May 2022
It’s over, so let’s get back to work!
I love spring here in Central Texas. It goes from a cool 55° in the morning to a balmy 98° by mid afternoon. Ha! Insane. I actually recorded a drop in temperature once this year at 56°. That is crazy. Welcome to Texas. I love it.
Just letting all you people wearing masks know… we love you, we care for you, we wish you well… but please, for the love of God and all things holy, take that d@mn things off. Now! That’s better. I can see your smiling face. Hello there!
This past week I had my drummer pal Jeff Hudis fly in from Portland to play drums with me. He’s great. Played in Portland in the 80s with band The Rockin’ Razorbacks with regional success. Met him when we both lived back east in the hell-scape known as Atlanta. Played tons of gigs there. We blew it out doing six gigs in five days.
Thank you Jeff, what a rockin’ good time.
My album has a title, “Hill Country Waltz”. Tracking is done. Now it is on to the *mixing* phase of the record. Mixing means we take all the separate tracks, equalize the bass-middle-treble, add reverb and delay, and set the levels for each; hopefully in a pleasant and realistic manor. IE: do our best to make the album sound like Ernest Tubb circa 1966. Ha!
I am not a photogenic guy. If I see a camera, there is a 93.78% chance I will mess up the shot; contorted lips, eye lids half closed, one eye brow up like Spok, etc etc. I’ve taken thousands of photos and twelve look ok. Ha! Gotta catch me when I’m not looking, not knowing you are snapping the lens.
Got a new design going for some t-shirts. Took a photo of my truck, Ranch Hand, a 1964 Ford F100 and created a logo for the band name from the tattoo on my forearms. Hope to have these out to the public in next few weeks.
My adopted little brother and monster singer Manny Velazquez just moved to Texas. I did a Rugged Rescue from of all places, the hell-scape known as Atlanta when he called me bemoaning a bad break up situation. “What time do you get off work Friday? 4:30pm. OK. I’ll see you at 4:40pm. I’m not stopping the Rugged Jeep; I’ll slow down, you open the door and jump in. Dukes of Hazard style.” We were in that awful place all of two and a half hours, then we were headed back to the Lone Star state.
Expect to see Manny playing acoustic and singing songs with me & the Rugged Gents in the months and hopefully years to come.
I am competing in the 2022 CapTex Triathlon again at the end of May. It'll be first one in a few years. I'm not ready! Not been swimming or biking enough. BUT, I said I was going to do it and by-God I'm going to give it my best. Wish me luck y'all.
Signing off for now. Not preaching but hopefully lobbying for you, and for me too, to keep our spirits up. Sometimes it’s difficult going to bed at night alone; waking up without someone there to make breakfast for, to take care of. Loneliness is tough. “Why am I doing this?” can cross anybodies mind.
I say to you, walk outside, spread your arms to the sun, allow the heat to wash over your face, smile big and say aloud, “I am SO happy to be alive, living the best place in the world for live music and dancing. Thank you for giving me this gift, this day. I will do my best to make the best of it. To learn. To grow. To help. To heal. I love it here in Texas.”
Live your best life everyday.
Johnny