Saturday, November 15, 2008

Howl At The Moon 11/14/08

We returned to the awesome Howl At The Moon in downtown Indy. The place was packed, and people were having a good time. Bill and Brian tore it up, and I had a chance to meet the new management team. Bill was physical with Brian.
Bill Hugs Brian After  A Good Gig


Friday, November 14, 2008

Zydeco's 11/13/08

Time stood still tonight at Zydeco's. We had a fun table from the Plainfield High School French Club, but they were just finishing up as we were starting. So after the 2nd or 3rd song, we played to an almost empty room. We had a couple of fans come out, but for the most part, we tried to play as if the place was packed.


Thursday, November 13, 2008

Bob & Tom 11/12/08


Kristi Lee & Me
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
Kristi Lee is back! Mark and I took pictures of each other in the NAPA Studios after the Bob And Tom Show this morning. Duke sang the songs and Tom talked a little about my vacation accross Route 66.

Mark's Bass Talk this week was great:

"A bass player dies and approches the gates of heaven. An angel stops him and says: "You look a little shadey. I don't think we can let you in unless you can tell me two good deeds you've done." The bass player thinks for a minute and says, "Last week I dropped a quarter in one of those bell-ringers buckets, and last summer, I gave a quarter to a homeless guy." The angel says, "Wait here," and goes to see Saint Peter.
The angel tells Saint Peter, "I've got this bass player out here who wants in to heaven. He dropped a quarter in the bucket of a bell ringer and gave a quarter to some homeless guy. What do you want me to do?"

Saint Peter says, "Give the guy his fifty cents back and tell him to go to hell."
Kristi Lee & Mark Rohrman


Sunday, November 9, 2008

ABATE Blues Dance 11/8/08

The Jerome Mills Blues Band opened up for us at the ABATE Dance in Kokomo, IN. They slammed through their set, and at the end of the last song, I thought Jerome was going to fall down. He had hurnia surgery on Friday, and showed up on Saturday for the gig. He's crazy.

Our portion of the show went great. All was fine, and after theshow, a woman came up to Brian and asked to see his private parts. She was less discrete than I am being. Brian kept his pants on.


Saturday, November 8, 2008

Rookies 11/7/08

Hannibal, MO held an interesting gig for us. It was a pretty long drive from Indianapolis to Hannibal, so when we got there, we were a little worn down from the drive. We walked in, and the years of smoke just smacked us in the face. It became smokier as the night went on.

The people were great and they danced all night. I think the only person who didn't have enough fun was the one woman who insisted that our next song would be "Kansas City", at the end of every song, all night long. We never played it.
Rookies Sports Bar Brian solos!


Zydeco's 11/6/08


Cheeeeze!
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
Woo hoo, Zydecos! We played in Mooresville tonight to a bunch of Mooresvillians. Everything was familliar and good. What can I say that I haven't already said a million times?

It's like coming home.


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Rum Runners 11/5/08

Tommy, John and I performed for a less than enthusiastic crowd tonight in South Bend. They didn't want to sing. They didn't want to request songs. They didn't want to get their friends on stage.

They did drink. $.75 well drinks all night long.
I got home about 5:00am.
Uno


Bob & Tom 11/5/08

Today marks the first day of us performing for the TV cameras in the NAPA Studios. Bob & Tom have been picked up by WGN on cable, and a one-hour best-of-each-day show will be aired nightly at 12:00am. Hope we make the cut!
Laura Steel filled in for Kristi Lee today. The picture is of Laura, Duke and myself.


Monday, November 3, 2008

Zydeco's 11/2/08

Brunch in Mooresville! Ahhh...
Bill and I were both a little groggy from performing in Bedford last night, but we still had fun. The first set was like pulling teeth to get people to respond to our presence. We took a break, ate some brunch, and when we got back up to play, the new people were excited to hear us. Set two was awesome.

Thanks to all the new fans who purchased CDs. Hope you enjoy them.


Sunday, November 2, 2008

Olde Downtown Tavern 11/1/08

Bedford, Indiana was the last stop of my two week vacation. My wife and I traveled from Chicago to L.A. on Route 66, and then followed it back to St. Louis. We broke from it there and headed to tonights gig with plenty of time to spare.

The club was your average stage-on-one-side/bar-on-the-other kind of place. People were less than excited to see us, but I had a good time, mostly because I hadn't played piano for about a week or so (which is about a week longer than I usually don't play).

We headed home to see our pups and to get about 3 hours rest before performing at Zydecos at 11:00am....


Monday, October 20, 2008

County Line Orchards 10/19/08


Barnyard Jams-1
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
We arrived early at the orchard. At least, it was early for us. We packed up from Kingston Mines and got back to the hotel at 5:00am this morning, and we had to be set up and playing at the Orchard (an hour away from Chicago) by 11:30am. Uggg.
The show was okay, but the crowd didn't show up until we were almost done. It was cold enough that I wore my gloves for the whole gig.



As soon as we were done, my wife and I hit the road for a much needed vacation. We have a separate blog about our two-week trip to L.A. and back again at
http://holmesbartonholmes.blogspot.com/


Sunday, October 19, 2008

Kingston Mines 10/17/08 & 10/18/08

Chicago was a little rainy Friday night, so everybody came in to see Duke perform. The place was packed all night long. Saturday was a little slower, but still an amazing crowd stuck around till four A.M.
Between shows both nights, we ate at an awesome joint just a few doors away from the club. Good BBQ, corn bread, gyros, mac-n-cheese.......
Bill & Brian at Kingston Mines Bill solos at Kingston Mines


Friday, October 17, 2008

Zydeco's 10/16/08

This was a huge show! Bill Ritter and I were joined with Duke Tumatoe in Mooresville, IN tonight for Deb and her crew at Zydeco's. We slammed through a bunch of Duke's tunes, and quite a few of my own. Deb had the crowd chanting our names, and that was even before we started performing.
Chris Wolf performed during our break.
Duke Tumatoe at Zydeco's Bill Ritter at Zydeco's Chris Wolf at Zydeco's


Thursday, October 16, 2008

Rum Runners 10/15/08

I drove once again to South Bend, Indiana, for a dueling piano show with Tommy and John.
Lots of people, not so many requests. We tried to involve the crowd, but they seemed to be more interested in the $.75 well drinks. We all had fun, and I drove all the way home by 5:00am.


Bob & Tom 10/15/08


The Bob & Tom Show
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
Today was the first day we had a chance to see what the new television production of the Bob & Tom show would look like. WGN has cameras all over the NAPA studios, and a control room with a bunch of different gadgets for capturing video for the new cable show.

We had a little trouble with the sound, but Mark Rohrman filled in with an a capella bass line. This was my last trial run before I come back from vacation and go on national T.V!


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Garwood Orchards 10/11/08

I had no idea how annoying ladybugs could be until I played in La Porte, Indiana with Duke Tumatoe, Jack Joseph and Brian Yarde. Jack was filling in for Bill Ritter, and Bill should thank Jack. Ladybugs bite. We had swarms of them coming towards us throughout the day, landing on our instruments and making us miss notes by being on our necks. We played the gig and as we hit our last note, the bugs disappeared. Of course.
Garwood Orchards with Duke Tumatoe Jack Joseph, Brian Yarde and Duke Tumatoe at Garwood Orchards
Duke and a fan!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Zydeco's 10/9/08

A taste of Mooresville was happening tonight on the other side of town, so Zydeco's wasn't very busy. Those who were there listened to the soothing bass tones of Jack Joseph while I played piano. Terry danced and whined and tried to be cute. It's fun watching as little boys hit the age where they could be sentenced as an adult.

People were excited to hear about Duke coming to perform at Zydeco's next Thursday. I'm sure there will be a big crowd!


Thursday, October 9, 2008

Bob & Tom 10/8/08

Bob and Tom laughed as Duke sang about male drill teams in short shorts during the half-time of the superbowl. Then we came to bass talk with Mark Rohrman:

"A bass player walks into a bar with a turtle under his arm. The bartender can see that the turtle had a black eye, a broken and bandaged foot, and it's shell was shattered, only being held together with duct tape. The bartender says, 'Say, your turtle's in bad shape.' The bass player replies, 'Oh yeah? Well, I bet he's still faster than your dog!' The bartender laughed as he went outside to get his dog. When he came back inside, the bass player, the dog, and the turtle stood at one end of the bar and the bartender walked way down to the other end. The bass player said, 'On the count of three, call your dog. 1, 2, 3...' The bartender called his dog as the bass player reached down, picked up his turtle, and hurled it across the room, just barely missing the bartender and smashing into the wall behind him, at which point, the bass player yelled,

'I WIN!"

Monday, October 6, 2008

County Line Orchards 10/05/08


Freezing Onstage
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
A new day found us back at the orchard. Today, there were wierd costumed midget scarecrows and talking dinosaurs and rain.
I played the last three songs with my hands under a tarp, so my keyboards wouldn't get wet.
Duke entertains the kids at County Line Orchards Yikes Talking Dinosaur


Sunday, October 5, 2008

Wooden Nickel 10/04/08

Six very nice people came out to see the show tonight in North Judson. Seven, if you count the bar staff. A can of P.B.R. was only a dollar. We didn't get back to the hotel room until 4:30am, which is when the doors of the elevator tried to kill Bill Ritter. He survived.

P.S. Today, an interview I gave was played on NPR. Twice. You can hear it on our "press" page: http://www.danholmesgroup.com/press
$1 Can Of P.B.R.