So Long, Australia

Last day in Melbourne. Corner of Smith & Gertrude. 

Being really cool.

Australia was exactly what I needed. Good shows, good people, staying in one place for longer than two months. I built up an audience, my show got better, I made art, I made friends, I made love. For so many reasons I needed to be right where I was.

And now I'm back in America, sitting in a room in Carmel Ca at my father's house, surrounded by my old things and ready to be back here, putting on shows, being the Impossible Girl, doing what I do best.

My next gig is tonight (Friday May 6th) in Monterey. DETAILS HERE.

Next gigs are in Nevada City CA and San Francisco. DETAILS HERE

Here is a little photo essay of my last weekend in Australia. I went out to the country and played at the Ruffy Community Center to about 50 people who live out there in the wild. 

The fairytale house where I stayed.

Fairytale garden.

Fairytale Oak trees. Seriously.

I go looking for kangaroos at dusk.

Wearing my camouflage.  

Skipping.

Down to the swamp.

This is the face I make when I see kangaroos.

Excited. Also a little hungry.

My show at The Ruffy Community Hall. 

They served cake and coffee during intermission.

(Hello, Twin Peaks.)

A quiet moment in the garden.

Back in Melbourne, I have a going away party.

And then I pack.

Australia, I love you.

***

Even if you do have scary unicorns.

I'll be back.

Photos by Jim Batt www.jimbatt.com

Where in the world - Byron Bay, Australia

Photo by Jim Batt

Kim Boekbinder, Amanda Palmer, Saint Clare

I'm in Byron Bay, Australia. Jim Batt, Amanda Palmer, and Eric Sussman flank me. We are the dreaded macbook brigade. The cafe tries to hate us but we are charming.

Eleventy million things to say, but not much time for saying.

I'm trying to figure out how to tour. I love playing. I need to do a lot of work to figure out how to afford launching a good tour. I've just plotted out the next year of schedule, things will surely change but it helps to have even a shadow of a plan. I want to be everywhere at once. I want to go to every city and play in every place I can.

I have so many ideas and so many plans.

My show is getting better every time I play. Being on tour with Amanda Palmer is really good for me. We play, we laugh, we look good in sparkles. We go naked night swimming. We work all day on laptops. We live.

Photo by Jim Batt

Kim Boekbinder with Mikelango and Saint Clare

Under a Strange Sky

Saw my first Koala yesterday! In a tree in the backyard, just hanging out, very wet and bedraggled, but super fuzzy and cute and very close. He was not as excited to see me as I was to see him.

Still no kangaroos. The locals laugh at me for being so excited to see the native fauna - literally running in circles I was so excited about the koala. But then I laughed out loud - a lot - when Jim told me how awesome it was to see a squirrel when he went to America. 

I'm in the countryside, about 45 minutes from the nearest town, about 2 hours from Melbourne. We came up to shoot some videos in the woods. Jim Batt wears a special director's hat.

One of the videos will have these paper flowers, so I've been churning them out on a little assembly line.

Today we shot two videos - one for me, one for another project Jim works on: www.ghostlightproject.com

Tomorrow we will shoot another two videos for me. We have plans to shoot at least three more videos while I'm here, it's a very ambitious schedule, but I'm very interested in the visual aspect of my album as well.

Here are some costume scouting photos - from Rose Chong's in Melbourne, Australia:

Love,


K


p.s. The sky is different here. New constellations in the night sky. And sometimes when I look up....I see koalas!

Where is the Kim?

Photo by: Ken "Sharky" Braden

I'm in a cafe in Melbourne, Australia, planning music videos and album release dates. Jim Batt will be writing and directing all the videos I make in Australia - he's also the one working on the animated music video for The Organ Donor's March.

The jet lag is pretty intense, but mostly hasn't bothered me because I've been staying in and not venturing out into the world too much. I'll have more to say about Australia soon - once I get myself out of the strange time zone that I have made for myself that doesn't correspond to anything else in the world.

New Orleans was wonderful. I shot a great music video with Ron Rona, played four shows, and did two really good radio interviews: WWOZ, and WTUL. I also made some really wonderful new connections and strengthened existing friendships. New Orleans is a wonderful, magical place that can only exist in one spot in this planet. I spent a lot of time signing up to volunteer on the oil "spill" cleanup, but was never called to work. The tragedy was brought into a different light being in a place that was so imminently threatened by it. I still cannot believe that the criminals responsible have been left in charge of the cleanup. The frustration, rage, and sadness of the locals is palpable and I felt it all myself as New Orleans is one of my homes.

We are sad, we are angry, we are human. We keep living, smiling, driving on.

**

I'm so impatient to release my album, but also happy to be taking time to gather all the pieces and release it in a good way. There are so many songs, in so many styles, and so many ways to present the work. I've been getting my art submissions from contributing artists and I'm really incredibly happy with the quality, variety, and creativity of these pieces. The Impossible Girl is growing into a wonderful garden of collaboration.

**

Here is a video by Ron Rona (who directed my shoot for "The Big Easy")

Here is a video by Jim Batt