Double-header last night.

Wow. ETB played back to back 3 hour sets last night, early set at Friends 7:30 to 10:15, then wheeled all our gear postehaste to BD Riley's 2 doors down for 10:30 til close.

Grueling, but effective. Great crowds at both venues (most of Friends crowd followed us next door) and a profitable night to boot. Debuted a few new covers and played less than half of songs from early set at later set. Awesome!

Felt good to melt faces for about 6 hours, hence feeling wrecked today. We play Poodie's Hilltop later this evening as well.

Busy week all around. Monday at Friends was okay, crowd kind of a mixed bag. But met a guy from Libya, that was really cool. Had helped with the uprisings there. I didn't ask too much detail but he said things were "much better" there now. Wow.

Had a brief ETB rehearsal, can't remember which day at this point. Worked on some new tunes and worked out "Love is Taking It's Toll" by Anders Osbourn and "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix (aforementioned new covers we debuted).

Had at least one Arcana Mundi practice as well. Coming along and enjoying the challenge of trying to play some of Matt Smith's riffs and solos. Guy is a card-carrying bad ass, do yourself a favor and check out his band Matt Smith's World if you don't believe me.

Yeah, this week has been a pleasant blur of work, Hobbit Hole related activities, seeing friends and squeezing in a nap in between.

I feel really good.

Sweatin in January

Greetings from the Hobbit Hole. Another day of cleaning and gettin situated.

I love this place. I love this area. Loving life like I haven't in quite some time. Feels good to feel good. Feels like I finally have my life back since my separation and divorce more than 2 years ago.

ETB schedule is slow, which is good cause so much work to do here. Yesterday bought a badass printer/fax/scanner. Love it. For the drive to ETB residency @ Friends last night lit a cigarette when I pulled onto S Congress. Still had 1/3 of it left when pulled up to Friends. The drive from Lakeway was a whole ciggie from Apache Shores to the light at Bee Cave Pkwy, the shortcut from 620 to Bee Cave Road. A whole ciggie to get to the road that leads to the road that leads into town. Wow.

Good show last night, was actually sweating on stage. Very mild night. Good show and good crowd. My mental state is translating to me having fun onstage, which is good. Setting up shouldn't feel like punching a timeclock. Eric was having gear issues: broke both overdrives before set, backup overdrive was iffy and sounded kinda shite, wah was iffy, broke strings on 59 and 63 strats. But he takes it in stride and rolls with the punches. Respect.

Good show, good times.

Not much planned for this week so far. Arcana Mundi practice rescheduled for tomorrow. Talk of ETB writing sessions and a bad meeting but nothing set. Friday going to see Princess of Darkness, Heather Webb's new band, at 512 Studios. Sat have orientation for volunteer work at Capital Area Food Bank for my community service, and ETB gig that night.

Back to work. Or maybe a nap first...

Much going on.

Don't even know where to begin.

Trin and I getting settled into the "Hobbit Hole" as we are calling it, in ____ RV park off of South Congress. A gutted 5th wheel trailer with full kitchen and batroom, with added on: entry room, screened in patio/living room and guest bedroom. It is absolutely amazing here.

Moved in Sunday night in time for torrential rains and leaks. Then dealt with slight rodent problem which has been remedied with $5 worth of wood trim and the butt end of a BB gun. And it's ours. Homeowners. Next step is to enclose and insulate the screened in patio/living room and we can move our furniture in.

Also been a week filled with music.

Sat ETB in Houston with Amplified Heat at Continental Club was awesome. We had a great crowd and great set, Amp Heat was absolutely on fire. Our Monday residency at Friends started dead as can be but filled such that aside from 2 brief Eric-play-one-by-yourself-so-we-can-pee breaks we took no actual set breaks. Fun. Tues and Wed had practice with Arcana Mundi. Feels good playing guitar. And learning Matt Smith guitar lines is a welcome challenge and at times a struggle.

Looks like I will have Jerry Tubb master "Ocean of Stars" by default. Tim was getting Gracenotes (iTunes album database) done for his album and asked if he could have same done for OoS. Said sure, would pay him back. But album needs mastering for Gracenote encryption. So having a Grammy-winning producer master my album won't be a bad thing.

Will keep y'all posted. Must get back to work, much to be done.

Jan 4, 2012

Sitting in the waiting room for my HAAM dentist appointment. Teeth are fine, just been awhile. If it wasn't for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians I would have no medical/dental/eye/mental health coverage. Please support them, you are helping me and my teeth, and many of my good friends.

After this I go for practice with Arcana Mundi, Tim Abbot's new band. Playing guitar, awesome. Well I wanted to play guitar more so Tim informed me he's getting together with some players and if I could learn 4 songs. This was yesterday afternoon.

Drove into town yesterday (listening to CD) to close the deal on the Hobbit Hole, as we are calling it. A property off South Congress in _____ RV Park. A 5th wheel trailer which a friend gutted and remodeled, and added 3 rooms onto. From the outside looks a bit ramshackle. But on inside: full kitchen, bathroom with shower stall and room for a queen bed in the upstairs "pod". And that's just the trailer. Added on are a full entry room, screened in patio/living area (will fully enclose that) and a back bedroom/office with bunk beds and hardwood floors. It's not much but it awesome. And thanks to the help of my family, I own it. Trin and I start moving in Saturday. We looked into a live/work space a block down the road. 800 sqft for $2000/month. Yeah.

So this is amazing news. Which couldn't have come at a better time, as I was in bad shape first half of December. Was thinking to utilize some counseling thru SIMS, the mental health part of HAAM. Felt stuck, powerless, and was losing hope that we'd be able to move back into town and get re-established without making some drastic and desperate career moves. But the Hobbit Hole fell into our laps and was a place we could easily afford. Now gas from/back to Lakeway is no longer an issue. Everything we need to do is within 5 miles. Eric can pick me up for gigs downtown. Yeah. Perfect. Looking very much forward to firmly replanting myself into the music community.

So this had totally turned things around for me. And other offers are coming in fast. Possible King's X tour in the spring. Tim and Stanley Man are talking CD release parties for Feb. ETB just picked up opening for Lucas Nelson (son of Willie) at House of Blues in Houston next Wednesday. We play BD Riley's on Friday and already will be in Houston Saturday to rock Continental Club with our good friends, the mighty Amplified Heat.

So yeah. Good things. Have a lot to be thankful for.