6/25/14

Bigfoot Chester was at the Hole last night. We played the back stage, third on a bill of four. I knew it was gonna be a weird evening when I showed up. I got there and the first band was getting close to finishing on the front stage. The place was jammed with people and it was hot and sweaty everywhere. It wasn't weekend, crazy, sardine packed in, but you had to rub up against everyone you passed when you went from room to room.

The Founding Fathers went on in the back. Those guys look really old with that white hair and the tricorn hats (and long woolen coats...) I don't think any of them invented electricity, but they still rocked them electric guitars pretty hard. Then Black Joe got up with them (Walter and I played with him years ago) and I should make a really inappropriate joke about Andrew Jackson here but (this time) I'll leave it alone...

Bigfoot went on a little late. We knew we would have a short set ahead of time, but we only got six songs in... And one of them we played at double time... it was rough. I had to change the bass pattern because my hand would have fallen off if I tried to do it the regular way. That was by far the lowest point of the set. We really whipped Whale and Harpoon Man so at least we ended things on a high note.

It was a little bit painful, but it was our first show as a four piece in ten years, we were gonna fall on our faces it was more of a matter of how hard. We got a little scraped up, but it wasn't so bad.

Mixing the Ladies

There have been a couple of good mixing days on the new "Ladies" recording. Everything is at the tweaking stage and we (may) have something out soon.

The recording process is pretty cool. You put down layers and layers until you get some you like then you massage them in to a coherent track. Inevitably in the middle of all that there are some moments where your thinking "umm, we thought that was a good idea?" But after a little finessing you can generally make the pieces fit into something cool. Just like life, working with what you got is all you got. We got something pretty cool with this one.

It's possible that we are riding on the creative edge of music and we may have invented a new style, Jungle Soul! All of those drums (that really come out heavy on the recording) mercilessly beating away with sweet soul rhythms gliding over the top. It's a powerful sound that makes your ass bounce at the same time. That is art to me.

Kurtis is still a lot of fun to work with. There are definitely times when we are fucking around and not getting much done, but that's balanced by knocking shit out fast and right. It's all about knowing what your doing.

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.

5/9/14

I knew it was coming and it had to happen eventually and now that it's done it feels a little weird. Last night was my last show with the Hickoids before they head off to Europe with the temp bass player.

The show was at the Dirty Dog, it was some kind of a rock fest with a bunch of bands on the bill. The "fest" had a girl with steel plates on her clothes and a grinder set up on the stage. During our set she spent a couple of songs spitting out sparks for the crowd. It was cool and she was really cute, but that kind of act was news in 1996 in New York city... Austin is a little behind the curve.

They had an SVT with one of the big solid state heads on stage ready for me to use. It sounded really bad on stage (why are these so hit or miss?) but I was happy I didn't have to load my rig and carry it to 6th street.

We did our 45 minutes and the whole time I was thinking  "this is the last time I'm gonna play "Stop It" for almost two months."  I was thinking that after every song. After almost seven years of playing in the Hickoids it's grown on me. Like a fungus or rickets.

The band after us played and they paid for everyone's drinks during their set. It's a kind gesture and a good gimmick to get bodies in the door, but barely anyone was paying attention to them. It was kinda sad to watch... and I'm not even talking about their set...

After the free beer tap was shut off, I said goodbye to the fellas, grabbed my crap and headed home. I'll be back to playing obnoxious music with the Hickoids in no time (Next show is at the end of June with Mojo Nixon!) but on this side of the break it's seems like that is forever away.

5/4/14 part two

We got up to Dallas and and made our way to the Kessler. It was a fancy kind of a night, we were opening for The Flamin Groovies! That's right, little old us is opening for the Groovies on the same day we didn't get to see Billy Gibbons. It's a charmed life...

We brought our gear, the Groovies were gonna use our backline, but when we got there they had a backline already set up. So we added 400 pounds to the freak van for no real reason, it won't be the last time.

I was out by the backstage door talking with George, the Groovies bassist and he was telling me about how after they stopped playing, thirty years ago, he got a job at the post office and put in 23 years and is now retired and living off a post office pension. He's only out playing because it's a fun way to earn some extra cash! It sounds like a dream to me.

We go on to a decent crowd, it just didn't look that way. That's the problem with a place as big as the Kessler, a hundred people look like fifteen. You really need three-four hundred folks to make it look like anyone is there, five hundred would make it look packed, but there weren't that many people out on this Sunday.

We finished our set and the Groovies went on. It was a pretty ass kickin set. For a bunch of sixty year old dudes (and a thirtyish year old drummer) they really whipped it! The crowd was way in to it. There were only a few of them, but they were completely caught up in the moment.

The show ends and we pack up the freak and head back south. We stopped in West for the second time this trip and got a second round of kolaches from a second kolache shop.

That's how we roll.

5/4/14 part one

Hickoids just finished up a little set at the Continental. We went on at two and did a half hour set. Now we are in the freak van and headed to Dallas to play our second show of the day. Thats a lot of action for the Hickoids on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

The Continental club show was pretty cool. It was Margaret Moser's retirement party and we were first on a very cool bill. There were a bunch of bands on it so we only had a half hour to play. Apparently we went long.... And I got bitched out for it... 

That's right, the bass player got shit for us going long. Not the singer or the sound gal or the shows MC. It's the bass players fault. 

Anyway we had a good little set. We are gonna miss the two big surprise guests. The first is Billy Gibbons!!!! That's huge, I really wish I could see him play. Especially in a place the size of the Continental you could practically be on top of him! Christopher Cross is the other surprise and that's not to thrilling to me. 

Part two later. 

5/2/14

Last night it was the Hickoids in San Antonio at Hi-tones, we were in the middle slot between Fea and Pinata Protest. The Protest were doing a secret show and the secret was out, big time.

I showed up about a minute before Fea went on, loaded in and had to park a few blocks away. The place was PACKED, I tried to get inside for a beer and to watch the band, but I could barely get in the door! So I just stood outside with the rest of the fellas.

Fea finished up and people were pouring out of the club. I ran in and scored a couple of beers and got setup. My gear went on the floor. The stage is too small for the five of us and all of our crap. I spent a couple of tunes just standing on the floor by my rig. If I wasn't singing I wasn't gonna keep bumping in to Tom for no reason.

One of my favorite drunks of the night was standing right in the front and he was holding three opened Lone Star tallboys. He was wearing a backpack and you could tell he was camped out for the Protest. But he was so drunk he could barely stand. He was basically on the edge of passing out and I could see him slowly getting a little more "relaxed" and he'd start to slip in to unconsciousness but he'd catch himself right on the edge, just before he was out. Every time he did it he would squeeze the tallboy cans and beer would shower up on him, everything and everyone around him. He did it four or five times during our forty five minute set. Pretty funny stuff.

I don't know how he "thought" he was gonna keep his spot, after three tallboys (and whatever else he had to drink) he'd have to be some kind of a piss-camel to make it to the end of our set and then through another hour and a half of gear moving and Protest rocking. Then again he squeezed eighty percent of his beer out before it got in to his mouth so pissing may not have been much of an issue.

We finish up and load the Freak for this weekend's shows while the main event loaded in. The place was razor blade packed. Crowbar packed. Sardine packed. The place was... packed! The Protest got up and started to whip it, there was no way I was gonna get back in so I took off and headed home. Kinda anticlimactic, but that was my night