…I love Nashville Hot Chicken?

A good friend of mine asked me for my hot chicken recipe, so after I typed it out, I thought, I might as well share this with the world.  Here it is:

Leticia’s Nashville Hot Chicken Recipe (or okra, or duck or anything fried)

First, make your paste. I use a stick of butter or two depending on how much I’m making. I don’t know how lard works, but I assume it can be softened into a cream or liquid. Get that going on.

Add to that an s-load of cayenne pepper. I’d go as far to say equal parts. Then add 1/2 part chili powder. Other spices I add in smaller quantities like tablespoons are garlic salt, pepper flakes, black pepper, and any other flavor your interested in adding like cinnamon or cumin. Then the secret ingredient is chinese chili paste. I use a couple of tablespoons. It gives a great consistency to the paste and adds a flavorful heat. If you want more heat, you can always cut up a habanero and use of it what you dare, but I think the recipe is a good prince’s medium as is.

Soak the meat in straight buttermilk for a couple of hours.  Soak the okra in a mix of egg and buttermilk for 5 minutes. the okra’s coating is a 50/50 mix of cornmeal and flour. The meat just gets flour. Let the coatings sit for a minute until they absorb and look dry. If you like you can double dip your coatings, but I usually don’t.

I usually cook in a big pot of oil, but I’m sure the deep fryer will fix ‘em right up. The SECOND you pull that stuff from the fryer, lay it out flat, and use a basting brush, or glove your hands and use your hands, and rub that sweet paste all into and over your fried yummies. After spying on Prince’s and researching online, I learned that the secret with nashville hot chicken is adding the spicy paste ONTO the breading rather than IN it. BUT you have to do it when the chicken, okra, whatever comes right out of the oil. Place on slices of very white bread and top with dill pickle slices. Tish’s Nashville Hot Anything Recipe.

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…I want to start a band with everyone I meet?

It seems that almost every time I’m out hanging with friends (‘networking’ in Nashville, since EVERYONE is a musician), some new insane idea for a project always gets excitedly announced.  Maybe its an icelandic metal band called Ramekin that performs all songs about food.  Maybe its a sex-comedy rock band called Jubilant Jack with three drummers banging one out.  Maybe its a alt-folk duo with some local handsey boy.  Maybe its a hip-hop dance band with banjos.  Maybe its a They Might Be Giants cover band.  Whatever it is, whether serious or playful, my immediate reaction is always, I’M YOUR GIRL.

Is this bad?

When I was in my early 20′s, my dad gave me a piece of advice I have vigorously strayed from.  He told me that when he was young, he was good at a lot of things, so he did a lot of things.  He had minor success in a lot of areas, but never what he would consider a major financial victory.  He built solar houses before solar power was popular.  He built retail under residential buildings back when people weren’t sure if they wanted to live above a coffee shop.  He designed and built office buildings, golf course communities, commercial spaces, big designer custom homes, schools, nursing homes and who knows what else.  He told me that because he did so many different things, he never became known for his craft.  His advice to me was to be careful how much I diversify, because I might spread myself too thin and never reach my full potential for success.

I thought about that all the time.  I’d go as far as to say that it haunted me.  I was born with his brain–always working, creating, innovating, solving puzzles it designs for itself.  That type of mind, in combination with my mother’s ability to dream and her profound love for all types of music, has brought me to this place.  If I look back over my catalog of music, each time I went through an intensive writing phase, it was always stylistically different from the time before.  My style was influenced by, of course, what I was listening to at the time, but also, what friends I wanted to impress, what my mood was, what I was reading, etc.

In most businesses, I think my dad is right.  If I were trying to run my styling business and open a bakery, that would limit my success at both.  However, if I pick businesses that benefit each other, I think it helps grow my success.  I can do my editorial styling business and work in a salon, because they feed each other through referrals and networking.  I’ve also seen how my styling business benefits my music career, by increasing my network of people in the music business.

I study successful musicians and I see the same thing.  They diversify.  They play in each other’s bands, they create side projects, and they get their hands dirty.  They say “yes” to collaborations.  They get their tunes remixed for dance clubs.  They let acoustic artists cover their rock songs.  They create alter-egos.  They tweet from several accounts.  They keep people’s attention because they stay active and keep people guessing.  Lady Gaga, Ryan Adams, Janelle Monae, Rufus Wainwright,  Jack White, Daft Punk, and Kanye West keep mixing it up.   I want to be like that.  I guess in some ways, I already am.

I think the bottom line is, with any business, the more you do your craft, the better you will be at your craft.  My craft is not being any certain type of performer, my craft is writing songs.  I’ve done it a long time and I’m really good at it.  When I head to the studio every Monday, I don’t tell myself, “I’m going to write a country song today.”  I tell myself, “I’m going to the studio to see what happens today.”  Being an artist is a lifestyle choice.  My dad decided that being an artist was more important to him than being a “contractor.”  He creates the projects that are on his heart and is building a legacy of prolific design, which may lead to even greater success.  Ten years after giving me the advice he does not live by either, my dad is now known as the guy that can do ANY project, and he gets approached for all kinds of jobs and stays very busy in his current hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii.  Not too bad, dad.

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