SXSW Tour 2010
The Shivering Denizens, my band, went on the first tour as a band. We hit Reno and Vegas on the way down to Austin. The Denizens worked hard to put up enough money to get us down to Texas and back. We went into this with zero expectations and we had an amazing time. We met guys like Dave Muskin from Davidson’s Distillery in Reno. Dave and his bar maiden, Emily, treated us like family and we will play his club any time! This tour wouldn’t have happened without Jeff Smith, singer for The Hickoids from Austin Texas and President of Saustex Records in San Antonio. We met at a show in Seattle and I asked him about getting some gigs for SXSW. We started working on it in September of 09 and he put together 9 Texas shows for us. We also got to spend some time with Jenny Bendel (CEO of RockAndLoad) in Austin…She booked the first Denizen show here in Seattle a few years back. We want to thank her for letting us stay the night and taking a great picture of us!
Our most memorable show was in Humble, TX…a suburb of Houston. It was a St. Patty’s Day show with Brent Amaker and The Rodeo and Dead Rabbits. ( I reunited with a childhood friend that I haven’t seen in 32 years. We had this Kiss Tribute band when we were 8 years old…complete with Tennis Rackets and an old hamper we used for a drumset. I believe he was there at the root of my musical awakening…lol)
The Crowd was awsome and we had a great time that night…Too bad we had to get back to Austin for an early show. We would to have loved spending some more time w/ the folks that we met down there….Good Times!
We begin recording “Honky Tonk Madness” in May w/ Brian Nelson at Elliot Bay Studios in Capital Hill. We will be bringing in Brian Ellard (Outlaw Carnies), Jimmy Peters (Big Valley Rangers) and Fred Speakman to add fiddle, steel and piano to some tracks. We are recording 13 songs and possibly adding a live track from our show at RoadHouse Rags in Austin.
Our next show is May 15th in Spanaway for all you southsiders. Buck will be joining us with his fiddle! We are also playing a ALS Benefit on May 22nd w/ MadMike at Club Motor….Check our show schedule..We have a bunch in June and August! See you soon. RB