03.29.2014 - Cowtown Bowling Palace - Fort Worth, TX

Back to the Palace... Good crowd this time. You could feel the buzz of Spring in the air. People were just in an overall good mood (ourselves included). Sand Dollar Rodeo hasn't played at Cowtown since November, but played there quite a bit last year. So, it's a really relaxed show because we're so comfortable with the place and its staff. It's not every venue a band plays where the police officer working security buys your CD.

Speaking of merchandise, last night we debuted our first shirts! Nothing too fancy, but they're just like us - fun and cheap :) Sloppy logo on front, lyrics from "I'll just have a beer" on back. They were a pretty big hit and it was nice to move a little merchandise. The following picture is of the first person to buy our first shirt! 

Our first t-shirt sale!

Show wise, it was fine. A little rough on the vocals all around this time... since we haven't been playing as often as usual, my voice isn't as strong as it normally is and back to back gigs will often trash it if I sing something too loud. Of course, I did... and I struggled through the last part of the show. Nothing like the feeling of rubbing sandpaper on your throat. On top of that, Brian's voice is giving him grief as well. We're talking like he can't hardly speak. Brian sings the higher harmonies with me and was missed, for sure, this weekend. Everyone send some positive thoughts Brian's way for a quick recovery. Speaking of Brian, I got in trouble last night for not posting a picture of him on the last blog. So, here ya go... yes, he really was there!

Brian Barton live with Sand Dollar Rodeo at the Fort Worth Convention Center.

Aside from that, it was pretty much par for the course. I will note that Heath nailed the "WHat Kind of Life is This" solo like never before. He blames his new pedals. I blame his fingers. Either way, it sounded really good. Tony seemed to be having a good time and Trey got to mess around with his new keyboard. All sounded good. It's nice to see this latest configuration of the live band start to gel. Going to be a fun ride.

Ok, enough out of me for today.... and the Jackson Family movie is coming on, so you know I have to watch it. No shows next week as I will be in Tulsa, OK, for my sister's wedding. The following weekend, we'll be back to work... I'll be talking to you soon!

Stay gold,

RH

03.28.2014 - Fort Worth Convention Center - Fort Worth, TX

Well, hello strangers! Seems like forever since Sand Dollar Rodeo has had a show, right? We're going to fix all that real soon. I guess I should be enjoying the down time (rather than feeling like I need something to be doing). 

Since our last show, Heath and I have been doing some recording and also practicing for our upcoming acoustic shows. That, and a million other band related chores on the business side. So, I guess it really hasn't been down time. But, when you combine the every day business side of the band with the live shows, it's a faster pace of life, for sure. 

So, about this show... Several months ago, Heath found out about an event at Fort Worth Convention Center being put on by USITT (United States Institute for Theatre Technology). They were looking for bands willing to come in and play at their SoundLab during the annual convention. The SoundLab is a setting where they take seasoned pros and students, then show them the ropes in a 10,000 seat arena with full concert sound. The "pros" are the real deal - sound guys from touring broadway shows to Miley Cyrus. The way it works is, the pro mixes a song, then a student, a pro, a student, back and forth through our 90 minute set. Anyway, sounded like fun and we went for it! I mean, come on, what band at our current level wouldn't want to play a stage where Elvis and U2 have played, right? 

So, here's how it went... we roll in early, around 11am for load in. Kind of cool to drive your car into the underbelly of an arena. We pull in and are greeted by one of the runners and he gives a tour of the place. What a neat experience to roam the back halls where all sorts of famous bands have roamed and hung out. If those walls could talk... it's a whole city under there - meeting rooms, dressing rooms, showers, catering, etc. We finish our tour and then check out the stage. Then, we start unloading our gear, set it down and it's magically gone! What's this? Roadies? Yes - they actually took our stuff to the stage area and positioned it. From there, it only got better. A sea of stage hands, sound engineers and students start plugging us in and mic'ing everything and bam, time for sound check. I can't remember doing a sound check where I wasn't sweating away and exhausted from loading gear. Very nice, indeed. 

Onto the sound. What can I say? Immaculate? We were test driving a new state of the art system that you'll soon see at major concerts nationwide. I heard is has little pins in it so that they can aim each speaker so the sound is equally as loud and clear up front as it is in the rafters. And it was! 

One of my favorite things, as a concert fan, is when a show has booming bass. Especially, when it is on the bass drum. That "thud" that hits you in the chest gets my blood pumping. I wish you could have felt the bass waves as they left our stage and flooded the arena, then rumbled around the room. Very cool feeling. 

Our part of the show was fun. We played pretty much all originals, except for one special one... You see, Heath's Mom had seen Elvis here years ago AND she happened to be on our guest list. So, of course, we had to do an Elvis song. We played Little Sister. Really, the performance itself was kind of a blur. We've all done this long enough that, unless something goes really wrong or is really bizarre, what we do isn't that memorable. Although, it was funny when I realized I had much more room on stage than normal... I was playing keyboards, turned my head to the left like I always do, to go back into singing and... oops... no mic - it was 5 feet away! I can deal with that - so much fun. 

Mike Thornton was in the house with his camera and shot a lot of great pictures (thank you, Mike!). I have posted a few below. But, if you'd like to see the full roll, go over here to this album on our Facebook page and you can see them. Click Here for the Facebook Photo Album

Tonight, we're back to real life... playing a much smaller venue with our own PA system... should be a humbling experience LOL. But, so glad we got the chance to play the USITT event. I thank them for booking us and hope we can do it again. 

Stay gold and we'll see you out there! 

RH

03.01.2014 - Private Show @ Buckles - Aledo, TX

Well, hello strangers!

Yeah, it's the slow time of year for Sand Dollar Rodeo. Our schedule is about to kick into high gear next month. But, for now, things are a little slow on the live front. We're busy, don't misunderstand that, just not so busy on stage as much in February and March. 

It was good to be back on stage. It really hasn't been that long since we've played live, but when you're used to doing it regularly, a week or two off seems like forever. I had a nice time today. Well, I had a nice time once I got there... thanks to construction and a wreck on 35, my 45 minute drive became a two hour drive and I was late for sound check. Oh well, what do you do, right? It's DFW. 

Today we were booked at a private party in Aledo, Texas. Early gig. Load in at 2, show at 5. Stage clear at 8 sharp. The venue was a place called Buckles. We've actually played there before. It used to be called Wild Wet Willie's. I can't remember if that was the name of the place when we played there, but they've changed hands / changed names 3 times since we played there. Regardless, I thought I knew the venue and was prepared for an afternoon of thick cigarette smoke and funky sound. Boy, was I wrong! Whoever took this place over did a major overhaul on the place. It's very nice now. They still allow smoking in the bar, but they have good smoke eaters and you really didn't notice it. Mind you, I have nothing against smoking bars at all. Heck, I smoke - it doesn't bother me. But, last time we played there it was so thick and stale, it bothered my voice. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Kudos to the new crew for making it a really nice place to visit. Nice staff, excellent sound system. Tonight (after the private party) was to be their opening night and I wish them the best of luck with the place. As we were leaving, looked like they were getting a good crowd. Good for them! 

Now for the show itself... playing private parties is weird. It's something bands do, but it's not a normal gig. You never know what's going to happen or what the crowd is going to be like. Plus, crowds at private parties don't give you the same feedback as a concert crowd. Think about it, you go to a private party, you're there for the party not so much to watch the band. You want to socialize with your friends, etc. Plus, this was a birthday party. Meaning, they really want to interact with the guest of honor (Happy Birthday, John) and are more focused on that than dancing or watching the band. 

That being said, it was good. The place has a great dance floor and we had folks on it through much of our show. This wasn't really a country crowd. So, I'm extra happy to see that we had people dancing and having fun. 

I thank our host, Alaina Tenseth, a great deal. Often at parties, you're bombarded with requests that have nothing to do with you're about or what you sound like and, when the booze gets flowing, the guests making those requests get quite rude. Paul & Joe from my old band, if you're reading this... remember that gig in Long Island, NY? We had really drunk women complaining that we wouldn't play the Electric Slide or Cha Cha this or that. They even bitched because we wouldn't play Lady GaGa. Really, Lady GaGa? No offense to her, I enjoy her music, but you guys hired us to play Margaritaville.What's wrong with this picture? I shit you not, they hired a band for a Jimmy Buffett themed beach party, the guests got drunk, and started giving us a hard time. Then, the old rich guys want to do a skit to Margaritaville. They say, you have to play Margaritaville at x time. We start playing it as instructed. Their cabana boy type assistant comes up to us, all hard ass, and tells us we need to play Margaritaville right now because they're ready - ummm.. we're playing it right now like you told us to do! They didn't even know the song. This is why I cringe whenever we get a party booking inquiry. Luckily, this was not the case tonight. Great crowd. They treated us with respect as a band that plays original music (although we through some fun covers in for the heck of it) and they had a good time. We had a good time. No complaints from me at all. Thank you, again, for being a great audience!

Highlights for me: 

We played a new one I wrote called Good Time. We've only rehearsed it once and I was kind of worried how it would go over. It was nice to see feet tapping and to hear it actually happen on stage. Based on the physical response (toe tapping and dancing in place) from the country fans, I think this new one is going to do well and will be on the new album, for sure. It's a weird thing to be a songwriter. You, basically, are spilling your guts to the public and you never know what kind of response you're going to get. It's a very nervous thing to play a new song you've written live for the first time. I think this one's a keeper. 

Another highlight was the dancing and seeing people smiling. We played Come Monday from Buffett. It packed the dance floor. It's a nice feeling, when you're doing a cover, to actually see that you're doing it well. The dance floor doesn't lie. If you're doing a song that was meant to be danced to, an empty dance floor (in a full room) is a bad sign. Not the case tonight. It was nice. 

So, that's my review of the night. I had a really good time. I don't know if it's because Aledo is Heath's home town or if it's just the town itself. But, every time we have played there, I have felt good after the show.

Below, some pics from my resident photographer (and bass player), Brian. I swear, one of these days I'm going to remember to take pictures myself!

Party on Bill & Ted... So-Crates says we've got some fun on the horizon. 

Stay gold,

RH

Aledo knows how to drive in style.

Did you know Brian Barton wears a white polyester suite on stage?

Sound Check

Some things never change... I took this same picture while at this location last year. 8pm, their lot was packed.. :)