tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50302118044862533432024-03-17T22:03:17.507-05:00DANNY G'S ROCK BLOGTHE CHRONICLES OF A WORKING MUSICIAN.Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.comBlogger413125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-9338702912181596052016-12-27T10:05:00.003-06:002016-12-27T10:05:46.281-06:002016 Year-End RecapHello all<br />
<br />
Please forgive my radio silence from this blog for most of this year. 2016 was not especially kind to me, but I am still here. There was certainly much going on musically, but with everything going on I didn't want to talk about it.<br />
<br />
I did briefly publish a post detailing everything, but took it down. I don't know if I will re-post it or not.<br />
<br />
Regardless, I am still fucking here. And in 2017 I will have my revenge.<br />
<br />
So here is a recap for 2016, courtesy my FB page.<br />
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2016 RETROSPECTIVE</div>
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Not a bad year, but not a great one either for reasons I won't get into. But I stayed busy, played as much as I could, and did some cool stuff. Adrian Conner at RevFest in Kerrville TX, Ocean of Stars summer residency, lots of other highlights as well!</div>
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My numbers might be slightly off but so far the breakdown:</div>
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159 shows with 15 projects across 7 states.</div>
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40 dates with Stupid Drama<br />30 dates with Thunderosa<br />22 dates with Bleu Edmondson<br />19 dates with Adrian Conner<br />13 dates with Deann Rene Band<br />12 dates with Eric Tessmer Band<br />9 dates with Ocean of Stars</div>
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As well as gigs with Heather Bishop, Ulrich Ellison, Jen Leigh, Dave Winsman, Taking Back Thaxton, Bricktop Blues Band, Shaun Peace, and Kitty & The Lucky Break.</div>
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Closed the year off with an Ocean of Stars gig. I am currently on vacation seeing family through New Years Eve and am not even looking for a gig. This will be the longest visit for me that I can remember, and much needed.</div>
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Other highlights: Ocean of Stars recorded and released the digital single "Great Divide". Work is set to resume on the new Stupid Drama record, on which I made my recorded debut as a mandolin player. Had my first session as a harmony vocalist on Rick Hornyak's new record.</div>
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I did not work on an RPM Challenge solo album this year (took my first break from participation since 2009), and am deeply regretting that decision now.</div>
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Looking to make things happen with Ocean of Stars for 2017. Look for a new EP coming soon (if you run a label who might be interested in us, you can reach me here \m/,)</div>
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Looking forward to new musical challenges and making music with and for new people, and continuing to make music with and for old friends. Lost a few of those this year. Tell people you love them.</div>
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Hope the coming year finds you all well.</div>
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Take care and rock on,<br />Danny G</div>
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Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-30744092137233694062016-02-23T11:49:00.002-06:002016-02-23T11:49:25.073-06:00I haven't been wanting to post this, but here goes.Hope you all enjoy the recap of the crazy/weird/terrible/fun/awesome Thunderosa January run.<br />
<br />
But late on Sunday Feb 7 (Super Bowl Sunday) I received some terrible news from AJ<br />
<br />
Our wonderful host, Bonnie Wade, had passed.<br />
<br />
We didn't have any details at the time. It was almost a month to the day when we arrived at her home in Tucson. It had been barely a month since she had been serenading us with songs on the piano, since we had sat down together at the dinner table and ate as a family, holding hands in prayer before doing so. It had been almost a month since she took Drew and I out for a beautiful stroll in the desert. She found an old bleached bone section and gave it to me as a souvenir, and had already placed it with other mementos (cool rocks etc) from that trip and many others.<br />
<br />
I was deeply saddened, but more numb with shock. You just assume you will always see people when you pass through their necks of the woods. I was and am set to return to AZ with Adrian Conner in April. Was going to invite her out, even tho the Adrian shows will be centered around the Sedona area.<br />
<br />
But things got even more heart-breaking when it was revealed by her family that she had taken her own life.<br />
<br />
We were going to keep that detail to ourselves out of respect for her family, but her family released that detail on social media and left it at that. So although I don't want to talk about it, I can. Doesn't make it easier.<br />
<br />
She had some things in her life which were troubling her, as we all do. But she seemed eager to move out of the rental house she hosted us in and travel around in her little RV. She was even planning to swing through Austin and say hi to all her friends there. She seemed weary, but also hopeful and excited.<br />
<br />
I'm still a little crushed.<br />
<br />
There is an Austin memorial service/celebration of her life this Sunday. Unfortunately I will miss it as I'll be returning from a weekend of shows in Oklahoma this weekend.<br />
<br />
There are lots of other great things to talk about, but I don't feel like it.<br />
<br />
<br />
But, for now:<br />
<br />
Tell the people you love that you love them.<br />
<br />
Tell the people you appreciate that you appreciate them.<br />
<br />
Call the people you haven't talked to in awhile. Write a letter. Send a postcard.<br />
<br />
If someone wrongs you, forgive them.<br />
<br />
Smile and say hi to the people you pass on the street. Pet their dog if it's friendly.<br />
<br />
Treat everyone with kindness, for every person you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.<br />
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<br />
RIP Bonnie Wade<br />
<br />
I hope you've found the peace you have been looking for.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-82975237039864805392016-01-21T15:26:00.000-06:002016-01-21T15:26:24.592-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 9Tuesday Jan 12, 2016<br />
<br />
Awoke to a cold clear morning. The ice on the hotel pool was even thicker. I think Drew tried to throw a rock into it and it didn't break.<br />
<br />
AJ went and bought a pipe wrench to retrieve his wedding ring. Then we hit the road for the long haul back.<br />
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Made it back to Texas finally!!!<br />
<br />
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico<br />
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But then outside of El Paso we had to pull over.<br />
<br />
Stopped at a gas station, and sure enough the wheel we JUST HAD FIXED was smoking a little. FUCK. By now we had burned out the bearings on both sides. And were starting to worry if Van Hellsing would even make it home.<br />
<br />
AJ went into the convenience store and asked about a body shop. Lady said follow her pastor husband around the bend and he'll take us to one.<br />
<br />
He took us to a place surrounded by crumbling buildings and with piles of weird shit in the vacant lot nearby.<br />
<br />
The guys running the place were awesome. We pleaded our case, we're broke and trying to just get home, and had been delayed and bankrupted by numerous repairs.<br />
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They told us not to worry, fixed it in decent time and were super fucking cool to us.<br />
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They had us back on the road in no time. We gave them CDs and T-shirts, and traded contact info as one of the guy's cousins is in a local band that does well. We vowed to return to play with them.<br />
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Turns out we'd be seeing them sooner than we thought.<br />
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Got back onto the highway, only for the bearings on the other side to immediately have problems.<br />
<br />
So we limped back. "Hey, you guys said come back to visit! Here we are!!!"<br />
<br />
At this point we had admitted defeat. We would be staying the night in Sierra Blanca TX, and probably selling or trading the van in the morning just to get the fuck home.<br />
<br />
But sure enough, they fixed the other side in less than an hour!!!<br />
<br />
Success! We hope!<br />
<br />
And this time the front end carried us all the way home, 8 hours through West and Central Texas.<br />
<br />
The drive through the Hill Country at night was quite harrowing. We must have passed at least 100 deer. Thank God none of them were in the road. We were babying the front end, cringing at every pothole and bump, waiting to hear that goddamned telltale CLUNK.<br />
<br />
But we never heard it. We finally pulled into Austin around midnight.<br />
<br />
Holy cow. We made it. We actually fucking made it. And I gotta say, that despite us spending all of our tour money on repairs to get home and the resulting headaches and delays from said repairs... This run was a blast. Mind you, I don't want to do another run like this anytime soon, or ever, but we had fun.<br />
<br />
What a long crazy trip. But it wasn't over yet.<br />
<br />
I still had to take I-35 to get home, and after midnight.<br />
<br />
This was the most white-knuckle part of the whole fucking trip for me. Why? Because for more than a year someone has been dropping rocks on cars from bridges and overpasses on I-35. They still haven't caught the guy(s). More than 50 cars have been hit, many with serious injuries. A friend of the music community Kenneth Johnson is one of them. More than a year later he is still struggling to recover.<br />
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But I did make it home without incident. Good to see Heather finally, and Nacho as well.<br />
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But sleep eluded me all night, partially from the coffee and two 5-Hour Energies that propelled me on the return trip, partially my frayed nerves from the run, and partially coming home to find out that a friend on Facebook had died unexpectedly.<br />
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Holy shit.<br />
<br />
RIP W. Stuart Rose.<br />
<br />
I never even got to meet you tho we knew all the same people. Fuck.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-60492439093533923732016-01-21T15:02:00.002-06:002016-01-21T15:11:00.331-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 8Monday Jan 11, 2016<br />
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I got little to no sleep. Every time I would dose off, Jody's little cat would get into something or someone would snore loud. Ugh.<br />
<br />
But the van was ready by late morning/early afternoon and we'd be on our way home! I could sleep in the van so no prob.<br />
<br />
So begins the 14+ hour trek back. We thought about doing it in one shot, but settled on stopping for the evening in Deming NM which was probably wise.<br />
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Stopped here for quick pitstop. Guess Mr T had the day off, I didn't see him there.<br />
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By the way, whats up with these damn 4-packs?!?<br />
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Drive was smooth and uneventful, Van Hellsing seemed to be holding up just fine. Until we threw the bearings again. FUCK. So we lost an hour or three in Benson AZ getting that fucking fixed. Again.<br />
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AJ was on the phone with the place from Tucson who supposedly fixed it, and was not amused.<br />
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After some delay we were able to get back on the road and made it to New Mexico without further incident, finding suitable lodgings in Deming NM.<br />
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Of course, disaster caught up with us in no time.<br />
<br />
AJ washed his hands in the bathroom and his wedding ring immediately slipped off his finger and went down the damn drain. Seriously?!? The front desk was closed and no maintenance person was on site. So we'd either have to wait for him in the morning, or go out and produce our own pipe wrench.<br />
<br />
I took a very very much needed shower. And we were happy to have a proper restroom facility at our disposal, as the one in Jody's apartment only had a sheer curtain for a door, and one of us promptly clogged the toilet on our arrival there, leading us to run out for a plunger... Rock n Roll.Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-318779654912548892016-01-21T14:50:00.001-06:002016-01-21T14:51:03.918-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 7Sunday Jan 10, 2016<br />
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So we were fortunate to locate a shop open on Sundays. Just Brakes, right around the corner.<br />
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Drew had AAA so we were able to procure a tow truck no prob, as AJ tried moving the van to see if he could limp it there but that was not happening.<br />
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Spent most of the day lounging and waiting for word, as we were officially done with all bookings and needed to get home.<br />
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<br />
Sometime in the afternoon, the word came. And the word was "You better come down here." SHIT SHIT SHIT<br />
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Turns out the spindle went out which fried the bearings. It would take until Monday to fix. DAMN.<br />
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Old wheel bearings on the right. Wow.<br />
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So we holed up that night at Jody's and drank/watched the Golden Globes.<br />
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I no longer had the van bench to sleep on, so made do with the circular wicker chair in the living room. I slept very little. I think I also learned that David Bowie had died. Damn.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-73559668564429812502016-01-21T14:42:00.000-06:002016-01-21T14:58:32.712-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 6Saturday Jan 9, 2016<br />
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Drive to Phoenix to play that night at Chopper John's. Lodgings would be provided by Jody, an old friend of AJ's in her awesome little bungalow apartment.<br />
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Weather had improved for the drive.<br />
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$6.66 The Purchase of The Beast!!!<br />
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Rolled in to her place in the afternoon. Pulling off the highway there was a sound. AJ: "What was that?!?"<br />
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We hoped it was just the rough patch of road. But then the sound was followed by a distinct CLANK as we pulled onto her street. That's not good. Another CLANK as we pulled up.<br />
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AJ had recently had the spindle and bearings replaced on the left front tire. It was ok. However, the right tire had signs of leaking grease. Shit.<br />
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Not good.<br />
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Crap.<br />
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So AJ got on the horn and secured a friend with a vehicle to get the trailer to Chopper John's that night, and looked for a body shop nearby that would be open on Sunday. Van Hellsing was going nowhere under her own power.<br />
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So we chilled at Jody's until she got in from work. AJ made friends with a neighbor's dog across the street. I think he dubbed the big ole goof "Captain Chango". The dog didn't care :)<br />
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The bundle of energy named Jody finally came home and there was much catching up and regaling of tales from the current journey.<br />
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But disaster was going to be a recurring theme. The friend's truck that was carrying the trailer to the venue took a wrong turn, wound up on the highway, and immediately blew the transmission. SHIT.<br />
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They were able to limp to the venue. I was already there having met up for a quick dinner with Kim, a former Austinite and friend. So I was relaying updates to John the owner as I waited at the venue to see if the rest of the band and gear was going to show up at all.<br />
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They finally did, and with no time to spare. We threw our gear onstage, had a beer and hit it. Hard. Fun show to the best of my recollection. Lots of AJ's old friends in attendance as well so we had a great crowd.<br />
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AJ and local Phoenix anti-celebrity, Terry Trash<br />
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We also pleaded our case re: vehicle problems and set up a tip jar. The wonderful denizens of Chopper John's graciously filled it. And turned out we'd need every penny, but I jump ahead of my tale.<br />
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We had luckily secured another friend/vehicle (the transmission held up this time) to get us and the trailer back to Jody's. Her place was very small so I opted to sleep on the bench in the van. Luckily I had my warm-ass sleeping bag as it was cold as balls. I slept very well, and did not die.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-5125392681441634542016-01-21T14:20:00.000-06:002016-01-21T14:35:45.854-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 5Friday Jan 8, 2016<br />
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Began the day taking Bonnie (well, her driving us, but our treat) to Bobo's Kitchen for an awesome breakfast. En route she played The Mother Truckers "Let's All Go To Bed" album, which I haven't heard in 5 years. A good stroll down memory lane, what a time and what a band.<br />
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Lost cat poster at Bobo's. Hope he turns up haha<br />
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Then loaded our gear in early at Loudhouse so one less thing to worry about. Tonight was also their grand opening and was looking like was going to be an awesome show.<br />
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Snow on the mountains<br />
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Awesome Tucson sunset. Desert sunsets are some of the best.<br />
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Drew getting ready for the show:<br />
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Good crowd at Loudhouse. One of the bands had dropped off the bill but Gila Bend was still on board to lay down some awesome country-rock. The guitar player reminded me a lot of Josh Zee from the Truckers with his stunt-country guitar playing. Bad ass.<br />
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AJ sat in with them as well<br />
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Thunderosa's set went great as well. Holy crap it felt good to finally play! Mike the owner took great care of us and lots of old friends in attendance. While our good friend Mike Mihina (Love Mound) couldn't make it, his brother Sparky (Love Mound bassist) and sister were there. Good to see him again/meet her.<br />
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Another thing that had fallen through on this trip, was that AJ, Mike and myself were planning on recording a record for the hell of it. But a proper studio could not be locked in and Mike had to go out of town anyway. Well shit.<br />
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Still had a blast. An old version of Thunderosa also made an appearance for our set:<br />
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Photo by Bonnie<br />
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Very good times with very good people!<br />
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Also our last night at Bonnie's before heading up to Phoenix. We cannot even begin to thank her for her wonderful hospitality!<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-65717643603841505042016-01-21T14:06:00.000-06:002016-01-21T14:33:56.515-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 4Thursday Jan 7, 2016<br />
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Change of plans.<br />
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We were booked to play in Bisbee this night, a cool little mining town south of Tucson near the border with Mexico. The deal had been changing as we were on the road, getting worse each time to where we were initially going to bow out. But they came back with an acceptable offer, only now the weather was not cooperating.<br />
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In the words of the Ryan Bales Band, the weather was "complete ass-piss", meaning barely 40 degrees and raining. There was snow in the mountains all around us. We opted out as the drive was further than we originally thought in conjunction with the aforementioned weather.<br />
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Turns out we chose wisely. Bisbee got hammered with several inches of snow, the show was cancelled, and we would have been stuck there and missed the Tucson gig the next night. That was close.<br />
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But we felt bad as this meant an extra night at Bonnie's. She was a gracious host on all points, but we also felt bad being stuck at her place for an extra night (Bisbee venue had rooms to stay in upstairs and would provide a home-cooked breakfast in the AM).<br />
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So we spent the day nursing our hangovers from the DOOM JUICE, cleaning and relaxing. I did the floors and tackled the dishes, and kept the fireplace going for warmth. We certainly had drank waaaaaay more on Tuesday night, but this morning we were slow to recover.<br />
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Fireside<br />
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COZYROSA!!!Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-33893640580490778442016-01-21T13:42:00.001-06:002016-01-21T13:42:13.753-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 3Wednesday Jan 6, 2016<br />
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I forgot to mention that the original plan for Tuesday was to rehearse for the Friday Tucson show as there would be some guest players, and I believe that was also our original lodging for the evening. But that fell through as one of their room mates had to be rushed to the hospital due to a kidney stone.<br />
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Hence the hospitality of Bonnie was that much more appreciated.<br />
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We began the day with AJ cooking breakfast and us trading off cleaning and doing the previous night's dishes.<br />
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Thunderosa: We make a mess and we clean it up. Then we make another mess, and clean that up too.<br />
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This evening would be AJ Mac solo (and possibly a semi-acoustic Thunderosa set) at Independent Distillery, run by his/our old friend Larry, but we still had the day to kill.<br />
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AJ went to visit a tattoo artist friend, and Bonnie took Drew and I for a nature adventure.<br />
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Beautiful country in Tucson, high Sonoran desert plains flanked by mountains on all sides. She was taking us to the top of Mt. Lemmon, and we brought lots of warm clothes as it gets real cold real fast as you ascend in elevation.<br />
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But our path was blocked by police and road blocks. Turns out the El Nino-fueled weather pattern had the road closed off due to snow. Well shit. So we detoured and drove through Sabino Canyon.<br />
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Not finding a suitable hiking area, we created our own. Drove down some back desert residential-ish street, parked in a random spot, and walked down some official-looking but not exactly closed to the public road.<br />
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Fucking beautiful out there. I don't think I would want to live in the desert per se, but I do love visiting it and spending time there.<br />
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A Saguaro cactus forest<br />
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Drew, Bonnie and myself<br />
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Selfie with a cactus<br />
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Beautiful country<br />
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Back to Bonnie's to rest, regroup, have dinner, and prepare for the evening at Independent Distillery. Awesome day so far.<br />
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Pulled into Independent well after sundown. Did I mention it was cold as balls by now? This would be a recurring theme.<br />
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The solo opener was a younger kid with a great voice and good songs, def a Hank I vibe. Can't recall his name now, for reasons I will soon get to.<br />
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Plan was for AJ to play solo for a bit, then Drew and I join him for some stripped down tunes. We called the second part off real quick as (a) we still would have been too loud and (b) Drew and I spent AJ's set getting good-naturedly hammered at the bar. He and I had coordinated before hand to heckle AJ like the two old guys on The Muppet Show (and AJ was ok with this) but we drunkenly forgot.<br />
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Why? DOOM JUICE<br />
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This was Larry's own creation. His aged and specially blended potion. He described it as an improvement on and replacement of Fireball.<br />
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It was aptly titled. Drew and I were rather obliterated on this fine beverage which could probably send a rocket to Mars as well as some of the local craft beers. Good Lord. And good times!!!<br />
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AJ Mac solo. This is pretty much how the world looked at the time.<br />
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Near the Independent. Not sure what the story is here, but curious to know<br />
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Eventually went back to Bonnie's where we all slept like the dead.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-69687353736963600892016-01-21T13:14:00.000-06:002016-01-21T13:20:39.599-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 2Tuesday Jan 5 2016<br />
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Day off in Tucson AZ<br />
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We slept briefly after Mike left, but he invited us to come by Loudhouse for some breakfast.<br />
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Which we did. And it was amazing. Eggs and bacon. But not just any bacon, they go to CostCo and get the extra thick-cut bacon ends. Holy mouthgasm, Batman! Hung there for a beer before going to downtown Tucson to hang out, kill time, and revisit some of AJ's old stomping grounds.<br />
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Also, we were still looking for places to stay as our lodging had fallen through for the night. So we put out the APB and responses came in as the afternoon progressed.<br />
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Checked out some record stores and other places, AJ giving narration about what they used to be or things that had happened/people he knew. After checking out whatever blocks we were near we then hoofed it towards Hotel Congress. Been there several times with The Mother Truckers, but I still couldn't tell you how to get there haha.<br />
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En route stopped here:<br />
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Apparently they are opening a new location and had cleaned this one up, for the worse. When I first went there with Southern Gun Culture in 2003, it was a slobbering gear pervert's wet dream. Every inch of the store was piled to the ceiling with vintage gear, all covered in dust. Saw my very first original vintage Iceman there. Had never seen an Orange PA system with tube PA mixer and matching speakers, but by the Gods they had one.<br />
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Now it might as well have been guitar center. Everything new, and none of it worth even looking at. Sad sad sad.<br />
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At Hotel Congress AJ bumped into an old friend, Tiger. What a character. 80's, diminutive, impeccably dressed in a suit/bolo tie/fedora, apologetically gay, and with the air of an aristocrat. He is such a fixture of Tucson and Hotel Congress, they've named the bar after him: Tiger's Tap Room. He holds court there several days a week, lazily serving pints and offering high-five worthy sarcastic witticisms.<br />
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AJ and Tiger<br />
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Downtown Tucson<br />
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Tucson AZ<br />
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Stopped in at Independent Distillery, a new place run by AJ's old friend Larry, where AJ would be doing a solo set Wednesday evening. Turns out I've met him as well, during SXSW 2007 when his band Great American Tragedy shared the stage with my band Ironclad at the Snake Eyes Vinyl day party. Small world indeed.<br />
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By now fatigue was setting in so we hoofed it back to the van to decide what to do next. I didn't care what, as long as it involved a nap. Rather than look like crust punks and sleep in the van next to a busy sidewalk, we drove back to Loudhouse to see what the next move was.<br />
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We by now had several offerings for lodgings, but it was either "Not until 10pm" or "We can go there now but it's 50 miles in the wrong direction" Hmmm. It was only 3pm. And spending the next 6-7 hours in a friend's bar was a sure fire recipe for sleeping in the parking lot that night...<br />
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But then an offer came in from Bonnie, an old friend of The Mother Truckers, who had been living in Tucson for little over a year, had a house and we could stay as long as we needed. And we could head over there after 4pm. THANK YOU BONNIE! By then I was content to take a nap in the van.<br />
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Rolled into Bonnie's place and got settled in, caught up. She was doing well, had an RV she planned to travel around in, and was planning to give up the lease on the house when the time was right.<br />
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We cooked a big communal dinner that night and ate at the dining room table like a family :)<br />
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Afterwards we in the band drank like sailors as Bonnie serenaded us with songs on the piano in the living room. Good times with good people.<br />
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Did I mention she also has a fireplace?<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-67085624232537230772016-01-21T12:48:00.003-06:002016-01-21T12:48:31.301-06:00Thunderosa AZ run, Day 1Monday Jan 4, 2016<br />
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Met up at AJ's place in North Austin. Well, I got there a bit early (erred on the side of caution re: traffic), AJ and Drew were still getting the trailer, gassing up and stocking up on supplies.<br />
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Ran to a nearby convenience store to kill time, get some breakfast, and use their bathroom so I didn't pee in AJ's front yard like a cretin.<br />
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Left early afternoon, plenty of time to get to AZ by Wednesday for the first gig in Tucson. Drive was uneventful, save for the cold that came soon after sunset. The heater in the van is out, luckily I brought my heavy duty warm as hell sleeping bag to keep from freezing to death.<br />
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Lake Buchanan<br />
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Didn't get to stop at Cooper's BBQ in Llano. Wahhh.<br />
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Mason TX<br />
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Sunset in Ft. Stockton TX<br />
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Some of the weird shit they sell in gas stations. Hand-tooled leather gun holsters. Nice ones.<br />
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I took over some of the drive through West Texas, but AJ handled most of it, getting Van Hellsing and us into Tucson in the pre-dawn hours.<br />
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Slept on his friend Mike's apartment floor. Mike just opened Loudhouse, which is the venue we'd be playing on Friday.<br />
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Awoke to him getting ready to leave for work, and were greeted by a GORGEOUS Tucson sunrise. View from Mike's living room window:<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-41136565030882082212016-01-21T12:37:00.001-06:002016-01-21T12:37:15.576-06:00Quick check in before Thunderosa AZ recapBusy week on top of a busy couple of months. Busy in a good way, tho either I'm running myself ragged or the Cedar Fever Fatigue is starting to set in. Probably both.<br />
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Feel pretty good today tho, trying to get back into the routine of doing some mediation and some exercises/stretches every day. Not getting any younger. Main foe is a general feeling of lack of motivation.<br />
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Got back Saturday eve from Bleu Edmondson in Little Rock that Friday. Decent show, did what we could despite the less-than-perfectly sound system. Sunday was a blur. Probably slept and hung out with my GF and dog.<br />
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Monday spent the day again with Heather and Nacho, enjoying the holiday and the nice weather. That eve went to the re-booted jam the Ortiz Brothers are hosting at Beerland now. Sparsely attended tho it just started back up again, that will change as word spreads.<br />
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Adrian and Armando were there so we got up for a few tunes after Brick Top Blues Band did their set. Played some Zeppelin and AC/DC. Boy did that kick my ass! Pick arm/fingers still a bit sore. Tho I brought a guitar as well, played bass that night as there was just me and Taj from Brick Top there. Didn't get to jam with Jamey Simms but will do so next week. I even played drums at one point haha ugh.<br />
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Looking forward to next week.<br />
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Tuesday eve was Taking Back Thaxton rehearsal, starting back up after a hiatus. New album in the works. See what happens \m/,<br />
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Wednesday (yesterday) was hard to get out of bed. I blame mainly the cedar, but there was also some worn-outedness and a bit of laziness thrown in. Was hard to get motivated to do anything, and there is much to do. But got some domestic chores done, followed up on some booking texts/emails, lots of Adrian-related band chatter finalizing some upcoming dates. Got around to filling out the Wicked Rock Promotions interview questions and sent them in.<br />
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Then looked at the time and it was 6:40pm.<br />
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Shit. Adrian rehearsal in 20 minutes!!! Threw on some clothes, grabbed my bass and mandolin and headed over. Luckily it's not far to Armando's jam room.<br />
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Sounded good, tho there was a lot of knocking-off-the-rust. Haven't done an acoustic set in awhile so focused mainly on that. Also did three electric deep cuts as our Bridge City show next week Saturday will be an all-nighter.<br />
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Boy. I need to work on this shit at home. Not only sitting down to play bass for the acoustic stuff (I use a pick, and the angle is all wrong for everything as I'm used to standing up and slinging the bass low), but also the mandolin on "That's The Way" by Led Zeppelin. I learned it from the Live At Earl Court, and have completely forgotten all of John Paul Jones' cool runs/solos between verses.<br />
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Tonight I'm off unless a gig falls in my lap.<br />
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For Friday I'm still trying to scrounge a last minute gig, but if not I'll downtown anyway going back and forth from Beerland (Amplified Heat playing a set of Motorhead) and the Dirty Dog (friends doing an Aerosmith tribute) where Armando, Jen Leigh (Adrian's other bassist) and Dale the Super Fan will be hanging out, and I with them.<br />
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Saturday I'm at the Bat Bar on 6th Street with Kevin Winsman and Chris Trafton for an earlyish show. May hang out afterwards as there's another show at Dirty Dog which Armando and Dale will be attending. See how I feel.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-56597195981975215012016-01-20T12:48:00.001-06:002016-01-20T12:48:03.642-06:002015 Belated Year-End RecapLifted from my FB music page:<br />
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2015 year-end recap!</div>
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Seems like I just did one of these. Where has time gone?!?</div>
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Checking my calendar I played 144 dates with 15 projects, traveled from Arizona to New York City and most points in between. NYC, Washington DC, New Orleans, Sedona AZ (had my 41st birthday there!) and Colorado are all highlights.</div>
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Bleu Edmondson Band was my main project with 55 dates, followed by Adrian Conner (& The Sickness) (17), Eric Tessmer Band (15), Thunderosa (14) and Ocean of Stars (13). Got to do a few with the legendary Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) as well. Made a lot of great music with a lot of great friends and met many new ones, but also lost some along the way.</div>
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Played bass for "Little Wing" on Adrian Conner's latest "Hush" album, finally released the Ocean of Stars EP, and attempted an RPM Challenge album that I didn't finish but would still like to. Ocean of Stars is currently recording a single.</div>
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Added mandolin and slide guitar to my repertoire, in addition to becoming mainly a guitar player again after years of bass as primary instrument. Very happy about that development (tho I love bass, don't get me wrong).</div>
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Glad that Ocean of Stars, my first original project since Ironclad, has been active this year. Hoping to continue that trend.</div>
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I also finally got my SVT back into service.</div>
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This was a good year! Looking forward to what 2016 has to offer \m/,</div>
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Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-33379161605212972252016-01-20T12:42:00.001-06:002016-01-20T12:42:26.582-06:00First post of 2016Thank you for your patience, loyal readers.<br />
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Haven't here much tho there is certainly much going on. Almost too much, but in a good way.<br />
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Been travelling like crazy past few weeks.<br />
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Quick midwest (MO, IA, NE) swing with Bleu right before Christmas. Just did an AZ run with Thunderosa, which despite some catastrophic vehicle problems and a cancelled gig and later return, was a blast. And hitting the ground running with Bleu in Little Rock last weekend, Ocean of Stars finalizing tracking, the Ortiz Brothers starting their jam back up (now at Beerland on Mondays), rehearsals with Taking Back Thaxton and Adrian and the Sickness (in prep for Houston area next weekend), looking for a gig Friday, playing Bat Bar on Saturday with Kevin Winsman and Chris Trafton, and playing the Texas Rollerderby season opener with Thunderosa on Sunday.<br />
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That and there have been some very heavy losses in the worldwide music community past several weeks.<br />
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So yeah. It's not that nothing is happening in my life, it's there is so much I can't keep up with it. That Thunderosa Arizona trip is worth recapping because just, wow.<br />
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And I need to do my 2015 year end recap. Wasn't a bad year at all.<br />
<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-58166766654700145092015-11-20T01:54:00.002-06:002015-11-20T01:54:45.387-06:00Quick vacation, Paris attack, Cheetah Chrome, Ocean of Stars in the studio!Enjoying a brief early Thanksgiving/vacation on the coast with my family before diving headlong into a busy few weeks.<br />
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So in case you have been living under a rock, there were multiple terror attacks in Paris, one target was an Eagles of Death Metal concert. As a musician, this hit very close to home. I do not know the band, or their merch person who was killed, or (to my knowledge) anyone in the club. But that could have easily been people I did know, and I do know people who know all involved.<br />
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The backlash and outpouring of fear and hatred has all but destroyed what little faith in humanity I still retained. I feel better now, but a few days ago I was hoping we would all be wiped out by an asteroid, the sooner the better. Millions of years of evolution, and an unfortunate chunk of the human populace are STILL little more than shit-flinging primates with iPhones and internet access.<br />
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Truly fucking sad. On the bright side I can at least whittle down my "friends" list on FB and not have to wish so many people a happy birthday.<br />
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I will continue on the course of empathy and compassion. I will light a candle to dispel some of the darkness. If people choose to blow it out, that is their choice. Much like we are in the Universe, we are on our own. There is no supreme deity that will fix our problems for us, either we will do it ourselves or we won't. And so far signs point to that we will not, and we will go the way of the dinosaurs and it will be our own doing and our own fault. Hopefully nature will start over with dogs next time, because dogs at least aren't assholes.<br />
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Anyway.<br />
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Ocean of Stars is in the studio recording a single. I wish I could be more excited about it given recent events, as this is the first time I've been in a real studio with music I've written since Ironclad in 2007.<br />
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Our friends David Ducharme-Jones is taking great care of us and is a pleasure to work with.<br />
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Ric Furley came in and knocked out drums in about 4 takes, and that was only because we were experimenting with the tempos. Derek Rodrigues came in and knocked his parts out in about 2 takes. I started the guitar before he got there, and finished not long after he left. And there is A LOT of guitar.<br />
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Ric Furley<br />
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David Ducharme-Jones<br />
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Derek Rodrigues and Dave<br />
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Tone<br />
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Derek<br />
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Me, happy<br />
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I thank Bleu Edmondson for switching me over to guitar, as after almost a year of constant playing with him, and Ocean of Stars, and Thunderosa, this was the first session I've done on guitar where I didn't feel like I was struggling a little.<br />
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The song we are doing is called "Great Divide" and the title is now pretty fitting given the state of the world. I came up with the basic idea in 2003. Worked it out during RPM Challenge 2009. Expanded upon it for RPM 2013. We added it to the set earlier this year. And we will sure as hell play it at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/517792925054581/" target="_blank">Dirty Dog on Friday Dec 4.</a><br />
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In other news, I will be playing bass for the legendary Cheetah Chrome of the legendary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dead_Boys" target="_blank">Dead Boys</a> for two shows (New Orleans and Houston) the last weekend of November. That will be awesome. Have little exposure to the Dead Boys, but upon listening to and learning the music, I know I've already heard some to most of it. Green River or Mudhoney covered "Ain't Nothin To Do" and I probably have a few songs on cassette mix tapes from my punk friends when I was in high school.<br />
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Awesome to be supporting a legend. Thank you Jason Kottwitz for offering the gigs offhandedly at the Lost Well a few weeks back \m/, Have had one rehearsal with Jason and the drummer already and it went great.<br />
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Heading back to Austin on Sunday for the second rehearsal, then going to Dirty Dog for my good friend JRAB's benefit show. He has injured his shoulder, can't work (he's a drummer and drum tech for King's X), and is dealing with some other shit in his life that has left him in a tight spot. I can barely afford to help myself, but will help friends when I can.<br />
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Then the busy week continues with rehearsal with Taking Back Thaxton on Monday eve. That day will be meeting with Ocean of Stars bassist Melanie Martinez to work on the bassline for "Great Divide" so she can walk into the studio and knock it out of the park. Tuesday is final rhx with Cheetah Chrome. Wednesday Bleu Edmondson is in Ft. Worth. Thursday is Thanksgiving. Black Friday will be spent driving to New Orleans with Cheetah Chrome to destroy Sibera that night. Saturday is Fitzgerald's in Houston, haven't played there in 10 years. The following monday I'm with Eric Tessmer Band for his residency at Friends.<br />
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Dec 4 poster by yours truly:<br />
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First weekend of December is double duty with Ocean of Stars and Thunderosa at Dirty Dog, Adrian Conner in San Angelo at the Deadhorse, then again at the Dirty Dog with Adrian Sunday. Mon Dec 7 I'm back at Friends with Eric Tessmer Band, unless Bleu Edmondson wants to leave town extra early for a run through St. Louis MO, Des Moines IA and Omaha NE.<br />
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Busy busy mofo-ing BUSY. Bring it on.<br />
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In other news, I finally got my SVT back from the shop. Just in time for a video shoot with Taking Back Thaxton for the song "Romantic Gallows" at Jason Patten's property on the edge of town.<br />
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Him and his lady did a bang up job building sets (clearing out a decrepit and detached garage/work room, building a graveyard and some gallows, and setting up for a dream sequence shot). It was goddamned impressive. And the crew he had filming did such a great job on the last (much less complicated) video, that I can't wait to see the results.<br />
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Will check back in when I check back in.<br />
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In the meantime, don't give into fear. Fear turns you into a fucking asshole, and I'm tired of assholes.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-68674460247659137892015-10-29T00:28:00.002-05:002015-10-29T10:56:13.818-05:00Much going onBusy in a good way. This is going to take awhile, so pull up a chair.<br />
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Have ramped up Ocean of Stars booking, also talking to a friend with a studio about cutting a track. Looking like November some time. Also trying to go out more and stay visible/see friends/network. Feels good, I don't get out often enough.<br />
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Super busy month. Gigs with Bleu, working in a new bass player (Brandon Warnke) after the friendly departure of Tony Valdez. Huge shoes to fill, but Brandon is doing great.<br />
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Adrian played an outdoor festival in Kerrville TX called Rev Fest with The Fabulous Thunderbirds and Texas Tornadoes. That was a BLAST. We took my van Goldie Hawn as Adrian's van Vincent Van Go is on injured reserve. The radio station who put it on (94.3 The Rev FM) were great and everyone was super nice. They had high hopes for us, and we fucking delivered! Great set on a beautiful fall afternoon.<br />
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Photo by Armando Reyes<br />
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Texas Tornadoes pretty much stole the show, but in talking to people we were a very close second \m/, One of the bands on the side stage was a two-piece who were absolutely amazing, and I can't remember their name now. Shit.<br />
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Also played with Eric Tessmer Band at Saxon Pub same weekend. Awesome show, always good to play with Eric and Rob. And Saxon is such a great place. Awesome set, great crowd.<br />
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Did the following Monday Oct 19 residency at Friends as well. This time our good friend Adrian Meyers on the drums. Always awesome to play with him, great guy, great chops, great groove, and entertaining as hell to watch. If he was tired from doing the early set with Dave Scher, he showed no signs.<br />
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Wed Oct 21 went to Acid King at the newly opened Sidewinder, which was Red Eyed Fly since I've been here, and was merged of the now-closed Red 7 to form a new venue in the same building. It was totally different, but the same. Caught The Well, who I'd only recently heard about. Loud heavy 3-piece Stoner Rock Band. Female bassist with one of the loudest bass rigs in town (early 70's SVT, 8x10, Rickenbacker). Bad ass. Check them out. Talked to them after the show, very nice. They definitely took me back to the Southern Gun Culture days. Glad that style of music is alive and well.<br />
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The Well<br />
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Acid King was awesome. Their first tour in 10 years, and I was there at Room 710 for the last one with Dale Crover from Melvins on drums. They were in top form. Lori S played and sounded great. Whole band was great. Huge crowd for a Tuesday! Talked to the bass player Mark afterwards about his SVT-II (I have a non-functioning one acting as an 88-pound door stop). Really cool guy. When I asked about his amp he immediately stopped tearing gear down and enthusiastically talked shop. When we finally exchanged names he recognized me from the old Stonerrock.com message boards. Awesome! I proudly displayed my Gordy Fest T-shirt \m/,<br />
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Acid King<br />
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Also got to hang out and catch up with bassist Wade Morrison (ex-Split Hoof, his new band opened and I missed them) and drummer Kenny Wagner (Split Hoof, Honky, SuperHeavyGoatAss, etc). Old friends from back in the day. Feels good to reconnect with good people.<br />
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Thursday Oct 22 Eric Tessmer Band played Willie's Joint in Buda TX (yes that's a real town), which I had played with Thunderosa the Thursday previous and had a great time. However, by now the weather had turned fucky with a strong cold front moving through and the beginnings of the remnants of Hurricane Patricia moving through Texas. If you've been following this Blog long enough, you'll be well aware of ETB's track record with inclement weather. Two thwarted Threadgill's outside shows, The Roost, and many more.<br />
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I texted Eric the previous day to discuss the imminent cancellation, as the most powerful tropical system in recorded history had just slammed into Mexico and was making a B-line for us. Venue would let us know by 5pm day of. We played at 7:30, outside.<br />
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However a miracle happened. While the sky was threatening and the wind was occasionally gusty, our set went off without a hitch, let alone a single drop of rain. Crazy!<br />
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Bleu Edmondson at Floore's Country Store in Helotes TX (San Antonio) the next night (Oct 23) was also affected by the weather. There was some rain and storms in the area but not what you would expect from the remnants of a hurricane. However the crowd was pretty thin. But before we started Bleu got on the mic and talked to the crowd, warming them up and making an off-hand comment about everyone moving their chairs up front.<br />
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And wouldn't you know it, they did just that hahaha! Suddenly it went from a large and somewhat empty honkytonk to an intimate VH1 Story Tellers kind of night with an attentive and receptive (tho seated) crowd. Awesome! Great set too. Brandon really killed it, and we were all pretty on-point.<br />
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Before the show in the Floore's awesome green room Bleu and I talked about bringing the mandolin into the mix. I am totally OK with this. So he said bring it to the next show. And I did.<br />
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Saturday Oct 24 we played in Justin TX (Ft Worth) and the venue name escapes me. Tried the mando during soundcheck on "Travellin Man." Not too shabby. I hadn't worked on "$50 and a Flask of Crown" enough to even attempt it yet, so we'd just try the one song later that night. However I hadn't been able to listen to "Travelin" on the way up, so I hoped the mando part I came up with would be close enough haha. Of course later at the hotel Hec Rivera (guitar) played it on his phone and yeah, I was way off. Oops. Oh well. It worked well enough in the set.<br />
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Which went really good. Great crowd there, good times. 4 rounds of shots brought to the stage.... That kind of night.<br />
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Photo by Hec Rivera<br />
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Played Monday Oct 26 with ETB at Friends again, this time with a drummer I pretty much met when he showed up his with his drums, Mark Redix. Challenge accepted! You could tell by looking at him he was an awesome player, and after the 4-month stretch of 2010 where ETB played full time but without a full time drummer I could pretty much play with anyone. That was a stressful but musically invaluable time.<br />
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And yes, Mark fucking killed it all night. I liked having to pay attention to him to stay locked in with kick/snare as it allowed me to also see all the cool shit he was doing. Very good chops. Great crowd and they loved it. I still don't know how Eric pulls off playing as loud as he wants and not doing any SRV covers to appease the tourists (despite the obvious influence and reverence) but those Mondays draw weekend crowds more often than not. Just, wow.<br />
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In between I've also been doing a lot of gear shit and woodshedding. Changed strings on all three guitars and intonated them. Went to an un-named big chain corporate music storeSwapped my guitar and bass pedalboards again (one is less deep and lighter, other is opposite on both).<br />
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(Note to self: When removing an entire set of strings to apply lemon oil to a fretboard, make sure you have a spare set. I wound up doing the Bleu gigs in Helotes & Justin TX shows using the wrong gauge strings... duh.)<br />
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I'd moved my guitar setup from the lighter one to the bigger one (my original Southern Gun Culture pedalboard) as with adding the MXR boost I couldn't fit all my pedals in a row and would have to stagger them, as well as put the staggered ones up on pieces of wood to elevate them. But the big clunky board is just too much of a pain in the ass to fit onstage (especially in conjunction with the auxiliary loop station board I use for Ocean of Stars). Switched the guitar rig, pieces of wood for elevation and all, and put it onto the lighter board and just hoped the shit would fit. It did. Thank Crom.<br />
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Also went to an un-named big chain music store to swap out a bum instrument cable and get some things, including a TC Electronic PolyTune (needed another floor tuner for a mandolin). Liking it so far and put it on my guitar board. Added mandolin pedal setup to the auxiliary pedalboard to kill two birds with one stone and not have to configure another separate board for mandolin (and save on power supplies and patch cables). See how it works.<br />
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AND FINALLY. Went to see Spirit Caravan at the Lost Well. But before that went to Roberto Balderrama's birthday at Hanover's in Pflugerville TX. Which was way out of the way, but fuck it man, Roberto is an awesome dude. Went to his birthday last year as well (FB reminded me of this today ha!).<br />
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Didn't get to stick around long, but got to catch up with Roberto and lots of other good friends/musicians/people. There is so much love to go around in every musician circle I roll with, honored to be a part \m/, Also got to talk to Erik (FOH) about getting Ocean of Stars back there ASAP.<br />
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Roberto! And a dog :)<br />
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Oh yeah and I got pulled over en route to Hanover's, but was just a warning for my fucky back license plate light. No big deal.<br />
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Drive to The Lost Well was without incident other that rerouting due to construction on I-35 going through downtown.<br />
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I really like The Lost Well, seems that it's become the Central Hub, where all the people from Red River went after Room 710 changed over and Headhunter's went under. Glad it's been re-established, and at this point glad the it's not downtown...<br />
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But the show was great, caught Destroyer of Light. Really dug the hell out of them. Super heavy sludge/loud/whatever it is I like it. Chatted up Keegan the guitar player afterwards talked maybe Ocean of Stars doing shows with them. That would be an interesting mix for sure. I like it. Hell, we played the Small Stone Records SXSW 2013 showcase together but weren't able to catch one another's sets. But I sure as hell heard about theirs.<br />
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Destroyer of Light<br />
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Spirit Caravan was awesome as well. Guitarist Scott "Wino" Weinrich is like a Lieutenant Lemmy. A living legend who if you haven't heard of, you should really check out. Last time (that I remember at least) Spirit Caravan came through Austin was in the early 2000's and SuperHeavyGoatAss opened. I've seen Wino on several occasions in several bands, and even bumped into him on the street once. I certainly don't know him, and certainly wish I did haha ugh. Maybe if I'd stuck around and chatted him up longer after their set instead of just shaking his hand, telling him it's good to have him back in town, and here's some van music you might like (Ocean of Stars EP) I would know him a little better... #introvert<br />
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Spirit Caravan<br />
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But yeah, they sounded great and I got to catch up with even more friends/musicians/good people during and after. I really need to get out more and stop being such a damn hermit hahaha. But there being cool shows on weekdays (Acid King, Roberto's party, Spirit Caravan) helps immensely, as I'm usually playing on weekends. And certainly not complaining there...! But I do miss my friends. <br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-20113118830858128092015-10-05T22:25:00.000-05:002015-10-05T22:25:12.226-05:00General updateHey all, just checking in. Certainly much going on, just haven't felt the motivation to write. Need to change that.<br />
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The Adrian HUSH tour was a blast, will try to get on a recap of that STAT.<br />
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Played with Bleu Edmondson last Saturday at Western Days in Lewisville TX (DFW), the last gig with Tony Valdez on bass. Great guy, great player, he will be missed. To make it a blowout we wound up blowing the power 3/4 of way through set and my Marshall blew out during "Finger On The Trigger."<br />
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Here's some video. My amp was sounding awesome, even using my bass pedalboard because I forgot to load my guitar one. Duh.<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/tracy.lewis.1088/videos/1214581245224257/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/tracy.lewis.1088/videos/1214581245224257/</a><br />
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It's already gone through the shop at Austin Vintage Guitars. Thank you Jesse for fixing the faulty ohm tap switch and the newly blown filter cap \m/,<br />
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The Adrian Conner homecoming show at Continental Club was a blast, great show and great crowd even tho it was late on a Tuesday night! Barfield "The Tyrant of Funk" kicked things off right and got the party started.<br />
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Good to see these two, the one and only Jen Leigh (awesome guitarist, check out her band) and the incomparable Dale the Super Fan!<br />
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Photo by our good friend Kathy, yes I am playing mandolin \m/,<br />
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Video of "So Bored" by our good friend Kathy:<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/kathy.niemeyer/videos/10153226495872843/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/kathy.niemeyer/videos/10153226495872843/</a><br />
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Have Dead Oak rehearsal this evening. Played with Taking Back Thaxton at Blue Moon this past Tuesday. Derek Hensley's (drums) parents and sister were in town. They are awesome. Some guy kept getting up and dancing towards the crowd as if he was the frontman right in front of Jason Patten (guitar/vox). It was really really weird. Funny, but weird.<br />
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Had a full week of music in general all last week since getting back in town from the Adrian tour that Monday.<br />
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My friend Steve Janiak from Indianapolis was in town, haven't seen him since Devil To Pay and Southern Gun Culture did some shows together in 2003/4. But we've kept in touch online.<br />
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He contacted me a few months back as his other band Apostle of Solitude was booking a tour and looking to come through Austin on Tues Sept 22. I suggested the Lost Well for a venue. They hooked up a show with Project Armageddon from Houston and landed a date for Monday Sept 21 instead.<br />
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So instead of staying home and resting from an awesome but grueling 12 days on the road, I went to see a friend I hadn't seen in 11 or 12 years \m/, And Apostle of Solitude was really fucking good too! Good to see Steve, and Project Armageddon was really nice. Did some much-needed networking for Ocean of Stars, which I've really been slacking on...<br />
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Wednesday I went to ABGB to catch Scorpio Rising, haven't seen them since Armando from Adrian's band took over on drums. Fun as always and Armando kicked ass! Also used my presence there as an excuse to talk to Paul Minor about booking and give him an OoS EP ;)<br />
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Wonderbred of Scorpio Rising<br />
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Thursday had Taking Back Thaxton rehearsal in prep for the aforementioned show/family reunion.<br />
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Friday I actually stayed home haha!<br />
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Saturday the Bleu show was at 2pm, and we were home by 7:30. Checking Facebook saw that all kinds of shows were going on. Almost went to Way Past Yonder (old friends/bandmates from SGC days) at Badlands (need to talk to them re: return dates for OoS), but instead went to Eric Tessmer Band at Saxon Pub. Was closer to my house, they usually let me in for free, and I need to talk booking with them as well.<br />
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Had I scrolled down a little farther on FB I would have also seen that this was the last weekend for a really good but short-lived venue called Holy Mountain, and Eagle Claw and Tia Carerra were playing. THAT would have been a great OoS networking opportunity as well as huge musical family reunion.<br />
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However, I went to Saxon and had a blast. Always good to see Eric, Rob and Gian, plus all the old friends in the crowd. Sat in on "White Room." Good times! Who I thought was the booking agent wasn't there, but no big deal. Have already acquired that information and a contact email.<br />
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"Borrowing" Gian's vintage SG bass:<br />
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As if you couldn't tell, I am starting an Ocean of Stars booking blitz, as we need some gigs on the books. Our EP isn't going to sell itself (tho that would be AWESOME if it did haha) and gigs aren't always going to magically fall in my lap.<br />
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And I will post the Ripple Effect review here soon. Let's just say it was glowing, and I owe Swedebeast a lifetime of free beers/shots at the bar for calling the Ocean of Stars EP "Otherworldly and magical, a mind-blowing musical journey."<br />
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Wow!<br />
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There is much work to do.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-59697811823021053412015-08-18T22:09:00.002-05:002015-08-18T22:09:32.644-05:00OK, I think I'm backSo my laptop has been fritzy, but my friend Stan (you may remember from previous posts, did an album with him, Josh from Mother Truckers and Trinidad from Dixie Witch) just came by this evening and not sure what he did but laptop seems to be working fine now.<br />
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Certainly much has been going on. The Ocean of Stars EP release party happened, and The Ripple Effect just gave it a glowing review! Awesome.<br />
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The Bleu Edmondson summer tour was a blast.<br />
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Going out for two weeks in September with Adrian Conner in support of her new acoustic album 'Hush', just had the first of two rehearsals last night. Sounded great! Fun to play with Adrian and Armando again. After doing some work on the Hobbit Hole today I learned the mandolin part for a Led Zep cover we will be doing, so this tour may mark my debut as a mandolin player (for a song or two haha).<br />
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Have a Thursday show with Deann Rene Band, and Bleu Edmondson's schedule resumes this weekend after some time off.<br />
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My SVT is in the shop (running fine save for the persistent microphonic squeal) and my JCM800 just cut out on me last weekend. Hoping its a tube issue and nothing serious. Well my shit was working good for awhile at least haha ugh.<br />
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SO yes. I will get back into the habit of updating this blog, as the people I know who follow it really seem to like it.<br />
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Hopefully more posts to come!!!Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-52725858004335927142015-06-10T15:31:00.001-05:002015-06-10T15:31:09.800-05:00Quick update, Bleu Edmondson East Coast runHave a new iPhone 6 so hopefully it'll make posting from it easier (laptop still tweaky and not taking it with me). <div><br></div><div>Leaving tomorrow to begin a Bleu Edmondson in Lubbock TX that will take us all the way to NYC and Washington DC and back. Looking forward, should be a blast. </div><div><br></div><div>Look for updates and pics here! </div>Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-68667207696495302712015-05-18T17:45:00.001-05:002015-05-18T17:45:16.375-05:00Apologies for the radio silenceSo my laptop is being a fucker again, hence my lack of posting. Certainly LOTS going on, and posting from my iPhone (like I am now) is possible but a huge pain in the ass. <div><br></div><div>Looking into getting it repaired again and continuing forward with this blog. </div><div><br></div><div>Thank y'all for your patience!</div>Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-32766134207444303532015-03-29T18:38:00.003-05:002015-03-29T18:39:22.022-05:00SXSW 2015 Report: Day 1And so it begins.<br />
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Wednesday March 18, 2015<br />
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Day 1<br />
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2 gigs, Thunderosa at 12:30pm, Adrian Conner official showcase at 1am. Long day ahead...<br />
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Woke early to catch the bus to play with Thunderosa at DirtyFest at the Dirty Dog Bar on 6th Street. Awesome place.<br />
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What was not going to be awesome was trying to park there. So, DD provides backline. I was on bass for this one. So I was able to take my gigbag and a backpack with pertinent cables and pedals. BAM! No driving, no hassle!<br />
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Of course the bus dropped me off at 4th and Lavaca, and I had to walk to 6th and Neches. Google map it. It was a jaunt, but a nice day for a walk!<br />
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Thunderosa played at a disorientingly early hour (12:30pm) but a quick turn and burn set. They had the other lead player Jason doing this one, and was nice to finally meet him haha (as in, "Hi, nice to meet you! OK here we go, 1-2-3-4" and play)<br />
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photo by Armando Reyes<br />
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But the show was a blast, we drew in a decent number of people from the street. And tear down took literally 3 minutes. Which gave us plenty of time to deal with this situation:<br />
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So glad I wasn't driving haha!<br />
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Calm before the storm, 6th Street on early Wednesday afternoon<br />
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Walked all the way back to Lavaca to catch the bus home. Rested briefly (slept off the Jager I mean) and decided to catch part of the Heavy Metal Pool Party at the Metropolis Apartment Complex (nowhere near downtown).<br />
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Glad I made an appearance, lots of musical friends and family involved or in attendance. Was also warm enough this year the people could actually get INTO the pool haha. So yes, lots of lovely tattooed rocker ladies in bikini this time.<br />
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Caught up with Heather Webb and Clinno (both ex-Bug Girl and co-founders of the HM Pool Party), Debbie from Bexar County Bastards (talked to her about joining Ocean of Stars but she couldn't), good friend Teresa Kay (who has been kicking the shit out of breast cancer the past year), many others that I can't recall at the moment. But good times and good bands.<br />
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Home again to rest up before meeting Adrian and Armando at the rehearsal place to take Vincent Van Go right into the jaws of the beast (downtown during SXSW).<br />
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Being she was a showcasing artist she had a pass to get through the barricades, if that would help get us any closer to the club. We showed up probably around 2 hours early just to see if we could grab parking, even tho the itinerary said load in 1-hour before set time. We were playing at the Trophy Club on 6th Street, which I only know as the place next to Dizzy Rooster with the mechanical bull. We were trying to convince Adrian to ride it mid-song, but that didn't come to pass. And not because she didn't want to, but I jump ahead of my tale.<br />
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So we pull up to the barricade at 7th and San Jacinto and pull over. Armando runs to the venue for recon on gear situation and load-in. I go and talk to the guardian of the barricade. I see that they have beefed up the barricade situation since the fatalities last year. Even if we got through the barricade with our fancy pass, it would only get us 5 feet closer to a load in door still 100 yards away and downhill.<br />
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Guardian of the barricade was really really nice, and yes she could let us in if need be but also was in agreement that it wouldn't really mean fuck all in getting us closer to the load in door haha.<br />
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Armando also returned saying load in is through the back door. Well that is good, fuck wheeling gear through the crowds on 6th Street proper.<br />
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At this point I see that the paid parking lot right behind the venue we need to load in has several open spots. And for $30 we got parking there all night, and could leave our gear in the van until it was time to load in.<br />
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Victory is ours!!! $30 might seem steep, because it is. But better to pay $30 to park a stones throw from aforementioned load in door and be able to leave our gear safe within the van, rather than load our gear in then pay same price to park several block away and have to watch our gear all night.<br />
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So we popped our heads in the venue for a quick look-see. Trophy Club is bigger than I thought. Stage was set up in a back room I didn't know existed. Which was unfortunate as (1) not much access to mechanical bull and (2) kind of secluded so wouldn't be much foot traffic coming in to see who the hell was the tiny blonde dreadlocked maniac rocking on a mechanical bull wearing a short shiny dress and a Gibson SG. Well shit :)<br />
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So I suggested we go to Valhalla (former Room 710) for a pre-showcase beverage).<br />
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The madness has set in<br />
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One of the perks of doing the freelance work for SXSW is they hook me up with a platinum badge. Don't bother looking up how much they cost. You don't want to know. They allow access to all trade events, seminars, and SXSW sanctioned events. Awesome in theory, however I AM ALWAYS TOO BUSY PLAYING SHOWS TO USE IT FOR ANYTHING!!! Doh!!! It's a nice gesture tho haha.<br />
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However, little did we know Valhalla (which stopped having bands officially when it stopped being Room 710) was an official SXSW music venue. Whoah. Good thing Adrian had wristbands for her and Armando and I had the fancypants platinum badge. We would have had to pay cover to drink in a place that usually doesn't have a cover charge.<br />
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So was crazy to walk into Valhalla like it was back in the 710 days, with bands playing only we didn't recognize anyone there except Jason Craig working the door. We got Lonestar Tallboys and headed to the upstairs loft. A band called Nightmare Air onstage. They were good.<br />
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Again, good to hang out with Adrian and Armando as friends. Again, felt like we were in a gang haha<br />
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Room 710, err Valhalla loft, photo by Armando Reyes<br />
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Back to the venue. Band before us onstage, can't recall the name but very good. I recognized the afro-wielding bassist, remembered seeing him at the convention center Tuesday evening when I went to pick up my platinum badge. Thought: "He plays in a band. And he's probably awesome." He was both \m/,<br />
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To get our gear into the back hallway in prep to take the stage we had to overcome a series of obstacles, including a 4-foot concrete embankment and 2 separate sets of stairs. SXSW proving gorunds:<br />
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Waiting to go on<br />
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The place had kinda cleared by the time we went on, but fuck it. Some shows look better on your resume than they do in practice (this is Adrian's first official SXSW showcase performance.)<br />
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So we blew into our set and blew the minds of the few people there at the beginning. But if filled up a bit as the night went on, people watching the mechanical bull action invariably got curious about who was making all the racket in the back. So they walked in on this happening:<br />
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Adrian on the bar, getting some service haha<br />
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#SXselfie<br />
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Fun set, fun time.<br />
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End of the night began loading out the back door, and out back was a guy and a girl, and the guy was cradling another girl in his arms who was obviously partied out and possibly in need of medical attention.<br />
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Back in for more gear. Came out, girl had vomited several times, and service industry people were suggesting to angle her head to keep her from choking to death.<br />
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Back in for more gear. Came out, and people were starting to get on their phones and calling paramedics.<br />
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Back in for more gear. Came out, and the guy and girl were gone (earlier overheard the guy saying he didn't even know who the girl was, they had just met her), but unconscious girl was still lying motionless on the concrete, surrounded by waiting police officers and a puddle of puke.<br />
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Back in for more gear. Came out, and paramedics on scene, putting unconscious girl on a stretcher. The leisure at which they did so gave indication that they weren't worried about losing her. That's good, I guess.<br />
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Wrangled our gear up over the 4 foot embankment and into Vincent Van Go, eager to get the hell out of there before there were any more SXSW casualties.<br />
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Day 1 over.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-43618709246136201392015-03-29T17:35:00.003-05:002015-03-29T17:35:47.367-05:00SXSW 2015 Report: Day 0Tuesday March 17, 2015<br />
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SXSW Day Zero<br />
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Ordinarily on this day there has been a Tuesday SXSW Kickoff party at Red Eyed Fly and has been for years and years. Unfortunately with the ownership of REF changing hands, it didn't happen this year.<br />
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Which was very sad, it was a show I have been going to for years and years, and last year (2014) marked the first official live appearance by Ocean of Stars. That was a huge honor.<br />
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Left with nothing to do, I was trying to decide to stay in or do something.<br />
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Doing something presented itself with band chatter among Adrian and the Sickness. We decided to meet up at Adrian's new place and go to a similar kickoff party at the Lost Well (no where near downtown, awesome!). Our friends Sabbath Crow were playing, as well as the band Mos Generator, whom I'd always heard about but have never seen.<br />
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What fun! It was great to hang out with Adrian and Armando outside the confines of playing a show or rehearsing. Just hanging out. Felt like we were in a gang :)<br />
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Crimson Devils<br />
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House Harkonnen<br />
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Mos Generator (everything everyone has been saying about them for years is absolutely true. Wow)<br />
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Sabbath Crow<br />
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What a great night of music. Had the same kind of family reunion feel that the Red Eyed Fly kickoff always had. Very awesome. I miss going to shows, and I miss seeing my musical family.<br />
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Wish we could have stayed all night, but alas a crazy busy week was about to begin and we were already very tired.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-48685451124614890312015-03-29T17:23:00.001-05:002015-03-29T17:30:38.428-05:00SXSW 2015 report: PrologueSXSW 2015 has already come and gone. Hell, it's almost April.<br />
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In general, this was a really really good SXSW for me. And seems like most others I've talked to also had a very positive experience. For those who live here, SXSW is a double-edged sword. Was glad this year was free of that always one incident that threatens to negate any other good times that were had. You can read some of those in SXSW reports from years past.<br />
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But yeah, this on was busy for me (6 gigs with 3 bands in 3 days) and was preceded by much busy-ness: RPM Challenge during February, went on the road with Bleu Edmondson for 5 days the week previous. Then after SXSW did my years post-SXSW vacation on the coast with my family. Which I had to cut a day short to return for a video shoot then another gig with Bleu.<br />
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So here's the gist of my tale.<br />
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March was in generally busy as fuck so we'll have to rewind a bit.<br />
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First week of March: Deann Rene played a short set at a benefit March 1st, the afternoon after the final Hundred Miles Gone fiasco. Rehearsal with Taking Back Thaxton Mar 3, rehearsal with Ocean of Stars Mar 4. Ocean of Stars at Gypsy Lounge Thurs Mar 5. Crowd was understandably thin due to a late season arctic front but we still had fun and played well. Thunderosa rehearsal Fri Mar 6. Sat Mar 7 was Thunderosa on the Dave TV show followed by a gig in Killeen. Both went well and were fun.<br />
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With Deann Rene and Kyle Judd. Photo by Cata Cagle<br />
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Thunderosa with the man himself, Mr. Dave TV (pictured being kissed on the cheek by AJ hahaha)<br />
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Thunderosa Live on Dave TV:<br />
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Mon and Tuesday March 9/10 I did some freelance work for SXSW, driving a shuttle van to pick up and drop off crew members. Wed March 11 Bleu Edmondson Band shipped off for Thurs Mar 12 in Kansas City @ Knuckleheads, Fri Mar 13 in Lawrence Kansas at Granada Theater, and Sat Mar 14 in Joplin MO at The Venue.<br />
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Bassist Tony Valdez's beard sees all:<br />
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Hotel room window, KC MO<br />
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Across the street from Knuckleheads, they are turning this into a theater-sized venue<br />
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Granada Theater, Lawrence KS (bumpy van window filter)<br />
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Sound check (photo by Hec Rivera)<br />
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Rig:<br />
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Good times with good people: Hec Rivera, Clint Litton, yours truly, Tony Valdez<br />
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Was a great weekend of shows. Have played Knuckleheads many times with The Mother Truckers and Eric Tessmer Band, so always great to be back. The Granada Theater in Lawrence I am still trying to remember if it's the one I played with Ryan Bales Band opening for Pat Green. I still don't know. The show in Joplin was fun as well. All fun crowds and great sets. Really starting to feel like a band rather than just a collection of players. Feel I'm settling into guitar nicely as well.<br />
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Got home Sunday Mar 15, tho there was a slight delay when we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere in Eastern Oklahoma. Dear Oklahoma: Build more gas stations.K thx, Bleu Edmondson Band<br />
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Mon Mar 16 was rehearsal with Adrian and the Sickness for the 2 (which turned into 3 gigs for SXSW). Ocean of Stars couldn't squeeze one in, but we were pretty damn tight the previous week so I wasn't going to worry about it.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-57773615154352078722015-03-02T17:00:00.001-06:002015-03-02T17:07:19.457-06:00(Belated) RPM Challenge update, Busy Weekend/End of FebruaryVery belated RPM Challenge update:<br />
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I didn't finish by the deadline, so thats a bit of a bummer. Will go more in-depth on the making of the album in a future post.<br />
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I was going to try to finish it up (enough to submit, at least) by Friday night (gig that evening) but no dice. Saturday I would be booked all day, so that day was out.<br />
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Got halfway through mixing and hit the wall, as I still needed to name most of the songs, generate album artwork, as well as put in a good 2 hours prep work on music for a gig in Houston Saturday. I could have made it work in theory, but my body tapped me on the shoulder and said "You need to rest."<br />
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So, I will be reviewing the mixes that I've done, fixing a few things on guitar, and will have a new solo album ready for at least a digital release by SXSW, the follow up to last years "<a href="https://dannyg.bandcamp.com/album/automatic-writing" target="_blank">Automatic Writing</a>". I may have lost the battle, but I will still win the war.<br />
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Pretty happy with what I came up with musically. More songs than any other year (10 full songs and one bonus track), but also they are generally shorter and concise arrangements as opposed to the wide, epic, abstract canvases I've favored in years past.<br />
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Didn't get to use my JCM800 stage rig for any tracking, but I could still remedy that. The tones I've gotten from the Epiphone Valve Standard 15w tube combo aren't too shabby as-is.<br />
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Experimented with more ranges of guitar tones as well. In addition to my usual DIY-Keeley modded Boss Blues Driver, I used a Creepy Fingers Harikiri Fuzz on one track (guitar AND bass \m/,). Others I used a TS-808 Tube Screamer clone as well as a "Brown Sound In A Box II" (JCM800 preamp simulator), both DIY builds.<br />
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The fuzz is obvious as hell, but the other dirt pedals may or may not go unnoticed.<br />
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Weekend recap:<br />
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Played lead guitar with Thunderosa at Bull McCabe's on Red River Friday night (Feb 27).<br />
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That was a ton of fun! Have never played there, and have maybe been there once briefly. One of the last remaining bars on the old Red River block. And one of its most decorated veterans, Houston Richardson, was running sound that night. It's good to be among musical family and in good hands.<br />
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Photo by Teri Flemming Underhill<br />
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Good to see the Beat Dolls finally as well. they are awesome. Caught up with the singer/guitarist Angie after the show. We met at Headhunter's (RIP) a few years back. Whenever it was that you could still smoke inside.<br />
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I had dropped my cigarette onto the floor and went to stomp it out, but missed as it rolled under someone's bass cab. She came up and firmly explained that it was her BF's bass cab and I could have set it on fire. I was very apologetic, which wasn't going over so well, until I pointed out the Ironclad sticker on the side of said cab and said that was one of my bands. She instantly warmed up as she was an Ironclad fan, and felt better knowing that I'm a fellow musician who's cig just got away from them rather than some random drunken schmoe who didn't respect other peoples' gear, haha :)<br />
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Former Headhunters location, 8th and Red River St.<br />
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Angie apologized for being so firm at that time, but it was all good (and rather deserved haha!). So that was cool. Lotta good people in this town.<br />
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Saturday morning went with Heather to a taping of "Overheard" in the KLRU studio (former home of Austin City Limits) with Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, promoting her new memoirs "Girl In A Band." That was awesome. Def inspirational for sure! Will get the book when I can.<br />
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Drove home briefly before departing for Houston to play the Houston Rodeo Cookout with Hundred Miles Gone. It was a one-off with them and was fun. Until the end of the night. Not going into it but this would be my official last show with them.<br />
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Anyway.<br />
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Sunday afternoon I played with Deann Rene Band at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/765624670181461" target="_blank">benefit at Freedom Oaks in South Austin for David Cassles. </a><br />
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David recently passed, and tho I didn't know him personally, I know lots of people who did. A huge supporter of music til the end. He built the stage and most of the buildings at Freedom Oaks. Sounded like a truly great individual.<br />
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Our set was super short (two songs) as Deann had to run to Saxon Pub to play with the John Gaar Band. Played "Not Crying Today" and "River Song", and during the outro solo Deann hastily packed up her guitar and had to split, as Ric Furley, Kyle Judd and myself kept on rockin. Haha!<br />
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It was awesome. Great sets by Leann Atherton and several others. And lots of musical cross-pollination. Ric played drums for Leann, and Kyle played guitar with the next two or three acts after us, and another band or two later on. Bad ass. And a really great time.<br />
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I wish I could have stayed longer, but was pretty beat from the overnight drive back from Houston.<br />
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Coming up this week:<br />
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Lots of cleaning and housework, making up for spending most of February working on the RPM Challenge album haha. Rehearsal with Taking Back Thaxton Tuesday night at Jason Patten's place. Wednesday night Ocean of Stars rehearsal in prep for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/426292960860181" target="_blank">Thursday night</a>: playing the Gypsy Lounge again with <a href="http://thebaffles.com/" target="_blank">The Baffles</a> and <a href="https://petcatman.bandcamp.com/releases" target="_blank">PetCatMan</a>. Friday is Thunderosa rehearsal in prep for performing on Dave TV saturday afternoon and a gig in Killeen/Harker Heights TX that evening at the Twisted Wrench.<br />
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Busy Busy Busy.<br />
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Awesome poster for Gypsy Lounge show by Ricardo Acevedo of PetCatMan. (<span style="text-align: center;">I was too preoccupied with RPM Challenge to put up posters as well. Hell, any band business went by the wayside during February...)</span><br />
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2nd week of March Bleu Edmondson has a several-day run to Missouri and Kansas. 3rd week of March is South By Southwest. May the Gods of Rock let me survive another one of those haha!<br />
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Looking to be a slower SXSW this year (tho I say that every year).<br />
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Possible Tuesday March 17 night gig on 6th Street with Bleu (waiting on word if it's him solo acoustic or full band). Wednesday March 18 Adrian has an official SXSW showcase, details still pending. Thursday March 19 I'm doing double duty with Ocean of Stars (5pm) and Adrian (?pm) at the Key Bar. Saturday March 21 I'm in Ft. Worth TX with Bleu. Sunday March 22 I come back (hopefully) in time to play the Saxon Pub with Deann Rene Band.<br />
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Looking like the Red Eyed Fly Tuesday Kickoff party that's been going on for 14? years is finally not happening. That really really sucks. One of the shows I looked forward to attending every year, and was finally honored to play in 2014 for Ocean of Stars' first live appearance.<br />
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Well shit.<br />
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<br />Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5030211804486253343.post-65343367234559485292015-02-09T21:42:00.002-06:002015-02-09T21:42:58.785-06:00RPM Challenge update, Back on guitarRPM Challenge update:<div>
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Day 9</div>
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Have twelve songs ideas laid out, can easily drop two or three of the weaker ones (or try to make them better). Worked on some guitar today. But scouting locations to start tracking drums this week, need to get on that ASAP. Laid out the last idea yesterday, wanted to try something in drop C.</div>
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Still not sure what the album will sound like exactly, but very pleased with some of the material so far.</div>
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Also swapped my pedalboards yesterday, the one I've been using for bass was a bit smaller and lighter than the one I've been using for guitar. Since I'm going to be playing guitar more, I wanted to use the lighter board for that.</div>
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I also added a TS-808 clone I built as a lead boost/additional gain stage. I'll need that for the Bleu gigs.</div>
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And my debut on guitar at the Redneck Country Club in Houston on Friday went great!</div>
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Glad I did the prep work with Hec Rivera leading up. I was still a little sketchy on some things, but in general it sounded and felt great! Awesome show, really great crowd. And that place definitely treats you like royalty.</div>
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Photo by Amanda Comstock:</div>
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Great to be back on guitar!</div>
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And the new bassist Tony Valdez killed it! Great player, great guy. Met him officially for the first time when I got to Hec's place to take everyone to rendezvous with Bleu in New Braunfels. Upon meeting him I liked him immediately. One gig in, this line up feels really good.</div>
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Then played with Eric Tessmer Band at the historic Poodie's Hilltop in Spicewood, just outside of Austin.</div>
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Fun show, really good crowd! Always good to play with Eric, as well as finally play with Rob again too, who missed some gigs in January as he was in Europe on tour with Nowherebound. Good for him!</div>
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More RPM updates to follow.</div>
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Danny Ghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13770183190067994607noreply@blogger.com0