10% of the bar

Moving and writing and learning

2018-10-04T16:45:00.001-05:00

I realized today that it's been a year since we made a big announcement about doing something every day to work on our music. The announcement was supposed to be a way of holding us accountable, because we said it publicly.

Turns out that saying it publicly doesn't actually mean you do it.

Yeah. Disappointing, right? So, we haven't done something on our music every day, but we've done tons of other stuff, so...you know...there's that.

One monkey wrench in not only songwriting but also in blogging has been that we (Johnny and Suzy) moved this summer. We'd been in the same house for nine years, so moving was a pretty big deal, and it kind of took over our lives for entire summer - moving stuff into storage, doing some renovation, painting, moving stuff out of storage, turning on all new utilities, making landscaping changes, etc.

Note: Even if you live in a tiny house, you have more stuff than you think you do.

One of the music-positive results of our move, though, is that we have a more substantial studio now. We got some new equipment, and we can actually keep all of our studio equipment up and ready to go. It's taken us a while to get everything set up and functioning the way we'd like, but we are now locked and loaded to record new stuff on a moment's notice!

Aaaaand, thanks to completing the studio and participating recently in a songwriting challenge that kicked us back into gear with composing, we've been busy in recent weeks writing several new songs. So, we should have some new tunes ready to release before the end of the year.

Lesson learned from the last year: don't make any big proclamations about doing something every day, or writing a certain number of songs every month, etc., because you never know when something big is going to interrupt your plan. But as long as you come back around, it's all good.

A new love song...for the dangerous ones

2018-02-18T10:02:00.000-06:00

How do you feel about Valentine's Day? Do you love it and think it's a beautiful celebration of love? Do you hate it and feel like it's just a commercialized made-up holiday designed to sell cards and flowers?

Or do you forget about it until you log on to Facebook and see everyone professing their love for their significant other - or bragging about the amazing dinner out they had the night before and suddenly realizing you're in trouble with your spouse?

We know - love is a battlefield, Pat Benatar.

And sometimes you fall in love with someone who's no good for you. It's a fine line between passion and peril.

Take Bonnie & Clyde for example. They had passion in spades. Young lovers with eyes for only each other, adventure and excitement. From the moment they laid eyes on each other, it was the two of them in it together, come what may. It's the "it" that was the problem.

If only they could have been into a circus life together, or a hardware business, or a band.

They went another way, though. And it ended, as we all know, with a hail of bullets, the two of them slumped in a car - together.

The stuff of legend and Hollywood. So, we wrote a song about it! And we released it this week on Valentine's Day (see - I wrapped it back around). We present for your listening pleasure "Bonnie & Clyde":

If you stream music, please add it to your favorite play list. And if you enjoy actually owning your music so you can play it even if you don't have a wifi signal, you can buy a copy at our CD Baby site for a mere $1.29. Now, that's a bargain!

A decade together - kind of

2018-01-13T10:20:00.000-06:00

Well, I can hardly believe we're in 2018, but that's an exciting landmark for The Staylyns. This year marks a decade since we started making music together...okay, not the whole band, but at least 2/3 of The Staylyns...and not AS The Staylyns. Okay, so it was a decade ago that the groundwork was laid for The Staylyns!

Here's the story. In 2008, Johnny was in a band called Leatherhand with two of his brothers.

Leatherhand had been active on the Austin scene for several years, but the band was starting to fracture, as bands often do. Years of arguing about drinking, drugs, the band's direction, the band's power dynamic, etc. was taking its toll, but they still believed something great could happen.

They were all living together in a little compound in East Austin, and Johnny had started dating Suzy a few months before, and everything felt like it was at a crossroads. The band discussed moving to Las Vegas to shake things up, and Suzy was pulling Johnny in the opposite direction and asking him to get more serious about their relationship in Austin. Johnny had a decision to make. He made the wrong one.

Well, no, not THAT wrong.

Johnny ditched Suzy and made a renewed push with the band. That lasted just over a month. One night, after a gig and several hours of drinking and debauchery, the band had one final implosion when Johnny found himself locked out of his own house on a cold night, sleeping in his van because his brothers had locked him out and passed out inside. That was it. He was done. He called Suzy.

Johnny started a solo project, Johnny Austin. He started adding band members, and within a couple of months, Suzy joined the band. The rest, as they say, is history.

It would be February 2009 before Joe joined the band, and we rebranded as The Staylyns in 2011, but it was 2008 when the magic began. We can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings!

Our first Christmas song

2017-12-02T13:17:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe we've been making music together for almost 10 years and we've never written a Christmas song, but there it is. Until now!!!

That's right - The Staylyns have written a Christmas song, and it's available just in time for the holidays for your listening, sharing, downloading pleasure. Please to enjoy, Christmas Christmas (The Bestest Time of Year):

This song is a great example of how songs sometimes have a mind of their own. I started writing it with the intention of writing something sentimental - something you might here on a Hallmark commercial.

(Like John Mayer needed the money, right? Choose indie music!)

But as I started writing, it just...took a turn. I'm not sure why it veered into "fun" instead warm fuzzies, but what can I tell you? The creative process is a mystery.

All I can tell you is we really got a kick out of it once it was finished. We even had some trouble getting through the first rehearsals because we kept laughing. Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

So, grab a cup of cocoa and enjoy a little fun Christmas music - something for when you're getting ready to watch "Elf." Because Christmas really is the bestest time of year!

And Merry Everything, everyone!

Holiday gigs and a new rig

2017-11-14T09:42:00.001-06:00

Well, they're here - the holidays! A lot of people think of "the holidays" as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I like to think it starts with Halloween and ends with New Years Day. That means we've been in full-on holiday mode for at least two weeks. And now that I think about it, I haven't had anything pumpkin-flavored yet, so I'm dropping the ball.

For the band, this time of year often means a shift in our gigs. Some of regular gigs get booted, either for weather or because the venues we play are hosting private parties. But we also usually end up playing a party or two ourselves, so it all works out.

This year, we've got a few party gig possibilities, but we're most excited about the show we'll be playing New Years Eve. We've been hired to play at the new Culinary Dropout in Tucson, Arizona - ROAD TRIP!!

Holding ourselves accountable

2017-10-16T22:19:00.001-05:00

Well, hello, there. I know - it's been a while. But sometimes you need a break. You're not feelin' it. Things are just "meh."

You get it.

Joe's been keeping busy with lots of projects, but Johnny and I have been having some trouble breaking out of the vortex of "meh."

So we took a vacation. It was awesome, and we documented some of the highlights on our Facebook and Instagram pages. It was a great way to reboot some of the hard drives, but as we headed for home, with a gig coming up the following week, we knew we weren't quite there yet with regard to our music. We still needed to do something to get the musical meh's to take a hike.

So, we decided to make a pact. For one year, we're going to practice every single day. Now, that could mean working on new material, just doing jams or exercises, or it could be practicing songs already in our catalog. It could mean each of us working on our own, or it could be playing together. It could be for 10 minutes or an hour - just whatever the day calls for. But every day, we do something.

It's been 16 days, and...we've already missed one day. We realized it as we were getting ready for bed, and we didn't have the energy to play at that point. But despite that one misstep, we're sticking with it. And we can actually feel the difference already.

Well, I'm not sure it's amazing. But we're definitely feeling a boost in our energy, and the two gigs we've played since we started our pact have been surprisingly smooth. After a three-week break, we would normally be really rusty. But instead everything has felt really easy. Not perfect, but just...easy.

So, hopefully as we go forward, we'll start seeing some other great results. I'd love to get some new music in the pipeline, and most importantly, it'd be great just to keep those meh's away. We are really lucky to get to do what we love. We meet people all the time who tell us they'd love to be doing what we're doing. So, let's keep the music going and the good energy flowing!

I know, Debra. I know.

The importance of a big set list

2017-05-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

We recently had someone comment on how large our catalog is - how many songs we know. We've got about 120 songs in our catalog (and still growing), which is less than some bands but more than many. Having that many songs in our repertoire has been a real advantage in getting shows since we can fill so much time without repeating songs.

Some bands that know more songs than we do don't actually know the songs, meaning they have them memorized. They use iPads or song binders to tip them off about chords and lyrics. That can be a good way to help you build enough material to fill time especially when you're starting out, but if you do that, make sure you get a stand of some kind to hold your binder/tablet.

But we don't use reminder devices, other than each other, which sometimes leads to awkward moments of brain freeze or one of us stumbling through a song that we've played a million times because all of a sudden your mind and fingers just aren't cooperating. But we figure that's part of the fun. We're flying through the air without a net, y'all!

Still crazy (about this band) after all these years

2017-04-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Most bands have a lot of turnover. Even at the highest levels you can have some musical chairs (Van Halen to Van Hagar back to Van Halen anyone?), but at the bar-scene level, it's a given.

It's not awkward at all!

People's lives get busy. People get bored. Someone has a baby. Someone moves away. Band members fight. It's rare that a band holds a steady lineup of musicians for longer than a year or so - and sometimes even that's an accomplishment.

That's why I'm all the more grateful for the stability of The Staylyns. It occurred to me the other day that we have actually been together with the same three people since March 2010. That's longer than some marriages!

The first few years, when we were still a band (not just a frontman) named Johnny Austin, there was some shape-shifting. First, in 2008, it was Johnny on guitar and his longtime friend and occasional bandmate Scott (aka TS Mothership) on drums - a duo. Then Johnny added a lead guitar with the handsome and talented David (aka Davey H).
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Bypassing SXSW...and record deals

2017-03-16T14:11:00.001-05:00

When you're a musician in Austin, everyone automatically assumes you participate in SXSW. After all, it's your hometown festival. Surely you've lined up showcases for every day, right?? Not necessarily.

Lots of Austin artists do exactly that. Some people even play multiple slots per day. And we have played several showcases over the years. In 2012, I wrote about our participation in the Fiesta Red Indie Fiesta - an unofficial showcase held in conjunction with SXSW. There are probably more unofficial showcases and events than official ones!

But over the years, we've realized that SX is not really our thang. I wrote in 2012 about what a hassle it can be, but more than that, it's a question of what you want to get out of it. When it started, it was an opportunity for local bands to get in front of industry tastemakers to try to get a record deal. Now tons of bands come from all over the world to play, and many of them already have record deals.

It's still an opportunity to get discovered, but without already having some connections, it's not terribly likely. And not only will you not get paid for your performance, if you're from out of town, it's probably costing you quite a bit in travel expenses. If you get a golden ticket from it (i.e. a record deal), the cost may be worth it. But that's a reeeeeeeally long shot.

Look out, Charlie. That golden ticket might be
more like gold-plated handcuffs.

Be the audience member you'd like to have

2017-02-22T10:00:00.000-06:00

We recently had a fellow musician attend one of our shows, and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth about them - which was disappointing, because I had admired them before they came to our show. Let me back up.

If you're in a scene for any length of time, you will come to know other musicians, and you'll attend their shows, and they'll attend yours. Hopefully some of those other artists will become (if they weren't already) actual friends!

Okay, well, that's not -- whatever. Sure. Friends.

Everyone tells you networking is really important. What no one tells you is that no matter how much you like other artists, you'll always feel a certain amount of competition with them. That competition can be motivating and provide an opportunity to learn from what others are doing and grow as an artist, or it can ruin your relationships.

If you allow it to be toxic, you'll find yourself jealous of the gigs they play, trying to find fault with their performance, hoping they'll fail. This is a shitty way to feel and to be, for you and for them.

But it's also probably not realistic to say that you should be hoping all the other bands you know will be super successful even if you're not. You're working hard. You believe in your product. You want to be successful. Hoping for someone else's success when you're getting nowhere may be very Jesus-like, but it's probably not very human-like.

New music for a new year

2017-01-21T09:52:00.001-06:00

It's a lovely winter here in beautiful Austin, Texas. We've had a few cold snaps, but mostly nice, mild weather that's allowing us to play our outdoor gigs. But we've managed to get some important work done indoors. By that, I mean that we're releasing a new CD!

We've been hard at work the last few months, recording some new material and pulling together the singles we've released since our last CD. The result is a brand new disc called "Wait It Out."

Wait It Out will drop worldwide on all major digital platforms on Feb. 3. We received the hard copies this week and are working feverishly putting together both a radio campaign and a CD release show. It's requiring a little more hands-on preparation of the merchandise than usual.

But we're really excited about it all! So if you're interested in buying a physical CD, stay tuned to our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) for more information.

And our radio campaign will kick off in mid-February. So, if you hear us on a radio station in your area, let us know!

RADIO TIME!

Off we go, 2017!

The Year in Review - 2016

2016-12-31T10:21:00.000-06:00

Well, we did it! We made it through 2016! What a year for losing some of our musical and artistic icons, eh? I told Johnny recently that if 2017 is like 2016, our entire cover catalog will be dead people. Not okay, 2016. Not okay.

Our year was a little less eventful (no one died), but we did have our ups and downs. We landed some gigs at some new lucrative venues, but we also lost some of those gigs.

Those gigs helped make this our most successful year yet financially, but we also found that the heavy load of gigs coupled with our other pursuits outside The Staylyns brought us dangerously close to burning out.

But in the end, the good far outweighed the bad for us. We got a new band van, allowing us to dip our toe into the RV world.
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You Don't Know - new old music

2016-11-25T12:40:00.000-06:00

In my last post, I talked about how our gig schedule had slowed down, and we were glad because we were getting more rest and actually enjoying shows again, as well as starting to play more private gigs.

Those have both been really big positives, but there's one more. With us spending less time on the road, we've been able to work on new music.

I know, right? We're psyched, too!

We've got three new songs in the works - two of which we've recently started playing at shows. And today is the worldwide premiere of our latest single, "You Don't Know."

Longtime fans know this song already from our Johnny Austin days, but we decided to re-release it with The Staylyns sound, and we're pretty confident that this will be THE version of this song for time eternal. Don't want to read one more word until you hear it? Here ya go!

For those who stream music, the player above is courtesy of Spotify, so if you like You Don't Know, please add it to your playlist. If you don't stream, and/or you love it, you can buy a download of it from all the major platforms (iTunes, Amazon, etc.). The service we get the best payout from (at the same price to you), though, is CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/thestaylyns9.

We're so pleased with how You Don't Know came out, and we're really excited to crank out a few more singles in the coming months. We normally give ourselves permission to be lazy during the holidays and winter months, but we've got such great material keeping us inspired that we're going to keep the studio fired up.

So be on the lookout for new stuff to warm up your new year. What's comin'? You Don't Know! (Actually, that's already here - I was just trying to do a play on words. You get what I was doing there, right? Okay, then. Enjoy the new single.)

Why getting fired is sometimes a relief

2016-10-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

Fall is here! It was a ridiculously busy spring and summer, but things have finally slowed down for us as the year skids into its final few months. We're glad, though I'll admit, it wasn't necessarily our choice.

In late August, we showed up for one of our Waco gigs, and at the end of the night, as the club owner paid us, he told us they were "going in another direction" and that our services wouldn't be needed going forward.

It was a bit of a shock, considering at our previous gig there, the manager on duty told us we were the staff's favorite band, and she even called her boyfriend and friends to come hang out and listen to us while she finished up her shift. So, we weren't sure what had changed in two weeks, but as we climbed into the van to come home, we all admitted that while our egos felt bruised, and we'd miss the steady money, we were relieved that we wouldn't have to drive to Waco *every* weekend anymore.

Still wondering what had happened, though, I did a little digging in the days following, and I did find out more information. It seems that in the week prior to our gig, a new general manager had been hired at the venue, and within days of being hired, he was putting up ads asking for new bands to contact him if they wanted to play the club. So, he had never heard us or met us, but had already decided to change up the bands.

We later found out that we were one of the lucky bands. We at least got to play our gig, get paid, and get fair warning before our next gig there. Apparently, this new manager didn't feel it necessary to check the upcoming schedule of bands and contact the bands he wanted to replace. He just booked over them. So several bands showed up, ready to play for gigs that had been booked well in advance, and they were told that someone else was playing that night. Those bands didn't get to play, had no opportunity to find an alternate gig for the night, and promoted for what turned out to be someone else. Realllllll professional, pal.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only change for us in Waco, though.
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Five Things You Only Hear in a Home Studio

2016-08-10T21:44:00.000-05:00

We've been busy in the studio lately, and we're hoping to have a new tune for you by the end of the month.

This is what music looks like.

Over the years of recording our own music, I've heard a few things said here and there that I'm pretty sure you'd never hear in a paid studio. And they're what make recording in our home studio so awesome! So, for those who have never recorded in both, here are...

Five Things You'll Hear in a Home Studio that You Won't Hear in a Pro Studio

1. I think we should leave the cat's meow in there.

2. Can you turn off the dishwasher?

3. Can you turn off the air conditioner?

4. Take your time. (Do you have any idea how expensive professional studio time is?)

5. I'll put on pants later. All my shorts are in the washer.

Yup. All of those are actual things we've said when recording at Staylyn Studio. Makes me wanna get back to it and finish up this new song!

The newest member of The Staylyns

2016-06-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

Exciting times are afoot at Staylyns HQ. For some time now, Johnny has been wanting to upgrade the band van to an RV. You can only change clothes in so many bar bathrooms and watch your bandmates nap in so many awkward positions before you say to yourself, "There must be a better way." Well, there IS a better way, and June of 2016 has brought it to us!

Ladies and gentleman, please welcome the newest member of The Staylyns - Riggy Martin (props to Joe Kraft for naming her)!

I like it.

Thanks, Rick!

Riggy is a 1997 Dodge American Cruiser. She's a 20-foot Class B RV and has *almost* all the bells and whistles we want: 3 comfy captain's chairs, a marine toilet, a closet, a bed and/or seating area in the back (which will be filled most of the time with our gear), an a/c unit (separate from the truck's a/c), and a kitchen with refrigerator, cook top, sink and microwave. It's pretty sweet. Check it out:

What a difference a year makes

2016-05-27T10:36:00.000-05:00

The weather forecasts say El Nino is on its way out, and La Nina is headed in, meaning we're in for a dry summer. After a record drought (finally busted by last year's rains - and flooding), I hesitate to say that we welcome some dry weather, but the truth is, we're water-logged in the Lone Star State, and frankly, we're starting to get moldy. We could use a break. And as a band that plays mostly outdoors, we wouldn't mind some dry weather.

Despite the continued rain, 2016 has been much kinder to us than 2015 was, though. Last year, it seemed like we couldn't catch a break. The whole week could be dry, and then as soon as we had an outdoor show, the rain would roll in.

Of course, it's raining. Why wouldn't it be? We have a show.

We lost a lot of money on cancelled shows, and we really started feeling like we'd pissed off some god somewhere that we didn't know about. 2015 was not our year.
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The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!

2016-04-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

We've been traveling a lot lately, and the more you travel, the more opportunities there are to screw something up. You forget to leave a light on, or you forget to put down extra food for the cat, or you forget to pack something important, etc. It happens.

This weekend we had three shows in a row - Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The first show was local, but the Friday show was in Kemah, which is about 4 hours away when you take into consideration a stop for lunch and rush-hour traffic in Houston, which we hit, of course, since we played the 6-10pm slot.

Normally, we drive home after shows - even very late ones. We'd all rather sleep in our own beds and be home when we wake up the next day. But we knew that our Saturday show would be a late show (9:30pm-1:30am), and it was in Waco, which meant more travel. We decided that would be a really hard show to do if we didn't get to bed until 2am or later (since I can never sleep late even if I get to bed at the crack of dawn). So, we decided to spend the night in Houston - get to bed at a reasonable hour and get some sleep before making the trek back to Central Texas.

A good, responsible plan designed to reduce stress and give everyone plenty of rest!

Except that an hour and a half after we left the house, I realized I'd left an appliance plugged in at the house - one with a heating element. Fire. Hazard.

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Sick happens

2016-03-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

Wow. What. A. Month. March is always busy for us, but this year we got our gigging ON. Saturday night we played our 10th show in 24 days! We played 1 private event, and the other 9 events were public shows in 8 different venues, in 8 different cities. Luckily, we love what we do, so it's a privilege to have so many folks who like what we do.

The shows ran the gamut from an early evening 45-minute showcase with other bands on the bill to a late-night 4-hour show with just us. Some were more challenging than others due to sound issues, timing, convenience of getting equipment to the stage site, etc. But the real challenge was for me (Suzy) about half-way through a tour of shows we did during Spring Break week. I got sick.

I didn't puke on stage or anything (I'm talking to you, Justin Bieber).

But my body was definitely going through something and wanted me to be there for it - not traveling around playing shows. One of my friends, who is also in a band, asked me what you do in that situation. So, I figured, "That calls for a blog!"
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Audience participation has its limit

2016-02-21T13:27:00.000-06:00

We've played a lot of gigs over the years, and we've had a lot of experiences that leave us asking, "What were you thinking?" Whether its venues that double-book or audience members that get so drunk they face-plant right in front of us while attempting to dance, a little forethought can go a long way into making everyone's experience better.

That's all - just think it through before you do it...whatever "it" is.

At the show we played Saturday, there was an audience member who did not think something through. She was attentive and into the show. She encouraged her kid to dance, which was cool. She and her family stayed for most of the show, which was great. BUT...

Just a few songs into the show, she went to her car and retrieved *her own tambourine* -- which she proceeded to *play* during every song for the remainder of her time at the show.

I know, right? We thought Joe's head was going to explode.

Let me give you a simple rule for attending live music shows: Do not bring your own instrument and play it during the show. Ever.

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Say You Will

2016-01-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

It's a new year, and it's really starting out right for us. We've locked down some great residencies that we're excited to get started on, and we've already lined up some Spring Break gigs, with some feelers out for a few private gigs - we're gonna work this year, bitch (as Britney would say)!

I *just* said we're going to work this year, Britney Jean. Step. Off.

But all that upcoming performance work is not stopping us from releasing some new music as well. As I said in my last post, we're going to continue our new policy of releasing singles, rather than waiting to release songs until we have enough produced for a full album. And we're going to start of 2016 by doing just that!

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The Year in Review - 2015

2015-12-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

My calendar may be a dirty liar, but it's telling me that in just two short weeks, the year 2015 will be over. I'm not sure how that can be true since it *just* started, but the Internet seems to confirm it, and we all know that if it's on the Internet, it must be true.

So, assuming that the year is, in fact, almost over, it must be time to look back over 2015 and review the year that was. For the band, it has been an interesting year.

Okay, I will!

Do yo thang

2015-11-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

October was a rough month for us. The rain and flooding throughout the Texas Hill Country led to a bunch of our gigs getting cancelled. But our last two gigs proved to be interesting - one in October, and then our last gig on Nov. 4.

The October gig was our monthly residency at HEB's Cafe Mueller. We had a good crowd that stayed with us for the whole show, and we even sold a few CDs. We were feeling pretty good until the buyer or one of those CDs felt the need to tell us not only what she liked, but what she also thought we should do to really be successful. She didn't corner Joe to tell him what she thought of his performance, but she took time to pull Johnny and I aside, separately, to let us know what she thought we could improve on. Boy, there's nothing more fun after a show than someone in the audience cornering you with "constructive criticism!"

The Red Guitar

2015-10-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

It's been really busy lately for your favorite outta-the-garage-but-hasn't-yet-hit-the-big-time band, so I'm just a tad late in writing about this, but with our next Cafe Mueller gig coming up, I just had to share an experience we had at last month's Cafe Mueller gig.

For those of you who have been fans with us from the early days, you know that Johnny has been through a few guitars before landing on his current, awesome, custom Moniker guitars:

In our earliest years, when we were Johnny Austin, Johnny played a butterscotch Fender Telecaster:

The time came when he wanted a guitar that had some capabilities that the Tele didn't have, and it didn't make sense to try and upgrade the Tele. So, he bought a beautiful cherry burst Parker Dragonfly (now called a Maxxfly):

He had the Parker for a couple of years, deciding at one point that he wanted to have it painted Ferrari red. That's when he found the Moniker guys. They said they normally built guitars, rather than just painting them, but they were just starting out and were willing to make an exception, so they painted the Parker for him.

It was a great guitar, but despite its fabulous paint job, its electronics couldn't quite handle the workout of Johnny's sweaty performance. So after a while, he sold the Parker and turned back to the Moniker guys - this time to build him a guitar.

Well, you rarely know what happens to your guitars after they leave you, but last month, a man walked up to Johnny as we were setting up at Cafe Mueller, and he pulled a guitar out of a case and asked, "Was this your guitar, by any chance?" (or something to that effect) It was the Parker.

How we handle the heat

2015-09-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

We just finished our last show of the summer, an afternoon show at the Galveston Pleasure Pier this past Sunday, August 30. However, we live in Texas, so it's still going to be hot for a couple of months, and most of our shows are at outdoor venues. So even though we're hopefully past the worst of the heat, we're still going to have to manage that element for a while yet.

Ashley - friend, family and fan to the band - asked what we do to manage the heat at our outdoor shows. So, since we just did it, I thought this would be a good time to answer that question.

First thing to know about heat is that the outdoor temperature is a gauge, but it may not be all you need to know. The positioning and design of the stage is a huge part of the equation. By positioning of the stage, I mean where it's positioned on the venue property. Is it placed in a spot that has shade, or is it out in the open? At the time of day that you'll be performing, where will the sun be in proximity? Will it be behind you, or will it be shining directly on you?