Every day around 7 pm I have the first cigarette of the day and
start tapping on this damn machine. It helps me unwind the twisted metal
machinations of my mind.
The Argyles had two road gigs this weekend, and we were literally lucky to survive.
I have been working every day at Mars since Mid-October with no weekends off. They were gracious enough to hire me full-time in the guitars department with the knowledge of my impending conflicts with the seasonal party-gig glut. it is now officially upon us and I'm not in over my head but at least my scalp in the logistics of trying to find a compromise between two major employers of the local musician workforce who need full, alert staffs during the holidays. MARS schedules all employees for Saturdays, which is also the day the Argyles do their traveling. I need a clone, or maybe just serious psychotherapy. There's a lot on my mind.
It's all about gigs. i have come to realize that showing up is 99% of every worthwhile endeavor, be it school, work, showbiz, romance, whatever. Mark Begalman, a musician/ billionaire you've never heard of, says it's all about relationships. I got the job at Mars by going in as a temp and busting ass from 8 AM to 8 PM for about 30 days straight. No weekends off, no counseling appointments, no housekeeping, just work.
that word is missing an "a" somewhere, because a relationship has to be "real."
It all climaxed with the grand opening, where the Les Paul gold flakes sold out in 5 minutes. Celebs in the house included legendary producer Eddie Kramer, Terry Bozzio, Texas Music Office boy Casey Monahan and Austin Ciy Limits producer Terry Lickona. DJ Johnny Walker was judging the air guitar contest and drawing door prizes. he told me it was a "sign of the apocalypse that Paul Minor is working in a music store" and I replied that if I get really desparate I will apply for a job at a radio station. the guitar dept. did almost half of of the business the first week, and management's posted numbers showed kid hustle as the third most profitable employee at the register.
Here's an item from the Austin Chronicle about MARS grand opening.
I ate pork roast at threadgill's with my folks for turkey day, and then went to a couple of cozy houseparties before a nitekap at Katz's. Friday was the busiest shopping day of the year, but thanks to Ricky Williams it was quite mellow until after the game. the argyles loaded the truck without me, then I got off work right as the postgame rush started. My folks let me borrow the grand marquis and the cell phone in case i ended up traveling alone to Galveston, but as I suspected, the band was running just late enough for me to convince Rick and the new drummer to ride with me.
we left for Galveston at 2:20, and caught up to the truck in Texas City, thanks to my dad's tip about the Sam Houston tollway.
the gig was in a giant stop-sign shaped civil war era gazebo-slash-ballroom at 27th and Ave. O in the city by the gulf, New Orlean's much fairer sister. Glen Campbell cleaned Jimmy Webb's gun in Nam and thought longingly of this place.
We set up fairly quickly, but soundcheck was one hour of turturous technical difficulties, with half of the PA system not responding to Bryan's valiant troubleshooting efforts. At 20 until eight, informed that no food would be provided for the musicians, I bolted to the convenience store for some apple empanadas and deli sandwiches, which we wolfed before mounting the perfectly half-domed wooden stage, with decades of cigarette burns on the highly-buffed wood just to stage right of the center mike.
the crowd of rich retirees and local social pillars danced as we rocked the rafters, with that limping sound system cranked. the acoustics of the room were obviously designed to make the center stage guy happy, with physics at the forefront of the stage design. it sounded great from where i was standing.
on the way back to houston, we stopped twice at truckstops where the clerks were behind windows and wouldn't sell Bryan a coke. At the Friendswood exit, 16 miles from downtown Houston, the equipment truck pulled off the highway and sputtered to a stop on the feeder road, totally out of diesel fuel. the damn budget truck will blast you with a painful warning beep when you put it in reverse or forget your seatbelt, but it doesn't even have a low gas light. these little details are the first to slip when the team leadership is too distracted.
We were on the side of the road for several hours, blasting aerosol starter fluid into the air cleaner, driving the car to the nearest diesel station and buying a gas can, cranking all the life out of the battery, calling AAA and Budget service providers, but we finally decided to grab our guitars out of the back and head for the hotel in the Marquis. we checked in to the Renaissance at around 4 AM.
the next day at 11, Bryan and I paged the roadside contractor and headed out for Friendswood. Luckily the truck was intact, the mechanic knew how to clear the air hoses and pump the fuel line, and she started right up. He was quite stoic but managed to give us the sage advice: "Next time, don't let it run out of gas."
We fueled up and celebrated with chili cheese dogs at the James Coney Island where my Dad used to take us when i was 8 living in the east end. we missed the exit, and had to double back on three separate legs of a huge interchange, but those greasy dogs are damn worth it. We had a relaxed talked about our future plans. When my dad ate at the original downtown coney location in the fifties, a one-armed man worked the grill.
I checked out the new Woody Allen movie at the theatre in the mall in the summit parking garage while the others watched football and practiced paradiddles. I give all his movies four stars, this was no exception, but definitley on a smller more subtle scale than his blockbusters. the celebrity depravity theme is right in line with some other great movies i've seen recently such as Cocksucker Blues and My Breakfast with Blassie. I recommend all three for their unflinching satirical takes on fame and everything that goes with it, i thank you all.
We had lunch at Antone's po-boys next to Starbucks, and went to set up at the Junior League.
Everything went smooth, perhaps a little too smooth as a result of our collective weariness, but things were looking up when the banquet staff provided us with some righteous grub and a spacious dressing room. Bryan proclaimed, "Our long national nightmare is over."
We even got to quit an hour early, and as we pulled out of houston i was gleefully realizing that we would make it home in time for me to get a full eight hours rest before my sunday martian shift.
As I was taking the middle lane after following the truck onto 1-10, we heard a screech of tires, a slight thud, and suddenly the marquis was in a 360 degree spin. We came to a rest at a slight angle pointing toward home in the fast lane.
We bailed out quick, sensing an imminent second collision, and clambored onto the concrete retainer wall. I was quaking hard, but Bob, Tim and I all seemed to check out ok. A black Lexus was bent in half against the concrete and spewing steam 50 yards back. Several other cars were scattered around and motorists began running up and checking on us. two separate witnesses reported that the Lexus driver was drunk and trying to thread through traffic in the middle lane at around 100 mph. My cell phone was out of juice but I used one from a samaritan to call Rick in the truck and they headed back to retrieve us.
It took and hour or so to deal with the tow trucks and insurance info. my folks car sustained a major crimp in the rear end, but luckily it has the highest safety rating and performed like a champ in the worst possible circumstances.
The cop had me start it up and much to the chagrin of the half-dozen tow truck drivers vying to tow it to their vulture lairs, it drove fine. The Lexus passengers went away in an ambulance, and we got back on the road.
We got back to Austin around 4 and i smoked a menthol and went to bed.
Sunday morning, Beaver Nelson was at the store waiting for the doors to open. We shot the breeze and caught up on old times as he tried out several high end Taylor, Guild and Martin guitars in the climate-controlled acoustic room. I love my job.
My mom came by and we went over the details of the accident. She was pretty shaken up but very happy that they had provided the vehicle that saved our lives. She said with a choked-up voice that "you can replace a car but you can't replace a kid." She should know.
I'm now on a regular schedule as of today with mondays and tuesdays off. i spent the greater part of the day today down at the hole in the wall alley directing traffic. Last night was a fun free for all thanks to Prescott Curlywolf and Pat MacDonald. Combined record-sales figures of the acts last night were over two million. Superego's piece of pumpkin pie in that chart was barely enough for an ant family thanksgiving.
if you leave your car in the alley overnight after the gig, be sure to retrieve it before 10 am, or deal with some seriously disgruntled bar staff.
This weekend the Argyles will play two nights in Houston again with yet a new drummer Dana Meiszer, a former Loose Diamond who played on Beaver's new album. After the saturday gig in Houston I will be driving straight back to the Austin Music Network studios for the 5:30 AM spot in their live 24-hour musicthon. A week from Friday the Argyles play a big corporate high-tech production in Tulsa, after which we will stay overnight in Dallas, where i plan to attend my grandmother's 90th birthday party before returning to Austin for the Superego/Fastball show at the Lunch Saturday the 12th. Ex-Argyle Buck McKinney of "Short Bus" will be subbing and singing the Van Morrison and Sinatra songs that night at the country club.
Watch this space for after-fastball details. We may not have a plan until that night, but keep in touch. i also plan to be at their Austin City Limits taping on the 30th, and their New years Eve Concert with Little Richard and Rev. Horton Heat in Houston. The billboard over I-45 said Chuck Berry also, but the radio ads omitted him. I was hoping to sample his special breakfast buffet.
Jon Sanchez returns to the Free For All this Sunday from his happy hiatus, reportedly in great spirits. I hereby nominate SIMS foundation founder Peyton Wimmer as the man of the year for this years Music Awards.
I have given the Argyles notice that my last gig will be January 2nd, after which I will be a full-time martian.
The Rhythm House shows are cancelled indefinitely due to general disinterest. playing on the patio there is like being a stray dog scratching at the door for scraps from the banquet inside. But check out their great food and fireplace atmosphere sometime when you're in the mood for something delightful but not quite fulfilling. i'm still looking for the right happy hour gig to cater to the myriad of potential fans who can't do the sunday latenights.
My internet service provider io.com has recently put a limit on number of recipents in my mailing list, so i have to send my newsletters to 50 people at a time, which takes about 5 times longer than it used to. they want me to subscribe to their in-house list server program, and i am so pissed. maybe i should just use the claymores bulletin board. or go back to putting up flyers on the drag.
Rob Bernard of Damnations was on tour and saw this Egg Magazine feature on the Free For All, and was kind enough to tip me off.
Did you read about Lucinda Williams' late boyfriend and lyrical inspiration in last month's Chronicle? I just realized I played a couple of crazy gigs with Clyde and the story's author during my formative teenybopper years. it puts a whole new nostalgic spin on an album that was already one of my favorites of the year. "He used to talk about it, he'd just go on ond on..."
Frenchy and I will be back in his brand new recording facility finishing
the new ego album in January, and I've got some gigs in the works that
you will be hearing about soon enough, involving big names, big events,
and some quirky legendary figures.
december 6- Music Network Musicthon 5:30 am
FREE FOR ALL: Missing Ingredient, All Talk Stacy, The Lambs, Superego
DECEMBER 12 - FASTBALL, SUPEREGO, LIBERTY LUNCH
December 13 - FREE FOR ALL: Made From Scratch, eggs, Metzlers, Superego...
December 20 - FREE FOR ALL: Vegas Amateur, bleeding mummies, shine, superego
December 27 - FREE FOR ALL: ILK, Texacala Jones, Superego, TBA
January 3 - FREE FOR ALL: hades kick, claymores, free range bastards, superego
January 5 - Capzeyez Video Shoot at Babe's with Superego, Deep Sombreros, Orange Mothers and more
January 10 - FREE FOR ALL: Experimental Aircraft, sexy finger champs, astroblast, superego
january 17 - FREE FOR ALL: Juan Solo, Human, Ghost in the Noonday Sun, Superego
january 24 - FREE FOR ALL: glowforce, lil' cap'n travis, peat fountains
january 31 - FREE FOR ALL: grand champeen, stickpony, swirlitbox, superego
february 7 - FREE FOR ALL: press darlings, shatzi, money shot february 14 - FREE FOR ALL: human, missing ingredient february 21 - FREE FOR ALL: paul logan, blake patterson, telray february 28 - FREE FOR ALL: marmalade, driftwood, jacamo fly march - american ramblers, cool hand band 419-7910, defrockers, sleepwalkers 37445239261990 march 14 - the new coke, kissinger, superego march 21 - SXSW SHOWCASE: LIl' Cap'n Travis, Mittens, Superego, Deep Sombreros, Seed, Kathy Ziegler (8 pm). march 28 - juan solo, subset, sleepwalkers april - grand champeen, aerosol, shine, choking ahogo, hotshot satellite, shine...