Wednesday, October 28, 2009

October, part 3 -- Wearing Pink at the Quarry; Singin' on the Radio; Crowning New Royalty -- all for free!






October is so chock full of performances, that we're not going to report on each gig individually. Rather, I'm going to put them in several small groups throughout the month.

The second half of our October marathon featured us playing in new locations three times in a row. October 16 was a very rare Friday afternoon gig. Steve and Kathy's friend [and Tim and Bob National] Joe helped us land this one. The band was happy to donate our time and talent to help support The Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer "Drive for the Cure" fundraiser at the Quarry Golf Course club house. We set up outside on their party patio with the course behind us. We were there to entertain those individuals and groups who contributed to a check for over $40,000 that the event raised. Since it was the most beautiful day of the year thus far [except for a somewhat strong breeze], we had a great time. This gig is also noteworthy because we finally got fed up with the "adventures" that our mix of Fender and Mackie monitors provide to us. As soon as this gig was over, Steve went out and bought us some new JBL monitors. We've donated the two Fenders to Brooks Academy of Science and Engineering here in town to help then with their brand new music program. The Tim and Bob Show is always happy to support arts education in the schools.

On Thursday, October 22, the band met at KSYM radio on the San Antonio College campus. With the Texas Music Coalition's (TMC) annual fundraiser approaching, The Tim and Bob Show were going to help TMC's publicity guru, Carol Sowa, publicize the event. We were going to appear on Jim Beal's Third Coast Radio program, be interviewed, and maybe sing a couple of songs, while Carol talked about the event. We were asked because we were -- at the time -- Texas Music Coalition's reigning Artist of the Year. Jim's a friend of the band and, when wearing his hat as music editor for the San Antonio Express-News has given us several mentions and a couple of features. One of those gave us one or our favorite nicknames: "San Antonio's Peter, Paul, and Mary -- AND Mary." We sang four songs and talked about the band and about Texas Music Coalition. We emphasized the benefits of the organization for networking. When we put together our CD -- Take It Outside -- the recording, mastering, pressing, design, and promotion were all handled by TMC members and organizations. We had a great time and, as we left, promised Carol that we'd see her on Saturday.

Saturday, October 24 was the Texas Music Coalition annual fundraiser at Sam's Burger Joint. This is one of SA's legendary music venues, and we were looking forward to playing there and showing off our rocky side. We were one of six musical acts appearing, and we had the double duty of crowning the next TMC "Artist of the Year." Mary Lou and I got there very early to help Carol and Patrice set up the decorations, the silent auction space, and the door prize list. Tim and Bob Nationals Steven O., Betsy, Rod, Larry, and Scott and new friends Christina and her husband, were there to listen to us. We took the stage around 8 for a 10-song set, and really let it all hang out. Steven O and Larry had only heard us at our more subdued locations and were surprised [pleasantly, we hope] at our more raucous songs. I know all four of us enjoyed it. As the set came to an end, we chose Mary Lou to present the award for 2009 TMC Artist of the Year to The Lavens. We love this family group and could not be happier to help recognize them. It was a very close ballot this year, with Katherine Dawn and Laura Marie just getting "pipped at the post." TMC presented them with awards recognizing their making the runoff.

So, three more gigs are history,and the band continues to keep on chooglin'. Next up is our "Pet Pals Weekend," and we can't wait. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements. Oh, and stop over to the main part of our website and TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Monday, October 12, 2009

October, part 2 -- A Chilly Night at Beto's; A Gem of a Gig at The Menger Hotel


October is so chock full of performances, that we're not going to report on each gig individually. Rather, I'm going to put them in several small groups throughout the month..

The Tim and Bob Show's mind-numbingly busy October continued with two more gigs the weekend of October 9 and 10. On Friday, the band -- minus Kathy who was rehearsing for a theater production and had to miss the gig -- returned to Beto's Comida Latina. We've been kind of snake-bit there recently, with scheduling confusion and weather keeping us away recently. It almost looked like weather would intrude again, as we had a huge downpour beginning late Thursday night and persisting most of Friday morning. Luckily, for us and for Beto's, the skies stopped weeping in time for our performance. But, it was CHILLY. Beto's is one of our "tee-shirt gigs," a venue where we purposely dress down -- wearing jeans and one of our Tim and Bob Show tee-shirts. We were wearing them on Friday as well, but all of us had an additional article of clothing on top of it. Usually at our outdoor gigs, Steve and I are constantly retuning due to the heat and humidity, but on Friday as the temperatures and humidity dropped, we had to retune even more often. Finally, perhaps in shock of being outside in weather under 90 degrees, my B-string committed suicide just before the end of the last set!

Our new friend Oscar [who joined Tim and Bob Nation late last month] showed up along with his wife Ann. They live nearby and hope to make all our Beto's gigs. They really enjoyed the music. We also met some new friends Wendy, Jim and Nadine, Dino, Shannon and kids, and Ellie and Conner who had a great time and stayed with us through the end. Steve's new guitar got a good workout, and my favorite portion of the night was when he played "Blackbird." I never thought the song could sound so good on an electric guitar, but Steve's new JR Beck has a variety of "voices," and all of them are pleasing to our ears.

On Saturday, the 10th, the full band reunited to play our first ever gig at San Antonio's historic Menger Hotel. The Texas Jewelers Association was having their annual bash there, and we were asked back by their event coordinator -- and our good friend -- Joe. Although we've gotten a ton of rain in the last few weeks, this event didn't suffer the fate it did last year, when it was cancelled because of Hurricane Ike. We set up in a ballroom complex to provide some music for people while they were eating and drinking and perusing the beautiful merchandise available. With Kathy back we concentrated on our strong-suit -- four-part harmonies. By the end of the evening we had attracted a relatively small, but very enthusiastic and generous, crowd. We got a lot of encouraging comments, and exchanged some friendly banter with the group.

One of the jewelers, also named Steve, turned out to be quite a musician himself. Although we had already packed away our guitars, both Steve and I pulled out our axes to do a little unscheduled jamming. It was a fun end to a fun night.

Well, that's four gigs down, and only five more to go before November rolls around. We're ready. How about you?

Thursday, October 8, 2009

October, part 1 -- Happy Birthday Louie; National Night Out, Adams Hill

October is so chock full of performances, that we're not going to report on each gig individually. Rather, I'm going to put them in several small groups throughout the month..

October began with a significant amount of rainfall, so it was good fortune that our very first gig this month was indoors. On Saturday the 3rd, we played our regular "first Saturday" gig at HEB Central Market's Cafe. We like this gig for a lot of reasons:

1. It is indoors and climate controlled
2. It has no mobility access problems
3. We can be heard by people who are shopping nearby, and many of those stop by to listen.
4. It ends with plenty of Saturday night still to come.
5. It's NOT on a Friday.

Number 5 is most important recently, since enthusiastic Tim and Bob Nationals Louie & Kathie have been having Friday evening conflicts that keep them from dropping in on us. We love it when we can play for them, since they enjoy our music so much, and they always bring lots of friends. As happened the last time we played at Central Market Cafe, their friend Sandra [who is now, of course, OUR friend] showed up for the very first song of the evening. By the time the gig was over, there was a huge table full of Louie's family and friends who all gathered to help him celebrate his birthday. We did our Beatles birthday song for him, and each of us stopped by to shake his hand and congratulate him. What a wonderful family!

Other Tim and Bob Nationals were there, including Linda, Vicki, Mara, and Steven O. We also made new friends in __________, and we had a great time playing for everyone who showed up.* We're not sure when we're playing there next since we're all going to be pretty busy the first Saturday in November, but we'll be sure to let you know when that will be.

On October 6, The Tim and Bob Show played our first ever Tuesday night gig in San Antonio's Adams Hill neighborhood. We set up and played in front of Adams Hill Elementary School in support of the National Night Out program. Now some readers may be confused at this point since most of the nation observes this event in August, but trust me, you DON'T want to sponsor an outdoor bash in early August down this way. Our LOWS were in the mid 80s a couple of months ago. We were invited to the event by Shirley, the VP of the Adams Hill Homeowners Association, who had seen us play many months ago at Oasis. We were enthusiastically greeted by Billie and Ken [who had also heard us play our "unplugged" concert for our recently departed friend, Bruce], who volunteered their services for the event. The main organizer of the was Johanna, who was dressed in prison stripes and was wearing a sheriff's badge!

There were lots of people from the neighboring community there, along with some representatives of San Antonio's fire and police departments. We were also visited by Elmo -- who, surprisingly, is close to 6 feet tall. We played for about an hour to very good response and a lot of positive feedback from the organizers. We hope to be asked back.

Well, with two gigs coming up in a couple of days, part two of October blogs will be coming before you know it. Enjoy what you're reading? Stop by our guestbook and tell us what you think!