Kissing Tree 1/21/19

Gray Gregson and I performed in San Marcos, TX, tonight for the good folks at Kissing Tree! We set up in Independence Hall and put on a dueling pianos show from 7p-9:30p. Lots of the people sang along and danced. It seems like everyone had a good time, so it’s possible we’ll be back again in the future!

Moonshine Drinkery 1/19/19

I plugged in my bass to my rig tonight in Victoria, Texas, and found out my cabinet is fried. I quickly made some adjustments and plugged into a guitar cabinet to get through the night. Heather Ray played bass, and Chris Wallis drummed. About the fifth or sixth tune in, Chris had a broken kick head, so Heather played piano until we could get that issue fixed. The crowd hung in through it all, and I had a great time playing with Chris & Heather! Christine took a bunch of pictures for us, and they are great!

Moonshine & Ale 1/18/19

Tonight, I performed with Michael Carrandi in New Braunfels, TX. We took a bunch of requests as we swapped off between drums and piano. I enjoy performing with Michael. He’s a cool guy. The crowd was a little quiet, but we whipped them into a contained frenzy by the end of the night. I hope I get to gig with Michael again soon!

Moonshine & Ale 1/17/19

Mark joined Andrae and I on stage tonight for Live Band Karaoke! We had a good crowd tonight. People were having fun singing, and we played a bunch of tunes we hadn’t done in a while, which made it fun for us in the band. I’ll return tomorrow for Piano Bar to take some requests in New Braunfels, Texas!

Darwin’s Pub 1/16/19

I spent my Wednesday night on 6th Street in Austin, Texas, with drummer Mikey Gammon. I played lots of tunes for the crowd. It started with UB40’s version of  “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” and went odd directions like that for the rest of the night. We ended with a multi-song streak of funky dance tunes, which was a good way to end the night!

Darwin’s Pub 1/14/19

I performed with Roger Glenn tonight on 6th street in Austin. People danced and sang along with tunes they requested. I enjoyed a relaxed Monday night! It was like Piano Bar 101 for most of the evening with “Piano Man”, “Bennie And The Jets”, “Brown Eyed Girl”, “Sweet Caroline”, and “Don’t Stop Believin’”, but at least the crowd was having a good time! 

The Lodge At Cypress Falls 1/14/19

I love it when I get a chance to perform with Ian Lee! We’ve shared many Mondays out in Wimberley, Texas, together recently. We harmonize well together, and fill in the spaces the other one leaves easily. I hope that in the near future, I can record some tunes with Ian again. Until then, at least we have a stage to share!

Moonshine Drinkery 1/12/19

My wife took some shots of my show tonight in Victoria, Texas, with Heather Ray and Chris Wallis. I played piano most of the night and Heather was in bass, but we did swap out a few times. I had lots of fun tonight! We had a highly diverse group of requests throughout the evening. A bunch of ‘90s pop & rock, some classic sing-along tunes, a few New Orleans classics, obscure Billy Joel, and ‘00s Rock were just some of what we played. I love sharing the stage with great musicians like Chris and Heather!

Moonshine & Ale 1/11/19

Danny Smith and I entertained the masses in New Braunfels, TX, tonight. Lots of requests were brought up to us throughout the evening, and a huge number of them were ‘90s rock. I was happy to play all the random tunes with the great talent known as Danny Smith. Megaphone in hand, stunning guitar-ish solos were heard. It made me cross-eyed over its beauty. 

Moonshine & Ale 1/10/19

Did the Live Band Karaoke thing in New Braunfels, TX, tonight with guitarist Pancho Garza and drummer Andrae Blissett. We had bunches of requests, and had fun playing them. Thanks to the people of New Braunfels for hanging out with us!

Darwin’s Pub 1/8/19

A Tuesday night in Austin, Texas, which felt like a Friday night was a good way to spend my evening. I played with drummer John Duran for only the second time at a piano bar (but I’ve played a few times with him in a band situation). Most of the requests we had were off-center, but in a good way. Things like, they requested Billy Joel, but it was “Miami 2017”. You don’t know that one? I’m not surprised, but we played it, and the crowd loved it. We even had a guest drummer sit in for a couple songs. It was a good show! 

Darwin’s Pub 1/7/19

I played in Austin, TX, on 6th street with Joe Resnick for my second gig of this warm Monday night. We met some folks from Charlotte, NC, and also a group from somewhere in North Dakota in the club. Joe is a fun dude to perform with, and I’m glad we’ve been able to work together more recently! 

The Lodge At Cypress Falls 1/7/19

Tonight, I played almost all originals in Wimberley, TX, with Luis Balderas on drums. People danced and told us how much they enjoyed our show. That’s what it’s all about, to me. Making music with Luis was great. He hadn’t heard the songs I’ve written, which breathed new life into some old tunes. If you’re curious, you can see video of it on “Dan Holmes Group” Facebook page! We did a live stream of the whole show.

Moonshine & Ale 1/5/19

I had a great time tonight at my gig. I got a little silly. The crowd was huge, and I only broke one of my mics. Sometimes, you just break something. Let’s talk about deities. 

I admired Danny Smith and Joe Resnick when I wasn’t playing piano tonight in New Braunfels, TX. They’re good. I told both of them about drum parts to songs, but I was wrong. They’re both acutely aware of how each piece of each and every song fits into the next much better than I do. I realize how much I don’t know when I’m around these two. I mean, really, they are both angels of sorts, sent down to point out my imperfections so I may learn. 

But I’ll live longer. 

Moonshine Drinkery 1/4/19

I had a great time performing in Victoria, Texas, tonight with Heather Ray and Chris Wallis! Those are a couple of very talented musicians. I played piano most all night, but Heather and I swapped off with the bass a couple times, and I played some drums at one point. We had really good requests put on the piano, and I think we played all of them, (and, yes sir, we did play your Phil Collins. Twice, even.). I wore my sparkle shoes to match Heather’s sparkle shoes and Chris’ sparkling personality. It not often we coordinate our  outfits. In case you ever wondered what it would be like with three of me, there’s a special photoshop picture at the bottom for you!

Moonshine & Ale 1/3/19

I performed in New Braunfels, Texas, tonight for live band karaoke with guitarist Pancho Garza and drummer Andre Blissett. We had a steady stream of the singers take the stage as we performed the backing tracks. There were quite a few good singers in the room tonight! I’ll be back this Saturday to take requests for piano bar.

Darwin’s Pub 1/1/19

For my first show of 2019, I teamed up with Roger Glenn in Austin, Texas, to take requests from the crowd. We played all your piano bar favorites, and the crowd sang along, just like they were supposed to. Sports were on the TVs, so I regularly had to grab the attention of the people, but they engaged us regularly. Roger restrained himself to only a few dad-jokes about the New Year (“I haven’t seen you since last year” and so on). We laughed. Oh, how we laughed. I’m still laughing. 

Shanahan’s Bar & Grille 12/31/18

Happy New Year! I drove three hours from my house to Montgomery, Texas, to perform a unique, four-hour dueling pianos show experience. The drummer, Eric Griffith, got my name third-hand (or maybe even fourth or fifth-hand) and booked me for this show last-minute, just a couple of days ago. I was told that I would be performing with a blind dueling piano player named Hayden Braun, but when I arrived in the smoky bar, Hayden informed me that he had never played a dueling show before, and that he primarily plays instrumental music and doesn’t sing much. Honestly, it made me a little nervous, but once the show started, everything went fine. Hayden is a great piano player, so he did an instrumental song after every song that I would sing. We bounced back-and-forth like that all evening long, and the crowd had a great time! Eric followed both of us on drums, and was solid. Other than the smokiness, I had a great time. I even had fans there from New Braunfels! Again, a happy New Year to all!

Moonshine Drinkery 12/29/18

Heather Ray released her inner dragon on stage tonight in Victoria, TX! She played drums most of the night while I was on piano, but we did swap off a couple times. She wore her dragon onesie and monster feet, and I feel like I shoulda, too, but I didn’t. We had a good crowd and lots of requests. It’s always fun to perform with Heather. My wife, Christine, took some great shots of us on stage. Thanks, sweets! 

Moonshine Drinkery 12/28/18

The Dream Team was back in Victoria tonight! Heather Ray and I took bunches of requests from the crowd and impressed each other by playing them. I dunno if we impressed the crowd, but at least we tried. Ha! The room stayed busy all night, and we tried many songs for the first time together. Looking forward to another fun night tomorrow at Moonshine Drinkery with Heather!