2/24/12

This one is a little late, things be crazy...

The Hickoids were playing in SA, first time with the new drummer Lance. Guess what? It whipped ass. We were incredibly tight for a first show. Things were so good when we finally made a decent sized mistake I looked at Lance and said "I don't know if that was your fault, but I'm blaming you anyway". He took it the way it was intended. Sound was decent, but only two mics which means Davy and I share. And that means when I'm singing, I get spit on. This isn't new, It's Jones!

Breakdown

This was at Hi-Tones. I'd never been there before. The folks working were very nice and we got three beer tickets each which is OK (you drive right by the Mix to get there, it was a little hard driving by all that free band booze...). I liked the place, but I'm on loyal dog. The Mix is better. "The Tones" may be a close second.

2/24/12

I love writing a new song, polishing it up and playing it with the ladies all in the same day.

One hell of a good feeling.

2/17/12

I know things might seem slow if your going by my number of posts, but that is just the surface. As usual there are lots of little things brewing away. Most of which will never see the light of day. Many will be worked out to the point of tedium and we'll move on. Occasionally something really cool happens. Not that results matter that much (I mean some success would be great) but the point of all of this is doing the work.

"Art" is all about the work.

All "my" bands have been living in their respective woodsheds tightening and cleaning things up.

Lace is coming along amazingly well. We've had four rehearsals and he is improving with every pass of every song. I'm working harder. He is making me rework/rethink a lot of parts I've been playing with Jonnie and I think it will make for a better Hickoids.

The ladies and I have a very cool possibility on the way.

More later...

Derby

So the roller derby...

I/we played it twice, once with the ladies and then with the casters. Let me start out by saying I knew what we were getting in to and I am NOT complaining even if it sounds like I am. I get that the bands are maybe 3% of the reason people go to the thing and that everyone (myself included) just want to see cool chicks wail on each other. But, the city wide garage sale was in the main/larger section so the derby was relegated to the other hall.

The smaller hall...

So small the stage was at the side of the grandstands. As in half of us were playing to the the room and the other half was playing to what was under the bleachers. No ones fault, just bad circumstances. And no free beer or even water.

Oh well, both bands kicked some ass. The ladies and I did the usual whip it thing and the casters are more on the money than ever with the new drummer. I'm looking forward to playing in a club soon.

1/22/2012

Last Sunday I had both Casters and Hickoids rehearsals. Nothin is to spectacular with that, both bands have three members in common,  the strange thing was both bands have new drummers.

Lance Farley is now a Hickoid. Jonie Hell is out for the season and we needed a fill so it's all Lance. We "stole" him from the Fishermen. He will make a fine Hickoid.
The Casters situation is a little sketchy but Steve McCarthy is in with that combo. He was one of the original drummers from 15ish years ago and one hell of an improvement.

It saw a sweaty six hours locked away in the music lab, but it was totally worth it.

As an aside the first shows of the year are this weekend at the roller derby. Me and the ladies open it up and the Casters at halftime. It should provide for some decent blog fodder.

My Superpower 2

This one is from last year.

Hickoids were playing the "Gringopalooza" weekend up in the DFW portion of Texas. Friday night was in Ft Worth at a club next door to a club I played 10 years prior which was also the last time I'd been in FT Worth.

We play the set and say our goodbyes and we head off to find a motel for the night. We drive in the "Dallas" direction and we pass several sold out places and finally come up on a Motel 6 that has  a vacancy. One room for the four of us * and those double beds are small, as usual I'm sleepin in the van. I brush my teeth and pull up the hoodie hood and drift off to dreamland around 3AM.

At some point in the night I hear two girls talking near by and I wake up and see them head upstairs. I turned over as I heard them knock on a door to one of the rooms and I fell back asleep.

A few hours later I wake up with my cell phone asking me if I was ready for breakfast so I'm up and moving around. As I was pulling on my pants I noticed a bunch of guys leaving the room the girls went in to. They had a couple of video cameras. And several sets of professional lights. Had I known what was going on I would never be able to sleep next to people making a real live movie!

* There is always fluctuating number of band members, as Smitty says "Seeing the Hickoids is like a handjob from a leper, you never know how many your gonna get"

My Superpower

It's become apparent to me it's time to talk about something I've been keeping under wraps for a while now.

It's my superpower. You may laugh, but I have one and it's real. It's not some overblown glorified superpower like flying, invisibility, or a prehensile tail, but it's mine.

I can sleep anywhere.

Across a bench seat in a van, squeezed between two fat people on a plane, backstage. The list goes on...
The easiest way to make it happen it to have a hoodie pulled over my eyes and covered up in a blanket. I've pulled this pose in more back alleys and crappy no-tel parking lots than I can count. If it's a couple of hours before showtime and I just ate, I'll be in the van.

Occasionally I'll whip out a "my superpower" story to mix things up but I figured a little background info was needed first.