11/26/16

Bigfoot at the Nomad. I'd never played there and I'd only ever been a handful of times. The first few they didn't even have a stage, it was just a couple of acoustic folks strumming on the wood. Now there is a stage, PA, bass amp (!), drink tickets!! AND it's a mile and a half from the house.


We were in the middle of three. The first band's drummer couldn't make it so it was just a guy banging away on an acoustic. Then we went up. We had a nice set we were fairly mellow for us, but we still gave it plenty of rumble.


Because I am pitiful (notice how long it took to post this...) I can't even remember the last bands name... I'm pretty sure the singer's name was Ira. I do remember they had a pretty soulful sound and were kicking that ass. Hopefully I'll see them again.


I'll be back at the Nomad on NYE with the Swishbucklers. It's the perfect distance from my house for a drunk holiday show.

10/7/16

Late late lame



ACL Week Two

Hickoids were on earlyish at the Hole. In fact we were so early I almost missed the set! I showed up, plugged in, got a drink and we were on. GO!! Our set was decent. The crowd was nowhere near what we'd had the weekend before, seems like the big festival crowd can' make it above MLK. Oh well... We rocked it.

It was the typical two stage setup, back and fourth, bam bam bam. Meet your death was after us up front. Cool set, but Walters amp popped so he didn't sound like his usual self.

Sailor Poon was next in the back. I could barely understand what was being sung, but that didn't matter. They were great! I really liked them. As a matter of fact they have a bass player and a drummer that work pretty well together. Hmm...

Beaumonts were last and upfront. Their penises looked HUGE up on that little stage. I took off around the half way point, they were killing it and there was no reason to believe that wouldn't continue.

And that was all the ACL for me. I wasn't on the bill the next night, I was gonna go but by 9PM I was still in my underwear and I'd poured myself a whiskey so...

And AND The fellas (with Odie as my sub) are curremtly on the east coast and about to head over to Europe (bastards, without ME!!!!) Go see them! And tell em you miss RICE!!

10/1/16

ACL night two.


Hickoids were last at the White Horse. I got there just as Chrissy Flatt's new group (New Mystery Girl) was going on. Hell of a good set. For years she was doing more of a folky solo (sometimes with a band) set. Now it's a lot more rocking and I think it fits her better. Nice work lady!


Pat Todd and the Rank Outsiders were back in Austin! And of course they whipped ass. Fuck, it's really good to see, hear and play with those guys again. I can't really add much, nothing has changed since the last time we played with them. Other than all of us ageing...


Our set was a good sloppy mess. A decent chunk of the (big) festival crowd stuck around for our stupidity. They were drunk and there was still music.. why not! During one tune Lance broke his kick pedal. I kept playing till he straightened it out, a lame ass bass odyssey that shouldn't have been heard by anyone... But I had no choice. With the show going on and all.


We finished with the lights on. The crowd was quickly tossed and the night ended with a bit of a whimper...


More next week.

9/30/16

First Night of ACL. We were at the Lost Well and it was costume night. What a bunch of silly ass shit... Grannies, Fishermen so much fun.

The Shut-Ups started things off with a loud as shit set on the floor of the club. The drummer was in front of the bass and drums. I think they are a total improv group (in costumes!). At some point the drummer was on the bar with his floor tom on his head. Not balancing it there, he'd broken through the top head and was playing the sides of it with his sticks. Awesome!

I was with the Swishbucklers. We were on second and had a rocking little set. I love getting to play guitar! One of the regular 'bucklers couldn't make it so all of the lead lines were mine and I whipped the shit out of them. Through the magic of over amplified guitar, one little move can send you off to feedback heaven. Glorious. 

Fishermen and Grannies did the usual ass kicking. Nothing special, just the regular greatness.

The night went on, I left before The Upper Crust and Chasca started... Full on lameness on my part. It can't be helped.

Hickoids at the White Horse tomorrow.

9/24/16

By the time I got to San Antonio and started loading my gear in to the Amp Room I was thinking "I'm about a third through with this shit." Still sick. Hickoids were on some bill for an SA paper... I pay zero attention most of the time, I pay even less when I'm sick...


The stage was one of those that looks big until your on it. Gear made it worse. They had a drum riser that was tiny. Not really big enough for the average kit. And there were big monitors all over the place, eating up the precious real estate we so desperately needed.



Our set was ok. No rehearsal since the last show so we weren't as tight as usual. Also three of us were a little sick (flashback!) So that added to our sluggishness. New bass is great. With Bigfoot it was easy to get settings that work. With the Hickoids there is a little more "action" so the settings change more. I don't have them down yet, but it's coming.



I loaded out and was driving home before the next band went on. I wasn't waiting around for anything. The drive home was easy and I was on the couch a little after 2AM.



ACL is coming!

9/23/16

Playing a show when your sick sucks. Loading the gear, driving, talking, smiling and even standing for 45 consecutive minutes sucks... But sometimes you play really good!


Bigfoot was at the Local last night. We were near the end of a bunch of bands for some tribute show... I wasn't really paying that much attention, I felt like shit. But the Coffee Sargent's were on before us and had a great set. They had two guitars, two keys, bass and drums and it sounded like one big beautiful mass.



I have a new bass and I hadn't even had a rehearsal with it so i was a little nervous about playing the show. I brought the old one but it stayed in the case. The new one is bad as hell. Even my sick ass could tell I have a really nice new machine. It's new. Only my second time with a new bass in my life and the last one was a $200 hunk of left-handed crap. The new one is lovely.


Our set was good. I only sang one and I was barely able to get through it. All of us have been sick in the last few weeks so no one was !00%. But you can really get a good performance when three fifths of a group are high with fever.

9/10/16

Hickoids went up to Ft Worth last week. Our set was good and the opener, Duel, kicked some twin lead ass. But I don't wanna talk that. This post is all about the Me-Thinks.


It was their record release and they asked us to come up and play. Those dudes are great people and the music is top notch, we couldn't say no!



We finish our set and swap the gear, the "thinks" load in their amps, drums, smoke machines and a bar! A bar! On to the stage!! Then they stared the set. Nothing but covers. For their record release party! Guts! They played the first two tunes from that Cheap Trick Live album. Two Spinal Tap songs. TWO! Replacements and Beaumonts (and many, many others.)



There was a raffle where seventeen of the twenty-odd spaces on the wheel were labeled "cold taco". I saw a few folks eating cold tacos at various points. No euphemism here.


Somewhere in the set they all left the stage and a guy dressed as Peter Criss came up and played a drum solo, then sang Beth to a backing track. Fuck me it was funny.



Later on, I don't remember what song it was but when it got around to the lead, Ray took off his guitar and handed it to one of the dudes from Duel. He plays the solo, Ray sits at the stage bar, orders a beer and has a couple of swigs (they let the solo go on and on!) then they swapped back. The ass-kicking continued.


I spent a lot of time up at the stage at the bar. I was getting pretty lit up in the best possible way. With that easy access to beer and shots it was impossible not to... Then they played "I Like Drinking" by the Beaumonts. The place went nuts and the smoke machines went on. Lance was standing next to me (we were still mostly behind the drums) so I lit up a joint. Passed it around and the good people in the stage bar had an extra good time.


Eventually they finished up with what they were planning on playing and they were gonna call it a night. But there were too many people yelling that they played both songs from the single. I mean it was the release party... Speaking of which I totally spaced on getting a copy... Idiot.



Thanks fellas, that was one hell of a night! Pure Rock and Roll.

8/27/16

Bigfoot was at the White Horse last night. There was a benefit for Louisiana flood victims and we were on the bill, middle of three. But it's not really the typical club times. Each band played for an hour and forty-five, a big boy show. We actually had to work (for a change...)


We went up after a whipping Cajun band. Folks were dancing and I was afraid we would drive them off. I was wrong. For the first time in recorded history, Bigfoot Chester got people up and kept them dancing for at least the first hour. Unbelievable.



Of course we ended up hitting a pile of Blues "sludge" that cleared the dancers away briefly. But they came back and spun around when things picked up closer to the end.


Two Hoots and a Holler were last. Kick ass as always. Ricky's eyes still roll back in his head when he solos, especially when he is going for it. And he had Lisa Pankratz playing drums. She is one of the baddest around and she makes the coolest pain faces when she plays. I could watch that forever.

7/29/16

Hickoids played a benefit at the Spider House the other night. It wasn't actually at the Spider House, it was at the place next door. The one that use to be a plasma "donation" joint. Anyway, we played there.



I'm actually pretty clueless as to what the benefit is for other than a lady who I think worked there or is friends with folks who work there or is in the "scene" around the club. 


Fuck I'm clueless... It's only a few days later and I actually can't remember who else was on the bill... I know I met a couple of cool folks once we finished and I remember I had to pay for my beer (all of it) and I remember heading home early, but that's about it. Other than our set.

It was decent. It took a while to get going. Cody's gear was fucked (standard) and Smitty said he wasn't feeling so hot so we weren't peak Hickoids, but I had fun and I thought I played my ass off!



Good enough for me.

7/7/16

Late, late, late...


The Ladies had a hell of a show the other night. We were at the Hard Luck and we went on a little after the sun went down so it was a little cooler than when the openers went on. Still hot as shit but cooler.



We kinda whipped it. After a couple of months without shows and a couple of rehearsals before this one we were ready to kill. And we did. We even pulled out a new one we'd worked up a pretty cool arrangement on. Right before the peak we layer each instrument on before all of us and pounding away at it while BC and I are howling at full volume.



Good sweaty fun.

7/3/16

I made the hot as hell drive to San Antonio solo. Since it was a holiday weekend the driving was extra stupid and cops were everywhere. 35 was loaded with them.


After a couple of hours I made it to the Paper Tiger, we were going on second to last at a BBQ festival called "The Meat Sweats". I'd hoped for some sides and I was starving when I got there. But all of the stands only had meat, no sides. Shit. The Greek place across the street was closed and the taco stand wasn't by the strip club... It's tough being a vegetarian at a meat festival.


Anyway, we went on after the Beaumonts and had a decent but very sweaty set. The club has garage style doors and they were open, Jesus it was hot. I actually wore the sportcoat for the first song, idiot. I was melting. At a couple of points it might have looked like I was grooving along with my eyes closed. Not the case. The sweat was burning them and I couldn't keep them open.



Texas in summer.

6/24/16

I was the shortest Bigfoot Chester set ever. I was three songs shoved in between the Giblets and the Ice Cold Singles sets at the Hard Luck. Long story for a little bit of playing.

I got a call from Bill Anderson saying the Giblets were playing a show and didn't quite have enough tunes to cover it. Since three of them are three-fourths of Bigfoot it made for an easy transition. I didn't bring anything but my bass and some cables. We did three songs, I got three free beers and paid the next night! Winner!!!

5/30/16

This is way late. I'd picked up a cold front one of the thousand joints I'd shared up in KC and at this point of the tour I felt like shit. 

It's a lame excuse but it's true.  

We drove down from Dallas to Bend TX on some pretty country roads that I didn't give a shit about seeing.  I'm sure it was real nice but when your backed up with a head full of snot and your entire respiratory is raw you just want that shit over with.    

As usual there wasn't much of a crowd at Bob's but the folks that were there we kind as usual. We got fed, sodaed, watered and we played a couple of sets on a sunny Monday afternoon. 

I was out cold for the drive back to my place. Someone woke me up when we got there. I would have spent the next day in bed if I didn't have to go to work the next day. 8:45am came way too early. 

5/29/16

Gringopalooza 3 was last night at the Three Links in Deep Ellum, the former crime ridden  home of legal gambling and prostitution that has been gentrified over the last fifty years so lofts will sell to folks with money. "And it's so safe to walk around..."

There was the usual group of friends out and a few new ones. Made for a hell of a night. 

The Me-thinks had a smoke machine and a couple of them were wearing capes. They brought the rock as usual but it was amazing how cool they looked. They would be rocking along then there'd be a blast of smoke curling up from the back of the capes and it was swirling around in the lights. The smoke kept moving, the capes kept moving, fucking awesome. 

Gringos were on their shit too. And the crowd was all over it. They played tighter than any show I've seen them do in the last few years. Nice work fellas

We were on last and had a hell of a set. The place was packed and people were up front and singing along. Yeah!

We are headed to Bob's in Bend tomorrow. Then home!

5/28/16

As expected Kansas City was great. 

This little tour was put together because the Westport Roots Festival wanted us to play. We rolled up and got set up with wristbands and gift bags and hung out in the green room for a while. It smelled great when we opened the door. When we got upstairs, where the party was, it was good and smokey and it states that way all night. My people!

They fed us, they beered us and liquored us up real good. Too good! After the set I was given a fifth of Four Roses Bourbon. I'll get to that in a minute. 

Our set was at the firefly, we were second to last and we had a solid crowd that was really in to us. Lots of people jumping around like fools and singing along.... We all agreed, it made up for Tulsa.  

Back to that fifth. I didn't have a way to carry it around and I burdened Cody with my dilemma. Being the country gentleman he is he stashed it in his coat. Then he took off and we lost him for an hour. Eventually we found him well lubricated with two-thirds of the liquor left. He was missing the cap but the booze made it!

Dallas tomorrow. 

5/27/16

The drive to Tulsa was easy. No bad traffic or weather. Don't worry the show made up for it....

We were originally booked at club A but they were going out of business so we hopped on a bill at club B. But there was already a band playing there that night so our set had to be finished by 9:30. 

We loaded our crap up to the second floor, set it up so the first band could use it and by the time we went on there was a half hour left for us...

Our set was four songs. 

It's not anyone's fault. Certainly not the "late" bands or the clubs. But it still sucks doing all of that work on the second day of a five day tour to barely get to play for ten people. 

Tomorrow is Kansas City, should be better. 

5/26/16

It was a bitch of a drive getting to Little Rock. As usual the Arkansas interstate system is shaky as hell. There were a couple of spots when it was down to one lane in both directions and we spent a fair amount of time stopped. Par for the course up here. The weather was shitty as well. At a few points there were sheets of rain pounding on us. The wind and the semis weren't smoothing things out either. We survived. 

The White Water Tavern is a pretty cool joint. It's all patched together and rough around the edges. Reminds me of some of the places I played when I lived in Knoxville. Between that and the hospitality it kinda felt like home. 

Frontier Circus was first. Pretty much the same ass whipping as the last time but now they have three guitars (don't worry they still have the theremin!) Beautiful. 

Our set was a little rough. Took us a while to get going but we were running properly by the end. 

According to sources this little tour is gonna be plagued by bad weather. I keep hearing about rain, wind and tornado... 

Tulsa tomorrow. 

5/24/16

Hickoids played the Hard Luck last night. It was a birthday show for our buddy Matt Meshbane, a local sound guy and first rate ne'er-do-well. We skipped our rehearsal the night before to get paid for practice. It sorta worked.

It was a swamp in the back of the Hard Luck. With all of the rain we've had over the last couple of months and the recent reappearance of the sun we get to appreciate the humidity of New Orleans without any of the culture or food. Mosquitoes were floating around the stage like feathers. Big fuckers who were very thirsty. Jesus...

We sorta played two sets. The first one ended early when Cody's second guitar crapped out (the first one crapped out a couple of tunes earlier.) We were starting the next set when more guitar "issues" got in the way. Eventually we fired it up and did a decent job for the folks who wanted birthday party fun on a Tuesday night.

After the sweat fest we loaded up the Freak. We are headed out for five days of stupid fun! Lots of driving, bad food and van farts in our future.

5/13/16

Bigfoot was back for a night. Matt was on drums and we played my new favorite, The Hard Luck Lounge.

ST-37 was on first. I think the last time I played with them was at the Electric Lounge... 372 years ago. What a great set of rock and roll. A wall of psychedelic goodness. Lots of layers on top of swirly layers mmmm.... Three guitars and a noisemaker! Loved it.

We went up and did our thing. The set was pretty good, Matt did great considering he had one rehearsal and the rest of us have been in the band for the last twenty years... We were solid and sludgy like Bigfoot Chester should be. Playing outside helps, there was an extra layer of swampy funk on everything before we even plugged in.

Hard Luck is cool. So cool I think that...

4/29/16

I bummed another ride with Lance for this last one. It was only to San Antonio but since there was a backline we carpooled like responsible little Austinites.

The show was at San Antonio University. From what I heard it was the final for the RTF students. All I really know is we got paid before we played! Jacob was playing with Javier (who was up next) so he got up and Hickoided it for the set. Nice to have him back for the night. There was a fair amount of "reminding" going on, but he always catches up fast.

Our set was ok. At times we rocked it, but we are always a little behind reality when we play on a big stage and we need to rely on monitors. We are a club band. Someday we may get there...

Javier had a great set. There was a little bit of rain and a lot of lightning, but that added to the kick-assness! Rock and Roll in the rain is fucking great.

We were dry for the drive home and we made it back before midnight! I like easy/early gigs like this.

4/16/16

Basically it was a stripped down version of last weekend's show in Austin, with the Hickoids on last and at the Hole in the Wall. Big difference is I caught the majority of bands AND I didn't play like shit! Woo ME!

I did miss Jesus Christ Superfly, I hadn't seen those guys in a couple of years and i was looking forward to it, but didn't quite get out of the house in time. Lame. Me...

Beaumonts did the Beaumont thing. Funny how I don't even think about those dirty ass songs anymore. They are a part of my subconscious now, and apparently my subconscious is fine with songs about dog fucking. Everything is normal at the moment.

For a part of their set I was outside watching a dude do 7/8's of a card trick. It was one of those long drawn out story tricks (he did a decent job, but you could tell he didn't practice that often (I'm letting the magic geek slip out...) He got distracted near the end and it kinda fell apart. I'd never seen a card trick at the Hole before, wish it was a doozy...

PDB went next with the same shenanigans as last week, in a room a quarter of the size. It's actually more impressive in the back of the Hole. They are right on top of you, at Fitz it's more of a "show over there" Not at the Hole. Byron being right on top of you isn't necessarily the best thing, but it happens...

Our set was pretty great. We pulled out a bunch of tunes we rarely play and a couple we never play. Feels good when you can surprise yourself!  It had been at least a year since we even practiced "Gudbye To Jane", but we did it early in the set and we pulled it off Good work Hickoids! Now go practice for next week.

4/9/16

Hickoids played the PDB anniversary at Fitzgerald's again. It was basically the same concept as the last time they did it (before this blog existed!) but it was expanded to Zelda's downstairs. Extra big and dumb!!

I had just gotten off an extremely relaxing seven day cruse at 8AM that morning. We pulled in to the Houston port and drove like hell back to Austin. Five hours later I was in my truck driving to Lance's to make the round trip for the show. At least I wasn't driving, it's a lot easier to ride/nap.

We played upstairs between the Beaumonts and PDB (so preheadliners? ) and I played like shit. I was told I played fine, but I felt like I was using all of my brain to just barely hold on... And I was listing... Jesus, what a mind fuck that was. I'd turn a little and my whole body felt like it was flying in that same direction, felt like I could puke. The lights weren't helping either. They'd move and my stomach would follow, my brain wanted out! I never heard of seasickness after the cruise, but now I've felt it. Yea for me...

Anyway our set was thankfully short and PDB got up with the same set-up as last time. A "tour through the ages" as it were. We caught a decent portion of the set and slunk off in to the night. I was in bed around 6AM and I slept for twelve hours.

Worth it.

3/19/16

My second and final show for SXSW 2016 was at 5PM on Saturday the 19th at the '04 Lounge. It was the Hickoids and it wasn't the Hickoids... Cody had to leave town for a death in the family, rough...

It was already a mess of an afternoon by the time I got there. White Miles from Austria was setting up and about to whip some ass. I drank some off brand beer (it actually said "cold snack" on the side of the can...) and prepared myself for the evening.

White Miles was pretty on it. I'd been joking with Andy, tour manager extraordinaire before they played "another fucking band with drums and guitar... how original." My snotty ass shut up real quick once they started. Pretty awesome riff-rock with loads of animal drums underneath. How could I not love it!

Our set was pretty lackluster by comparison. We played fine without Cody, but we aren't our best when he's not around. The '04 is a lot of fun. You are right on the floor and folks are walking by when your playing it really gives you the opportunity to fuck with them! I love bumping my sweaty ass up against a total stranger in the middle of a set. Makes me feel like I have power. The power to fuck with the innocents!!! Well... there were nostly non-innocents there at that point.

Fishermen were next followed by Monkey Shines followed by others I missed because I'm lame and wanted to go home. So I did.

SXSW was easy this year, which means it may come back for vengeance next year.

3/16/16

Last night was the first official night of the SXSW music festival/conference. I mostly know that because of the hour it took to get to the White Horse from my place. Usually that's a ten to fifteen minute job. I'm only playing twice this year. I was almost a little upset that I was barely playing the "most influential" music conference in the world, then I pulled my head out of my ass and realized it was gonna be nice NOT going in to the thick of it every night this week.

Hickoids were on at midnight. We've done this festival Wednesday at the Horse for a few years now and as usual it was a lot of fun. Our old pals the Beaumonts and Cunto were on the bill and an"all star" tribute act to Blowfly. Sad that he's gone, but the tribute was even sadder...

We played for about forty minutes to a spirited crowd. There were about half the amount of people as there were for the Beaumonts, but they were twice as drunk. Easy targets for our brand of stupidity. We even did a little Blowfly "Rap Dirty" in the middle of "Truck". It was lame, honky funk, but at least it had some spirit.

I was gone before Cunto started. It took about forty five minutes to make it home... There was too much stupid on the road and closing time hadn't happened yet.

Fucking Austin. Fucking SXSW.

 still love this fucking town...

2/5/16

The Ladies had a show at the Hole a week ago. There were four bands on the bill and we had the early shift. The crowd was sparse at 9:30 when we went up but there was some improvement by the time we finished. It was a pretty good considering we had one practice so far this year and it was nearly two weeks before the show. Someday we'll be rehearsed... I swear it...

Eric Hisaw Band was next and they killed it. Eric really plays the shit out of that Tele and his tunes are really tight. The third (or fourth) tune in they nailed some Buddy Holly and that is always a good thing.

The third band was Garner Sloan I'm not sure if that's the name of the band or a person IN the band... didn't really get around to that. They had a nice, calm blues/old timey feel with an adorable girl playing fiddle for the leads. Good stuff.

Then the last band went up.... I'm not even gonna give their name, not because they were shitty. They actually played really well (even though it's music I don't like...) but the front man...What a dickbag... The "Sloan" folks hadn't even switched off their amps and that dude was onstage with a big particle board box. He didn't even look at the folks who had just finished playing, he just sat on the stage (with his box) and chatted up some people standing at the front. What an asshole!

So the box is his "stomping box" he sets the mic stand on it so when he stomps his foot it comes through the PA. Nice idea, but the sage at the Hole is a big box the transmits the sound of stomping through the mic without a giant second box that takes up space on the stage WHEN ANOTHER BAND IS ON!!!!!! Not to mention there were eight people in that band including, trumpet, accordion, fiddle, two guitars and on and on... there is no way in hell that "stomping" is coming through.

He also had the attitude that he had the most original music ever imagined... I'd heard that tired-assed, played out shit fifteen yeas ago IN THE SAME CLUB!!!!! Uhhh.... And to wrap it all up he was a dick to the soundman.

Anyway, it was a cool night up until the end, when the last hour felt like ten. The first three were pretty cool.

1/30/16

San Antonio Saturday night!

It was a glorious drive, the traffic was very light and I made it to Hi Tones in no time. We were on first, It's been a while since that's happened. Harvey mac Laughlin and the Bottom Feeders were next, they had a single release and made up a really cool silk screened poster. I love that shit! Javier Escovedo finished the night up. I'd never see a song of the other bands, my lame ass needed to be up for a flight in the morning so I headed home right after our set.

This show was pretty much the opposite of the night before. We rocked hard with very little effort. It might be because we were in San Antonio or that there were no bleeding teenagers walking around screaming before the set. It doesn't really matter...

I exchanged a few words with Javier after our set, the dude is cool as shit. Very complementary about the Hickoids and about me as a bass player (aww shucks...) makes me feel good even though I was out the door twenty minutes after our last note. Wish I could have seen his set, if it was half as good as the night before it was something.

1/29/16

It was a fast forty minutes of rock and roll for the Hickoids last night. We were at the Spider House Sonic Ballroom with a bunch of bands I'd never heard of... and Javier Escovedo. Strange night.

When I showed up about 80% of the crowd had the giant, under-age X on their hands. Another 15% were drinking and the remaining 5% had grey hair. Most of the grey hairs were unknown to me since they weren't the usual type of Hickoid fan, these folks were with their under aged kids at the rock show.

Speaking of that.. The seven or eight bands on before us were all unknown to me and since I am/feel like an old man I sat outside and watched the casualties. First was the dude bumming cigarettes with dried blood on his face. Then there was the girl who came out crying with fresh blood all over her face. Her three friends were basically flipping a coin to see who had to take care of her...

Then there was a fight where the kid who got stomped wouldn't throw a punch but kept yelling at the dude who was hitting him. He kept yelling that the other guy was a "pussy and he should try to start something, motherfucker!" Poor dumbass... I wonder if he is just unstable or if starting a fight and not fighting back is some kind of fetish. I'm guessing both. He was kicked out but kept prowling around the front for a while... I don't know why he didn't just ask his mom to take him home.

After we played some girl got rolled out to an ambulance on a gurney. She'd passed out in the bathroom and no one could wake her up...

Eventually most of the kids with the X's on their hands left and the regular grey haired people (most of which I actually knew!) showed up. Our set was pretty crappy. Personally I played like shit and couldn't get any traction going. It happens at times but I don't have to like it.

Javier had a great set. Mosh pit free and rocking. We have a second show with him tonight in SA. Looking forward to another one!

Bigfoot Chester in the Studio 1/17/16

Bigfoot Chester went to the studio the other day. Currently the line up is Me, Bill, Walter and a random drummer... Any drummer that's cool and can play a Blues groove. This time it was Matt Puryear. A couple of special guest showed up for a couple of the tunes. Gary from Black Eyed Vermilion and Scott Biram (from Scott Biram).

Ever since I started playing with them (20+ years ago) Bigfoot has been on the edge breaking out in to the international superstar market and those guys should be the secret weapon needed to send us over the top!!!! That or some people who actually love Blues music (and/or Scott and Gary) will pick up a couple of good singles. One of those two scenarios seems inevitable.

The session went well. We did it with Kurtis at Million Dollar. Five tunes in five or six hours, not bad. It was another relaxed session where we just knocked shit out. The two tunes with the "hit makers" took a longer than the others. There was a lot arranging and learning goin on even after we made a couple of passes at those tunes.

It would have been nice to practice with the drummer (this time Matt) for more than an hour the week before we went in... Gary made it for about twenty minutes of that rehearsal and Scott showed us how the tune was actually played once he got to the studio. Our shit isn't always the tightest and planning is not our strong suit.

I'm not complaining, all of us knocked it out of the park considering the amount of prep involved (and I'm sure mixing will cover most of the "glitches"). Someday I'd love to go in with a few rehearsals under our collective belts. That record could be amazing!!!

12/31/15

t was the grandest night of all. The big, fancy New Year's Eve. The night where all of your hopes and expectations fall flat and leave you thinking "this is it?..." And the Hickoids were playing... As you can probably tell, I don't like NYE. I'd rather stay at home and hide, but if I'm playing...

We were a part of a two stage party at the Spider House. This was the place where I first played a left handed bass. It was during a NYE house party back when the Spider House was just a house and someone had a left handed bass and someone else told me to play it. I was hooked! A couple weeks after I went to Southpaw in Houston and bought my very own. BASS!!!

The big headliner was Roky Erickson but he was going on a couple of hours after us, but I was at home and on the couch by the time he went on...

Hickoids went up on the outside stage. It looks like it was designed by a Fairy in an enchanted wonderland. It's nice, but a little weird looking for a place where Hickoids would play.  It was cold but we've played colder. There was a good crowd who was pumped for the big night and ready the rock and roll. We gave it to em.

We were on for about 45 minutes and hit them pretty hard for most of the set. Finished up and stood around the fire pit until I finished my beer, said some goodbyes and headed home for the night.