1/12/24

 Dave is back in town while he and his family pack up their place to move back to central Texas. I’ll take a couple of gigs with him and Skizz if we can sneak them in!

Back at “home” playing 1919. Nichole wasn’t working (kinda poleaxed over that honestly. People I saw a couple of days later asked “where was Nichole”?) and it was a rainy-assed night with wet feet that never got dry. But the room was pretty full and stayed that way all night. 

We did two solid sets and it was the regular kinda fun. When we wrapped I noticed this guy named Patrick at the bar with his wife. He plays with my buddy Larry in “The Latin Band” if you’ve ever been lucky enough to talk to Larry about it. 

We start taking and he says “I need a bass player for a benefit we are playing Sunday, are you available?” But that is a story for another post!

11/8/23

Back at 1919.  It’s been a minute hadn’t been here since that last show with Dave and Skizz. This time I’m up with my buddy Drew Bassin, with Scott and Tim and another dude named Buddy on harp. 

Decent crowd there, since it is one of the really narrow row houses it is a little like bar/music/toilets sectioned off and it’s a hard place to watch without being right on top of the band. But it has this magic little vibe and it’s crazy comfortable. 

Anyway we were backing Drew who is also a dude from the blues jam (Buddy as well) and we ended up doing abut four hours of playing with one break a third of the way in. I’ve been too used to how it worked back in Austin. 45 minutes and you are done. Hickoid headlining sets could go as long as 90. I did three hour shows back in Knoxville but I lived in Austin too long (I know…) and the single short set became normal.

Good time and playing with people I really dig. I’ll eventually catch up with how long the sets are. Got to admit it does feel good going to bed exhausted from playing. 

9/16/23

Another night at 1919 with Dave and Skizz!! Pretty standard at this point except two things. 

One of Skizz’s bands, Zocko played the night before and they were bad as hell!! All instrumentals and totally on top of their game. First time I’d ever heard Herb Alpert and liked it. And I’ve heard that terrible song a thousand times!! Looking forward to seeing them again and again. 

The other reason this was a little different is Dave moved back to Texas! So that is it for this little combo. At least for now. Dave will be back occasionally and hopefully he doesn’t forget about us. Gonna miss doing these. Every time was a load of fun with like minded people. You don’t get that everyday and I’ll miss it. 

7/7/23

This might have seemed like a regular night at 1919 with Skizz and Dave but there was more!

Shaun Young, a dude that lived in Austin but is now up in Boston came to town and we were backing him up. Pretty cool stuff and a really nice dude.

The three of us went up and did what is now the regular thing. Kicked it pretty hard honestly. When it was time for Shaun to join us turns out there was some misunderstanding with what we were playing. 

The dropbox  had a list of a dozen songs and 7 or 8 tunes in a playlist, but not everything on the list. And it turns out the list was the guide, not the playlist of  tunes!! At one point Dave was talking about playing upright on a few so I thought “I’ll learn these 7-8”…  I was wrong as hell!!

It all worked out. We played real well and the small crowd liked it. Most of the tunes I didn’t learn were easy enough to play. I just watched hands. After we all laughed at the mixup. What else are you gonna do?

6/23/23

Another Friday night at 1919 with Lonesome Dave. Yeah, this feels good and I like settling in to it. Dave would still prefer an upright but I’m still covering the bottom end for him when needed and really digging it. 

We were up with Skizz, the drummer from the Clash night. That dude can throw down! We did two long sets and it was a real treat throughout. Hell of a good feeling learning how another player does it and getting to groove with them. There is a moment when you can feel it drop in to place and that is all there is in the world. 

Dave came up with a new/hybrid set of tunes. Some of his and a few new covers we worked up ,just the two of us. And of course we hit a couple that were not on the  list because live music works that way. 

5/26/23

I’ve had a couple of shows with my buddy Lonesome Dave since the Clash show. The first one was a total pick up gig the next week at 1919. Me, Dave and a drummer the bartender set up. But the drummer never showed! Dave and I played as a duo for a couple of hours and packed it in early. So I didn’t wright that one up.  

But! We played again at 1919 WITH a drummer so here goes!

We went up 8sh and tore it up, it’s all three set nights up here. Or play all the way through. It’s like it was back when I was in Knoxville. That austin 40 minute show thing got me lazy… No sharing gear, no gettin drunk and watching the rest of the night. Just GO!

Dave and I got together a few days earlier so I had some notes but I’d never played with the drummer Mike before. SEEN him play but…

Anyway it all worked out and by the end we were really tight and pushing each other. My eyes would be closed and I’d drift out of reality and live in the song right in that moment. Holy shit!! That feels right!

At some point I opened my eyes and my buddy Larry Dennis was standing next to me!! He even got up and played a few with  me and Mike while Dave took a break. 

Hell of a lot of fun. 

4/8/23

Here it is. The first Baltimore gig!

My buddy Lonesome Dave Fisher called me up asking if I was free to play bass with him on a Clash hoot night at a place called 1919. It’s this cool bar down in Fells Point that is crazy supportive of live music and it has all of the feels. 

No chance for a rehearsal with the whole band, Dave and the drummer, Skizz did a run through once though so there was some rehearsing. But no chance for all of us to get together, I was going by the charts I wrote up. 

We were third of three, the perfect spot and we tore it the hell up! On a couple of tunes Dave had a real “oh fuck yeah” look on his face as he jumped in to some lengthy solos. Really stretching the regular Clash format. It was awesome. 

It was short, but what a great first show!