Blaine's Friday in San Angelo Saturday, who knows?

Last weekend was a great double gig weekend for us. I had a good time watching Zach Walther and The Cronkites on Friday. It was the first time for me to catch them live. They put on a good show for the Midland crowd and maintained a high energy level through their whole set. Saturday with The Band of Heathens was out of this world as usual. They are just so good live! I have to ask you out there is you can help me find a random song they covered though. The title is "Hurricane" and no it's not Dylan's hurricane. One resounding line was, "It'll take a whole lot more water to was away New Orleans" The premise of it was talking about New Orleans triumphing over Hurricane Katrina and it was the highlight of their set for me. I've gotten Leon Everett and a few other sounding alike names. iTunes of course, has little to offer and I have to get my hands on that song. If anyone knows it please feel free to make my day.

Friday we are playing at Blaine's Pub in San Angelo kicking off the weekend in a fine venue. It is going to be a packed house and a good rowdy time. Saturday I can't remember if we locked something down or not so I suppose that will have to be a surprise for us both.


Also, for everyone here in the Permian Basin. Go to google and type in Crude Fest Midland and see how many bands come up with it on their itinerary in May. That is a show to keep on your radar!

An Opening Kind of Weekend

Busy weekend ahead and I'm glad to say it. We picked up a fantastic bass player who is more than talented for our band. His name is Jeremy and before jumping in with us, was playing with three to four different bands. He plugged in on his first practice and never got lost in our songs. We are back to a five piece.


Friday we are playing with Zach Walther and The Cronkites at Kroc's bar in Midland, Tx. I found out about this today (Thursday) which was a pleasant surprise. Instead of running through our Saturday show's set at practice Friday, we get to open for a really great band. Not bad. This is my first time seeing Zach Walther and The Cronkites and I'm very excited to check them out. I'm already a fan of their album and am sure their live show will be just as great. Luke Leverett, their lead guitar player, is a tremendous presence. Seeing him playing live again alone will be a blast.





Saturday we are opening up for The Band of Heathens at The Hog Pit in Midland. There isn't much more to say about them. They are exploding in the scene and they just keep getting better. It's like pouring gas on a fire. Every time you think it's hot enough you walk up and pour some more on it. Really excited about seeing them again. Watching them with my jaw on the floor. Cursing at my unworthiness. You know the usual reaction in seeing them live.




This is a really fortunate weekend line up to introduce two new members to our band. The shows are low pressure, being opening gigs, and will be a great way of feeling each other out on a stage. It's going to be a great great weekend.

The Band of Heathens on Austin City Limits.

The greatly talented Band of Heathens gave me a surprise the other day when I clicked on P.B.S. There on the widely popular show Austin City Limits, playing like it was just another easy going gig were Ed, Gordy, John, Seth, and Colin. The Band of Heathens shared the hour long broadcast along side Elvis Costello. In my opinion, and most likely a biased one, The Heathens stole the whole show. If you have yet to experience their music and most importantly their great live show, I urge you to run to their next gig in your neighborhood, or at the least buy their album.


Click here to watch a video of "Jackson Station" performed on the aforementioned Austin City Limits airing playing on The Band of Heathens' website. If it is no longer playing on their site, I'm sure Youtube.com would be more than happy to oblige in your search.

Short and sweet about last week

This last weekend was a great time. The Martini Glass Grill had not gotten its liquor license yet, but I could see the potential of the place as a great bar. I had the chance to eat their food and was very happy with the quality. I had the Prosciutto wrapped chicken stuffed with some kind of pesto and almond sauce. On the bad side it was a bit pricey. For instance, an eight ounce rib-eye steak was thirty dollars. Hopefully the prices will drop to normal people money once they have their liquor license secured. A little birdy told me that once they do start serving alcohol, there will be around a hundred and fifty different kinds of martinis to choose from.

Stephanie Briggs was a pleasure live as usual. She played most of her songs from "Birds Barely Know Us" her newest album. Also she played some favorites from "Spark" as well as some songs coming out soon on i-tunes that were left off her new CD. She played on a classical guitar while Matt Briggs accompanied her with a standard acoustic. Hearing the newer songs acoustic in that style was an interesting perspective and one I enjoyed.

Cody and I did an impromptu acoustic show during Stephanie's break. It was fun to play acoustic with Cody. It is strange how different it feels to play without drums, electric guitar, my amp, and all the other noise. It helped me zone in on what it is I do in spots of songs where I know no one is usually listening to me. Always fun to have a new perspective on a heavily played song.

Our show Saturday night opening for The Band of Heathens was a ton of fun. It looks like Midland has finally gotten the message about the heathens and the place was fairly packed. On our first song the lead vocal cut out three words in but after Troy, our sound guy, threw around some cables the set went smoothly. I got an ovation for a solo I played mimicking the high end trill dance that John Popper likes to do so much of and then I looked up and we were off stage. Good times never last long enough. The band of Heathens took to the stage and burned the place down. Every time I see them I am just in awe at how tight they are on stage and how flawless their live sound is. Go see them if you haven't it is worth whatever cover you're paying and it guarantees a fun night.

Next weekend we are headlining at the Hog Pit Friday for the Permian Basin Barbecue. The Jackson Lee Brooks Band is opening up for us. They are a brand new band, but have all the symptoms of being around for a while. Saturday at the Hog Pit Texas Renegade is playing. I will not be attending. My family will be in town for the weekend. Also I wouldn't want to be there and someone invite me up on stage for a harp duel with Kasey where I would have to destroy his brain with my skills.

Stephanie Briggs + Band of Heathens= great weekend

Tonight (Friday 17'th o' April) Stephanie Briggs and the Oso will be in town playing at the Martini Glass Grill. The Martini Glass Grill is a brand new bar that has opened in downtown Midland touting a more refined night of drinking to its patron. I have never been, so I'll let you know how that pans out. Stephanie Briggs is cruising through town on her CD release tour for "Birds Barely Know Us" which is a fantastic album and I urge you all to pick this one up. After tonight's show she will be headed to Fort Worth playing at Woody's Tavern Saturday evening. It is always such a treat to catch her playing around "these here parts" and I'm happy to see other people becoming fans.


Saturday night we will be opening up for The Band of Heathens at the Hog Pit in Midland. If you haven't heard of this band yet, you should take a long listen. They are based in Austin and their sound is rooted in Americana, soul, blues, and southern rock. They put on a great show and always vibe well with the crowd. If you're in the area make sure to come catch the show. I'm excited to be getting back up on stage after our three week sabbatical. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything too important, since work kept me from practicing with the guys this week. This will be a great warm up show for the schedule that will be gaining momentum all the way through late May. If you live in San Angelo, Ballinger, or New Braunfels, good news...we'll be seeing you soon.

Things Going On

Our band has been off for the last week and we won't be playing again until April 18'th because of scheduling conflicts. We will be opening up for The Band of Heathens at The Hog Pit. They are a band based in the Austin area with a ton of talent. If you haven't had the chance to listen to them I urge you to. This weekend they are playing at The Grit N Groovefest hosted by Ray Wylie Hubbard down in Luckenback. This is the first year of the event and surely not the last considering Hubbard's great music and his devoted fan base. Along with the Heathens other acts will include Patty Griffin, Charlie Sexton, Omar Dykes, Sam Baker, Ray Wylie Hubbard and many others. If you live in the hilly parts of Texas I would try to put it on the top of my to do list this weekend.

Stephanie Briggs and The Oso released their new album yesterday titled "The Birds Barely Know Us". This was a long time coming for people waiting on it, but it has turned out to be well worth it. The album has been in my truck's CD player since I pulled it out of the mail. This is a good album and it has an array of songs that could just as easily appeal to you or that person over there you think is your bizzaro nemesis. Invite him over, open a beer, never mind that growth on his neck you guys are listening to some good music. This album comes after Stephanie and Matt (The Oso) signed with 36D management who also represent Cross Canadian Ragweed, Randy Rogers, Seth James, and Micky and The Motorcars. She recently skipped around the western U.S. with Cross Canadian Ragweed opening up for them on their tour to California. when they finally reached the coast she polished the last bits of this album and set it to wax. Buy the CD and show greatly deserving musicians some love.

Stephanie Briggs and The Oso.
(photo by Stephanie Briggs)

After our break, the month of April appears to be a fairly fun one for the band. April 18'th we will be at The Hog Pit in Midland opening for The Band of Heathens. The 24'th we will be headlining for the Permian Basin BBQ cook-off also in Midland. These will be some fun shows leading up to our string of road shows in May. Come on out if you're around, and if you live someways away keep on reading and maybe we'll make it there eventually.

random videos

This is what happens when you surf youtube too long looking for something entertaining. I ended up on Stephanie Briggs and The Oso's youtube feed and found these.

This video is hard to define. There are a few notable musicians in here dominating the rap game, suckas. Try to figure out where Cody Canada and Wade Bowen are in the video. They're sneaky.



Stephanie Briggs and The Oso have a tour blog that she puts up on youtube. This one is from when she came and played up in Midland and then hung around and caught our show. Things to note are Matt Briggs (The Oso) jumping up and playing with us on stage with his corn cob pipe. There's a couple golden seconds of me blowing some smoke rings before I grew a man beard. Also there's a creepy guy at the end who stole their camera and proclaimed his love for Matt Briggs.



This one is another from her tour blog when she dropped back in on Midland and played for the Dottie Hill Memorial Cancer Benefit. The line up made for a great concert. We played along with The Band Of Heathens, Stephanie Briggs, Tyson Kerby, Keith Davis, and a few more great acts. This video is a take on The Hills from MTV. Cody Davidson takes a cameo role as well as other great seasoned actors.