Adam Pranica, filmmaker and principal over at Dorsia Films and true indie rock enthusiast, with the perfect opening line:

"In the winter of 2011, Victoria VanBruinisse came up with a crazy idea to invite John Roderick of The Long Winters over for a potluck dinner. He played a few songs, told some stories, and ate all of the food."

And that's pretty much the long and short of it. When I found out that I was going to be in New York at CMJ for this past year's City Arts Festival, and would subsequently be missing the only performance by the Long Winters for the 2011 calendar year, I almost cried. Not literally, but still. It was a huge disappointment, a sigh to end all sighs, the conundrum that comes from being vested in so many interests and not being able to be everywhere at once. And so I did what any fan would do: I suggested to John that perhaps he might want to play a show in my living room.  I base much of my interactions on the simple methodology of the old adage that it never hurts to ask, because as the lottery tells us, you can't win if you don't play.

Well, we played alright, and we won. All of us, and that's you {yes, you!} included, because we won something big: a beautiful, candle-and-twinkle-light-lit evening with two dozen of our closest friends, where we enjoyed food, comraderie, and a series of brilliantly performed songs by the one and only John Roderick. And because of the genius embedded in Adam Pranica, Tyler Kalberg, and Zach Varnell -- the latter two being names you should recognize from the Notes from Home series -- we get to share the collective product from that near-perfect night with the world.

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We know we've already warned you to buy tickets to Dancing on the Valentine Seven (and the Ragged Tiger), because WE KNOW this thing is gonna sell out - but just in case, here's another reminder, and a chance to win a pair of tickets so you can spend your money on booze and (LOTS of) raffle tickets instead! 

DOTV7 is officially ONE WEEK AWAY, and ALL ticket and raffle proceeds go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Here's another look at the awesome lineup of Northwest bands that will be on stage at The Crocodile covering Duran Duran songs: 

John Roderick (of The Long Winters) 
Exohxo
Lesli Wood (of The Redwood Plan) with Jupe Jupe
Katie Kate
Noddy
Princess
Hotels
Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts
Fly Moon Royalty
Davidson Hart Kingsbery

Just send us an email to tig {at} threeimaginarygirls {dot} com with the subject line "Sing Blue Silver" sometime between now and 5pm on Wednesday, February 8. We'll pick a winner and notify you on Wednesday night so you and your date have time to plan outfits for Friday! 

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This year is already flying by - which means in just a little over 2 weeks, it's time for Dancing on the Valentine Seven (and the Ragged Tiger)!!! 

Jenny George's awesome fundraising cover night for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society takes place at The Crocodile on Friday, February 10, and features a line-up including TIG's Indie Santa Claus John Roderick, Lesli Wood (of the Redwood Plan) with Jupe Jupe, The Hotels, Katie Kate, Noddy, Exohxo, Princess, Flymoon Royalty, and Daniel G. Harmann with The Trouble Starts. 

The seventh (!!!!) annual DOTV gathering marks a return to its original form featuring Duran Duran covers, in honor of Jenny's incredible meeting with the band last fall. Our own Imaginary Dana is Emcee'ing again (yay!), DJ Mike Steve will spin some tunes in-between bands, there'll be some sweet sweet raffle prizes, merch from previous DOTVs, and of course - Ben Haley's famous photobooth! 

We hate to state the obvious - but we're giving you advanced warning because y'all better get your tickets now...this thing is gonna sell out. 

{This is part two of two in our best-of photo series of 2011. Take a peek over at part one here, and don't forget to check out our festival best-ofs part one and two as well!}

Favorite photo #5: Ocean Shores :: In a get-to-know-your-roots {PNW edition} kind of road trip, we hopped in the car one weekend with esteemed sometimes-imaginary photographer and fellow transplant Laura Musselman for a ride out to the water -- Ocean Shores, to be exact -- with jaunts to Aberdeen and Hoquiam on the way. It was all at once melancholy and sun-filled, juxtaposing sad, semi-abandoned mainstreets with a big, bright, full-fledged kite festival once we were beachside. Strange as it was for those two worlds to meet, it was definitely a day trip for the books, yielding a half-dozen photos that easily made our best-ofs for the year (like the one above). {more field trip photos} {Laura Musselman}

Favorite moment #5: Eef Barzelay {at the Madrona Ale House} :: The night after Eef Barzelay's headlining appearance at our Imaginary Holiday Spectacular, he played a much quieter affair as part of a private party at the Madrona Ale House. Abandoning the PA after three-quarters of a song, he sat down across the table from us, where he proceeded to stay for much of the show. The result? A very front-row seat for one of our favorite performances of the year. You can even hear a moderately decent recording of one of his Journey project tracks from the show over here and relive the moment along with us! {more photos of Eef} {Eef Barzelay / Clem Snide bandcamp}

Favorite photo #4: Lovesick Empire at Neumos :: This one happened so early in the year that it almost slipped through the great sort-through! Way back in January, Lovesick Empire played an AMAZING set at Neumos, and even though they're pushing forward with a slightly different lineup than seen here, they are still making some of the most kick-ass music coming out of Seattle today. It's huge-sounding, dirty, full of guitars, and cuts right to the point -- another one to add to your "do not miss under any circumstances" list of live bands to catch so that you don't regret it forever the morning after they've played. {more photos from the Neumos show} {Lovesick Empire FB}

Favorite moment #4: John Roderick's pre-City Arts house show :: We were the luckiest of all ducks to not only attend, but actually host a super-intimate house show with John Roderick out in Ballard this past October, where less than two dozen folks pulled together a potluck and a city of tealights for one of our favorite shows of the year. John held court in front of the mantel, singing and storytelling and taking requests for more time than we could keep track of (minutes? hours?) while the room swooned away with delight -- like Eef's Alehouse show, we even managed to sneak in a homemade recording, which you can take a listen to here. Honestly, there's not much we can think of for 2012 that's going to be able to top it. {more photos from the house show} {The Long Winters}

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Thank you all so much for making our holiday wishes come true! Last Friday's Imaginary Holiday Party was so much fun--all thanks to you and yours for coming out to the Columbia City Theater to toast the season and 2011 with us.

We had to call in an audible and our friend John E. Hollingsworth took care of all the Santa Roderick photography duties at the last minute. He is an amazing photographer and we can't thank him enough for the last minute favor.  His talent, combined with the cutest Santa ever {John Roderick of the Long Winters} and all of our saucy imaginary friends and their poses, have made it hard to pick a favorite Santa photo of the night!

To see them all, head over to our Three Imaginary Girls Sparkly Indie-Pop Flickr Page.  You can download printable versions {perfect for next year's holiday card!} and "favorite" the ones you like best.

Come back in the next few days as we hope to post photos of the evening's fabulous performers {Eef Barzelay, Mal de Mer, Temp Score, and The Heligoats} soon soon soon.  I haven't seen any yet, but know they will be as stunning as our Santa photobooth shots.

Here are a few of our favorites... which ones do you like best? 

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Here I am, just sitting here at work stressing out about end of year deadlines and I decide to click on a link to watch the brand-new Princess Superstar video, for her sure-to-be-a-holiday-classic song, "XMAS SWAGGER."  I've long enjoyed PS for her kooky, white girl rap that lives up to her moniker since her debut album, Strictly Platinum (specifically "Blue Beretta"). She's like the Trucks if they were a blonde rapper who lived in NYC and was obsessed with Grand Royal Records.

Anyway... I'm just sitting here, revving my ho ho ho engines with a holiday-themed video and THERE IT IS!!! A PHOTO OF OUR AMAZING INDIE ROCK SANTA IN A PRINCESS SUPERSTAR VIDEO!!!

See it for yourself:  The above photo {taken by the lovely and talented Laura Musselman} is in the below video at the 14 second mark. 

It's quick and all, and I'm sure the Princess Superstar machine is such a lo-fi operation that they didn't know who or how to get proper rights to use it {sorry John and Laura}; but in case there's anyone out there who's wondering, we can give you the hook-up to the folks who made this amazing photo happen!  Email us, or just meet them at tomorrow night's Imaginary Holiday Party!

Well, is it? We sure hope so! Because one of our favorite parts of the holiday party every year is getting to grace the ever-lovable John Roderick's lap with our sweet jingle-bell backends, and getting the whole thing immortalized forever by way of Laura Musselman's brilliant camera skills. So, to get you warmed up for all the joy that awaits your rear this year, here's a few peeks back at the last few years of Indie Santa-ing (including last year's stand-in Santa, John Vanderslice).

2009:

2008:

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Whether you're ready or not, the holidays are upon us! Seattle is gearing up to be softly aglow as neighbors light up the block with LEDs and the flavors of peppermint, ginger spice and eggnog infuse themselves everywhere.  But, best of all, it means it's time for the Imaginary Holiday Party!

This year's shin-dig will be Friday, December 16 at the Columbia City Theater and feature all the important elements of a fabulous holly jolly time:

***MUSIC!***
-> Eef Barzelay (of Clem Snide) will beautifully croon poignant vignettes against a backdrop of holiday melancholy.

-> Seattle supergroup Mal de Mer will dirty it up with their catchy, no holds barred post-garage-pop. With members of Slender Means, The Divorce, Lila, the Amazombies, and Ms Led / The Redwood Plan, you know it's gonna be good.

-> Heligoats come to us by way of Bellingham and bring a road-trip-worthy stash of exuberantly bittersweet songs.

***SANTA RODERICK!***
As is the imaginary tradition, Santa John Roderick will be on hand to spread holiday cheer with amazing photographer Laura Musselman ready to take your photo on his lap.  Yes, you read that right. You can sit on Indie-Rock Santa's lap and get your photo taken by an amazing photographer like Ms. Musselman.   We do our best to make your holiday wishes come true!
 

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Happy Monday morning!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to make the most of what the experts have claimed to be the warmest day of the year.  My weekend was packed with some mundane blah stuff which was thankfully overshadowed by one hellava Saturday night in Columbia City.  After an amazing dinner at my new favorite restaurant (Island Soul, do not leave without trying one of their coconut corn muffins!), my friends and I headed over to the Fishboy / BOAT / Aqueduct show at the Columbia City Theater.

All the bands went above and beyond, but the highlight of the night was a surprise super special guest appearance. Mr. John Roderick joined BOAT on stage to chime in on "Landlocked," and then stayed on stage for a super-rock rendition of the Long Winters classic, "New Girl." {!!!}   To say it was jaw-dropping would be an understatement. It's been a while since I've heard the Long Winters rock-style, and boy oh boy, I hope this is a sign for things to come (next album, more shows). 

My favorite part of the story? The part in which I found out that BOAT and John hadn't actually ever practiced "New Girl" together.  The band just sprung it on John when he arrived to the show that night {sprung = asked really nicely}. This just furthers my claim that BOAT (with J. Rod on lead vocals now and again) would make a great house band for the next late night talk show. Watch out Roots! 

How was your weekend? What were your highlights?

Huge thanks to Button Dave for capturing the magic and posting to youtube:

(videos after the jump)

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We had the fine fortune of attending John Roderick's Write Like I Do installment at 826 Seattle last night, and 'write like he does' we did -- for almost two hours, we went through his takes on the dissection of lyric writing, heard practical tips and did real-time exercises that taught how bridge the gap from journaling to storytelling, and were even treated to a bit of insight into some of John's more personal experiences and musings. For most of us, the path from Baby, you hurt me so bad (yeah) to If I kissed you now / like sun streaming through a tavern door is not an easy one to walk -- and while we're not going to be releasing the next "Hindsight" anytime soon, we all left the classroom a little more bolstered up to our own potentials, and a little more keen on our respective capabilities for sharpening and expanding our stories without feeling like we'd done our truths a disservice. Not an easy feat by a long shot, and one that John led us through with ease.

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