10.26.2013 - Hollywood & Vine - Glen Rose, TX

Guess we had a little luck behind us this time!

As you've heard us mention several times now, this was to be our last show at Hollywood & Vine of 2013. We really enjoy playing there, staff is great, good okra, Elvis upstairs, sand... yeah, we like it. It's offbeat enough that we kind of fit in there. Anyway, mixed feelings before the show since I was going in knowing that we wouldn't be back until Spring or Summer next year. 

Then there was the weather... While Wanda & Curtis are super nice and would let us play inside in a heartbeat, we have too much stuff nowadays and we're just too damned loud to setup inside. Back to the "last time for a while" thing - I showed up early in the day to have lunch there at H&V, kind of soak things in and enjoy the town for a change. I really like Glen Rose and I'm usually having to be right in, right out. Anyway, I was glad to be there early as the potential for storms was increasing. 

Growing up in Oklahoma, you get really good at reading a radar and predicting the development and movement of storms. If I wasn't doing music, I'd probably be a meteorologist. Seriously, weather fascinates me and terrifies me at the same time. It's like riding a roller coaster - same rush. I love a rush. So, back to my point, I was able to watch the radar for a couple hours, follow how the lines were developing and such. Eventually, I made the call that, yes, we will play outside. I figured, worst case (just from my own predictions) was that we might see a few sprinkles and if it rained, it wouldn't last long during the time slot we were to play. I spoke to the owners and we all agreed that, if it started raining, we'd just cover the gear real quick and take a break until whatever was going on blew over. 

With the rain threat, the outdoor crowd was hit and miss. At times, it looked busy. Other times, when it would get dark and damp, it would thin out. It's a shame about that. I think the 4 of us are finally starting to gel on stage. In our latest formation, we're doing some tricky stuff for a band of our size and (lack of) budget. I think we were all happy with the way we sounded last night. There are always going to be mistakes - it really is live, mistakes are going to happen. As usual, I got the giggles and got lost in a song (I blame Heath's wife, Allyson). But, it flowed and grooved, it's feeling like we are finally starting to become a live band rather than 4 guys on stage playing Sand Dollar Rodeo songs. It was nice. We had fun, too. That's probably the most important thing. Once we start playing, we're having a good time on stage and goofing around with each other. I'm enjoying having Brian to my left. He and I seem to be communicating pretty well within the songs and seem to find humor in a lot of the same things that go on during a show. Then there's Heath. He cracks me up once he gets in the mood. If I ever start to get pissed over something technical that's going on, I just have to look over at him, he'll make a face at me and start dancing around the stage and I forget all about whatever the problem is. Cisco... let me say that if you're ever able to sit close to the stage at one of our shows, do it. Cisco is very vocal during our shows. None of it is on a microphone (and that's probably a good thing), but there are wise cracks coming out of him from start to finish. He sings and shouts along. If you ever see me getting ready to start a serious song, then see me totally lose my composure, it's probably because of Cisco. Did I say we had fun last night? Actually, we had fun all weekend. Fun is good. 

As the show is going on, I notice natures disco lights blinking in the distance. They're getting closer. Still getting closer. I'm guessing around 10pm, lightning is getting too close for comfort, the wind has picked up, cool breeze in the air and you can smell the rain. I knew our time was limited so we blazed through the last few songs and, yup, about 3/4 way through Rodeo Radio here comes the rain. Starts out light but clears out the crowd quickly. Everyone running inside to stay dry and avoid lightning. I notice the time and thank them for coming out, announce it's the end of the show (it was only 10 minutes short of what we had planned on doing). We start running Visqueen all over our gear as fast as possible and bam, here comes the real heavy rain, thunder and lightning. 

Once we were sure everything electronic was unplugged and covered, we hung out on the covered portion of the stage and slowly packed gear while we waited for the rain to pass. About an hour or so later, if finally cleared out. 

As I was driving later that night, I realized how lucky we were. Where highway 67 and I-35 meet, no power at all. It was creepy - entrance/exit ramp for a major highway pitch black - not even flashing street lights. There could have been such a bad wreck there. Luckily, the police were setting up and directing the on/off-ramp traffic. I drove a block or two beyond the entrance ramp of 35 to see what was going on. It was just a storm. Knocked out the area power, debris all over the entrance (lots of rocks, gravel and such). That kind of stuff. We could have easily lost a lot of our gear or been electrocuted had this happened on top of us 20 miles or so to the West. 

That was our last night at Hollywood & Vine this year. In addition to just liking the place, it holds a soft spot for Heath and I. It was one of the first venues to take chance on us and book us to play there. We appreciate that more than they probably know. Unless there's a change in ownership or something really funky happens, we'll always come back. 

Speaking of coming back, the place is open year 'round. Only reason we're not going back for a while is just because we need to play outside and Winter is coming. I might just go back in a week or two as a customer.  Hell, I'm pretty sure I will! Anyway, if you have a free Saturday and a few hours to drive around Texas, please go visit our friends at Hollywood & Vine, tell Wanda & Curtis that Roy from SDR sent ya! Make a day of it and check out Glen Rose. Neat stuff around there, dinosaurs, interesting town in general, nice people, and the food at Hollywood & Vine is really good. Reasonably priced compared to DFW, Austin or Houston, too! 

We've been hitting the shows hard and heavy lately. It's been a lot of fun, but hey, I need to get some new music for you guys, right? Well, we've got two weeks off from live work now. Monday I am to finish mixing the next single (the free one) called Island Holiday. 

If you don't know the info... we're releasing a semi-Christmas song called Island Holiday on Black Friday (stop making me laugh, Allyson). The song will be free if you're on our mailing list, paid if you just want to buy it through iTunes/Amazon, etc. Up to you. I'd get it free. Also, Brian and I will be following it up with a couple of remixes. Those will not be for sale anywhere. They will only be free downloads for our mailing list, that will be the only way to get the remixes. So, if you're not on the list... go to our main site, www.SandDollarRodeo.com and join the list - it's free and we don't send a ton out, maybe one email a month. Get on over there and I'll be talking to you soon!

Stay gold,

RH

Club sandwich and fried okra at Hollywood & Vine!

Glasshopper... you should find another path to spiritual happiness... being on my monitor isn't a good idea.

10.25.2013 - The Score - Fort Worth, TX

So, I'm running behind this weekend - sorry. We'll catch things up today!

First time playing at The Score in Fort Worth. Honestly, I wasn't really looking forward to it. I had never been there, hadn't heard anything about it around town, and it was going to be an all-nighter show. I just had this gut feeling that it was going to be one of "those" places where I pull up and sit in the car 20 minutes deciding whether or not to go in. I seem to recall doing that at a place called Wet Creek early in the year. Plus, as many of you know, I am not a fan of most of the popular sports - football and baseball bore the Hell out of me - I like going to baseball games because I like hot dogs and beer and the friends I am there with. I'm not there for the game itself. Anyway, the place billed itself as a sports bar. Yippee. 

As I pull in the lot, out comes Heath all smiley as usual. He had booked this show, actually he used to play pool there years ago, so he was a little more familiar with the place. I walk in and was happy to find a nice mid-sized stage, dance floor and a decent light show. Additionally, it was an older venue and not the cookie cutter Yuppieville, USA sports bar in the corner of a shopping center. The crowd were more working class and bikers. I let out a sigh of relief and got ready for the night. 

The show itself was went fine. Light crowd, but we sold a CD or two, had some folks dance, etc. Brian, Cisco, Heath and I played fairly tight. A few issues with my guitar playing - still have some irritation from the finger issue of last week, didn't play guitar all week to allow for healing. But, my playing was tolerable. 

Some of Heath's friends from high school or maybe earlier school, Paul & Joe, showed up. The beer and shots flowed. It was a fun night for both the crowd and the band that night. 

After the show, we're doing our "thank you's" out in the crowd and I see Heath making this goofy "oh my God" face. I'm like, "what?" He had been talking with this really large (as in tall and wide, not fat) man. Heath comes over and goes, "oh blah blah blah blah... that's so and so (name was Greek to me)." I go, who? Yeah, here's where I am a bad local - Heath says, "Dallas Cowboys, he played Roger Staubach era, Hall of Fame... Rayfield Wright." I'm like, ok. Heath keeps talking to the guy, I come back by and  Rayfield grabs me and says, get your camera and starts taking off his rings - and starts putting them on Heath's hands. Super Bowl ring, Hall of Fame ring... you get the picture. Heath is just glowing, it was fun to watch. Note: Heath, if I've got any of those ring names or what not wrong, feel free to post below and correct me - you know how swift I am on football facts.  

Anyway, Rayfield was a very charming person to talk with and it was nice to meet him. Turns out that he lives around Heath's place and they see him at the grocery store from time to time. If you've never seen someone fairly well known in a situation like that, it's kind of funny. You want to be cool and casual, but at the same time you want to go and talk to them. When I lived in Leon Springs (San Antonio), my local grocery store was across the street from a gated community called The Dominion. Most of the San Antonio Spurs live there, George Strait has a house there, Tommy Lee Jones, Alice from the Brady Bunch, all sorts of people... and you'd see them at the store all the time. I remember the first time I met Tim Duncan from the Spurs - WOW! That is a tall man! And it's kind of funny to see him pushing a little grocery cart. I'd see George Strait and Ann Davis (Alice) in Mailboxes Etc all the time. I helped Stone Cold Steve Austin pack up Christmas presents to send his kids in England one afternoon at Mailboxes Etc. He was a really nice guy. Anyway, I'm getting off track... we had a pro football player in the house and it elevated the buzz of the overall night. While I am not a football fan, I do respect anyone that can navigate the pro sports system. It's just like the music industry, same thing, different color. 

At the end of the night, things had gone well. The lady that booked had asked us back. We think we'll do this place again, for sure, just have to find a date that works. Write it down, I could actually like a sports bar...

Heath & Rayfield

Sand Dollar Rodeo (L to R: Brian, Cisco, Heath, Roy) and Rayfield Wright post-show @ The Score, Ft. Worth 10/2013

10.19.2013 - Railhead - Willow Park, TX

BBQ, wild women and fried okra. That pretty much sums up last night!

This was our first time playing at Railhead, my first time to visit the place. I had heard of it, it's hard not to know about it, if you live around the metroplex and / or ever listen to 95.9 The Ranch out of Fort Worth. For some reason, this little BBQ joint has become a hot spot for live music. For example: You Troubador Texas TV show fans will be familiar with a guy who played there on Tuesday by the name of Zane Williams. Anyway, obviously they get some decent names and supposedly it's not too easy to get booked there (thank you, Heath). We were looking forward to seeing what it was all about, for sure. 

I'll admit that when I got there, it was not what I expected. No stage. Really? Yeah, really. The bands just setup where it's convenient. Ok, that's how they do, we'll roll with it. We setup in kind of a garage door area that opens up to the parking lot. Heath, Brian and I each had our own door!

When we arrived, we were briefed on band rules from the house staff. Things started to fall into place... I think I now know how they get some of these bigger regional names coming back to play a little BBQ place with no stage. Ummm... they treat the bands really well. Beyond its paying more than most similar venues, they really took care of us. Super friendly staff. Oh, bands also get free dinner and beer all night. When you're doing what we do, a free meal can go a long way... especially when fried okra is on the menu. Thank you, Railhead! 

I don't eat before shows, but about midway I placed my order so I could take it and eat afterwards. My plate came with a choice of 3 sides. Well, duh... okra, okra and okra. As much as I love me some fried okra, it's never as good cold. So, I brought it on stage and the four of us had a little fun with it. Heath and I will have Brian and Cisco hooked before too long. BTW, I could care less about receiving tips. In fact, I don't like the whole tipping thing as it encourages requests. But, if you bring me fried okra, it's worth way more than cash :) 

Despite having something going on with my middle finger (not sure what it is just yet - it's swollen and hurts a lot), things were fun and went well. Playing guitar last night made it worse, though. Really painful and big today. Anyway, that threw off some of my playing. I had trouble holding the pick and doing the fast strumming I usually do. Must have dropped a good 20 picks. Then, when I would play the keyboards, it was direct pressure on it and really was not fun. Luckily, I didn't screw up the parts too bad and, unless you just know the details of the songs really well, you wouldn't have noticed. I really hope my finger is back to its normal self by the next show! 

What happens now? More like what happened next... So, as you guys know, we don't play a lot of slow songs or songs with a heavy message. We like to keep the shows a party and don't want to bring people down. So, we usually limit it to 2 slow songs a night. One of them was What Happens Now. 

Wow, talk about getting lost and killing a mood. Yes, I did! But, there was a good reason... so,  whether you guys know it or not, bands can see (and do see) most everything you guys do in the crowd. Starting to follow me now? So, there were these three women kind of in front of me, a tad to my right. I explain what the song is about, we kick in and I see one of them pass her phone to the one right in front of me. My direct view was kind of looking down and into her phone... and on her screen... well, let me fast forward to after the show when the one pulls me over and explains that she was trying to find a popular image of a man with a giant rooster on a leash, the image is titled, "World's Largest Cock." So, she Googled just that. Needless to say, her search returned much more than pictures of roosters. They had no idea I could see their screens when they decided to share the images with each other. So, back to the song, I see this going on and start cracking up. I tried to hold back the laughing, but just couldn't. Then, I got lost in the song. So, yes, blame it all on me, I screwed up What Happens Now last night. But, I had a fun time doing it. After that, I pretty much heckled those ladies the rest of the night. Good times. 

This was a local show for Heath. I think he lives about 3 miles away from the place and his family lives in the area as well. So, it was Frazierville Pt. 2. Always a fun time when his parents and family come out to one of the shows. 

Anyway, it was fun night. The crowd seemed to have a good time and we did, too. Met some really nice folks. Hopefully, we will be back out there again next year. 

Next week, I think we're in Ft. Worth on Friday then out to Glen Rose on Saturday. Last Hollywood & Vine show (Glen Rose) of the year for us, which is sad. I like H&V. So, if you haven't been out there all year, now is the time. It's a really neat outdoor stage. Unfortunately, it's getting to be that time of year where outdoor isn't going to work. So, last one - hope to see y'all there. Until then... 

Stay gold,

RH

Sand Dollar Rodeo @ Railhead - Willow Park, TX

10.12.2013 - Cowtown Bowling Palace - Fort Worth, TX

Well, first off, I'm in a much better mood today than I was yesterday. That should tell you a little how last night went, right? 

After the issues on Friday's show, I asked everyone to show up early Saturday. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time for a good sound check, make sure we worked out any bugs from the previous night. I showed up around 6pm... right as a big ole storm exploded over the place. I didn't know how long it was going to last. It had pretty much popped real quick. So, I had a beer at the bar and decided to give it a few minutes to pass. It did and I was able to load in without getting soaked. Shortly thereafter, Heath, Cisco and Brian arrived. We got setup and had everything in place well before we were able to do sound check. I was relieved. 

As for the performance, it sounded about 75% better than the night before. As I've said in previous posts, this is an odd gig. You don't get a lot of interaction with the crowd while you're playing, mainly just afterwards when you're walking around is when you get feedback. I was in a pretty good mood and I guess it showed. We had quite a few people playing along with us for beads, had a girl decide she needed to sing a Pat Green song - so we let her, I had some fun on the mic with the staff and my favorite off-duty police officer / security guy (not really sure which he is - guess I should ask next time).  Oh, and I sang a pretty horrible version of Happy Birthday twice. I should have never learned the words to that song. I'm going to make sure I forget those lyrics by the next gig. I will gladly wish someone a happy birthday on the mic, but we're not TGI Fridays - and it messes with the flow of our show (in my head anyways). 

Speaking of crowd manners and asking us to do stuff while we're on stage, it's so interesting to see how crowds change over time. Back when I was attending a lot of shows (rather than playing them), no one would have ever tried to interrupt a band on stage. I mean, while the girl wanting to sing Pat Green was fine at this particular place and I was in the right mood for it, if that would have been during a regular "concert" show, she would have never made it close enough to attempt it. Most bands, especially us, have the evening set list pre-planned. There's an art to designing the flow. We often learn words and songs, plan guitar switches, plan tunings, etc. based on that flow. You mess with the flow and it can throw the band off. Even more so when the band is trying to build momentum and alter the various moods of the crowd. 

For example: We start out these long nights with what I call "the beach set." It's an hour or so long and has some "beachy" stuff. If we play Margaritaville that night, it's going to be in that set along with songs like Carry Me Home. By the end of that set, we've introduced a little more country. The second set, which I call "the main concert" is pretty much that. We play a couple hours without stopping. We start out high energy and keep building it. The sound gets louder, the guitars start distorting more and it's designed to work the crowd up and up. If you've never been there at the end of the night when we close with a certain song (no spoilers for those that have not been there), we pretty much sound like a rock band, very little country at that point. Guess that's why we're alt-country LOL. Anyway, back to my point...  There was an article in one of the Austin papers recently about how inconsiderate concert goers have become in recent years. It spoke of the "I paid my money, it's MY night" folks. I remember seeing Jack Ingram at an acoustic show in the Boston area a year or two ago. You couldn't pay attention to the show because of the drunk girls having their girls night out. People asked them to keep it down, the girls would tell them off. Finally, management cut them off and they left. I like loud, rowdy and drunk. I really do. Don't get me wrong, but take it to a Creager show, a strip club or somewhere appropriate for loud and rowdy. Think of this, even if you don't care about how the band feels about it, do you really think anyone (other than your table of friends) wants you disrupting things? Um... they paid to get in as well. Oh, and if you want to make requests... do us all a favor and go somewhere with a jukebox. Ok, enough on that, it was a good night - I just got off on a thought and kept typing. Sorry. Let's move on...

Like I said, we sounded a whole lot better and had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again on November 16th. If you haven't been to see us there before, it's only $10 and includes 2 hours of unlimited bowling with your cover charge. Also, pitchers of Bud Light are only $7.50 - it's one of the cheaper nights out and I highly recommend it. 

At the end of the night, I was pleased and slept a whole lot better than the night before. Oh, hey, and Brian got some new jeans. Check them out below - he was really proud of those jeans :)

Stay gold and I'll talk to you next week,
RFH

10.11.2013 - Reno Red's - Roanoke, TX

Hmm... well, sometimes you just have one of those nights. Last night was one of them...

I won't go into a lot of detail, but there were some delays in getting things up and running, so we wound up not having a sound check and starting a few minutes late. First song, sound was off and, as I was tweaking it, my strap lock (the thing that locks my guitar strap in place) broke. My guitar fell straight to the floor and busted the E string (which I use a lot). I'm lucky it only broke a string, a drop like that should have broken the neck. Anyway, that threw things off. Then, since we didn't sound check, we had a horrible time syncing the click track. I've had better nights, for sure!

In the end, it wasn't terrible. But, I didn't feel good about the performance. Kind of a shame since I like the place so much. This was a restaurant in my home town. Not really the kind of place that would normally host a band like us, but they were up for trying and I really wanted it to go better than it did. On a side note, the staff were great. Very nice group of people - if you're ever passing through Roanoke, be sure to check them out! We also met some nice folks that stuck it out til the end of night with us (thank you).

At the end of the night, the manager asked us back. I was happy (and surprised) about that. But, lots of work to be done our end to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Tonight, we brush off the dirt and move forward ...

A picture I stole from Brian's wife, Carrie's, Facebook page - Neat little stage!

10.04.2013 - Chubby's - Fort Worth, TX

Happy Saturday, Happy Fall! 

So, as you might have read on my last post, Cisco had some family issues and, as things turned, he was not going to be able to perform with us last night. We were all pretty bummed at the thought of having to play without him. We're really starting to get a good chemistry between us and don't want to revert back to a fully sequenced show. But, we also didn't want to cancel the show and leave the venue hanging. So, I did my thing with the drum machines earlier in the week and put together a temporary drummer for the night. 

It's fair to say that we were concerned about how it would turn out. Heath and I used to play this way before we brought on Cisco & Brian. But, it's been a long time since we've done things that way and none of us had rehearsed it all together. With the short notice of Cisco having to go to Minnesota, though, we decided to it was the only option and we'd make the best of it. 

This was our first time playing at Chubby's. The show was booked quite a while back and none of us really had any idea what to expect from the place. Was it a restaurant? A concert hall? Dive bar? We didn't really know anything other than that they claim a mean burger. 

We were pleasantly surprised to find it was kind of all of the above. Yes, they serve food.and a good portion of the place is a bar. Outside they have, as I read on their website, "the big stage." They had an incredibly friendly staff that took more than good care of us all night. 

We started our set without an intro and just went directly into Postcard. I didn't want to address the absent drummer issue until we had played the first song. 

I'm always amazed at how people perceive "bands." With my musical past, having worked in primarily electronic bands my whole career, it's no issue for me to go see a band with 2 people on stage. I understand how it works. For the average Joe, it's almost like you're screwing with their minds. They want to like it. You see them tap their feet, groove to the beat. Then, they look at the stage and get this confused look on their face, kind of like when a dog cocks his head and looks at you funny - you know the look. You can tell they're trying to grasp how that much sound comes out of so few people. I've noticed this being the case more in Texas than anywhere. I think it's because we've been playing country friendly venues that have just never seen this before. Anyway, I wanted to see how the crowd was going to react before we delivered the whole story about our drummer situation for the night. My thoughts were that, if they didn't give that confused look, we don't mention it and keep playing without putting any downer thoughts in peoples minds. If we get the look, we tell them what's going on. 

Well, it's Fort Worth... and, yes, I saw the look. No big deal, we explained the situation, told them we didn't want to leave them hanging without a show and then we tore into the rest of set. 

It was so funny - after the quick explanation, no more confused looks. Folks were dancing and having a good time. Mission accomplished. 

We received quite a few nice compliments about our music throughout the night from both the staff and crowd. Especially on the originals. I had a man pull me aside while I was walking through and he told me that What Happens Now was the highlight for him and that the song was a "money maker." I was flattered. On a side note: That song sounds about a thousand times better live than it does on the recording. It was a challenge in the studio and I never felt that we captured the mix like it should have been captured. Additionally, when I'm able to set it up and explain what it's about, people really pay attention to the lyrics and it's neat for me to watch their reactions. Who knows, live album? We'll see. If so, maybe we'll give it another shot then. 

So, once again, it all worked out. Yay! 

Oh, and you should have been there for a super duper rare performance... Heath's daughter, Fernie, was having a birthday! I can honestly say that I've never played "Happy Birthday To You" live before. But, I knew about it before hand and learned it on guitar. So, what the heck, we did it! 

Interesting things and highlights of the night: Birthday cake, chicken fried hamburgers, kind words from the audience. Oh, and birthday cake. Did I say cake? I seriously love cake. Thanks, Allyson! 

Ok, so that was last night. Below is a picture I stole from someone's Facebook page. Until next time...

Stay gold, 

RH

Sand Dollar Rodeo @ Chubby's - Fort Worth, TX