A recap from a while ago.

It's been a busy one, as usual...and I've been remiss on making videos or even filming much. Here's some random bits from October and early November...more coming soon! Promise.

And so it begins...

Yeah, I get to spend my birthday with Terri and Lloyd and a bunch of fun people. Score!

To Port A!

Time for the Life's A Song workshop, folks. My good buddy Kate Hearne and I are going to drive down to Port Aransas in oh, about 20 minutes and get our songwriting on. Very excited! Reports from the scene, of course. I have all my cables wrapped and chargeable items charged.

Sunday in Luckenbach

Sunday brought about a benefit concert in Luckenbach, Texas to help the Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe in Galveston rebuild after Hurricane Ike. A bunch of people and artists turned out, and it was a glorious autumnal-like Sunday afternoon. And I had never been to Luckenbach (with Waylon and Willie and the Boys)...so Katie and I took it as a good excuse to jet on down the road. Plus, SusanG! was playing. I mean, come on. We also got to see Band of Heathens and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Awesome stuff. My hand at 60 mph. Excellent crowd, lovely day. Susan Gibson and John Greenberg. And I got to see my PUPPIES that I had missed since I have not been Merch Girl for a couple of weeks. Aww. Look at that face. (I stole these last two from Katie).

Merchtober Video

Thus explains the banana comment from the previous "out of context video" (Phil asked!). I especially like the "whoosh" sound the banana makes flying out the window....

Out of Context

I'm really beginning to get into this editing thing...so much control, haha. Some randomness from the gigs this past weekend in Fort Worth and Stephenville...

At the Fairmount in Fort Worth

If you squint, you can see the band. Blogging from the merch table...our buddy Amy is here with HER video camera, and she just informed me that she has video of me singing along to "Happiest When I'm Moving" from about 12 minutes ago.  I thought the filmmaker was supposed to remain BEHIND the camera, Amy, hehheh.  The Merch Girl (TM) is a trademarked term to be used only with official permission and affiliation with Susan Gibson, Inc.  Or something.  Yay Fort Worth!  I like it here.

Labor Day Weekend

Spent the weekend on the road again (now it's stuck in your head! Haha!) with Susan selling t-shirts and CDs to the fine folks in Wimberley, Marble Falls, and Fredericksburg. I realized that on the San Angelo trip I took a lot of random photos of odd stuff, so this photo essay will focus on...the music. Plus Suz was kind enough to let me play some tunes this weekend. Her only requirement is that I play "Paper Rock Scissors." I can handle that kind of employer demand. Susan's tie dye fit well in the artsy town of Wimberley at the Cypress Creek Club. This is me trying to be cool. Marble Falls was next - a show at the gorgeous Uptown Theater. Susan played great...and then the UFOs started to hover. Doo doo doo. Wrapped up the weekend in Fredericksburg at the Auslander. Here's a shot of the crowd behind Susan and Michael. Susan let me borrow her band. I get the coolest band members lately! Then she took over photographer duty so I could blog about it. Classy.

Sheep in San Angelo and Other Road Oddities

Another fun merch adventure...this time at the Steel Penny Pub in San Angelo. Lots of interesting things to look at! Eden, Texas - home of the most barbed-wired prison I think I have ever seen. It was someone's job to wind miles of razor wire around chain link fencing. Wow. We tailed this towed RV for a long time...they left the back window blinds open and a giant mirror was hanging on the wall. Total safety fail. There was a very patriotic sheep in front of some offices in San Angelo...The Sheep of Justice, as I called it. Note the weird cherubs on the sheep itself. The merch table at the Steel Penny. I graffiti'd on the dart board score keeper. Awake after waking up for laundry at 8 AM, playing the Artist Market in the afternoon, driving to San Angelo, and merching it up. Long day! Wouldn't change a thing.

Threadgill's with Terri and Lloyd

What happened last night? THAT happened last night. I was surprised at the end of my set by Terri, Lloyd, and Glenn joining me on "Blonde on Blue" and "Paper Rock Scissors". Talk about fun! Such class acts. If you came to the show, thank you so much. Such a fun night, and thanks for braving the raindrops! More on the evening later, I am off to Gruene Hall with my college buds to show them some Texas culture... And thanks to Maestro for the photos!! His clicking finger was on fire.

Coffee AND Pizza. And Gig.

I had a very fun gig at Constantine's in Buda last night, and lo and behold photos were sent directly to me from an iPhone, haha. I love technology. I'm pretty in love with their pesto, and they also sell coffee. Folks, pizza and coffee in ONE establishment? I might move in. Reserve that booth, kids. See that halo? That's just the sun.

Good times and fire ants.

Terri Hendrix and her band played in San Marcos last night, so of course I made the drive down for a great show. I spent the first set sitting in the grass with some good friends, and even though I have been through this "concert on the lawn" thing countless times, I still forgot a blanket or a chair. My buddies kindly offered my some blanket space, but I thought...what the heck? It's just grass. Grass with a bunch of ants in it. Fire ants, too, apparently. I got a nice stingy bite in my hand and by the drive home my finger was swollen. I'd show you which finger it was but I don't feel like flipping off the internet, haha. The good news is my buddy Richard had a spare chair and I got to sit above the wildlife instead of in it for the 2nd set. Thanks, Richard! Terri and the band sounded great and based on the new songs we have been hearing lately, I am super psyched for the next record. I think she must be superhuman, based on all the traveling she's been doing, hanging out with the Bhutanese and such in Washington, D.C., and still putting on a great hometown show at the end of it all. Props! Also, a lesson: just because you're all comfy and ant-free in your lawn chair does not mean you will not called up to do a little singing sometimes. So much fun! Thanks, Terri.

Day 3: At the Crossroads!

Thank goodness. After surviving the night at the haunted hotel no worse for the wear and very well rested, I got up, explored the streets a little bit, and found breakfast at a Czech bakery. We picked up Susan's guitarist and made our way to Winnsboro. As of midnight I had shifted my official title to "Opening Act/Merch Girl," so it's good I didn't make a name tag or anything, cuz I just would have had to make another one. Right. Job One: MERCH TABLE! I am getting dangerously efficient, haha. Pleased. Crossroads Music Co. in Winnsboro hosts a plethora of shows in their awesome venue, and I felt really honored to be able to play there and be in such good company. My good buddy Kate met us there and I handed her the camera...she did an excellent documentation job! Kate also rocked my set by agreeing to sit in on "New Mexico Boy," so there were tasty leads and good times for sure. Kate rocks. Unfortunately, both of us were onstage during that song so neither of us took a photo, haha. Shifty. We stayed up late hanging out by a lake outside of Kate's house...I want a lake. I bet you have to get lake insurance or something. And a boat. Maybe I'll get a lake later, after I get a cat and a puppy. Order of operations.

Day 2: Long Roads and Haunted Rooms

Well, as you can tell by now...no internet access for the past couple of days. Luckily I kept taking photos over the weekend and I'll just post in some time warp continuum. So...welcome to Friday, July 4th. Happy Independence Day! The view when cruising. After a great time in Davis, (and a lovely sleep in the swanky hotel followed by breakfast with some great new friends from OKC), we trucked out of town to Freyburg Hall, located outside of Schulenburg (somewhere between Austin and Houston...see kickbutt map below for exact routage, haha). The Ginn Sisters opened for Susan, and it was my first time seeing them live. Very cool, amazing harmonies, great people. The SG band was rockin' and I did my thang with the merch table all evening... See the evolution? See it? Also, there was the biggest bowl of cole slaw I have ever seen present at this hall. I apologize for not taking a photo of it. Think of a big bowl of cole slaw, and then think of something BIGGER. That night due to some miracle of generosity on the part of Susan and perks of her being a rock star, I got my own hotel room in Schulenburg. Susan was going to camp with her family, so she just dropped us band peeps off at the Von Minden Hotel. Discussion prior: Someone at Freyburg Hall: "It's haunted, you know. The hotel." All of us staying there: "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Susan: "Have fun! See you in the morning! Hahahahaha! Boo!" Thanks, Suz. But it was pretty dang cool. The Von Minden Hotel was built in 1927, and is supposedly haunted by a woman who roams around asking guests for directions. She wears a polkadot dress. The lobby...you can check in and dear Lord please let us check out... Down the hall to our rooms. No ghosts yet. Awesome staircase. My room...number 7. I ain't afraid of no ghosts! Repeat. Sleep well. I'll admit I was too tired and passed out so completely that if a ghost poked me in my sleep to ask where the bathroom was, I never knew it. But we took some cool photos when we got there, and the next morning I got some more shots before we got picked up. Very neat place. Less creepy in the morning. Still creepy. So this crazy musical life has lead me down many interesting paths, but a haunted hotel was not even on my radar of possibilities. So much fun! And it was onward to Winnsboro...

Winnsboro Gig+Merch Girl Duty

Well...I am hopefully all situated and ready to hit the road with Susan Gibson for the next few days. Can I say, I LOVE traveling with Susan? Adventures abound, and good music is the soundtrack. And her sweet dogs are usually along for the ride. Woot! I'll be acting as Merch Girl (that's an official title, mind you) and then move into Opening Act designation when we reach our final gig in Winnsboro, home of Crossroads Music Company, who are some of my favorite people ever. Can't wait! We'll be heading up to Davis, OK for a show tomorrow, and then it's to the Houston area for a July 4th show at Freyburg Hall, and then back up to Winnsboro, outside of Dallas for our gig on the 5th...and home to Austin. It kind of looks like this: In fact, it looks exactly like that. This is the finest piece of graphic illustration I have ever done. Thank you. Of course, a proper Merch Girl needs to wear the merchandise. Spiffy, it is. dork. I'll do my best to update from the road, and if you're in Davis/Freyburg/Winnsboro...come say hi!

What the Cool Kids Buy

Um, the new Susan Gibson album is out. Let's just pause for a minute to allow you to go purchase it from her website, or perhaps download it from iTunes. "New Dog, Old Tricks." Clickity click click. Got it? Good. We all know I can wax poetic about the songwriting skills of Ms. Gibson all day. This record has some new tunes and a bunch of Suz tunes that she recorded with her former band, The Groobees. Those are great records but not readily found these days...and since Susan performs these tunes at her shows, it makes sense to let the people take them home. Give the people what they want, I say. (Unless the people want chocolate covered cauliflower. Then the people are wrong. But usually they are right. Usually). So you can get to know Susan a little better, I present one of my favorite videos of our New Mexico tour from last year. Spontaneous song creation is the name of the game. I wonder why this one didn't make it on "New Dog, Old Tricks"? Strange, haha. Oh yeah...to make things even sweeter, some of the proceeds from sales of this album go to Blue Dog Rescue. An awesome cause AND new music. I like. Here's some linkage to keep you busy: SusanGibson.com (buy it here, too!) Susan's Myspace Download "New Dog, Old Tricks" from iTunes

Run-ins with the law and other sight-seeing in Texas

Hey kids! I've been MIA because my good friend and college roommate, Beth, braved the Austin heat to come visit and hang out. We packed a lot into a few days before she jetted back west to be a med student. Here's Beth carrying around her loot...er...bag of ice. Hey, I said it's been warm here. I think I fulfilled my mission of showing Beth the Live Music Capital of the World in style. When she flew in Friday night, we headed over to the legendary Continental Club and caught part of Guitar Shorty's set. He's one of those blues legend types, and he puts on an entertaining show to say the least. He plays guitar with his teeth, feet, and even his butt. (I know. I'll find a video soon.) On Saturday Beth was kind and carried my gear for me when I played at the Art Walk in downtown Elgin, about 25 miles outside of Austin. Cute town and very nice people! I played in the Bremond House Gallery, a fabulous old building with wood floors and a pressed tin ceiling. That evening we saw my good friends Blue J play some jazz and then headed over to the Green Mesquite to see my buddy Geno play. That's a lot of music in one day, but all of it was delish. On Sunday we headed down to Gruene Hall to see Nathan Hamilton play, where we met a cool couple from New Jersey and chatted for a while. The randomness of these things is the fun part! After that we headed up to San Marcos and rented some tubes to float down the river. Now, I've floated before and Beth hasn't at all, but I had never floated with beer along for the ride. It seemed like the Texan thing to do and since it was so blazing hot, we bought some (hence the bag of ice above). And we were floating along lazily when a cop on an ATV on the bank beeps his ATV horn and Beth says, "Haha, what's he going to do? Pull someone over in a tube?" And then we realized he was pointing at us. Oops. So we paddled over to shore and apparently, glass bottles are a no-no. Only cans on the river. Since we were obviously clueless to this fact and all-around harmless looking kids (I'd like to think so, anyway), he just took our beer and let us float away. In our defense, Beth's from Colorado where the rivers are such that you're probably wearing helmets and praying for your life when you're rafting down them so there's no time for beer rules, and I am from New Mexico where you don't float down the river because you'd just be scooting through mud. We are new at this. I'm pretty proud that my first run-in with the law involved me in a bright yellow plastic tube. So we floated to the end and happened to land outside the San Marcos River Pub, where Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines were playing that night. More live music from my favorite people! That show managed to make Beth have a giggle fit and tear up all in one evening. I call that a good show (though, as those who know her well can attest, giggle fits are frequent. We like that about her). So that's what's up...I made it through without a criminal record and a tan. I call that a successful weekend.

Katie and Jana take on Gruene Hall

Oh Katie. One might call her a partner in crime, or maybe an enabler. However you word it, Katie agreed to roadtrip down to Gruene Hall with me to see one suSANG! play. I love seeing shows at Gruene because the town itself is all cute and German, and the Hall has a great historic, gritty vibe. Plus Katie made sandwiches. Wot? It starts as all good blog posts do, with an inside joke. These curry chips were on stage all night. That is all. The crowd was kickin'. I saw Suz make a Sharpie tattoo on someone's hand. Rockstar! Jana: Too bad her last name isn't "Miller." Katie: Yeah...then it would always be HER TIME! I brought in a contraband Diet Coke. Because it was in my bag, dangit. So Katie took a dark photo of my drinking the contraband. Recycled the evidence. I took this photo of the artist and the tip jar to reiterate to all you kind folks: LOVE THE TIP JAR. That is all. There's "Johnny (Hearts) Jessica" and such written/scratched all over the ancient Gruene Hall tables. I suppose we are not to take photos of evidence yet again, but...well, we had to. I hope to go back to Gruene Hall in 2028 and see this note. Did we mention there's a new CD coming? Head to the Myspace to hear a track or dos. How does live music make me feel? Like THIS.

The Weekend That Was

Oh kids, I am a little tired. Friday I left work, went to sign my new apartment lease, and then hit the road. I was a little scared as to how the day started, though...with a weird incidence of traffic on my usually smooth commute. Luckily I had the Bimbo truck to entertain me. Insert your own joke and entertain yourselves, too! But soon I was on the road headed north looking like a...well, a driving person. Person who drives. Right. "Excuse me, do I have windshield in my eye?" I had a nice drive to Winnsboro, which is pretty much as far east in Texas and I've been ever, I think. They call it the Piney Woods, and if you would believe it, it is populated by pine trees. Gorgeous. I went there to visit my friend Kate and her folks, who own a fabulous music venue in downtown Winnsboro called Crossroads Coffeehouse and Music Co. What a killer amazing spectacular place! It's something I think I want to attempt in the future and I think business partner Josh will agree (somewhere else, of course, like in New Mexico)...a music venue/instrument store/place to hang out. Drool. Drooooooooool. Lynn and Lindy (aka the duo Adler and Hearne, who played Saturday night, and who were awesome) have created a great place to hear music. I like that. Kate played with them on their set and rocked. Of course. Rehearsing. Most of the time you find a beer and a cigarette on stage with a musician. Kate's gear includes gum, a cell phone, and a frappucino. I like that. Robin and Linda Williams and Their Fine Group were the main act and I have seen them twice before back in Albuquerque. They're great performers and now I pretty much need to buy a banjo. Linda makes her's sing. Mine might cluck or screech for a while, but I'd like to know my way around it a little more for sure. I'm excited to go back to Winnsboro soon -- at the latest I'll be there July 5th opening for Susan Gibson. Woohoo! We'll have a time. For now, I think I will concentrate on the fact that I don't have to be at work at 7:30 AM tomorrow. What does Monday hold? Possibilities are endless.

Two Years :: Part 2/5

"She needs wide open spaces; room to make her big mistakes." - Wide Open Spaces (Susan Gibson) Fall of 2006. I was working part time for a nice pediatrician who offered me some income while I job hunted. Filed lots of charts. I turned down a job offer as a tour guide at the State Capitol and refused a second interview at Starbucks. I picked cucumbers on an organic farm for exactly 7 hours one day and was sore for exactly 6 days afterward. I needed something with predictable hours so I could gig at night. I was finally offered an admin job with the county 4-H office, a full 4 months after moving to town. I knew nothing about 4-H. Settled into a 7:30 AM start time. Much indecision and confusion. Nice people at the 4-H office, though. In the meantime, Josh and I officially agreed that we should operate as a business partnership and work toward our goal of owning a label and being musical entrepreneurs. It’s nice to have someone in the trenches with you.

Reminder: San Antonio Webcast Today!

Heading down to San Antonio to meet Ms. Kelli King and get my song on! After I change my guitar strings. Ahem. Here is the link to the live webcast. It starts at 6 PM Central time. Add and subtract at your leisure! Word. Now I'm just filling up space. Go buy Kathleen Edwards' new CD. Drive!

Live Webcast on Sunday - from San Antonio!

Y'all -- I'll be sprinting to lovely Leon Springs (near San Antone) this Sunday to feature at the Scenic Loop Cafe open stage run by my lovely and talented Life's A Song workshop roomie Kelli King (see? I told you we workshoppers travel in packs). The whole shebang gets webcast every week from Kelli's site and you can log in around 6 PM Texas time on Sunday the 9th to see moi...but it all starts at 4 PM so log in early, grab some popcorn, and hang out. You can even chat with us...I plan on bringing my laptop and being a tech-nerd, too. I know, shocking. Wild West Webcast: j.Po onstage Sunday, March 9 at 6 PM (that's 5 PM if you live in New Mexico. Mom.)

Gruene Hall

The Gruene water tower thing. On Sunday I headed down to New Braunfels -- actually, to Gruene ("green") which as far as I can tell is in New Braunfels. It was Fred Eaglesmith weekend and Fred booked a festival at Gruene Hall. What band was playing the choice set right after Fred? porterdavis. Who needed a reliable Merch Girl to sell their CDs to the masses while they rocked the Fred Head (I kid you not) population? porterdavis. Heck yeah! It was fun. Lots of good music. Audrey Auld Mezera was there, Band of Heathens was there, Darrell Scott was there (he wrote one of my favorite Dixie Chicks songs, "Long Time Gone"). porterdavis put on a heck of a show and won over the Fred Heads, which may now be termed...pd-heads. Or something. I need to think about that one. Meet the producer. His name is Dan. He's cool.

Armadillo Christmas Bazaar 2007

So I'm not sure why...but last year at the 2006 Armadillo Christmas Bazaar was the first time I had seen Terri and Lloyd play since moving to Austin...and it had been a few years since I had seen them previous to that. I think they were touring a lot, and I was poor so I didn't go to a lot of shows (and now I'm still poor but I go to shows anyway...booyah! Priorities = straightened out). Point being I was blown away at that show and have clearly seen The Hendrix and The Maines play quite a bit in 2007. Yes. Yes that is a cowboy seemingly upchucking an armadillo on that backdrop. This is all about "keep Austin weird," after all. Fittingly, I topped it all off with their performance at the Armadillo Bazaar once again. It was excellent, the company was grand (I actually KNOW people in town now!), and the chair was padded. Life is sweet. I think I got some pretty ok photos. Check out the Flickr gallery for the whole shebang. Merry Armadillos to you all!

Year End Recap No. 2: All Over the Map

Well, all over New Mexico and Central Texas, I guess. I managed to hold down a day job or 2 this year and tour NM twice AND hit up all the major cities in Texas. My mechanic noted the mass amount of miles on my car. Good little car. The worst thing I had was a flat tire and a dead battery. Check out this Google Map! It's a little interactive recap of all the miles driven and gigs played. If you click each little marker, a photo or video pops up. Entertaining, right? (You might need to drag the map around to center it, forewarning). View Larger Map On the map: Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, San Marcos, Port Aransas, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Santa Fe, Socorro, Red River, and Taos.

Cheatham Street: Songwriters' Class of '87

On Thursday night I headed down to San Marcos, TX to Cheatham Street Warehouse -- a legendary Texas venue where people like George Strait and Stevie Ray Vaughn got their starts. It's also where an astoundingly diverse and talented group of open mic-ers from 1987 re-converged on Thursday