James Burton and his infinite influence, Marc Bolan/James Burton connection

The day Marc Bolan, front man of the band, TREX, stepped on stage with glitter splashed on his face, wearing a satin jacket, tight pants, and Mary Jane slippers, Glam Rock was born. But not only that, he created a sound unique, mixing the different influences he had heard as a boy, more specifically, the most influential in his life, James Burton.

I could quote Bolan but here is the actually Rolling Stone article where he talks about Burton as his influence.


As you can see Bolan attempted over and over to copy Burton's riffs on the song Suzie Q and decided since he was unable duplicate them, he assumed they must have been dubbed.

A few years ago, a group of friends of mine decided to send a copy of Marc Bolans book of poetry, The Warlock of Love to a dear friend, Rick Dalvano, as a birthday gift. This creative loving gift idea was by Michael Burnham, a long standing member of The Tilldawn Organization, an online Bolan Community. There were musicians, fans, and friends of Marcs who had autographed the book. It had traveled around the world gathering signatures and pics of people from across the globe. Then the book came to me. I had only been a girl at the time Bolan was big and was of no consequence. I certainly didn't have much to offer by autographing the book and felt I had nothing to add to make it as special as some of the well known names that had received the book before me. Then it came to me. I knew someone who could make it very special, the man himself, James Burton.

Next step in making this contribution to the book, my friend Heather contacted Burton's son, who gave us James' number. We explained how influential he had been on Bolan and asked if he was available to sign this book for our friend, Rick's birthday gift.

He said, "Sure, but you will have to meet me at the airport at 2pm tomorrow, I'm being inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and will do gone for some time.

I met him outside the Shreveport Airport the next day. As he signed the book, I explained to him who Marc Bolan was, how he topped the UK charts for years, 56 million records sold, and the article how Bolan said his riffs were dubbed therefore unable to duplicate.

James laughed and said,
"Sweetheart, there was 3 musicians, one mic in that room, one take. There was no dubbing in that song. I "hybrid" picked that song."

I asked, "What is hybrid picking ?"

He explained it was a picking technique (I later found out he invented) where you hold the pic and play, but with the rest of your fingers you pick with them as well, simultaneously. How I wish Bolan had known that! He just assumed because he couldn't master it there was some trick! :)

Marc Bolan


Burton holding the Bolan book of poetry





More than the music, the thing that makes both men true stars, is their love for the kids. Marc did everything he could to get the music to kids and make it affordable by putting the hits on the B sides to keep the costs down.

Mr. Burton has created, The James Burton International Guitar Festival. It was created to help raise funds for the James Burton Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to raising money to provide technical training, music lessons and free guitars to young musicians.


James was fortunate that his parents sacrificed to purchase his first Fender guitar. Through his humble beginnings, James learned that a quality instrument is very important. It's been James' dream to give back to the community by helping young musicians realize their potential. Your participation in the James Burton International Guitar Festival and donation to the James Burton Foundation enables future generations of musicians to keep the music alive!

Marc Bolan, take from the movie, Born to Boogie, performing "Jeepster"


Mr. James Burton playing Mystery Train, demostrating hybrid picking.


And finally Suzy Q - Dale Hawkins, featuring James Burton- absolutely fantastic

Postcards from Keatchie

When I returned from my last leg of a tour I was working, I found myself without a place of my own. My dearest and oldest friend, Catfood Mary as she is referred to lovingly by all, invited me into her home.
Mary and I.


The women of this incredible place are Wortley, Mary's grandmother, Ann, Mary's mom, Anna, her sister, and my dearest friend, Catfood Mary. This is Anna's official wedding picture. God, how I love these women!



The main house is an old plantation home, built in 1830 by Mary's ancestors. Her grandmother came to own the home, during the great depression. An aunt was unable to carry on with it and sold it to her for the accumolated taxes that were owed on it. Its a gorgeous piece of history here in North Louisiana.




After Hurricane Katrina, we had some amazing skies. I believe this one was taken right after Katrina made her way up north from the west coast of Louisiana. The skies were black and volatile.



Soon after Katrina, Hurricane Rita made her way to our front door. She wasn't as angry as Katrina was when she finally made it to our doors.


Gardening is one of Moms favorite things to do, when the spring comes around. Being so far out, there are critters who also love the wonderful fruits and veggies Momma Ann grows. I once came home from work from an overnight shift to find this sign by the front porch.






You dont want to get between this woman and her garden. Ask the wabbits.


I miss being out there in the countryside. I miss living with these amazing, strong women. I miss walking outside the door to see the beauty and lushness only happens in the deep south, in Louisiana.







When Dimebag Darryl passed, December 8, 2004, we made a memorial to him. So strange that the flower that is blooming in this pic, blooms only once every 20 years, and only at night. It bloomed against both odds for our friend. From that moment on, we said, Dimebag Darryl lives in Keatchie, which is heaven on Earth.



I have 100s of stories I could go into here. But I will leave those for another time.

Photos taken by Mary Sparkman, Debora Demaree

How to bust through a diet plateau

Busting Plateaus
There is nothing more discouraging than stepping on the scale after a week of diligent dieting and grueling workouts and not seeing any drop in the number. The plateau is a common problem among dieters and can typically be waited out, but there are measures you can take to keep your metabolism fired up even as you reduce your caloric intake.

To quote Jillian Michaels, "The best way to break a plateau is to keep your salt intake below 2,000 milligrams a day and drink lots of water. Make sure you're not eating any processed carbs, period. That's right — no chips, sugar, white flour, and so on. And hit the gym hard! The boost in exercise will make your body swell and hold fluids for a few days, but after a week you should see the benefits on the scale"

You can also try playing around with your caloric or carb intake a bit, varying it from day to day throughout the week while keeping the same weekly total. It is called calorie/carb cycling. The body can't slow its metabolism to adjust to a reduced caloric intake if the intake isn't fixed from one day to the next. For instance, to bust my plateau, I might have 1,200 calories on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then eat 1,500 calories on Tuesday, 1,600 on Thursday, 1,400 on Saturday, and 1,700 on Sunday. If you are depleting carbs instead, eat 30 carbs on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and then eat 60 carbs in Tuesday, 100 on Thursday 50 on Saturday and 60 on Sunday. Get it?

A platea can sometimes simply be a matter of flagging resolve. If mixing up your caloric intake just isn't working, make sure you're not slipping up on your diet or slacking off in your workouts. I'm serious; it happens. I went 3 months without losing an ounce this winter. I'd lose 5 lbs and gain it right back.

As Ms Michaels suggests, "As with any program, there will be highs and lows, but stay with it. Your body is trying to adjust to the weight loss. Don't get scared or discouraged. Just be patient and know that you are worth it!"

Quotes taken from Jillian Michaels newsletter.

De-objectifying 9-11 through art

Many of us were effected by the September 11th attacks. This pivotal moment in history has left us feeling a little less certain about the future. The future for ourselves as well as the rest of humanity.

We have been subjected to the imagery of the planes crashing into the twin towers for a little over six years now. To worsen the tragedy, the american government has objectified and used this catastrophe and death as a tool. For political control and for war and to obfuscate the american people. Because the images have been aired repeatedly and made as a center piece for military occupation in other parts of the world, it has been hammered into the american psyche. It's getting easier and easier to conveniently forget that when those planes hit the skyscrapers it was like busting open a can of baked beans.
And what about the innocents and loss of life?
These people and this event have been objectified for many things, for war, for money and consumption, greed and war,.....but not for art. Until now.

When i was looking for artistic references for my work, one picture stood out the most. It wasn't a picture of the towers collapsing, this one had people in it, running. It wasn't like looking at a metal frame and a plane, this one was significant to me because i noticed the feller in the front running his ass off and screaming bloody murder. Then i started thinking what it would like to be him. First off, the ground would have to be trembling violently with the sound of explosions and tons of steel and concrete falling upon itself. Secondly, everytime i would turn around i would see hundreds of people just as frightened as me running towards me away from the giant cloud of rubble and dust sweeping the streets at an alarming speed. So yeh, that was a little more personal.



So why not make 9/11 a centerpiece for art? These people deserve better than what they got and i have a unique opportunity and obligation as a serious artist to show a world perspective no one else can conjure.

I started picturing the running people as "Peeps", the shitty marshmallow bunnies you get for cheap on Easter. And cookie/candy-cane skyscrapers, and a billow of sprinkles to compensate for the dust and debris. I almost went with cotton candy but i'm glad i didn't, i'm sure you'll agree, the colors are worth it.

So at last, I present to you my own personal horror.
Candy 9/11!

Vietnam Leg Heaven, artwork by Micah Harold

Having a limb blown off in war is a horrible thing. In fact, war is a horrible thing. I believe it's the poor fighting the poor. And we all know that the poor have it bad enough as it is. So i wanted to put some goodness out in the universe for the poor people that had their legs blown off in the vietnam war, and suggest that there might be a place out there, not unlike a heaven that their amputated legs might be in,....where it is happy and jump roping.