Winter trudges on

It's still winter everywhere. Some people blame this guy:

I think he's too cute to throw any blame at. Besides, he doesn't make the weather - he just reports on it. He calls 'em as he sees 'em. I respect that.

But I'm definitely tired of this whole winter thing, and I'm ready to move on to warmer days. While we've had some indoor gigs this winter, we've still had several outdoor gigs the last few months, and it ain't always easy to keep it hot when you're cold.

I know that folks up north are in a straight-up, never-ending deep freeze, so they probably don't want to hear about the hardship of trying to play guitar with stiff fingers in 40-degree temperatures. But we don't live up north. So...

Okay, so the challenge of playing outside when the weather is extreme is not new information, but we in the band have realized recently that while temperature is a strong factor in your comfort level on an outdoor stage, more than that is wind.

A hot day with a breeze is much more comfortable than a hot day with no air moving (thus, our standard-equipment stage fans). And a cold night with wind is way worse than a cold, still night.

But it's more than just that a hard wind not only makes you feel colder. It blows your set list around, creates noise in your microphone, blows your hair in your mouth and eyes, and it keeps your audience away from you since they're more interested in a sheltered spot than a spot up close or on the dance floor. It's just a general pain in the ass. When you've got low temps but there's no wind, you can bundle up, set a space heater next to you and go about your business.

So, there you have it. Wind makes a cold day more uncomfortable.

Groundbreaking, right? Next time we'll explore the impact of humidity on how hot one feels.

2015 is under way!

Well, here we go, friends! 2015 is officially under way. It was actually officially under way for the band when we played our first Junior's gig on January 2, but I couldn't get my shit together quickly enough to get a blog post written before that gig. So, I'm getting my first post posted before our second gig of the year - at the Pleasure Pier in Galveston this Saturday.

It's still January, though, so it still counts as a new year post.

Oh, I will, Chuck Norris. I will.

January can be a tricky month for us with gigs. So many of our venues are outdoors, and January is not known for its lovely weather. Winter here is generally cold and rainy. But it's Texas, so it can be 70 one day and 40 the next. I'm not joking. Last week we actually had a day in the 70s, and the next day a front came through and dropped the temps into the 40s.

So, when we book gigs in January, we hope for the "unseasonably warm" days OR a back-up space indoors. Junior's has a back-up indoor space, which is where we played earlier this month:

2014 - a beautiful, Strange year

Well, we made it - one more year in the books! 2015 is going to start quickly for us, with a gig on Jan. 2 at Junior's Grill and Icehouse in Round Rock, so it's worth taking a moment to look back at what's been a successful and fun 2014.

This year, we continued our long-running residency at Junior's, but we switched to an all-night format. Instead of an opener followed by The Staylyns for two hours, we now play 7:30-11:30pm every First Friday. And we're pleased to announce that we'll continue this residency in 2015. Woohoo!

We returned to several other stages this year, as well, including the Pleasure Pier in Galveston, the Boardwalk stage in Kemah and Cafe Mueller stage at HEB - all venues that we have gigs for on the books in 2015.

We got to play a few places/events for the first time this year, including the inaugural Viva Terlingua Festival, The Cedar Door, Cherrywood Coffeehouse, Javelina Bar, the Vapers Exhibit, and the inaugural Austin BikeFest.

The Thirsty Goat in Lajitas, Texas

We also had the pleasure of playing several private gigs including a wedding for a couple from South Africa who came to Austin to get married in front of several friends from all over the world, while simulcasting the wedding via Skype to relatives in South America; a Memorial Day party at a ranch in Gatesville; and a birthday party for a woman who survived a near-fatal car accident a year ago and danced at her own party this year.

Snacking during a show (or: "Ruh-roh!")

We played the Galveston Pleasure Pier last night.

Photo courtesy of Brad Ober

We really enjoy playing the pier for many reasons.

It's a great stage. You can't help but feel like a star playing in the shadow of a ferris wheel.

The view is fantastic. From our perch, we get to see dolphins jumping in the water, pelicans flying overhead and the sunset right across from us.

The audience is so diverse. It's really fun to see such a cross-section of people enjoying the games and rides and being with their families, but also digging our music. Last night we had everyone from babies to senior citizens dancing, singing and smiling with us. Some were locals, and some were visitors from all over the world. We even sold a swag pack of merch to a couple from Canada who hung out for two sets and told us about their daughter who plays guitar (go, girl, go!).

But I did have one small challenge in the third set.

Playing - a little - for the Vapers Exhibit

We played the 2014 Vapers Exhibit this weekend, and it was an interesting experience. The exhibit is an expo for e-cigarettes.

If you don't know what e-cigarettes are, they're an alternative to regular cigarettes. With a regular cigarette, tobacco is rolled in paper, and the smoker lights the roll, inhaling (then exhaling) the smoke. E-cigarettes are battery-powered tubes that hold a mixture of liquid and nicotine. The e-cigarette vaporizes the mixture, and the smoker inhales (then exhales) the vapor. Until Saturday, that's about all I knew about e-cigarettes. Now, I know more than I ever thought I would!

The cool part about the expo, other than getting a convention gig, was that it was held at the Austin Music Hall. The music hall has a real stage and, almost as good, green rooms!

Playing the Viva Terlingua Festival, Part 2

Part 2 - the conclusion! Okay, so as I ended my last post, after arriving in Lajitas on Thursday and catching some music, we called it a day and crashed in our lovely, Western-themed hotel room. The next morning, I arose to this beautiful view:

This was our room (the porch to the right), and my vantage point for the photo above:

Playing the Viva Terlingua Festival, Part 1

Last month we had the honor of playing the very first Viva Terlingua Festival. The festival consisted of three portions - music, film and photography, and it was hosted in the neighboring towns of Terlingua and Lajitas.

Terlingua, technically, is a ghost town in West Texas. But when we got selected to play as part of the music portion, we decided to conquer our fear of ghosts and participate. It was our first festival playing all-original music since our SXSW showcase a few years ago, so it was an exciting opportunity. And besides, you really can't let ghosts push you around.

So, off we went to West Texas! For those of you who don't really have a sense of how large the state of Texas is, Terlingua/Lajitas is about an eight-hour drive from Austin. What do you do in a van for eight hours? Well, if you're Johnny, you drive. If you're Joe, you do this:

And if you're me (Suzy), you do this: