Tim and Bob Show 2 Mountain Cedar 0!

Well, the nasty South Texas allergies that caused The Tim and Bob Show to cancel two gigs the weekend of February 20-22 mitigated long enough to ensure that Steve and Don could pull themselves together and play some music for the fine folks at WineStyles-Stone Oak (WineStyles-Stone Oak was celebrating their one year anniversary by the way) on the last day of the month. Yes, because a "norther" blew in and dropped the temperature a good 40 degrees, entertainment at WineStyles moved indoors. This means a space reduction, and this means that the girls get a night off.

And what a night it was. Undaunted by the economy or the vagaries of South Texas weather, a good-sized crowd showed up on Saturday night, and we were there to entertain them. Many were veteran Tim and Bob Nationals. Alice, Mike, and Anna showed up, along with Anna's sister Rosa and Anna's friend Andrew. Bethany and Matt were there, fresh from their engagement celebration dinner, along with Hillary, Leigh-Anne, Marcelo, Preslee and Veronica, and new friends Kandie, Kaci, and Tommy. Some non-members of Bethany's posse who became new Tim and Bob friends included Cynthia and Don, Emily and Robert.

Sound like a lot of folks? It was, and even with all of those, we contributed less than half of the clientele on the evening. The joint was jumping almost from the very beginning, and we rocked on until a good half hour beyond closing. At the end of the evening, the owners -- Jerry and Jean -- asked for a special round of applause for the tired and somewhat hoarse musicians.

From the beginning to the end, it was a great night for Steve and me. We really miss the girls, though, and the good news is that we should be able to play outdoors more often now, and that'll allow us to change up the personnel and the sound more often.

We're busily booking up through the month of November. Between restaurant gigs, wineries, parties, and the like, 2009 looks like another busy year for The Tim and Bob Show. Keep checking your email and checking out our website. Before you know it, we'll be playing at a venue very near where you're sitting reading this.

Tell us what YOU think!

Love In a Good Cause!

Saturday, February 14, was -- of course -- Valentine's Day, or as "someone" in the band keeps calling it: Halloween. This year The Tim and Bob Show helped about 25 couples [and a few singles] celebrate the saint most associated with romance by providing the entertainment at a fundraiser at First UU of San Antonio.

The fundraiser was designed to raise money for -- and awareness of the need for -- an electronic door for the First UU Church of San Antonio's sanctuary. This will help the church become even more welcoming to members and visitors with mobility issues. This is a cause that means a lot to us, since both Vicki, the leader of our CD release event co-sponsor Pet Pals of Texas, and Pam, our most enthusiastic fan, will benefit directly from the acquisition and installation of this door. We raised a good bit of money last night, but there's still more that's needed. Hopefully, the good vibrations that came from our concert event will help increase the flow of donations.

Since this was a "specialty concert," it differed somewhat from a usual Tim and Bob Show gig -- if there is such a thing. For one thing, we dressed up. Steve and I even wore white shirts[!], although Steve drew the line at wearing a tie of any kind. The women looked SENSATIONAL -- definitely "woof" material.

It's no surprise that many Tim and Bob nationals attended, since so many know us from the First UU campus. There's really too many to mention here, but we hope they know we value their support always, and most especially for the generosity they showed last night, not only with their donations, but also with their applause.

There were several musical highlights -- Steve and Kathy debuted "Way Back Into Love," from the recent movie Music and Lyrics, and the band did a rare a'capella version of the old Johnny Mercer jazz-era hit "Dream." All of us had a chance to show off our individual talents a little. Mary Lou and I even recited some poetry. But, for all of us, the greatest highlight was having Steve and Kathy's daughter Bethany announce to us that she and her Matt are engaged. Let there be no doubt that there was a group hug after that became news.

Well, our concert gig is over, and it's back to playing at our favorite live music venues in and around the Alamo City. We hope to see you all as we continue to perform the music that we love to play and sing. Check out our upcoming gigs list on our home page. Until then, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Road Trip to Austin!

The Tim and Bob Show ventured up the dangerous straits known as I35N to Austin on Thursday, February 7, to play at the Texas Association of Alternative Educators [TAAE] annual convention at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

We hadn't played in Austin in more than a year, so we were looking forward to the trip. We were especially looking forward to it because if there's anyone who deserves entertainment more than folks who work in alternative education, we don't know who they are. Steve brought along his Epiphone, because we knew we'd have some sort of elevation on our stage, and that we'd have more room than usual, and that we'd have a pretty good chance to rock out. We also took advantage of the space to involve the women more than we usually do. It seemed that about 3/4 of the songs featured Kathy, Mary Lou, or both.

It was a casino night for the educators, and there were lots of good prizes to be had -- including donated copies of our CD, Take It Outside, and Steve's CD, Be. Everyone enjoyed the music, and we kind of expected that. But nobody expected the reaction we got to "Barefootin'." While we had one brave woman dancing with a beer bottle for a partner to "Mustang Sally," there must have been 20 people crowding the floor to this old Robert Parker standard. Where Steve normally takes a minimal lead excursion on this song, he must have taken six or seven choruses of searing lead licks, just to keep the dancers on the floor. When we finally ended the song about 3 minutes later than we normally do, there was a huge round of applause.

All too soon it was time to call the evening to a halt, to pack up, and to drive back home. But we'll remember how much we enjoyed playing for these wonderful folks. I especially enjoyed chatting with a bunch of folks from El Paso, my birthplace.

Thanks to all the great folks at the Crowne Plaza, to the dedicated educators of TAAE, and to our good friend Joe for setting everything up.

It was tough getting up the next morning, but we'd all had a night to remember!

Where to next for us? Check out our NEXT GIGS page. While you're at it, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

Open House and Open Bottles

The last two days of January saw The Tim and Bob Show wrap up a very busy first month of the year. On Friday, January 30, we returned to the campus of Warm Springs Rehab Hospital in the Medical Center. This time, instead of serenading patients, therapists, nurses, and doctors, we were assisting OASIS in their open house. We played from 1 until 3 to about 80 or so people. It was "concert style," and we had everyone's attention and support from the very beginning. Because we weren't going to have the ladies with us on Saturday, Steve and I designed two sets that used every four-part and most three-part songs in our repertoire. The gals hardly left the stage. When they did, it was to sell what turned out to be a total of 11 CDs. Amazing stuff, considering I didn't think we'd sell a single one. Another surprise was that our good friend Nan was among the audience. How cool! It was a great day for us, and I hope it was successful for Ginny and all the folks at OASIS.

On Saturday, we returned to WineStyles at Stone Oak. After being rather cramped the last time we played indoors, Jerry suggested that we scale down the band to just Steve and me. It had been a while since we performed as a twosome, but we did our best. We had a relatively small group of very appreciative listeners, and made some new friends in Bob and the three charming ladies that accompanied him. We also chose this venue to debut two new songs. "Crazy Mo" was written by our friend, local singer/songwriter/real estate man Jerry Bailey. I've had it "in my back pocket" for a while, and put it into the mix. It was well received, as was our newest Tim and Bob Original "Ain't Too Tired," a sweet and slightly naughty song best appreciated by the older crowd. Another highlight for us was the lady who danced to one of our songs ... outside on the patio ... by herself. Love it!

Where to next for us? Check out our NEXT GIGS page. While you're at it, TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!

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