05.01.2014 - Lake Weatherford Marina - Weatherford, TX

I think I have found my new adopted home until I pack up and move back down to South Texas.

For my New England (Rhody) friends, think Oakland Beach. Just a pleasant place. And, while a lake, about as much beach frontage as that Oakland strip. It worked. While I, pretty much, am always wanting to be on the water... Tonight, it really hit home how much I enjoy that environment. The mindset is just kind of mine.

So, the show... Tonight Heath and I continued our exploration of playing acoustic. We have avoided acoustic since day one. We like the loud madness of rock n roll. We write for that concert setting. However, this is Texas and acoustic, well, it's something you're expected to do if you want to be taken as serious songwriters. So, we're trying it out.

I am happy to say that, after two acoustic shows under our belt, it seems to be working....and it has been a lot of fun. There's a different connection on an acoustic show. No blinky lights or fog machines (both I love). It's just you and your guitar, kind of naked. Scary as Hell. But, when you get a response, it's a pretty cool high.

Our set was, for the most part, was what you'd hear at a full band show, but we added some fun covers on a whim here and there. The freedom of just playing, rather than following the set list was fun for me.

We tried out some new material as well. We have a new song called Old Aledo and Heath made his lead vocal debut with it tonight!

I was really surprised at the dance floor. Mind you, we were acoustic. We expected NO dancing. Quite the opposite reaction and that was a treat.

Also, met a cool drummer girl... I apologize in advance... her name was Janelle? Jeanette? I am sure I have that wrong, there were several buckets of Shiner involved.... regardless, she had some hand percussion gear with her and joined us on the last few songs. Heath got her number... you might see her with us again . Nice girl and I apologize for the name... Names are Heath's department. I just show up and try to sing :)

So, that was it. Incredibly fun night and I hope to play there again.

Tomorrow night (tonight?), we are back at it with the acoustic thing. We had a last minute booking and will be at Reno Reds in Roanoke, TX. The next day, back to rock n roll and gawdy clothes with the full band at Mayfest in Fort Worth.

I love it and am thankful for the ability to play as often as we can. If you're in one of those towns, come say HI this weekend.

Stay Gold,
RFH

04.26.2014 - Martin House Brewing Company - Fort Worth, TX

I tell you what... I could go for this schedule every show!

This was Sand Dollar Rodeo's second appearance at Martin House. In the months since our last visit, they seem to be getting a good reputation for both their beer and live music. I think last weekend, maybe the one before, The Toadies played there on that same loading dock as us.

This show went fine. It was hot, but no other big issues. We played a couple of hours and genuinely had fun. From what I heard, we had about 400 beer guzzling hipsters. Hard to tell from our view. There is a constant stream of traffic in a brewery situation and people are inside and out. We played on the loading dock and the door was open. So, we had a crowd both in front and behind us. A little odd, but so are we.

Like I said, show was fun and went fine. Sold some stuff, mission accomplished.

Afterwards, I ran back home to drop off gear, changed clothes and went to Main Street Fest in Grand Prairie to hang out and listen to Roger Creager. What a great day... play a show (which included a Creager song) then go relax, have a beer and attend a show. My kind of day. Here, have a picture from my view of Creager's show!

Roger Creager and Huff Daddy - Main Street Fest - Grand Prairie, TX - 4/26/2014

Next up, we are at Mayfest in Fort Worth. I love fests. So, come on down... these are my favorite type of shows to play and I'd love to see ya!

Stay gold,
RH
www.SandDollarRodeo.com

04.19.2014 - Junior's Lone Star Sauce 1yr Aniversary Party @ Cobra Brewing - Lewisville, TX

Well, I meant to get this out yesterday, but it was Easter and... yeah, I was a little more concerned with eating all the great food that was floating around, my friends, Brian & Kristi's house yesterday. I'm only a few hours late of having gotten the post out within a day after the show, right?

Ok, so, I guess I need to set up the when, where, how, why of this "show." First off, it wasn't really an SDR "show" in the traditional sense. This was multi-band deal and the real focus of the day was not the bands, but the BBQ sauce - specifically, Junior's Lone Star Sauce, as they were celebrating their one year anniversary.

I ran into Tex and Chrissie about a year ago when my friend Mike and I were at the Best Little Brewfest in Texas. It was your typical beer fest, but they seemed to be trying to put a local spin on it moreso than the others that I've been to around the DFW metroplex. It was a nice, comfortable fest. Anyway, we're winding our way through the samples and there towards the back was this table with BBQ sauce samples. I'm always game, so we tried and it was amazing. So, we buy a few jars and continue back to the beer sampling... and keep making random comments between ourselves about how good that sauce was.

Fast forward a month or two and Mike and I are discussing the sauce and how we need to find them again to buy more. Checked out their website and, go figure, they lived in the same town as I do... and they were working the beer circuit pretty hard, as were we. A day or two later, Sand Dollar Rodeo is playing a brewery tour (Martin House, maybe?) and look who's there early setting up a table. Needless to say, we spent more on sauce than we got paid and I was able to turn my bandmates onto it as well. I remember Heath fell in love with the stuff. His parents were there and I think bought some and got hooked as well. Years from now, I suspect we're going to see Tex on the news, having been busted for putting some addictive element in the sauce LOL.

We talked with them a bit more and, as I mentioned, he and his wife lived in Roanoke. So, I think one of us said we should go get a beer sometime when neither of us are working on the same weekend. Working on the weekend is par for course, so it's a good thing not to be free on the weekend. After that, we pretty much all became friends on Facebook and, eventually, one night off we were all stumbling around old Roanoke and hooked up for some beer!

I will say something that most of you probably don't know or think about... when you (we) play different places most every night, it's rare to see a friendly face in the venue. It's not like a day job where you're going into an office with the same group of co-workers each day. Our office staff changes every night. That's why, when an employee of a club, vendor or whatever, is friendly to us, we remember. We show up and throw it all out there in front of strangers on a stage. Seeing a familiar, friendly face is a nice treat for us and makes our job easier. Tex & Chrissie are some of those familiar, friendly faces that we get to see every once in a while.

Several months ago, maybe after a night in Roanoke - I can't remember, Tex told me he was planning the party and asked if we would play. Unfortunately, the rest of the band wasn't able to do it. But, Heath and I wanted to be there. You see, when the Junior's folks get big and famous, we're going to get them to make us up some of Sand Dollar Rodeo's Fired Okra Dippin' Sauce. I can  already taste it... anyway, jokes aside, we wanted to be there. So, we said it was time to put together an acoustic set, I followed up with Tex and we booked the damned gig!

After the fact, I'm so glad we did. It was a really nice afternoon and I was glad to see so many people come out and support them. Ok, so now to the usual show highlights reel...

We show up around 11, say hello and get these really cool beer glasses! So cool, we had to just fill them up, right?

Along with the party, they were hosting a beard/facial hair competition. That was a lot of fun. I think my personal favorite was this guy and his Easter beard basket:

Although, we were playing while most of the competitors were showing up, so I am sure I missed some good ones. I had no idea what to expect from a facial hair competition, but it was actually a lot of fun. I am pretty sure everyone in the crowd enjoyed watching it. 

So, we play...

You can't really tell from the picture above, but we were playing a pretty good sized parking lot. A concrete parking lot. The sun decided to come out. Oh boy, I can tell you that, as I type this, my face is bright red. I got so sunburned, it's not even funny. I wasn't aware we would be outside, so didn't pack any sunscreen. We live and learn, bottle of "just in case" sunscreen going in my gig bag from here on out!

We played for an hour. Highlight of the set was watching some drunk cowboy in a black hat doing a hillbilly rumpshaker dance to Fried Okra. He will remain nameless. Probably the worst version or Fried Okra we've ever played because I could not stop laughing. 

After our set, we stuck around and watched the other bands - The Rhythm and Beards and then The Driftin' Outlaw Band. Both were a lot of fun and I recommend checking them out if they're in your neck of the woods. 

On a side note, this was my first time visiting Cobra Brewing Company. They had a nice, comfortable, setup. I will be going back again (as a customer), for sure. 

My closing comments are 1) a big thank you to Tex & Chrissie for having us 2) if you weren't there, you missed a Hell of a party 3) try their sauce - Junior's Texas Sauce !

Roy, Heath, Pitmaster Tex & Chrissie - No actual beer was consumed in this photo...

Until next time... Stay Gold,

RH

www.SandDollarRodeo.com 

04.12.2104 - Cowtown Bowling Palace - Fort Worth, TX

Hmm... they had green beer? As I mentioned last time, we have played here so often that things become a blur and it is often hard to come up with much to report.

They did have green beer. As I was talking to the bartender, she poured a green Coors Light and explained that the distributor delivered it well after St. Patrick's Day. Too bad it was Coors Light. I am almost always up for a colored beer... a Coors, not so much.

There was a lot going on in town. Main Street Arts Festival took a toll on most every entertainment venue in the Metroplex. Add to that Wade Bowen playing a few miles down the road. Fairly slow night. Too bad since last time was so busy. Just too much going on in the same night. It happens. We made it through the night.

We're working on some new strategies and are going to be paying more attention to oversaturation in certain areas. As a result, we probably won't be back to Cowtown for a while. So, if you've been putting off coming out because you think we will be there again in a month... you might have just missed your chance.

Next week, Heath and I will be playing an acoustic set at the Juniors Lone Star Sauce 1 year anniversary party. I stumbled upon their bbq sauce about a year ago at a beer fest at Texas Motor Speedway. Omg. Best sauce ever! As I kept running into them at beer events where we were playing or they were selling, we got to be friendly. Turns out they only live about a mile away from me! I am really glad to be a part of their celebration. 

We kick off the party by playing from Noon to 1p.m.. Several other bands will play throughout the day. So, if you're available and want to experience some awesome TX sauce, come on out to Cobra Brewing Co in Lewisville and join us. Details are on our website.

Okie dokie. It is Spring in Texas and we've just been issued a tornado watch... par for the course, but I should power down before the storms move in.

Stay gold and I will see you next time!

RH

Roy Holliday

Sand Dollar Rodeo

www.SandDollarRodeo.com

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.. :)