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10 Things Taylor Momsen Hates About Life on the Road
Posted on May 11, 2011 by Courtney
Last fall, a fter flipping o ff most of the Upper East Side, Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen toured the country in support of Light Me Up, her surprisingly accomplished debut album with The Pretty Reckless. Well, yesterday it was confirmed that Momsen (and former costar Jessica Szohr) won’t be returning to the show that made her famous enough to have a music career in the first place. Now that she’s a full-time rock star, we wanted to find out how she likes life on the road. Let’s just say, Little J. wouldn’t last an hour.
1. I hate many things about touring, but the worst is the lack of showering. The guys I’m on the road with start to smell like moldy cheese a er a week.
2. I hate playing shows outside during the daytime. Rock music needs lights!
3. I hate when they forget the Red Bull on our catering rider. How else am I supposed to work on no sleep?
4. I hate when the bus driver stops abruptly and I fall out of my bunk. I still have a bruise from the last time.
5. I hate Porta-Pottys. Umm… no thanks. If the town dump smells better than the bathroom facilities, that’s a problem!
6. I hate fast food. (Although I will make an exception for Del Taco.)
7. I hate syncing period cycles with the other women on tour. It’s not necessarily bad for me, but I’m sure the guys don’t appreciate it.
8. I hate when my dog, Petal, can’t come on the road with me. Ever since the “incident” that took place in our guitar player’s shoes, she hasn’t really been embraced by the guys.
9. I hate going through customs, especially at 4am when we we’re sleeping!
10. I hate when my manager tries to make me wear pants.
Photo by Lauren Dukoff.
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Gossip Girl EXCLUSIVE: Taylor Momsen and Jessica Szohr Not Returning For Season 5
Posted on May 10, 2011 by Courtney
Spotted: Two fewer troublemakers on the Upper East Side.
TVLine has learned exclusively that Gossip Girl is parting ways with Taylor Momsen (Jenny) and Jessica Szohr (Vanessa).
A source close to the show confirms that the two actresses will not be returning as series regulars for the CW soap’s upcoming fifth season, but added that both have been invited back on a guest star basis.The departures of Momsen and Szohr hardly come as a complete surprise. Momsen — who has made no secret of her desire to make music her primary focus — has appeared in only a handful of episodes this season. Similarly, Szohr’s alter ego has been given little to do save for a little eavesdropping and meddling here and there. What’s more, Vanessa recently revealed that she was leaving town to study abroad.
‘Gossip Girl’ Taylor Momsen Gets Real About Castmates, Calls Pretty Reckless Band Her ‘Family’
Posted on April 29, 2011 by Courtney
Momsen fronts Pretty Reckless — an alt-rock band signed to Interscope who released their debut, ‘Light Me Up, in 2010. Contrary to the album’s title, Momsen shows a darker side throughout the album, showcasing her raspy, powerful set of pipes and skilled songwriting. In her signature peroxide tresses and dramatic, dark eye makeup, she sat down with AOL Music to dish on the details behind her ‘Gossip Girl’ hiatus, the concert that changed her life and her advice for aspiring young stars.
You have your band the Pretty Reckless, but obviously people also know you from ‘Gossip Girl,’ too. What would you say is your first love — music or acting?
Music, without a doubt.
And if you could only do one or the other for the rest of your life?
Music. I don’t even have to think about that one.
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Home » Photoshoots » Session #58
Rowdy Muscularity and Sweet Harmonies
Posted on April 24, 2011 by Courtney
Usually it falls to the writers to get a character purged from a network television series, but Taylor Momsen, who plays the naïve manipulator Jenny Humphrey on “Gossip Girl,” appears to be taking matters into her own hands. For the last two years her other alter ego has been as the frontwoman of the Pretty Reckless, a battering ram of a hard-rock band that she has no difficulty steering. “Light Me Up” (Interscope) is the group’s first full-length album, and it’s terrific fun: salacious, convincingly muscular, unnervingly rowdy. Ms. Momsen, 17, comes by her snarl by way of Courtney Love and Lita Ford, drizzles her lyrics with winks at Tina Turner and Kelly Clarkson and never sounds happy on this album for more than a couple of seconds at a time. “Do you have a light?” she purrs on the title track. “Can you make me feel all right/There’s plenty of white to go around.” Were she a Disney star, she’d be fired by now, but “Gossip Girl” writers might be listening closely, harvesting ideas.
French Fan Reviews ‘The Pretty Reckless’ gig at Vip Room – March 27
Posted on March 28, 2011 by Courtney
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House Of Blues, Houston TX
Posted on February 23, 2011 by Courtney
Is this us ripping up our man card?
No doubt hitting the stage in a red sheer teddy, matching garters and six-inch old-school hooker boots shouldn’t be a bad thing, but when it’s a 17 year-old girl with more than enough vocal power to negate the need for a cheap auxiliary thrill, it’s disconcerting. And compared to most of her influences and contemporaries, her get-up was quasi-tame.
Now we just sound prudish.
?Aftermath isn’t sure if shame is the right word for watching an hour of Momsen, half-naked and writhing, in a small room with a crowd of tweens, teens and old creepers. We do know that the shock and titillation of it all went out the window by song two, and we were more interested in hearing her voice than waiting for a wardrobe malfunction.
Momsen has been blessed with a voice at least two decades older than she is. It’s a husky, throaty bellow, not quite scream-y enough to be shrill. Imagine Avril Lavigne’s 2003 voice with a nicotine tint. It comes in a jail-baiting image, part Runaways Cherie Currie and/or Courtney Love circa 1991, with a whole lot more skin showing.
Friday night’s set list was almost all of Pretty Reckless’ recent debut LP, Light Me Up, plus a cover of Audioslave’s “Like A Stone,” which, to give you an idea of just where her voice is at, Momsen nailed. The older girls in the crowd sang along to the 2003 radio hit; to the younger kids, Audioslave might as well be what supergroup Damn Yankees were to people Aftermath’s age ten years ago.
Each song came with an eerie sing-along (which spooked our weathered photographer), like a demented children’s chorus, on some of the more coarsely written cuts. As far as a front woman, Momsen is still a little wobbly, though. Well, the boys and men in the crowd were locked in, and the girls were screaming, so maybe stage banter doesn’t mean shit yet.
We hate to get all fatherly (ick), or big brotherly (yuck), but we will say that Momsen doesn’t need to show her bare ass to get people to listen to her pipes. We would have enjoyed her voice even if she were in a turtleneck and jeans.
But that’s not rock and roll at all, now is it? We get that. Showmanship, danger, glamour, sex appeal, societal norms, Lolita, Britney… the past 50 years of rock trumps everything.
Personal Bias: Is this where we are supposed to say we have a bias for jailbait in lingerie, or something about female-fronted rock bands? Passing on this one.
The Crowd: Tons of boys and girls, maybe Momsen’s age. Twentysomethings with their interest piqued by her Gossip Girl role. Older gentlemen with expensive cameras and questionable motives.
Overheard In the Crowd: “This song is about fucking a priest.”
Random Notebook Dump: Taylor Momsen is basically the kind of rock star that Lady Gaga wants to be, but can’t anymore.
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Home » The Pretty Reckless » Live Performances » 2011 » House of Blues, Houston TX – February 18, 2011