The Night Shift

[WildcatOne]

I finished up 4 straight nights of playing last night in Texas City with the Pee Wee Bowen band. We played the annual Texas City Shrimp Boil. They usually set the band up in the Pavilion, outside, with industrial-strength mosquitos and the sun beating down on us on a stage surrounded by a huge concrete shell with no air circulation whatsoever. This time they put us in the Nelsson Center on a big stage in a huge auditorium and it was air-conditioned and beautiful. We started playing at 6, and between 6:30 and 9:30, that place was packed to the rafters. There must have been close to 3,000 people in there at one point. They ran out of food. They also gave each of us a big ol'box of boiled shrimp, onions, potatos and corn-on-the-cob...me and the bass player sat down with the folks out in the crowd and gobbled that shrimp down. The band played great, we all wore matching orange t-shirts given to us by the sponsors, as well as $140 each for the gig...sweet. After the gig, I went to Galveston, which is a 15-minute cruise across the causeway, and spent the night at my Dad's house. He's not in very good shape these days and it was a very peaceful visit with him. This morning, he gave me all his tools. A truckload full. A few years ago when he decided to sell his ranch up in the hill country, he gave me all his stuff from there, too. I have enough tools to open a home remodeling company and auto repair shop now. I didn't take everything just yet because he also gave me about a thousand dollars' worth of clothes, mainly shirts...unbelievable, man. I did take the dolly, though, because mine got stolen and I've been carrying my amp around and it weighs a hundred pounds. The handle on top digs into my hand...he's not driving anymore and he knows he can't. He's accepted that part of it, but he's still adjusting to a new schedule of getting around. He's a good guy. This was just last night and today. Thursday night, The Whiskey Saints went down to the Cock-Eyed Seagull to Lynn's open-mic jam and he gave us a full set. We went in and played a set of Swamp-Pop, oldies and blues, and it went over beyond our wildest dreams...the place went nuts...Lanis danced and sang and twirled the mic stand and it looked great...I did "I Need Your Lovin'" by Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford. It's the song where the guy is howling "Whoa whoa whoa Whoa-Whoa-Whoa!" and behind me the whole band is harmonizing "I need your lovin' every day..." over and over...for the rest of the night, the whole place was going "Whoa whoa whoa..." It was hilarious. Anyway, the second I stepped offstage after we finished that set, Mark the manager grabs me and he says "We gotta talk. Right now. Come in the office..." I went in the office with him and he says "What night do y'all want? I'll pay you what Shakedown gets..." I couldn't believe it...I said uh, how 'bout October 28th? He said you got it. Y'all are in, baby. Nobody's doing those songs, and you guys do 'em GREAT...Wednesday night at rehearsal, Lanis' wife Drenda came up and took 50 pictures of us. I made a flyer (2 versions) for the October 28th gig. It's early to post it, but I'm gonna put version 1 up and version 2 will follow later. I played out the rest of Thursday night with Lynn, taking on all comers who wanted to jam. At one point, we had 4 women on stage; Toree, that cowboy chick that sings backup, a sax player vocalist who was great, and a drummer. I told Lynn I had to hose the estrogen off of me when I got home that night after that jam. The next night, me and Lynn and Brandi went back and played with Toree's band for "Shakin' In Your Dreams" and the place was packed and dancing the whole night. It was a fantastic music weekend. I made $215 in 2 nights (the jam was free but the Whiskey Saints got $35 in tips for that one set)...Life is good. WC1

[WildcatOne]

What the heck. Here's the second version. The guys wanted one with me standing up...on this one, you can see the whole DragList sticker...Cheers, WC1

[jim sanders]

great stuff once again WC.. the story and that first pic with you passed out from exhaustion over the keyboard had me rolling !!!!

[draglist]

Looks great, John. I'm living vicariously through you... bp

[pro70z28]

very cool WC.

[Billy Mac]

LOL @ the first version, Cat.....Looks like the drummer is beatin' ya silly.....
Glad it was a great weekend!!

[WildcatOne]

I combined these 2 original pictures in Photoshop to make the first flyer with. Cheers, WC1
This one has James and Lanis, my legs and Nick's body:

This one has Richard, me and Nick's head:

[jim sanders]

great stuff WC... John the Plumber sat here for an hour catching up with your escapades and he enjoys them>..Ialways tell him go ahead and post your thoughts and sign your name but he just likes reading, looking at your artwork etc... he may contact you about a flyer for his 2-man show.... so the den in the 1-man shop is always reading and watching !

[pro70z28]

I like the laid out on the keyboard 1. It's unusual makin' it an eye catcher.

[WildcatOne]

I like that one, too...but the band asked for one with me standing up...I thought it was funny because everybody that knows me knows it's a gag...
Thanks, WC1