Stillwater, 12/19/18

Hello boys and girls!

Last night was quite an experience, as you will soon see. Me and the ANB played one of our regular rooms, Stillwater in Dana Point. It was a rougher commute than normal for me this afternoon. The holiday traffic was heavy. I should've left work earlier.

It took almost an extra half hour to get to Dana Point. It was dark by the time I arrived. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Arnie had arrived just before I did and we start loading in the back door. That's right, I am my own roadie.

We begin our setup dance on the small stage. Soundman Paul is recovering from another eye surgery but he is really on the ball getting us set up.

The lovely Ms. Amanda Kate will be joining us for the first set tonight, a special one hour set with new material.

Pirate Paul the soundman is making the best of things. He was playing hurt tonight but you'd never know it from his attitude.

Jason does not look happy having to be in the cage tonight. There are residences close so we have to adhere to "noise" restrictions and keep it less than 100db.

Randy gives me the thumb's up while Arnie gets strapped in.

I'm feeling festive this evening. My Carvin LB76 wore some jingle bells tonight.

Amanda kicks off the show. This is the first time she's been in this room and the crowd just ate her up. They really loved our sassy girl.

It was a really great crowd. This was early in the evening and it got really packed later. These good folks love their two-steps.

Johnny Magic Fingers brings down the house with his boogie-woogie number. This crowd likes to swing dance to this tune.

OK, Jason is having fun now.

Here's a dynamic duo for you, Randy and Arnie. The have some nice twin leads worked out.

Did somebody say, "Play some more Merle!"? I think they did!

At the end of the evening Gladys jumped up on stage to wish us a Merry Christmas. She and a bunch of her friends were at Gilley's last week to see us. These are some loyal fans and good friends.

We are just about outta here. That crate has my amp and lyric bag.

On the way home, just as I was getting in the freeway I heard "Blam! Flap, flap, flap!" I pulled off on the side of the freeway to find that my trusty Astro van had stubbed his foot.

Yeeeow! What a catastrophic failure. I did not see what I hit. It might have been a huge pothole or some dangerous debris. It's been a while since I've changed a tire. These tires were only a couple months old, 4000 miles. I put on the spare and went to the tire store this morning.

Poor Bob van Astro. But he's got a brand new shoe now. Then I noticed new damage to the right rear quarter panel. Yikes!

I don't know if someone hit me in the parking lot or if what took out the front tire bounced up and nailed the fender too. Oh well. It's just another battle scar for my trusty old Astro van, the best gear hauler I've ever owned.

Now I'm going over a couple of tunes for the show tonight. I'll be leaving in less than an hour. I've got to get a move on. Thanks for dropping by and taking a look at my little gig. And Merry Christmas! God bless us, every one.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff 

Gilley's Las Vegas, 12/14-15/2018

Hey there cowboys!

I've been here for almost two days now and I haven't shared a single picture. Shame on me. I drove out after work on Thursday night. You know there's not much to see when you drive at night across the desert but here's a shot of the big thermometer at Baker. Las Vegas is a little over an hour from here, if you drive fast.

It's really nuts when I pull into the valet parking at Treasure Island. This is the second (last) weekend of National Finals Rodeo.

The bellman recognized me from my frequent trips here. Frank took good care of my gear after helping me unload my trusty old Astro van.

I'm on the 21st floor this weekend. The view is pretty good from my room looking north on the Strip.

I made myself right at home. This room is pretty much the same as all the others I've had here, all the comforts of home except for a microwave and coffee pot.

Friday at about noon we roll down to the honky tonk to setup and sound check. Gilley's had a wall of posters with all of the bands playing there the last couple of weeks. I know half of the people in this picture are not in the band any more.

We do the regular setup dance. Same stage, same band, same sound crew. We're familiar with the steps.

Arnie and Jason look over the list of tunes we want to rehearse this weekend.

Randy is firing on all strings, ready to push pedals and bend notes.

The beauty and the beast.

We loaded in pretty early this time so we could run some material before soundcheck, a mini-rehearsal. We added a bunch of vintage tunes that fit right in with the traditional country crowd this weekend. Here's Beauty and the Beast and the Bass Player.

After our rehearsal we still had an hour before soundcheck so we hit the employee cafeteria. I was starving because I hadn't eaten for a day and a half. I've been too busy to eat.

I helped myself to a huge salad, chicken, fish, stir fry veggies and beef, chicken courdon blue, black beans, and roasted cauliflower. Arnie said to me, "Wow Cliff! You're eatin' BIG!" Sometimes I'm like a camel and eat only once a day.

Back at the honky tonk Daniel gets Johnny Magic Fingers all hooked up.

Daniel and Bob get our iPad mixers in place. There are tables on the dance floor right now because Gilley's shows the rodeo on the big screen for those who don't have tickets to the actual event.

It was a quick soundcheck. We use IEMs here and the board remembers everything, even our names. I get back to my room to go over a few more tunes and get ready. When I head back down to start the show there is a long line waiting to get in. Wow.

Quite a few of our friends from the Orange County Two-Steppers are here tonight. It was a great crows on a Friday night.

The room was full of real cowboys and real two-steppers.

I guess we're about to kick off the show. Here's my selfie with Amanda.

Here's Amanda with a sassy girl song, her favorite kind.

What did Jason want for Christmas? He wanted out of his cage. He's been a good boy.

Amanda puts on the show. Arnie puts on his guitar face.

DJ Caffeine introduces the band and gives away some prizes.

Here's Johnny Fingers in action.

Amanda really connected with the crowd this evening. It was a fun night.

We had everybody two-stepping all night with very few line dances.

Johnny rips on his boogie woogie piano number, "Mama Screw Your Wig On Tight".

This is a fun shot. Amanda dances and Arnie points at the bass player.

I was festive this evening. I put jingle bells on my headstock.

 Another crowd shot. Fun night!

Something good is happening! Are we having fun yet?

Amanda has sassy girlfriends in the audience.

There was still a line waiting to get in this place. I'm sure it was at capacity all night long.

Even after we were done playing there are still lots of people waiting to get in. These cowboys want to party!

Saturday morning Arnie, Amanda, and I were slated to perform on a podcast for Jesus Calling, a Christian literature and devotional publisher. Their podcast has more than a million listeners. They were in Booth#909 at the Sands Exposition Center.

We Ubered over there early so we could look around. Amanda's husband and their friend joined us.

We pause for a photo op in front of the entrance to the Stetson Country Christmas. There are several of these conventions going on around town.

We found Booth#909 and tried our best to be informative and entertaining. 

I sang my Mom's favorite old gospel song, one that I had sung for both of my parents' funerals, "Precious Lord Take My Hand, Lead Me Home". 

Heather and Kathryn take a picture with the tio after we shoot the podcast. I'll have to see if I can find that online. We talked about ourselves and sang a few songs. Amanda was terrific. Hopefully I sounded smarter than your average bass player, but I doubt it.

After our podcast Arnie and I wandered around the convention center looking at stuff. We found Joe and Martina, they're a duo called Terra Bella, performing right across the isle from where we did our podcast. They were great and let us sit in with them and jam for a couple of tunes. It was a ton of fun.

Okay, believe it or not, we had another good time on Saturday night. There was a line waiting to get in the place all night but the staff there are starting to recognize the bass player so I didn't have to pay a cover charge to get in this time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. After we got back from the Sands Exposition Center, where we did the podcast for Jesus Calling, I realized I was really hungry. It was going on 4pm and I hadn't eaten all day. So I made my way to the employee cafeteria. I have a meal card that lets me eat for free like all the other employees.

Since I usually eat only once a day when I'm in Vegas I helped my self to plenty of protein and vegetables again. Fish, sausages, Salisbury steak, black beans, a big salad, some steamed broccoli, and one stuffed pasta shell. I needed just a few carbs.

Later I got ready for the show and stopped by the convenience store in the casino to pick up my ROCKSTAR. Not only is it an energy boost, it's an ego boost as well.

I got to the honky tonk early. The rodeo was just ending on the big screen. There were lots of folks there just to watch the rodeo.

I met my friend Tony and he bought me a beer before we got started. Thanks my friend! Then we climbed on stage to let DJ Shaddix announce us.

Then we kick off the show! Go Amanda!

When Amanda sings her sassy girl songs she always gets a few sassy girls dancing right in front of us.

Randy does the slippin' and slidin' on the steel. Arnie makes the guitar face. Amanda makes us look good, and sound better.

Jason had a lot to do tonight. Because Johnny wasn't there tonight, he was also playing Johnny's parts (that we had recorded earlier) on that fancy Roland track player thingy that he uses.

Here's a few pictures of half of the band in motion. I'm sure there's no explanation needed.

It was a really fun crowd. We played only three or four line dances all night long. These folks loved their two steps and swing dances. The DJ was playing a line dance on our break in this picture. You can see the folks line dancing on the back of the dance floor and others doing a swing dance on the front of the floor.

Here are three hairy legged boys on a break.

Hey! Look who walked in the place. Our friend Tammi. You remember her from the Swallows Inn gig, right? Tammi wants a picture with Randy and I.

Then we were back on stage and the dancers were back on the floor. Dang, but this was a fun night.

This gig is pretty cushy. We start at 10pm and play a one hour set, take a half hour break, play a forty five minute set, take a half hour break, and play another forty five minute set to finish the night at 1:30. Here's the gang starting to pack up.

I unplugged my bass, put it in the case, and was outta there in about 5 minutes. I love being the bass player. I don't even bring an amp to this gig, just IEMs and a bass. I plug into the house's DI box and I'm ready to go. The sound guys love me because they never have to hassle with the bass thing. I do the one note sound check and I'm good to go.

Anyway, all that's left now is the drive home, which always takes longer than the drive out here. At least I'll get to look at the desert landscape on the way home. Thanks for looking! I'll have a couple of days off then we'll be playing back at Stillwater Spirits and Sounds in Dana Point. See you soon.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff