Benefit For Butch Davidson

Sunday
June 26, 2005
The Elk's Lodge
Paris, TX

$100 Tips Rule!

Saturday
June 25, 2005
Dillon's
Paris, TX

Blue Edmonson and O'Neal Song Swap

Tuesday, June 21, 2005
The Vault
Paris, TX

Craig's Birthday Party

Saturday, June 18, 2005
The Elk's Lodge
Paris, TX

Jason Boland Show

Thursday, June 16, 2005
Crosswire
Paris, TX

*Written Monday, December 19, 05

This was my first time to be back at this venue since the mid-to-late '90's. I hadn't played Crosswire since it was Robert Allen’s, a name change that I believe happened around 2004.

Tonight's gig went well, and we opened up in front of a modest crowd for Jason Boland and the Stragglers. I think that someone, a DJ from a local station, might have gotten punched before the show at the backside of stage right.

Things are a bit fuzzy trying to remember much about what went on other than the fact that my friend, Corey was in from Thailand for the first time in months, so Jägermeister and Bud Light were the order of the night. I ended up damn near falling down the infamous stairs at the front door – a complete embarrassment. Then I cracked my skull on the pavement while attempting to sky dive out of his high rise truck in the parking lot of my apartments. I busted a knee real good and cracked my head enough to warrant a trip to the ER sooner than later.

I hadn’t really unwound that hard in a long time.

Thanks for almost killing me, Corey.

Be sure and call when you get back in!

Front of house sound.

Get your stomp on!

Wayne - always looking at the camera.

I love this t-shirt.

The Best Hamburger On The Planet...

Sunday, June 12, 2005
Adair’s Saloon – Deep Ellum in Dallas

I had been to Adair’s a few years ago with a friend on our way back to Austin. It was a Sunday and he kept going on and on about how cool this place was. You could bring your guitar in and just sit around and play with the other cats there, and then there’s the burger. Ahh, the Adair’s burger. Even if you never gave a rip about hearing good live music then you still need to get your ass in for the cheeseburger! You won’t be sorry.

As for the gig, it went smooth. We had a couple of friends, Nardone and Brock, drop in and hang with us. Brock even sat in for a set with the fellas, which he will probably do as often as he can make it out to Adair’s.

I met the guy that works the joint, Grant – super guy. He always takes care of us when we are there. Hopefully we can get our dues paid up and get to move from playing Sundays to what could be a more lucrative night like Friday.

Anyway, drop in sometime, introduce yourself to Grant, grab a beer, and order a burger. Oh, and be sure to bring a marker with you if your into graffiti at all. You can write on anything in the joint.

Sayonara…

Lp.

Portable Toilets Suck!

Saturday, June 11, 2005
Whitesboro, Texas

Well, its day two of three for this week's shows and we're doing it at some dude's party place on some land in the country, and it is hot outside. The stage is right on the tree line and slapped smack down in the middle of this bowl, for lack of a better word – no breeze at all and pretty soon after stepping out of the ride sweating is the order of the day.

The food smelled good and I wish that I would have eaten. The guy throwing the bash had the biggest smoker I'd ever seen in my life and he said that he smoked something like 70 briskets. Insane!

God, now I can't stop thinking about BBQ...

We played well considering how much beer we drank. It was a BYOB deal, and we sucked ours down pretty fast. Luckily the crowd was kind enough to take up a collection and the next thing you know we have a sack full of about 7 kinds of beer brought to the stage. That makes for some good quality time in what I like to call, “my office” the next morning.

All in all it was a good time and we’ll probably be back again next year. Only then I’ll be taking my tent and just camping with the crowd!

C-ya

Lp.

Welcome Back!

This pic of O'Neal under the Xmas lights (bottom of the post) was taken at the very first gig that I played with the boys at T-Bone's in Denison, TX on Friday, June 10th. It ran in one of the local rags that advertise local music, making this picture the first that I have taken and got printed.

Terrible nerves playing that night... I hadn’t played with anyone, much less gigged in almost 7 years. I had only two days of rehearsal with the fellas’ before this gig and I’d say about 70% of what I was playing I had never heard until I met the boys three days earlier. Anyway, with the help of my trusty cheat-sheets I made it through it. And thanks to Kent Gooding for letting me borrow his combo amp for the show. Apparently the head to my old Fender stack had blown sometime during the long hiatus I took. I can’t blame it as it sat in unclimatized storage for roughly 4 years.

What I liked the most about T-Bone’s (besides the free beer and the BLT I had for dinner) was the fact that the show would be on the outdoor patio in the back. I’ve always loved to play outside. It typically sounds better and it’s definitely a refreshing change from the smoky bars that we typically play in. I can’t wait until the fall to show up and play in that cool crisp air.

See you down the road.

Lp.