Saturday, August 31, 2013

AJ's Ale House 8/30/13




The energy of the crowd tonight in New Braunfels, Texas was electric, so much so that you could feel it in the air! Vince Mejia was drumming for the people, and they had lots of love for him. The bar was packed all night, and everyone had a song they wanted to hear. We jumped from Metallica to Chuck Berry, A-Ha, to the Beatles, Supertramp to Van Morrison, and much, much more. Tonight easily ranked in my top five nights-with-the-most-requests. I'll be back next week for more madness! Oh, yeah, we also played Madness.


Friday, August 30, 2013

AJ's Ale House 8/29/13




Piano-craziness tonight in New Braunfels, TX! Early in the evening, someone requested a soundtrack. The whole soundtrack to the movie, "Cocktail". Then, the soundtrack to "Back To The Future". Then "Footloose", "Ghostbusters" and "Dirty Dancing". So my whole night was dominated by 80's movies, but the people in the club had fun listening to me try to play a bunch of random songs from those soundtracks!


Thursday, August 29, 2013

Superfly's 8/29/13




Tonight at my favorite record shop in San Marcos, we, the Hill Country Gentlemen, played our unique blend of Americana music. A bunch of our friends were in the crowd, including members of the Shady Rest Band, and everyone had a good time! The end.


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

KOOP 91.7 8/28/13




DanHolmesGroup did our thing on KOOP in Austin, TX this morning at 10am, and it went great! Tom Mahnke, the host of the morning show "Fais Do Do", greeted us with a smile and had us play about a half-hour of our favorite tunes. We talked a little about influences and our upcoming show at White Horse this Sunday. Chris Wallis, Kevin Humphrey and Ian Lee did great for our second time on the radio together!








Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Jack's Roadhouse 8/26/13




When I went in for my show tonight at Jack's in San Marcos, I wasn't in the best of spirits. I have had a stressful weekend, my stomach was upset, and I just didn't feel very good. It is truly amazing what good music, played together with good friends, and a few energetic crowd members can do for your soul. I enjoyed hearing Chris perform a drum solo, Ian singing his heart out on a few different songs, and Kevin digging in with some blues vocals and great bass tones. It ended up being a very fun show, and I came home whistling tunes from our evening's performance. We will be there one more Monday night, and then football season really gets into full swing, so we're going to take a break from Jack's for little while and let the sports fans have fun on Mondays. Hope to see you there next week!


Monday, August 26, 2013

Jack's Roadhouse 8/24/13




DHG performed three hours of some solid blues, rock, and funky New Orleans music in San Marcos on a warm Saturday night. Ian Lee, Kevin Humphrey and I were still riding on a cloud from the night before, and Chris Wallis was ready to throw down some beats. We locked in and played our best together for the night! About midway through, my wife, Christine, popped in the door wearing her full racing gear (including a medal) from a nighttime trail run 10k! I was so proud to hear about her run on our break! That's my girl!!


Saturday, August 24, 2013

Phoenix Saloon 8/23/13






Whooooo, what a night! The Hill Country Gentlemen had a great show tonight at the Phoenix Saloon in New Braunfels, TX. We brought out the big band tonight, including Kevin Humphrey (electric guitar), Troy Stone (acoustic guitar), Jeremiah Sawyer (bass), Clay Rheinlander (drums), Ian Lee (violin, mandolin), Eddie Lehwald (trombone), Thomas Van Der Brook (saxophone), Daniel Garcia (trumpet) and I rounded things out on piano. I cannot overstate how much fun this show was! The horn section, plus Ian on violin, made things really special. I felt good with our core band's performance, and the icing of all of those other great players made me hungry for more shows like this one. I hope everyone at tonight's show had as much fun as the band did!



















Thursday, August 22, 2013

Superfly's 8/22/13




There was a good crowd out to see the Gents tonight in San Marcos. Jey, Troy, Kevin, Clay and I ran through a bunch of our favorite tunes for a happy bunch of folks. We went on an hour earlier than usual (6p instead of 7p) so the store could have two acts in tonight! I can't wait for our next show at my favorite record shop in San Marcos, although I always seem to find LPs to buy...I picked up Tower Of Power "In The Slot" before I left tonight!


Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Jack's Roadhouse 8/19/13




Chris Wallis had his kit set up before I even walked in the door tonight (as usual), and I was set up before Kevin Humphrey walked in (also, as usual), but Ian lee let us know that he wouldn't be there until later (due to a trip to Oklahoma), but much to my delight, the full band was onstage within a half-hour of normal start time. We played that first half-hour as a trio, and then let Ian take over when he arrived. Chris and Kevin sounded great (also also as usual) and the crowd told me on our breaks how much they enjoyed our music (also also also as usual). Fun times at Jack's on Mondays! I hope to see you there for our big Saturday show this weekend!


Sunday, August 18, 2013

AJ's Ale House NB 8/17/13




What a fantastically insane night at the piano bar in New Braunfels, Texas known as AJ's Ale House! Roger Glenn (drums) and I witnessed the most amount of participation we have ever seen this evening. We had shirtless men dancing together (until they were quickly told to put their shirts back on), bachelorette parties singing their sashes off, more than a few embarrassed birthday girls, and then there was the highlight of the evening for me, a man proposed to his girlfriend (she said yes)! It was standing room only with everyone's voices joined together as one for the majority of the evening. Beautiful!













Saturday, August 17, 2013

AJ's Ale House NB 8/16/13




Mikey Gammon joined me this evening in New Braunfels, Texas for a great night of sing-along piano classics! There was a good group of people there from the beginning, and the crowd just grew as the evening ran it's course. We performed one long, powerful three-hour set from 9PM until midnight. As soon as we hit our last note, crowd began chanting "One more song!", and then proceeded to reprise most of the tunes we did in their own a cappella way.


Friday, August 16, 2013

AJ's Ale House NB 8/15/13




"Just when I thought it was going alright, you tell me it's black when I know that it's white. It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all." "I kicked the habit. Shed my skin. This is the new stuff. I come dancing in." "When I read the words that it told me, I felt sad, sad, sad."
That's right, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, & Led Zeppelin were among the requests tonight, plus about a dozen Beatles tunes. Just remember, "Baby I Love Your Way" was not written by Big Mountain (although they do a super-cool cover of it)!


Thursday, August 15, 2013

Superfly's 8/15/13




It was overcast with a little bit of rain, but that didn't stop the people from coming out to see The Hill Country Gentlemen tonight at my favorite record store in San Marcos! We literally had people dancing in the aisles. This is one of those shows that I wish I could stick around afterwards to talk to people, because they're always in such a good mood. But like most Thursdays, I had to rush off to make my second show of the evening in New Braunfels, at AJ's.


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Jack's Roadhouse 8/12/13




Another blues-filled night in San Marcos, TX passed with success! Ian, Kevin, Chris and I played to a crowd that wasn't very responsive our first set, but the second and third set found them yelling for more songs! Playing with those three fellas make it easy to fall into a groove miles deep.


Friday, August 9, 2013

AJ's Ale House NB 8/8/13




My all-request solo piano show went great tonight! I had a bunch of smiling faces requesting all kinds of oddball tunes to sing along with. Not only did they sing, but they danced to most every song. Believe me when I say, oddball songs. Sounds like, "Time Of The Season", "Another Day In Paradise", "Lola", "Whip It", "Sultans Of Swing" and "City Of New Orleans", just to name a few. It was interesting to hear a bunch of people all sing, loudly I might add, to "Another Day In Paradise". I can't even remember the last time I heard that song before tonight.


Thursday, August 8, 2013

Superfly's 8/8/13




The Hill Country Gentlemen once again put on one heckuva show at Superfly's in San Marcos, Texas tonight. We had people dancing to classic's like "Don't Do It" and "Mess Around", plus some originals, including "Barefoot Or Boots". We took some promo shots before the show, and I'm hoping to have those up later this evening. But first, I'm headed south to New Braunfels to play at AJ's.


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Jack's Roadhouse 8/5/13




Jack's tonight was kinda slow, but Kevin Humphrey, Ian Lee, Chris Wallis and I played our hearts out. Later in the evening, Ruben Colon brought his trombone and sat in for a few tunes. Chris and I agreed after the show tonight that the way Ian Lee played this evening felt great, and Ian told us it was due to a steady diet of Louis Armstrong and Albert King. That's a tasty combination!


Sunday, August 4, 2013

AJ's Ale House NB 8/3/13




Tonight in New Braunfels, TX was one of the busiest Saturdays in recent memory! Roger Glenn drummed while I sang to bachelorettes and birthday girls, as well as all of the usual requests. We were so busy, we played a straight thee-and-a-half hour show. Roger was fun to perform with, and he'll be back with me at AJ's soon!


Friday, August 2, 2013

Happy Cow 8/2/13




The Hill Country Gentlemen were joined once again by Ian Lee (on mandolin and fiddle), tonight in Hunter, TX. We had dancers and requests and everything a band could want. Clay and Jeremiah locked the bass and drums together while Troy and Kevin played their guitars on top. I added my piano for a solid three hours of music. Fun night tonight!


AJ's Ale House 8/1/13




My night in New Braunfels playing a request piano show started somewhat slowly, and I was worried that I wasn't going to have many people in tonight. Just two people were there at 9pm. By 9:30pm, there were only six people. But by 10 o'clock, the place was pretty crowded, and the requests came up in a steady flow, non-stop for the last two hours of the evening! My night ended with someone asking me to join their band because they enjoyed what they heard so much.


Thursday, August 1, 2013

Superfly's 8/1/13




The Hill Country Gentleman had a special guest tonight in San Marcos, Texas at our favorite record store, Mr. Ian Lee! This show marked the first time Ian has played with the Gents. He performed both on violin and mandolin, and did a great job. Jeremiah, Troy, Clay, Kevin and I locked together like Legos and the crowd told us how much they enjoyed us. Thanks everybody!