Rum Runners 3/29/08

Chris was called out of town suddenly, so John took his place. The crowd was awesome tonight. The sang at the tops of their lungs with most of the songs, they belly-laughed at every goofy joke we told, and were generally ready to party. Awesome!

Rum Runners 3/28/08

I played with Chris, Will, and Tommy tonight. We had a very diverse crowd, with eclectic tastes in music. I knew just about everything which hit my piano, which is always a good feeling. The party didn't stop until 2:00am.

Rum Runners 3/27/08

John W. played guitar and I was on piano for the show tonight. Thursdays are the open mic night at this club, where people can come up and sing with us.
Some of the off-duty staff showed up and requested a "showtime", where the staff gets on stage and dances. It was my first shot at a showtime in this club, and I mostly did okay....
Except for the ending.

Rum Runners 3/26/08

It was crazy-packed in RR tonight. Lots of college kids getting their drink on. Tommy Orr played about every request that hit the stage that the others of us didn't know, so the crowd was really into bring up more requests. Nice job, Mr. Orr!

Geist Church 3/23/08

I arrived at the church to run sound at 8:30am this morning. They had a rehearsal, and then two contemporary services. A nine piece group took the stage (keys, piano, guitar, drums, bass and four vocalists) and sounded great. I left at 12:30pm, came home and took a nap...

Zydeco's 3/22/08

It 'twas the night before Easter, and all through the club,
No one stayed past nine, in the fun little pub.

The crowd came early for their crawfish delight,
But we still rocked the house 'till the middle of the night.

This was not a smart move on my part, you see,
Because I have to rise tommorrow by six thirty.

I have church, and then lunch with my parents and sister,
Such is the life of a musician, Happy Easter!

Howl At The Moon 3/18/08

Tonight was pretty slow. It was the day after St. Pat's, and people didn't want to spend another night at the bars. We did have a few very enthusiastic people who wanted to hear anything we had to offer them.
Just a fun, low key, night at the dueling piano club.

Zydeco's 3/15/08

Okay, live music should be a fun, exciting, energizing, contagious, infectious, mesmerizing, wondrous, joyful, & uplifting event. That said, we, as musicians, know we have done something right by the amount of noise the crowd makes, the number of questions we get asked after we're done, and/or the percentage of people who leave singing under their breath.

If these are the gauges by which we measure our success, we failed horribly this evening. We had a hard time even getting people to acknowledge our presence by looking toward the stage. But in the end, two different groups told us how much they enjoyed us, and said they'd be back.

And they silently walked away.

Flower and Patio Show 3/12/08

Tonight was much better than the last couple of nights. We sold several CDs, and picked up a few leads on some private gigs. They originally were going to put us back in the Expo Hall, where we spent the last two nights playing to no one. We asked if we could be where the people were, and it worked-poof! A built in audience!

Flower and Patio Show 3/11/08

Okay, I understand that it gets a little slow in the evenings, but we played for the vendors. No audience, just the vendors. Here's to hoping tomorrow’s show is a little more...
attended.

Flower and Patio Show 3/10/08

They put us on a different stage tonight, in a different building. We were playing before and after a singles mixer, which was a little strange for a patio show. We played to about four people, but still sold a CD.

That means 25% of the crowd bought a CD!

Flower and Patio Show 3/9/08

What an interesting show.

Patios and rocks, huge trees and bushes, little drinks with lights in the bottom, and an after-hours crowd made this a different type of performance. Bill and I really played a little bit of everything, because we were there to promote us for private events. We had quite a few requests to drive around the midwest for weddings/graduations.

We will be at this show for the next few days. Come out and join us!

Geist Church 3/8/08

I ran sound for the evening service again tonight. Greg McGuirk had the group sounding great! The service ended at 6:30, and I headed to Zydeco's.

Geist to Mooresville took a little longer than usual. I didn't get to Zydeco's unil 7:15...

Zydeco's 3/8/08

We could've put electric probes into the seats of the crowd. It would've hurt.

But instead, we just energized them (slowly) into a frenzy (light applause) until they couldn't contain themselves (they bought CD's, then went home). The second wave of people were way more into the show, clapping and singing.

Deb needs to add a sign at the bottom of the stairs: To Please The Band, Applause Required

Rum Runners 3/7/08

Tonight was a little slow in the dueling piano club. People were slow to get involved with the show, but once they did, they stayed till the end. I drove two-and-a-half hours to get there, played from 7p-2a, and then drove two-and-a-half hours to get home. I arrived back here at 4:30a. Uggg.

Going to bed now to get some sleep before I have to drive to Geist by 4p...

Papa Joe's 3/6/08

Tonight was our last Papa Joe's gig (at least until the economy picks back up). Bill and I have had a great time with the staff over the past two-and-a-half years. We had many regulars come out who were shocked it was our last night. We would like to thank all of them for supporting us. Jessica (the bartender) bought us an ice cream cake as a going away token. Everyone had their favorite song they wanted to hear, so it was mostly requests all night long.

Best of luck to Papa Joe's and the staff, and we hope to come back to perform there soon!

Rum Runners 3/5/08

We had a great crowd tonight at the dueling piano bar in downtown South Bend! I was a little worried because just before I went on stage, I found out that my father will have his gall bladder removed in the morning, pretty unexpectedly. I asked my mom if I needed to come home tonight, but she said the docs think things should be okay. I got back into Indy at 4:45am, so now I'm off to bed so I can get up in a couple of hours to go see my dad.

But other than that, the gig was fun.

Zydeco's 3/2/08

Dan at Brunch
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Brunch came up quick this morning. I had about four hours of sleep after ten hours of performing the night before. I had about three cups of coffee, and started playing our hits. Deb was super nice to us today, and only jumped on my back once for not filling out our checks correctly at the end of the gig.

At least I didn't sign it myself. Again.

Howl At The Moon 3/1/08

OMG, the never-ending night has finally ended. After three straight hours of performing at Zydeco's, I rushed to downtown Indy to perform from 10:30p-11:00p, and then 12:00a-2:30a. Uggg! I had fun, but it was all I could do to keep my eyes open for the drive home.

Now, to get a quick nap before I play at Zydeco's brunch at 11:00a!

Zydeco's 3/1/08

I want to thank the drunken birthday party in the front row for keeping things lively upstairs tonight. Bill and I had a good time avoiding all of the requests for Mustang Sally (although we eventually did play it in a New Orleans-ish rhumba feel).

Sally (the bar, errr, room-tender) clapped for almost every song, the exception being Mustang Sally.

Howl At The Moon 2/29/08

Leap day found me once again on stage at Howl At The Moon. The crowd was crazy, and Ohio State Alumni would not give up. They dominated the phrase boards and the fight songs all night long. After my first set, I came off of the stage to find my neighbors in the crowd! Thanks for coming out!