SXSW is here

Yes it is.

The music portion starts next week but the interactive/movie part starts this weekend.

Already crowds downtown, lines to get into places snaking around city blocks, 6th Street and adjacent roads blocked off. And this was Friday trying to load into BD Riley's. ETB had a good crowd that night, thanks to the temporary increase in the population. But load in/out was bad and will only get worse (roads blocked off, nobody thru the barricades...).

Grumpy Cat is indeed in town. SXSW used to be about local Austin cats, just sayin...

Last night ETB at the Saxon was amazing. Didn't have to deal with downtown traffic/roadblocks. Line of storms bearing down on us, but no one cared. Great crowd, probably the biggest we've played to there. All tables full and people standing all the way back to the bar. Awesome! We were on fire and played a great set. Good times all around.

But now South By Southwest really begins.

SXSW for me used to be about playing as many shows with as many different bands as I could, because I could. That would equate to 7-8 shows with 3-4 diff bands on average. But as time went on I'd see that half those shows could have been skipped altogether as it just wasn't worth the time and effort to get there, load in, play to nobody, and load out to the next one. So I started scaling it back and taking it easy, or maybe I'm just getting old ;)


Here is my schedule for SXSW 2013:

Mon March 11: ETB Monday residency at Friends (6th Street is blocked off, load in will suck)

Tues March 12: Attend the Red Eyed Fly SXSW kickoff show, been going to that one for years

Wed March 13: Attend BugByBug Fest, thrown by good friends Bug Girl, pool party/music fest

Thur March 14: 5:30pm ETB plays Metal&Lace, right before Small Stone Records showcase out back

Fri March 15: 1-5pm ETB plays an early matinee at Agave (6th Street)

Sat March 16: 1-5pm ETB plays an early matinee at Agave (6th Street)
                        10pm ETB plays Moontower Saloon

Yeah, this SXSW will be pretty chill, heh!

I will do my best to report in and keep y'all posted.

Progress, and Post-RPM Challenge update (sort of)

Whelp, the deadline has come and gone and about as far as I got was demoing out 4 new song ideas on scratch guitar tracks.

With as crazy as February was this time around that's at least progress. But nevertheless, I'm forgoing any kind of deadline and working at my own pace on a new album. It will be nice to take my time! And I have to say, my little Marshall Lead 12 practice amp sounds pretty damn good! May actually keep some of those scratch tracks.

I did finally get the drums out of storage and have been recording on GarageBand at Adrian Conner's place. Trading a place to record for us taking care of her kitty cat. Making progress. Drums getting stronger, recordings sounding better as I dial it in, getting more used to the software. Progress.

In other news I have finalized paperwork for the independent film "White Rabbit" to use part of "House of Leaves pt. 1" for part of one scene. Progress.

Full schedule with Eric Tessmer Band as well. We are in the midst of a major overhaul of the business end, turning ETB into a well-oiled machine. If you prove to managers, booking agents and record labels that you don't need them, it usually gets their attention. We're scheduling weekly band meetings, weekly rehearsals, and getting all our shit square on Artist Growth. Progress.

And speaking of ETB, shows have been good overall, the weather has been nice so people aren't kept home from the cold. Crowds have been good and so has been money. Actually payed rent on time, that hasn't happened past 2+ months... Plus my gear has been working fine tho last week monday my amp cut out RIGHT before Eric's guitar solo in one particular song. Rather than freaking out like I usually do (had a long run of bad gear luck few years back which coincided with being flat broke, you can read about it on this blog somewhere...), unplugged my wireless and plugged straight in. Nope. Check to see if the speaker cable had rattled loose from the back of my cabinet. Bingo! All this while, Rob and Eric holding down the rhythm, and after I got my shit squared away, we picked up where we left off and Eric uncorked on his lead. Professionals.

So much I need to write about and no time right now, need to head downtown in 40 minutes for ETB Monday residency:

NOLA recap
ETB's last time playing Antone's
Ocean of Stars updates
Getting filmed live at BD Riley's for a documentary
Etc Etc Etc

I apologize for neglecting this blog, Oh 11 loyal subscribers. I really need to get my laptop fixed...