It is the day before my birthday. I am sitting in my studio with the window open, unexpectedly working on a Christmas song and occasionally being distracted by the squawking squirrel that lives in our back yard...


It has been quite a while since my last blog post. I have been editing and publishing Mama Lee Rotten's blog of essays and poetry, and putting out 2-3 posts per week, yet my own blog has been dormant. I forget that while I'm working away in Rotten Studios and doing awesome things, you probably don't know much of what I'm up to.


So let me fill you in on things!


On October 1st, there will be a new Naked Highway single and amazing video called "Cannibal". It is the first Naked Highway video in a long time that isn't R-rated. ;) It even features my mom, Mama Lee Rotten aka Kathy Brooks, as well as a few other friends. The video really is stunning - I can't wait to share it with you!



I have been working like crazy on my solo project, Bound. I am almost done with the 12-song recording, which is full of soaring vocals and harmonies, fun 80s retro-tinged synth-pop production, and a ton of killer hooks. The concept album tells an intriguing, dark story, and Peter and I have begun filming an accompanying video project, with a music video for each song - so ultimately, I guess it's a musical short film. We still have the bulk of our filming and post production to do, but the album is getting there, so I can start to focus on the filming, casting, etc! This project is a labor of love and joy, and I really think that you will love it!!!!!


Home life is great - Peter, Lucy, Ellie and Auggie are all doing well, and I just finished the last lighting project (under cabinet kitchen lights) in our place. I have a little trim work in the kitchen yet to do and our home build will be finished!!!! We've only been working on it and living here for a year and a half!


Well, that damn squirrel is squawking again, but if I close the window, I'll miss out on this wonderful fall breeze. I should play around some more with this Christmas song - who knows, maybe I'll have a surprise Christmas present for you all...


XO DLR

Another Miss Millennium pageant has come and gone... I have to say that I had a fabulous time seeing so many friends and playing dress-up with some of my longtime 'sisters'.  After starting the new year sick with a lingering cold, I was happy to feel well enough to enjoy the pageant.  I had some great ideas submitted from my last post, including Paulie E's Smiley Virus and TT's Uranus Sparkles.  I loved both concepts, but with limited time, energy and money for clothes and props, I ended up going with a concept somewhat related to my character from last year, Granny. 

My character, Granny Tranny, has been coaching winning pageant contestants for 81 years, since coaching his/her older sister in the Little Miss Dust Bowl 1933 pageant.  Last year, Granny was one of Granny Tranny's big disappointments, coming in as second runner up..  "Never send a Granny to do a Tranny's job," said our beloved Granny Tranny... 

I began the pageant in a lovely gown that I literally pulled together from two curtains and a belt.  I decked out my walker with a matching curtain and some glittery pink bows.  I wore this for the first group number as well as the interview portion of the pageant.

My wig, styled by the amazing ROBIN BAXTER, was actually Granny's grey curly wig from last year, plus another wig used pageant style as a beehive bump-it and spray-painted grey.  Robin made those $5 wigs look like a million bucks! 

My next look was for the swimwear portion of the pageant.  I took the stage in a pink Granny style housedress, only to rip it off to reveal my real swimwear!  To make my swimwear, I took a pair of crazy cheapy tights and cut them at the knee.  I filled the lower portion of each leg/foot with macaroni and stapled them to a bra, then wore the upper portion of the tights for my bathing suit bottom.  I placed a sensible pink leopard shower cap atop my beehive and decked out my walker with a new ensemble to match...

As you can see, the look was a success and got quite a reaction from the crowd during the reveal! 

During the second group number, my trusty tits, which have been in the Miss Millennium pageant for 3 years running, made their first unexpected appearance, shaking loose of my costume and bouncing about with wild abandon.  Sadly, I haven't found any pics of the girls escaping, but trust that they were absurd and wonderful!  And if you were wondering, my boobs are made of two knee-high panty hose, filled with rice and tied together to hang around my neck.  As they were a bit too long, I put a knot in the toe area to shorten the dangle, which also ended up giving each breast a grotesque, semi-realistic nipple.  I hope that you can imagine the effect of these natty knockers busting loose and saying hello to the crowd...

Well, as Granny Tranny taught a young Vanessa Williams many years ago, if your tits pop out, come back conservative!

My next outfit, for the talent portion of the pageant, was an ultra-conservative suit that I found on super duper ridiculous clearance at Housing Works where I volunteer... This pre-2008 high-end Dana Buchman jacket and skirt set were new with tags and had an original retail price of $870, but somehow had been sitting in the store for many, many months, being marked down to a final purchase price under $20!

This lovely red brocade suit was complemented by my gold headband and golden walker decorations.  My talent went off a little shaky, as I had planned to pull an audience member on to the stage and instruct them on how to be a pageant winner... but I forgot about 75% of what I had planned to do.  Oops!  Maybe it's dementia setting in... It's live performance, so you roll with it, right? 

Special thanks to my dear friend Billy, my volunteer from the audience, who was a sport and a fabulous pageant queen.  I was happy to put a tiara on his head and get my forgetful old ass off of the stage!

The final costume of the evening was my evening gown.  Another Housing Works find, this two-toned orange polyester number was new with tags, but this time, it showed a Deb retail tag with an original price of $79.99, marked to $45.99, then $22.99, then $10, then $3.  For real.  Apparently, at that time, Deb took the loss and donated this beauty to HW, where the price was initially $25, but then someone with a price gun noticed the original tag and $3 price and marked it down.  I ended up paying $3 for it.  I think it was worth every penny!

I accessorized with golden colored gloves, an orange feather boa wrapped around my beehive, and some fabulously glittery gold and orange jewelery, on both me and my walker. 

As the pageant was winding down, I received my final question: What fashion advice would you give Vanilla Ice.  Granny Tranny's response was classic and elegant.  "As you all know, I have a lot of excellent advice to help anyone become a pageant queen.  I have displayed my talents for you all tonight.  But who the hell is Vanilla Ice?"

Well, always the bridesmaid, Granny Tranny was again awarded second runner up this year.  I guess ageism is alive and well in the pageant industry!  Haha! 

As usual, I have a ton of ideas for next year's character... But of course, I won't do anything until a few days before the pageant.  It'll be stressful and fabulous and I promise that you won't want to miss it!  One thing I'm planning to do is an original song for my character, so I hope that I don't wait until the last minute.  I'm sure I'll be a hot mess, and I'm sure that the audience will love it!!!!!!

Thanks to David, Robin, John, Jim, Andre, Jesse, Marcus, Michael, Randy, Matt, Ken, Sean, and the rest of the crew for the awesome together times that we had... Thank you to Sy, Joe & Ro, Peter and everyone who came out to see the show.  And a special thanks to Paul Tena for the fabulous pics!!!

XOXO
Granny Tranny

I'm sick.  I've had a cold for 5 days now.  I have left the apartment a total of twice in that time, and each short venture has worn me out.  Prior to this cold, I had a touch of the flu on Christmas eve and Christmas, a lovely gift from my darling Peter, who had been as sick as a dog.  I don't think I have actually felt 100% in about two weeks.  I'm sick of being freaking SICK!!!!  Maybe the home-made sambucus (elderberry) syrup that Peter made for me on Saturday will knock this crap out of me in the next day or two... but in the meantime, I am worried...

You see, every January, I take part in Miss Millennium with a longtime group of friends.  We all put together fun drag characters and have a pageant.  None of us do drag regularly, but we are all artists and performers who really have fun playing together.  Here's the problem - I'm supposed to be on a stage performing - singing, dancing, improvising in full character mode, with multiple costume changes including eveningwear, swimwear and several other outfits, in just 5 days.  And I'm still too sick to even go thrift-shopping. 

So what's a guy like me supposed to do?  Perform with a half-assed character, poorly planned and generically dressed?  Maybe.  I have a few ideas that could work...  But I really want to know: are there any fun funny drag characters that you can think of?  Please put any and all suggestions in the comments section of my blog here!!!  And even if I don't use your idea this year, maybe I'll be able to create your genius idea when I drag my (hopefully healthy) ass into 2015! 

XOXO
DLR

2013 - a year of CHANGES! At the start of this year, I was a live-in caregiver for a wonderful little old gay man with Alzheimer's disease. I lived in an upscale apartment in midtown Manhattan. I was dating a sweet guy named Peter. I was in an electro-glam-pop band Naked Highway with Sy on the weekends and volunteered at Housing Works Thrift Shops a few days each week.

This year, my little old man died. Peter and I built an apartment in Brooklyn and moved in together. In the process, I got my own small recording studio, which has already hosted sessions with Manila Luzon, Jinkx Monsoon, Rikki Crowley and Francine. Sy encouraged my secret ambition to be a solo artist and helped me release my first single, "If I Could Turn Back Time", and develop David Lee Rotten as an artist. Peter supported my dream and made it possible for me to be a full-time musician. He helped me with the concept and edited my music video, which I directed. The video is up to almost 5300 views on YouTube! I had two songs that I wrote get released commercially. One of my compositions, Friends With Benefits, was the fall single for my band. I also had a remix released by Tony winner Levi Kreis. That's a lot of changes!!!

In 2014, I have even more planned. I am working hard on a DLR video album, with each song having a video that can stand alone, but all together, tell a cool, unexpected story of love and obsession. Song titles so far include "5 More Minutes" "Don't" "Bound" "Call On Me" "If I Could Turn Back Time" and "Cry 4 You". The sound is vibrant, bouncy synth-pop full of harmonies that might remind you a little of the 80s with a current, sometimes dark and edgy twist.

I am still volunteering at Housing Works, and Sy and I are pushing forward with some awesome, fun songs and videos for Naked Highway. I am working on a remix for my sister Stacy's awesome band Katty Whomp-us and several other collaborations.

I can't believe all of the amazing changes that I have experienced over the past year and continue to experience. Thank you ALL for your support, encouragement and love. I look forward to every day of 2014 and can't wait to see where this coming year will take me! Thank you for coming along for the ride!

XOXO
David Lee Rotten