The Night Shift

Here's where we go to kick back after the races with our pals. Pour a tall one, punch a few buttons on the jukebox, and relax...
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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:53 pm

It's been a strange couple of weeks...we had a rehearsal at Pee Wee's the other night. Learned "Shake" and "House Is A-Rockin'", Pee Wee's wife, Jerry, has been sick lately and it looked for a few days like she was going to be receiving some very bad news from the doctors, but as it turned out, she has a peptic ulcer, which is treatable, thank God. Both of Pee Wee's PA mixers and amps are on the fritz, so I'm bringing mine down to the gigs this weekend. Tomorrow night, we're playing at the American Legion Hall on Old Galveston Road, across from Ellington Field, for the annual Bayou City Cruisers' prom night. It'll be a great hot rod show. My camera doesn't take good night pictures, but I'll have it with me and try to get some shots before the sun goes down. Sunday we're playing in Texas City at the Doyle Convention Center at a benefit for Brianna Daniels, a young girl who has cancer. Pee Wee gave us the schedule through August...looks like around 50 dates with changes to be made on some of them (higher-paying gigs often will cancel out a club gig...that's show-biz...which I never dreamed I'd be in a position to do that, but here I am, doing it) and more to be added as they come in.

Tuesday was Nick's birthday. He's 16 now. For his birthday, me and Debby rented the Meadows Place Civic recreation center so we could throw a party for him tonight and have Blastula play, all with the city's blessings (you pay, they like you). Well, Nick and the band have been pretty low-key all week...no mention of the party...I got him a new snare drum for his birthday...yesterday evening, TJ's mom called me and she wanted to know how much I paid for the place. I told her, and she told me that Saturday night, Travis took his mom's car at 2AM and he came over and TJ climbed out of his window and got in the car with him and they went on a joyride, until the cops pulled them over a few miles down the road. They had pot, cigarettes and a pipe in the car with them. The cops didn't take them to jail, but they did take them home and she told me this is the last straw in a chain of events that has seen TJ spiraling out of control. Their house burned down last month, the fire started under TJ's bed...he said it was an electrical plug that burned up, but logic makes you think otherwise...his grades took a nosedive from him being an honor roll student...now this...TJ's not just grounded, he's chained to the floor at home now. I told her straight-out that I agree that TJ can't play in the band. Playing in the band is a privilege that must be earned by living up to the responsibilities that the boys' parents have given them. If they do that, they're as free as they can be to do it. But there is a line that can't be crossed, and TJ went over it. He's smart as a whip. There is no excuse for him to be failing in school. He's like a magnet to people. He's got that kind of personality. A natural-born leader. He's a charismatic and dynamic frontman for that band. He has all of these outstanding qualities, and yet here he is in trouble. I told Nick and Micah, no TJ until TJ gets his act together. They are miserable about it. They decided not to do the party. That set Debby off. She blew her stack. She's just here for a few days, she came down from Missouri for Nick's birthday. She'll be going back Sunday for another month. She just tore into everybody, but she was mainly upset because Nick has turned out to be a quiet guy, the opposite of what he was when he was a kid. She has theories about it that hurt to hear, and I don't agree with any of it. Nick's like me. I said you want to hear Nick's personality? There it is...he was playing his drums...Nick has grown up in my own image and likeness, he's quiet and shy and not assertive, but he sits down at a drum kit and he rocks out all night long...Debby wants him to bring out his old personality...talkative, intelligent, studious, but engaging to all...like she is...so she cried and yelled at us and carried on. I backed out. She made a beautiful chicken-fried steak dinner.

I met a friend of the family I work for at the shop. He has some graphics that he needs and I've been doing them for him. My boss said to take care of him so I've been working with him off and on for a few weeks. He asked me if I had any car problems I needed fixing, he can get it done right, at a dealership, for very little money. I said, well, actually, yeah...I have 2 Chevy Astro Cargo Vans that both have power steering units that leak big-time, and neither one's AC works. He said have your boy bring his first. My guy will fix it on his lunch break. So I did just that, this morning. Kyle drove Vincent up there and dropped it off with the guy. Just now my friend called me and said it will be ready tomorrow, fixed. No need for a tuneup, it runs great. The power steering unit had a loose hose, and he replaced one motor mount. The AC probably just needs a shot of freon, but they're going to double-check that tomorrow morning and fix whatever it needs. $200, cash. That's at a Chevy dealership! They let the guy work on cars on his lunch break or after hours, whatever...no problem...life is good...I just hope this situation with TJ gets worked out for the best. The whole band is bummed out. If you ask me, it wasn't all that bad...but...BUT...he has to learn his lesson from it. His poor mom is having a fit over him right now, and I can sure understand that. I am not going to try to sweet-talk her into anything. She is the one who has to put up with all that crap. If it was Nick that did it, you can sure bet there wouldn't have been a party...or a band, for that matter. Criteria must be met in order to have other privileges, and TJ's going to learn this. Cheers, WC1
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Rapid Randy Baker
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Postby Rapid Randy Baker » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:03 pm

Wow WC, that is a lot of stuff going in your world right now. I hope it all comes out for the best! I will be thinking about you buddy. :D
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draglist
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Postby draglist » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:19 pm

Me, too. Sorry about all that, John. bp
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pro70z28
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Postby pro70z28 » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:27 pm

Kids can be a handfull. Sounds like your doin' the right things WC. :wink:
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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:43 pm

Thanks, guys. It's OK as far as I'm concerned. It wasn't Nick that pulled that stunt...Nick and Alex and the Zech brothers aren't concerned with that kind of stuff...they're all about the music and the good things in life that doing good brings to them. Debby's calmed down. I wonder if there is a man on this planet whose wife hasn't yelled at him about something and he doesn't have a clue what she's talking about? Some more than others, probably, but at least she didn't keep it bottled up. If I step back and take another look, she's telling us how much she loves us but she can't express it adequately (nice thought, but probably not very accurate!)...She let me have it, Nick, too...then Kyle showed up and he was starting to be getting it, but he just remembered he had to be somewhere else and he split <g>...today she hugged me when I got home from work. Life is good. WC1
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jim sanders
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Postby jim sanders » Fri Feb 22, 2008 9:54 pm

jeeez... sounds pretty buzy down there WC...
GOOD TO GO !!
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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Mon Feb 25, 2008 7:53 pm

Major change in the Pee Wee Bowen Band. Today Pee Wee parted ways with the keyboard player. We're going to move forward from here with just me on guitar, 4 horns, bass, drums, and Pee Wee on vocals. We played yesterday at a benefit in Texas City for a young girl who has cancer, and the keyboard player skipped it. He's been skipping the benefits and the dates we play at Club 21 in Galveston, but a point of contention with band members was that yes, he skips Club 21 but he plays all of the $200-a-man gigs we get from playing there. There is also the consistency factor to consider (keyboards 3 times, no keyboard 2 times, then keyboards again), but we do fine with just me on guitar, this is what Pee Wee told me today. He's said he's not about to move me back behind a keyboard. He wants me up front with him, doing the show. I wish my former colleague the best and I hope he finds a band that suits his schedule better than we did. I told him when I joined Pee Wee I was in 5 bands, and I made a committment to just be in one, and I'm very glad I did. It's worked out great for me to just do this. I'll play whenever the band plays, wherever it is, for whatever it pays including nothing, like yesterday. Pee Wee gave us each $25 out of his own pocket for gas and expenses. We also got free barbecue, all we could eat...So now I'm the only chording instrument in the band. My work load increases with this, but I've pulled it off several times in the past and I'll keep going with it in the future. I know the guys in the band are behind me (I know for sure that Pee Wee is...he just told me that) and we'll play that much tighter. We played an absolutely great show yesterday, and I think that might have helped Pee Wee make this decision. We're a team and a family, however up to this point, we were a team and a family with one exception. So now we're all going to stay the course...Pee Wee told me he's not looking for a keyboard player. He liked what we did yesterday enough to just go on without one and just have me whack out those chords and rides. It's all good. Cheers, WC1
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Postby draglist » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:07 pm

Rock on, Cat. Things keep moving on... bp
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WildcatOne
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Postby WildcatOne » Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:39 am

I'd still be sleeping right now, but when I got in this morning at 4, there was a message from my boss on my phone..."Gimme a call when you get time, John..." Yikes! I got up at 8 and called him...turns out he got my buddy Stan to come in today at 6PM and do some prints that are due out first thing Monday. Life is good. The Pee Wee Bowen Band played Friday and Saturday night in downtown Galveston at Club 21. It's my favorite place to play. Friday night was a great night, full house, band was tight and rocking, Pee Wee sang great, we had a solid gig...but last night was on an entirely different level altogether. They were having an art walk and presidential campaign deal downtown, and once we started playing at 9:30, an already full house suddenly tripled in occupancy. Hundreds of people were crammed in there, and the band played what I think is one of the 3 best gigs we've ever played. There is no stage at Club 21. The crowd is right in front of us, jumping in rhythym with the band and letting it all hang out. The eye candy there is like nowhere else, and we had a non-stop revue of the most gorgeous women we've ever seen on our circuit, shedding their hangups and getting loose and crazy, looking at us in the eyes and smiling while they do their thing...awesome...don't get me wrong, I'm a happily married man...but, uh, my "inner argh" was definitely aroused! We held the crowd to the last note of the last song, and in addition to the gig money, we got $232 in tips split 8 ways...$29 each. I can remember playing gigs for what I made in tip money last night, not that long ago...I was singing a tune at one point and a guy fell back into my mic stand and my microphone whacked me in the mouth...I saw stars, staggered backward a couple of steps, dropped my pick, and kind of lost my place for a moment. I tasted a little blood. Then I turned around, grabbed a new pick off the top of my amp, shook my head and went back into the song and finished it. I was lucky the mic hit my lower lip...didn't really hurt much except my feelings, ya know, but my 4 upper front teeth are porcealin caps...the real ones were shattered on microphones back in the 80s...I have an $8,000 smile...I've been careful around mics ever since, but at Club 21, you have to expect the unexpected. Boing! The drummer for the Whiskey Saints showed up and hung out for a couple of sets, he loved it and he told Pee Wee that I'm 15 times better now than I was when I was playing with them. Pee Wee told me that when we were loading out after the gig. That made my day, man. I still love those guys, but I just couldn't be doing what I was doing, playing in 5 bands and juggling all those schedules, all that material, all those people, all those gigs...just focusing on one band and putting all of my energy into one single project has paid off in spades. We hit full stride last night, right when we needed to. Pee Wee got 3 bookings out of just playing last night at Club 21. It was a crazy night out there, too. A fight broke out at the Stork Club across the street when we were loading out. Some fool started some trouble with some other folks in there, and the whole brawl spilled out the front door onto the sidewalk. Next thing you know, he grabs a lady, whacks her upside the head and kicks her butt down into the street. She was trying to get away from the fight and he made sure he got a punch in on her. That riled Big Jeff, our bass player, and he was starting to go over there and straighten that 8-man riot out when the cops hit the scene with 3 squad cars at once. This young cop with the shaved head and tats on his arms jumped out of his car, instantly broke into a world-class sprint, hit the dude at full-speed, knocked him back 15 feet and had him face-down on the pavement with his arms behind him, and was kneeling on his head putting handcuffs on him within 2 seconds. Dude oughta do the rodeo...he'd be a hell of a calf-roper...Pee Wee walked over there to see if the lady was OK (she was, but she wanted to leave) and the guy looked up at him and said "You want to &*$% with me, old man?" Pee Wee leaned over to the cop and said "You wouldn't mind letting him up for a minute, would you?" The cop said no. He's going to jail now...Pee Wee said "Meet me back here next time, son. We'll get it worked out..." I said come on, let's get the hell out of here before somebody gets hurt. Pee Wee was like, "No. This is fun. Let's hang out and see what happens next..." Me and Sylvester split. Lots going on on the highway coming home, but I might go back up to my cat basket and take a little snooze for a while...Cheers, WC1
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