Floods!

We in Florida know all too well how quickly Mother Nature can strike and how devastating it can be to our lives. We hate to think about it and hope it will never happen, but the truth is, it does. Our brothers and sisters in the Midwest have been drowning in a sea of their own troubles caused by Mother Nature: floods. For weeks and weeks these poor souls have been fighting for their homes and their lives. Fortunately we live in a country that cares enough to respond to our own.

I am honored to have a job that provides a service to those in need. I hope and pray that by paying it forward, when our time comes to face our own challenges that we come out of our circumstances blessed. I would love to stay here and play music with all of my friends and family, but for a short time I will be doing something of value, serving others. I am sorry to disappoint the bar owners that have scheduled us to play this summer. They have been nothing but gracious and understanding about this situation. I apologize to our friends that may be disappointed that we’re not around for a short while, but we will be back to pick up were we left of before you know it.

Until then; all the best, enjoy each moment, make good choices, and party on! Good times!

June 22, 2008

Saturday was an on again, off again rainy day. It had subsided by late in the day and I was pleased to see quite a folks enjoying the evening when I arrived at the Tiki bar. We set up and began to play and immediately connected with quite a few people; they were into what we were laying down. I am always a little nervous before we start and usually during the first few songs I am listening to the mix and volume levels, as well as the tone of my guitar to make sure that we sound satisfactory. It was about the fourth song that I looked up and saw some friends of the band sitting in the far corner. It was nice to see some friendly, familiar faces smiling back at us.

Ed and Gail H. showed up and gave each of us a DVD that they made; it was of the band’s performance the night before. It was a very thoughtful and generous thing and we are blessed to have great people like this in our lives.

On the crazy side, we witnessed one dude that snorted salt and lime (yep, up his freakin’ nose!) before taking a shot of Tequila! God, that’s gotta burn!

All in all it was a good night of music. There were some very pretty ladies that got up and danced. A large group of college friends hung out, had fun, and were very respectful; a welcomed experience. I’m thankful to have had the entire experience and can’t wait to do it again.

June 21, 2008

We were back at Crackers Tiki Bar on the water last night. It had been some time since we’d played there and I’d forgotten how scenic it is. I’ll be the first to admit that it ain’t easy starting early in the evening while the sun is still high in the sky; its much more difficult for the mojo to creep up on you, but to look out on Kings Bay with the pallid boats moored on the greenish glass-topped water, the aquatic bird life and the long shadows are inspiring.

There was a good crowd on hand and most of them hung around all night. I over heard several groups of people mentioning that they had seen us on TV and were anxious to hear what we were all about. I hope they weren’t disappointed.

After dark we got the vibe and really started playing well. People were dancing and singing along and we were feeding off of that. It’s an awesome thing when group consciousness gets in sync and we all—the band and the crowd—feel like we’ve been friends forever. If beer is a gauge for appreciation, then we had a lot of appreciative friends last night.

Dirty Henry came up with a nice, tasty, refreshing prototype for our signature Bleu Voodoo cocktail. We are excited to be able to present a finished version to you all soon.

A group of us ended up laughing over Moons Over My Hammies in Denny’s. A special thanks to Charlotte and Wes for picking up the tab. If you missed it, come out tonight; we’ll be doing it all over again.

Booking Agent

Bob the drummer told me that a friend of ours, Ed Hernandez, is interested in working with us as a booking agent. I have stated before that the business behind the scenes of playing live music can be objectionable, so it is an enticing thought to have an agent intervene and tackle that unenviable task. It will be interesting to sit down with Ed and here his ideas.

In an impromptu discussion about it during our last recording session, Dirty Hank brought up some good points that I hadn’t considered since he has some considerable experience in the band promotion arena. But for now, I prefer to take it one step at a time and see where it leads us. I’ll keep y’all posted.

Gig Dates

After a few rounds of phone tag I finally spoke to Penny from the Oasis Tavern who had been trying to reach me about our upcoming gig dates. Seems like she was a bit concerned about or arrangement but I told her we’d be there at the end of the month as planned and we were looking forward to it. I hope to see some friendly faces there and I’m sure, meet some cool new folks. I hope y'all will join us!

Quackers

I got a call from Carol, the manager at Crackers Tiki Bar and she asked about some dates that we might play later in the year. I booked the gigs contingent on whether the rest of the band can make it. It’s good to have a professional working relationship with some of the venues where we play. The band business can be unseemly because of history of many irresponsible performers and unscrupulous bar owners. It is Bleu Voodoo’s contention to act professionally and responsibly and we understand that we are only as good as our last performance. It’s a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Goin' Down

Another week has gone by and we find ourselves slithering down the sand roads to Henry’s backwoods studio. It was a rainy evening but for me, it added to the swampy vibe that I was hoping to relate in our music. Bob the drummer was all ready setting up his cymbals on Henry’s Dirty studio set of cans. We set up all the equipment and jumped right into a vibe, running through “Going Down” for the first time. After several times through we started laying down some scratch tracks; just raw recordings that we can listen too and work on. We got one we could live with about an hour later. It was getting late, but I wanted to try a quick take on “Garden of Love.” The rhythm pattern changes several times in this song, so it was no easy task. After two or three attempts we recorded a few scratch versions and called it a night. Bob and I packed our gear, the rain had stopped and we snaked our way back out to the hard road for the long drive home. It felt good to reminisce over creating art in the past few hours with the camaraderie of good friends. Life is good!

Henry’s Studio

Follow the sugar sand roads that wind beneath the looming live oaks draped in Spanish moss to Henry’s studio. We will be there tonight recording some original music. Three faithful warriors of the musical kingdom will be concocting compositions late into the night. There will mostly be laughs, sighs, and repeated attempts at perfection; definitely beers and handshakes. The walls will rumble and the thick air will pulse and in the end it will make one a better person.

Another Lucky Weekend

It was another lucky weekend at the Shamrock Lounge. We played so very well with the subtle, tasty vibes and then powerful overdriven mojo. It had been some time since I laughed that hard while playing.

Crazy Highlights:
The big, bootylicious, curvy, white girl literally dancing out of her very little blue dress.
The barking dog-man running loose in circles around the bar.
There was the brother of ZZ Top in his flowered shorty shorts, rubbing his ass while sexy dancing at the jukebox
All the many requests to play some Skynyrd!
And let’s not forget those crazy Bleu Voodoo mixologist prototypes.

As usual we hung out with some really cool people like Kelly and Liz. The wedding party; Debbie too, thanks for the beers! Everyone was very nice and appreciative of what the Bleu Voodoo experience is all about. We appreciate all of you and can’t wait do it again!