10/3/14

ACL Week 1 Day 1

Hole In The Wall

Hickoids were second to last on a bill loaded with ass-kickers. With Purple Stickpin, The Hares, Wreckless Eric and The Sons of Hercules it's pretty much a guarantee to be a near explosive night. Add the Hickoids and .... 

We started our set rockin with "Stop It" and we kept the pace up throughout the fortyish minutes we were on stage. No slow stuff, just a bunch of good and punchy rock and roll. We also played a world better than we did Wednesday night, most likely because we went on at midnight. A starting time way more appropriate for us. 

The crowd wasn't just along for the ride, they were pushing it! It wasn't the orgy of free love we've had during the ACL's of the past, it was more of a "I'll jump if you jump" vibe. Not an adversarial thing it was a friendly "do you dare?" We dared, they jumped and the beer went flying. It was a shit ton of fun.

The Sons played after and they brought their usual glory. It cracks me up every time I see Frank spit into his hand and fling it out at the crowd. So fucking funny. 

Day two is at the Lost Well tonight.

10/1/14

Hickoids did an abbreviated set for Sun Radio at Gueros the other night. We went on before the sun went down and that's pretty early for a bunch of idiots like us. Gueros fed us and gave each of us a couple of drinks (yeah!) so we were set up for success, but it didn't really work out that way...

First off, no cussin. It's a radio show so we had to keep it clean, that is a hard request for the Hickoids. More than anything the format threw us off. We played two or three tunes then Smitty was interviewed for five minutes, repeat. We did that three times. We would get close to playing together and then we stop for five minutes of talking... Not the greatest but we played OK and the people watching had fun.

When the radio show was over we did three more and we played that portion of the show a whole lot better (of course). I'm sure it all sounded fine but we have a history of crapping out when we are being recorded for a live show and that seems to hang heavily over some of "our" heads. It's almost a fuck up guarantee. The Hickoids fuck up guarantee.

If nothing else we got some free PR for ACL (starts today!) and that is a very good thing.

9/19/14

Last Friday night a "new" band I'm in played a show. It was the inevitable return of the Swishbucklers  and it was "Talk like a pirate day."

The line up is Lance on drums, Tom on bass, I'm playing guitar, Smitty is being Smitty and we have the only person on earth who was fired from the Hickoids twice on guitar, Tom Rowsey. This band is kind of a Hickoid placeholder while Davy recovers.

The show was at Opals South, we got up and did an abbreviated set in between two sets by the Jolly Garogers (they played one, we did one then they did another, it was weird but it worked) and Shoulders finished off the night.

Our set was ok, none of us could really hear and we didn't know the songs all that well (you could have called it our fourth practice) but we did it and didn't fuck up horribly. We have another set during ACL and we'll probably go back on the shelf for a while, but you never know when your gonna get Swishbuckled.

8/10/14

I made the drive solo to the South Texas Popular Culture center. It was a quick, hot drive. Like really hot, like middle of the summer in Texas on the asphalt hot. It was hot. I hit the door with ten minutes to spare. Apparently we are going on sooner than I realized... Ahem... Well I made it!

Today kicked ass. It brings up the question "why couldn't this show be filmed?" A small sweaty room packed with people who want to rock and roll and have a good time. THAT'S the kinda place where we need cameras! But there weren't any and if there were we would probably just fuck it up anyway. It just as well we played and people liked it and only pictures were taken.

This was a benefit for Davy who is still out of commission (and will be for some time) there was a little over $2000 raised for him to cover the huge medical bills he is facing. It's good we could help with a little chunk of it.

The current version of the Hickoids is rocking along nicely. After one practice and five shows we sound like a coherent band. Everything is different without Jones (duh). None of the intros are the same and (obviously) the tone and the playing is "off". But Cody kicks ass and Tom has really stepped it up. Lance and I are awesome (no bragging... well...) And Smitty... still puts a smelly ass (and smelly from ass) microphone in my face. People like it.

8/9/14

Tom met me at my place when I got off of work and we headed to Houston. The drive was OK. At some point outside of the beltway they made everyone get off of the interstate and drive down the access road. It wasn't horrible and traffic was moving along nicely until they knocked it down to one lane so the closed interstate could exit... That added about forty five minutes to the drive.

The Hell 'n High Water Saloon isn't really a club in the traditional sense, it's a TV studio. And it isn't technically in Houston, it's way north of downtown in Humble. I was on the phone with a friend who lives in Houston before the show and he said "Shit, that's and hour and a half from where I live I ain't comin out". Houston is huge.

There were three bands being filmed and we were the last. We got there a little after eight and we were "going on" at nine, but the first band was just setting up. It was gonna be a long night. I spent my time talking with some folks (including this one gal who once worked at NASA!) and bumming around. Generally this is the time I down a few beers or wander off somewhere and check out some part of town I'd never seen, but we were basically in the middle of nowhere and since I was gonna drive home after I stuck with one beer and water. Clean living (and a bunch of weed) Good clean living.

It's finally our time and we set up. The stage looks a little like someones home, my one stage beer fit comfortably on the mantel. It looked nice up there not getting kicked over. We had an OK set. There seems to be a Hickoid tradition that we fuck up a lot when we are being filmed. This time was no exception... I clammed a half a dozen times and Tom kept bitching about all of his on the drive home. It happens, sometimes a lot, but the crowd was happy an the crew loved it, that's all that really matters.

After the show the had us stick around for an interview. It was pretty lame but we were already there two hours later than we were supposed to be so screw it, let's have some fun. Loads of bad jokes later and Tom and I are back in the truck and headed home. I was at my door by 4AM and in bed a half hour later. Up by noon to make the next show in...

8/2/14

Day two, Seattle

We finished the drive to Seattle, napped it up at the hotel then headed to Slims. What a cool joint with some really good porter on tap! We played here the last time we were in town five or six years ago. That time we were on the inside stage and this time we were outside (it was so nice outside) where the stage is the bed of a truck. 

First off was Adrian Conner, she played an SG through a Marshall half stack and she played it exactly like that kind of rig should be played. At first I thought the bass player was just solid as shit, but it quickly became clear that she was really just a badass. And the drummer played like an animal. I really liked their set and I wish they played longer. 

Communist Eyes were next and they had a real punchy set. But before they went on I was told my old buddy Miss Xanna was there! Apparently she and her wife moved up there a year and a half ago and and they are digging it. She also hooked me up with some very tasty, legal weed!!!  Washington state, you are a brilliant place. 

We got up and it was the first time I've ever played a show when the stage was an all metal truck bed (I have played on several other truck beds in the past but this was the first all metal one.) It was nice and bouncy up there and it kept throbbing a little after the beat. That really kept my head in the songs, I didn't want to screw up too much. 

After we headed back to the hotel and I got three hours of sleep before I went to the airport for a shirt trip to Vegas! I've been working hard, I NEED a break...

Lance, Cody and Smitty are hanging in Seattle for another day. Tom had it the worst. His flight home was at 6am and he has to do inventory right after he gets there. Awful.  

One more little thing. I guess I was a little to harsh on the Austin airports security. SEA made me break my case down and they swabbed it (I'm assuming it's gonna happen in Vegas as well) so it's not an AUS thing, it's a TSA thing. 

8/1/14

Day one of a mini Hickoid tour in the Pacific Northwest. 

We all met at the Austin airport at a ridiculous hour to make our 6AM flight. The Austin airport has a strange policy of checking every guitar case that goes under the plane for explosives residue. I get it at some level, you don't want a bomb on an airplane (duh) but EVERY guitar out of AUSTIN???!!! That's a whole lot of swabbing. Anyway my bass case is a weird vault kinda thing and it's a real pain in the ass to put back together so I always have to go to the back room to help them out. And that means I've got to get there earlier than usual. Let's just say that at 4:30AM I am pretty useless...

We finish the first flight and have a three hour layover in Vegas. Then another two hour flight to Seattle. We grabbed the rental and make the drive to Portland. It could have been easy but it took around two and a half hours to go 40 miles...

Traffic clears eventually and we make it to the hotel and later to the club, Tonic Lounge. Nice place! We were the last of three bands on the bill. First up the Lovesores. Some pretty sweet rockin punk and the lead player was amazing! Then our old buddy from Austin JT (whom I hadn't seen since the last time we hickoided it up in the PNY) latest band Adios Amigos, an (almost) all instrumental four piece with a bass 6 holding down the low end (and a real badass on lead, it's a theme) Some sweet shit. 

We finished things up with a pretty good set. We were all feeling a little punchy by that time (we'd been up for more than 20 hours at that point) we were mostly semi-reacting for the majority of it. But the crowd liked it and that's what really counts. 

Currently we are in the rental heading to Seattle for tonight's show at Slim's. We are all fairly well rested and our stomachs are full from a great breakfast at the restaurant (Montage Cafe) where JT works. He even comped us the meal!!! It's a fine way to live.