Tori, Tori, Tori. Like many people i was introduced to Tori when i first heard 'Little Earthquakes'. My friend Albert actually bought it. We were in a record store a few blocks from his house looking for an impulse buy when i pointed to Tori's CD... 'buy that!' Here's another musical statement that changed me forever. Now i've been a Kate Bush fan for a long time.. Richard Bird (Hobson's Choice guitarist) had turned me on to her years earlier, and i'm not setting out to make any kind of comparison in Kate/Tori's style! they really are different artists... but Tori took me completely by surprise. The songs on that CD made me weep, made me ponder, made me screem.

As of then i had no idea our paths would cross. A real twist of fate. The drummer on her first two CD's was a guy named Carlo. Carlo was a native New Orleanian who had moved out to Los Angeles in the mid 1980's. Carlo had a brief band with Richard Bird out in LA called 'Laughing Sam's Dice' (LSD)... so through Richard i had met him.

After Carlo moved back to New Orleans in the early 90's so i wasted no time in picking his brains about what it was like to work with Tori... he was surprised i knew about her.. 'you must be the only guy i know who's listens to Tori'... truth told, there were sooo many, but i was the only one HE really knew who was 'nuts' about her music.

A few years later, i'm now working full time for George Porter Jr. and his solo band Runnin Pardners as a Sound engineer. George had pulled me away from my gig at the House of Blues through a recommendation by a dear friend of mine. It came at a good time actually because my mom had just passed away in Nov. 1994 and in Feb. of 1995, i got a call from George to start work immediately.

When i first went to George's house, i was taken aback to see a huge collection of pictures, many documenting the days of the Meters.. but i also noticed a gold record on the wall... it was Tori's second album 'under the pink'... hey! you played on that? "yes" he said. He told me stories about the sessions... the music, it was nice.

Flash forward a little.. i've been working for George now a year or so.. i've saved some money so i've decided to go to Europe in the early Fall.

This being my first trip though i have no itinerary.. everything is loosely planned. My idea is to fly into London and then purchase a ticket to Amsterdam.

When i informed George about my plans he told me that he was going to be in Ireland during that time period as my travel plans... 'what will you be doing in Ireland?' i ask. "i'm going to be recording with Tori on her next CD, you should get in touch with me and maybe come by."

It was quite an offer. I went to London and immediately discovered things about traveling overseas i had not expected, like: JETLAG! and the fact that in high season.. even a simple ticket to Amsterdam or Ireland for that matter can wipe out a small budget!

So there i was. Do i go to Ireland and see George and his wife Ara, and 'crash' Tori's recording session? or do i take a personal adventure and go to Amsterdam? In the end, i opted to take my own adventure. It was the right decision, though i still do freak about it from time to time.

I spent some crazy moments on those wonderful BT phones feeding coin after coin into it for just a minute of more so i might be able to hold a meaningful conversation with George's wife Ara, while they were in Cork, Ireland.. I now back in Guildford, London after the Amsterdam visit.

Tori ended up coming to New Orleans to re-cut more overdubs, they had replaced the drummer and needed to fix parts of the bass tracks to fit more with the new drummers feel. Fate again.. deals me another hand. Ara (George's wife) invited me to the sessions.. by coincidence, they were recording these overdubs at the same studio where Hobson's Choic had recorded 'New Horizons'.

Everything seemed set, but at the last minute George informed me that really Tori prefers a closed studio environment.. especially with the cramped nature of this studio wouldn't be a good opportunity. I was crushed... but i did manage to ask Ara to have my copy of 'Little Earthquakes' autographed. Ya!

'Boys for Pele' was a tremendous success for Tori and i'm glad to have been somewhat on the periphery for it... my good friend Mark Mullins(now - Bonerama) and the other members of George's Runnin Pardners horn section got a spot on the album as well.

Several years later, she performed with her new band at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Though the Funky Meters were touring (i wasn't working for FM full-time yet), George had arranged to get comp tickets for the show.

Ara Porter called and left a message on my answering machine to tell me she had saved a ticket for me and a guest. I was thrilled. I took a friend of mine (Jason) who had a band called 'Garaj Mahal' that i was engineering demos for at the time.

The show was great.. the encore of 'Winter' brought tears to my eyes. After the show, Ara revealed yet a further surprise for me. We were going to go backstage. Funny, George had actually asked Ara to give me advance warning not to act too freaky. I assured Ara that i could easily be myself... ('Gee i'm a big fan of Kate Bush' hahaha note: this joke is related to the Stevie Ray Vaughn encounter).

What an honor to meet Tori... i found her to be incredibly charming... to receive my introduction in the company of George's wife, well that made it all the more special.

Towards the end of our time together, she finally spoke out about my friend Jason's 'Garaj Mahal' shirt.. she liked it alot.. she offered to buy one.. he bartered that if she had a shirt to give him in return he would give it to her on the spot... he ended up with a tour shirt and she got the 'Garaj Mahal'.

I'll never forget that night. She's a wonderful artist/musician and a kind soul... she is also a continuing musical inspiration to me and an artist i would love to work/perform/jam with someday. ;-)