D.C. Hoot Night a Success

That was fun. Last night's D.C. Hoot Night gave us great performances from six groups of bands or pick-up bands. Dave Norwood from The Gary put together a band with a violinist and played three songs that had a great eerie vibe. Randy Reynolds and Seth Gibbs formed Doctor Club and played a few Television-esque covers. Nick Pelliciotto and friends played a couple Lungfish songs and a great cover of the opening track to Trans Am's debut. Three-fourths of Rainbow Dragon played Shudder To Think and Bad Brains! My sets with Excited States and Grand Champeen included the following songs:

Bed For The Scraping
Forensic Scene
Target
Do You Like Me?
Motr
What About Blighty?
Turnover
Repeater
Brendan #1
Merchandise
Blueprint
Styrofoam
X-French T-Shirt
Static
Make Out Club
Sweet & Low
Smallpox Champion

I have a hard time having "fun" when I play gigs where I work because I'm at work. I find myself being the common thread between everything happening at the bar. The business, employees, concertgoers, and performers require enough little bits of direction and attention to keep me from relaxing. It doesn't put me over in the sense that I'm miserable and wish I weren't there.  It's a unique position to be in and one that probably only happens to a bar manager who is in a band that plays at the bar they run.
An example of this is a night like last night. All six bands were planning on using my band's gear as backline and I ended up being the hub of info. I'm not pissed about it because I'm an organized person with answers so I'm perfect for the job. But it doesn't leave a lot of room for "fun" in the most commonly used sense of the word. 
Fun is a particularly strange notion because it is both treated as if it's a tangible commodity and revered like it's an actual feeling. But when people discuss their feelings, "fun" isn't included along with sadness, anger, happiness, fear, and regret. Perhaps my version of fun has changed over the years. Perhaps I care to much about my job. Perhaps the kinda of fun I'm looking for is sitting under an umbrella on a beach with a cold beer surrounded by loved ones, zoning out to the mesmerizing pulse of the waves rolling over on each other. 

Past Prayers video for "Sleeping Late"

I shot this video this summer and got it all edited together last night. I'm pretty darn happy with it. Visit pastprayers.com for other Past Prayers videos!!

Also, visit A Part Of Stuck for Past Prayers videos from Stuck's Native Sessions. There are also great videos from RTB2 and Leatherbag.

SXSW 2010 Schedule

The following shows are what I've got going on SXSW 2010 week. The first gig listed is with Leatherbag, the poster for which is included below. The rest of the shows will be with The Freeland Barons, a group that includes myself, Tim Easton, Aaron Tasjan, and Mark Stepro. The Freeland Barons will be playing songs from Tim Easton's most recent release, "Porcupine," as well as songs from the album the Barons made together in Nashville last year. Hope to see y'all out and about. Have a good week!

Alex

Tuesday 3.16 9pm The Ghost Room

Tuesday 3.16 12:30am(ish) Beerland w/ Brent Best, Lil' Cap'n Travis, Glossary

Thursday 3.18 12noon Jovita's Twangfest Party

Thursday 3.18 6pm St. Vincent Thrift Store 1327 S. Congress

Friday 3.19 5pm Hole In The Wall

Saturday 3.20 1:30 Yard Dog Gallery

Saturday 3:20 6pm Hole In The Wall