The return of sunshine

Well, if it wasn't noticable to you that people in this town were so anxious for the weather to clear up and get better, it sure has heck was to us last night on 6th street!

The evening started off, for me personally, on a high note when I stopped in on my friend Rob's 30th birthday party. My only intention of dropping by was to wish him a happy birthday, hang out for a bit, and head down to 6th street to get set up for our show at Shakespeare's. It's been a while since I'd seen him or his folks (where the party was at) and no sooner had I mentioned that I no longer had my booking agency, and had just released my own CD that Rob's mom took great care of me, and made sure that I was introduced to everyone at the party. She even loaded the CD into their player and played it for the better part of the hour or so that I was there. It was fun, but by the time I left I was still almost literally still gasping for air from talking to so many people in such a short amount of time. :) Today's Rob's official birthday, so let me wish him a very good one, and thanks again for a wonderful time. Rob just lost 100 pounds and looks great!

The tempo of the evening only precipitated one of our best shows on 6th street at Shakespeare's. By the time I got there, I was still recovering from the party, and we had plenty of time to load in, set up and get sound checked. John, Bill and I were all in great moods, and the energy level kept steadily increasing from there. My good friend Nate, who I've known since high school, came by as well as some very nice ladies from Arizona who bought 3 copies of the album. The shows keep getting tighter, the guys and I are having so much fun on stage, but the crowd last night really was what made it all come together. I draw so much of my energy from the crowd, especially when I'm getting alot of good response, that it's almost like a 4 hour rollercoaster ride.

We'll be back at Shakespeare's Pub this Friday night on the 1st of February, so come on out and see what you've been missing! This week, our friend and pedal steel guitarist Price Porter will be joining us on stage, and bringing (what I believe to be) a very rarely seen instrument on 6th street. I honestly can't remember the last time I was on 6th street and heard a steel guitar playing...judging by the packed house just about every time we play there, people really enjoy hearing our kind of music on 6th street again.

Oh, one other thing I almost forgot to mention that's pretty cool. I heard last week from XM Radio that they're going to be picking up 3 songs from the album to play in regular rotation on America, channel 10. The songs are "Day Job", "If I Could Just Get Back (into The Swing of Things)", and "Best Friend I Never Had". It's so cool to have that kind of benchmark this early in my career, and I'm very grateful for (who I'm honored calls me a friend) Dale Watson for helping to make the connection with XM.

Here's what's coming up:
2/01 - Shakespeare's Pub
2/06 - Fox 7's 'Good Day Austin' (day)
2/06 - Cindy's Gone Hog Wild
2/07 - The Pickled Pelican (Rockport)
2/08 - Hill's Cafe
2/09 - Tarrytown Farmer's Market (day)
2/09 - Giddy Ups