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

09.28.2013 - Caddo Street Grill - Cleburne, TX

Happy Sunday! Now, let's talk about last night...

I am going to start off by saying that yesterday had all the ingredients for a really REALLY horrible night. I got a call early in the day from my drummer, Cisco, letting me know that he had a death in the family and was concerned about our show next weekend as he may have to go to Minnesota for a funeral. Ok, life happens, we'll deal with it. The good news was that he would be there tonight. Well, kind of...

Since this was our first time at this venue and we were having an opening act (who would be using our sound system), I asked everyone to be there a little earlier than usual. A few minutes after 7pm, I get a text from Cisco - dealing with funeral arrangements, hoping to be there by 7:30. 7:30 comes and goes... finally, around 8 he arrives. Whew, ok, everything else was setup, just had to get him in place, do a sound check and we'd be fine. Wrong...

So, he gets set up and finds that, amidst all the family stuff he was dealing with, he forgot to pack the pedal for his bass drum. That's a bad thing. A very bad thing. So, he sets up and says he's going to run back to Fort Worth and grab one and be back in time for us to go on at 10pm.

9:12  a text comes in... "see if you can have the opener play an extra song to two to buy some time... on my way."

9:48... "Sorry, not gonna make it by 10."

9:54... "Probably another 30 to 45 minutes..."

10:15... "Burleson."

10:34... "Cleburne city limits."

10:43... "5 minutes away."

Meanwhile, at 10pm we've got a room full of people wanting live music. Heath and I are pretty much stressed out beyond belief. Finally, we had to make the decision to fire up the drum machine and play "something" in case it was going to take even longer. So, we sucked it up, explained to the audience that there had been a family emergency going on all day, told them what was happening, and then we started playing.

About 2 or 3 songs in, here comes Cisco. I'm pretty sure you could hear Heath, Brian and I sigh of relief all the way to Dallas. Cisco puts his bass pedal on, sits down and we kick on the full show.

Maybe we need more drama like this in our lives? We played better than we've probably ever played as a 4 piece. About the 3rd song (with Cisco) we noticed the crowd was starting to have a lot of fun, dance floor started filling, the beads started flying and it turned into quite the party.

What started as a really bad night ended up being one of our best shows to date. We got a lot of comments from the staff that they really enjoyed it, had a lot of people sign up for our mailing list, and Caddo Street asked us back for a return visit towards the end of the year. Can't complain about that!

On the way home, as I play video car arcade to avoid the drunks on the road, I started laughing out loud about how crazy this kind of life is. Then I laughed even harder at the thought that I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

This was my first time in Cleburne. Nice little town. Highway 67 seems to be proving a friend... same road to get to Glen Rose. Same type of genuine people. I look forward to 67 again in October at Hollywood & Vine.

On a side note, I gotta tell you about this girl that opened for us. I say girl because, as I heard it, she just turned 17. As Heath, Brian and I were standing there watching her, I jokingly said, "crap, I don't want to sing after her." Yeah, she's really good. I expect we're going to be hearing a lot more from her in the future and we hope to play with her again, for sure. Check out some quick clips I shot of her from the side of the stage to hear her voice. Still amazed that she's only 17. Thanks to Marti Ludwig for booking this show months and months ago and thanks for putting us in contact with Jade!

Ok, kids... I've been good all weekend. It's Sunday and is finally past Noon so all us sinners can finally buy beer in Texas. Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and I'll be talking to you again after our show next week in Forth Worth at Chubby's. Until then...

Stay gold,
RH

09.13.2013 - Cowtown Bowling Palace - Fort Worth, TX

Ok, ok, so I'm having a hard time blogging about these bowling alley gigs lately. Sorry. It's not that they're bad or anything, just the last couple haven't had any big moments that I find worthy of writing about.

This show... We implemented a full click track system without practicing with it first. Why, yes, I do think Jason Voorhees was in the house. A little rough on some songs, but overall, it's going to work.

Don't get me wrong by the short post - I love playing these bowling alley gigs and the people in the crowd seem to be having a great time. It's a fun night. There just wasn't a lot to write about this time. Maybe you should show up and cause a little somethin' to write about next time! We'll be back at the alley next month... until then...

Stay gold,
RH

09.06.2013 - Cutting Horse - Weatherford, TX

Last minute Friday night pickup gig! We didn't know we were doing this one until Wednesday, I believe. Sometimes shows just happen and this was one of them. 

This show had all the makings of a disaster movie. As I mentioned, it was a last minute thing. But, more impacting was that the day before the show, one of my dogs, Wojo, passed away due to a heart condition. I won't go into all the details here. Thursday night I got about 2 hours sleep, was up at 3am on Friday, then stayed awake until time to head to the show on Friday night. Icing on the cake was the 40 minute drive to the show turning into a 2 hour drive due to traffic on I-35W, then GPS took me the wrong direction at the venue exit, all resulting in my being late to sound check. I really like playing live, especially with Sand Dollar Rodeo. But, as I was sitting there in traffic, I really did not want to do it and would have welcomed a Friday night off. That wasn't in the cards, so had to suck it up, put on a happy face and make the best of it. 

So, we setup, sound checked, then had a few beers and relaxed until show time... 

This was our first time at Cutting Horse. It was a nice place, kind of a split venue - one side sports bar, the other side concert hall. Not a huge place, but big enough. The staff were also very friendly and I think the bar food was good... pretty sure I saw Brian chowing down on some wings. I don't eat before shows, but it did smell pretty good. 

We were opening for a band called Country City Limits. They are more traditional country than us, but that didn't really matter. As I am quickly learning, you don't want to play live in Texas on a Friday night during high school football season... especially during game hours. In other words, the place was not packed. 

We did ok, though. Had some folks dance and traded a few wise cracks with the audience. Mentally, I'm pretty good about being able to block out the "real world" when on stage, so the show itself was fine and I had a good time. It was nice to clear my mind for a few minutes. No complaints. 

Afterwards, we cleared the stage real fast for the next band, then I stayed outside packing gear for quite a while. As I packed up the last few cases, the beer and energy shots fizzled and reality came back in sight. I was ready to go home. Went in and made a quick "hello/goodbye" appearance and drove back home in silence. Sometimes silence is a really nice thing. Sorry to sound so down on this post, but I try to document the night as it was. For me, that's how it was. 

On the positive side, the place was a nice venue. We really enjoyed it there and hope to be back there again soon. On a better night (personally) it has the potential to be a lot of fun. If you're ever passing through Weatherford, check them out! 

Next show... next show, back to the strike zone...

Cutting Horse stage after sound check, picture from Heath's phone. Funny, it looks so small in the picture!

08.24.2013 - Cowtown Bowling Palace - Fort Worth, TX

Well, hello strangers!

While it's only been a month, it seems like we haven't played live in a year. Luckily, we're about to get more active again here in another month. So, we're using the down time to work on some new aspects to the live show, setting up the next album, etc. I promise we have been working and will be working, just not on a stage as much until Fall kicks in. Stay tuned for a bunch of dates going up on our calendar in the next week.

So, about last night... The night was a big one for us in several ways. First off, it was our first show ever with live drums. Our normal setup is that the main drums (kick/snare/hats) run from my keyboard and Cisco plays hand percussion along with it. Now, Cisco is playing full kit and, for the time being, I've take the auxiliary percussion back to the keyboards. I'm proud to say that Cisco is doing a great job on the kit. We use a great deal of sequencing - you've heard the songs, there's a lot going on from the keyboard (and if you don't know - aside from the guitars, our album was all done with keyboards). Anyway, running the sequencer requires me to set the timing. It's kind of reverse from what a drummer is used to. In their world, they're setting the tempo, not following it. So, when bands like us go and do this, it takes a lot of focus and concentration to lock in that groove and hold things together. That's why I've always admired Roger Taylor from Duran Duran. Even back in the early days, before the high tech click track systems, he did just as we're doing, same method, and he did a great job at it. On our side, I'm happy to say that Cisco and the rest of us pulled it off!

Speaking of "the rest of us." There's more of "us" now! Last night was also our first show with Brian Barton on bass. It was kind of weird, for me, to look over to my left and see someone there. The past year, I've had Heath to my right and no one to my left. At one point during the set, I looked over and almost spooked myself when I saw someone there. Cracked me up and I think I got lost in the song we were playing. Oh well, shit happens. I give Brian credit - I think he had about 2 weeks, something like that, to try and get familiar with our show... a three hour show. That's a lot to cram in during a short period of time. Again, like Cisco, he pulled it off. Anyway, it was fun having him there and I look forward to future shows. 

And future shows... I think the key word I said in that last sentence above was "fun." This new formation of the band has been fun for Heath and I. Really fun. I think Cisco and Brian are feeling it, too. We're all seeming to click and over time, as we tighten things up and get more comfortable with each other, I think our show is going to crank the fun factor to eleven. 

Now, back to this specific place... It's an interesting concept that I was drawn to early in 2013. I saw an ad that this bowling alley was having live music. I knew that I, as a customer, would be into attending something like that. So, I gave the contact info to our agent and told her I wanted Sand Dollar Rodeo to play there. As a performer, it's an odd gig. No one really watches you like a regular concert, they bowl and listen. So, there's no fancy stage or blinky lights (on us anyways - they do kill the lights and get the disco bowling thing going on the lanes). But, it's nice when you get a compliment because it means someone really listened to you. I much prefer that to a bar gig where you're a jukebox designed to sell booze. Then, when the booze sells, the drunks start making requests of crap that you'd never play. I'll take the bowling alley over that any day. That's how I got started playing the breweries. It was something different that I thought would be a nice change for the listener, rather than having to go see us at a club. Now if I can just find a roller skating rink with bar service... well, I guess that could be a little dangerous. Maybe we'll stick with the bowling alley. 

So, that was last night. We'll be doing it again on Friday, September 13th. If you're in Fort Worth and want a fun night (that doesn't cost a fortune), come on down to Cowtown Bowling Palace. We'll see you there! I'll leave you with a few pictures that Brian's wife, Carrie, took last night .

Stay gold,
RH

Sand Dollar Rodeo v 4.0