6/22/18

And the second two shows were at Kick-Butt Coffee. I’ve been there for a couple of shows but I’ve never played there. And on this night I did twice!

Beautiful Delilah’s were first. Great as ever. I love playing with Trey but it’s really fun watching him rock out with someone else. And rock it they did!

Bigfoot went next. Our 25th anniversary show. It was pretty cool and a little redemptive after that last set at Sahara... we put out a cassette with a bunch of leftover stuff from the past and a couple of new ones that we did with Cris last month. It actually sounds pretty good, the new ones in particular. Couple of the old ones sound awful. My bass is mixed OUT of one of them...  bad bad production. Even for a cassette.

So we got Ted Roddy to sing a couple and Angele got up and played bass on five. In the past I’d get down and watch but this time I played some guitar and it felt really good. I played guitar on one recording back when I started and that was it.  After 20 years of waiting, finally I get to strike!!

Hickoids were last. Our set was somewhat subdued by Hickoid standards. But there was lots of time for bullshitting with the crowd and I even got to gear a story about Davy I’ve never heard before. THERE IS STILL GOLD IN THAT HILL!!

6/22/19

First of three (?!) shows today! This one was at the Lost Well with the Swishbucklers.  We were playing a roast for our buddy Chad Holt. He found out he has some really bad odds with cancer and the end is near... some very serious, sad stuff. But that isn’t how Chad is gonna play it. He’s getting roasted. 

I hope when my end is near I can face it with half the humor as he is. Pretty great attitude to have. 

We were a man down. Tommy didn’t turn on his phone? Or some shit like that so we were a four piece. We did ok considering, Would have been nice to rehearse that way instead of feeling like we were missing a leg or something the whole set.  

It may not have mattered. People were really in to it and it was packed in there.I guess that’s all that matters. 

On to Kick Butt. 

6/8/19

Played a little solo set the other day. Mid afternoon on a Saturday at the Knomad?! I’m in!

Cris Burns set me up with it. I did 45 minutes and took off after a couple of tunes from Zeno who played after. He did a keyboard and prerecorded set. Pretty cool stuff and very different from me. I like that. 

My set was solid as it could be, especially when you factor in that I haven’t had a solo set in well over a year. Played two new tunes I’ve never done before. There is a third I couldn’t quite get down in time. 

It was a ton of fun and I’ve got a bunch of new ideas for songs fermenting away in the back of my mind. Feels pretty good!

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. 

5/26/19

The last show of this little tour was Gringopalooza at Three Links in Dallas.  We have done this before, many times.  As a matter of fact, they did it without me last year when I was in Greece(!). 

Went up with Harvey first. It was the best we’d been received so far but I didn’t do as well as I should have.  Missed some stuff...  Oh well. 

Mean Motor Scooter was next. I don’t think describing them as “on fire” is a good enough description.  Those songs, and the way they are play them, that’s some serious shit!

Gringo’s played the best set I’ve seen them do in a while. They were up and ready.  Always nice to see them, that might have been my 30th time?!  

We closed it out with Frontier Dan.  Didn’t do any of the tunes we recorded with him but we hit our classics.  The crowd was really in to our set with and without him.  Great feeling having the biggest show of the tour on the last night. 

5/25/19

Whitewater Tavern in Little Rock last night. Same deal as the night before except for the Frontier Circus in the middle slot. 

The crowd was light when we got up with Harvey. It thinned out further as the night went on.  First set was great. We really got it going right from the top and only a couple of easily coverable screwups.    

Danny and the Circus were great. Better than I’ve ever seen them. And he is so stupidly charming.  

We kinda kicked it. Pretty sure all of us we so out of it that we were in full “fuck it, let’s rip this shit up” mode. And we did!!  

Wish the crowd was better but it’s kinda how it seems to work when we play here. Still fun. Dallas tomorrow. 

5/24/19 show

We got to the Lamplighter and got ready for the first set. Lance and I have been rehearsing with Harvey and we have a five song set we are playing on these Hickoid dates.  

We did a decent job of it. This was only the third time we’d played together so there were mistakes, but nothing horrifying and we never got derailed. Pretty much a win. Looking forward to getting it nailed down. 

Joecephus and The George Jonestown Massacre we’re in the middle slot. They were tight as hell and tore it up.  That is until a cymbal stand fell and chopped the power cable leading to the pedal board. A huge spark jumped out and the rig was dead. It was crazy. 

Hickoids were last. The set was pretty good. Of course Frontier Dan got up with us. That guy kills me...  felt good making music with him all day. I spent a fair amount of time outside in the window behind Lance. When I looked up in to the sky I could see planes taking off and landing. Pretty nice night.