AJ's Ale House NB 12/27/13

On Wednesday night, I had a bizarre dream where I was running in a canyon, yet one of the canyon walls was made out of cement blocks. I was running as fast as I could, when I noticed two rattlesnakes fighting each other in front of me on the trail. As I tried to stop, my feet went out in front of me from my momentum and I slid straight towards the rattlesnakes. One of them had killed the other, and turned towards me to strike. As it lashed out, I grabbed it behind his head, and not knowing what to do, crushed it against the cement wall. Tonight, I found myself in New Braunfels, Texas using those same ninja-like reflexes to perform songs for the crowd, with Roger Glenn on drums.

AJ's Ale House NB 12/26/13

It was a crazy night in New Braunfels, TX tonight! I had a lively crowd, most of them giving me either huge party songs (Sweet Caroline) or random "B" sides of bands you've never heard of. They all, one by one, assured me that they would know every band's name of the songs I could play, so we ended up having a "name that band contest". I picked super-familiar songs by one-hit-wonders (like "Electric Avenue" and "Our House") and had them tell me the artist before I'd switch songs. I won the contest.

AJ's Ale House NB 12/14/13

Quite possibly one of the best nights I've ever had at AJ's in New Braunfels, Texas happened this evening with Joe Resnick on drums. The bar was packed all night long, the people were into the show all night long, and we received requests all night long! There were company Christmas parties present, lots and lots of birthdays, and people just out to have a great time. Joe, as always, was solid as a rock on the kit. I'm looking forward to performing with him again at AJ's on New Year's Eve!

Peveto Art Gallery 12/13/13

Adrian Lopez and I performed a Friday the 13th show at a cool art gallery in Houston, Texas, for Howl To Go tonight. The show went fine, but I had a very difficult time just trying to arrive at the gallery. A trip from San Marcos, Texas, to Houston usually takes me 2 1/2 hours. Tonight, it took me almost 4 1/2! Luckily, I left plenty of time to deal with Houston rush-hour traffic on a Friday night. I definitely prefer driving in the middle of the night when no one else is on the road!

AJ's Ale House NB 12/12/13

It was a little slow this evening in New Braunfels, Texas. Not many people were out on the street, or really anywhere that I could see. I did have quite a few people who decided to join me at the sing-along piano bar! They stuck with me right up until midnight, and requested tunes right up until the end.

Superfly's 12/12/13

Tonight marked the last show of the year for The Hill Country Gentleman at my favorite record shop in San Marcos, Texas; Superfly's! Jeremiah Sawyer could not join us this evening on bass, so I covered his entire career with my left hand. Clay, Troy, Kevin and I performed for about an hour, and then I had to run off to my next show in New Braunfels. Happy Holidays!

Royal Sonesta Hotel 12/7/13

The private gala event I performed at with Howl To Go in Houston, TX tonight was impressive! The piano portion of the show featured myself, Rachel Pas, and Tommy Richards. Besides the dueling pianos, the event also featured a live painter doing huge paintings on-the-spot, a full dance band with a horn section, a DJ, two trapeze artists and karaoke, not to mention many photo booths and food everywhere. I have no idea how many thousands of people were there, but they filled every inch of the first floor of the grand hotel. This was my first show with Tommy and Rachel, and it was a fun one!

Jack's Roadhouse 12/7/13

Today, I performed a 45 minute set for the good people at Jack's in San Marcos, TX to help with an annual fundraiser they hold to help kids in need called "Cooking For The Kids" for the Greater San Marcos Youth Council. Lots of items to be auctioned off, and a chili cook-off are happening all day today, as well as lots more good music by other area musicians. Go support them!

AJ's Ale House NB 12/6/13

New Braunfels, Texas was packed tonight! Vince played the drums, and I played the piano. We made a couple of birthday boys shake their stuff for the crowd. The crowd enjoyed it. I think everyone had a fun night tonight!

AJ's Ale House NB 12/5/13

Wassail Fest was held in the streets of New Braunfels tonight, while Joe Resnick and I pulled them in for our four hour rocking piano show. All kinds of tunes were requested and played. It was as if a revolving door was on the front of AJ's tonight with the amount of people who would come in, get a beer, request a couple of tunes and then head back out for more wassail. We had a packed house all night!

Triple Crown 12/4/13

The Gents performed tonight in San Marcos, TX, and it felt good to be back on stage with Troy, Jeremiah, Kevin and Clay again. We played about an hour-and-forty-five minute set, which included "Run, Run Rudolph" in the spirit of the holiday season. It was festive, especially since tonight was also the first night of "Sights and Sounds", the multi-day festival San Marcos puts on each year with the park lit up bright! Doesn't have anything to do with our show or the Triple Crown, but it still made a nice glow in the distance.

AJ's Ale House NB 11/27/13

The pre-thanksgiving crowd packed AJ's to the max last night, as Joe Resnick and I entertained them. Lots of people in from out of town dancing inappropriately to various songs they'd requested. Like everyone is saying, Wednesday night is the new Thursday.

AJ's Ale House NB 11/22/13

Last night was packed at AJ's in New Braunfels, TX! Roger Glenn and I performed for three hours to lots and lots of birthdays, and other people just out for some fun. We had huge groups of both nurses and teachers, all requesting tons of songs. It was the first really cold night of winter, with a little rain, so I was nervous no one would leave their house to come party with us. Boy, was I wrong!

AJ's Ale House NB 11/21/13

My day started at 5:30 AM, when I awoke to prepare myself for the drive Porter, Texas, which is north of Houston. I got there, set up, played a full show, tore down, dropped off gear, drove back to San Marcos, sat on my couch for about an hour, and then headed to the piano bar known as AJ's in New Braunfels, Texas to perform a three hour set. Surprisingly, I had lots of energy, and the crowd was very involved this evening. So out of my 18 hour day, five solid hours were spent playing piano, nine hours were spent sitting in the car, and the other four hours were spent setting up & tearing down or mentally preparing for another gig!

Harbor America 11/21/13

Today, I drove to Porter, TX with David Lee Morris to perform a "Howl To Go" show, representing Houston Howl At The Moon. We performed a two-hour set of sing-along classics, plus a couple of quick rounds of name-that-tune as per request by the good folks of Harbor America. They were in good spirits since the Houston Business Journal voted them #2 of best places to work in Houston!

Circuit Of The Americas 11/17/13

Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull car on his big F1 win in Austin, TX today! David Lee Morris and I were there once again performing our dueling pianos show in-between all of the various races and qualifying laps. Our first set was 8am-10am, and our last set was 3pm-5pm, with several shorter sets throughout the day. My favorite moment was when a spirited group of men stormed the stage to dance and sing "500 Miles" with us to entertain the crowd! Fun 3rd of 3 days, and I hope I get to perform again there next year!

Circuit Of The Americas 11/16/13

The second of my three performances at the formula one track in Austin, TX with the great David Lee Morris was a great experience today! The wind never stopped blowing as we performed in-between races, and the temperature hit about 80 (in November)!! We saw some classic race cars as they pulled up and parked next to our performance tent. It was a fun, long show, as we performed throughout the day from 8a-4:30p! See you tomorrow.

AJ's Ale House NB 11/15/13

Apparently, Valentine's Day is everything everyone makes it out to be, because we had a bunch of birthdays in the house tonight! Roger Glenn was on the drums, while I dealt with an endless amount of requests from 9 PM until midnight. The bar stayed full all night long, and everyone left happy! Now, I have to drive home and get some sleep, because I need to be back out at the track to perform tomorrow at 8 AM. Who needs sleep, anyway?

Circuit Of The Americas 11/15/13

David Lee and I performed a few sets of dueling pianos at the world class F1 race in Austin, TX today! It was a beautiful day to be outside performing. We were set up in a tent near the track, and we performed in-between races, so we had a chance to watch the cars while we were on break. Fun day of playing at the track!

Triple Crown 11/14/13

Tonight marked the debut of Ian Lee's new project called Ian Lee and the Open Hearts. He has written a nice group of new songs, and I had the opportunity to play with a nice group of musicians. Eddie Baty, Rachel la Coss, Jessica Allen, Curtis Clogston, Kevin Humphrey and Ian Lee were all on stage with me this evening. Ian's new tunes are very melodic, and I enjoyed performing this evening!

Superfly's 11/14/13

Superfly's was a bunch-o-fun tonight with the Hill Country Gentlemen. We had a great crowd, and the band sounded tight. Jeremiah just got off from his day job, so he was wearing a suit. Kevin was wearing a jacket when we started, but took it off early in our set. I felt kinda underdressed, so before my next show, I went home and put on a tie. That is all.

AJ's Ale House NB 11/9/13

What a crazy night full of party people tonight in New Braunfels, Texas as I played a request show with the great Joe Resnick. We had a seriously interactive crowd from the very beginning, and they hung around all night! Joe made the 3-3/4 hour show fun for me, and the crowd enjoyed the night!

AJ's Ale House NB 11/8/13

New Braunfels, Texas was hopping tonight as Mikey Gammon and I performed an all-request piano show for the partygoers! The bar was packed, everyone was out to have a good time. I'll be back at AJ's tomorrow night for some more fun!

AJ's Ale House NB 11/7/13

Interesting night in New Braunfels, Texas tonight at the request piano bar. One of the very first requests played on my piano was a tune by Mozart. I started my show by explaining that performing Mozart would defeat the purpose of a sing-along rock 'n roll piano show. So, for the next couple of hours, every single request to hit the piano was either an instrumental like green onions, or was a prog-rock tune with very few lyrics. The show was fun, and before the end of the evening, I was asked to play for a couple's wedding (pending a ring).

Superfly's 11/7/13

The Gents dusted off a few old tunes tonight at my favorite record shop in San Marcos, Texas. Everyone there really enjoyed our show, including the guy who, while standing in the doorway, said, "There's hot chicks on the sidewalk! Your music is great!" I'm just glad he was happy.

AJ's Ale House NB 11/2/13

Super busy night tonight in New Braunfels, Texas for my piano show with Michael Gammon on drums. The crowd was into our show from the very first note until the very end. Lots of requests, lots of fans, and lots of fun!

HEB 11/2/13

I had a bunch of fun performing at big HEB in San Marcos this evening! We play a couple of sets between 5pm & 7pm to all the shoppers. Lots of folks came out to listen to us, and I hope we get to come back soon!

AJ's Ale House NB 10/31/13

Happy Halloween! Joe Resnick and I performed to a heavily costumed crowd tonight in New Braunfels, Texas. Besides all the requests, we also had a costume contest where the participants won money and gift certificates! The first place winners were Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World. Second-place went to Reagan, from the exorcist movie. Third-place was split between a large group of friends who all came in as the Avengers. Joe sounded amazing on drums, as usual, and I had a great Halloween!

Superfly's 10/31/13

Tonight marked the Hill Country Gentlemen's one year "Danniversary" as bassist monkey Jeremiah Sawyer put it. Fireman Clay, Kevin Flintstone, and banana Troy performed a great show tonight in San Marcos, Texas with me, Elton Dan. Lots of silliness, but great music, and we made some new fans from overseas! Happy Halloween!

AJ's Ale House NB 10/26/13

Roger Glenn and I played tonight for a partially costumed crowd at a packed AJ's! We did every tune the crowd could think of, and lots of singing and dancing made me feel like we did some good. I hope everyone who came in tonight had a good time, and I'll see them again on Halloween at AJ's!

Bobcat Stadium Tailgate 10/26/13

The Hill Country Gentlemen played an HEB sponsored tailgate party in the parking lot of Bobcat Stadium this afternoon. We played a couple hours for all the fans, and I had a great time! Clay, Jeremiah, Kevin, Troy and I were given lots of compliments throughout the afternoon, and they were much appreciated!

AJ's Ale House NB 10/24/13

The crowd in New Braunfels, Texas tonight gave me a variety of interesting requests. Songs like "Rocket 88", "Tin Man" and "Jesus Just Left Chicago" were some of the more obscure tunes I was asked to play. Of course, I also was asked for "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Benny & The Jets" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me", the latter two were both played twice over the course of the evening. I had lots of people tell me that they were going to come back for my big Halloween show at AJ's!

Superfly's 10/24/13

The Superfly's show tonight in San Marcos was great! We got the P.A. dialed in early, so everyone could hear Troy's vocals loud and clear. We played an hour long set before the Gents ran off to Triple Crown without me because I'm performing this evening at AJ's.

AJ's Ale House NB 10/19/13

Just finished up my request piano show in New Braunfels, Texas, with Joe Resnick on the drums. This marked by sixth show in three days, and it was a good one to end the run with. We had a huge crowd, and lots of participation, which always makes the night fly by. Also, we had a wedding party who had just been married across the street come in to celebrate with us, and we had Shea celebrating a birthday, and Annette the bachelorette. I feel like I'm starting to write a Dr. Seuss book!

Texas State Tailgate 10/19/13

The Hill Country Gentlemen performed this afternoon for a tailgate before the Bobcats played. I was drumming the drums today (because Clay is out of town with family), and I had a great time. I had no problem locking in with Jeremiah (bass), and Kevin & Troy's guitars both sounded crystal clear where I was sitting. Beautiful weather, good friends & lots of music always makes me happy!

Taxi's 10/18/13

Clay Rheinlander and I headed to San Marcos, TX (after performing at Gruene Hall with the Gents) to do an all-request piano show, and it went great! Lots of people followed us from Gruene to see the show and request their favorites, including some Carol King and Sly & the Family Stone. Clay did a fantastic job keeping up with the random tunes, and it was a good way to end the evening. Now I'm off to bed so I can go play a couple more shows tomorrow!

Gruene Hall 10/18/13

Tonight's show in Gruene, TX, with The Hill Country Gentlemen (opening for Mike & the Motorcars) was some of the most fun I've had with the Gents in a while! Don't get me wrong, we always have a good time, but being on the main stage performing for an appreciative crowd is the bee's knees. Clay and Jeremiah locked in on drums and bass, Troy and Kevin's guitars sounded fantastic the PA, and my piano was crystal clear on stage! I hope we get to perform at Gruene Hall again soon!

AJ's Ale House NB 10/17/13

You never know what a Thursday night is going to be like in New Braunfels, Texas. They were just a few diehard fans there at the beginning, and they gave me a bunch of fun requests, like Al Green and Cheap Trick. Then, just as it seemed like people were winding down for the night, a new group of people filled the bar up, and the people who had been there from the beginning stuck around to sing-along! I'll be back at AJ's this Saturday night, so be there!

Superfly's 10/17/13

Quite a few people joined us at my favorite record shop in San Marcos tonight, as I performed with the Hill Country Gentlemen. It will be great when we have our new record for sale in the shop! We've been working on it over the past few weeks, and hope to have it out early next year.

State Fair Of Texas 10/12/13

It was a hot one this year at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas! I performed with Rob Roy Parnell and the band, including Joseph Patrick Whitefield, Chris Wallis, Dave Millsap, and Scott Unzicker. As tradition goes, Rob always plays for the Cotton Bowl on the Chevrolet stage, which is HUGE! The band was tight, the sun was brutal, and the crowds flowed like a river. I always enjoy this show, and this year I got some good pictures. Enjoy!