12.15.2012 - Rodeo Radio / Private Party - McKinney, TX

Well, sometimes it's just good to let your hair down and have fun... and we did. This was (what should be) our last show as a two-piece on stage, unless Heath and I get some crazy idea to do an acoustic show or something.

This performance was at some friends you all might remember from the Okra Fest post, Brian & Kristi Cheatham's house in McKinney, Texas. We originally had planned on doing a Rodeo Radio broadcast on this date, then the idea for the party happened and we rolled with it.

It was good to see our friends from that side of the DFW metroplex. For those of you not familiar with the Dallas/Fort Worth area... McKinney is not in my nor Heath's neighborhood. Not even close! I believe Heath mentioned the drive from his part of town was 80 something miles. Yeah, there's a reason they call it the Big D. I forced myself to come in the night before and my friends twisted my arm into going to Hank's for the Roger Creager show. Fair to say I slept in the next morning... good fried okra at Hanks, though. Music wasn't bad either :)

Regardless of the drive, this night was good for us. We debuted some of the new material, had a great time, hopefully made a few new fans and we really look forward to playing in McKinney again next year... I do have a note from later that night, guys. "Cadillac Pizza." See, I told you I'd write it down!

Marathon shows begin in 2013... If you haven't already seen some of the dates that have been added, check www.SandDollarRodeo.com and maybe we'll see you there! I'll be talkin' to you often then, for sure. And, if I don't before then, I hope you all have a nice holiday and a Happy New Year.

Stay gold,
RH

09.22.2012 - Angels In Tropical Shirts Festival - Seven Points, TX

This was another pre-Heath booking. From my Parrot Head connections, I was approached by Kelly Brown (from the Bad Monkeys) about playing the show and donating a track to their CD. For those of you who don't know, Angels In Tropical Shirts is a trop rock music festival that raises money for charity. It's been going on a few years now and is a really nice thing to have been a part of.

So, as I said before, this was booked pre-Heath and was billed as a "Roy Holliday" appearance. However, it was a Sand Dollar Rodeo show all the way... and that's probably the funniest part I recall from the show... that and the fact that Heath and I both kept thinking we were lost when we were trying to find the place!

There's quite a difference in what the Parrot Heads listen to around the country (aside from Buffett). Some like upbeat, some lean to rock, some lean to country, some like storytellers, some like anything they hear as long as the singer is wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Follow me? So, today's mix of Parrot Heads... well, let's just say it was meant to be a relaxing day of acoustic performances until Kelly's band came on later that night. We were on at something like 1pm. Originally, that was fine with me, as I had only recently moved back to Texas at the time it was booked. I told him to put me on early, out of respect for the locals that their crowd were more familiar with. Fine and dandy... I had no idea it would be a mostly acoustic day. Boy, talk about the unexpected... we go on after a singer/songwriter. Very good performer, but very laid back - We open with I'll Just Have A Beer and barrel through our set. Pretty much the same set as we did at Okra Fest, maybe an additional song or two, I can't remember. Anyway, I just remember that the early crowd was a bit older and I remember that their eyes were wide open as we kicked in. It was kind of funny and I'm pretty sure I made a few jokes about it on stage.

For the record, while we may do an occasional acoustic song or two. We don't do "acoustic shows." Period. I like concerts that are loud and have a good beat. Sorry, that's just me. It's what I do. If I tried to do an all acoustic show, I'd fall asleep on stage - you probably would as well. Additionally, I'm a keyboard player, not a guitarist. If all my bad notes on the guitar weren't masked by the blaring keyboards, it just wouldn't be pretty.

Anyway, I told Kelly all that up front and he knew we would be loud. But, here's the deal. While some people were a little scared of us at first, we received good applause in between every song, toes were tapping, the audience responded when I prompted them and, in the end, the show was really well received - it was just a little too early in the day for that crowd! Afterwards, Kelly and I were having a beer and a variety of fried food and he said something like if he had known what we were like live, he would have put us on later in the night and it would have been perfect. He then said, "next year!" I agreed.

I give Kelly and his wife Anita great respect for putting this thing together. They worked their butts off all for no personal gain. I remember that, at the time I showed up that morning, the sound guy was AWOL so Kelly was trying to set up the PA, do sound checks, etc. Poor guy, but he dealt with it gracefully and it worked out nicely. All in all, I met some really nice musicians, met some nice Parrot Heads from the Cedar Creek Parrot Head Club and it was a fun day... and we raised about 15k for charity. No regrets.

The compilation album is pretty good, too. I would assume they still have a few copies for sale over at their website. Proceeds from the CD go to charity as well and it includes songs by myself (Carry Me Home), Nadirah Shakoor, Walt Wilkins, Tommy Alverson, Thom Shephard, Brent Burns, Kelly Brown, Jerry Diaz, and a bunch more. Go pick yourselves up a copy right here - AIT 3 .

09.02.2012 - Okra Fest! - McKinney, TX

So, away we go and a little back story or two...

First off, it's no secret that I like fried okra. I like it a lot. A good friend of mine, Brian Cheatham, likes it as well. We had always said it was a drag that there wasn't an "okra fest" in our area (the one in Checotah, OK is no longer) and that we just needed to put one together ourselves. We could just start small, I'd be the "entertainment" and he'd be the "art" and we invite a few of our friends. Easy enough, right? Well, we had talked about this for a couple of years - pretty much every time we were both sitting around together in Las Vegas at 3 or 4am saying, "we've got to do this." But, nothing much really ever happened. Then, Brian and his wife Kristi mentioned the idea to their Friday night trivia friends...  Enter Jeff & Shelly Mack.

Jeff & Shelly have a farm in McKinney (fully equipped with a nice outdoor stage) and had done a fest of their own called, "Shelly Fest" in past years. They were intrigued by the okra idea and were interested in testing the waters, maybe getting back into the fests. So, they took the ball and ran with it... and Okra Fest was born!

Originally, I had booked this show as a solo performance. When it was all being put together, Heath and I had not met and I was still in the process of deciding how to make all this SDR stuff work in a live situation. I figured that I would do a "Roy Holliday from Sand Dollar Rodeo" show and, if I hadn't put a backing band together by the time of Okra Fest, I could just run it all off my keyboards and deal with it. I mean, I figured 10-20 people there, like a fun little party, right?

Well, the Mack's are not amateurs at putting shows together. Most anyone who has played around Texas much knows them. Oh, and Jeff works on the TV show Troubadour Texas. They know what they're doing. So, this thing started to grow...

Around the same time that I was updated on the growth of the event, I had come up with a mental picture of what I wanted to present on stage for Sand Dollar Rodeo and where I wanted to go with it. My plan was to sequence everything and run it from my keyboard rig and then, as I brought musicians on board over time, delete the programming I had done for their parts. But first - Guitar!

I placed an ad and Heath responded, we clicked, he was in. For the funny details of that, be sure to check out Heath's blog. I won't get into it here, he tells the story better. So, with about a month to go, Heath agreed to play the gig at Okra Fest... and we did!

What do I remember most about that show? It was HOT! I believe it was around 106 degrees when we started. I remember setting up my gear and thinking, "I sure hope my keyboard doesn't melt." I was serious. Anyway, it didn't and things were fine. They had set up some huge fans on the outdoor stage and it was actually quite comfortable up there. Oh, I also remember that Spygoat did an awesome job on the sound - very nice sound system, very nice guys - I look forward to working with them again.

Heath and I brought Candy (more on her later, I'm sure) and the three of us played what was, technically, the first Sand Dollar Rodeo show. We played for an hour and our set consisted of the Six Pack Demo along with a few covers - Postcard, Beautiful World, Wrap It Up, Sangria Wine and, of course, I Want Candy.

I was very nervous prior to the start of this show. SDR is not country, it's not rock, it's not disco, it's just us doing what we do and it comes out sounding however we feel it should come out. We do not claim any genre other than what we are. The rest of the bill for that day was TX Country and Singer/Songwriter type stuff from Randy Hopper, David Byboth and Davin James & the Bullnettle Band. All great performers, but different from what we do. Luckily, the set was very well received and we had a great time. Sampling the dishes from the creative okra contest wasn't half bad either!

So, that was our first show - we have high hopes there will be an Okra Fest 2013. If so, you know we'll be there with our best eatin' clothes on! Next up... Angels In Tropical Shirts Trop Rock Music Festival.

Until then...

Stay gold,
RH

Let's Do This!

So, Heath started a blog a month or two ago and it just seemed like a good idea... I recall bands I have liked and, back then, I would have enjoyed some sort of insight as to what goes on in their daily life. While my blog will not be a daily "thing," I do plan on updating after every show. Sometimes it may be short and sweet, sometimes it may be a long drawn out post - just depends on what happens that night. Along the way, hopefully you'll get to know me a little better and we'll try to have a little fun. We have a busy 2013 ahead, LOTS of shows in the works, new CD, and who knows what else. So, I am sure there will be plenty to post about. Until then, I plan on backtracking to the first shows Heath and I did together earlier this year. Should be good practice and a great test of my beer soaked memory :) Check back soon and we'll kick it all off with our first appearance at Okra Fest. Talk to you then! RH