Hello there! Well, it's been a few weeks, since we last visited. We've been busy promoting the new album, and staying busy, with behind the scenes stuff. We did take this past weekend off, however. It was a much needed break, for both Roy and I. Roy, attended a Zac Brown Band tailgate party, and concert on Friday. On Saturday, he headed down to the Fort Worth Main Street Arts Festival. I love this festival, and really wanted to go, but it was not in the cards for me, this year.
As I have mentioned before, I enjoy long distance road cycling. No, not the kind that occurs on a Harley Davidson, but the kind that happens on a bicycle. I participated in a ride, this past Saturday, called the Moritz Ride for Heroes. This is an annual bike rally, held in my hometown, of Aledo. It benefits the area volunteer fire departments of East Parker County, as well as the Parker County Sheriff's department. This year seemed especially significant. As most of you probably know, a horrible explosion occurred, in the town of West, Texas, last week. It occurred at a fertilizer plant, that had caught on fire. West, has a volunteer fire department, as do a lot of these smaller Texas towns. As the fire fighters were fighting the blaze, the plant exploded. As of the publishing date, of this blog post, 14 people have lost their lives. Among those, were five West volunteer firefighters, one off duty Dallas firefighter, who went to help with the blaze, and four emergency responders. This really hit close to home, for me. West, is not that far from me. Maybe 80 miles, or so. I have been through the town, many times.
A heavy heart was also felt for the people of Boston, and the surrounding areas. As of press time, three people lost their lives in the initial bomb blast, at the Boston Marathon. Over one hundred people were injured, and a police officer also lost his life, as he was cowardly gunned down this past Friday, by the suspects.
Personally, I was riding for the heroes of West and Boston, in addition to our heroes in Parker County. I talked to many riders, who felt the same way. They are all heroes, in my book. Everyday, these men and women go to work each day, and put their lives on the line. Kudos to all of them.
The ride proved to be very difficult, due to the windy conditions. The winds were coming out of the south at 15-20 mph, with gusts up to 25-30 mph, or so I was told. It certainly felt, every bit of that. The last 10 miles of the ride, were pretty much, straight into that south wind. Lots of hills were included in this last 10 miles, as well. I honestly, did not think I was going to make it. Several times, I thought about stopping, and calling it a day. On these types of rides, there are ride support vehicles, monitoring the route. If a rider gets in trouble, or can't make it in, they can catch a ride to the finish line. These are called SAG wagons. As I said earlier, their were several times, I thought about sagging in. Thoughts about West and Boston, kept me going though. I was determined to finish this ride, no matter what. Thankfully, I was able to finish the ride. I rode 65.93 miles in 4 hours and 47 minutes. Last year, I did this same ride in 4 hours and 2 minutes, so the wind had a huge effect on my time. I was pretty disappointed in my time, but I was glad that I was able to finish it. I'm already looking forward to next year's Ride For Heroes.
Switching gears now. As many of you know, our debut album "GPS To Nowhere", was released on April 2, 2013. We would like to thank everyone, who has purchased the album, listened, and provided feedback. We have received a lot of positive feedback, on the album. If you are interested in checking it out, you can listen to the whole thing for free, on Spotify! If you are interested in purchasing it, it is available at all of the usual digital outlets, including iTunes and Amazon. If you prefer a CD, we will have them available at all of our live shows, or you can order one from our website http://sanddollarrodeo.com
What is really exciting for us is, everyone that has listened to it, seems to have a different favorite song. From a musicians standpoint, this is what you always hope for.
We are now on regular rotation, at a couple of internet radio stations. Beachfront Radio www.beachfrontradio.com is currently playing "GPS To Nowhere", "What Kind Of Life Is This", and "Carry Me Home". We are normally featured on the Amish Beach Party, which airs from 1-3pm, on weekdays. If you get a chance, you should check out this station, sometime. They play a lot of cool music, that you won't hear, anywhere else.
Palpa Mac, www.PalpaMacRadio.com, out of Pasadena, Texas, has added Sing Along to it's regular rotation, so log on and show em' some love! Oh, and while your at it, be sure and request Sing Along, lol.
Island Time Radio www.islandtime.freeservers.com out of Parma, Ohio, contacted us this week. They are putting us on their weekly radio show. I'm not sure which song they are going to feature, as of press time. Even the radio stations seem to have their favorites!
We have also submitted the album, to several radio stations in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. The status on these, are still pending. If they decide to add one of our songs to their rotation, we will let you know, so you can call in and request it!
I have one last note, on album promotions, that I would like to share. We have entered a contest, that Hertz Rental Cars is putting on. The Grand Prize winner will have their song featured on Hertz's You Tube channel, in a commercial. The entry requirement is, that artists must submit an original song that "embraces the spirit of travel, while capturing the essence of Hertz speed and highlighting our nation's love of cars." Well, guess what song we submitted? If you guessed "GPS To Nowhere", then you guessed right! We will see where this goes and keep you updated with any details, as they develop.
These week, we are playing a couple of live shows, that I'm really excited about. First up, this Friday, we will be playing at the Texas Food Truckin' Fest, at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The festival starts at 4pm on Friday, and runs until 10pm. SDR will take the stage at 7pm. We are only playing for an hour, so be sure and get there on time, if you wanna catch us. This festival benefits the American Cancer Society, which is near and dear to my heart. I've had several close family members affected by this terrible disease. The festival, also runs all day on Saturday. So come on out and enjoy some great food, drinks, and live music. For information on this festival, check out their website located here http://texasfoodtruckinfest.com
On Saturday night, we will be celebrating Marti Ludwig's birthday. For those that don't know, Marti is our booking agent. The party will take place at Judge Beans. Judge Beans is located at 314 North Main Street, Keller, Texas. The party will start at 8pm. We are the host band, however, we believe that several of Marti's other bands, may be here as well. If any of you guys/gals, are reading this, feel free to come on down and play a song, or two, or three. We will have the ability to run acoustic guitars and vocals. Who knows, what surprises may await at this event. These types of gigs, are some of my favorites. So, don't be shy! C'mon down, wish Marti a Happy Birthday, have some food and drinks, and hang out with all of us. It should be a great time!
Well, I'm outta time for now. Thanks for reading, and your support! Talk to ya later!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The New Album And A Roadtrip
Well, after months of talking about it, the new album is finally here! To say we are excited about it, would be an understatement. The album was released this past Tuesday, April 2nd. It should be available at all digital outlets, by this weekend. If you are not seeing it at your favorite digital site, and cannot wait (lol), then you can order it directly from our website located here. http://www.sanddollarrodeo.com Just go to the merch section, and you should find it there. It's available, either as a digital download, or a CD. We will also have CD's available, at all future live shows.
For me, anyway, it's kind of a strange feeling to be done with it. I've been anticipating this day for months. I keep thinking, "Well, what do we do now/" I actually know what we do now, but still. What's funny is, right after it went live, I picked up the local newspaper and read my horoscope. I saved it, to share here. I am a Sagittarius, by the way. Here it is verbatim:
Take a victory lap. You've worked your tail off to get the job done, so take time to reap the spoils of your achievement. Take a much needed breather now; save new project starts for later.
I usually take these things, with a grain of salt, but I thought this was pretty wild.
I think, Roy was feeling a sense of relief. I'm not 100% sure, that's how he was feeling, but that's the jest, I got from him. I received an email from him around 8:00pm, on Tuesday. He stated that, everything he could do, was done, and that he was going to bed. Heck, I didn't blame him. We had spent a lot of late nights over the past month, or so, going over everything, listening to mixes, and trying to get it, "just right", so to speak.
I, on the other hand, was wired. Sleep was not an option, so I kept the computer close by, and played some XBOX360. I finally started getting sleepy, around midnight, and called it a night.
We sincerely hope you enjoy the new album. We are very proud of it. We have several new song ideas brewing between us, including a couple, that didn't make it on to this album. When we have enough material, we will cut another album, but we are in no hurray to do so. It will get done, when it's done. For now, we plan on promoting the GPS To Nowhere album. We will work on our new material, as time permits, and work them into the live shows, as they are completed.
In other news, we will be taking a little road trip to Gun Barrel City, Texas, this weekend. Gun Barrel City is located southeast of the DFW metroplex, near Cedar Creek Lake. It's about a 2 hour drive, for us. We will be playing at a brand new concert venue, simply titled "The Venue". The Venue was founded by Dino Perelli. This will be the first ever concert, here. We will be playing, with our good friends, August & J, who are promoting their latest album, entitled "40". The Venue, will also be filming, and webcasting the performance. You should be able to catch the show here http://tvtxus.wix.com/the-venue so be sure and tune in! SDR, will start at 8pm on Saturday, April 6. August & J will be on, shortly after our performance. We have been looking forward to this show, for a long time, and can't wait to come down there!
Ok, that's all for now. I think I'm gonna try, and get some rest. I have a busy weekend ahead. Thank you for reading, and for your support. Talk to ya soon!
For me, anyway, it's kind of a strange feeling to be done with it. I've been anticipating this day for months. I keep thinking, "Well, what do we do now/" I actually know what we do now, but still. What's funny is, right after it went live, I picked up the local newspaper and read my horoscope. I saved it, to share here. I am a Sagittarius, by the way. Here it is verbatim:
Take a victory lap. You've worked your tail off to get the job done, so take time to reap the spoils of your achievement. Take a much needed breather now; save new project starts for later.
I usually take these things, with a grain of salt, but I thought this was pretty wild.
I think, Roy was feeling a sense of relief. I'm not 100% sure, that's how he was feeling, but that's the jest, I got from him. I received an email from him around 8:00pm, on Tuesday. He stated that, everything he could do, was done, and that he was going to bed. Heck, I didn't blame him. We had spent a lot of late nights over the past month, or so, going over everything, listening to mixes, and trying to get it, "just right", so to speak.
I, on the other hand, was wired. Sleep was not an option, so I kept the computer close by, and played some XBOX360. I finally started getting sleepy, around midnight, and called it a night.
We sincerely hope you enjoy the new album. We are very proud of it. We have several new song ideas brewing between us, including a couple, that didn't make it on to this album. When we have enough material, we will cut another album, but we are in no hurray to do so. It will get done, when it's done. For now, we plan on promoting the GPS To Nowhere album. We will work on our new material, as time permits, and work them into the live shows, as they are completed.
In other news, we will be taking a little road trip to Gun Barrel City, Texas, this weekend. Gun Barrel City is located southeast of the DFW metroplex, near Cedar Creek Lake. It's about a 2 hour drive, for us. We will be playing at a brand new concert venue, simply titled "The Venue". The Venue was founded by Dino Perelli. This will be the first ever concert, here. We will be playing, with our good friends, August & J, who are promoting their latest album, entitled "40". The Venue, will also be filming, and webcasting the performance. You should be able to catch the show here http://tvtxus.wix.com/the-venue so be sure and tune in! SDR, will start at 8pm on Saturday, April 6. August & J will be on, shortly after our performance. We have been looking forward to this show, for a long time, and can't wait to come down there!
Ok, that's all for now. I think I'm gonna try, and get some rest. I have a busy weekend ahead. Thank you for reading, and for your support. Talk to ya soon!
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Candy!
Here she is in all her glory!
Ain't she pretty!
Candy only appears at select SDR shows. The reasons are varied. Most of the time, it's because we don't have room for her. Like most gals, she has to carry a lot of stuff, and sometimes space is very limited. Other times, her social calendar is just too full, to be bothered.
To date, she has appeared at four shows, with us. The first one was at Okra Fest, last September, which also happened to be the very first SDR show. I vividly remember, her complaining about the heat that day. It was hot though, as the temparature hovered near 100 degrees. To calm her down, Roy covered her up with a tarp, to keep her from melting. She was not happy about this at all!
The next time, she was scheduled to appear with us, she did not even make it. We were playing a Christmas party in McKinney. She had started drinking early, the day of the show. For some reason, she tends to fall apart during car rides. I'm not sure why. Anyway, she ended up leaving her head at Roy's house. She was really not happy about this, but hey, this one was on her.
Her next appearance, with us, occured at the Oui Lounge. She was late, however, and didn't make it until the 2nd set. She started drinking again, and passed out in Roy's car, while we were setting up. Roy was trying to wake her up, but she had pulled herself apart, again! It was time for us to go on, so he said he would deal with her, during the first break.
During the first set, she sobered up, and Roy was able to get her back together again, and on stage. From there, she stole the show! Everyone was into her. Marti (our booking agent), and her, really hit it off. This was the first time, that they had met. She partied with the crowd, during the second break, as evidenced by this photo.
I interviewed Roy for this article, as well. I wanted to get his take, since he is the one that she lives with. Before Sand Dollar Rodeo came to be, Roy was living in New England, and was working with a band called The Island Castaways. He then moved to Texas. His plan was to continue working with the Castaways, but also do solo shows down here. He was planning on sequencing the keyboards, as we do now. He didn't want to be standing on stage, alone, so he picked her up, to have a stage partner so to speak. He's kind of got a sick sense of humor, in his own words. He picked her up off E-Bay and the rest, as they say, is history.
Candy also appeared with us at the Across the Street Bar, in Dallas, and out at Diamond D's, in Granbury. The first picture above, is her at Diamond D's. We were playing, their St. Patrick's Day party. Well, wouldn't you know it? She mouthed off to some girl, during a break, and a big ol' fight broke out, at the end of the night. She has been grounded, ever since.
I'm not sure, when Candy will be appearing with us again. I guess it will just depend on her disposition, and how her and Roy are getting along, on that particular day. My advice, if you want to see Candy, then come to all the shows! You never know when or where, she will show up!
SDR, is off this weekend. Well, sort of. Mixing and mastering for the new album, is what we will be working on. I would also like to wish everyone, a very happy Easter weekend!
Well, that's the story of Candy. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully, this will keep her happy for awhile, but I doubt it!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Equipment Failure, Craigslist, And A New Guitar!
Last week, I mentioned that I was working on a very special feature for the blog. Well, it's not quite ready yet. In addition, this past week was so a crazy, that I had to shift gears and go in a different direction. I thought it might be interesting to share, so hear goes it!
As I mentioned before, back when we played the Across the Street Bar on March 2nd, we had a lot of issues. One of the issues was, that my guitar amp was acting up. It was cutting in and out, and having all sorts of problems.
The next day, I was determined to get to the bottom of the issue. I hooked up the amp, and my pedalboard, to see if I could find the problem. A pedalboard, is just what it states. Most guitarists use effects pedals, to some degree. Some, more then others. A pedalboard allows you to connect all the effects to one another, and leave them that way. It has a 9 volt adapter, that plugs into any power source. This alleviates the need to have a 9 volt adapter for each pedal, or worse, having to use a 9 volt battery in each one. That can become very costly, as these things eat batteries for breakfast. Anyway, I checked all the cables and one of them was loose. I plugged it in, good, and voila! Problem solved, or so I thought. I played the amp for awhile longer, and had no more issues.
Fast forward to Thursday, March 7th. We had a couple of new songs, that we were looking to add to our set. I went in to practice. All things seemed well, until the last part of practice, as the amp started cutting in and out again. I did not have the pedalboard hooked up, so now I knew their was an issue with the amp. It was Thursday night. Their was nothing I could do at this point, except pray for the best. We had a show on on Saturday, and I had to work all day Friday. Their was no way an amp tech could look at, in time.
Luckily, I had another amp around the house. It's actually my son's. He took up the guitar, for a little while, so I had bought him this practice amp, one year for Christmas. He is grown, and sort of on his own now. He no longer lives with us. I've noticed that it seems to be a trend, that when kids leave the nest, they seem to leave a lot of their crap behind. I know this happened with me, as years later, my mom gave me all of my baseball and football trophies, that I had left behind. I think she probably gave me some other stuff too, but I can't remember it all, off-hand.
Ok, back on track. This amp is a little 15 watt, solid state practice amp. It was never designed, to play a gig with. I normally gig with a 50 watt tube amp. Big difference! I decided that the best course of action, was to bring both amps to the gig. I was really worried about my main amp. I cranked it up again on Saturday afternoon. It worked fine, but I still did not trust it. I figured that if it went out, or was giving me problems, I could use the little practice amp, to get me through. Hey, that's better then no amp at all, and having to cancel the gig, right?
I arrived at Lynn's Saloon, with both amps, and set up my main amp, as I always do. I warned Roy, that the amp was acting up, and that I might have to use the backup. He said, "No problem, we'll do what we have to do." Roy is always so cool, under pressure. He never seems to let anything rattle him. Or, if he does, he never shows it. I wish I could be more like that. I'm pretty high strung, as many of you, who know me personally, can attest to.
Everything went as normal, and the amp seemed to be working fine. I tuned the guitars, balanced levels, and we were pretty much ready to go. During this time, Cisco had misplaced his diamond wedding ring. We all helped him look for it, but were unable to locate it. Regardless, it was time for us to go on. We told Cisco we would continue to keep an eye out for the ring, and would help him look for it again, during the break. I would like to give kudos to Cisco. I know he was really upset about this, but he gutted it up and played like the pro, that he is.
I went up on stage, to make a final check of things. I was strumming the guitar, and that's when it died! I'm talking completely dead! No sound, no hiss, no nothing! What was weird though, is that all of the power lights were still on, their was just no sound. Roy said, "Well, I guess you better get the backup, hooked up." I was trying desperatly and hopelessly , to get it to work, but it wasn't happening. I ran over to the manager of the bar, to let her know about the issue, and that their would be a delay in our start. She was really nice about it, and said, "No problem." Cisco and Roy took this opportunity, to search some more for his wedding ring. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate it.
I got the other amp set up, told the guys I was ready, and we began. The little amp did alright, although I would not want to use it on a regular basis. I had to turn it all the way up, to get it to keep up with everything. It had a hard time. But again, it was never made to be used like that. Prolonged use like this will ruin it. Other then that, the gig went really well. I thought we sounded surprisingly good. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, as well. So that's always a good thing, right?
I packed up and headed home. My thoughts immediately shifted to dealing with the amp issue. As I do after every gig, I prayed for safe travel, for all of us. I also prayed about the amp issue. Yes, I am a Christian, and yes, I play in a band that writes music about beer drinking and having a good time. I'm not going to get on a soapbox about religion or faith, here, but in my eyes they are two very different things. Religion is man made, in my opinion. I think their are a lot of issues with today's churches. A lot of judgement being passed, and I don't like that. I'm not saying that all churches are that way either, but I've seem plenty of it. Ok, enough of that. If you ever want to talk to me about my faith, my views on it, or want to know more, feel free to contact me. Man! I feel like I'm veering all over the road today. Ha ha!
As I was saying, I was already in deep thought, trying to figure out what to do about the amp situation, when I received a text. I didn't dare look at the phone. It was late at night and raining. I needed to concentrate on my driving, and the amp situation. Although, I was dying to find out what it was about.
I pulled into the driveway, killed the car, and checked my phone. The message was from Cisco! He had found his missing ring! I was ectatic! This made my night. I was so happy for him.
I proceeded to unload the car, and put the gear up. I then hit the shower. This is a post show ritual for me. Especially, if it's a smoky room, as Lynn's was. After my shower, I sat down with the computer, and started looking for an amp.on Craigslist! I love Craigslist! I dedicated a previous blog post to it. You can find it in the blog archive, if you care to read it. I stayed up for quite awhile, researching and comparing amps, within my budget. Keep in mind, this was an unexpected expense. You may be thinking, "Why not repair the amp, you already have?" Here is why. Most amp techs are like TV repairmen.They are usually individuals, that work out of their homes, or they may have a small shop somewhere. It's usually first come, first serve, so if their are five people ahead of you, your going to have to wait. We had shows scheduled for this weekend, and I knew that their was no way they could guarantee me, that my amp would be repaired by the 15th. Plus, I had no idea if it would even be worth repairing. If the repair cost was going to be more then the cost of the amp, then there would be no sense in repairing it. I did a little more research, and headed to bed.
I woke up the next morning, and discussed the issue with my wife. She agreed with me, and said I needed to locate an amp. She also suggested that I go ahead and contact the repairman, just to see what he would say. I left a message for him, ate breakfast, and then started my amp quest. I actually found one, that I thought would meet my needs, fairly quickly. It was a little more, then I was looking to spend, but the guy had it priced about $25 cheaper, then what the going used rate was. It was a good deal. I listened to a lot of sound clips of it on YouTube, decided it was worth checking out, and called the guy. I had to leave a message. He returned my call about 30 minutes later, and we discussed it. As I said, he had a very fair price on it, but I thought I would see if he had any wiggle room. He said he was firm on the price. I said, "Ok, let me check with the wife, and see what she says." Note, this was a negotiating tactic. Sometimes, if you tell them that, they will offer a price break right there. If not, sometimes they will offer you one, when you call back. I actually did discuss it with her, since it was a little more then I had planned to spend. She gave me her blessing, and I called the guy back. He wasn't offering to take anything off, so I told him that I wanted to come look at it. He was close to me, so I agreed to meet him, over at his house.
On the way over there, my phone rang. It was the amp repairman. He pretty much told me, what I already knew. He couldn't quote me a price or a time frame, until I took it to him, and he had a chance to go through it. I told him my situation, that I had his card, and would call him back when I was ready to bring it in.
I arrived at the guy's house, and he had the amp sitting in his living room. It was quite a bit smaller then my other amp, but still packed a powerful punch. The amp is a Traynor Custom Valve 40. It is a 40 watt, all tube, amp. My two guitars at the time, were a Fender American Standard Stratocaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Classic. The strat sounded incredible through the amp. The Les Paul, not so much. The guy, even remarked about how much better the Strat sounded, vs the Les Paul.
I bought the Strat last summer, when I was still working with the Talking Heads band. I was giving some guitar lessons, at the time, and used my earnings from that, and some overtime from my regular job, to purchase the guitar. My girls also put money towards it, for my Father's Day gift. Very good choice, by the way! As I said, the reason I picked it up, was #1, to gig, you really need to carry two guitars. That way, if you break a string, or something else happens to the guitar, you have another one ready to go, and you don't have to stop your show. #2, the Talking Heads, used Strats. Their is a huge tonal difference between a Les Paul and a Strat. To get that sound, I really needed a Strat. And #3, when I picked up that guitar, it was the best sounding, and easiest playing guitar, that I had ever played. Why the heck, didn't I pick one of these up 20 years ago?
As time went on, I found myself reaching for the Strat, more and more. When I joined up with Roy, and we started working together, I played every song, but two, on the Strat. I would try the Les Paul on stuff, but almost everything sounded better on the Strat. The Les Paul is great for hard driving rock, but not much else, in my hands. Plus, the Strat was more comfortable for me to play, and I think I sound much better on it. The only drawback on the Strat is, that your not going to get those crunchy, crunchy tones out of it, because of the pickup configuation. The other thing was, that when I switched guitars, I usually had to adjust the volume of my amp, because the Les Paul was so much louder. It really became a pain. When I would practice at home, for our shows, I would alway just grab the Strat, and practice all my parts on it. What I discovered, was that I could actually play the Les Paul parts better on the Strat. The problem though, was that they didn't really sound all that great on the Strat. The Les Paul is equipped with humbucker pickups and the Strat is equipped with single coil pickups, so again, totally different sound.
I started thinking about replacing the Les Paul, with another Strat, but with one change. Fender also makes a Strat, with a brige humbucker in it. These are commonly called, Fat Strats. Fender came out with a new model, last year, called the Fender Select. It's basically a blinged out Fender Fat Strat. My local music store had one in stock, so I decided to go and test it out. I was hoping to maybe work out a trade on the Les Paul. Well, I went and played it, and of course, I fell in love with it. The only problem was, that I was going to have to come up with $600, out of pocket, to make the deal work. It was a fair deal, I just didn't have that kind of money laying around.
I then decided to list the guitar on Craigslist. I was very specific, in what I wanted on a trade. Apparently, people do not read, because I received offers on just about everything out there, with the exception of what I was asking for. I had no offers, to buy the guitar outright. I took it off Craigslist, as SDR, was getting pretty busy with gigs, as well as recording.
Over the last couple of weeks, I started looking at guitars again. I came across a guitar that piqued my interest. The guitar was a G&L Bluesboy. G&L is a company that Leo Fender founded, along with George Fullerton, after he sold Fender. The Bluesboy is basically a hot-rodded version of a Fender Telecaster. They are very similar in looks and appearance. The ad said that the guy was looking to trade it, for another guitar. He went on to say, that he was not sure what he wanted, but to try him. I did some research on the Bluesboy. For starters, it was a little more expensive guitar, then mine was. The guitar had a humbucker pickup in the neck and a single coil in the bridge. I thought that this might serve my needs perfectly. I hit up YouTube, to listen to some soundclips, and thought it sounded nice.
When I was toying with the idea of getting another Strat, Roy suggested, "Why don't you try and find something a little different, for some variety?" I knew I wanted another Fender "style" guitar, if not another Fender, itself. Roy made a lot of sense, on this one, though.
I decided to contact the guy, on Friday, March 8th. I doubted he would be interested, for some reason. He emailed back, the next morning though, said he was interested, and wanted to know if we could meet over in Grapevine, later that day. Their was no way, I could do this. #1, we had a gig that night, and their was no way I was going to go play a gig, with a guitar that I was not familar with, and #2, my wife had some honey do's, for me to perform. I emailed him back, and told him that I could meet him on Sunday. Keep in mind, this was before the amp went out on Saturday night.
I never did hear back from him on Sunday, which was ok, as I was dealing with the amp issue. I did end up getting the amp. It had a really nice tone with the Strat, and I feel that it may actually serve our needs better, then the old amp did.
The guy emailed me back, this past Monday, March 11th. He suggested we meet on Tuesday, in Fort Worth, around lunchtime. He had a meeting, and was going to be in the area. This was not going to work for me, as I work about 30 minutes, west of Fort Worth, and only have a 30 minute lunch break. I emailed him back, explained the situation, and advised that I could meet him on Monday or Tuesday night. I went on to explain, that this upcoming weekend would not work for me. We had gigs on Friday and Saturday night, and I would need time, to get familar with the guitar. I waited on his response.
In the meantime, I continued researching this guitar. I started comparing it with an actual Fender Telecaster. The responses that I read, said that it was actually a little hotter then a Fender Telecaster, due to the pickups. They also advised that the neck was a little chunkier. I began to think, that maybe this was not the guitar, for me. My primary reasons for wanting a different guitar, was the neck profile, and something that didn't sound as "hot", as a Les Paul. This guitar was starting to seem more like a Les Paul clone, on a Telecaster body.
I started, really researching the Telecaster. I found out that it's pretty common for them to have a humbucker in the neck, and a single coil in the bridge. I began listening to sound clips, and was really impressed. The neck comes in the same standard size, as the one on my Fender Strat. A lot of people like to mod Fenders. The necks are bolt ons, which means you can switch them out. A Les Paul is a set neck guitar, which means the guitar is all one piece. If the guitar takes a fall, and the neck snaps, your guitar is pretty much ruined. This was another reason, for wanting to make a switch. With all the gigs that we are playing, this could actually happen. With a Fender, if the neck snaps, you can just find another one, bolt it on, and you are good to go! You can order them, directly from Fender.
I still had not heard back from the guy, about the Bluesboy. It was Monday night, and I thought I would check Craigslist. I logged on to the musical instruments section, and couldn't believe my eyes! Right there at the top, was a Fender Telecaster listed. The guy was wanting to trade it for a Les Paul! It was perfect! It had a maple neck, which I've really grown fond of. My Strat has one, and I love the way it feels. It also had a neck humbucker. It was a 2004 model. My Les Paul was a 2005. I started doing research, on this model Tele. It was very comparable in price, to my Les Paul. I checked some guitar forums, and everyone that owned one of these guitarrs, loved them. I read a post, where one guy sold his, and regretted it.
Still, I thought the best course of action was to sleep and pray on it, so I did. The next day during my lunchbreak, I looked at the guitar again. I really felt, that this guitar was the one, and was meant to be. I contacted the guy, through Craigslist, and received a very fast response. We exchanged several responses during my lunchbreak. He was interested in looking at my guitar. We exchanged numbers and planned to meet that evening, after work.
He called me on my way home. He lived in Dallas, and suggested that we meet over at his band's rehearsal space, in Arlington. This worked for me, as it was about halfway, for both of us. I went on home, had dinner, grabbed my amp and the Les Paul and headed to Arlington. He was a really nice and laid back guy. Of course, anytime I go on a Craigslist hunt, I am required by law (aka my wife) to text her when I get there, and text or call when I leave. I'm also required to leave her the address and phone number, of the person I am going to meet. I know I kind of joke about my wife's policy, but it is actually very smart, and I would suggest that anyone doing a Craigslist deal, do something similar to this, or travel with a buddy.
So, we went into the jam room. I set up my new amp, and he brought out the Tele. I brought out my Les Paul and gave it to him. I hooked up the Tele and knew immediately that I wanted it. It was exactly what I was looking for. It had that great Fender neck, and had a a great growl to it. Heavier then the Strat, but not over the top, like the Les Paul. He played my Les Paul for awhile. I couldn't really tell whether he liked it or not. After awhile though, he said, "I'll do the deal if you want to." I said, "Sure." After the business was done, we visited for a few minutes. He told me about his band, and I told him about Sand Dollar Rodeo. He said he would like to come out to one of our shows sometime, and said he would check out our website for dates.
From there, I went ahead and packed up my amp and headed home. I was so happy about this, and couldn't wait for Friday night! Later on, that evening, I received a text from the guy. It stated "U still happy with trade?" I went ahead and texted him back and said, "Yeah, I love it, You?" He responded within the next minute, as follows, "Yeah, just got home and stretched strings out and cranked it up and it is bad ass!" I thought this was a very nice gesture, on his part.
I've had the guitar for almost a week now, and couldn't be happier. I'm firmly convinced that I made the right decision. I used the guitar for the first time, live, this past Friday at Tammy's Hideaway, and again on Saturday at Diamond D's. It sounded fantastic. Both Roy, and Cisco, commented on how nice it sounded. Roy said it had a much warmer tone, then the Les Paul. I believe that is a perfect comparision.
You can see the new guitar and amp, this Saturday, as we will be making a return trip to Hollywood & Vine, down in Glen Rose. Hopefully the weather will be nice, and we will be outside on the big stage. If not, then we will be inside. Hope to see ya down there. Until next time, take it easy!
As I mentioned before, back when we played the Across the Street Bar on March 2nd, we had a lot of issues. One of the issues was, that my guitar amp was acting up. It was cutting in and out, and having all sorts of problems.
The next day, I was determined to get to the bottom of the issue. I hooked up the amp, and my pedalboard, to see if I could find the problem. A pedalboard, is just what it states. Most guitarists use effects pedals, to some degree. Some, more then others. A pedalboard allows you to connect all the effects to one another, and leave them that way. It has a 9 volt adapter, that plugs into any power source. This alleviates the need to have a 9 volt adapter for each pedal, or worse, having to use a 9 volt battery in each one. That can become very costly, as these things eat batteries for breakfast. Anyway, I checked all the cables and one of them was loose. I plugged it in, good, and voila! Problem solved, or so I thought. I played the amp for awhile longer, and had no more issues.
Fast forward to Thursday, March 7th. We had a couple of new songs, that we were looking to add to our set. I went in to practice. All things seemed well, until the last part of practice, as the amp started cutting in and out again. I did not have the pedalboard hooked up, so now I knew their was an issue with the amp. It was Thursday night. Their was nothing I could do at this point, except pray for the best. We had a show on on Saturday, and I had to work all day Friday. Their was no way an amp tech could look at, in time.
Luckily, I had another amp around the house. It's actually my son's. He took up the guitar, for a little while, so I had bought him this practice amp, one year for Christmas. He is grown, and sort of on his own now. He no longer lives with us. I've noticed that it seems to be a trend, that when kids leave the nest, they seem to leave a lot of their crap behind. I know this happened with me, as years later, my mom gave me all of my baseball and football trophies, that I had left behind. I think she probably gave me some other stuff too, but I can't remember it all, off-hand.
Ok, back on track. This amp is a little 15 watt, solid state practice amp. It was never designed, to play a gig with. I normally gig with a 50 watt tube amp. Big difference! I decided that the best course of action, was to bring both amps to the gig. I was really worried about my main amp. I cranked it up again on Saturday afternoon. It worked fine, but I still did not trust it. I figured that if it went out, or was giving me problems, I could use the little practice amp, to get me through. Hey, that's better then no amp at all, and having to cancel the gig, right?
I arrived at Lynn's Saloon, with both amps, and set up my main amp, as I always do. I warned Roy, that the amp was acting up, and that I might have to use the backup. He said, "No problem, we'll do what we have to do." Roy is always so cool, under pressure. He never seems to let anything rattle him. Or, if he does, he never shows it. I wish I could be more like that. I'm pretty high strung, as many of you, who know me personally, can attest to.
Everything went as normal, and the amp seemed to be working fine. I tuned the guitars, balanced levels, and we were pretty much ready to go. During this time, Cisco had misplaced his diamond wedding ring. We all helped him look for it, but were unable to locate it. Regardless, it was time for us to go on. We told Cisco we would continue to keep an eye out for the ring, and would help him look for it again, during the break. I would like to give kudos to Cisco. I know he was really upset about this, but he gutted it up and played like the pro, that he is.
I went up on stage, to make a final check of things. I was strumming the guitar, and that's when it died! I'm talking completely dead! No sound, no hiss, no nothing! What was weird though, is that all of the power lights were still on, their was just no sound. Roy said, "Well, I guess you better get the backup, hooked up." I was trying desperatly and hopelessly , to get it to work, but it wasn't happening. I ran over to the manager of the bar, to let her know about the issue, and that their would be a delay in our start. She was really nice about it, and said, "No problem." Cisco and Roy took this opportunity, to search some more for his wedding ring. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate it.
I got the other amp set up, told the guys I was ready, and we began. The little amp did alright, although I would not want to use it on a regular basis. I had to turn it all the way up, to get it to keep up with everything. It had a hard time. But again, it was never made to be used like that. Prolonged use like this will ruin it. Other then that, the gig went really well. I thought we sounded surprisingly good. The crowd seemed to really enjoy it, as well. So that's always a good thing, right?
I packed up and headed home. My thoughts immediately shifted to dealing with the amp issue. As I do after every gig, I prayed for safe travel, for all of us. I also prayed about the amp issue. Yes, I am a Christian, and yes, I play in a band that writes music about beer drinking and having a good time. I'm not going to get on a soapbox about religion or faith, here, but in my eyes they are two very different things. Religion is man made, in my opinion. I think their are a lot of issues with today's churches. A lot of judgement being passed, and I don't like that. I'm not saying that all churches are that way either, but I've seem plenty of it. Ok, enough of that. If you ever want to talk to me about my faith, my views on it, or want to know more, feel free to contact me. Man! I feel like I'm veering all over the road today. Ha ha!
As I was saying, I was already in deep thought, trying to figure out what to do about the amp situation, when I received a text. I didn't dare look at the phone. It was late at night and raining. I needed to concentrate on my driving, and the amp situation. Although, I was dying to find out what it was about.
I pulled into the driveway, killed the car, and checked my phone. The message was from Cisco! He had found his missing ring! I was ectatic! This made my night. I was so happy for him.
I proceeded to unload the car, and put the gear up. I then hit the shower. This is a post show ritual for me. Especially, if it's a smoky room, as Lynn's was. After my shower, I sat down with the computer, and started looking for an amp.on Craigslist! I love Craigslist! I dedicated a previous blog post to it. You can find it in the blog archive, if you care to read it. I stayed up for quite awhile, researching and comparing amps, within my budget. Keep in mind, this was an unexpected expense. You may be thinking, "Why not repair the amp, you already have?" Here is why. Most amp techs are like TV repairmen.They are usually individuals, that work out of their homes, or they may have a small shop somewhere. It's usually first come, first serve, so if their are five people ahead of you, your going to have to wait. We had shows scheduled for this weekend, and I knew that their was no way they could guarantee me, that my amp would be repaired by the 15th. Plus, I had no idea if it would even be worth repairing. If the repair cost was going to be more then the cost of the amp, then there would be no sense in repairing it. I did a little more research, and headed to bed.
I woke up the next morning, and discussed the issue with my wife. She agreed with me, and said I needed to locate an amp. She also suggested that I go ahead and contact the repairman, just to see what he would say. I left a message for him, ate breakfast, and then started my amp quest. I actually found one, that I thought would meet my needs, fairly quickly. It was a little more, then I was looking to spend, but the guy had it priced about $25 cheaper, then what the going used rate was. It was a good deal. I listened to a lot of sound clips of it on YouTube, decided it was worth checking out, and called the guy. I had to leave a message. He returned my call about 30 minutes later, and we discussed it. As I said, he had a very fair price on it, but I thought I would see if he had any wiggle room. He said he was firm on the price. I said, "Ok, let me check with the wife, and see what she says." Note, this was a negotiating tactic. Sometimes, if you tell them that, they will offer a price break right there. If not, sometimes they will offer you one, when you call back. I actually did discuss it with her, since it was a little more then I had planned to spend. She gave me her blessing, and I called the guy back. He wasn't offering to take anything off, so I told him that I wanted to come look at it. He was close to me, so I agreed to meet him, over at his house.
On the way over there, my phone rang. It was the amp repairman. He pretty much told me, what I already knew. He couldn't quote me a price or a time frame, until I took it to him, and he had a chance to go through it. I told him my situation, that I had his card, and would call him back when I was ready to bring it in.
I arrived at the guy's house, and he had the amp sitting in his living room. It was quite a bit smaller then my other amp, but still packed a powerful punch. The amp is a Traynor Custom Valve 40. It is a 40 watt, all tube, amp. My two guitars at the time, were a Fender American Standard Stratocaster, and a Gibson Les Paul Classic. The strat sounded incredible through the amp. The Les Paul, not so much. The guy, even remarked about how much better the Strat sounded, vs the Les Paul.
I bought the Strat last summer, when I was still working with the Talking Heads band. I was giving some guitar lessons, at the time, and used my earnings from that, and some overtime from my regular job, to purchase the guitar. My girls also put money towards it, for my Father's Day gift. Very good choice, by the way! As I said, the reason I picked it up, was #1, to gig, you really need to carry two guitars. That way, if you break a string, or something else happens to the guitar, you have another one ready to go, and you don't have to stop your show. #2, the Talking Heads, used Strats. Their is a huge tonal difference between a Les Paul and a Strat. To get that sound, I really needed a Strat. And #3, when I picked up that guitar, it was the best sounding, and easiest playing guitar, that I had ever played. Why the heck, didn't I pick one of these up 20 years ago?
As time went on, I found myself reaching for the Strat, more and more. When I joined up with Roy, and we started working together, I played every song, but two, on the Strat. I would try the Les Paul on stuff, but almost everything sounded better on the Strat. The Les Paul is great for hard driving rock, but not much else, in my hands. Plus, the Strat was more comfortable for me to play, and I think I sound much better on it. The only drawback on the Strat is, that your not going to get those crunchy, crunchy tones out of it, because of the pickup configuation. The other thing was, that when I switched guitars, I usually had to adjust the volume of my amp, because the Les Paul was so much louder. It really became a pain. When I would practice at home, for our shows, I would alway just grab the Strat, and practice all my parts on it. What I discovered, was that I could actually play the Les Paul parts better on the Strat. The problem though, was that they didn't really sound all that great on the Strat. The Les Paul is equipped with humbucker pickups and the Strat is equipped with single coil pickups, so again, totally different sound.
I started thinking about replacing the Les Paul, with another Strat, but with one change. Fender also makes a Strat, with a brige humbucker in it. These are commonly called, Fat Strats. Fender came out with a new model, last year, called the Fender Select. It's basically a blinged out Fender Fat Strat. My local music store had one in stock, so I decided to go and test it out. I was hoping to maybe work out a trade on the Les Paul. Well, I went and played it, and of course, I fell in love with it. The only problem was, that I was going to have to come up with $600, out of pocket, to make the deal work. It was a fair deal, I just didn't have that kind of money laying around.
I then decided to list the guitar on Craigslist. I was very specific, in what I wanted on a trade. Apparently, people do not read, because I received offers on just about everything out there, with the exception of what I was asking for. I had no offers, to buy the guitar outright. I took it off Craigslist, as SDR, was getting pretty busy with gigs, as well as recording.
Over the last couple of weeks, I started looking at guitars again. I came across a guitar that piqued my interest. The guitar was a G&L Bluesboy. G&L is a company that Leo Fender founded, along with George Fullerton, after he sold Fender. The Bluesboy is basically a hot-rodded version of a Fender Telecaster. They are very similar in looks and appearance. The ad said that the guy was looking to trade it, for another guitar. He went on to say, that he was not sure what he wanted, but to try him. I did some research on the Bluesboy. For starters, it was a little more expensive guitar, then mine was. The guitar had a humbucker pickup in the neck and a single coil in the bridge. I thought that this might serve my needs perfectly. I hit up YouTube, to listen to some soundclips, and thought it sounded nice.
When I was toying with the idea of getting another Strat, Roy suggested, "Why don't you try and find something a little different, for some variety?" I knew I wanted another Fender "style" guitar, if not another Fender, itself. Roy made a lot of sense, on this one, though.
I decided to contact the guy, on Friday, March 8th. I doubted he would be interested, for some reason. He emailed back, the next morning though, said he was interested, and wanted to know if we could meet over in Grapevine, later that day. Their was no way, I could do this. #1, we had a gig that night, and their was no way I was going to go play a gig, with a guitar that I was not familar with, and #2, my wife had some honey do's, for me to perform. I emailed him back, and told him that I could meet him on Sunday. Keep in mind, this was before the amp went out on Saturday night.
I never did hear back from him on Sunday, which was ok, as I was dealing with the amp issue. I did end up getting the amp. It had a really nice tone with the Strat, and I feel that it may actually serve our needs better, then the old amp did.
The guy emailed me back, this past Monday, March 11th. He suggested we meet on Tuesday, in Fort Worth, around lunchtime. He had a meeting, and was going to be in the area. This was not going to work for me, as I work about 30 minutes, west of Fort Worth, and only have a 30 minute lunch break. I emailed him back, explained the situation, and advised that I could meet him on Monday or Tuesday night. I went on to explain, that this upcoming weekend would not work for me. We had gigs on Friday and Saturday night, and I would need time, to get familar with the guitar. I waited on his response.
In the meantime, I continued researching this guitar. I started comparing it with an actual Fender Telecaster. The responses that I read, said that it was actually a little hotter then a Fender Telecaster, due to the pickups. They also advised that the neck was a little chunkier. I began to think, that maybe this was not the guitar, for me. My primary reasons for wanting a different guitar, was the neck profile, and something that didn't sound as "hot", as a Les Paul. This guitar was starting to seem more like a Les Paul clone, on a Telecaster body.
I started, really researching the Telecaster. I found out that it's pretty common for them to have a humbucker in the neck, and a single coil in the bridge. I began listening to sound clips, and was really impressed. The neck comes in the same standard size, as the one on my Fender Strat. A lot of people like to mod Fenders. The necks are bolt ons, which means you can switch them out. A Les Paul is a set neck guitar, which means the guitar is all one piece. If the guitar takes a fall, and the neck snaps, your guitar is pretty much ruined. This was another reason, for wanting to make a switch. With all the gigs that we are playing, this could actually happen. With a Fender, if the neck snaps, you can just find another one, bolt it on, and you are good to go! You can order them, directly from Fender.
I still had not heard back from the guy, about the Bluesboy. It was Monday night, and I thought I would check Craigslist. I logged on to the musical instruments section, and couldn't believe my eyes! Right there at the top, was a Fender Telecaster listed. The guy was wanting to trade it for a Les Paul! It was perfect! It had a maple neck, which I've really grown fond of. My Strat has one, and I love the way it feels. It also had a neck humbucker. It was a 2004 model. My Les Paul was a 2005. I started doing research, on this model Tele. It was very comparable in price, to my Les Paul. I checked some guitar forums, and everyone that owned one of these guitarrs, loved them. I read a post, where one guy sold his, and regretted it.
Still, I thought the best course of action was to sleep and pray on it, so I did. The next day during my lunchbreak, I looked at the guitar again. I really felt, that this guitar was the one, and was meant to be. I contacted the guy, through Craigslist, and received a very fast response. We exchanged several responses during my lunchbreak. He was interested in looking at my guitar. We exchanged numbers and planned to meet that evening, after work.
He called me on my way home. He lived in Dallas, and suggested that we meet over at his band's rehearsal space, in Arlington. This worked for me, as it was about halfway, for both of us. I went on home, had dinner, grabbed my amp and the Les Paul and headed to Arlington. He was a really nice and laid back guy. Of course, anytime I go on a Craigslist hunt, I am required by law (aka my wife) to text her when I get there, and text or call when I leave. I'm also required to leave her the address and phone number, of the person I am going to meet. I know I kind of joke about my wife's policy, but it is actually very smart, and I would suggest that anyone doing a Craigslist deal, do something similar to this, or travel with a buddy.
So, we went into the jam room. I set up my new amp, and he brought out the Tele. I brought out my Les Paul and gave it to him. I hooked up the Tele and knew immediately that I wanted it. It was exactly what I was looking for. It had that great Fender neck, and had a a great growl to it. Heavier then the Strat, but not over the top, like the Les Paul. He played my Les Paul for awhile. I couldn't really tell whether he liked it or not. After awhile though, he said, "I'll do the deal if you want to." I said, "Sure." After the business was done, we visited for a few minutes. He told me about his band, and I told him about Sand Dollar Rodeo. He said he would like to come out to one of our shows sometime, and said he would check out our website for dates.
From there, I went ahead and packed up my amp and headed home. I was so happy about this, and couldn't wait for Friday night! Later on, that evening, I received a text from the guy. It stated "U still happy with trade?" I went ahead and texted him back and said, "Yeah, I love it, You?" He responded within the next minute, as follows, "Yeah, just got home and stretched strings out and cranked it up and it is bad ass!" I thought this was a very nice gesture, on his part.
I've had the guitar for almost a week now, and couldn't be happier. I'm firmly convinced that I made the right decision. I used the guitar for the first time, live, this past Friday at Tammy's Hideaway, and again on Saturday at Diamond D's. It sounded fantastic. Both Roy, and Cisco, commented on how nice it sounded. Roy said it had a much warmer tone, then the Les Paul. I believe that is a perfect comparision.
You can see the new guitar and amp, this Saturday, as we will be making a return trip to Hollywood & Vine, down in Glen Rose. Hopefully the weather will be nice, and we will be outside on the big stage. If not, then we will be inside. Hope to see ya down there. Until next time, take it easy!
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Gigs, Gigs and More Gigs
Hello everyone! Well, March is off to a flying and hectic start. We played at the Across The Street Bar, last Saturday night with August & J and the 5 Hands Band. To say it was a difficult night, for SDR, would be an understatement. We had sound problems, and technical issues galore. I'm not going to re-hash the whole show, here. If you would like all of the gory details, you can check them out on Roy's blog here. http://royholliday.blogspot.com
I would however, like to give a special shout out to a real good friend of mine, named Aaron Miller. I've known Aaron, since my high school days, as we lived across the street from each other, back in the day. We've stayed in touch over the years, and he has been a real supporter of SDR. He has been involved with music in some way or another, for as long as I've known him. Aaron, and his lovely wife Candice, came to the show Saturday night. When we went on stage, Aaron was there from the get go, trying to help us get the sound right. He came up to me after the first, and second song, advising that their wasn't enough bass in the mix, and that the vocals were so far down in the mix, you couldn't understand them. He worked with the sound guys, to try and get things right. We finally got it manageable to finish the show. Aaron was a huge help to us, and I just wanted to give him a special thanks.
The nice thing about this whole situation, is that we really do not have any downtime to dwell on it. We have a quick turnaround, with another show this week. We originally had two shows scheduled for this week, but as I sit her typing this, I received an email from Roy, advising that our show scheduled for this Friday, has been postponed due to the weather. We were originally scheduled to play at Woody Creek Barbeque this Friday. They do not have the capabilities to move us inside. The forecast is calling for temperatures in the mid 50's, with strong winds, and a chance for rain. These are not good conditions for an outdoor show, thus the postponement. As soon as we have a makeup date, we will let you know.
You never know how the weather will be in Texas. We had a record high of 88 on Monday. The next morning the temperature was in the 40's, with a wind chill in the 30's. It's funny, Roy and I always thought of ourselves as kind of an outdoor band. We feel that a lot of our music would go over real well at outdoor festivals, parties, and things of this nature. To date, we have only played one outdoor show, which was our very first one, last September. We've had three other outdoor events scheduled so far. The first two were moved indoors, due to the weather, and now this one has been postponed.
Never fear though, as we are scheduled for this Saturday, as well. We will be playing at Lynn's Saloon in Azle, Texas at 9pm. Lynn's is located at 1037 Southeast Pkwy, Azle, TX 76020. We are looking forward to it, and hope to see you there!
Next week will be just as busy, as we will be playing again, on Friday, March 15th at Tammy's Hideaway in Burleson, Texas and again on Saturday, March 16, at Diamond D Billiards In Granbury, Texas. Showtime at Tammy's is 9pm, and 8:30pm for Diamond D's.
In between all of these, work continues on the album. Track 6, as we have referred to, throughout the recording process, is on the bubble again. I'm beginning to wonder, if this is some sort of omen? Honestly, we are getting down to crunch time, and the song is still not done yet. If we include it, the album will have 13 songs, if not, it will contain 12. Roy completed the vocals, for the remaining songs today. We are going to finish up the six remaining songs, and if their is still time, we will work on Track 6, and then see where we are. We really do not want to delay the album. As of now, we are still on track for an April 2nd release date. Roy put in a lot of time, today, recording vocals. I spoke with him on the phone earlier, and he sounded pretty beat. I would be too, if I had been up since 3am!
That's all I have for this week. Stay tuned though, I'm working on a very special feature for the blog. I hope to have it complete, next week sometime. I can't guarantee that time frame though. Most things like music, writings, or any other art, are done, when they are done. The post that I am working on, is no exception. As you will soon see, and understand, this will be one post, that I do not want to screw up! I will surely face some wrath, if it is not perfect! Ok, that's enough for now. See ya next time!
I would however, like to give a special shout out to a real good friend of mine, named Aaron Miller. I've known Aaron, since my high school days, as we lived across the street from each other, back in the day. We've stayed in touch over the years, and he has been a real supporter of SDR. He has been involved with music in some way or another, for as long as I've known him. Aaron, and his lovely wife Candice, came to the show Saturday night. When we went on stage, Aaron was there from the get go, trying to help us get the sound right. He came up to me after the first, and second song, advising that their wasn't enough bass in the mix, and that the vocals were so far down in the mix, you couldn't understand them. He worked with the sound guys, to try and get things right. We finally got it manageable to finish the show. Aaron was a huge help to us, and I just wanted to give him a special thanks.
The nice thing about this whole situation, is that we really do not have any downtime to dwell on it. We have a quick turnaround, with another show this week. We originally had two shows scheduled for this week, but as I sit her typing this, I received an email from Roy, advising that our show scheduled for this Friday, has been postponed due to the weather. We were originally scheduled to play at Woody Creek Barbeque this Friday. They do not have the capabilities to move us inside. The forecast is calling for temperatures in the mid 50's, with strong winds, and a chance for rain. These are not good conditions for an outdoor show, thus the postponement. As soon as we have a makeup date, we will let you know.
You never know how the weather will be in Texas. We had a record high of 88 on Monday. The next morning the temperature was in the 40's, with a wind chill in the 30's. It's funny, Roy and I always thought of ourselves as kind of an outdoor band. We feel that a lot of our music would go over real well at outdoor festivals, parties, and things of this nature. To date, we have only played one outdoor show, which was our very first one, last September. We've had three other outdoor events scheduled so far. The first two were moved indoors, due to the weather, and now this one has been postponed.
Never fear though, as we are scheduled for this Saturday, as well. We will be playing at Lynn's Saloon in Azle, Texas at 9pm. Lynn's is located at 1037 Southeast Pkwy, Azle, TX 76020. We are looking forward to it, and hope to see you there!
Next week will be just as busy, as we will be playing again, on Friday, March 15th at Tammy's Hideaway in Burleson, Texas and again on Saturday, March 16, at Diamond D Billiards In Granbury, Texas. Showtime at Tammy's is 9pm, and 8:30pm for Diamond D's.
In between all of these, work continues on the album. Track 6, as we have referred to, throughout the recording process, is on the bubble again. I'm beginning to wonder, if this is some sort of omen? Honestly, we are getting down to crunch time, and the song is still not done yet. If we include it, the album will have 13 songs, if not, it will contain 12. Roy completed the vocals, for the remaining songs today. We are going to finish up the six remaining songs, and if their is still time, we will work on Track 6, and then see where we are. We really do not want to delay the album. As of now, we are still on track for an April 2nd release date. Roy put in a lot of time, today, recording vocals. I spoke with him on the phone earlier, and he sounded pretty beat. I would be too, if I had been up since 3am!
That's all I have for this week. Stay tuned though, I'm working on a very special feature for the blog. I hope to have it complete, next week sometime. I can't guarantee that time frame though. Most things like music, writings, or any other art, are done, when they are done. The post that I am working on, is no exception. As you will soon see, and understand, this will be one post, that I do not want to screw up! I will surely face some wrath, if it is not perfect! Ok, that's enough for now. See ya next time!
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Home Stretch And A Gig!
Well, hello Rodeo Republic! I hope you all are doing well! I know, I am. It's been awhile, since I've been on here, so I wanted to pop on and give everyone an update, as to what has been going on.
We moved on from the Happy Armadillo fiasco, and played two shows, back on February 15th & 16th. On February 15th, we invaded the Oui Lounge, and had a great time. Their were some wild women at this gig, and we like wild women! The next night, we traveled down south to Glen Rose, for a show at Hollywood & Vine. This was supposed to be an outdoor show, but alas, the weather was not cooperating again, and we had to move it indoors. We will be back at Hollywood & Vine on March 23rd, and hopefully the weather will be nice, and we can move it outdoors. They have an awesome outdoor patio area, with a huge elevated stage. I'm dying to play on it. For more details on these gigs, please check out Roy's blog here http://royholliday.blogspot.com He goes into more detail on each and every show, that we play, or not play, in the case of the Happy Armadillo. Ok, that's it, I'm done mentioning the Happy Armadillo. They've received enough free pub, from us.
Moving along, aside from the two aforementioned gigs, we've pretty much spent the month of February, working on the new album. We are in the home stretch, and I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself. I finished up all of my guitar parts and backing vocals, this past weekend. We might have to go back in and do an overdub or two, but the heavy lifting is done. Roy still has some vocals to record, and maybe a piano solo on one of the new songs! I'm really pushing for this, so if you see or talk to him, encourage him to do it! Other then that, we are entering the mastering stage. This will take several weeks to complete, but we are still on target for an April 2nd release date. As of press time, 7 of the 13 songs are mastered. That means, that they are completely done!
We are currently running a poll on our Facebook page http://m.facebook.com/sanddollarrodeo to see what song you think should be the lead single from the new album. The nominees are the title track entitled "GPS To Nowhere", another one called "I'll Just Have A Beer", and a slower one called "Tailgate To The Beach". Please visit our Facebook page, follow the link to listen to the songs, and vote for your favorite. We will also be releasing a song called "What Kind Of Life Is This" to Beach Front Radio. They specialize in Trop Rock music, and this song seems to be going over well, amongst the Parrot Heads. The album will be available via itunes, Amazon, and all the other online retailers. We will also have CD's available, if you prefer that.
In other news, we are excited to announce that Sherry Jane Cooke Publishing, is going to publish an interview with us. You can find Sherry's website here http://sherryjanecook.com I'm not sure when the interview will be available, but we will announce it everywhere, once we have a date.
The last bit of news, that I would like to share, is that we have a big show coming up this weekend, at the Across The Street Bar, in Dallas. Across The Street is located at 5625 SMU Blvd., Dallas, TX 75206. We will be co-headlining this show with some good friends. They are also a duo, called August & J. They are promoting their latest album, entitled "40". August & J will also be appearing at South By Southwest, in Austin, later this month. You can check out more information on them, at their official website located here http://www.augustandj.com Also joining us, on this night, will be the 5 Hands Band. They will kick things off around 9:30pm. So grab a friend, date, spouse or significant other, go eat some dinner, and then come out and join us all, for a night of fun! Our set, will consist of a heavy dose of songs from the upcoming album. We are really excited about the show, as well as playing Dallas, for the first time.
Ok, that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to ya soon!
We moved on from the Happy Armadillo fiasco, and played two shows, back on February 15th & 16th. On February 15th, we invaded the Oui Lounge, and had a great time. Their were some wild women at this gig, and we like wild women! The next night, we traveled down south to Glen Rose, for a show at Hollywood & Vine. This was supposed to be an outdoor show, but alas, the weather was not cooperating again, and we had to move it indoors. We will be back at Hollywood & Vine on March 23rd, and hopefully the weather will be nice, and we can move it outdoors. They have an awesome outdoor patio area, with a huge elevated stage. I'm dying to play on it. For more details on these gigs, please check out Roy's blog here http://royholliday.blogspot.com He goes into more detail on each and every show, that we play, or not play, in the case of the Happy Armadillo. Ok, that's it, I'm done mentioning the Happy Armadillo. They've received enough free pub, from us.
Moving along, aside from the two aforementioned gigs, we've pretty much spent the month of February, working on the new album. We are in the home stretch, and I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself. I finished up all of my guitar parts and backing vocals, this past weekend. We might have to go back in and do an overdub or two, but the heavy lifting is done. Roy still has some vocals to record, and maybe a piano solo on one of the new songs! I'm really pushing for this, so if you see or talk to him, encourage him to do it! Other then that, we are entering the mastering stage. This will take several weeks to complete, but we are still on target for an April 2nd release date. As of press time, 7 of the 13 songs are mastered. That means, that they are completely done!
We are currently running a poll on our Facebook page http://m.facebook.com/sanddollarrodeo to see what song you think should be the lead single from the new album. The nominees are the title track entitled "GPS To Nowhere", another one called "I'll Just Have A Beer", and a slower one called "Tailgate To The Beach". Please visit our Facebook page, follow the link to listen to the songs, and vote for your favorite. We will also be releasing a song called "What Kind Of Life Is This" to Beach Front Radio. They specialize in Trop Rock music, and this song seems to be going over well, amongst the Parrot Heads. The album will be available via itunes, Amazon, and all the other online retailers. We will also have CD's available, if you prefer that.
In other news, we are excited to announce that Sherry Jane Cooke Publishing, is going to publish an interview with us. You can find Sherry's website here http://sherryjanecook.com I'm not sure when the interview will be available, but we will announce it everywhere, once we have a date.
The last bit of news, that I would like to share, is that we have a big show coming up this weekend, at the Across The Street Bar, in Dallas. Across The Street is located at 5625 SMU Blvd., Dallas, TX 75206. We will be co-headlining this show with some good friends. They are also a duo, called August & J. They are promoting their latest album, entitled "40". August & J will also be appearing at South By Southwest, in Austin, later this month. You can check out more information on them, at their official website located here http://www.augustandj.com Also joining us, on this night, will be the 5 Hands Band. They will kick things off around 9:30pm. So grab a friend, date, spouse or significant other, go eat some dinner, and then come out and join us all, for a night of fun! Our set, will consist of a heavy dose of songs from the upcoming album. We are really excited about the show, as well as playing Dallas, for the first time.
Ok, that's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to ya soon!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Paying The Dues
Well, hello there! As the title of my blog states, it's purpose is to chronicle the journey of Sand Dollar Rodeo. I want to give you, the reader, a sort of inside view of what goes on, behind the scenes.
As you may know, a journey is usually never, a smooth trip. If it is smooth sailing all the way, then I'm not so sure it would qualify as a journey. Whether, you go to school, build a business, or work a job, their are usually challenges associated with these types of endeavors. Not every day, week, or month is going to be smooth sailing. Your going to have times when it's tough, frustrating, and seemingly unfair.
This past week, was one of those weeks for Roy, Cisco, and me. I was so frustrated, stressed, and exhausted, that I considered not sharing on the blog, this week. My thinking was, the blog, needs to have positive, uplifting posts, and this past week was anything but that. It finally hit me, this past Thurday though, duh! The name of my blog is Sifting for Sand Dollars, A Musical JOURNEY! As stated before, in my eyes, a journey will be full of ups and downs. Every day, is not going to be perfect. With that being said, I feel like I would be doing my readers a disservice, if all I shared were the great things, that were happening to us. It dosen't paint an honest picture, and that was my whole purpose, in starting this blog. I can tell you though, that I have been totally honest, on all of my previous blog posts. Everything has pretty much been, hunky dory, so far. I was kind of surprised, that it took this long, to run into some adversity.
We had a gig scheduled, this past Saturday, February 2nd, at a place called the Happy Armadillo. It is located in Everman, Texas. We were scheduled to go on at 9pm. The place was about a 30 minute drive, from my house. We planned to be their at 7pm, to set up, soundcheck, and get ready to play. This means that I needed to start loading up, at about 6pm, or so.
Well, as luck would have it, I was running a little behind schedule. This seems to be a common theme, with me. I have no idea why, it is what it is. It drives my wife crazy, though. I don't blame her, it would probably me crazy, if I was on the other end of it. She says that me, my son, and my oldest daugher, are the biggest "piddlers", that she knows. She says it's like herding cattle, to get us all out of the house. When Roy and I record, I usually start getting ready about 30 minutes earlier, then need be. I'm usually, always early, or right on time, when I do this. I don't want to have him sitting around, waiting on me.
Anyway, I seem to be running about 15 minutes behind, or so, as I am cruising down the highway. My mind was totally on the gig, when all of a sudden, an officer of the law is tailing me, with lights and sirens blasting. My first thought was, "They are probably mistaking me for someone else." The reason I was thinking this, is because of the siren. In my vast experience with police stops, I've never been pulled over, with the full siren going. Usually, it's just the lights flashing. If the siren is going, I'm thinking, that must be something serious. Well, I know that I've not commited any crimes, so I'm thinking he will check my information, and send me on my way.
I pull over, and the officer approaches me, on my passenger side, because we are in a construction zone. If he would have come up on the driver's side, he would have, most likely, been hit by oncoming traffic. He says, "Good evening sir. I'm officer so and so." I couldn't remenber his name. He continued, "Do you know what the speed limit is through here?" I replied, "65?" I knew this was wrong, but I figured, maybe play dumb, and he would let me off with a warning. He said, "No sir, this is a construction zone, and the speed limit is 50. I was in the right lane, and you blew by me, like I was standing still. Did you not see me?" I answered, "No sir, I sure didn't." At this time, I'm thinking, just be honest with the guy, and maybe he will let me off. I really had no idea, that I had passed a DPS officer. That's kind of scary, in and of itself, isn't it? Where the hell, was my head at? He continued on, "I had to hit 76 mph to catch you. Where are you going, in such a hurray?" I explained that I was driving to a gig, and was running a little bit behind. He said, "Ok, I'll be back in a minute." I proceeded to text my wife, to let her know what was going on. The officer came back and said, "Ok, I've cited you for speeding, 73 in a 50." I figured I would ask, although I figured it would do no good, "Can you please, just give me a warning? I promise, I will slow it down." He responded, "Not for no 23 mph, over the limit. I can't do that." He went on, "You have a good gig, and please slow it down." "Great!", I thought. Now, all of my gig money for tonight, will be going towards this ticket.
I continued on, and made it to Everman, without further incident. Roy was already there, and had started setting up the P.A. I got the lay of the land, and then started unloading my gear. Their was a really nice waitress, that kept coming up to us, and asking if we needed anything, or any help setting up! I was pretty shocked at this. I've never had an offer like this, at a dive bar. I told Roy, "This could be a great night." He agreed, and we were looking forward to playing. Cisco arrived a short time later, and set up his percussion set. Their were only about 10 customers in the place, at this time. The waitress came back again, and I asked her if the place usually gets busier then this. She said, "It just depends. I've seen it stay about like this all night, and other nights, it will be packed." I decided, I wasn't going to worry about it. We would have a good time, regardless, of how many people showed up.
We moved on to soundcheck. As I've stated before, we do use sequencers, in our live shows. It's a pretty common practice, these days. U2, for example, who are still one of the biggest bands in the world, uses them. The first thing we do, during soundcheck, is to get the levels for the sequencers. We usually use one of our originals, called What Happens Now, or one of our covers, called Postcard, to get the sequencer levels. This night, we also used another original called Carry Me Home. By this time, it was about 8:45. We were pretty much ready to go. A few minutes later, one of the other waitresses, I'll call her the "head waitress", came over and said, that some of the crowd was complaining about us. She went on to say, that her manager was told that we would be playing country and classic rock. I explained that we have plenty of country songs, that we can do, but we are not a classic rock band. Roy went on to explain, that if they are judging us totally off of our sequencer levels, then they are way off base. All we were doing, was getting levels set. Roy had barely sung anything, and I had hardly played a note, on the guitar. Cisco asked to speak to her manager, and of course, the waitress said that she was unavailable. He asked, "Is she here?" The waitress replied, "Yes, but she is off duty." The waitress, was clearly, not going to rat out her chicken shit manager, who was too much of a coward to come and talk to us herself. I went on and explained that we do play originals too, as you should be aware. She looked at me, like I had grown a second head. "Oh, that's not gonna go over well here, at all." I was really annoyed by this point, and so was Cisco. You see, he had turned down another gig, with a different band, to play this one. I continued on, with the waitress, "Look, the only songs listed on our reverb page are originals! Did you guys even pay attention to this? Did you even listen to them? We are an original band, that will play the occasional cover for fun or filler! That's what we represent, that's what you hired!" Roy could see that this was quickly escalating, so he said, "Look, do you just want us to go?", and she responded, "I think that would be best."
From there, we proceeded to breakdown our equipment, and load it back up. In the meantime, we were all texting and calling, Marti (our booking agent). She was coming to the show, but had not made it yet. She asked us to please wait for her, and advised that she was on her way. Cisco went ahead and left. A short time later, I noticed a lady get into a truck, that was parked right outside the front door, and leave. I told Roy, "That was the manager, I guarantee it!" I had a few other choice words, that can't be printed here. Roy and I both deducted, that they just didn't want to pay a band that night. I guess, they were thinking, that they would not have enough business to offset our cost. Marti arrived a short time later, with her daughter, and they walked inside to speak with the staff. I knew nothing would change, but I appreciate Marti going to battle for us, and being there.
The final kick-in-the-nuts, of the evening, occured a few minutes later, as a police officer pulled into the parking lot. Roy and I were finishing our impromptu meeting with Marti, and sipping on some bottled water. The officer approached and said, "Hey guys, we received a call that their were people loitering out her in the parking lot, and drinking beer." We raised our water bottles to him, and he smiled. He jumped on his radio, and told his backup that everything was under control. I heard the guy, on the other end of the radio say,"Is their any drinking going on out there?" The officer at our location, radioed back, "Yeah, lots of Dasani bottled water." The officer was clearly irritated with the bar, apologized to us, and went inside. I would have loved, to have heard what transpired inside. On that note, we headed home. To read more about this non-gig, check out Roy's blog here http://royholliday.blogspot.com
On the way home, I was already strategizing our next move. Roy was doing the same thing, although neither of us realized it, until the next morning. We communicate a lot by email. The next morning, I emailed him a list of venues, that cater to original music. I also told him that I did not want to do anymore 9pm-1am bar gigs. I went on to explain that, at these places, we are basically a live jukebox, and our originals are getting buried, amongst all the covers. He emailed back, and said he was doing the exact same thing that I was, and agreed with my assessement, totally. We will, of course, honor all of our commitments that are on the books, but going forward, we will be pursuing more concert-type bookings. We bombarded Marti with a bunch of ideas, and the types of venues, we wanted to play.
I wanna stop right here, and just say that, Marti has done a great job for us. I don't blame her for the Happy Armadillo fiasco, or the Buffalo West cancellation. Sometimes, things are just beyond your control. I'm also not griping, or putting down any of the places, that we are booked at. I don't want anyone to get the idea, that we think we are "too good to play there." That's not the case at all. This has sort of been a trial and error, for all of us. Your are never gonna know about these things, until you get out and try it. Some of the places, that we are booked at, seem to want mostly covers, or all covers. Again, I don't blame Marti for this. We do not have a single cover tune recorded, anywhere. When Marti submits for us, she is submitting original material. If the venue dosen't pay attention or listen to us beforehand, I'm not sure what else we can do.
It can be a real Catch-22, when you go the original music route. Their can be some real lean nights, as far as money is concerned. Most of the time, you are playing for the door, so it all depends on how many people come to see you. A lot of places will let you come in, and open for a headliner. In many cases, the opener is not paid a dime. They can sell merchandise, and hope to gain some fans though.
In the cover music scene, you will get a guaranteed rate. Most places, that have cover bands, do not charge a cover charge to get in. These places are typically dive bars, restaurants, and sports bars. These places normally have a built in crowd. The people that come to these places, wanna get their drink on, play some pool or darts, and maybe do a little dancing. As stated earlier, you are pretty much their live jukebox.
Money is not the motivation for doing this. If your motivation is solely money, then music is the wrong field to get into. Roy and I have greater aspirations, then just being a bar band. Although, their is nothing wrong with that, it's just not for Roy and I. We understand, that in the beginning, it may not compensate us as well as a cover gig would. We also understand that it will take a lot of hard work and determination, and we are both ok, with that. We find it much more fulfilling to write, record, and perform our own music. That to me, is more important then money.
Marti asked for a conference call, this past week. Roy and I were both a little nervous about this, as we were not sure, what it was going to be about. Really, all it boiled down to, was for us to strategize, and get a gameplan together for the future. Marti has been great, and she is adjusting with us. She just wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page, going forward. She books several other bands, and we are all very different. We all have our own goals and aspirations, and she works hard, to make sure that they are all met.
I've also come to the realization, that not everyone is going to like us. I had a hard time with this, at first. Their is nothing I can do about it though, and that's ok. Heck, even the biggest bands in the world, have people that don't care for them. My wife can't stand Metallica, and they've seemed to have done ok. I'm just going to continue the journey. I know their will be bumps in the road, along the way. Roy says, "This is just part of it, and think of it as, paying our dues." Roy and I also agree, that the Happy Armadillo fiasco, may have been the best thing to happen to us. It sort of slapped us in the face, and made us really re-evaluate everything.
We have some really exciting ideas, that we are discussing. Other then that, we just plan to enjoy the ride. We have no idea where this journey will take us. One thing I'm finding out though, is you never know what's going to be around the next corner. Roy and I feel that if we stay true to our vision, then good things will happen.
Well, that's all I have for now. As always, thanks for reading, and I will talk to you soon!
As you may know, a journey is usually never, a smooth trip. If it is smooth sailing all the way, then I'm not so sure it would qualify as a journey. Whether, you go to school, build a business, or work a job, their are usually challenges associated with these types of endeavors. Not every day, week, or month is going to be smooth sailing. Your going to have times when it's tough, frustrating, and seemingly unfair.
This past week, was one of those weeks for Roy, Cisco, and me. I was so frustrated, stressed, and exhausted, that I considered not sharing on the blog, this week. My thinking was, the blog, needs to have positive, uplifting posts, and this past week was anything but that. It finally hit me, this past Thurday though, duh! The name of my blog is Sifting for Sand Dollars, A Musical JOURNEY! As stated before, in my eyes, a journey will be full of ups and downs. Every day, is not going to be perfect. With that being said, I feel like I would be doing my readers a disservice, if all I shared were the great things, that were happening to us. It dosen't paint an honest picture, and that was my whole purpose, in starting this blog. I can tell you though, that I have been totally honest, on all of my previous blog posts. Everything has pretty much been, hunky dory, so far. I was kind of surprised, that it took this long, to run into some adversity.
We had a gig scheduled, this past Saturday, February 2nd, at a place called the Happy Armadillo. It is located in Everman, Texas. We were scheduled to go on at 9pm. The place was about a 30 minute drive, from my house. We planned to be their at 7pm, to set up, soundcheck, and get ready to play. This means that I needed to start loading up, at about 6pm, or so.
Well, as luck would have it, I was running a little behind schedule. This seems to be a common theme, with me. I have no idea why, it is what it is. It drives my wife crazy, though. I don't blame her, it would probably me crazy, if I was on the other end of it. She says that me, my son, and my oldest daugher, are the biggest "piddlers", that she knows. She says it's like herding cattle, to get us all out of the house. When Roy and I record, I usually start getting ready about 30 minutes earlier, then need be. I'm usually, always early, or right on time, when I do this. I don't want to have him sitting around, waiting on me.
Anyway, I seem to be running about 15 minutes behind, or so, as I am cruising down the highway. My mind was totally on the gig, when all of a sudden, an officer of the law is tailing me, with lights and sirens blasting. My first thought was, "They are probably mistaking me for someone else." The reason I was thinking this, is because of the siren. In my vast experience with police stops, I've never been pulled over, with the full siren going. Usually, it's just the lights flashing. If the siren is going, I'm thinking, that must be something serious. Well, I know that I've not commited any crimes, so I'm thinking he will check my information, and send me on my way.
I pull over, and the officer approaches me, on my passenger side, because we are in a construction zone. If he would have come up on the driver's side, he would have, most likely, been hit by oncoming traffic. He says, "Good evening sir. I'm officer so and so." I couldn't remenber his name. He continued, "Do you know what the speed limit is through here?" I replied, "65?" I knew this was wrong, but I figured, maybe play dumb, and he would let me off with a warning. He said, "No sir, this is a construction zone, and the speed limit is 50. I was in the right lane, and you blew by me, like I was standing still. Did you not see me?" I answered, "No sir, I sure didn't." At this time, I'm thinking, just be honest with the guy, and maybe he will let me off. I really had no idea, that I had passed a DPS officer. That's kind of scary, in and of itself, isn't it? Where the hell, was my head at? He continued on, "I had to hit 76 mph to catch you. Where are you going, in such a hurray?" I explained that I was driving to a gig, and was running a little bit behind. He said, "Ok, I'll be back in a minute." I proceeded to text my wife, to let her know what was going on. The officer came back and said, "Ok, I've cited you for speeding, 73 in a 50." I figured I would ask, although I figured it would do no good, "Can you please, just give me a warning? I promise, I will slow it down." He responded, "Not for no 23 mph, over the limit. I can't do that." He went on, "You have a good gig, and please slow it down." "Great!", I thought. Now, all of my gig money for tonight, will be going towards this ticket.
I continued on, and made it to Everman, without further incident. Roy was already there, and had started setting up the P.A. I got the lay of the land, and then started unloading my gear. Their was a really nice waitress, that kept coming up to us, and asking if we needed anything, or any help setting up! I was pretty shocked at this. I've never had an offer like this, at a dive bar. I told Roy, "This could be a great night." He agreed, and we were looking forward to playing. Cisco arrived a short time later, and set up his percussion set. Their were only about 10 customers in the place, at this time. The waitress came back again, and I asked her if the place usually gets busier then this. She said, "It just depends. I've seen it stay about like this all night, and other nights, it will be packed." I decided, I wasn't going to worry about it. We would have a good time, regardless, of how many people showed up.
We moved on to soundcheck. As I've stated before, we do use sequencers, in our live shows. It's a pretty common practice, these days. U2, for example, who are still one of the biggest bands in the world, uses them. The first thing we do, during soundcheck, is to get the levels for the sequencers. We usually use one of our originals, called What Happens Now, or one of our covers, called Postcard, to get the sequencer levels. This night, we also used another original called Carry Me Home. By this time, it was about 8:45. We were pretty much ready to go. A few minutes later, one of the other waitresses, I'll call her the "head waitress", came over and said, that some of the crowd was complaining about us. She went on to say, that her manager was told that we would be playing country and classic rock. I explained that we have plenty of country songs, that we can do, but we are not a classic rock band. Roy went on to explain, that if they are judging us totally off of our sequencer levels, then they are way off base. All we were doing, was getting levels set. Roy had barely sung anything, and I had hardly played a note, on the guitar. Cisco asked to speak to her manager, and of course, the waitress said that she was unavailable. He asked, "Is she here?" The waitress replied, "Yes, but she is off duty." The waitress, was clearly, not going to rat out her chicken shit manager, who was too much of a coward to come and talk to us herself. I went on and explained that we do play originals too, as you should be aware. She looked at me, like I had grown a second head. "Oh, that's not gonna go over well here, at all." I was really annoyed by this point, and so was Cisco. You see, he had turned down another gig, with a different band, to play this one. I continued on, with the waitress, "Look, the only songs listed on our reverb page are originals! Did you guys even pay attention to this? Did you even listen to them? We are an original band, that will play the occasional cover for fun or filler! That's what we represent, that's what you hired!" Roy could see that this was quickly escalating, so he said, "Look, do you just want us to go?", and she responded, "I think that would be best."
From there, we proceeded to breakdown our equipment, and load it back up. In the meantime, we were all texting and calling, Marti (our booking agent). She was coming to the show, but had not made it yet. She asked us to please wait for her, and advised that she was on her way. Cisco went ahead and left. A short time later, I noticed a lady get into a truck, that was parked right outside the front door, and leave. I told Roy, "That was the manager, I guarantee it!" I had a few other choice words, that can't be printed here. Roy and I both deducted, that they just didn't want to pay a band that night. I guess, they were thinking, that they would not have enough business to offset our cost. Marti arrived a short time later, with her daughter, and they walked inside to speak with the staff. I knew nothing would change, but I appreciate Marti going to battle for us, and being there.
The final kick-in-the-nuts, of the evening, occured a few minutes later, as a police officer pulled into the parking lot. Roy and I were finishing our impromptu meeting with Marti, and sipping on some bottled water. The officer approached and said, "Hey guys, we received a call that their were people loitering out her in the parking lot, and drinking beer." We raised our water bottles to him, and he smiled. He jumped on his radio, and told his backup that everything was under control. I heard the guy, on the other end of the radio say,"Is their any drinking going on out there?" The officer at our location, radioed back, "Yeah, lots of Dasani bottled water." The officer was clearly irritated with the bar, apologized to us, and went inside. I would have loved, to have heard what transpired inside. On that note, we headed home. To read more about this non-gig, check out Roy's blog here http://royholliday.blogspot.com
On the way home, I was already strategizing our next move. Roy was doing the same thing, although neither of us realized it, until the next morning. We communicate a lot by email. The next morning, I emailed him a list of venues, that cater to original music. I also told him that I did not want to do anymore 9pm-1am bar gigs. I went on to explain that, at these places, we are basically a live jukebox, and our originals are getting buried, amongst all the covers. He emailed back, and said he was doing the exact same thing that I was, and agreed with my assessement, totally. We will, of course, honor all of our commitments that are on the books, but going forward, we will be pursuing more concert-type bookings. We bombarded Marti with a bunch of ideas, and the types of venues, we wanted to play.
I wanna stop right here, and just say that, Marti has done a great job for us. I don't blame her for the Happy Armadillo fiasco, or the Buffalo West cancellation. Sometimes, things are just beyond your control. I'm also not griping, or putting down any of the places, that we are booked at. I don't want anyone to get the idea, that we think we are "too good to play there." That's not the case at all. This has sort of been a trial and error, for all of us. Your are never gonna know about these things, until you get out and try it. Some of the places, that we are booked at, seem to want mostly covers, or all covers. Again, I don't blame Marti for this. We do not have a single cover tune recorded, anywhere. When Marti submits for us, she is submitting original material. If the venue dosen't pay attention or listen to us beforehand, I'm not sure what else we can do.
It can be a real Catch-22, when you go the original music route. Their can be some real lean nights, as far as money is concerned. Most of the time, you are playing for the door, so it all depends on how many people come to see you. A lot of places will let you come in, and open for a headliner. In many cases, the opener is not paid a dime. They can sell merchandise, and hope to gain some fans though.
In the cover music scene, you will get a guaranteed rate. Most places, that have cover bands, do not charge a cover charge to get in. These places are typically dive bars, restaurants, and sports bars. These places normally have a built in crowd. The people that come to these places, wanna get their drink on, play some pool or darts, and maybe do a little dancing. As stated earlier, you are pretty much their live jukebox.
Money is not the motivation for doing this. If your motivation is solely money, then music is the wrong field to get into. Roy and I have greater aspirations, then just being a bar band. Although, their is nothing wrong with that, it's just not for Roy and I. We understand, that in the beginning, it may not compensate us as well as a cover gig would. We also understand that it will take a lot of hard work and determination, and we are both ok, with that. We find it much more fulfilling to write, record, and perform our own music. That to me, is more important then money.
Marti asked for a conference call, this past week. Roy and I were both a little nervous about this, as we were not sure, what it was going to be about. Really, all it boiled down to, was for us to strategize, and get a gameplan together for the future. Marti has been great, and she is adjusting with us. She just wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page, going forward. She books several other bands, and we are all very different. We all have our own goals and aspirations, and she works hard, to make sure that they are all met.
I've also come to the realization, that not everyone is going to like us. I had a hard time with this, at first. Their is nothing I can do about it though, and that's ok. Heck, even the biggest bands in the world, have people that don't care for them. My wife can't stand Metallica, and they've seemed to have done ok. I'm just going to continue the journey. I know their will be bumps in the road, along the way. Roy says, "This is just part of it, and think of it as, paying our dues." Roy and I also agree, that the Happy Armadillo fiasco, may have been the best thing to happen to us. It sort of slapped us in the face, and made us really re-evaluate everything.
We have some really exciting ideas, that we are discussing. Other then that, we just plan to enjoy the ride. We have no idea where this journey will take us. One thing I'm finding out though, is you never know what's going to be around the next corner. Roy and I feel that if we stay true to our vision, then good things will happen.
Well, that's all I have for now. As always, thanks for reading, and I will talk to you soon!
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