How Heath & Roy Met Part 2

Authors note: This is Part 2 of a two part series. You can check out Part 1 in the blog archive.

Roy had mentioned to me, that he performs some Christmas shows during the Holiday Season, and asked if I would possibly be interested in playing some guitar. I said, "Sure, I'm always open for different things." We left it that, and said we would stay in touch. I was really bummed, because I really wanted to work with him, but knew I had a bunch of Talking Heads songs to get ready in a short amount of time, so I focused my energies on that.

The week of the audition, the bass player called me and said some new developments were forcing them to cancel that week's practice and he asked, "Could we move it to next week?" I had a real sinking feeling, but said, "Sure." He  went on to explain that the keyboard player, who also had the rehearsal space, had decided to quit. "Well, this is not sounding good.", I thought. He told me not to worry about it though, and that the good news is, the drummer had a rehearsal space that was close to me in Weatherford. He also asked if I could learn two more songs for the audition, to bring the total to 12. I said, "Sure", and we agreed to keep in contact over the next week.

The following week, I show up at the appointed time. The bass player contacts me and says that he and the singer are running late, and to go ahead and meet the drummer and get my stuff set up. This is starting to not sit well with me, but he goes on to explain that the singer lives in Addison and was meeting him in Arlington, to ride out together.

Let me stop right here, for a minute. For those of you not familiar with Texas, it's a very big and spread out place. The singer's location was about an hour and fifteen minutes and the bass player lived about forty five minutes, to an hour away depending on traffic. The singer had run into traffic, on the way to the bass player's house, and that is why they were running late. Honestly, I was shocked at this revelation! I decided to cut them some slack, because anyone willing to drive that far for band practice had to be dedicated, right?

They eventually show up, we meet and greet, and then get to the business at hand. We started jamming and when the singer opened his mouth, I thought I was jamming with David Byrne! He had the nuances down and everything. He even had the grey suit that Byrne made famous in the movie, Stop Making Sense. The rehearsal went great and I nailed my parts. You usually only get one chance to make a first impression, so I worked really hard on my parts. They invited me to join and I gladly accepted. The only thing they were missing was a good keyboard player, and some backing vocals. It was the first week in March and our debut gig was already booked for May 19, 2012. Finally, some momentum! The bass player said he was going to place an ad on Craigslist for a keyboard player. I advised him that I knew of someone who would be perfect for the job. Guess who? He told me to contact him and he would hold off on placing the ad.

I contacted Roy, the next day to see, if he would be interested in joining up. He told me to let him listen to the music and he would let me know. He contacted me back the next day and said, "That while he liked some of their songs, he was not interested in doing a whole set of nothing but Talking Heads." He also mentioned to me that he was looking to start a "Trop Rock" project. I had never heard of this term before, so I asked him what it was. He said, "It's a genre of music that is real popular in New England, the East Coast and Florida." He said that it catered to the "Parrot Head" crowd. Now, I knew who the Parrot Head crowd was. That's Jimmy Buffet's domain. While, I love and have immense respect for Jimmy's music, my thought was, "Oh lord, I'll have to play Margaritaville and an assortment of other Buffet songs all night." I told him that I didn't think I would be the right person for the gig, and that I really didn't have the time to commit to two bands at this time. He said he understood, and we agreed to keep the lines of communication open.

I contacted our bass player and advised him that he should go ahead and place the ad. To make a long story short, we were never able to find a keyboard player. The bass player and drummer actually met with the original keyboard, and begged her to come back on, but she was not interested. We trudged on as a four piece and prepared for our first gig. The keyboard situation really had an affect on our setlist and what we could and couldn't play. One of the most glaring omissions from our setlist was Once In A Lifetime, which is pretty much, the most popular song in the band's catalog. The only other one that I thing might rival it, is Burning Down The House, and thankfully, we were able to pull that one off. For the most part though, we stuck to the Heads early catalog, simply because we had the instrumentation to cover it.

The Talking Heads started out as a three piece band with David Byrne on lead vocals and guitar, Tina Weymouth on bass, and Chris Frantz on the drums. Their first two albums contained a very minimalistic approach, so we stuck with material off of those albums, some hits that we could pull off in between, and material off of one of their later albums called True Stories, which was a very guitar heavy album and contained their massive hit Wild, Wild Life.

As the gig neared, our bass player came into rehearsal one day, and announced that the venue that we were playing at, on May 19th, wanted to have a a band play the Sunday before, on Mother's Day. They wanted us to play from Noon until about 2pm. We would get full payment for this gig. We all agreed to do it, and just considered it a paid dress rehearsal.

The venue was Central Market in Ft. Worth. This is a high end grocery/food store that hosts bands on an outdoor stage during the late sping through early fall months. The bands typically play on Friday and Saturday nights from 6-9pm, which is when the store closes. The music is all over the map from original bands, to classic rock, country, and a whole host of other genres.

We showed up on Mother's Day, at about 10am, to set up our gear. This turned out to be a disorganized mess from the get go. The store manager came out, when he saw us unloading and said, "We're having a band today?" He looked kind of scared and bewildered. Our bass player proceeded to tell him, that the booking agent with Central Market, booked us and if he had any questions, to contact her. He left and made a mad dash back in the store, to round up employees, so that they could get the patio set up with food and drink.

We began our soundcheck and the manager came back rather quickly and asked, "If we could turn down?" We told him we would take care of it and he went back inside. By this time, I'm just kind of laughing about the situation. This is actually the second time this has happened to me. The first was in high school. I was in a band with some school friends. We were playing at a high school dance, and one of the chaperone moms came over and said rather bluntly, "Turn it down!" My poor buddy that was running our sound, and recording us with a jam box, questioned back, "Turn it down?", she responded, "Yes, it's so loud we can't even hear ourselves talk!" This is a verbatim conversation. I know, because I have heard the cassette recording many, many times. Honestly, looking back on it, if I was that lady I would have probably just told us to, "TURN IT OFF!", as we were terrible.

We started our set right around noon, and thought we were sounding really good. There were some people mingling around, and they seemed to be enjoying it. After our second song, the manager came running out and said, "Guys, I hate to ask you this again, but could you please turn it down? I can hear you all the way inside the store." We didn't think we were that loud, but we went ahead and obliged. The third song we played was Psycho Killer. It's a pretty intense song, and the manager was running back out at the end of that song, and asked us, "Guys, do you have anything that is not so heavy, or something that is a little more mellow?" By this time, I am totally cracking up! My bass player tells the guy, "Man, sorry this is all we got, we are what we are." He replied, "Well ok, but can you guys try not to be so intense?", and left. We actually never saw him the rest of the day.

During the break, we were all asking the bass player if we should even come back the following Saturday, and he said, "Oh sure, it will be fine, as it will be an evening gig and people will be eating and drinking. We'll be fine." We just all kind of looked at each other and went, "Ok?" The second set was actually a lot of fun. Quite a few people had gathered on the patio area, drinking wine and eating food. The second set had a lot of hits in it, and people were dancing and having a good time. It was still kind of weird scene, though. I mean, people jamming out to a Talking Heads tribute band on Mother's Day? If I wasn't there, I don't think I would have believed it. We finished up, made some really decent tips, and received a lot of compliments from the audience, after the show.

The following week, on the day of our show, I received a call from the bass player. It was around noon or so. He said he needed to talk to me about some things. He said he hated to do this before a show, but he wanted to let me know that he was going to have to step away from the band for awhile. He mentioned personnal and family reasons. I asked him, "When?", and he said, "After this gig." I asked him how long he anticipated being out, and he said, "Maybe until October." He said that the singer had another friend, who was a bass player, and could probably fill in for him. We had two other gigs scheduled for June 22 and July 7. He had booked these gigs. I asked him what we were going to do about these, and he said he would have to cancel them. Talk about a downer. There really wasn't anything I could say. I was disappointed, but I wasn't going to berate the guy. I had no idea what was going on with him, and it wasn't my place to judge. Still, it felt like a kick in the gut.

I mentioned earlier, that we were really limited on our setlist without the keyboards. As a result, we did not have enough material to fill the 6-9 time slot on May 19th. Another area tribute band called, Oliver's Army, had been trying to get in to Central Market for awhile. They are an Elvis Costello tribute band. Our bass player had made contact with them, to see about trading gigs. In other words, we would open for one of their shows, and they would open one of ours. When our bass player informed them that we had a gig lined up at Central Market, they immediately agreed to come over and open for us. The plan was for them to play from 6-7 and we would play from 7:30-9.

Well, when we arrived at Central Market to set up, the plans had already changed. You see, there is a church that overlooks the patio area of Central Market, and they own the land that it sits on. They had a wedding at the church that night, that just so happened to be from 6-7. The church told Central Market, no music from 6-7, as they didn't want it interfering with the wedding. We had no choice but to adjust the schedule. Now, each band would do an hour set each, as Central Market still wanted to close at 9pm. This was frustrating, because if we had known about the wedding in advance, we would have had enough material to play the show all by ourselves. We ended up having way more material then we needed, and had to huddle up and decide what to cut out of the set.

The show ended up going very well. We had a nice crowd that really enjoyed both bands. Little did I know, at the time, that this would be the last Talking Heads gig. After the show, we all kind of went our own ways, for a couple of weeks. The drummer had been in touch with bass player, and had picked up my pay from the show. Since we lived fairly close to each other, I went by one day to pick up my pay. The drummer mentioned to me that we should get back together and have a practice. I agreed, and said I would get in touch with the singer to see what was going on. I contacted our singer to see what was happening, and he said that he had been in touch with his friend, who played bass, and that he was interested in joining up with us.

We met the following week, and had a great practice. The bass player had all the tunes down, and actually played them better then the original bass player. At the end of the practice, the drummer informed us, that we might want to start looking for a replacement. I was pretty shocked at this revelation, but he went on to explain that he had joined up with a Texas Country band, and that they had shows scheduled throughout July. He wasn't going to have the time to balance that, plus play in the Talking Heads band. As I left rehearsal that day, I figured the band was just about done at this point.

I was surprised the following week when I received a call from the singer. He said that he really wanted to continue on with this, and thought we really had some momentum going, before we lost our bass player and drummer. He said he had a friend, who was a drummer, that might be interested in joining. We agreed to move the rehearsals to Dallas, as both the singer and bass player lived over there, as well as the potential drummer.

The singer's drummer friend, decided he was not interested in joining up. Our singer ran an ad on Craigslist, and received a response very quickly. We set a rehearsal date, with the new drummer, the following week. The rehearsal went well, and we decided to welcome the new drummer aboard. The next order of business was to find that elusive keyboard player. We placed another ad for a keyboard player. In the meantime, the four of us continued rehearsing on Sunday afternoons. We ended up receiving one response from the ad, but it never panned out.

One evening in late July, I was scanning the musicians classifieds on Craigslist. I was looking for a keyboard player for the band, when I ran across an ad that caught my eye. The ad was looking for a guitar player, for a "Trop Rock/Country/Buffett" original project. "This sounds awfully familar", I thought. Their were some sound clips included in the ad. I listened, and really liked the material. Then it hit me, this has to be Roy! I decided right then and there, that I was going to try and work with this guy, or at least meet with him in person. I figured, I would refer back to one of my old emails and reply to him directly, verses replying to the Craigslist ad. Terror set in though, as I could not locate his contact information. I went all through my email account, to no avail. I immediately located the Craigslist ad and fired off a reply. I remember starting the reply with, "Is this Roy?", real creepy right? Anyway, he responded back later that evening and said, "Yeah, it's me, small world, huh?" He was looking to get together, about once a week, on the weekend. I explained, that I was still working with the Talking Heads band, and he was cool with that. We planned to get together the following week, on a Saturday.

That Saturday arrived, and I made my way out to Roanoke, Texas. I was finally going to meet the guy, that I had been conversing with on and off, over the last seven months. We met, and hit it off right away. We had a great rehearsal session, determined it was a fit, and decided to start working together.

My schedule was about to get really hectic over the next few weeks, as I was now working on two music projects. Sand Dollar Rodeo was dedicated for Saturdays, and the Talking Heads would be on Sundays. I ran with this schedule for several weeks. We were still looking for a keyboard player in the Talking Heads, and after working with Roy for several weeks, I knew he could do it. I broached the subject with him, but he wasn't too interested. It didn't really bother me though, as I was trying to plan my exit from the Talking Heads, by this time.

I wrestled with the decision to leave the Talking Heads for awhile. Mainly, because I knew how much it meant to the lead singer. I had developed a nice friendship with him, that still exists today.This was the only thing musically, he had ever wanted to do. I also knew, deep down, that if I left, the whole thing was done. I felt horrible about it, but I knew it was the best decision for me.

There are many reasons that I decided to leave the Talking Heads. Mainly, it killed my entire Sunday. I was driving to Dallas, which is an hour away from my home. So, I was spending two hours on the road. The bass player and singer both kept saying every week, that they were going to get us a show booked at so and so place. The next week, when I would come to practice, I would ask them how the gigs were coming along, and they would say something to the effect of, "Oh, I didn't get a chance to do anything on that." This went on for several weeks. Another reason, we could not find a keyboard player, for whatever reason. Without a keyboard player, there was really no way to do this type of band, the way it should be done. And lastly, someone was always late to practice. We are not talking about five or ten minutes either. Their was one instance, where the bass player was not there, the singer called him to see what was up, and he said he was playing disk golf and had lost track of time! He was over an hour late! We had several instances, where the drummer was driving back from a gig in Austin, would call, say he is running late due to traffic, and be an hour late! This really irritated me, as I was already giving up a ton of my weekend family time for this. I finally decided that the negatives outweighed the positives, and that it was time to cut bait. I realized that this band was never going to go anywhere, and that I was wasting my time. Part of the reason, that I stayed as long as I did, is that I had already invested so much time and energy into it, and I wanted to see the payoff. But, it was not to be.

I made the dreadful call to the singer, to let him know that I could not do it anymore. I was honest with him, and went over the reasons, I listed above. I also told him about Sand Dollar Rodeo, and the potential that I saw with it. He seemed to understand my reasons, and said he would probably do the same thing, if he were in my shoes. We have stayed in touch, and he is a really good guy.

I've had a blast working with Roy over the last few months. Sand Dollar Rodeo is just getting started, and I see a lot of fun times in our future. We are both on the same page, as to where we want to take this, and are working very hard to make it happen. The funny thing is though, it dosen't feel like work at all, and that's the way it should be, as far as I'm concerned.

Rodeo Radio

Hey gang! I just wanted to drop a quick post on here, and let you know about an event that Sand Dollar Rodeo is  hosting tomorrow. It is our first ever "Rodeo Radio" event! "What is Rodeo Radio?", you ask. Well, it is a very informal Internet concert. You can catch it here http://www.sanddollarrodeo.com/radio.html  The event will take place Saturday, October 20, 2012  at 2pm Central Time. We are in Texas and are currently on Daylight Savings Time. So that means, if your location is not on Daylight Savings time, then you will need to adjust accordingly.

We plan to have a great, laid back time sharing some of our music with you, along with some stories in between, and an option for you to ask us some questions over Facebook. Here is a link to our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/sanddollarrodeo   We will read and respond to as many questions as we can, live and over the air.

While you're at it, feel feel free to visit our official website http://sanddollarrodeo.com and join the "Radio Republic". The Radio Republic is our official fan club and email mailing list. We promise not to spam your inbox everyday with useless information. You will get an update about once a month and we will email you information on live performances and such. Our website also has links for our official social media sites. Feel free to check those out and give us a "follow" on Twitter or a "like" on Facebook, if that is your thing. If you have any further questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below and I will get back to you. Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!


P.S Stay tuned for, "How Heath & Roy Met Part 2", coming next week! If you missed Part 1, go read it now!

How Heath & Roy Met: Part 1

Author's note: This is a two part blog. I originally wanted it to be one post, but I have so much information to share on this subject, that I thought it would be better to serve it up in two parts. Look for Part 2 coming very soon and thanks for reading!-Heath



Late last year, a cover project that I was involved with dissolved. This was a very informal group, made up of some very good friends. We were playing a mix of classic rock and country covers. We played a few gigs and house parties, but nothing too big or serious. It was mainly for fun and stress relief, from the everyday vigors of life.

As I previously stated, it was very informal, which meant we would get together whenever we could. We might get together one night a week, for several weeks in a row, or it might be several weeks in a row that we did not meet. It just kind of depended on everyone's schedule and availability.

During one particular lull, I was getting the itch to do something with a little more substance to it. I started checking the musicians section on Craigslist, to see what was out there. I found an ad that was looking for a guitar player. The ad described the project as an original, alternative, country band, that featured a female singer. I was intrigued, so I applied. I went and met with them shortly thereafter and we hit it off. They welcomed me aboard and we started working together. I informed my prior band that I was leaving to work on this new project. They understood and gave me their blessing. After this, they jammed on without me for a few more months, and then called it a day. I'm still good friends with all these guys. We parted on great terms and I still see them quite frequently.

My time with the alternative country band was short lived. They seemed to be going for a sound more along the lines of Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum. While, I have nothing against those artists and I respect their work immensely, it was really not the musical direction I was looking to go. We parted ways right after Thanksgiving and I decided to take the rest of the year off, from music, and enjoy the holiday season with my family.

A new year usually means a chance to start anew, and that was no different for me. I felt reinvigorated after a relaxing holiday season and some time away from work. I decided it was time to find my next musical project. I began checking out the musicians classifieds on Craigslist again. Do you see a pattern here? In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm a bit of a Craigslist junkie. But, alas, that's a subject for another day. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I was checking the Craigslist ads, but nothing was standing out to me. I was discussing the situation with my wife and she said, "Why don't you start your own group?" My reaction was, "I've never thought of that!" I continued, "It sounds like a great plan, but I have no idea what type of group to put together." She proceeded to ask me, "what types of music do you enjoy playing?" I went over the various genres, but nothing was sounding very appealing until I mentioned 80's New Wave Music! I figured she would immediately shoot that suggestion down, as she was not a very big fan of 80's music in general and especially not that "New Wave" crap, as I have heard her so eloquently refer to it in the past. But, she saw me light up and said, "There's your answer."

We were already a week into January, so it was time to get this pony moving! I jumped onto Craigslist, "don't laugh", and posted my ad for an "80's New Wave Startup Band". I was looking for a bass player, drummer, male and female lead singer, and most importantly, a keyboard player. If you plan on playing the 80's, then a solid keyboard player is essential to pulling off most of these songs.

Once the ad was posted, I quickly received a response from a bass player. He advised that he also knew a drummer, who was interested in the project. The best news was that they had a place to practice! This, of course, moved them to the top of the list! The next response I received was from a keyboard player who called himself Roy. Man! I was pinching myself by this time! I had a response from a keyboard player! I was so stoked, because I had the band pieces in place within a matter of days.

Roy and I hit it off right away. We discussed the project in detail and I knew that he was the right man for the job. At the time, he was wrapping up a recording project with a band from the New England area. He explained that once the project was finished, he would be looking to get out and gig again. He was a big fan of the new wave 80's music and we began shooting songs back and forth to each other and agreeing on all of them! I told Roy that I would work on coordinating everyone else and would get back to him ASAP!

In the meantime, I had a male singer respond. He said he could pull it off. He didn't have any sound clips, but I was not too worried. I figured we bring him in, audition him, and go from there. Next, I had a response from a killer female singer. She had her act together and was the complete package. She had her own website, complete with sound clips, and she sounded great! We were now ready to begin.

I decided that it would probably be best in the beginning to bring us together in small groups, verses bringing us all in at once. I consulted with Roy on this and he agreed. I contacted the bass player and suggested that he, the drummer and I get together first and see how things go. We picked out a few songs to learn and planned to meet the following week to go over everything and see if we would mesh.

A day before we were set to meet, the bass player contacted me and advised that he had something come up and wouldn't be able to make it. He apologized and asked if we could re-schedule for the following week. I said, "no problem, and I understand that things happen." He also suggested that we go ahead and bring in one of the singers. I agreed to this and contacted the female singer to see if she could come out the following week. She said she could, so we set up a time for the following week. I contacted Roy to update him on everything, and he said, "cool, just keep me in the loop."

The next week, the bass player contacted me again, on the day before we were set to meet. He advised that the drummer would be unable to make it. Since the drummer had the practice space, I had no choice but to cancel. I contacted the the female singer, explained everything, apologized, and advised that we would try it again next week. She was real nice about it, said she understood and said next week sounded good. I also contacted Roy to let him know the latest and that we were going to try it again the following week. He was cool, said that he understood how hard it was to get a start up off the ground and running, and asked me to keep him in the loop.

By this time, I was starting to get a little frustrated. It was mid February and we had not been able to get a single practice in. I re-posted the ad on Craigslist, primarily to see if I could locate another bass player and/or drummer. I contacted Roy, to let him know what I was doing, and to explain that I still wanted him to play keyboards. He thanked me for keeping him in the loop and said he understood.

This time, I had a response from another drummer, who did not have a place to practice, another male lead singer, and a guitar player. None of these panned out. I continued to scan Craigslist, for other potential musicians, and ran across an ad for a Talking Heads tribute band. They were seeking a lead guitar player and a drummer. "Hmmm....," I thought, "this sounded kind of interesting.

We were scheduled to meet on Thursday, of the following week. I decided to contact the bass player on the Tuesday before, to confirm everything. He said we were still on, so I contacted the female singer to let her know and she said she would be ready to go.

That Thursday, a few hours before we were set to meet, the bass player contacted me and advised that the drummer would not be able to make it again. He claimed, that he didn't know why. I told him I was done messing around with with this drummer and was going to look for a replacement. He said he understood and would probably do the same thing, if he were in my shoes. I contacted the female singer and never heard back from her. This was the final straw for her and I couldn't blame her.

I spent a couple of days contemplating my next move and decided to check Craigslist again. I was mainly looking for a drummer, or anyone who might have a rehearsal space. I was also scanning for a female singer, as I knew that I had just lost mine. While I was scanning, I ran across the Talking Heads tribute ad again, only this time they were only needing a lead guitar player to complete their lineup. I thought, "What the heck?" ,and immediately applied. I received a response from the bass player, later that afternoon, and we visited on the phone for about an hour. The first thing he told me was, "Yes, we have a legitimate David Byrne." I said, "Good, because that was the first thing I was going to ask you." He said, "I know." and laughed. Our first visit went well, and he scheduled an audition for the following week.

I was really excited, as this band already had three paying gigs on the books! He emailed me a list of ten songs and asked me to learn them for the following week.

At this point, I decided to shut down my pursuit of the 80's band. It had been such a struggle. It was now late February, and I had not even been able to get one rehearsal together. I thought, if it's this difficult to get everyone together, when interest should be at it's peak, then what will it be like six months down the road?

Out of courtesy for all involved, I contacted each person to let them know that I was no longer going to pursue this project. The only two people that I heard back from was the bass player and Roy. The bass player said he understood the frustration, and that was about it. Roy said he was really appreciative of me, for letting him know and keeping him in the loop on everything. He said, "that is a very rare quality in this industry.", and he is 100% correct. I've experienced the other side of it first hand, and it is incredibly frustrating. This is why I always try to treat people the way that I would like to be treated. I am nowhere near perfect though, and have fallen short many times, so don't think I am a Saint, or anything like that.

Ok folks this is the end of Part 1 of "How Heath & Roy Met" Stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon, and thanks for reading!



 

The Introduction

Well, hello there and thanks for stopping by. My name is Heath and this is a blog dedicated to chronicling the progress and musical adventures of Sand Dollar Rodeo.

What is Sand Dollar Rodeo, you ask? Well, it is a musical duo consisting of Mr. Roy Holliday and myself. I play electric lead guitar, along with some acoustic guitar, and some bass here and there. I will also contribute some backing vocals from time to time. Now Roy, on the other hand, is the mad wizard. He is a very accomplished piano and keyboard player and a darn good acoustic guitar player to boot. He also handles our lead vocals and has a great baritone voice.

We are both children of the 80's and thus, were influenced by a wide range of new wave and alternative bands such as Duran Duran, Devo, The Cure, Inxs, U2 and many, many more.

Our sound has been described as a mish mash of Texas Country, Jimmy Buffett, and 80's New Wave all rolled into one. We try not to take ourselves too seriously, therefore, our songs maintain a lighthearted and fun vibe, for the most part.

We are currently working on our debut album and planning on an early 2013 release date. We look forward to this journey, wherever it may take us and hope you will come along for the ride, as well! Ciao!

P.S. Tune in next time to see how Roy & Heath met!