she came from the punk rock glory that was SHUG. She's pretty rad and we're glad to have her. She's still getting used to us, however, because we're rock and there's boys. We played our first few shows with her already and it's been pretty wonderful.

We have a busy Fall planned. We're FINALLY putting out a single. (All that for a little bit of vinyl?) It looks to be another Y Release and should be out in October. We'll be playing around town some and down at NXNW—maybe a little touring too. Many new songs and much excitement! We'll keep you posted.

--bye the way, Vanessa has an article in an upcoming ROCKRGRL issue. October, I think. For those who don't already know, ROCKRGRL is a really cool 'zine about, well, you probably figured it out.

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