11.23.2013 - Martin House Brewing Company - Fort Worth, TX

What a fun day!

You never know exactly what you're going to get with a brewery. Some are great big, some are tiny, some do stuff, some don't. The beer crowd hang at their favorites on tour days. It's just the thing to do.

I will say that Martin House was a pleasant surprise. I had sampled their beers at one of the beer fests before, so I knew we'd be ok on that level. But, I just wasn't too sure about the building itself. Luckily, there was plenty of room for us to play inside. If you're not in the Texas area, just so you know, it's cold this weekend... like ice storm cold. Anyway, that was another unknown. No one knew if the weather was going to keep folks inside. Luckily, a few hundred showed up. Actually, I don't know the final headcount, but that's what it looked, somewhere around there. Not bad for a crappy day outside. 

As we were finishing setup, we noticed a table going up. Oh boy, it was Junior's Lone Star Sauce! I had sampled (and purchased) their BBQ sauces at a previous beer fest as well. It's some tasty stuff and I highly recommend it. Go check out their Facebook page and tell 'em SDR sent you! In talking with them after the show, they're actually based in Roanoke (where I live). I think I see us playing some of the same venues again in the future. Beer, BBQ Sauce and Sand Dollar Rodeo. That combo works for me.

The show itself was fun. It was actually really fun. I haven't had that good of a time on stage in a while. And the beer... well, my personal choice for the day was called Day Break. I tried several others, but kept going back to Day Break. Heath, Brian & Cisco looked like they were having a good time as well. Later in the night, Heath and I were joking that we're just going to play breweries from here on out. I mean, beer fun folks and being done at 4:30pm rather than 1am... yup, breweries are ok by me. A big "thank you" to Cody Martin & the Martin House Brewing Company gang for having us, hopefully we'll be back there again next year. 

Since I am horrible at remembering to take pictures, Brian was kind enough to email me some that he snapped. Oh, I did take a picture of the sauces that came home with me. Until next time...

Stay gold,

RFH

Good n plenty - Love the Juniors Texas Heat sauces!

View from the Martin House loading dock - That's downtown Fort Worth.

I think Pac Man won. I know it wasn't me.

Yeah, just in case there's any questions where these pics came from LOL. Thanks, Brian. 

Pretzel Stout.

Loved the keg benches at Martin House Brewing Company.

11.16.2013 - Cowtown Bowling Palace - Fort Worth, TX

Well, hello strangers!

I know it's only been a few weeks, but it seems like forever since we've played live. I guess, after playing most every week since January, I'm in a bit of of a routine now. The brief time off felt kind of odd. I kept busy, though. I spent time working on the bidness side of things for the upcoming Island Holiday release, worked on two new songs and I went to Eli Young Band's House Party at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, TX. That was a fun show - I really enjoyed Josh Abbott Band as well - they may have been better than the headliner. "Band" on a band name. That word on a band name always confuses and irritates me. Why do it? Pet peeve... when we were first starting out, we were frequently billed as "Sand Dollar Band" or "The Sand Dollar Rodeo Band." I'm kind of a jerk about it now. If the name of the band is wrong, I have the venues correct it. As much as we like to think that music and being in a band is about the art, we're selling a brand. My brand name doesn't have "band" in its name :)  Ahh... I'm getting off track...

Back to last night! Like I said, seemed like forever since we'd played or seen each other. Heath and I showed up early and knocked back a pitcher while we got things into place. The bowling alley is such a casual environment compared to clubs. It's nice to play there. 

For the most part, the night was drama free. Cisco forgot his cymbals, so he had to make a mad dash to get them before show time. Somehow, he made it back in time. Glad it was a local show. Local show means local friends as well... was nice to see Heath & Brian's families again.

Last night may have been the largest crowd out at Cowtown to date. Pretty sure all the lanes were full the bulk of the night and I noticed more people than usual turned backwards in the lanes watching us. I'm glad about that. I like people and places that are willing to try new things. So, I really hope this continues to work out for Cowtown. 

We'll be back there on December 7th. This may be the last one for a while. So, if you're in the area and have been thinking about coming out, you might want to get off your butt and do it!

So, next week the "I'll Just Have A (TX) Beer" tour continues... we will be at a new brewery called Martin House. Looking forward to sampling... oh, and seeing you there as well! 

Stay gold,

RH

PS: Back to that Island Holiday release... I'm sure you know, but just in case you don't... Our new "Christmas-ish" single will be released on Black Friday. The song will be a free download for anyone on our mailing list. It will also be on sale at Amazon, iTunes, etc. But, hey, get it free from us! If you're not already on the list, go sign up right here - http://ow.ly/qpmW1 - Thanks!