AJ's Ale House MF 3/8/12

Joe Resnick joined me in Marble Falls, TX for another fun filled night of request-based piano sing along tonight. We started off while it was lightly raining outside, and the people inside requested a few tunes. I think the weather started to scare the crowd a bit, and we performed for just a few by the end of the night. I still had a good time performing with Joe!

AJ's Ale House MF 3/3/12

Mark ran sound for Chris Wallis and me this evening in Marble Falls, TX for our request piano show. We had several large parties of people come our to show to celebrate birthdays and just fun times in general. It was mostly a classic rock crowd tonight, and they loved to dance. We saw many memorable moves on the dance floor, but my favorite was when someone requested "You Can Leave Your Hat On" only to have two men in hats decide they were the appropriate dancers for the song. It was one of those times I wished I were wearing a blindfold...

AJ's Ale House NB 3/2/12

New Braunfels, TX with Joe Resnick tonight was great as people requested their favorite tunes. Lots and lots of dancers, singers and general good-vibes were inhabiting AJ's tonight! Seems like I've a few fan who've been coming out to challenge my Beatles knowledge, and a few who want me to play every '80s tune I possibly can. I kept up with the requests all night long and the crowd stayed with us until the bitter end! Thanks crowd!!!

AJ's Ale House MF 3/1/12

Tonight in Marble Falls, Texas, Joe Resnick laid down some drums to some of the strangest and most challenging requests I've ever gotten. Somehow, the entire crowd got it into their head to request me to play a song as if another person had already covered it, and I was covering the imaginary cover. It all got started when a woman request White Snake at the same time a man requested Bob Dylan, and when I asked which one first, a third party in the crowd yelled, "Play White Snake like Bob Dylan would cover it!" Thus began the insanity.
I played White Snake's "Here I Go Again" in the style of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone", and sung it like Dylan. Then it was "Freebird" as Kermit the Frog. Then "Ice Ice Baby" as Stephen Hawking. Then "Purple Rain" as Elvis would've done it. What a crazy, crazy night.

Pier 27 2/25/12

Josh Adams performed a dueling piano show with me in Kerrville, TX under the 40 Rock name this evening, and the crowd enjoyed themselves all night long. The whole "dueling" concept was new to this room, so we educated the folks on how it works, and they instantly got into the swing of things with us. Shots were consumed and songs were requested by the people as they came up with some of the worst '80s music they could think of (at our request). It looks like this will be a regular thing in Kerrville, so come on out next time if you live near by!

Green Door 2/24/12

I drove a couple hours north to Temple, TX to a cool and funky club called the Green Door to perform a request piano show with Brian Short on drums. The place was hopping, and the crowd was singing along starting with the first song! I didn't know what to expect, as is the case with every club I enter for the first time, but I really like the layout of the venue and the people were out to party. Several of our military (Army) were also there hanging out with us, and before the night was over, on stage singing and leading the crowd through the Miley Cyrus hit, "Party In The USA"! I'd like to take this chance to thank those men and women who serve to protect our freedom. Thank you!!!

House Of Blues 2/22/12

The Houston House Of Blues was the setting for a huge private event for ConocoPhillips, where I performed a piano-to-go show with Mike Sueiro from Howl At The Moon. Several hundred people filled the club as we ran through our two hour set of music. Mike pulled out all the stops, running through tunes by Sinatra, Hall & Oats, and Billy Joel, while I kept the crowd going with Chuck Berry, Elvis and the Beatles. It was a pleasure to perform on the big stage across the piano from another talented piano player. Thanks for the great party, Houston!

Tantra Coffeehouse 2/21/12

Happy Mardi Gras! I had the most fun I've had in a long while tonight performing with Pat Whitefield (bass) and Chris Wallis (drums). We ran through bunches of New Orleans classic tunes by 'Fess, Lee Dorsey, and Dr. John, and it felt so good to play them with guys who appreciate those tunes as much as I do. We had a good crowd, and quite a few friends showed up to party with us. As and added bonus, my awesome wife came out and took some photos of the band while watching the show. I wish I could do shows like this one five nights a week!

AJ's Ale House NB 2/18/12

Chris Wallis (drums) helped me keep the crowd entertained tonight in New Braunfels, and it was one of the best nights I've ever had at AJ's! There were a few birthdays and anniversaries, and they sang along to every song. I was actually taken aback by how loud the singing was from the crowd on just our second song alone that I knew it was going to be fun. We had people on stage dancing to everything from "Friends In Low Places" to "Thriller" to "Baby Got Back" to "The Hokey Pokey". It was sheer madness, but everyone had a great time!!!

AJ's Ale House MF 2/16/12

Marble Falls, Texas tonight saw the first time I was given a request for Huey Lewis and the News' immortal classic from the film "Back To The Future", the song "Power Of Love". Nailed it. Then, "Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay". Slam dunk. When joe Resnick (on drums) and I asked for the next song, one table began to shout out for anything by Kansas, while another table instantly dismissed the first table's request by asking for "Kansas City". So, back and forth it went, "Kansas", "Kansas City", "Kansas", "Kansas City", until the Kansas people caved in and agreed to "Kansas City". What a fun, weird crowd tonight.

AJ's Ale House MF 2/11/12

I snapped a quick picture of Joe Resnick just before he started drumming on our second set tonight in Marble Falls, TX. We did our four hour show for the good folks based solely on request, like they do every Thursday, Friday & Saturday night at both AJ's locations. Some of the more unusual requests were Tears For Fears and "Any Disco...For My Wife", we played Tears For Fears and some disco for somebody's wife. I met a couple of people who told me they've been coming back regularly to AJ's to try to catch another one of my shows, which is always nice to hear. Good people filled AJ's tonight, and I hope they come back to see us again!

AJ's Ale House NB 2/10/12

Tonight was crazy in New Braunfels, TX! People were ready to sing along to any song I played, which always makes the night more fun. Joe Resnick played monster beats on the drums, while I had a steady stream of people come up and request tunes. All evening long, different women came up and sat next to me while I played their songs. It was a party crowd, for sure. You know it's nutty when I tell people that I've already played "Don't Stop Believing" and they shut me up by throwing twenties at me! Long live Journey, I guess!

AJ's Ale House NB 2/4/12

Saturday Night with Dan Holmes & Joe Resnick, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

Joe Resnick drummed tonight as I played piano in New Baunfels, TX. We had a good crowd, as usual, at AJ's. "Walk This Way", "What A Wonderful World", "Living On A Prayer", "Crazy", "Under The Bridge", "Johnny B. Goode" and many more were among the requested tunes, and we played 'em all! Joe, of course, rocked the drums, and we had lots of people come tell us what a great time they had with us tonight!

AJ's Ale House MF 2/3/12

Stormy Night at AJ's in Marble Falls, TX, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

I picked up Mikey Gammon last night from his house in Austin in the pouring rain, then headed to Marble Falls, TX to perform a fun request-based piano show for the cool crowd at AJ's. The rain fell harder as the requests flooded my piano, and eventually, the storm knocked out the power to the bar. Twice. We kept the party going until the generators popped the power back on. Towards the end of the night, Mikey showed off his mad skills by playing a solo in the dark using his electric sticks during the final drum solo of Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll". Plus, we had a great song battle between "Freebird" and "Not Freebird". Not Freebird won with $36.
It was a good night all the way up through the drive home in one of the worst downpours I can remember in recent history!

AJ's Ale House MF 2/2/12

Party in Marble Falls, TX at AJ's, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

Joe Resnick met me in Marble Falls, TX tonight to play a request-based show at AJ's. We had a birthday to celebrate (although I have a feeling it wasn't her birthday), and we had her and her friends hang out with us for a couple of songs up on the stage. Lots of Elvis fans tonight, so I snarled my lip up and sang my best, hoodah hoodah!!!!

AJ's Ale House NB 1/27/12

Friday Night at AJ's in New Braunfels, TX, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

New Braunfels, TX was a happening place to be tonight! Chris Wallis (drums) and I ran through tons of requests as the crowd danced and sang along. One lovely young woman ran up and gave me a request, then ran away. I checked the request out, and it was "Benny and the Jets", so I played it. After I finished, I began to play my next song, and the woman ran up, kissed my cheek, and at the same time, kicked my full glass of water across the stage directly into my left Chuck Taylor. So, on one hand, I made a new fan. But on the other hand, she made me play the remaining two hours of my show with a wet sock and shoe.

AJ's Ale House NB 1/19/12

Tonight at AJ's in New Braunfels, TX had Chris Wallis and I playing tons of requests and celebrating birthdays! We had a small but mighty crowd tonight, and they kept the request flowing all evening. As we sang "You Can Leave Your Hat On" to a birthday girl, she turned slightly red as her friends (and I) took photos. Lots of Billy Joel and 80s music was requested tonight, so that's what we played. Cars, Phil Collins, Hall & Oats, Joan Jett, and more filled the piano, and Chris helped me get through them all successfully!

Hotel Zaza 1/13/12

I met up with John (from the San Antonio Howl at the Moon) at the Houston U-Haul (behind the Houston Howl at the Moon) to do a piano-to-go show at Hotel Zaza for a Shell company party. We had a great crowd, and they had a widely varied selection of requests for us to play. Everything from Lady Gaga to Jerry Lee Lewis to Kayne to Billy Joel. The only thing which was difficult about the evening was loading in and it through the kitchen!

AJ's Ale House NB 1/13/12

Chris Wallis (drums) and I had a great night a t AJ's in New Braunfels, TX last night. Fun show with lots of requests, including some obscure Billy Joel, Areosmith, Green Day, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Chris was on top of every new person who walked in the club by having the rest of the crowd cheer as loud as they could. I helped a couple people celebrate what they were celebrating, and fun was had by all. The end.

Tantra Coffeehouse 1/12/12

Ian Lee (guitar, violin), Jason Wilkinson (percussion) and I performed a song swap show tonight in San Marcos, TX tonight. Ian would play a tune, then I'd play one of my originals, and Jason would keep a cool groove on either his djembe or electronic drum pad. I had a great time! Even though it was about 40 degrees outside, we had a full tent of folks hanging out listening to us. I hope that we can do more shows together soon. Ian and Jason are lots of fun to perform with.

Location:Tantra Coffeehouse 1/12/12