Slippery Noodle 5/30/10

Jerome Mills Blues Band
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

The Jerome Mills Blues Band hired me for the night to come play their post-Indy 500 night show. Jerome (bass), Kevin (guitar), Jeff (drums) and I slammed through three hours of blues at the famous club in downtown Indy. The guys sounded great, and it was a fun change-up for me. I just tried to follow the tunes the best I could, and not step on anybody's toes!

Indiana Live Casino 5/29/10

Duke Tumatoe at Indiana Live Casino
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Saturday night in Shelbyville was only different from Friday night in Shelbyville because of the triumphant return of Devon Ashley on drums. Joe Maddox was away on a recording session, so Devon came back for a show with us. He sounded great, and the show wen off without a hitch. Bill was a little antsy to get out of there at the end of the night, I think mostly because he never misses an Indy 500 race, and it would be starting in just a few short hours. Thanks again goes out to Devon for making it an easy night for us!

Indiana Live Casino 5/28/10

Dan Holmes at Indiana Live Casino
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Tonight, the band played with Duke Tumatoe in Shelbyville, IN to a bunch of people out to start their Memorial Day Weekend off right. We played from 9p-1a, and as we always do, saw some very odd dancing. It must be all the slot machines ringing that constant tone which makes people forget they are in public. That said, we did have quite a few normal dancers as well, but it was hard to see them behind the guy dressed like an American flag, or the woman who decided to dance, ummm, inappropriately. No matter what, Joe looked cool with his new braids...

Howl At the Moon 5/26/10

Dan Holmes and Gunner from Q95
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

So tonight, Gunner from Q95 was at Howl with the Miller Lite girls to give away a bunch of Indy 500 Carb Day and Race Day passes. It seemed somehow appropriate that his first visit to Howl was on a night I was performing. We got a chance to catch up a bit, in between my sets and his giving-away-stuff deal. The crowd was crazy, and a huge group from England was requesting all kinds of stuff I like, from the Stones to Beatles to Coldplay and much more. Thanks to everybody for coming out, and Gunner, if you're reading this, I'll see you at Q next time Bob or Chick calls in sick! You know, it's only you and doctors who have job security in illness, right?

Howl At the Moon 5/25/10

Howl At the Moon, Tuesday
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

The night started off very slow, with only a couple of tables of people who didn't seem to want to listen to us. That made me a little nervous about the night, but by the time Rob and I got up to do our second set, the pianos were FULL with very unusual, and fun, requests. I had requests for, to name a few, "Let's Stay Together", "Good Lovin'", "Johnny B. Goode", and "Werewolves Of London", and Rob played "Surfin' USA", "Hotel California", "Small Town", and all kinds of other tunes. We ended up with a GREAT crowd, and I had a good time dueling with Rob.

Czar's 5/22/10

Dan Holmes at Czar's
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

YES!!! Michigan is non-smoking now!!! We played in St. Joseph in the basement otherwise known as Czar's, and my only two complaints about the club use to be how UNBELIEVABLY smokey it was, and the flight of stairs you have to walk down to load your gear in. Well, the stairs are still there, but there were signs up everywhere saying "No Smoking". Woohoo! I had lots of fun (even though my finger was still throbbing with pain from last night) and the show was topped off when a guy staggered up to me in between songs and yelled, "YOU"RE LIKE JERRY LEE LEWIS ON CRANK!!!" and then casually staggered away.

New Castle Arts Garden 5/21/10

The Crowd in New Castle, Indiana
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Bill and I hooked up with Joe and Duke in New Castle, IN to perform for their concert series. It would have been a really fun show, if I hadn't been hurt as soon as I arrived. Just before unloading our gear, an elderly, frail-looking woman walked up, excited to meet the band. She reach her hand out to shake mine, before I could fully grip her hand, she unknowingly and excitedly clasped down on my fingers just above my knuckles, and squeezed my ring into my pinkie knuckle with the force of a python. I immediately had a shooting pain up my arm, and had to play the rest of the night with a huge knot on the side of my smallest finger. The rest of the band found it entertaining that I was maimed by a sweet grandmotherly woman.

The show went great, and the venue was a cool, reused building (which used to be a lumber yard). I ran into Marty Weaver, the keyboard player from Governor Davis and the Blues Ambassadors, who had come out to see us perform. He had a rare night off, and he happens to live in New Castle! After talking to him at the end of the show, we packed up and I drove home in more pain than I can remember feeling in my hand. Uhgg.

Howl At The Moon 5/19/10

Performing at Howl
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

A Wednesday night in Indy plus a bunch of people out partying plus an interactive crowd equals Howl At The Moon. I rotated through playing some bass, drums and piano with Jay, Todd and Joanna. I also played more songs (which I didn't know) than I think on any other night performing there. Fun stuff.

Howl At The Moon 5/18/10

Dan Holmes Drumming at Howl
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Last night was fun, but pretty slow at Howl in downtown Indy. It's still one of the best places to have fun on a Tuesday night, though. I dueled with Jay Jones all night, while Todd and Joanna took the opposite shift from us. The slow nights are sometimes the most interesting, because we get some odd ball requests, due to people being in a song-challenge mode rather than a sing along mode. Todd played a great version of "Dust In The Wind", and I had a chance to play "Try A Little Tenderness".

Indiana Live Casino 5/15/10

Dan Holmes performing at Indiana Live Casino
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

I was extremely sore today as I drove to the casino in Shelbyville. Yesterday, I mowed my yard (which nature had all but reclaimed as it's own preserve), sold and moved some equipment on Craigslist, helped bassist Bill Ritter pick up an upright piano in my trailer, then we moved said piano up a few stairs into his house, headed home for a quick shower, played at Howl with my band, then drove to Shelbyville to duel until about 1am. So today, I could barely move. By the time the show started, I had enough energy to get going, and then, I must say, I fed off of the crowd's energy until 2am. The bar was packed out most all evening, and an old fan came out and took some pictures for me. Now its time for a lazy Sunday.

Indiana Live Casino 5/14/10

Dueling at the casino
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Three of us performed in Shelbyville, IN for about a dozen people off and on all night tonight. We didn't have many requests, mostly because we didn't have many people, but we did have fun. I think that they were running the horses, so a bunch of people went to watch them instead of us. Dunno. Maybe Saturday night will be busier.

Howl At The Moon 5/14/10

Dan Holmes Plays Piano
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

DHG rocked a bunch of new tunes at Howl tonight. I pulled out five originals and two or three cover tunes we hadn't done before. I gotta say, playing with Joe Maddox and Bill Ritter makes it very comfortable to try new things. Those two always step up to the plate and never cease to amaze me with their skills. The crowd enjoyed us, although they were quiet. We made new fans, and some of those new songs we played will be coming out on a CD hopefully this fall. We'll see...

Howl At The Moon 5/13/10

Dan Helps Jay At Howl
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Tonight was another crazy-packed house in downtown Indy. Jay Jones and I performed the first set of the night together, and I could tell that there were not going to be many requests tonight. The phrase board was being changed every few minutes, though. A great crowd makes the night so much more fun!

Howl At The Moon 5/11/10

Dan Looks For A Crowd
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Where did everybody go? I was dueling tonight at Howl in downtown Indy, and we played until 12:45am.
But unfortunately, the last people left the club at 11:30pm.
I have never seen the club empty. Everybody needs to come out this Thursday to Howl. I'll be dueling again, and it sure would be nice to have an audience!

B.L.U.E.S. 5/9/10

Dan Holmes at B.L.U.E.S.
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

The small stage in Chicago welcomed us back for our Mother's Day show. We had a couple of technical difficulties due to power issues, I think. First, Bill's amp cut out completely in the middle of a song. I covered the bass line while he got his rig back up-and-running. Then, during on of my solos, my amp turn off and on three or four times by itself. Besides those couple of issues, we were all a bit slap happy from the long weekend of driving, which made us all stretch out musically a bit more than usual.

After the show, Duke showed off the pipe-wrench-cricket-sculpture thing (which was given to him at the farmer's market in Topeka) to Joe. Joe was frightened.

Blues On Grand 5/8/10

Performing at Blues On Grand
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

We drove to Des Moines, IA after our morning show in Topeka, KS. I had to stop at a Best Buy along the way because my camera died at the farmers market, so I bought a new one. The club was standing room only, and they stayed all night! I had an interesting conversation with a new fan of mine about life on the road. She and her husband asked me how my wife trusts me while I'm on the road. I told her I was trustworthy. She said she thought it would be too hard. It was then that I remembered just how lucky I am to be with the woman I love. My wife is great! Why do people assume that because I'm a musician that I'm also unstable? Odd.

Farmer's Market 5/8/10

Duke Tumatoe and Dan Holmes
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Duke and I performed as a duo in downtown Topeka, KS this morning. It was a promotional thing for the club we performed in last night. We played about 25 minutes, and sold a bunch of CDs. The guy who provided PA played harmonica on "Can't Judge A Book" with us. It was a fast show at 9:30 in the morning. Now we're heading out for our Des Moines show!

Uncle Bo's 5/7/10

Performing at Uncle Bo's
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Topeka, KS welcomed us as we backed Duke Tumatoe for another fun blues show. Not a full house, but those who were there stayed until we hit our last note. Joe Maddox had about eight hours of sleep on the way to the show, so he was full of energy and he put it to good use driving the band hard.
Bill wore a new hat. It was a fantastic hat.
I accidentally shut off all the power to the stage on one of our breaks. They had a circuit breaker box right next where I adjust my amp, and it was hidden by a curtain. The power was restored and the night was fun.
The drive was really hard for me (even though Bill drove us) because of lack of sleep from my Thursday night show. I had a good night's sleep, and then it was off to a duo show with Duke....

Howl At The Moon 5/6/10

Dueling At Howl In Indy
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Tonight was packed at Howl in downtown Indianapolis for their weekly "college night". Lots and lots of our future leaders partying until they couldn't see straight. I enjoyed performing until the last set, when the monitor I was using quit working mid-song. The last couple of tunes I performed without even being able to hear my piano or voice. Oh well. Nobody noticed, and I'll be back next week!

Zydeco's 5/2/10

DHG at Zydeco's Brunch
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Brunch in Mooresville, IN is always a good time, but today was more fun than usual. Due to a prior commitment, Joe Maddox couldn't be with us today, so our buddy Brian Yarde filled in, and, of course, did a great job. Jake Hahn let loose multiple times, and the crowd loved the guitar. Bill and I agreed that it was one of the most fun brunches in a while, not just because of the music, but we had lots of fans come through, one of my students was there, and we had many family members all stay for the show.

A big thanks to my wife for taking photos! Her "new eyes" are working great!

Key Palace 5/1/10

Dancers in Red Key, IN
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group

Tonight, we celebrated Charlie Noble's birthday in Red Key, IN. Charlie is the owner/operator of the Key Palace, home of some of the best blues acts in the midwest. Duke Tumatoe, Bill Ritter, Joe Maddox and I played for an almost full house. Lots of dancing and singing and generally, a fun night. Now I'm off to bed to get some sleep before Zydeco's brunch in the morning...