Tater Guns Are Cooool

Okay, here’s some various news & such....

The “Pass The Hat For The Top Cat” benefit shindig for Timmy Campbell (who had his drum equipment stolen) was a smashing success! What a freakin’ day! It was last Sunday from 4:00 till 9:00 at the Continental Club, and here’s a list of everybody who performed: Don Walser, James Hand, Shaun Young, Susanna van Tassel, Karen Poston, Jim Stringer, Teri Joyce, myself, Bear McCreadie, Mitzi Henry, Libbi Bosworth, Elizabeth McQueen, Roy Heinrich, Jeff Hughes, The Casey Sisters, and Earl Poole Ball. Here’s (most of) the instrumentalists who played: Guitar -- Pete Mitchell, Bobby Horton, Nick Curran, Doug Strahan, Jim Stringer (Teri even made me play some electric - which ended up in a bitchin’ little impromptu twin guitar boogie with me & Nick Curran!), and Andrew Nafziger; Steel -- Scott Walls; Fiddle -- Howard Kalish; Bass -- Kevin Smith, Skinny Don Keeling, and Ethan Shaw; Drums -- Tom Lewis and Buck Johnson. I’m sure I left out some folks, because I didn’t get there until 6:00 and didn’t get to see everybody play. My friend, comedian John Rabon, also did a mighty cool 10 minute set while bands were changing out. Lemme tell ya folks, I have HUGE respect for stand-up comics, and John getting up in front of a rowdy music crowd and doing a comedy set took TESTICLES EXTRORDINAIRE in my book. I have seen him do a few minutes before at the Velveeta Room, and he‘s a got really great stuff. Anybody who slashes at Nashville pop is OK with me: What’s (little kid country singer) Billy Gilman’s next single, “My Girlfriend’s Growing Titties”? Y’all should check him out sometime -- in the meantime go see his website at www.johnrabon.con. Anyhow, after the benefit was over, we then picked right back up on our normal Sunday night gig with The Lowells (I was far too inebriated to be singing 3-part harmony, by the way -- sorry Mike and Bill!) at 9:00 and Heybale at 10:30. Like I said, WHAT A FREAKIN’ DAY!! Oh yeah... and Timmy got enough money to get his stuff back. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Well, I had a solo acoustic gig this Saturday afternoon that turned out to be a day of many firsts! It was at a party in Spicewood, TX called The Lazy Spiv Ranch. It was my first gig in 10 years of playing that I have ever: 1) Shot a potato cannon, and 2) saw someone cut down a tree so I could play, and 3) drove a 4-wheeler back from a gig. I guess I should probably just leave it at that and leave y’all wondering what the hell I’m talking about, huh? That would be fun for me. But I suppose I’ll tell y’all anyway. For those of you who may not know, a potato cannon is a 4-foot piece of plastic PVC pipe, a bunch of hair spray, a spark, and one very unfortunate potato. “KABOOM! Cool -- that one went way far!” They oughta ship some of them things to our boys in the Middle East -- we’d have NO PROBLEM. The “Lazy Spiv Ranch (by the way, a “spiv” is an old English word for somebody who always has money , does nothing, dresses snappy, and always has some sort of scheme up their sleeve -- learn something new every day, huh?) is a private 85-acre property in Spicewood, where the proprietor (an ex-DJ/radio guy) holds an annual hoo-hah for about 20-30 people. It had everything a Texan can want in a party -- liquor, BBQ, music, and firearms. And that first one and the last one are a sure-fire formula for a fine old time, believe me. The main party is held at the house and yard, and then everyone gathers up their stuff and goes down to a creek about 200 yds away for the music. He said “Where do you want to be?” I pointed at a nice flat rock. He said, “I’ll be right back”, and returned in a few minutes with a chainsaw. He and a buddy then proceeded to dispose of a doomed little tree that was hanging over the rock and obscuring the view.. Take heed, club owners the world over -- THAT IS SERVICE!! It was GREAT playing at the creek -- everyone was both attentive and half-tanked, and seemed to be very into it. Take heed, club-goers the world over -- that’s what we like to see!! You actually can have a good time and pay attention to the music and lyrics. After a little while, we all headed back to the house to chow down on a pit-load of chickens that had been cooking all day. As K & I started back up the trail, a guy pulled up on a 4-wheeler, hopped off, and said “Your limousine, folks...” Hell, yes! We climbed on and drove the rest of the way up the trail.

Now THAT’S a gig, folks. We ate and drank till we were waddling, put 2 of the best tasting half-chickens I’ve ever tasted in a plastic bag, climbed into Big Blue, and drove 45 minutes home in a mighty pleasant haze. A FINE time, great folks, and a damn decent li‘l payday to boot. I really appreciate them asking me out there, and hopefully I can come back and be part of the party next year. THANKS Y’ALL!!

Well, folks that’s all I’ve got for now. Next time I’ll be talking about my new record due out in May, South By Southwest, and whatever other inane nonsense I can come up with at 4:00 in the morning. Adios!

Roger