Benefit?

Two A Days Part Two

October 29, 2005
Paris Pumpkin Festival
Paris, Texas

Well, it was a fine crisp day today and perfect to be playing outside. This was the first time that I had ever played on a trailer and also the first time that I had a chance to play in front of so many people in the middle of a city’s downtown area. It was a great gig for the cash I believe as well. I won’t go into numbers but I will say that it was a rather handsome payoff for 45 minutes worth of “work.”

This was one of our double-header days also. After the show in Paris it’s off to the next city for a private party.

We got a little lost in the country trying to find the place, and it turns out that the house that we thought the party was at originally was actually the home of Jay Novacek. Once we finally got turned around right we were greeted with warm hospitality.

We had no idea that we were playing a costume party for Halloween and since we didn’t dress the part a lady named Bendy decided that we, (Eric, Wayne, and I) were going to be “black eyed peas”, so she proceeded to place a duct tape “P” on our chests and blacked our eyes with her eye liner. Michael got off easy with a long wig and some shades. I don’t know who he was supposed to be but he ended up looking like some hybrid cross between Rob Zombie and Charles Manson. It was a beautiful thing.

Costume of the night had to go to Matt Hillyer of 1,100 Springs. He came walking out of the garage, yea, we played in a garage used to build motorcycles (definitely our crowd) and I saw him and the first thing that came to mind and my mouth were, “Hello, Mr. Kotter!” He walked over and explained that he was actually Burt Reynolds. We all laughed our balls off for a while on that.

What a great day!

I hope that we get to do the same next year.

Lp.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of party pics that evening, but this wasn’t the kind of gig that too many people wanted their pictures taken at. Thanks to Stephanie O’Neal for the downtown pics!

Full band downtown Paris.

The six-stringers in action.

I remember thinking, "How cool is this playing in the middle of the road downtown? Pretty damn cool."

This is definately the best picture taken of Wayne to date in my opinion. It's usually hard to get a good pic of him because if he sees a camera he immediately wants to look at it and smile. This is a photographers nightmare when trying to take a decent action shot. Anyway, again, great shot, Steph. You got this one tight!

Dillon's On Another Wednesday

Wednesday
October 26, 2005
Dillon's
Paris, TX

Butch Benefit Part Deux

Sunday
October 23, 2005
Camp Shagbar
Outside Paris, Texas

Two A Days Part 1

Saturday
October 22, 2005
Kevin's
?, Texas



Hank's
McKinney, Texas

Give Me $2 When I'm Hard Up...

October 21, '05
Borrowed Money
Mt. Pleasant, Texas

This was our first time to play in Mt. Pleasant.

More to follow…

T-Bone Duo

Wednesday
October 19, 2005
T-bone's
Denison, Texas

No More Cheat Sheets...

October 18, '05
Adair's Saloon
Dallas, Texas

Another successful show at Adair's tonight accompanied by another great cheeseburger. Tonight was the largest turnout that we have had to date on a Tues. night. I’m looking forward to 29 Nov. when I can get back there again. This next upcoming gig is a Tuesday night also, but I think I remember hearing something about stepping up to a Thursday night in the months to come! That would be a fantastic move as I am sure the crowd is a little more solid on a night closer to the weekend. And we all know what that means: more butts in chairs, more fresh ears, bigger money for the bar, and in turn bigger money for the fellas’ makin’ the noise! That’s how the big ugly monster works.

Mainly I’m just concerned about that cheeseburger right now.

John Pittman, my good friend and former band mate made it out to play a few tunes on the acoustic as well. He came with a buddy of mine who I haven’t seen in months as well, Greg Nance. Both these guys have been friends for many years and with the addition of a brand-new baby boy to each of their families I feel fortunate that they had some time to make it out and hang for a while. Good to see you fellas!

Finally, ever since I began playing with O’Neal, Wayne, and E. I have been using some sort of cord progression chart and required some sort of method to the madness in the form of a set list for all of the shows that we have done up to this date. I kept all this info locked up safe in my trusty little white notebook that I am so used to hauling around in my backpack from city to city.

Tonight, I retired that little white notebook. The next time I see it will be 29 November, 2005 when I nail it to the ceiling (literally) at Adair’s, and this is where it shall remain on permanent display for all to make their own mark on. Provided they can reach the ceiling!

Sayonara,

Lp.

Hanging Out At The Hangout...

October 15, '05
The Hang Out
Commerce, Texas

Well, tonight’s ride is a breeze when the gig’s only 45 minutes away from home, a breeze on the way at least, not so good on the ride home for some. We had a friend leave the joint with too much fun in her blood stream and she ended up flipping her car a couple of times. Luckily she’s fine.

We were wondering why all the fuss on this desolate road at 2:30am, police heading the opposite way, then EMS, fire trucks, the works. It was all spelled out when I talked to Wayne today. I’m just glad she’s ok. I wouldn’t want to carry the weight around in my head if a friend died on the way home from one of our shows.

As for the show, it was a good time. We started out with multiple problems before the show but just played right through them – kick drum sliding, bass amp on its last leg, things like that. It looks like I will be forced to buy a new rig for playing out this week, so the next time you see me I may have a brand-new piece of gear!

We ended up having the owner of the place up with us for a few songs that he blew some harp on – pretty cool. It’s not often that you get to jam with the dude who owns the joint.

Good things…

Lp.

The Road Is Tough, The Drive Is Long...

October 14, '05
Texas Nights
Waco, Texas

Man, I used to drive the shit out of 30 and 35 when I lived in Austin and it was no problem. Now the drive seems a bit longer.

Regardless of the drive, we had a good time and met some cool people, both in the staff and some folks that said they’d be back the next time that we were in town and they’d bring their friends. That’s the kind of stuff that keeps you going.

As soon as we showed up, I noticed that there was a poster up by the stage with a pic of my ex-girlfriend on it. Strange indeed.

Anyway, Texas Nights is going to be the joint to play in the fall. It’s an outside venue (huge fan of that), the beer is cold and rather largely portioned, and the cheeseburger fills the stomach in a most delightful way. The four fire pits in front of the stage was a really cool touch too. I’d never seen anything like that in any of the venues that we play. It will be nice to warm my bones by that fire when we play there again next month!

And finally, props to Charlie for getting us all home in one piece. He really bailed us out. Like my buddy O'Neal said in his blog, "my boy sucked it up, ex- truck driving man, he can do that kind of stuff."

C-ya!
Lp.

Texas OU Weekend

Saturday
October 08, 2005
Elk's Lodge - Texas OU
Paris, TX

Plano TX.

PIcS tOnigHt...

When Charles Gets Hungry He Eats The Tires First!

October 01, '05
Love and War in Texas
Grapevine, Texas

L&W in Grapevine's always a great place to play. The staff's always attentive, the sound's always great (thanks Jake), and the accommodations are always comfortable after the night’s show has ended. The hotel this time had an indoor pool (bringing trunks next time), the free breakfast was pretty solid, and the location was a lot closer to the venue than we are normally accustomed to.

Another flat-tire on Charles for the trip again, same damn place too – back right. It seems that every time my gal ends up going with us on a road-trip in the van – slapped with another flat tire. We’ve affectionately changed her name from Hillary to “Badlucklary” and banned her from all van excursions unless a tire deposit can be made! All in all it was a relatively quiet trip – no one got sick, picked a fight, or ended up hospitalized with some new strand of foreign VD. Good things.

I tried to take a couple of pics of the DFW area folks who are always kind enough to come out and see us when we are in town but they turned out a little shady. I am sorry yall. I’ll try to get a better shot the next time we hook-up.

Take Care,

Lp.