Back In Deep Ellum

Tuesday
December 27, 2005
Adair's Saloon
Dallas, Texas

Another great show in Deep Ellum again tonight, in fact, in my opinion, it was our best-to-date at Adair's. On a ten-scale, I'd give the show about an 8.5 - good things! Thanks to Joel for the service, and thanks to Casey Cainan for playing a set.

It was good to see Jake out too; I hope all's going as planned for our hostile takeover of the World.

Finally, I was glad to have my buddy, Casey Ressler, back from two tours in Iraq and chilling at the show.

Welcome home.

Ressler and I cooling the sweat off with a cold one after the show.

Porky's

Saturday
December 17, 2005
The Player's Club
Mt. Vernon, Texas

Well, the gig went as smooth as possible, as it's always a difficult thing for a last minute substitution on any instrument. My old friend John Pittman sat in with us again tonight and became the second cross-over instrumentalist in Michael’s band. First, Brock had gone from guitar to the bass. Second, it was John who had sat in with us numerous times on the electric guitar and lap steel, and now finally to playing the drums. A million thanks to he and his family as he was able to just drop his plans, hop in the van, and go with only 4 hours notice before show time. The guy’s fearless.

My friend Casey Cainan took some pics of us.

Myself and John.

Eric needs an ashtray.

"P" is for Pittman.


Exit Stage Right.

The ride home after the show.

Paris, Texas - Miles From No Where...

Friday
December 16, 2005
Dillon's
Paris, TX

We teamed up with the fellas from Miles from Nowhere for the first time tonight at Dillon's to see if we could pack it out. I think that we have another upcoming date with them again pretty soon. Turns out that the crowd wasn’t quite what we had hoped for but I think that we still had around 100 people show up. This funk band down the road at Crosswire had put a decent dent in our turnout I am sure.

As for the actual show, it was a little more difficult than we are used to. In an unfortunate turn of events Wayne had broken the three largest toes on his right foot the previous Tuesday at work, so he was feeling the pain a little bit on that. I can’t imagine what it’s like to stomp on your foot that has three broken toes for an entire gig – ouch! We ended up taking our time and laying back a lot on what we are typically playing faster these days and honestly it felt pretty good. Also, I turned to check Wayne out about 2 minutes into the second or third song and he had split his left hand wide open as well – blood everywhere. That’s when you know you’re dedicated, playing with broken bones and bleeding.

Kudos Wayne.

Miles played sharply. I got pretty dedicated when they busted out Whiskey River by ‘ol Willie – great song, and really cool to hear it out. I don’t think that I had ever heard anyone cover it before. I shared some playing time with “Muffin” (my bass) with their bass player, JJ. In turn he was kind enough to let me use/abuse his combo amp, saving me the hassle of hauling in the beast that I normally play through. He had just had some surgery for a torn ACL I believe so he, like Wayne, was on the limp wagon all night.

Warriors, I’m telling you.

Warriors…

Enjoy the pics, most of which are of the Miles crew as it’s hard for me to play my bass and try to photograph myself and the boys at the same time.

See you down the road.

Lp.

Borrowed gear for the evening.

Merle Ray gets one of the most distinct tones with that guitar.




Adam Walker on the acoustic guitar.




Wesley Joe on the skins, and if you look closely you may be able to see some blood that Wayne left on the snare head.

JJ on Muffin.
My guitar's looking filthy these days; I'll be cleaning it this Sunday.

Adam and me after the show.

Here's a shot of the crowd warming up the liver before the gig.

It sure is fun untangling this mess at the end of the night.

Video Shoot For '52 Les Paul: Day One

Today was the first day of the video shoot for '52 Les Paul. Filming was shot at the Blossom Hardware Store in Blossom, Texas. We gigged the night before so I woke up a little late and when I finally checked my messages I saw that I had missed a call from Michael.

"I don't know if I told you are not but today is the first day of the video shoot. We'll be at the Blossom Hardware Store."

Nope, this was the first that I had heard about it. So I immediately throw on the closest rags, pack up the camera, and hall it to B-town.

Once I show up, I run into Hooker and then Hack, a friend of ours from the Metroplex. He and Little John used to have a radio show that was on one of the first stations to give O'Neal any airplay. Great guys to hang out with.

I apologize for the lack of pictures. With me getting there late, poor batteries, and the fact that they were actually filming a video (you wouldn't want the flash on that), I have limited pics.

I'll try to pick up some more on the next day of filming.

Page 1.

Page two.

Little John having his reaction shots filmed.


Little John examines the goods.


"Give me all your money, and you won't have to die." This would be the only time I have ever seen a pistol in O'Neal's hand.

The cast is getting some direction from my former business and professional speech teacher from college, and also the producer of the video, John Wright.

This was one of the final exterior shots for the day. I would have taken another pic of Hack in his cameo but the damn camera ran out of battery after three brutal days of use.

RRB Opener at Crosswire

Saturday, December 10, 2005
Crosswire
Paris, TX

We opened for The Randy Rogers Band here in town tonight. I think we did something like a 14 song set to the tune of about an hour and 15 minutes. It was cool to have such a nice big slot to play in, as usually our opening gig time typically runs around 45 minutes. The crowd was out and it was nice to see the faces of the people that always try and make the shows with the new ones that I had never seen. It was a great time and I’d enjoy playing with them again.

I snapped a couple of shots both during the show and after everyone were done.

We talked to Randy for a while and then MO and I headed to McKee’s for breakfast. I had the eggs over easy with bacon I believe. Good things... and from the “it’s a small world after all” category, we ran into Wesley and the other guys that went to Grapevine with us last weekend.

Here's a shot of Jon's Ampeg that he was kind enough for me to use.


Its always cooler with people in your grill on the front row.
Especially when they bring this much beer.

The dance flo'


RRB Stage Left

RRB Bassist, Jon and me after the show.

Me, Randy, and MO at closing time.

Duo at T-Bones

Friday, December 09, 2005
T-Bones
Denison, Texas

Tonight was another duo night for Eric and Michael. Michael's dad, Mike, and I rolled down there for the show. As always I had the BLT 86 the mayo, and it's always great. The service is always cool for the most part. I remember getting up and going to the bar to ask the bartender for an ashtray, the reply I got, "'So and so' (can't remember her name) is your waitress, so she can get it for you." What a bum deal. I guess that when you look like this girl does then you think that you can just take a dump on most people that you choose to, and unfortunately I guess that I wasn't pretty enough for her to get me something to put cigarette butts into. Oh well, I informed my kind waitress who would actually help me and she handled the situation a lot better than I would have if I had been her. I've tended bar for over 8 years, and I never once gave that shitty of service. I'll never order another thing from her and more than anything I feel sorry for the poor people that have to work with her.

As for the show, it was pretty standard - no one farted on too many chords, requests were made and played, and all had a great time. It was probably one of the largest crowds that have been at an acoustic show or at least the ones that I have been there to see.

Oh yea, T-bones is currently adding on another addition to the building as well and I apologize for the lack of quality for some of these pics.

Take care,
Lp.

Here's what's to be the bar for the new addition.

Abe Taylor close up.


Brunson on acoustic lead.

The Duo.

USMC Toy Drive

Monday, December 05, 2005
The Love Civic Center
Paris, Texas

Tonight we played the Toys For Tots benefit at The Love Civic Center here in Paris. It's always a good feeling to be involved in something that's such a good cause. The crowd was receptive and I also was able to borrow another bass players wireless and use one of those for the first time. I think that I may just need to buy myself one!

Happy holidays...

Lp.

Stage at the civic center.



The rhythm section's borrowed gear for the evening.

Kids In The Hall

December 03, '05
L&W in Texas,
Grapevine, Texas

As always, many thanks to Jake, Aaron, Dusty, Rob, and Martine (sp?), we always have fun in yawl’s joint, and if I left anyone out then it has to be because I'm still so tore-up.

Thanks again to John for sitting in with the band. A BIG thank-you to Wesley Joe for keeping time on those drums. The guy’s a real fluid player AND got balls of steel to come sit in with a band he’s never played with, playing some songs that he hasn’t ever heard, in a venue he’s never played in, all the while calmly pulling it off. Thanks again, brother. Maybe we can play again sometime…

Wesley’s entourage is a rowdy bunch too! These guys don’t play, when they can manage to trash a hotel room more than the band could. You could say that they leave a rather healthy hoof print. I kept waiting for someone to fucking throw the television out the window or strap on a football helmet and ride a motorcycle down the halls with their balls on fire. A rare breed indeed, these are the type guys who would be intravenously knocking back Jack Daniels and snorting fat chalky lines off the back tattoos of the local strippers before the gig if they were in a rock
band. Oh wait, they are...

Also, thank you to Eric for making sure we all got back to hotel. O’Neal pointed out to me today that Eric seems to take the father figure type role in taking care of all of us when we fall a little too hard off the chain, and fall hard we did, buddy. This was easily one of those nights that could have gotten completely out of hand. You know the kind: the brown acid makes you think you need golf shoes to get out of the dinosaur filled bar, or where you wake up underneath the van in the fetal position with the keys stuffed up your ass, and come to find out they ain't even your keys. Yea, one of those nights. I think I remember waking up on the sofa, just sitting there, burning my fingers away with lit cigarette – feels great today! This was before I decided to “go to floor” for the evening. The picture above is actually a shot of my lavish accommodations for the evening. You know, most people simply just go to bed, not me, I go to floor, baby! I woke up this morning after two hours of sleep fully clothed in the middle of the living room of the suite with a pillow and a bath mat for a blanket. Classic.

Oh well, I learned my lesson about staying away from the foreign guys who just want to hear one more song when they are buying the whole band after-show drinks. That Jagermeister will pound the head the next morning after shot after shot after shot.

I can’t wait until we get to come back.

Lp.

Borrow This...

December 02, '05
Borrowed Money
Mt. Pleasant, Texas

Well, this was definitely our best gig in Mt. Pleasant to date. We won some strangers over and got some of the best compliments I’ve ever heard. Being a professional musician, sounds strange I know, yet still true, some nights in some places seem more like work than fun, and this was the first time that I actually had fun at Borrowed Money.

I sure hope that nice gal with the bag full of compliments makes it back out again so I can get her name once and for all. She told me once and also introduced me to her husband, but neither of which can I remember a name for. I apologize. This is the grim reality of what excessive consumption of Wild Turkey will do to the landscape of the mind.

P.S. I can’t wait until we can play the Pilgrim’s Pride gig. Bring it on!

Lp.