06.13.2104 - Reno Red's - Roanoke, TX

Well, I am playing catch up. The past week has been crazy and busy. So, we will be quick and to the point on this one!

So, so night. Not sure what was going on around town, but every place in the downtown area was dead slow. Oh, and it was Friday the13th. Jason was nowhere to be seen.

This was another acoustic show and was the first time I've brought out my 12 string. Tried a few new things on it, some you may hear again, some you may not LOL.

All in all, pretty routine night. Not a lot to write home about on this one. As usual, great food, fun staff and Mr. Dan (the manager) is great. I hear he sings, too.... oh yeah, at the end a staff member came up and sang a few songs. I need to track down her name, she had a really nice voice!

After that, I came home, reorganized gear for full band mode and was in bed by 3 or 4 am... such is life.

I'll catch you guys up what happened the next night sometime this week!

Til then, stay gold.
RH

06.07.2014 - Railhead - Willow Park, TX

Well, despite some guy named George playing his final show to 105k of closest friends and the 40k over at the Rangers game, Sand Dollar Rodeo had a pretty good night. The outdoor area (where the bands play) was pretty full right up til last call.

Highlights of the night:

Heath's family was out to celebrate Allyson's (his wife) birthday. Always a good time when that bunch shows up. However, how did I miss out on the cake? That's the 2nd occasion in a row that I've forgotten to get a piece! I should just start bringing my own.

Next... space! Now that the weather has arrived, all of the usual side draping on the patio was gone. That allows for twice the stage area. I can't tell you how nice it was to be able to move around. Speaking of weather, thank god for the breeze. When I was driving to the show, the car said it was 98 degrees. Luckily, once the sun went down, it was much better and not really an issue, just chugged a lot of water.

Good night at the merchandise table as well. We just about sold out (like fully out of stock) the GPS CD. I think we have 3 left. Guess we need to press some more! Good problem to have.

Thanks to everyone who came out. We had a great time and appreciate you guys taking the time out to come see us play. Also, thanks to Railhead for having us back again. Always a friendly staff and we hope to be back there again this Fall.

Next week, Heath and I will be acoustic Friday night at Reno Red's in Roanoke, then full band on Saturday night at Hollywood & Vine in Glen Rose. If you're in either of those areas, we look forward to seeing you there!

Stay gold,
RH
www.SandDollarRodeo.com

PS: Thanks for the pictures, Shelly!

Some groupies that were high on birthday cake

LR: Tony, Brian & Trey

Heath, early on, fighting the heat... and enjoying the space.

06.03.2014 - 95.9 The Ranch Pickin' Party - Willow Park, TX

I am home now and watching Trevor Horn's Slaves to the Rhythm DVD from Netflix. I find myself in such a weird place. I adore technology. It's my thing. Regardless of whether you liked it or not, Trevor was responsible for for a large part of what you heard on the radio in the eighties and beyond. He was (and still is) very influential on what and how I do what I do. Good DVD.

Now, let's forget all that... we're in Texas.

What a fun, strange, trip tonight was. It's no secret, I am not a fan of acoustic shows. I take that back, I am not a fan of Sand Dollar Rodeo playing acoustic. I write our songs for full band, with sound effects and a lot of synth sounds. So, when it is stripped down, it makes me uncomfortable.

However, as time has gone by, I have learned that our Texas friends want to hear it stripped down. They want to hear the lyrics and find out who you are as a person, what the songs are actually about, that kind of stuff. So, a while back, Heath and I decided we'd give it a shot, just to see what happened. We booked a few acoustic shows.

I am glad, and confused, to find that these shows keep going well. I saw John Waters last week and had the chance to speak with him after the show. He didn't seem to get his current stand-up / non-movie success either. For some reason, some people just want to see entertainers raw and unpolished.

So, you got it tonight...Heath and I had heard about something called 95.9 The Ranch's Pickin' Party with Zane Williams & Randy Brown at the Railhead...

I didn't have anything going, Heath said, "let's do it" and we did. Just guitars and us. We played a couple songs, it went fine, we promoted Saturday's show. Good, right? No... it was REALLY good. We tapped into Texas musicians from all around the state. Made some good contacts. Who knew?

End of the night summation: This is all about networking here in Texas... and you'll probably see us at a few more of these things again this Summer :)

Saturday, we return to this same location for a full band show. It's a nice place to see a full band show in an "up close" environment. If you're out and about in the Willow Park / Aledo / Weatherford area, come by Railhead and say "hello." Railhead is located at 120 S. Ranch House Rd., Willow Park TX 76008. 

Stay gold... see you Saturday
RH
www.SandDollarRodeo.com