Sick happens

Wow. What. A. Month. March is always busy for us, but this year we got our gigging ON. Saturday night we played our 10th show in 24 days! We played 1 private event, and the other 9 events were public shows in 8 different venues, in 8 different cities. Luckily, we love what we do, so it's a privilege to have so many folks who like what we do.

The shows ran the gamut from an early evening 45-minute showcase with other bands on the bill to a late-night 4-hour show with just us. Some were more challenging than others due to sound issues, timing, convenience of getting equipment to the stage site, etc. But the real challenge was for me (Suzy) about half-way through a tour of shows we did during Spring Break week. I got sick.

I didn't puke on stage or anything (I'm talking to you, Justin Bieber).

But my body was definitely going through something and wanted me to be there for it - not traveling around playing shows. One of my friends, who is also in a band, asked me what you do in that situation. So, I figured, "That calls for a blog!"

Audience participation has its limit

We've played a lot of gigs over the years, and we've had a lot of experiences that leave us asking, "What were you thinking?" Whether its venues that double-book or audience members that get so drunk they face-plant right in front of us while attempting to dance, a little forethought can go a long way into making everyone's experience better.

That's all - just think it through before you do it...whatever "it" is.

At the show we played Saturday, there was an audience member who did not think something through. She was attentive and into the show. She encouraged her kid to dance, which was cool. She and her family stayed for most of the show, which was great. BUT...

Just a few songs into the show, she went to her car and retrieved *her own tambourine* -- which she proceeded to *play* during every song for the remainder of her time at the show.

I know, right? We thought Joe's head was going to explode.

Let me give you a simple rule for attending live music shows: Do not bring your own instrument and play it during the show. Ever.

Say You Will

It's a new year, and it's really starting out right for us. We've locked down some great residencies that we're excited to get started on, and we've already lined up some Spring Break gigs, with some feelers out for a few private gigs - we're gonna work this year, bitch (as Britney would say)!

I *just* said we're going to work this year, Britney Jean. Step. Off.

But all that upcoming performance work is not stopping us from releasing some new music as well. As I said in my last post, we're going to continue our new policy of releasing singles, rather than waiting to release songs until we have enough produced for a full album. And we're going to start of 2016 by doing just that!

The Year in Review - 2015

My calendar may be a dirty liar, but it's telling me that in just two short weeks, the year 2015 will be over. I'm not sure how that can be true since it *just* started, but the Internet seems to confirm it, and we all know that if it's on the Internet, it must be true.

So, assuming that the year is, in fact, almost over, it must be time to look back over 2015 and review the year that was. For the band, it has been an interesting year.

Okay, I will!

Do yo thang

October was a rough month for us. The rain and flooding throughout the Texas Hill Country led to a bunch of our gigs getting cancelled. But our last two gigs proved to be interesting - one in October, and then our last gig on Nov. 4.

The October gig was our monthly residency at HEB's Cafe Mueller. We had a good crowd that stayed with us for the whole show, and we even sold a few CDs. We were feeling pretty good until the buyer or one of those CDs felt the need to tell us not only what she liked, but what she also thought we should do to really be successful. She didn't corner Joe to tell him what she thought of his performance, but she took time to pull Johnny and I aside, separately, to let us know what she thought we could improve on. Boy, there's nothing more fun after a show than someone in the audience cornering you with "constructive criticism!"

The Red Guitar

It's been really busy lately for your favorite outta-the-garage-but-hasn't-yet-hit-the-big-time band, so I'm just a tad late in writing about this, but with our next Cafe Mueller gig coming up, I just had to share an experience we had at last month's Cafe Mueller gig.

For those of you who have been fans with us from the early days, you know that Johnny has been through a few guitars before landing on his current, awesome, custom Moniker guitars:

In our earliest years, when we were Johnny Austin, Johnny played a butterscotch Fender Telecaster:

The time came when he wanted a guitar that had some capabilities that the Tele didn't have, and it didn't make sense to try and upgrade the Tele. So, he bought a beautiful cherry burst Parker Dragonfly (now called a Maxxfly):

He had the Parker for a couple of years, deciding at one point that he wanted to have it painted Ferrari red. That's when he found the Moniker guys. They said they normally built guitars, rather than just painting them, but they were just starting out and were willing to make an exception, so they painted the Parker for him.

It was a great guitar, but despite its fabulous paint job, its electronics couldn't quite handle the workout of Johnny's sweaty performance. So after a while, he sold the Parker and turned back to the Moniker guys - this time to build him a guitar.

Well, you rarely know what happens to your guitars after they leave you, but last month, a man walked up to Johnny as we were setting up at Cafe Mueller, and he pulled a guitar out of a case and asked, "Was this your guitar, by any chance?" (or something to that effect) It was the Parker.

How we handle the heat

We just finished our last show of the summer, an afternoon show at the Galveston Pleasure Pier this past Sunday, August 30. However, we live in Texas, so it's still going to be hot for a couple of months, and most of our shows are at outdoor venues. So even though we're hopefully past the worst of the heat, we're still going to have to manage that element for a while yet.

Ashley - friend, family and fan to the band - asked what we do to manage the heat at our outdoor shows. So, since we just did it, I thought this would be a good time to answer that question.

First thing to know about heat is that the outdoor temperature is a gauge, but it may not be all you need to know. The positioning and design of the stage is a huge part of the equation. By positioning of the stage, I mean where it's positioned on the venue property. Is it placed in a spot that has shade, or is it out in the open? At the time of day that you'll be performing, where will the sun be in proximity? Will it be behind you, or will it be shining directly on you?