Epiphone and Guitar Gloves Debut at Fralo's

It was a January gig at Fralo's Art of Pizza. This made it a gamble? Why? Because Fralo's is an outdoor venue and because it's January. Two days later, and we'd have been performing in 35-degree weather, A week earlier, the same would be true.

As it was, there was a small, but very enthusiastic crowd to hear Steve's new Epiphone electric guitar (see the pic above). It marked a change from our traditional acoustic sound, but it gave us some variety. There's still a couple of rough spots to deal with, but we plan to make it a feature at all our outside gigs.

Also debuting were some gloves knitted for Steve and me by our friend Anna (also in the pics). They leave the fingers and thumb free to pick and fret, but keep the rest of the hand and wrist nice and warm. Thanks, Anna; they're wonderful.

Oh yeah, about the crowd. Well, Tim and Bob Nationals Hillary and Matt, Zara, and Larry were there, along with tons of friends and family members on all sides. These members are now our new friends. They include Matt's parents Diane and John, family friends Lynda and Isaac, Zara's (boy?) friend Fernando, and Larry's children Sarah and Scott,

We also made some new friends Cindy and Doug, and Dwayne and Helen. By the time the evening was over, everyone who was listening were part of the ever-growing Tim and Bob Nation.

And, to round the evening off, the temperature at the time we broke our equipment down and drove home was the same as it was as 3 that afternoon. Amazing! But, as Mary Lou likes to say, "That's just the Tim and Bob mojo working."

Where will we be next? Check our "upcoming gigs" page. While you're there, stop by our guestbook and TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Oh and you can buy our CD by clicking HERE

Of Purple Notebooks and New Matts

There's nothing like back-to-back gigs to shake the rust off The Mighty Tim and Bob Machine. We hadn't played a note in earnest since 2 o'clock on the afternoon of January 1, and we were very ready to rock. Kathy had a brand new purple notebook in tow, that I considered to be a good luck omen. Surprisingly, I turned out to be correct.

Our first stop was to our usual "third Friday gig" at Orderup in the Colonnade. There were a lot of folks there as we set up and we were hoping that they'd wait until we got started. As it turned out, the crowd kept getting bigger. The party [and that is most certainly the right name for that crew] to my immediate left had folks added to it about every 15 minutes throughout the evening. At one point I think about 20 people were singing "Hotel California" and only four were wearing Tim and Bob Show tee shirts. Even after we played our last note of the evening, people stayed around to talk about how much fun they had. Can't be bad, huh? We were pleased to see veteran Tim and Bob Nationals Peggy, Arline, Pam, Casey, and Jorge, Louie, Cathie, Olivia, Angelina, and their friends. We also made a LOT of new friends, including Mary Lou's co-workers Gary and Holly, Patty, her husband Ken, and their friend Gary. What a great night!

Saturday evening found us in Alamo Heights at HEB Central Market's new cafe space. It had only been open for live music for a week or so before our eagle-eyed womenfolk read about it in the paper. In no time at all, Kathy made contact with Alicia and set us up with a gig. This space is perfect for us. We're able to set up in a bowl formation in the corner and have full view of the entire cafe. We had fun, and we were NOT alone. Tim and Bob Nationals included Jan, Hillary and Matt [what? we have two Matts now?], as well as Rodney, Chris, and their daughters Elizabeth and Emma [AKA Underdog]. We made many new friends here including Jay and Mike, and Abi. Patric, the store manager, really liked our music, as did the folks at the gourmet meat counter, so we think we'll be asked back. We hope so. There's nothing we like more than having an indoor gig with plenty of seating that is wheelchair accessible.

Finally, there was interest in and purchases of our CD Take It Outside. Luckily, we thought to bring some copies with us. What's next for us? Check out our upcoming gigs section and, while you're surfing our site, click on our guestbook and TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Oh and you can buy our CD by clicking HERE

The Last Year of Cool Glasses Begins!

Yes, those really neat glasses that spell out the new year that we've seen for the last 9 Decembers 31st are going to have to be replaced by some other ghastly gaudiness next New Year's Eve. 2009 is the last year of this millennium where people can use the "double-aughts" as glasses. Sigh! It is so sad when an era is over.

Some traditions will not die, however, and one of them is that The Tim and Bob Show will perform at Patty Lou's Restaurant the first day of each year beginning at 11 o'clock. And so it was that this long-standing engagement continued for the third straight year!

Steve and Kathy had not been back from California for very long before the end of the year was upon us. They brought daughter Hillary back from Oakland where she just completed her studies at the California College of Art. Welcome home Hilly! Steve, who had managed to escape the allergies that made him almost mute last December, had a touch of the evil when he returned, but -- soldier that he is -- the gig never looked in doubt.

Of course, we weren't sure how much enthusiasm we'd have after a joint New Year's Eve celebration that featured Boar Doe [this is NOT a joke], Fume Blanc, soy milk egg nog with brandy, prosciutto, Jarlesburg, goat cheese, brownies, diet Dr. Pepper, and the Marx Brothers. We need not have worried. We had just enough energy to make it to the gig.

How was it? Well, it was lyrical, that's what. We featured a lot of the tunes off our CD Take it Outside [by the way, we still have a few copies left to sell you --> click HERE], and we were most pleased to see the fantastic Karen Emerson come strolling in carrying her music stand and flute. Many Tim and Bob Nationals have raved over "It Ends; It Begins," but hardly anyone has heard the song with the same five musicians featured on the CD. Indeed, this was only the second time we'd performed the song with Karen in front of an audience. By the time we were finished, every eye in the restaurant was on us, including the dishwasher and cook.

All of us were in good voice, but Kathy most especially so. In addition to taking the lead on "It Ends; It Begins," Kathy also blew away the crowd with her version of "The Rose." She also provided a rare Tim and Bob track and field relay moment, when she left the stage in the middle of "Hotel California" to personalize some autographed CDs. She barely made it back in time for the finale.

We made some new friends, including Kim and Stefanie, two young ladies who will be US Army 2LTs when their class graduates from West Point this Spring, as well as Kim's mother Diana. Also Sandy and Joanie, who we know as ushers at Harlequin Dinner Theatre showed up. Tim and Bob Nationals in attendance included Steve's co-worker George and his wife Alice. Casey and Larry were also there for great eats and good sounds, and, of course, the wonderful Karen.

We hadn't played since December 19, so we really needed this gig. Anyone who was there could tell you that we really had a ball. 2008 was a fantastic year for the band, and we're happy to have begun 2009 on such a positive note. We look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Tell us what YOU think!

Oh and you can buy our CD by clicking HERE