So I'm sitting here uploading photos from the last 5 days, and catching up on the shows I missed on my DVR, and it seemed only appropriate to blog about life over the course of the last week or so. It was filled with some great highs, a few lows, but for the most part it was one of the more enjoyable weeks the boys and I had in a while, and definitely filled with a couple of 'firsts'.
First time opening up for an established act
Carl, Bill and I felt like we turned a corner last Wednesday by opening up for Texas legend Gary P. Nunn at the County Line in San Antonio. I can't even remember the amount of times I've seen him onstage around Texas, so opening up for him was a real honor. It was really cool show for me because my aunt, uncle, cousin, her husband and 2 children brought out my grandmother who is 83 years young, (all of whom had never seen a performance), and my mom came up from Austin to see it. The weather was able to hold off for the whole night, and the crowd was really into us, so it was truly memorable. My personal thanks to Janice Williams and Marsha Milam for having us out there.
First time with not one but TWO new players
Bill and I had been searching around for a little over a week or so trying to find a couple of subs for our recently departed bass player and Carl who, while sincerely wanting to go, had commitments to his day job he couldn't get out of for 4 days. He was able to get there to the County Line show on Wednesday night, and our friend Charlie Irwin sat in on bass for that night as well, but was booked for the rest of the week. So, essentially we were on our own and Bill and I coached our 2 new fill ins for the next 4 shows with relatively few problems. Of course there's nothing like having 2 stage veterans coaching 2 guys who've never played with us before through 45-50 songs they may or may not have heard before, but we managed...I don't know how, but we managed. :)
First (almost) bar fight
Yeah, it goes with the territory. Playing in bars where alcohol flows a little more freely on some nights, it's just an occupational hazard that you just can't get around in the music business. We played our regular show on Thursday night at the Pickled Pelican, and we always love playing there. At the beginning of the night I was asked by an apparent local musician if he could come up and play bass with us, and of course the answer had to be 'no'. It was hard enough playing with 2 new guys already there, much less someone who we didn't know, and we're pretty strict on who we let share the stage with us. Nevertheless, as the night went on, our newfound local kept drinking while we kept playing. Meanwhile, one of our good friends who owns another place we play at down there walked in and asked if he could play a tune with us, and there was no question that we would have him on. Afterall, he puts us up at his house most of the time when we play down there, but that wasn't the case last week, as he had clients in town. So, instead of leaving us hanging, he put us up at a VERY nice hotel for 3 nights and 3 rooms, most of which were $140 a night. He spent over a grand putting us up, so YEAH - of course he's going to be welcome up to play a tune. :)
Well, no sooner had I walked off stage to watch the guys finish out the jam, did this guy walk up to me and start getting in my face about letting our friend up and not him. Now, I don't know how much time had passed, but I don't think I've ever seen Bill move that fast to get in between me and this guy before anything happened because he was right there making sure nothing happened to me. That's the great thing about Bill - he wears so many hats to keep us going, but his bodyguard hat came on in a flash once he sensed something wasn't right. It didn't get any worse than an overheated conversation about literally nothing, but it was the first and hopefully the last for a while.
And, you know, I think that's really all I can say about that whole last trip. There weren't a whole lot of other significant things that happened that I think that a) the rest of the blog reading world would find interesting or even understand like 'the mancave', babes on the bay or pop a tire and b) the fact that I'm bound by the rules of the road and can't divulge that stuff anyway lest I be thrown out of the club. :)
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Updates and thoughts
Wow - suddenly I just felt like putting out a blog tonight, and I didn't realize until just logging in how long ago it was since I was able to write anything here. It's hard to remember all of the specific details of what happened in the last few months, but seemingly everything is going pretty well, overall.
There's a very nice conversion van outside the house right now that we just brought out for the first time last weekend, and we love it. It's very comfortable, has a TV/DVD player in it with surround sound, and the back seat folds down automatically into a couch/bed. It's kinda funny, because I bought it less than an hour before we were due to hit the road in it this past Friday. It's got a 350 in it too, which very capably handled the towing job for our new trailer, which we also love. When we got it at the first part of last month, we were very excited but a little puzzled on how we were going to fill it. With all of the equipment we had, it only filled it up half way. Needless to say, a month or so later it filled up fast with plenty of gear.
Fast forward a few months and about 40 shows later, things are still going strong, and I'm meeting with radio promoter Ed Spacek tomorrow to begin that part of the process. I'm very excited to see what direction that will take things, because every day there's something new that I get to learn about something I've been wanting to do since I got my first guitar. There is a whole lot of hard work keeping a band going, and perpetuating its success, but I've had a lot of times lately where I've been singing in front of the microphone and playing, and I'll catch a thought in the back of my mind saying to myself "I can't believe I'm actually getting to do this." It's fun when that kind of electricity goes through your body on stage during a performance, and the feeling never gets old.
It just reminded me of the very first time I took a stage in front of a live band at a dancehall in Pflugerville called The Lumberyard (which is now a gentlemen's club, natch.) I was competing in a talent competition where the band had a set list to choose from, and you picked the songs you were going to do. I won the first round of the competition that night, and won a second time to get to the finals, and didn't end up being the overall winner, but I've never forgotten the feeling of watching people dance around in front of me and hearing the cheers and applause of the audience of my family, friends and strangers.
That almost always makes the shows so fun for me nowadays, too, because I draw so much of my stage energy from the crowd. And, now that we're starting to gain some credibility, success and people are driving 50 miles away just to come see us, it's a great accomplishment. If it all ended tomorrow, I wouldn't have one complaint in the world, because I'd be able to say for the rest of my life that I did something that was truly meaningful to me. Sure, there are drawbacks, hard times, and stressful moments that can really challenge your resolve sometimes, but there are plenty of them in any career and at many various points for everyone.
One of my favorite ladies and my first vocal coach, Marci Lynne, told me a long time ago that we'll all go through the same things in our life whether we know it or not - they just happen at different times. That also reminds me of something Hank Williams said too, is that there isn't an original song idea out there anywhere, period (or something to that effect.) But I figure if I can do my best every time I get up in front of that microphone to convey what I've written into something that's meaningful for someone else in some form or another, then I've done my job, and I can sleep at night knowing that.
Speaking of which, it's about that time - I think I hear a little thunder, and it'll be nice to go to sleep with that tonight. :)
Hope to see you at a show sometime - here's what's coming up:
Friday, May 9th
Shakespeare's Pub
10:00 PM
Saturday, May 10th
Billy's Icehouse
9:30 PM
Monday, May 12th
KASE 101 Golf Tournament
12:00 Noon
Wednesday, May 14th
County Line Music Series opening for Gary P. Nunn
7:00 PM
There's a very nice conversion van outside the house right now that we just brought out for the first time last weekend, and we love it. It's very comfortable, has a TV/DVD player in it with surround sound, and the back seat folds down automatically into a couch/bed. It's kinda funny, because I bought it less than an hour before we were due to hit the road in it this past Friday. It's got a 350 in it too, which very capably handled the towing job for our new trailer, which we also love. When we got it at the first part of last month, we were very excited but a little puzzled on how we were going to fill it. With all of the equipment we had, it only filled it up half way. Needless to say, a month or so later it filled up fast with plenty of gear.
Fast forward a few months and about 40 shows later, things are still going strong, and I'm meeting with radio promoter Ed Spacek tomorrow to begin that part of the process. I'm very excited to see what direction that will take things, because every day there's something new that I get to learn about something I've been wanting to do since I got my first guitar. There is a whole lot of hard work keeping a band going, and perpetuating its success, but I've had a lot of times lately where I've been singing in front of the microphone and playing, and I'll catch a thought in the back of my mind saying to myself "I can't believe I'm actually getting to do this." It's fun when that kind of electricity goes through your body on stage during a performance, and the feeling never gets old.
It just reminded me of the very first time I took a stage in front of a live band at a dancehall in Pflugerville called The Lumberyard (which is now a gentlemen's club, natch.) I was competing in a talent competition where the band had a set list to choose from, and you picked the songs you were going to do. I won the first round of the competition that night, and won a second time to get to the finals, and didn't end up being the overall winner, but I've never forgotten the feeling of watching people dance around in front of me and hearing the cheers and applause of the audience of my family, friends and strangers.
That almost always makes the shows so fun for me nowadays, too, because I draw so much of my stage energy from the crowd. And, now that we're starting to gain some credibility, success and people are driving 50 miles away just to come see us, it's a great accomplishment. If it all ended tomorrow, I wouldn't have one complaint in the world, because I'd be able to say for the rest of my life that I did something that was truly meaningful to me. Sure, there are drawbacks, hard times, and stressful moments that can really challenge your resolve sometimes, but there are plenty of them in any career and at many various points for everyone.
One of my favorite ladies and my first vocal coach, Marci Lynne, told me a long time ago that we'll all go through the same things in our life whether we know it or not - they just happen at different times. That also reminds me of something Hank Williams said too, is that there isn't an original song idea out there anywhere, period (or something to that effect.) But I figure if I can do my best every time I get up in front of that microphone to convey what I've written into something that's meaningful for someone else in some form or another, then I've done my job, and I can sleep at night knowing that.
Speaking of which, it's about that time - I think I hear a little thunder, and it'll be nice to go to sleep with that tonight. :)
Hope to see you at a show sometime - here's what's coming up:
Friday, May 9th
Shakespeare's Pub
10:00 PM
Saturday, May 10th
Billy's Icehouse
9:30 PM
Monday, May 12th
KASE 101 Golf Tournament
12:00 Noon
Wednesday, May 14th
County Line Music Series opening for Gary P. Nunn
7:00 PM
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