Moonshine & Ale 12/30/16

 

The penultimate show of 2016 took place in New Braunfels tonight, with my good friend Chris Wallis on drums. Every single song was a left turn for us. Johnny Cash, Metallica, the Bangles, Billy Joel, the Village People, Sublime, Merle Haggard, to Taylor Swift were all represented this evening. We did a pretty good job of keeping peoples eyes, except for now and then when they'd look at the TV for the sportsing scores. Ah, sports. Always sportsing when I don't care at all. 

Treff's Tavern 12/29/16

 

Roger Glenn and I had a good crowd tonight in San Marcos! I played a bunch of requested tunes with Roger which we had never tried before. Two come to mind: "Dear Prudence" and "I Melt With You", both of which we played like we'd rehearsed them. Thanks to everyone who showed up and gave us tunes to play!

Moonshine & Ale 12/23/16

 

Chris Wallis, Merry Christmas. Hopefully, performing with me was as much of a Christmas gift to you as it was to me getting to perform with you in New Braunfels. Bah humbug to anyone who wasn't in the best of  Christmas spirits as we jingled their bells with "Piano Man", "Shake It Off", and "Seven Nation Army". Just ask Santa, "You Shook Me All Night Long" is his version of Silent Night. 

Rockey's Piano Bar 12/22/16

 

I had bunches of fun with Chris Wallis (drums) in Round Rock, TX tonight! We had a very energetic crowd. The requests ranged from Rocky Horror to Soft Cell. The best request of the evening was "Jessie's Girl" by Springsteen. That's right, Springsteen.

Muddle 12/17/16

 

I woke up in San Marcos, Texas, this morning at about 9 AM, and put on my running clothes. I then went for a 3 mile run through Purgatory Creek Park with my niece and my wife in 70°, lightly rainy weather. We all came back to my house and got showered and dressed, and then headed to New Braunfels with my parents to  Alamo Drafthouse to watch the latest entry in the Star Wars franchise, Rogue One. We then headed back to my house where I played Battlefront on the PS4 with my niece until it was time to head out for my show. When I hopped in the car, it was 68° outside, but when I pulled up to my gig in Waco, Texas, it had dropped to 36°. I played a three hour show with my buddy Roger Glenn (drums), and after we packed up and loaded out at 1 AM, the temperature dropped 26°! Just a couple more hours and I'll be home, ready to celebrate my 13th wedding anniversary with Christine!

Moonshine & Ale 12/16/16

 

Mikey Gammon and I reunited in New Braunfels to take requests from the audience. We had a good crowd all evening long. It was fun playing with Mikey again, especially doing tunes like "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Another great show, logged in the books. 

Crafthouse 12/15/16

 

My first night at Crafthouse in San Marcos was tonight. I had a good crowd for my solo request piano show. I played from 9p until midnight, and they were asking for more as I finished up. Looks like I'll be back at Crafthouse sometime in the near future! 

Visa Corporate Headquarters 12/15/16

Gray Gregson and I teamed up in Austin today to play for a private holiday party for employees at Visa. We performed "in the round", which was fun because it's an unusual set up for us. People got involved during our hour-and-a-half show. The show went really well!

Howl At The Moon 12/14/16

 

I drove to Houston, Texas tonight to play with the club crew at Howl At The Moon.  Four of us, Carey, Andrew, Brittany and myself played for a private party. The two hours I performed went well, although it took me a total of six hours in the car to do it! Ah, the life of a musician. 

Seton Medical Center Hays 12/13/16

 

Tonight I played a show for SMCH Volunteer Christmas Party. It was held in the Learning Center in Kyle, TX, with food and drinks for all the folks who help out around the hospital. It ended up being about two hours worth of Christmas music, and a few popular request tunes. Everyone seemed to have a very good time, and I had lots of positive feedback at the end of my performance! Merry Christmas!

House Of Blues 12/10/16

 

I drove to Houston and met up with Mike Sueiro (piano), Kevin Humphrey (guitar), and Chris Wallis (drums) to play a Howl2Go (Howl At The Moon) dueling piano show for a company party on the main stage at House Of Blues. It's always a treat getting a chance to play with Kevin and Chris, and it's been a long time since I've had a chance to play a show with Mike. Mike is a great performer, and he was easy as ever to perform with. I'm glad I had the chance to perform with these talented musicians on the big stage in Houston!

 

Treff's Tavern 12/8/16

 

The amazing Chris Wallis played a show with me tonight in San Marcos! We had a bunch of people hanging out and requesting oddball tunes. "Good Enough" from the Goonies was my favorite. Fun fact, "Whole New World" and "Faithfully" are almost the same song. We mashed them together perfectly. Oh, yeah, and we shoved "Strokin'" into "Champagne Supernova" just because. 

Gourdough's Public House 12/3/16

 

It's been several months since I've had the pleasure of working with drummer Clay Rheinlander, but he met me in Austin to take requests from the crowd tonight. We locked in just like old times. About half of the show was filled with tunes we've never played together, but they sounded like we rehearsed them a bunch. My favorite request of the night was "Just Like Heaven" by The Doors. Ha!

Moonshine & Ale 12/2/16

 

In New Braunfels, TX, Andrae Blissett (drums) joined me on stage to entertain the masses! He's a great drummer, and easy to work with. The crowd was bringing up random tunes, and Andrae and I played and laughed through most every tune. It'll be good to gig with him in the future! 

Rockey's Piano Bar 12/1/16

 

I played in Round Rock, TX with drummer Robin Mordecai for a party from 7p-8p, and then finished out the night for the general public from 8p-11p. Robin was easy to work with, and the crowd loved his tiny splash cymbal. My parents are in town for the holidays, so they came to the show tonight, too! It was a good show, and I look forward to the next time I'm in Round Rock at Rockey's!

Wake The Dead 11/30/16

 

Gray Gregson and I put on a show tonight in San Marcos for the specific reason of video recording it for some online promotion. We had a packed house, and the crowd didn't let us down, because they sang and clapped with every tune we pulled out! It was a really fun night, and I would like to personally thank everyone who we invited for coming out to the show, and to the staff of Wake The Dead for helping us with the sound, and finally to my wife for taking a bunch of photos throughout the evening!

Moonshine & Ale 11/25/16

 

Tonight, I had a chance to play with Vince Mejia again! It's been a while since we gigged together, but we locked in like old times. A few birthdays and anniversaries were scattered throughout the night, as we took requests from the packed house. Towards the end of the evening, Jessarae Bailey took the stage for a couple tunes. She'll be playing there on December 10! Go see her show!

 

Treff's Tavern 11/24/16

 

Mikey Gammon and I played in San Marcos for thanksgiving! It was a great show with tons of requests. I think it was actually a record-setting night for our show. We played a solid three-hour show, and I had a bunch of fun with Mikey. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

Gourdough's Public House 11/19/16

 

I played my first show with drummer Craig Stluka tonight in downtown Austin. He's a good player, and the crowd dug our show. We had an excellent bunch of people in, bringing us requests all evening, but my favorite was from a 15 year old birthday girl who wanted us to play "You're So Vain". I told her that it was a heavy tune for 15, and not to grow up too quickly. 

Moonshine & Ale 11/18/16

 

Chris Wallis and I figuratively poured sugar on the crowd tonight in New Braunfels. They responded by sliding requests, drinks, and themselves across my piano. People were in good spirits, and it made the night go by quickly. Thanks for the singing along, people!

Moonshine & Ale 11/12/16

 

Chris, Pancho and I played to a near-capacity crowd tonight in New Braunfels. This is the end of Wurstfest (which was a festival happening near by) so tons of out-of-towners were in getting their drink on and singing along in strange hats and headdresses. Thanks for all the requests tonight, random people!

Gourdough's Public House 11/11/16

 

We rocked Austin tonight, playing bunches of tunes I'd never played before. Chris Wallis drummed like a heartbeat. My niece came down from Dallas and sat with my wife at the show, and even did the "Time Warp" with random other folks in the crowd. I wore my blue jacket. End of transmission. 

Treff's Tavern 11/10/16

 

A waltz and "I Can't Dance" were unironically requested tonight for people who were to drunk to stand to try to dance to. Both dances lightly resembled bad backup dancers trying to "Vogue". I enjoyed playing with Chris Wallis (drums). We were making each other laugh by being extremely fluid with our rhythm mid-song every once in a while. A young piano player even got up and played a couple tunes with us, so all-in-all, a fun evening. 

Muddle 11/5/16

 

Chris Wallis and I drove to Waco, Texas tonight to play for our friends at Muddle. We had a great crowd, and they were requesting tunes and dancing all night. We kinda got into an 80s groove towards the end of the evening. I had fun pulling out old ZZ Top, Paul Simon, and Prince. Chris nailed it, and it was fun playing with him again!

Moonshine & Ale 11/4/16

 

Yeah! Big crowd tonight in New Braunfels. We had quite a bit of overflow from Wurstfest, and they requested tons of tunes. Mikey Gammon smacked those drums with enough force to make Yoda blush. My favorite request of the night was "Under Pressure", which came up with 20 Euro. I asked if it was still worth anything after Brexit, and they said no. 

 

Moonshine & Ale 10/31/16

 

New Braunfels was a fun place on Halloween! Pancho, Chris and I Blues Brothered it up during our show tonight. They brought us lots of requests, and we played as many as we could before midnight. We held a costume contest, and had about 25 entries, where we narrowed it down to first, second, and third place. Thanks to Lindsay for taking some pictures for us tonight!

 

 

The Lodge 10/29/16

 

 Yesterday was a very, very long day. I performed a Howl2Go (Howl At The Moon) dueling piano show (with a band) for the Hughes wedding in Fredericksburg, TX. Heather Ray (piano) and Jay Wimberly (guitar) met me at 1p in San Marcos to drive up together. We arrived and set up from 2:30p-4:30p, and quickly realized that we didn't have enough time to go eat before guests began arriving. Chris Wallis (drums) and Kevin Humphrey (bass) arrived at 6:30p with a bag of food for us, and then we waited for our turn to take the stage after dinner and first dances and cake cutting. 

What the bride didn't know was that her bridesmaids reached out to us secretly to perform "It's All Coming Back To Me Now", a Celine Dion tune with altered words instead of a speech. It went great, and when the dance floor opened at 8p, people danced and sang until the event wound down at midnight. We had several songs we learned just for this wedding, and all of the musicians I worked with did an absolutely great job of pulling together and making the event fun. The groom even got up (he sings in a band) with his piano player and did a couple tunes with the band!

After folks began to leave, we tore down and loaded out, and began our drive home at 1:30a. We made it all the way back to San Marcos, 3:30a, five miles from home, and the two-lane road which heads into town, the only road which heads into town, was blocked and shut down due to an accident at a frat house. We waited about a half hour, but nothing was budging. So we had to turn around and drive south to New Braunfels, the head north to my house. We arrived shortly after 4:30a. 

It was a long day with a few minor setbacks, but the show was great and the event was beautiful. Thank you to my all-pro team for all you do, and congratulations to the newlyweds!

Gourdough's Public House 10/28/16

 

After helping my wife with some automotive trouble, I had a nice dinner with her before heading to my gig in downtown Austin with the always entertaining Chris Wallis on drums. We had a great crowd and a steady stream of requests tonight! I enjoyed the randomness of Motown to Primus, '80s pop to '70s cheese, everyone seemed to have fun. Job well done, Chris Wallis!

Moonshine & Ale 10/22/16

 

I played in New Braunfels tonight with the fantastic Andrae Blissett! We had a great crowd from our very first song until our last. Some tunes I'd never considered trying hit the piano, so I gave them a shot, and mostly sounded like I meant to play it. Andrae was easy to work with, and even though it was our first show together, it felt like we had done it a hundred times before. I feel so lucky to always have the opportunity to work with pro musicians!

Moonshine & Ale 10/21/16

 

Chris Wallis and I played our show in New Braunfels tonight! Lots of requests, as usual, and quite a few odd balls. I happily played the random Stevie Wonder and CCR tunes folks asked for. It's always fun playing shows with Chris! 

Treff's Tavern 10/20/16

 

Tonight marked the first of our new weekly piano bar show in San Marcos, Texas! The amazing Mikey Gammon played drums while I played piano. We had a good turnout with lots of good requests. My favorite request by far was "Piano Pan" by Bob Dylan. I'll be back in a couple weeks to play some more tunes!

 

Rockey's Piano Bar 10/15/16

  

My second of two shows tonight took place in Round Rock with John Duran to a packed house! We had some great dancers, including a random guy who was dancing with everyone, and an attractive woman who decided it would be a good idea to reinact the scene in Dirty Dancing where the woman is lifted by the man. It ended with both of them on the floor. 

Treff's Tavern 10/15/16

 

I played drums for the inaugural request piano show behind the great Tommy Raye on piano. This was my first of two shows tonight, and it was fun playing with Tommy. I look forward to playing the new San Marcos club next Thursday on piano. I'm heading now to Round Rock to play some piano at Rockey's!

Escondido Golf and Lake Club 10/14/16

 

David Lee and I played a private event in Horseshoe Bay, TX tonight. There were about a hundred women in attendance, and they started off the evening with a buffet and some light dinner music from David and me. We played about an hour, took a break, then came back to the stage to take requests and help the women dance and sing the night away. I had lots of fun with David, and I hope we get a chance to work together again soon. Thanks to Groovelabs for including us in the festivities!

 

Grind House Coffee & Cocktails 10/13/16

 

I returned to Kyle, TX to take requests on my piano. I enjoyed all the Beatles tunes people asked me for. I'll be back soon at Grind House to take more requests!

Hurst Beans Plant 10/9/16

 

I filled in for the great James Hill on keys today in downtown Indianapolis with Duke Tumatoe and The Power Trio for a Colts tailgate party. AJ and Joe are a superb rhythm section, and it was fun to play Duke's tunes with them. I really enjoyed getting a chance to not only play with Duke again, but also hear his guitar playing, which is, and always has been, great. My wife took all the photos of the event for us. As a bonus, on our break, I had a chance to catch up a bit with my buddy Kristi Lee (of podcast and Bob & Tom Show fame)! 

 

 

 

Zydeco's 10/8/16

 

For my second of my two-night stint in Mooresville, IN, I performed with Jack Joseph (bass) and Mark Clark (drums). I really enjoyed both Friday and Saturday at Zydeco's. It's like a family reunion when we play there. Deb (the owner) told us she was really happy to see Mark and I play together again. It took some convincing, but we finally made it clear that this was actually the very first weekend Mark and I gigged together. I love Deb. 

 

Zydeco's 10/7/16

 

I had so much fun in Mooresville, IN tonight with Bill Ritter and Mark Clark, playing DanHolmesGroup songs, that I wish it didn't have to end! My wife took some great photos of the band, and Deb had an issue figuring out the technology. Deb is one of the owners of Zydeco's, Bill plays bass, and Mark is the drummer, for those of you who didn't know. This actually was the first gig I've performed with Mark, but he knew every tune, which made for a very fun night. Mark and I will return tomorrow night with bassist Jack Joseph for another evening of music at one of my favorite places in the world!