When I started this blog, almost three years ago, the purpose was to chronicle the musical journey of our band. As you can see, I've kind of fallen down on the job this year. The band has stayed busy with gigs and rehearsals, but I just haven't had the time to chronicle everything that's been going on.
With that said, this will be the last blog post from me. The journey is completed, as Sand Dollar Rodeo is going on indefinite hiatus. I felt that I owed you, the fans, an explaination and some closure. I always hated it when a band would just seem to disappear without any explaination. I don't know about you, but it always left me thinking, "Whatever happened to those guys?"
First off, their was no implosion. We did not all get into a big fist fight or anything like that, lol. We don't hate each other and no one is mad at anybody. Things have just run their course. It happens. It's not one particular thing or anyone's fault. It's usually a combination of things, which is the case here.
A lot of things have changed in life. My two youngest kids are getting older and demanding a lot more of my time. They deserve that time, and I want and need to give them that time. They are only going to be at this stage for a very short time, so I want to be there for them.
A lot of work went on, behind the scenes, to keep Sand Dollar Rodeo going. Now, please don't think that means that I was doing all of the work, because that was not the case at all. When we were starting out, my kids were young and didn't require as much hands on attention. I was able to get a lot of band business done in the early evening hours, after work at the day job. The kids are older now. They are involved in sports and seem to have homework every night. When you cram all of that in, plus dinner/cleanup, getting ready for the next day, etc.., it doesn't really leave any time. I'm not griping about it either. I'm glad that I am able to do this. It wouldn't be fair to throw it all on my wife.
So as the kids have gotten older, they also go to bed later. My only time to work on band business now is usually after 9:30pm. Many nights I would be up past midnight trying to book shows, respond to emails and handle any other band business that needed to be tended to. It began to really take it's toll on me.
I have to admit that I've changed too. I know to make a name for yourself in the Texas Music Scene, you need to be out there. A lot of the bands, in this particular scene, will play 150 shows or more per year. When we started out, I really thought that would be cool. I had the full approval of my wife to do this, as well. Cool, right?
As time went on though, we were never really accepted within the Texas Music circle. I guess we were too weird, lol! Also, as time went on, I realized that I didn't want that lifestyle, at this time. That's a lot of time away from family. That would mean being gone, practically every weekend. Missing the kids sports games, and all sorts of other activities.
I know music will always be a part of my life. I have no idea what I'm going to do in the future. I guess if I had my ideal situation, it would be to play out locally a few times a month, for fun. Maybe find a cover band and play to a packed house? I also love to write and create, but I think going forward, writing will be just that. Writing and recording as a creative outlet and not worrying about the financial side of it. Not worry about "how big is your following?" or "how many people can you bring?" I can't tell you how many times I've heard those phrases from various venues. In other words, no live gigging or touring with original music. At my age and stage of life, it's too big of a hassle for too little reward. I don't know, these are my thoughts at this time, it could always change, so I'll never rule anything out. In 10 years, when my kids are grown and gone, my wife may say, "Go tour! I need a break!" Ha ha!
That's really my side of things. For everyone else's opinion, I guess you would need to ask Roy, Trey, John and Jim. I know Trey will be staying busy. He plays with several other groups. He and Roy are also working on a lounge act, so stay tuned to see where that takes off to. Jim and John also play in a very successful cover band called Blue Hat, so I'm sure that they will keep busy with that.
Roy mentioned to me that he wants to build his songwriting catalog and work on that end vs. being in a band and playing live all the time. I'm sure he will have some new music out there in the near future. I also told Roy that I would volunteer my services, if he needs guitar tracks recorded for any of his songs. He has a website up and running for his solo stuff here www.royholiday.com be sure and check it out for the latest updates, news, etc..
I have no doubt that Roy and I will collaborate together, some time down the line. In what capacity, that remains to be seen. He offered to help me out on any solo songs that I come up with and I really appreciate that. I would also work with Trey, John and Jim again, in a hearbeat, should the opportunity ever present itself. They are all great players and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for them.
I have no regrets about my time with SDR. The last three years have been an amazing journey and I'm proud of our accomplishments. Hindsight being 20/20, would I do it again? Heck yeah, in a heartbeat! I made some great friends out of the deal and that alone was worth the price of admission!
At this time, I would like to thank several people who helped us out along this journey. I would like to thank our former band members, Danny "Cisco" Cortez, Brian Barton, Tony Vega, Josh Drewes and Ken Woods. You guys are all great players. I miss you guys and hope your doing well. To our current band members, Jim McKinney, John "Hotch" Hotchkiss, and Trey Pope, thank you guys for all of your hard work. It was an honor to share the stage with each of these fine musicians.
I would also like to thank a very special gal that fought tooth and nail for us, from the very beginning. Her name is Marti Ludwig. She booked a lot of shows for us and really helped get our name out there. She always went to bat for us and I consider her a good friend as well! She tried to make sure that every venue in DFW and beyond knew who SDR was. Thanks Marti!
Lastly, I would like to thank you, the fans. For without you, their wouldn't have been an SDR. Thank you for coming to the shows, buying the CD's, t-shirts and koozies. Thank you for liking and sharing our Facebook posts and for a million other things that I am sure I'm leaving out.
Our final "farewell" show will be this Saturday, September 19th at Central Market-Hulen, in Fort Worth. Showtime is at 5:30pm. Yes, it's an early one, but it's Saturday night. You will have time to come see us and still make it to bed at a decent time, or if your a night owl, you will still have time to hit the bars, if that's your fancy. We play until 9pm. If you haven't seen a show at Central Market, then you should come out. They serve plenty of great food and their are plenty of beverages, both of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety. Their is even a playground for the kids!
We would love to see you all come out! It's going to be a party! No funeral dirge for us. Expect a high energy SDR show!
Well, I guess that wraps things up. Thank you for reading the blog. I hope you've enjoyed reading my ramblings over the last few years. I've really enjoyed writing the posts. I wish that I would have had more time to post regularly in 2015, but it is what it is. To steal a couple of quotes, "for everyone who's been a part of this one" thank you and "we'll see ya down the road!"
