Show Date: April 24, 2010 - The Stafford

What's up!!! So we had just released our new EP "Rabbits & Royalty," it was getting on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody - all that good stuff and college radio and internet stations were picking up on it and playing our tunes which was cool as hell, and then in addition we get word from legendary producer John Douglas, the same producer who worked with John Lennon, The Who, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and more, that he thought we were an excellent band and he felt there were really good things in store for us. That coming from a legend was very comforting to say the least.

So we roll into Bryan/College Station for a show with Love Me Last, The Loveletter and Reagan Browne who was on tour from LA. All the bands were great, I loved the R&B feel to Love Me Last's acoutic vocals, The Loveletter where punk/freeform/unabandoned rock and Reagan Browne was just polished old school rock-n-roll. But I did have a little beef with Reagan Browne that didn't stem from any of the guys personally. You see, I take Myspace way way way too seriously. I openly admit this and it's a problem I'm working on, but I see no cure in the foreseeable future.

It turns out that when a band doesn't allow friend requests from other bands, I think that they're complete douches. Why? Do you ask. I mean, it's Myspace, who and their grandma gives a rat ass, but my rational flows thus-ly: When you add someone personal Myspace, you're basically connecting with 1 person, but when you add a band's Myspace, you're potentially connecting with 5 or more people (assuming of course, they're not a solo artist or an acoustic act.) So it aggs me when bands don't recognize the potential to cross market.

Then on top of that, a band obviously doesn't want to accept other bands because they don't want bands spamming their page and comments, but you can filter comments you know, and weren't you once a young band busting your ass to get the word out and for you to knock other young acts for doing it is a dick move. Don't forget your roots and where you came from. Never.

So that being said when I was adding the bands we were playing with and saw that Reagan Browne didn't allow requests from bands, I though they were asses, but when I actually met them they turned out to be really cool guys. Except when they cockblocked a couple of cute females I was hitting on. But they traveled all the way from LA. I'll give them a pass.

Show Date: April 24, 2010 - EP Release Party

This is what it all came down to, all those hours in pre-production with Mike, the months recording and mixing and finally we were able to share it what we'd been up to with everyone. We had new songs we didn't play for months so that we could premiere them at the EP release. It was a culmination of sweat and dreams, but it didn't come without some hiccups.

Namely we had booked this date with Rudyard's months in advance, but it just so happened that when we followed up on the date there was no recollection of us booking it for that night, that booked that night out to another band and we were essentially stuck out high and dry. Now nothing against Rudyard's. We frigging love playing at that place, the people there are awesome from the sound guy on down as long as you don't slam their mics. It's just one of those things that happen. You just gotta adapt and roll with the flow.

So fortunately Walter's on Washington was able to step in at short notice and let us have our release with them. We had a bad ass line up - Ellyseas, The Live Lights (who are an awesome band btw), and Cold Forty Three from California.

Everyone who came got a free copy of the EP. There was crotch grabbing, general rowdiness, drunkenness and a fight. All in all, not a bad night.

Show Date: April 4, 2010 - Trophy's

Back in Austin, playing a cool little joint that sounded more like a gentleman's club than a bar, but it was a cozy little spot. Gabe had always been fascinated about playing in Austin, but for the longest time, no one would invite us to play. Maybe it was persistence or SXSW but we're starting to see more and more doors open for us. Regardless, and this is nothing against Austin, but I personally don't see the fascination about playing there, I'd much rather play Louisiana. But I'm a bayou boy.

What was awesome about this show was that my older brother came up from Baton Rouge and hit the road with us on this one. We hadn't hung out in forever and he has never really been exposed to the band/music lifestyle so it was cool to expose him to a bit of that. It definitely ain't all glamor but it sure is a whole hell of a lot of fun.

Show Date: March 18, 2010 - SXSW

We were playing SXSW. We came a long way since a year ago when it seemed that nobody wanted to book us and bands didn't want to play with us, to headlining Mardi Gras Galveston and playing SXSW.

It was the Texas Rockfest and we were going to be playing with some major badasses like The Vettes, Nothing More, Opus Dai, One Eyed Doll, Mothers Anthem, Ahimsa Sunrise, and many many more. It was really my first time in Austin and if felt like the New Orleans of Texas. There were people everywhere, lined throughout every block and pouring into the streets. Everywhere you turned there was music. It was so festive and there was a real sense of camaraderie.

I was meeting people from all over the world who were united by their love of music. It was a beautiful thing.
But the highlight of SXSW for me by far was meeting Eric "muthafucking" Estrada who told me he was my number one fan. I teared up, it was beautiful.

Show Date: February 25, 2010 - Rocbar

Back at Rocbar. We've had our issues playing Rocbar in the past, but sometimes you gotta let bygones be bygones, clear the slate and start afresh with good intentions. Our good friend Nick asked us to play as he was taking over booking for Rocbar on Thursday nights.

This would be the first time we played with After Time Has Passed, a great progressive instrumetal band from here. It's only two guys, drums and guitar, but you'd never know it by the precision, musicianship and stage presence they bring.

I was trying to help them load up their kit (Rocbar is like on the second floor so it takes some grunt work to load in) and they got a little angsty. Turns out Matt, their drummer, got over $3000 worth of cymbals stolen at a Scout Bar gig. That sucks, believe me, do you know what I could do with $3000??? Do you know how many bourbon and cokes that is???

It was a pretty decent show. I pulled out my old "dolphin on the string" trick which I had been wanting to do since Gary's Spot. Basically glue a helium balloon in the shape of a dolphin on some fishing line and tie it to your pants so it floats with you wherever you go. I felt like Poseidon.

Fun was had by all.

Show Date: February 06, 2010 - Mardi Gras Galveston

We got to asked to play Mardi Gras Galveston and all we got was this stupid flyer:

United Musicians Alliance was graceful enough to ask us to headline their stage this year at Mardi Gras Galveston. There were a lot of great bands playing, the turn out was insane. There was drinking in the streets and yes, there were bare boobies. Not as much as New Orleans, granted, but they were there.

But seriously, Mardi Gras is more than a celebration of breasts. There is a storied history and culture of Mardi Gras that extends beyond booze, boobies and music. I don't know what that storied culture is, I'm just trying to blunt the chauvinistic angle of this post because of the guilt I feel from seeing so many boobs.

Show Date: January 09, 2010 - Mike James

Party say what???!!! Our first show of the year and we played a Capricorn bash @ AvantGarden to celebrate filmmaker Mike Jame's birthday. If you haven't heard of Mike yet, keep your ears to the street because you'll be hearing about him very soon. He's directed the short film Spiked and has 6 other film projects in the works including a feature which we hope to get a song on the soundtrack of, ya heard?

Just so happens that that morning I come down with a terrible head cold that would not go away. By the time I pull up to AvantGarden I was feeling like complete shit. Then there was a bit of confusion because it was our understanding that we'd be playing upstairs but there was another party there. So as we were trying to figure out what was going to happen, I walked over to Mango's next door to see if we could set up and play there, since we had our own PA system with us.

Now, we have been trying to play Mango's forever! To no avail. Mango's is like our Holy Grail and we know that when we finally play there, damnit, we're somebody. So I went over completely expecting to be shot down. I told the bartender our gig at AvantGarden was canceled on us and I was wondering if we could just set up and play a bit before their show gets going. (It was like 9:15 at this time.) I even had to admit it was an odd request. He was the bar manager so he had to call Omar, and wouldn't you know, Omar was like, as long as we're done by 10:15 so the other show can go on, no problem. I was actually touched that they would try to help us salvage a gig like that.

Turns out though that Mike James came thru and made sure we got set up and played out set. It took me about 3 songs to shake off my bug but I ended up having a blast! After we were done, the dj's set up and we boogy rocked the night away. I had this one guy, said he was from NY and that he doesn't listen to 'music with screaming in it,' but that he really dug our shit. Hahaha, lovely. We all had a really good time.