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NEW!
WITHOUT HIM  - music and lyrics by Michael Erwin, Michael Erwin (guitar) & Kyra (vocals) live from Dylan's Open Mic! Thanks Chalie Stockley for recording.

KYRA SOLO:
4 LINES (mp3)
this original song is about this guy, pete, who i fell in LOVE with for a minute and who took me friggin' 2 whole years to get over. i don't really think he was all that looking back on it. i think i was just really ready at that point or something. anyway, at least i got a good song out of it.

HOLDING ON (mp3)
this original song was written after yet another mess of trying to get paid after a show at paradise lounge. i think mr. paul conte helped inspire it, as well. oh, and there's this song by liz phair called "ride" off her whitechocolatespaceegg album that somehow inspired the original feel. that rhythm has changed since, but i do remember that particular influence in the beginning.

SOMETHING EXPLODED (mp3)
this is an original song about being a girl, the horrors of girl-dom, the mess it all is. sigh. but chics diggit.

SILENT CHIME (mp3)
this original song is about being rendered speechless by everything, as usual. brain spinning, tongue not working. it's about being all stopped up inside and knowing you're a good person but feeling like a demon and the fact that it's all ridiculous anyway. it's about making a mess of your life sensibly. it's about being invisible. p.s. i just sneezed without covering my mouth and shot a loogie halfway across the room.

SUPERSTAR (mp3)
this original song is pretty self-explanatory. your basic woe is me, i'm supposed to be WAY in a better position in the world with THIS kind of talent than i am. and i would do anything for it. i'm a masochist so am sweetly and rightly wallowing in it all at the same time.

AMAZING GRACE (mp3)
this is a cover. it is just an amazing song. dunno who wrote it. EVERYbody covers it. how can you not?

LITTLE BITTY TOWN (mp3)
a cover of the bad livers' original from their blood and mood album. the bad livers were introduced to me by jeff wilson and i was just completely blown away the first time i heard them. amazing amazing musicians.

WISH YOU WERE HERE (mp3)
a pink floyd cover. of course. i don't think i'd even heard of pink floyd until being introduced to them my freshman year at indiana university by my then-boyfriend kevin cox. that was also the first time i smoked pot. i remember being at his family's house (his dad drove a schoolbus) in southern indiana and ooooo, i smoked pot out back with the kids then we all were having a big sit-down dinner. i remember being the most paranoid i've ever been AND it happened to be in relation to cutting open a baked potato. and i remember having the absolute strangest feeling up and down the back of my neck. hmm.

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DEVIL EYE BROWN's 2000 "Protect Us From the White Coats" album. (email to buy): devil eye brown was one 'o my bands, made up of myself, paul conte (now pastry chef at the prestigious market bar in san francisco and half of the band "clyde") producing and playing drums/percussion, shahar "sharky" ben-barak (now living in ashland, oregon and owner of the vinyl club there) producing and playing guitar, and ron guensche (now playing bass in above the orange trees) engineering and playing bass. all songs written by kyra brown:

INSECT (mp3)
about the personal haunting of that persistent crap that runs on neverending repeat in the brain. guest musicians on this are eric mcfadden (the eric mcfadden experience, george clinton and a million other bands) and dave newman (budderball, the beanweevils, clyde), both on guitar.

POPHEAD (mp3)
a loaded song, about trying not to go crazy.

RIVER (mp3)
about wanting somebody to friggin take me away, like calgon in the form of a person. guest musician is jeff bigelow of mojo deluxe on guitar.

SINGLE FILE (mp3)
this song is about taking the scary leap, overcoming your fears, exorcising oneself from the demons within. guest musician is jeanna steele on violin.

FEVER (mp3)
about being alone, despondent, scared, and reaching out for a little comraderie in the mess of it. guest musician dave newman on guitar (see "insect", above).

ROLLOVER (mp3)
about being a little fish in the big pond of corporate america and truly despising the prostitution of it all. but throwing in a bit of hope, just for the shit of it. guest musician is eric mcfadden on guitar (see "insect" above).

IGNORANCE IS BLISS (mp3)
bitter sweet little rant about my messed up parents, including quite a bit of projection. guest musician is jeanna steele on violin.

CRY BABY (mp3)
this song did not make it on the album and includes the vocal scratch track (meaning i never went back and recorded a professional sounding vocal track.. oh, well) . though we never went so far as to finish it, i still like it enough to include it here. sharky is just a genius and pretty much worked out a wonderful composition. i wrote the song originally but sharky took it and ran so far that i have no idea how to play it anymore. i am so grateful to have worked with him. oh, this song was just a big cathartic release about wanting to live alone SO badly. i think i lived with one too many a boyfriend up to that point. i was at my wit's end more than likely. yeah, so i wanted to live alone AND fall deeply in love.. is that too much to ask?!! well, i have achieved one of the goals by now anyway.

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ONCE THERE - this was a band i was in between my own bands for a while. i sang. all songs and lyrics written by chris miller:

WAIT FOR THE SHOW (mp3)

ONE

TWO

LYRICS
"I'm not a superstar, I drive a rusty, old beater car. I'm always at the laundrymat. I clean my own toilet, that's where it's at. I sit and watch primetime television. Cruise ninety-nine cent stores in the Mission...".

a review
"...you are a terrific songwriter - we were listening to devil eye brown again the other night and i just love those songs - you have such a terrific natural expressiveness in your delivery and the way you put it together with the melodies. you have the same playfulness, versatility and creativity that beck has. i just love it.."

-Meredith DiMenna, President of Exotic Recordings