Tuesday, May 09, 2006

I'll be seeing James Brown tonight at the Verizon. Sometimes it pays to wait to buy tix at the last minute. I got 2 tickets (myself and Christy Kern from the Aqua Velva are going) in row E, table 5. That's about ten rows of seats back from the stage, relatively centered (cabaret setup). I must have lucked into some last-minute release tix because these were already sold three days ago. Verizon is a notoriously nice but lame venue- we'll see if the Godfather of Soul can turn the tables.
I'm picking up a new Fender speaker cabinet for my bass (50 watt tube style cab- 12 low watt 12's) at Allen's speaker on 19th today. I paid a good but for this new repro cabinet, but it should be worth it. Allen's also has a 1965 blackface Fender Deluxe (no reverb) on sale for $700. Dale did a fresh speaker recone (Oxxford speaker original) and Hoss went through the amp to check the electronics. I'd say that's a great deal. I have no extra cash or I'd buy it myself.
Wow, there's a lot more stuff to talk about, but i'll save it for post James Brown- David

Friday, May 05, 2006

Great bands tonight at the Continental Club.
It's Cinco De Mayo and for once I'm actually really excited about being around the club all night. Actually, I might go to my parents' house to sleep, since they are in Italy and I need to be up at 6 AM to play the Sprint For Life M.D. Anderson Cancer Center fun run. I will definitely catch some of the show before I split, though. The music won't stop here until 1:45 at the earliest since it's the Cinco De Mayo party featuring Los Skarnales and Los Super Vatos. Los Super Vatos features David De la Garza from La Mafia (he;'s the best singing keyboardist around) and Bubba Hernandez on bass (formerly from Brave Combo). Artie Villasanchez plays guitar. He's the only guy that can play Santana licks and make me like them. he usually plays with Sancho and Norma Zenteno.
I just can't believe it's supposed to pour down rain tomorrow. I have two outdoor gigs. Rough.
Voice problems
Well, years of using my voice to its fullest extent has been taking its toll, and today I made an appointment with my voice doctor, Richard Stasney. The voice is not recovering like it used to and I'm feeling something on he left side. The resonance is also different. I'm afraid this may be the beginning of a new era for me musically. Actually, that would be fine; I can hear Dr Stasney telling me to limit my singing time and to reduce vocalization in general. I wouldn't totally be surprised if I have nodes or nodules and have to have some surgery- after all I've been singing for 20 years in bands and never stopped talking throughout.
If any of this is the case, I believe it will signal the end of the El Orbits, at least as we are known now. No more three hour shows, Monday nights or any of that stuff and lots more rotating vocal duties between band members. Thomas would need to step up to the plate and truly become the center vocalist. As for me, more drums and bass work outside of the band, and maybe even joining a band like The Alterego which plays pretty seldomly.
Wow, what an interesting concept. I guess I'll know more on May 15th when they give me the news. By the way, the reason I barely go to the voice doctor is that the diagnostic visit alone is $1000 and my insurance pretty much refuses to pay. It might be time to sell more of my dwindling stock holdings...

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

By the way, I saw the Medicine Show at the Houston Roller Derby prom
They were remarkably better than the aforementioned show at Helios last year. Nota bene- some people were upset that The Meridian was nowhere near as intimate a setting for them as Helios, etc. I, though, they sounded better amplified and I was actually able to decipher what was going on. Plus, I believe they played originals that weren't just jams at Derby Prom (4/22). Better.
Thinking about fried chicken. there are so many good friend chicken places here in Houston. There's absolutely no excuse to go to the embarassment called KFC that once was a proud and quality franchise. Poor Col Sanders- i would love to save him from the eternal hell he must be going through watching his pride and joy become a total pile of crap.
Just a few names of great Fried Chicken in Houston:
Henderson's Chicken Shack, next to TSU, 3rd Ward
Frenchy's Fried Chicken, multiple locations, Creole style
Popeyes Fried Chicken- choose location and food carefully and it will pay of grandly
The Breakfast Klub, Travis at Alabama- you know what I'm talking about
There are way more, but I can promise you that any of these places will rock, especially anything near UH, TSU and downtown.
gas is $3 a gallon. I would like for it to go up to $3.50. I drive a truck that gets less than 10 MPG. My other one gets about 14. I barely drive now. Public transit rules. I will be working transportation costs into my gig prices, since that's essentially the only time I drive these days. Metrorail is the answer- citywide!

Monday, May 01, 2006

I got some more info on LouieDollars. he's been around S.A. for quite some time, relatively unknown out of the incredibly insulated S.A. hip hop scene, is on myspace, and has a real website as well with several members of his clique. Check out www.prhymemates.com -that's where he's at along with his DJ (DJ Teknik) and a few others.
I would like to go ahead and say that I truly believe that Jay Moeller, Gary Clark Jr. and a few of their crew will later become the face of "Austin's great roots music scene of the early century". That scene is basically made up of them and a few others. That is a scene which technically doesn't exict in name today, but I think people will refer back to it, much like the "great Austin rock band scene of the early 90's" which "included" my band Banana Blender Surprise, Little Sister, Sunflower, Soul Hat, The Ugly Americans, Ging'Breadmen, Rhythm Child, Pushmonkey, and a whole bunch more. That era ended with Vallejo and Breedlove in the late 90's. I would be willing to bet that the grand totaly number of cassettes and CDs these bands SOLD (not pressed or promoed) under these names (minus Soul Hat and not including Sister 7) is under 25,000.
Back to Jay M and Gary. These guys are so dam good it's sick. Magic occurs when they play. Relaxed, quality, high and medium energy virtuosity. I'm not sure they have any hit songs in tthem at all, as the originals seem a little weak, but they can groove Jimmy Reed better than anyone else under 55. Catch 'em at the Continental in Austin several times per week.
Word on he Houston Texans- Charley Casserly= bad PR. Time for thhis white guy in the office to go work for the league where his crap will fly. That being said, I think Williams will be a great player and Kubiak knows what he's doing.
Rockets= garbage. Yao Ming is awesome. McGrady is damaged, but still great. Alston and Head are good, not great. Van Gundy will get another year and then things may turn around. The real problem is Alexander. Crappy owner= crappy product. Nobody even considers paying to see this team with the prices at Toyota Center as they are. $20 to park? How did he get the city and county to sign off on restricting all on-street parking around the area during games so that fans are forced to park in the garage or in a pay lot? I hope Bill White installs some new "smart" parking meters all around there that charge, say, $6 by wireless CC transaction (this program is actually underway in Houston) to park IN FRONT of the stadium. CityDollars how about? To pay for the stadium!!!!
Astros= shaky, but better than I expected. Backe out for any period of time is bad. I think Lidge's arm may be atrting to go- I know mine would after only a few years. I think my voice feels like a pitcher's arm these days. Clemens? Hopefully, probably.