BY NOE GUTIERREZ
On Friday, December 22nd, California Country will descend into Pioneertown as PEARL + THE BOYS kick-in the holiday cheer full-force performing their brand of Country, Soul, and Rock ‘n’ Roll holiday classics and originals at one of our greatest American music venues, Pappy + Harriet’s. Tickets are still available for $20 at pappyandharriets.com. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and show starts at 9:30 p.m.
Pearl Aday is an American Rock singer and songwriter and daughter of one of the greatest Rock vocalists of our time, Meat Loaf. She has appeared on numerous albums and in various tours and television performances with her father, both as backing singer and in duets. Her albums Heartbreak and Canyon Revelry, Little Immaculate White Fox and The Swing House Session: Pearl (Live and Acoustic) demonstrate the broadness of her range, richness of her voice and soulfulness of her delivery. Coachella Valley Weekly, once again, had the honor of speaking with the impassioned vocalist prior to making her yearly high desert trek to Pappy’s + Harriet’s.
CVW: You performed a Christmas show last year in Hollywood with “The Boys”. Who are “The Boys”?
Pearl: “The Boys” are the best band in the land, my guys, my chosen fam and some of the most incredible musicians you’ll ever hear. Jim Wilson is a multi-instrumentalist, and plays lead and rhythm guitar and sings with me. He’s been my songwriting partner for two decades. We’ve also got Ryan MacMillan on drums who’s been playing with me for over 10 years. Dahniel Knight plays bass with me, but is also an amazing multi-instrumentalist. Chris Emerson is our wizard on keys, and our latest addition to The Boys fam is up-and-comer Mike Green who is a prodigy on the guitar and sings like a bird. My brothers, all of ‘em.”
CVW: We last communicated in 2019, pre-pandemic. Things have obviously changed since then for the entire world and the music business. What is different for you personally and what do you feel has been the biggest change in the industry for you to adapt to?
Pearl: “Oh man, I’m learning hard and fast how to navigate social media, and how the internet has turned art and music on its ass and is ever- changing how audiences consume art and music, and how we reach them. Also, I’m ever-changing, we all are, and I’m coming more deeply into myself and feeling more and more solid in who I am and how I am giving myself to everyone.”
CVW: Pappy + Harriet’s seems like the perfect venue for your music and the energy you perform with. What is your draw to the venue and the area in particular after performing there for the first time in 2019?
Pearl: “Thank you for that compliment! Pappy + Harriet’s had always been a pie-in-the-sky gig goal for me. We always want to think we’re cool enough to play the places we feel are the coolest, and Pappy’s is one of THE coolest in my opinion. This will now be my fourth time onstage at Pappy’s. My most recent date was supporting our friend Cody Jinks, sold out on the outside stage this past September. Too cool. I’m so honored to be asked back to headline the indoor stage. Just the best place to break it down, be loud, and feel loved and cozy at the same time.”
CVW: What do you admire most about your husband Scott and son Revel?
Pearl: “I tell our son every day, ‘I’m so proud to be your mama’. It’s an ultimate truth. There are so many things I admire in both my husband and our son, on top of that list would be their passion, their tenacity, their kindness, their natural talent and their recognition that this natural talent is a gift and how it drives them to be the best they can be every day. They are both so tender, and funny, and smart, and mindful, and thoughtful…When you ask me about these two, I GUSH. I could go on and on. They inspire me every day.”
CVW: With the holidays happening and many of us being mindful of what we have, what is the biggest blessing about being in a “musical family”?
Pearl: “I’m not a conventional organized religion kind of human, but I’d say that music is the closest thing we have to religion. Music is something that we celebrate and respect and worship in our family. The fact that we can all make music together is a blessing from the universe. I just posted some footage of the three of us, Revel on drums, and Scott on guitar, alongside our chosen fam Joey Vera on bass (Armored Saint, Mercyful Fate, Fate’s Warning), and Zach Throne on guitar (Corey Taylor band) tearing up the legendary Whisky a Go-Go with our renditions of Black Sabbath’s Symptom of the Universe, and Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. Damn, that was KILLER!”
CVW: The album that I most identify your voice with the most is Heartbreak and Canyon Revelry. Any chance we hear songs from that album at your Christmas show and what do you feel when that album comes up in conversations?
Pearl: “We will most definitely be playing a few from Heartbreak and Canyon Revelry. That album was a labor of love. Took me almost seven years to finish. I started it right after I had my son, and it was something that kept me going and connecting to myself through my first-time motherhood. Some mamas can get so lost and I definitely felt that on a certain level. I appreciate that album. There are GREAT songs on that album. I do still feel strongly that there is a lot of room to improve on it. I’d love to re-record some of those tracks sometime in this space I’m in now and see what happens. I don’t mind talking about it.”
CVW: You played a Christmas show last year in Hollywood. What makes this time of year special for you?
Pearl: “I lost my dad almost two years ago now. Christmas was his most favorite holiday when we were growing up. I have a younger sister named Amanda, and Dad would go all out for us starting weeks before. We have home movies of every Christmas morning from when we were really little, and Dad was like a little boy so excited for us to open presents. He’d stay up all night on Christmas Eve assembling toys and putting in batteries and all that so that under the tree would look like FAO Schwartz in Candy Land. He loved taking us all to pick out the tree, the decorations, the carols, the Christmas movies, the fireplace, the cookies left out for Santa. Did you know that “Santa” only wants Diet Dr. Pepper and Vienna Fingers? Funny…”
CVW: Any new music coming from Pearl Aday in 2024? Motor Sister’s 2022 album Get Off was killer, I won’t be mad if there are new tunes in the works (wink, wink).
Pearl: “YES. Jim Wilson and I have more than an album’s worth of new songs written. We’re working on them now. We’re in the demo stage to get moving into proper recording after the new year. This stuff leans hard back into Rock and Roll, very much a Rolling Stones sound still with an appreciation for good Outlaw Country, but my roots are in Rock and I’m back deep in my guts now. There’s gonna be a lot of hard truth spit into this next album. Coming through grief is like fighting and learning how to love the monster at the same time. Our music is benefiting from this. For a while I couldn’t write and I couldn’t sing, I couldn’t do much of anything and feel real joy, but we keep believing in music and it always heals.
Oh man, Motor Sister is THE BEST. We have so much fun together when we got to rock Motor Sister. We have a covers album and an original album in the on-deck circle. The trick is getting us all in the same room together. With Scott Ian in Anthrax and Mr.Bungle, John Tempesta in The Cult, Jim Wilson in Daniel Lanois’ band as well as Marc Ford and his solo project, and Joey Vera in Armored Saint and Mercyful Fate, it’s like herding cats trying to navigate the schedules…but we WILL get back to it soon…”
CVW: Any holiday/new year messages to your family, friends and fans?
Pearl: “Do what brings you peace. Surround yourself with the people who bring you peace. If you are obligated to spend time around people who do the opposite and you can’t get out of it, show up a little late and leave a little early, and while you’re there keep your mouth shut and offer to do the dishes in the kitchen. Then go home and hug your person and/or your pet, kick back in your happy place and be grateful you survived.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! CHEERS LOVE ROCK. See you at Pappy’s on December 22!”
PEARL + THE BOYS
COSMIC ROCK & ROLL X-MAS SHOW
PAPPY + HARRIET’S (Indoor Stage)
43668 Pioneertown Rd
Pioneertown, CA
Friday, December 22, 2023
Doors: 8:30PM | Show: 9:30PM
Tickets: https://www.seetickets.us/event/pearls-cosmic-rock-and-roll-holiday-show/573213
