Hickoids in Europe!

The Hickoids are back in Europe. They flew out yesterday to do a bunch of shows over the next three and a half weeks. The line up is a little different, but the feeling is still there. I mentioned before I had a bunch of obligations that prevented me from going on this tour, but recently Davy came down with an illness that is (temporally) kicking his ass so he isn't making it either...

The Hickoids are 40% different.

Last Friday the "new" version had a show at the Longbranch and it was a trial by fire kind of an affair. They only had two practices before it so there were a bunch of mistakes and miscues, but the feeling was still there and they rocked it! The strangest part for me was watching and not playing. Really weird seeing it from the "other side" and only hearing some of the regular parts in my head (instead of hearing it in the room). I'm not complaining at all, I had a really fun time even though it was a very surreal evening for me.

If you are in Europe and you need a little dose of Cow-Punk over the next few weeks I'd recommend checking them out. Check out the schedule here !  It wont be the same as it was last year, but it's gonna be pretty damn cool.

Davy and I will be hanging out in Austin riding bikes, swimming, working on our mustaches and writing songs for "Snuff Box". But mostly we will be waiting for the other fellas to come back so we can play that Mojo Nixon show at the Hole in the Wall at the end of June. Basically it's business as usual.

Studio and Euro updates

I went back to Million Dollar Sound to knock out the vocals with Kurtis last night. Almost got everything done in one take which is a very good feeling. Kurtis said I must have been ready to nail it for a while, I don't know if I'm that impressive, but he is that kind.

We still need to proof it all before we get in to mixing it, but it's sounding really good at this point and I can't wait to hear what happens with it next. The ladies whip ass.

In other news I am not joining my fellow Hickoids for the European tour this summer. I know I said I was going for part of it, but when you compare the price of flights with the current state of the Hickoid band fund, it isn't worth it to fly someone out half way to replace me. That could literally be the difference between losing and making money. My ego isn't so big it's going to put the band in to bankruptcy. So I will "take the hit" and stay home for one tour.

I'm gonna miss not going. I understand they are headed to Italy and France, two places I haven't been yet and apparently a couple of the Italian clubs are primo. I'll miss the hell out of that (and all the pretty Italian chicks...). They are playing the Sonic Ballroom in Klon. I played there once on a South Filthy tour and what a craphole! The folks that work there are very kind, they feed you and there is a dorm upstairs so everything is taken care of, but it was the only place on the tour I didn't shower after the show. It felt better being dirty than hopping in that nasty shower.

I'm not gonna miss that at all.

The show I'm gonna miss

On Saturday night this is gonna happen. As a last minute addition, the Hickoids were asked come and play a Dicks song on a huge bill. Hot Damn! Look at that lineup! Lucinda, Rosie, Butch, Terry, Alejandro, Roky (and so on...)  What a show!!

But there is one little problem. I'm headed to New Orleans on Saturday and I can't do it. This trip has been planned for a while now and there is no getting out of it (not that I really want to, it's been months since I've been to NO and we are only playing one song and it ain't even ours.)

So, what happens? The Hickoids do it without me.

Hunter Darby is stepping in. He was a Hickoid before I lived in Austin. He's also a bad ass player who will pull it off with ease.

We split the practice last night, the first half with me the second half with Hunter. It was really weird leaving with everyone else still hanging around ready to play, but since there are a few shows I won't be able to do this year, it's time to get use to it.

I'm still in the band, 100%. And if you see us in the US (other than this weekend) I will be the bass player. But this summer we head to Europe and I'm only gonna be there part of the time. They are planning to go for four weekends and between my day job and personal life there is no way I could swing that amount of time away. If I was getting paid (as in PAID, not $50 a show) it would be a very different story, but that's not how things work in our end of the pool. So we move forward.

I'm gonna be in Europe for some of the tour, but someone is gonna come and replace me (or I'll replace them depending on the schedule.) It will be cool, I'll get a chunk of time playing over there without fucking anyone over in the band or fucking up my life and finances (not to mention The Ladies!) It's not the best of options, but it's as close to a win/win as we're gonna get.

So this weekend, when my band mates (and Hunter) are hobnobbing with some of the biggest big shots of the Austin music scene (at the Moody Theater no less, where they film ACL) I'm gonna be in NO watching a bunch of brass bands at The Howlin Wolf.  This show will be one hell of a substitute.

3/16/13

My last full day of SXSW. Two shows!

#1

Bigfoot Chester at the Grackle. Peelander Z asked us to play, we couldn't say no. Especially after Yellow kept calling us "Sexy Boys". It's impossible to say no to that.

There was some transportation issues so our set was pushed back a bit. I'm told that using an Austin Chronicle for a gas funnel is a bad move... I can believe it.

We were gonna play five songs, but they made us do one more! Is it an encore at that point? Or just a slightly extended set?

Run to the truck and dodge traffic to,


#2

Hickoids at the 04 lounge.

I'd never been there before, but like most people who have played in a band in Austin, I've practiced across the street at the Music Lab. I am so happy I don't do that anymore.

It's a pretty cool space. The "stage" is between the main area and the bathrooms so people have to walk right beside you to pee. It made for some comical moments at times.

We did our set and the weight was gone. Boom. SXSW was over (ok I went and saw the Meat Puppets that night) but there were no more shows for me!


Breakdown

Free Lone Star at the 04! And two free beers at the Grackle (more than enough for the hour and a half I was there).

I got to use backline bass rigs the whole fest! That saved me a ton of time and strain. Thanks Tony (and the Dog and Duck and Peelander Z)!

Europe next!

March...

...is looking pretty busy.

The juggernaut known as SXSW will be taking over the middle of the month as usual. This year I'm only playing one official showcase and four or five other shows with the Hickoids, the Ladies and Bigfoot Chester. Bigfoot is really back! I'm thrilled.

The big news is the Hickoid European tour.

We head across the Atlantic on March 20 and meet up with our pals The Grannies. We have about a dozen shows lined up in Holland, Belgium, England and Germany (the majority of shows are in Germany).

Obviously we are all looking forward to it. I haven't been over since South Filthy went five or six years ago and it seems like forever. This is truly the best way to travel. People want you there! We're not some Ugly Americans with money, we are a broke ass band from Texas! It feels good to be appreciated.

Tom and I (one or both of us) will be filling in on bass for the Grannies for a couple of shows. Brilliant. We do it all the time over here, why not over there. All I/We have to do is learn the set...

I'll be posting (in theory) daily updates with lots of gory details. The number one question on the collective Hickoid brain is 'Will Davy go to the red light district in Amsterdam or save his money for the all-day German sex club?' Inquiring minds...