recap of the last two weeks

Last weekend I drove down to Austin and New Braunfels to have a mini vacation and to watch the Locks of Love Benefit in New Braunfels. It was worth the drive. My girlfriend and I walked into Billy's Ice House at 5:30 and found ourselves right in the middle of Stephanie Briggs and Cody Canada (Lead singer of Cross Canadian Ragweed) having a little acoustic time on stage to a crowd of maybe one hundred. They swapped songs back and forth for an hour and then The Dead Rock Stars took the stage and blew my mind away with dominant creative renditions of great songs. I missed most of the Los Garza Brothers so i can't really give much of an opinion of what I did catch, but they were on stage after The Dead Rock Stars. After that, Stephanie Briggs and The Oso with special guest Cody Canada playing lead guitar took the stage. It was very good. Cody was a great addition to the band's sound and he added some great riffs. They spent an hour or so on stage and you could see the crowd slowly growing as word of mouth grew regarding all the great musicians donating their time for a free show. There was a section of the bar set up with stylists cutting people's hair off so they could go to children affected by Alopecia. Alopecia is a condition where usually in your youth, all of your hair falls out and it never grows back. My father incidentally has Alopecia, no eyebrows, no arm hair, etc. and growing up it never was something I noticed as odd. He did at times share with me the hard times he had as a child being the different one in the crowd, and I was really happy to see an organization doing something about it. The hair donated there would later become a prosthetic implant of hair for someone suffering from the condition and giving them a better chance at a normal life. Reckless Kelly headlined the event and burned the bar down with their high energy show. They finished up the evening with "Crazy Eddies Last Hurrah" and Billy's Ice House, now packed to the gills, sang along to every single word. It was a great trip and one hell of a concert.

Cody Canada and Stephanie Briggs playing acoustic.


People donating their hair. Notably, Cody Canada and Matt Briggs gave some inches for the cause.


Reckless Kelly finishing up the night.

Yesterday, our band played at the Hog Pit in Midland, openeing up for Billy Joe Shaver. Cody was still on the mend from his brain trouble he had last week and the show had a rough way of things. Cody's vocal mic was running a short and kept shocking him while he was singing, which of course caused some mayhem to our tempo and so forth. Rough show but they do happen once in a blue moon. We finished strong on our last few songs so it wasn't a complete wash. I had bought a BBE Two Timer two channel delay pedal and had a blast fiddling with my delays during the show. It's always fun to bring a new sound to the stage. Billy Joe Shaver, although older than the dirt blowing in the wind, put on a great show. He had a ton of energy on stage and kept bouncing around punching the air with his fists and flapping his arms to choruses. He was a pleasure to talk to and was very friendly to all his fans. He spent the better part of his night, after getting off the stage, taking pictures with people and signing autographs.

Our band at this very moment is taking to the stage down in Rockdale.We are playing for The Jubilees Day Rodeo Dance. I am on my computer because I am in Midland thanks to too much work. This coming week Cody and I are doing an acoustic show in Fort Stockton for their summer lawn concert series. I will be back to my constant blogging soon enough once we get our internet troubles figured out. My apologies to anyone who has noticed my infrequent posts.

Locks of Love Benefit Sunday May 31'st in New Braunfels

We were booked to play down in New Braunfels this coming Sunday at the Locks of Love Benefit at Billy's Ice House. Chad, our lead guitarist, let us know a few weeks back that he wasn't going to make it down because of scheduling conflicts. We said okay and talked Keith Davis, who produced our first album, into jumping in with us. This last week, our bass player Ronnie let us know that work had revoked his vacation because he had to cover another employee's disability time. So then Cody and I planned to have a simple acoustic set for the show. The bad hoodoo continued to jangle around and now Cody has a very serious sinus infection. He has been getting reoccurring sharp pains throughout his head. Apparently the pain is so bad that his whole body spasms and doubles over with the onset of an attack. The MRI he got yesterday showed a nasty infection creeping around in his head throughout the sinus cavities. He's on a gamut of meds prescribed from the good doctor, and hopefully is on his way to an expedient recovery, but nonetheless we had to cancel the show all together. If you're in or around New Braunfels you should most definitely make an appearance at Billy's Ice House on Sunday. The lineup still includes Stephanie Briggs and the Oso, The Dead Rockstars, three other awesome bands, and some special guests who are going to bring the house down. Come out for a great cause and a great show. I am still planning at this point, to head down that way with my girlfriend to see the amazing show and maybe do a little pouting for not being a part of it. Our band has a well packed summer of show dates ahead so missing one will be alright in my book. I feel terrible for Cody for having to miss the fun and struggling through this illness. Send your good thoughts and prayers out to him for strength through the pain, and a good solid recovery.

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.

A few fine video finds ( lazy post day, but still important things)

This one is a great cover of Merle Haggard's Silver Wings. He was and still is a great pioneer in Texas music. The people covering his song are popular Texas musicians in their own right, Cody Canada, Randy Rogers, Wade Bowen, and Stephanie Briggs at the House Of Blues in Houston Texas last November. Bad quality but a great song and it looked like a great time.



This is a song and music video obviously, by Stephanie Briggs and The Oso who I spoke of in my last post. The song is a favorite and one that makes me happy no matter where I'm standing in life. This is a significant song to me that for some reason always stops me cold for just a moment.

This video wouldn't let me embed it. Boo hiss, but just click here to go see it. The song is titled "It Ain't Easy Being Me" by Chris Knight. This is a song I heard in college and was instantly attracted to. I've heard a myriad of bands cover it over time and still love hearing it from whomever can play it right on stage. There is something so terribly haunting in those lyrics that I think resonates with any man who has realized too late, that he has gone too far.



A video from my harmonica playing side. I know a great deal of harp players look down on the works of John Popper, but it is obvious that at the least he has brought a new perspective and crowd of listeners to the instrument. I have always enjoyed this song and when I found this excerpt of John Popper playing along side it, I loved how a song so familiar made room for a harp that I never thought would fit.



I'll end with this funny colored gem. It's from the great Ray Wylie Hubbard playing in Dallas. You might know his song "Redneck Mother" famous from Jerry Jeff Walker playing it. I had the great pleasure of playing with him a few months back at the Hog Pit in Midland. He was a really great guy. I had never heard a cleaner band at sound check. (This video's mix has the vocals way too high for my taste.) His show was way too fun as you could guess. He worked the crowd with his great stories of back before so and so, and he played the good ones 'til it was time to go home.

Way to go Stephanie Briggs and The Oso.

One great band that I have to bring people's attention to is Stephanie Briggs and The Oso. I first heard them on a random stop at a bar called Tavern in the Gruene in New Braunfels, Texas about three or four years ago. Her music is awesome and for me really hard to define. She has extensive talent at playing the guitar, it being acoustic or electric, and her voice is just brilliant. On top of that, Stephanie and her husband Matt (The Oso) are some of the nicest people you can come by. When my friends and I first heard them we were the very sore thumbs in the corner of the bar. At the end of the show Stephanie jumped off stage made her rounds with friends and then tracked right over to us and introduced herself.

Over time, through the insistence of my friend Chase, they even set up a few gigs in west Texas that we came running to. Later when I first met Cody Davidson it was through Stephanie and Matt. She had actually sung back up in our CD on the track "Don"t Lie". They were opening here in Midland for the Cody Hughes Davidson Band and we came up for the show. Matt wanted me to play on a few songs and asked me to run home and grab my harps. By the time I got back though, I had missed the rest of their show and Cody was already up on stage. So Matt just snuck a mic to me and told me to play. After a few odd looks around stage trying to find out where the harmonica was coming from Cody saw me hiding behind the sound board and invited me up on stage. Pretty much the only reason I get to play with such a talented band is because of them. Pretty cool.

Well now I get to say congratulations to Stephanie Briggs and The Oso. On March second they will be hooking up with Cross Canadian Ragweed up in Chicago and playing along with them all the way to California on their tour. My only wish is that I had a big sack of money so I could catch a show somewhere along the way. Also in other great news for them is that in July Stephanie Briggs and The Oso will be a part of the Big Music Cruise featuring such bands as Reckless Kelly, Stoney LaRue, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Wade Bowen, Brandon Jenkins, Jason Boland, and a few more of the Texas music scene's best acts. Tickets are available for the cruise now. If you happen to have your own sack of money to go cruising through the Caribbean with some great bands I say jump on the deal.

Well I just wanted to share the good word about a great band and all my happiness for their very busy schedule coming up. There isn't another band I know that deserves these great things more than they do. Give them a listen. They really have a wonderful infectious sound that is hard to press stop to.