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Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 7:14 pm
by WildcatOne
I can't believe it's been 5 years since I posted in here! Well, here's a quick update. I'm still playing in the Pee Wee Bowen Band, we have New Year's Eve at the Lakewood Yacht Club (no band table, no spouses allowed) and then we're off till January 13th. The horn section is a rotating cast half the time, but the guys who play are good, so it's been working out OK in that department. Our drummer uses an electronic kit that he put together himself. It doesn't look anything like a drum set at all, but he gets the best sound out of that contraption I've ever heard drums do. He's also a multi-instrumentalist and he's given me a lot of positive input on my projects and he's helped me with my equipment selections and performances. The band is as popular as ever. Pee Wee's 74 now and he's slowing down from when I first joined him. We've all been through a lot together.

In September, I hosted a benefit featuring 7 bands at Diamond Jim's in Texas City to raise money for my lifelong friend Jenny. Her kitchen was destroyed by fire and when the inspectors came around to turn the electricity back on to her house, they told her she had to have the whole house rewired...also re-roofed and re-walled...in other words, a complete rebuild. Some friends had it financed...but I raised enough money to buy new appliances for her kitchen. That was the goal, and we did it.

the best thing that came out of that whole deal was I called the Citykings, who I hadn't played with in 12 years, and asked them about having a reunion for the benefit. They all said yes...and we've been together ever since, practicing every Thursday night at Randolph's house. We decided to make a second album in 2018. The practices are aimed at that goal. I have 2 new guitars. I knew it was time to upgrade my equipment, and a couple of weeks after I got a new Guild Bluesbird, Kyle surprised me with a custom-built Stratocaster-type guitar that has turned out to be the best guitar I've ever had. I also got 2 new amps, and they're just what the doctor ordered for the new Citykings material. Attached is a Photoshop graphic I made of all the new stuff. Life is good! WC1

Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:04 pm
by Wheelzman
I bet Daryl is drooling on his keyboard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:01 pm
by draglist
Outstanding, John! Great to catch up and see the results here! bp

Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:03 pm
by pro70z28
:idea: Cool Deal WC :idea:

Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 2:13 pm
by WildcatOne
My sister-in-law Lisa is in town for a week, so I'm taking her to a couple of music deals. My friend Terry Rogers (Little Terry and the Bluesbirds) is playing at the Karbach Brewery in SugarLand Wednesday night. I took Lisa to see Terry play a couple of years ago and she loved it. Terry is the real deal. He does it right. Thursday night it will be Citykings at Randolph's house; I expect that Debby and Lisa will go and have a party with us. Friday night I'm playing with a cowboy doing classic country at an old folks' home in SugarLand. He's my old girlfriend from Galveston Alice's boyfriend and we met and became friends. He's a great singer and player, and it was nice of him to invite me to sit in with him on piano for his gig. Sunday night I'm playing the Lakewood Yacht Club with the Pee Wee Bowen Band. Triple-scale gig and it will be fun (and over at Midnight lol)...no spouses allowed, no band table, we take breaks outside, but what the heck, it's a gig and we're not the guests of honor so I am not disappointed. Pee Wee is, though. He has a big heart and he wanted us all to bring our dates and have a nice table to sit at whilst on break, but I said it ain't a problem as far as I'm concerned. We're pros. We play. That's what we're there for. Merry Christmas, everybody! Cheers, WC1

Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 11:23 am
by WildcatOne
I played the gigs, they were good. The old folks' home gig was fun. They loved it. New Year's Eve at the Yacht Club was easy, the place is swanky and all done up first-class and the band played great. Only one thing...nobody got paid, including Pee Wee. It goes back to what I've been saying all along about gigs like that: rich people don't have any money. That's why they're rich. I also expect that when Pee Wee finally tracks down the lady who booked us, she won't know what he's talking about and she'll argue about the price he gave her. It never fails that without a contract, Pee Wee gets shafted by rich people who book us for New Year's Eve gigs. They'll either claim they already paid, or that he agreed to play for free, or that there isn't any way to pay him this month until their quarterly meeting or some other kind of stall tactic. This is a yacht club I'm talking about...multi-millionaires...go figure. Getting paid for playing private high-dollar gigs has always ended up being a disappointment. The trophy wives have a blast when the band plays and Pee Wee delivers a great night to them, but when we pack up to leave, the whole crowd is long gone and he has to look them up the next day and try to get them to pay us...weird but true. I have no doubt that we'll be paid by the time we get back on schedule January 13th. Cheers, WC1

Re: The Night Shift... Continues!

Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2018 9:31 pm
by draglist
Glad you had fun but that sucks. Cash on the barrelhead before a note is played! :) bp