Sunday, September 28, 2008

More Good Fun at Pillar Bluff!

The last weekend of September was one of those rare occasions in which The Tim and Bob Show were NOT performing in San Antonio. This was not because we weren't wanted. It was because where we were MOST wanted was in Lampasas, Texas, two hours north of San Antonio and right, smack in the middle of Central Texas wine country.

Late Saturday morning, we loaded up our rented mini-van with all our music equipment, snacks, and our cross-word puzzle book for the trip up US281 to Lampasas. It was a great day for a drive. The weather was warm, but not overly humid. The skies were clear, and we never tired of the trees and fields. Although all of us had crossed the Pedernales River over the big bridge at Marble Falls many times before, we still were struck with what a beautiful introduction to a city this vista is.

We were headed a few miles north of that river to play at Pillar Bluff Vineyards, a place we'd discovered on a rare weekend off last fall. This would be our second gig there, and we were looking forward to reconnecting with Gill and Peggy, and seeing some of the fine folks that we'd met in the Spring. This time Gill had turned over the premises to the Girl Scouts of America -- at least the Central Texas branch of them.

This was a fundraiser replete with silent auctions and announcements and testimonials and tributes. Of special interest to us was an organization associated with GSA that consisted of women who were successful in business and professional careers acting as mentors for young girls. And because the fundraiser was at Pillar Bluff, there was the usual great food and amazing wine to go along with it. We enjoyed both.

We also did some performing. It was nice to actually see people dancing out there -- "Crazy" was a particular favorite -- and we saw a lot of seated folks bopping along to our upbeat numbers like "Mustang Sally," "Rocking Pneumonia," and "Locomotion." We debuted three new songs for the event, America's "Daisy Jane" with Steve and Kathy doing the vocals, as well as four-part versions of America's "Don't Cross the River" and The Beatles' "Let it Be." We can't wait to perform these for our San Antonio Tim and Bob Nationals as well.

By eight o'clock we were all finished and breaking down our equipment for the drive home. We left with full tummies from the good food laid on for the occasion, the thanks of the Central Texas Girl Scout leadership, and the warm good wishes of our hosts at Pillar Bluff. Oh, and we also left with some seriously tasty Girl Scout cookies!

What's next? Well, October is going to be the busiest month ever for The Tim and Bob Show. Between October 4 and 31, we'll be performing EIGHT times at seven different venues -- three of them brand new to us. There'll be our usual gig alerts for each of them, but we want to give you a heads up for Saturday, October 18. Our new CD, Take It Outside, will be released that date, and we'll be playing at Casbeers at the Church in the King William District. This will be the first time anyone will be able to buy the CD, and we'll celebrate that by (a) selling each CD at a$2.00 discount and (b) donating a portion of each sale to our friends at Pet Pals of Texas.

So, start mapping out your October calendar of events. Check out our upcoming gigs page for the dates, times, and places of all our October doings.

Tell us what YOU think!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

More Orderup Means More Partying!

I don't know what it is about the Colonnade location of this great venue, but once again it felt less like we were background music for food and drink, and more like we were in the middle of a extremely fun party.

When we started the ages of our audience members were parents in their late 20s with their children as young as six or seven. By the time we finished, our fans -- and by this time they all seemed to be our fans -- ranged from those in their early 20s to those ALMOST as old as me! And everyone seemed to enjoy the music.

Once again, we began the evening with our original song, "South Texas Saturday Night," and finished it with "Bye-bye Love." In between there were lots of good songs, including the debuts of two Beatles songs -- "We Can Work It Out," and a four-part version of "Let It Be" with Kathy singing lead. Both songs turned out great, and the new four-parters led to requests for even more. As it turned out, we sang 8 of these -- including two we hadn't planned on. Seems the folks liked our sound so much they wouldn't let us go without "Monday, Monday" and "California Dreamin'."

How much fun did our audience have? Well, they even applauded our original tune designed to remind people that they should tip their wait staff. Not bad. Two hours flew by, and we celebrated by chatting with some of the customers while noshing down on Orderup's fantastic hand-crafted ice cream. Yum.

Veteran Tim and Bob Nationals Bethany and Matt dropped by as did John-Michael with his friend Katy. Larry, Sam(antha) and Frank were there, and we made new friends in June and Bill, Louie, and Jorge. June told us that she'd had a bad day at work and that our music made her feel much better. I can't think of a better payment for two hours of work than hearing that from a very happy lady.

Tell us what YOU think!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Ike Spares SA; Tim & Bob Rock Beto's

Well, San Antonio appears to have been spared the considerable wrath of Hurricane Ike. While our neighbors to the east are feeling the full brunt, we here in the Alamo City have bright sunshine and a heavier than usual breeze. The hurricane did cost The Tim and Bob Show a convention gig on the Riverwalk on Saturday, the 13th, but our Friday night gig at Beto's was still on. With only half the playing time we had anticipated this weekend, we were determined to give it everything we had.

We changed our usual routine and gave the "girls" more of the spotlight. Instead of our usual two four-parters per set, we scheduled three of them for a total of nine. They seemed to really go over with our crowd. And, speaking of our crowd, we were pleased to see Anna -- briefly in town on a break from her nursing duties in Seattle -- and her sisters Julia and Christina. Julia's friend Cameron also came along. It was great to see the sisters again, and Anna is one of our favorite people in the world.

While it had been a while since we'd seen Anna, the reverse was true for John and Dejah. They had only been enlisted into Tim and Bob Nation a week ago at Rio de Vino, but they came back for more and brought their friends Brian and Jackie. Another returning pair from last weekend -- this time from our Saturday gig at Water Street Oyster Bar -- were Sandy and Steve, who brought their friend Dave along to listen. Finally, Kathy's co-worker Roberta showed up to spend some time with us. All-in-all, our new friends and old significantly swelled the crowd.

Almost before we knew it, it was 10 o'clock, time to break down, get home, and wait in our individual homes for the effects of the hurricane that decided to spend the weekend somewhere else.

Tell us what YOU think!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

New Venue + Old Venue = 7 Hours of Tim and Bob

No, this isn’t the beginning of a math problem, it’s a very brief recap of our first weekend in September. But, since I’m not really into BRIEF recaps … .

On Friday, September 5, we played our first ever gig at Rio de Vino. We’ve been patrons of this establishment since they opened late last year as a small wine shop at the corner of Babcock and Wurzbach. Since then, they’ve expanded their operations to include a restaurant and wine bar, and – thankfully for us – they are one of San Antonio’s most recent live music venues. It was difficult finding an open date for both us and them, but we “had a match” for this first Friday.

We came ready to play for four hours on their covered patio. The humidity had dropped considerably, and there was a nice breeze blowing, so weather was not a negative factor. It’s been a while since that’s been the case for an outdoor gig. Veteran Tim and Bob Nationals Bethany and Matt dropped in, as did John and Mary and their friends, Ben and Cassie. Jerry and Mary Ellen showed up for more than one song this time, and over the course of the evening we recruited new friends Carol, Alex & Doug, Ryan & Angela, and Dejah & John. We’d like to thank Dejah and John for dancing to “Lady In Red” and to Carol and Alex for dancing to everything!

By the end of the evening, we all felt quite at home and thanked those who hung out for most of the four hours. We told Tom and Lori how much fun we had at their place; we’re hoping to find some more mutual openings again real soon. Whether we’re there or not, however, we encourage all of Tim and Bob Nation to try out Rio de Vino. It’s a great place to go for incredible food and an outstanding selection of wine.

The next evening we visited Water Street Oyster Bar on Broadway and Basse. It was the first Saturday of the month, and that seems to have turned into our regular opportunity to set up and play in their cozy night-club like loft. We had plenty of diners throughout the evening, as well as some folks who came upstairs after dining to have a drink or dessert and to listen to the music. Among the folks who came to listen and enjoy were our friend Chris and HIS friend Teresa, Rod, and Jim and Neesie.

As usual, the folks at Water Street made us feel welcome and served up fantastic sea food. We like playing here because it gives us an opportunity to do our more “mellow” stuff, especially Kathy’s show tunes.

Well, one two-gig weekend down, and we’ve got another one this coming weekend. Ah, the price of fame!

Tell us what YOU think!