5/25/22

 

Walter asked me to do this quick little pickup gig at the Sahara Lounge with him and Danny B Harvey, uhhh… yes!

We went up with no rehearsal, no set list and very little clue as to what was gonna happen and it was great!

45 minutes of straight covers called out right before we played them. For the most part we were on it. And really dug playing with the drummer Clint. I met him a half hour before we went up. We gelled pretty quick and threw the fuck down like we’d been at it for years. Yeah!

1/8/20

Im back!!!

It’s been forever, no shows in what feels like forever. Strange timing when all of the bands I’m in had nothing for almost three months. I took full advantage of it with some quality fucking off and a few trips!

So it was the Harvey band at the Sahara the other night. Same show that Bigfoot was playing with Pinkus and Danny B. And everything was just like it should be. We had zero rehearsal before the set!! Smart. 

Our set was as good as it could be. Nothing glorious happened but we held it down decently. 

Looking forward to getting a lot of playing with these dudes in the next bit. 

7/3/19

I got a message the other day that I needed to speak with Bigfoot Chester HR so I went in a little early. Turns out everyone wants Angele back in after her stellar performance at the anniversary show. Perfectly understandable, she fucking kills it. 

So there I was sad and dejected, thinking I was out of a job...  until they slid an envelope across the desk that gave me my new job description. I’m in on guitar!!

We were back at the Sahara for our last, first Wednesday. It was pretty packed but we weren’t fooled... it’s just the day before a holiday and folks wanted to party!!

Angele isn’t 100% on everything yet so I split the set between guitar and bass. Still a load of fun. And we kinda killed it. I’m really looking forward to where we are going with this band. The five piece Bigfoot is awesome! 

6/5/19

Rough set last night at the Sahara... Bigfoot was back in the monthly slot. Usually Danny B would be there but he didn’t make it this time. No idea why....  I pay very little attention to anything other than the music. 

I missed Pinkus (of course...) but got there to see Henri playing a really good solo set. He sat in with us as well... probably not the best time for him to do it but you can’t really plan when the shitty set comes.  

And it came hard and heavy. What a mess.  Kinda epic in its awfulness. That’s how it goes, the only thing to do is move on and do what you can to make it not happen again.  

Wish us luck. 

4/3/19

Another Sahara/Bigfoot/Danny/Pinkus first Wednesday of the month. That is some sentence.

Of course I showed up right when Pinkus was finishing.... chronic. I can’t make an opener. It’s something I’m trying to accept but I do not like it at all...

Danny had a rough start. Apparently before Pinkus went up there was a band that needed eight vocal mics(!?!?!?!?) and for some reason they rewired the PA (also !?!?!?!?....)   They played a lengthy instrumental medley while this guy put the PA back in to working shape. Man... what a pain in the ass. It’s a good thing they have so many tunes they can throw in to cover when shit like that happens. That band is deep!

Our set was really solid. We actually had a chance to rehearse the other day so we could work out some of the finer points, it really helped.  I go from not wanting to play something at all to “can we do that one again?” in no time.  

We aren’t doing May, but we will be back Wednesday, June 5, lookout!

3/6/19

Last night was the first Wednesday, so you know what that means?!! (Except for last month when my schedule was off...). Sahara lounge with Danny B!

Jeff Pinkus has been added to the bill with his solo act, Pink Banjo!!  He played last month but I was off in Hong Kong so Bigfoot (and I) totally missed it.... I missed it last night as well, but I’m gonna try my best next month!!

Danny and them were ripping through it when I got there. Jesus you get spoiled seeing that all the time. Near the end of the set Danny’s wife got up and sang a few. Nice to see the family makin it!!!

I was a little worried about our set. We haven played at all in two months and that means zero rehearsal... We were fine. More than fine.  I’d say downright acceptable!

1/2/19

It was cold and damp as hell Wednesday night. A day and a half of nonstop rain and it was in the 30s all day, I knew the Sahara would be dead. I didn’t know that all they have for heat is a few space heaters and window units set to heat instead of cool. They don’t really help much when it’s summer and they blow “cold” but I can deal with sweating... I moved to Texas for a reason.  That damp cold made it fucking miserable in there. 

Danny did his usual killing it. He was playing through an amp that was a pedal (?!) and a speaker cabinet. Pretty cool setup. Technology touches everything nowadays. 

I wore a jacket for most of our set. We played everything too fast and we were sloppy as hell. I think we wanted to get it over and get home and warm. Which we eventually did. 

Looking forward to next month when I hope there is a heatwave. Lord. 

12/5/18

Another late-ass post...

Bigfoot at the Sahara with Danny B, again.  

Kinda the same as the other months we’ve done this, pretty sweet “problem” to have.  Playing in a band you love, in has a sweet monthly gig at a cool club. AND a world class guitar player opens for us and likes us!!

That become reality and it’s kinda weird how you can get acclimated to it. Something absolutely amazing becomes commonplace and part of your normal life. 

I could just be a spoiled child...jury’s still out. 

11/7/18

Late late late....  no shocker there. 

Another month another first Wednesday with Danny B. 

They’d been playing for an hour or so by the time I got there. I can’t seem to make it early enough for their whole set. Pitiful me....

They were killing it of course, even though the crowd was thinner than in weeks past. Beto losing the election the night before  didn’t help attendance.  We knew that going in.  But Danny and his boys just got up and did it. Like always.  

We went up and hit the room with a few new tunes. By new I mean we haven’t played them in a few years. We’ve got a pretty huge list of tunes we’ve played over the years. Lots to pull from.  We added “Endless Sleep”, “They Can Only Fill One Grave” and “Pistol Packin Mama” this time. And the folks that made it out dug it. 

It was pretty solid all around. Just like it will be the next time. And....

10/3/18

Third one of these nights at the Sahara with Danny B Harvey. The crowd was noticeably thinner than the last time.... It is a Wednesday after all.  

I finished loading in at the end of Danny’s set. Wish I em saw more but I was running late. Sometimes it’s impossible to get moving. 

We set up and got at it. We seem to do fifteen-twenty songs a show in one long set. It feels good stretching out like that. We’ve also been rehearsing every month. Thats loads of forward movement for bigfoot!!

We were pretty sloppy for the first bit. Eventually a few new folks came in and we tightened it up a little. By the time we were  finishing up with “Harpoon Man” they were all up and staring at us. 

November should be great!

9/5/18

Off of tour and back to reality. Bigfoot has that monthly at the Sahara lounge. And it’s with Danny B Harvey!!!

I got there and he was ripping that tele up. No shocker there. Pretty much what he does. The rhythm section was two totally different dudes this time. Didn’t get to meet either of them.... oh well. They had a hell of a set.  

We went up and did it.  No rehearsal so things were a little seat of the pants. But we pulled it off. Sometimes that edge is what makes it. Pretty sure that’s what happened here. 

It feels like Bigfoot’s been needing something like this for a while. I think the monthly could make us stronger, faster and more powerful than ever...

8/1/18

Walter got a message from Danny B Harvey, looking to put Bigfoot on a bill. He has a new trio and a standing gig at the Sahara Lounge on Wednesday nights. They tear that shit up.  

Really tight. They hit a bunch of styles and they nail the hell out of them. Impressive shit. 

Our set was decent. Once we got two thirds of the way through we were hitting it pretty good. Ninety minutes is a little longer than the average Bigfoot show... Guess we were taking a little time to warm up. 

We finished it off, then were “asked” to do one more. Lots of yelling from just a few makes you feel good! Bill stepped down and Danny jumped in and we played a little Wolf to kill it off.  

7/10/13

It was me and the ladies at the Sahara Lounge last night. We rocked them in deep east Austin. Ralph White and Kirkland James opened things up. Pretty cool hearing a resonator guitar plugged in to an amp with blues fiddle over the top. There were some extremely cool moments in their set.

The ladies and I loaded up and did our bit. Since it was a blues kind of night we didn't do too many "rock" numbers. We kept things swampy and lowdown. That stage was bouncing in no time. At some point in our set I was jumping around and some of my sweat hit Draya in the face. Disgusting or sexy? You decide.

Kingdom of Suicide Lovers were next. I stayed for most of their garagey set. I love a female bass player, but I love them even more when they are LEFT HANDED!!! We southpaws look out for each other (or we are thinking "I want that bass/guitar").

Breakdown

I love this place. It reminds me of several of the crap holes I played back in Tennessee. The only real difference is this is an actual legal bar. They buy liquor from a distributor they don't make it in the basement.