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.

Radio Free Texas Top 100 Requests of 2008

Here's a short one to offset my previous post that went a little long. I was browsing around the Radio Free Texas forums, and the website administrator had posted a list of the top one hundred song requests of 2008. Risky Game, our first single from the same titled album, was number thirty seven of the most requested songs. Not too shabby. Here is the list in its entirety from the forum post. Give the bands a listen and I'm sure you'll find some satisfying surprises.

We have tallied all of your requests and here are the most requested songs of 2008. Thanks to artists and fans for making RFT the number one site for Texas music on the web!

1. Hunter McKithan Band (1056)
Fallin From High
2. Jamie Richards (1026)
Drive
3. KCee Edwards (854)
Lonely Too Long
4. Granger Smith (803)
Colorblind
5. Zach Edwards Band (781)
Texas Women
6. Hunter McKithan Band (762)
Shape of it All
7. Whiskey Myers (664)
Lonely East Texas Nights
8. Ben Morris and the Great American Boxcar Chorus (627)
The Ties
9. Josh Ward Band (590)
Jebediah Beane
10. Bois D'Arcs (562)
Better Off Tonight
11. Whiskey Myers (551)
Road Of Life
12. Donny Waits (523)
Feet Up On The Dashboard
13. Johnny Cooper (508)
Devil Woman
14. Mo Robson Band (490)
Even Angels Fall
15. Ricky Fugitt (477)
Red Dirt Music
16. County Road 5 (473)
Drink I Couldn't Handle
17. Slow Rollin Lows (468)
You're All I Need
18. Randy Rogers Band (453)
In My Arms Instead
19. Casey Berry and the Live Texas Mosquitos (452)
I Know a Liar
20. Josh Abbott Band (448)
Taste
21. Stoney LaRue (432)
Oklahoma Breakdown
22. Jamie Richards (431)
Any Way You Want Me To
23. Bois D'Arcs (428)
Wasted
24. Mike Ethan Messick (425)
Kings Of Juarez
25. Bart Crow Band (413)
Wear My Ring
26. Keith Davis (409)
Leave Tonight
27. Blue Broussard Band (408)
England
28. Hunter McKithan Band (386)
Here in Texas
29. Randy Rogers Band (382)
Better Off Wrong
30. KCee Edwards (367)
Believe (Amanda's Song)
31. Cody Johnson (360)
What's Left Of Texas
32. Spur 503 (359)
It's All My Fault
33. Jamie Richards (343)
I Just Can't Love You Anymore
34. County Road 5 (340)
Drink About It
35. Mo Robson Band (327)
1892
36. Mo Robson Band (321)
Rollin' Down This Highway
37. Cody Hughes Davidson (318)
Risky Game
38. Red Dvorak (316)
That's the Way It Is
39. Marshall/Peery (309)
Baghdad Blues
40. Keith McCoy (309)
I Became Her She Became Me
41. Jason Boland & The Stragglers (302)
Comal County Blue
42. Ryan Bingham (302)
Bread And Water
43. KCee Edwards (300)
Angel
44. Luke Robinson (299)
Tequila Sheila
45. Mike Ethan Messick (297)
American Steel
46. Ben Morris and the Great American Boxcar Chorus (292)
No Saving Grace
47. Tres Womack (290)
Batman
48. Getocowboys (286)
Crazy
49. Keith McCoy (285)
How Far Has She Gone
50. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward (283)
Tell Me What It Is
51. JW Lane (283)
I Want You To Come With Me To Texas
52. Terry Allen Band (269)
Eight In The Mornin'
53. Rodney Parker & 50 Peso Reward (269)
Atlantic City
54. Luke Robinson (269)
That's What I Tell Myself
55. Randy Brown (268)
All Likkered Up
56. Bleu Edmondson (268)
Last Last Time
57. Whiskey Myers (264)
Goodbye Girl
58. KCee Edwards (264)
The Last Songwriter
59. Casey Donahew Band (259)
White Trash Story
60. Reckless Kelly (258)
Ragged As The Road
61. Amie Stacy Band (255)
A Song For You
62. Highspeed Hayride (254)
Boots
63. Old Crow Medicine Show (254)
Wagon Wheel
64. Ricky Fugitt (249)
Dusty's Song (Ride Alone)
65. Brison Bursey Band (248)
Pourin' Rain
66. Ryan Culwell (247)
She Knows About Me
67. Josh Grider (247)
Crazy Like You
68. Marshall/Peery (238)
Run Out-A Tulsa
69. Zach Edwards Band (236)
Cowboy Up (And Cowboy Down)
70. Red Dvorak (230)
A Long Way From Home
71. Hazzard (229)
At It Again
72. Curtis Grimes (228)
Whirlwind
73. Mark McKinney (223)
Bonfire
74. Mo Robson Band (222)
Amarillo Sand
75. Chris Knight (222)
Here Comes The Rain
76. Randy Rogers Band (221)
Kiss Me In The Dark
77. Robert Earl Keen (221)
The Front Porch Song
78. Modern Day Drifters (218)
Tired of This Town
79. Wade Bowen (217)
Walkin' Along the Fenceline
80. Brison Bursey Band (217)
Don't Go
81. Wade Bowen (216)
You Had Me At My Best
82. Bois D'Arcs (214)
Backroads of Texas
83. Marshall/Peery (214)
When The Dust Settles
84. Whiskey Myers (213)
Thief Of Hearts
85. Jamie Richards (212)
Back To Bein Me
86. John Riley And The Lighthorsemen (211)
Mona Lisa
87. Shooter Jennings (210)
4th of July
88. Brent Allen (206)
Day Job
89. Renegade Rail (206)
Fat Girls And Weed
90. Twisted Pistols (203)
Cold
91. Rotge (199)
Lonely Land
92. Walt Wilkins and The Mystiqueros (198)
Big Shiny Cars
93. James McMurtry (197)
We Can't Make It Here
94. Ben Morris and the Great American Boxcar Chorus (195)
Lupe's Daughter
95. Fred Eaglesmith (192)
Harold Wilson
96. Cory Morrow (190)
He Carries Me
97. Rotge (190)
Eyes Wide Open
98. Mike Ethan Messick (183)
First Of October
99. Casey Berry and the Live Texas Mosquitos (180)
Sister So Long
100. Ben Morris and the Great American Boxcar Chorus (179)
Hit Man

I have to admit I have no idea who some of the bands are on the top of the list, but they obviously have a good following or a lot of time on their hands requesting their own song.
Here's an old Youtube video of our song Risky Game at our favorite venue The Hog Pit back before I joined the band. If you're wondering when I'll be on some recording with the band, Cody is currently sifting through producers for our next album that we will hopefully be recording this summer.

Long Long Saturday

Saturday was a good one but a weird one. I started the day off getting to Cody's house with not enough sleep. The RV we usually take on road trips had destroyed its starter so we jumped in a few trucks and headed to the San Angelo Rodeo. We got to the rodeo and unpacked our gear and watched the band lined up before us play. I should have known this was the precursor to my entire day. The band was a "Chicago style" big band. The lead singer was playing the keys. There was a bassist and a drummer, but there was also a full horn section. One man was playing the sax, another playing the trombone, and another playing clarinet as well as the trumpet. If I were in let's say, an elevator or a wedding, I would have understood why these guys were playing ahead of us. Don't Get me wrong I really do love the full sound that a band with that depth has, but it was more so the song choice as well as the way they put the show on that really threw me off. They played such hits as "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond and "I Ain't Got Nobody" by originally the Mills Brothers but more memorably rerecorded by David Lee Roth. It was just weird. It didn't fit my premonition of what this show was going to be like. I stood outside of the big front opening of our venue as people walked by the sound going to and from the carnival midway. I watched as old people hopped along to their favorite oldies and a few even trickled into the show to see the band. I just knew the second we started playing they would be turning right back around out the door. In a nutshell that's exactly what happened. There were some great people there as well, who knew who we were and were really excited to see us play. While playing I focused on those tables that were actually watching us, and had a great time running though our set list to those people who were interested in what we sounded like this time around. I was just really entertained by the way everything looked before we got on stage. We had a good show for two in the afternoon at a rodeo stage following an old timey big band with broken on stage monitors, and I was proud of that. (the mix on the monitors was the main's mix which was really weird to play to, but kind of cool to see where I sat in the sound of our band)

If you're looking down at the post before this one, regarding the lineup of the rodeo to see who opened up before us, it wasn't the band on the list. I know the band's name who played before us, but I'd rather not write it down because they were nice guys but just not what I was in the mood to hear or play after that afternoon. Apparently a few bands had to cancel for one reason or another so a lot of the lineup was shuffled around. I found out that we were actually originally slated to close the line up for the Saturday after, but couldn't do it because of scheduling conflicts.

We packed back up and headed back to Midland finally awake and full of fair food. We got to The Hog Pit and unpacked again for our second show of the day. After some time Micky and The Motorcars as well as Jeremiah Houston had sound checked. It was running late so we decided to let Jeremiah Houston go ahead and open, strike their gear, and then we would do a quick on stage monitor check and play. Jeremiah Houston put on a great show and then it was our turn. We jumped on stage, checked in our monitors, and went right into a great set. Apparently having a show before hand really gets you well practiced for your following same day gig. We had good energy, the crowd response was great, and people were having a great time dancing and cheering. I felt really on compared to the show we had earlier. My harp's reeds were much warmer inside than in our open breeze barn from earlier and the notes were coming smoothly instead of an awkward fight.

Just about half way through our second to last song my D harp started feeling and sounding a bit off. That was bad news since the last song, our newest and my most expressive song for me at least, was also played with my D harp. I kept noticing right when i played over my sweet spot note in the center draw of my harp it had a funny click to it that you could feel and the note warped a bit. Of course all this thinking is in a nano-second while I'm playing, watching the crowd, listening to the music, and having a good time on stage. I dismissed it and finished that song with a change up form my usual solo that i felt went well enough. Our last song started called "yesterday" I really can't wait until it's on an album because it's a blast to play. It's an up tempo blues song that give me a ton of room for solos as well as room to play in the high end of my harp kind of like Blue's traveler style which I have been working on a lot lately. So the song plays and we are all grooving along, and it gets to the introduction of the band. Cody gets to my name and I hear a few people cheer and I get amped up for a good little harp ditty to say hi. I draw in I jump up and down the scale and then all of a sudden the center of my harp goes mute. I tried jumping around the two notes that have gone completely sour, but realize how much I used them for trills and fast hole work. So I end my introduction of the band solo with a hobbling low end trill and wave to the crowd. Cody goes through all the intros and we get back into the song. My solo part comes back up and I jump back into it trying to get around the man hole of a mute spot in my harp. I give up and try to force, what I thought was just a blockage in the reed, out in the middle of my solo by finding the note that wasn't playing and trying to suck really really hard for an instant of time in the song. I pulled it in and all of a sudden something is stabbing me in the throat. I had inhaled the reed from my harp. I spit and sputtered in the middle of my solo and hacked out into my hand a shiny tiny brass rectangle that had tried to wiggle down my throat. I heard in the back some girl say, "ewwww" and I went back into playing. the song ended we got off stage and we were done for the day finally. Micky and The Motorcars went up and rocked the house and the rest of my night was awesome. My girlfriend showed up and loved our set and we had a great time watching Micky's show and dancing.

I guess the best piece of advice I can give from this story is, don't play after full voodoo giving horn section bands in a cold shaded open air place that only attract elderly people who sneer at your rock music style when it's your turn and walk back to the carney rides while your harp reeds get hypothermia, if you intend on going to a rocking gig later with central air unless you want your harp reed to go into seizures and snap off in the middle of a song and try to kill you by stabbing your throat and trying to wiggle down into your belly.

Just wanted to share my weird day with you guys. I am really tired so off to bed and sorry for the typos.

San Angelo Rodeo Show Lineup

This is the live show lineup for the San Angelo rodeo. We are playing there tomorrow the 21'st, but the whole weekend and the next looks like great times. I stole the dates from RadiofreeTexas.org so tell them thanks. Hope to see you there. I was pleasantly surprised with the bands playing. It's a shame we pretty much have to play and run back home for our next show, because I would have loved to hear a bunch of these bands live for the first time.


Friday, Feb 20th
4-5pm Joe Rodriguez
530-645pm Fryza Lyza
715-830pm Ida Road Band
9-1015pm The Captain Legendary Band
1045-12am Jeremiah Houston Band

Sat, Feb 21st
11a-1215pm The Buster Bledsoe Band
1245-2pm Sean Kendrick
230-345pm cody Hughes Davidson
415-530pm Brushfire
6-715pm Jamie Talbert
745-9pm Slow Rollin’ Lows
930-1045pm Chad Johnson & Down 1450
1115-1230am Donny Waits Band

Fri, Feb 27th
4-515pm Steve Ferguson Band
545-7pm Cody Gill Band
730-845 Hogg Maulies
915-1030 Mo Robson Band
1045-12am Spur 503

Sat, Feb 28th
1115-1230pm The Flinchers
115-230pm Monty Branham
3-415pm Hank Billings & The Travelers
445-6pm Bill Rice Band
815-930pm Tommy Gallagher Band
10-1115pm Whiskeyfish
1145-1am Kyle Bennett Band