At times this year I've been lax on my blogging and overall web presence, so I feel it's only fitting for me to give a little end-of-year wrap up with some of the highlights of my career in the last twelve months. Here they are, in chronological order:
Touring with Kristy Kruger (Jan - Mar)
After returning from my family's '07 Christmas gathering, I had already planted the seeds of what would eventually become the Texodus tour. So when I heard that
Kristy Kruger, one of Dallas' best songwriters, needed a guitarist for her upcoming winter tour, I at first had trepidation about coming along, thinking it might impede my moving plans. But after hearing about it a second time, I decided to explore the opportunity. After one phone conversation, I decided to say yes to the adventure. A few days later I found myself running songs with Kristy first, then both Kristy and Richard Hewett, our drummer. A few more days later and we were on the road. The tour carried us from Dallas to D.C., and the three of us continue to work together today.
Alphabet Soup (May, June)
Once I got back to Dallas I knew I wanted to continue my Alphabet Soup series at
White Rock Coffee (For more on this, click on the Alphabet Soup category on the right hand side of the screen).
It took me almost a year, but I think after a lot of tweaking I finally found a format for this show that I really liked. For the last two Soup shows in Dallas I invited several of my musician friends from DFW to join me, and the result was two great nights of talented songwriters flexing their creative muscles (
Ryan Thomas Becker pictured above). Both nights had a strong sense of community, almost enough to make me well up with tears. I was so proud of our artists. Looking back, these nights were some of the best I spent in my time in Dallas.
Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (Aug 15)
One of my songwriting heroes (along with surely thousands of others) is the late Townes Van Zandt. It's no exaggeration to say that he changed my songwriting life. So you can imagine my excitement and awe when this August I got the chance to perform on the stage of
The Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe in Galveston, TX. Townes recorded a live album at this venue, and was close friends with the owner, Wrecks Bell (above). Wrecks is a charming and witty man, and while he chatted with Kristy and me, he informed us that he not only was Townes' close friend, but his bass player for many years. In fact, Townes wrote a song for him called "Rex's Blues," which is one of my personal favorites.
The night was all I could've asked for. It was a song-swap with Kristy and me, and we played to a sold-out crowd, thanks to
The Band of Heathens, who were headlining the show. Everyone seemed to have a great time, including us.
This night was also special because it would end up being one of the last OQAC shows before Hurricane Ike decimated Galveston. Thankfully, the Cafe is up and running once again. It's good to know that venues like this still exist, and that there is enough community support to keep them going.
Texodus (Aug 30 - Sept 20)
After 5 months of hard work and planning, I played my last show as a Dallas resident to a capacity crowd at
Opening Bell Coffee. The show was easily my most well-attended to date, thanks to a stellar lineup of artists that played from 5pm all the way to midnight.
The next morning I packed my remaining belongings in my car and set out on my Texodus, a 3-week long journey that landed me in the small town of Hartsville, South Carolina. I played shows nearly every night in that 3-week span.
Since September 20 I've only spent a little over three weeks in Hartsville, but so far, so good.
I've already written plenty about the farewell show and the tour at length. For more than you ever wanted to know, click on the category name "Texodus" on the right side of the screen.
Touring with Brian Vander Ark (Fall/Winter)
While on the aforementioned tour with Kristy and Richard, we played an opening slot at
Iota Club & Cafe in Arlington, VA. We opened for a guy named
Brian Vander Ark, whom most of you, whether you know it or not, are probably familiar with because of his band The Verve Pipe and their #1 hit single "The Freshmen" from the mid-90's.
We all exchanged CDs at the end of the night, and Brian called us the next day, saying that he really enjoyed our music, and would like to work with us again. Several months passed, and Brian contacted us again, this time with a proposal: would we like to be his backing band for a handful of shows? We thought about it for about three seconds and told him YES!
This was a lot of fun for me, because not only did I get to rock out on some louder electric guitar work, but I got to play one of my songs at each BVA show, with Brian on lead guitar!
Kristy, Richard, and I have a few shows with Brian in January, then the future is unclear. Whatever happens next, the experience of playing with him has been great fun, and given us a chance to play in some cool theaters and in front of very appreciative crowds.
NYC debut, Reunion with Jeff Rogers (Oct)
On our first run of BVA shows we went through New York City. If you've been following along on my musical adventures for a while, you may be familiar with
Jeff Rogers, my longtime friend and musical collaborator. Jeff played drums on all four of my recordings and designed three of my record covers, several posters, and countless other items, not to mention this website. In late December '07 he and his wife Allison moved to NYC to pursue their artistic dreams. Allison is an incredibly talented actress, singer, and dancer, so it's the perfect town for both of them.
While I've been so happy and inspired as I watch them pursue new levels in their artistic careers, I also deeply miss both Jeff's musical connection and his day-to-day friendship.
So you can better believe that when we booked a show at
Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn I lobbied heavily for Jeff to sit in. It didn't take much arm-twisting, and even though he was only able to play on four songs that night, we had an incredible time. There was a great energy in the room, and it showed me once again that I've got to figure out how I can play more shows with this dude.
2nd Run of No Worse For The Wear (Dec)
Towards the end of my Nov/Dec tour I ran into a problem that every musician wants to have: I was running out of CDs! Up till now I've ordered 1,000 copies of every record I've sent to a manufacturer, but I've never had to re-order any. I was very excited looking at the 30 or so copies of No Worse For The Wear that I had left, knowing that close to 1,000 people have liked my music enough to buy it. It's a great feeling, so thank you so much for your support!
Opening for Monte Montgomery (Dec 16)
I grew up in Austin, TX, so I have had the good fortune of knowing about
Monte Montgomery's guitar prowess for a while now. While booking some December dates, I noticed he was playing in Birmingham, AL, on the same night I was looking for a show in that town. So I decided to ask his management folks if I could open the show. Much to my surprise, they said yes!
The thing about a lot of guitar virtuosos is that if you see them once, you don't really need to see them again. They get to a plateau and just stay there. It doesn't mean they're not amazing musicians, but it takes someone really special to keep improving, keep evolving. Monte Montgomery is one of the latter types of virtuosos. I had seen him several times when I was younger, and I was amazed to see that he had actually improved.
Even though our styles are completely different, and we may not have much overlap in audience, I feel very fortunate to have shared a stage with this guy, as I believe he may be one of the greatest guitarists this or any generation has ever seen.
*****
A lot more stuff happened in between these events, but I'm gonna stop here. Thank you so much for helping me have such a successful year. I'm busy coming up with goals for 2009. I plan to bring you guys more music and more recaps of my adventures through this site. I've got shows booked into May already, so please keep an eye out for me coming to your neck of the woods.
I hope you have a safe and happy New Year. God bless you, and I'll see you in 2009.
And as always, thanks for supporting independent music.
Dylan