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Bet you’re wondering….

Is this guy still doing anything???

The answer is yes, though my blogging here my say different. I split my blogging time with my band the Mystiqueros, and no I haven’t posted much up there recently either. January is generally the slow time for traveling musicians such as myself and I’ve spent the month catching up and planning the year ahead.

So what’s happening next?

Well, in a couple of weeks I’ll be taking off for Memphis and parts east. First, 5 nights of shows with my pal Jimmy Davis in Memphis and then 2 weeks up the east coast with Brian Langlinais. DC area and upstate NY mostly. In the meantime, a few gigs around Texas with the band, and some nice acoustic shows too, as well as purchasing extra long underwear and warm things for my trek north.

I’ll be blogging my way across the country so stay tuned. I’m really looking forward to speanding some time and making some music with Brian. Here’s a little video shot by our budy John Muzyka in Dallas this past fall. It’s a little shakey but it sounds pretty good.

See ya on the road…..

Posted 01 February 2011 † billsmall § Everything § from the road § music ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

This Old House

And the videos keep rolling in. If you follow the Mystiqueros Blog, you know that we toured the east coast a bit in August with shows in DC, Baltimore, NYC, Buffalo and Rochester.

While on the road, we had the great pleasure of working with Music Fog to film some live performances. Below is the first one they released. The post Jessie wrote about me includes the line, “as in The Odyssey, the sirens (of New York) beckoned him at an early age, and like Odysseus he escaped to continue his journey.” I highly recommend you read the whole thing.

I’ll be posting more video from the shoot as we go along so check back again soon!

Posted 08 September 2010 † billsmall § from the road § music § mystiqueros § singing § songwriting ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , ,

11 year old Super-Genius

That’s what Drew Kennedy called her and I agree. The video below was created by 11 year old Lindsey. I don’t know her last an or where she lives but I like her taste in music and her video is inspiring. Why is it inspiring? Because it makes me want to create. People creating inspires me. How can you not be inspired by and 11 year old who creates a music video theater makes you smile?

Lindsey managed to capture this song “We’ve All Got Our Marks To Make”, written by Drew and Walt Wilkins, in such a simple and fun way. I hadn’t heard this song before, and I really like it. I don’t get to see Drew play very much. That’s part of the working musician thing, you don’t gee to see your friends play very often. I got forwarded an email with a link to this video. It took me a few days to sit down and watch it. Worth the wait.

It may not be the next “Thriller” video, but it’s fun, creative, it sets a mood for the song that I really dig, and as far as I’m concerned Drew is right; Lindsey is and 11 year old super-genius.

Posted 16 July 2010 † billsmall § creativity § Everything § music § mystiqueros § songwriting ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , ,

My Girlfriend Just Told Me……

image

….. that I’m turning into a musician. It wasn’t a compliment and she wasn’t referring to my musical abilities. You know the type. The ones that give us all a reputation for showing up late, leaving early, eating all the food, skipping the bar tab, bad with business, etc. etc. etc.

I’m playing a songwriter show at a lovely little coffee shop in Llano, TX tonight with my friends John Greenberg and WC Jameson. I had a nice drive through the Hill Country, got buzzed up on an iced americano and caught up on some phone calls. (using my hands free of course)
I arrived at Fuel, was greeted warmly and while taking a few minutes to myself in the nice clean restroom I realized…… I brought NO cd’s with me!!! I have a brand new CD out. I’ll be playing songs from it all night long. I’ve become my own worst fear…. an adle brained muso! ARGH!
My only consolation is all the crap I’m about to get from John and WC. At least I won’t have to give myself a hard time. They’re likely to do a fine job. Oh well. I guess I’ll have to wow ‘em enough to make going to my website irresitable.
Just a little note from the road.
Onward.

Posted 15 July 2010 † billsmall § Everything § from the road § music ‡ Comments (0) °

Memphis Afternoon

My whole life I’ve heard about Memphis. The rich fertile musical soil there has produced too many of my influences and heros to mention. Over the years, I drove through Memphis a lot on my way back and forth to Nashville and played a couple of shows there in the first 2 years of the Mystiqueros. Actually, the first time I played Memphis I heard Jimmy Davis. He freaked me out. Amazing voice, great songs and even though there were about 6 people in the club he was bringing it up from his toes. His energy was infectious. Fast forward a bit and now Jimmy is pretty much a Mystiquero. He’s joined us on stage for many shows and will be touring with us the whole month of July this year. So, this past weekend as we traveled and worked in Alabama and Tennessee, Jimmy came along for the ride. He also got us another show in is home town of Memphis, TN.

I was really excited to spend some time in Memphis with Jimmy. Get some of the real stuff. So after a stop at Jimmy’s house, which was wild because he’s like a real person and not just a traveling gypsy sleeping outside and playing shows with no shoes on, we headed out into town. WW suggested a stop at Sun Studios. Yes! A must see. But first, BBQ.

JD took us to Central BBQ. We might have hit the Rendezvous, but it was Sunday and they’re closed, and Central BBQ was no slouch. Love the signage in the front window. Now here’s where I usually take a picture of my food, but I was so hungry and my plate of slow roasted pork with slaw and green beens went so fast that I couldn’t get the camera out in time. You’ll just have to picture it for yourself. Nothing fancy here. A paper lined plastic basket full of pulled and chopped pork that was cooked seemingly forever and topped with a vinegar based spicy ass BBQ sauce. A cup of cole slaw and another of green beans side by side. Fantastic!

Ok, now I’m really full and can’t get enough iced tea in   me as we make our way through the fairly oppressive heat and swampiness to Sun Studios. We took the tour and were treated to a fun time by our tour guide Cora. It was just cool to stand in that space. The cutting room itself hasn’t been changed in 60 years. To think that I was standing in the room where Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters both began their careers. Not to mention Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee and oh yeah….. Elvis. Too freaking cool! After t-shirts and chachkies were purchased we headed to our next stop.

Off to see a band that Jimmy knows and sings with sometimes, The Hookers. I can’t remember the name of the bar right now, but it was, well…. a bar. Dark and cool on a sweltering afternoon. The one thing that really stood out, besides the musicianship of the band which was terrific, was the guy cooking on stage. Yes, “Chef” was cooking up some venison quesadillas for the crown right there in front of the bass rig! Only in Memphis. I was too full to sample the fine cuisine. Maybe next time. The Hookers were solid and Jimmy sat in on a mind blowing version of “Helter Skelter” and off we went to our show.

Murphy’s Bar. I can’t say I walked in to the place and thought, “Wow what a great place to play a show”. It’s a bar, plain and simple. A dive really, but I like dive bars in general and I liked the feel of this one. Jimmy’s old band, The River Bluff Clan, played many a Sunday here and he assured us that people would show and a good time had. He was right. G had flown home for his first Father’s Day so we did a WW, JD, BS song swap with Ray on the drums and Eric Lewis on Steel. Jimmy brought Eric in and WOW, great player. He really made the night. So indeed a good time was had. From WW’s first song to our closing rave up rendition of JD’s “Sanctuary”, the crowd was hoopin, hollering, clapping and happy. I don’t know how they did it since I was having trouble just breathing the heavy air, as was WW, but I guess they’re used to it. It was a blast. As I sat behind the wheel of the van and headed us towards Little rock and then home, I felt like I finally got some real Memphis on me and I’m ready for more.

Posted 25 June 2010 † billsmall § food § from the road § music § mystiqueros § singing ‡ Comments (1) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

The Passion Test

The other day I was spending a little time on Facebook. I saw a link that my friend Bob Doyle posted to something called The Passion Test. Bob and I are often talking about living life from your passions and have both spent time coaching other people to do so. I generally feel like I live my passions everyday. I love the work I do, etc. So I thought I’d take the passion test profile and see what came of it. It’s free and it only took me a few minutes. I noticed while I was answering the 7 questions that my answers weren’t necessarily the “10 out of 10″ responses that I thought I would have. Once I was done, a page came up that gave me a response to each of my answers. What I saw in these responses is that while I am on the path and engaged in things I’m passionate about, I don’t always play full out. I hold back. I’ve seen this before in other work that I’ve done and while it made me groan a bit, I also found myself inspired to re-commit. To really play full out. And seeing again that I do have a tendency to hold back, I can now be more aware of that so that I don’t get stuck in it. It was really useful and easy. Chris and Janet Attwood really have something powerful here with the Passion Test and I thinks it’s worth checking out.

PT Profile banner 550x175

Posted 08 June 2010 † billsmall § creativity § law of attraction ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Love and Hard drives

I love technology. I’m a closet computer geek. I love the tools man. However, there are some drawbacks. Beyond the “falling down the rabbit hole” trouble with surfing the web and losing hours of your life, there is also the danger of losing your life’s work. No, this isn’t going to be a tirade about backing up your hard drive, though you might want to think about that if you’re not already doing it. It’s just that last August, the hard drive in my macbook decided, and I do think it decided, to stop being available. Oh it was still spinning, but you can’t access it. No how, no way. Don’t worry, I’ve consulted the experts and at least for right now it’s a no go. The crazy part is that it’s been almost a year and I’m still finding out exactly what I lost.

I’ve been working to kickstart my songwriting engine lately. Which is no mean feat for me. When I go for awhile without writing, and I do, it get’s difficult to engage in the process again. My mind goes blank. Everything I’ve learned about it the craft goes out the window. But, one thing I’ve always done, even back in the days before my macbook,  (remember paper?) was to go back through my various fits and song starts to look for inspiration or something to work on. It can be a great way to get me writing, even if all I do is go through a bunch of stuff that seems like crap to me.

Over the past few years, I’ve been in the habit of recording little snigglets of songs. Musical ideas, lyrical starts, etc. The mac has this wonderful thing called Garage Band and it’s so easy to just launch the software and throw down an idea. Can you see what’s coming here? I lost 3 or 4 years worth of songs and song ideas on that freaking hard drive!!! Mostly I’ve been very zen about the whole thing. It’s good to clean out and not hold on to stuff, but damn it! There was some good stuff in there!!! Or maybe it was all crap. I don’t know. But I want the option to check it out and decide. As my New England friends would say, “It’s a pisser”.

Every now and then I run across some vestige of my lost files. I found this video on the Boundless Living Challenge website this week. I forgot it was there. It’s just a verse and a chorus of a song I started writing at my friend and Boundless Living creator Bob Doyle’s house in Atlanta in 2008. I may finish it. I may not. Mostly it just reminded me of all the other recordings and videos I lost. So the least I can do is share it with you. It feels a bit like I’m hanging my ass out in the breeze ‘cause I don’t like to put unfinished work out in the world, but what the heck.

Is there a point to this? A moral to the story? That’s for you to decide. (back up your drive) I’m just venting my frustration. (back up your drive)Thanks for listening. (back up your drive) I’m not here to preach. (back up your drive) I’m just sharing my personal experience. (back up your drive)
Enjoy the video…….

and p.s. Back Up Your Drive


Find more videos like this on The Boundless Living Challenge

Posted 29 May 2010 † billsmall § creativity § Everything § music § singing § songwriting ‡ Comments (1) °

Farewell Nick Travis

Fresh faced and really not knowing a damn thing, and I didn’t know that either, I was roaming the streets of Austin. Well, mostly just one street. 6th street. I’d come to Texas with my 3 piece blues trio to make our way in what was then still a deep blues scene. On 6th street alone there were half a dozen joints that dug the blues and there was no shortage of talent to fill those stages. One night before we started gigging all the time, me and my Jersey boy compadres wandered into the back bar of a club called Wylie’s. That’s the first time I saw the Solid Senders and the first time I saw Nick Travis play. The show was crazy good. At one point there was a guitar player on the pool table, another on the rail by the window and Spencer Thomas standing and singing on a table in the middle of the crowd. Rockin. The place was packed and rightfully so, those boys could play. I was blown away. The bar had just been set for what I had to do over the next 3 years in Austin.

I ran into Nick a lot in those days. We didn’t play together regularly, but he was a bit of a blues scene advisor for me. He’d moved from the east coast as well and we shared some kinship in our love of music, Austin and yankee roots. He introduced me to a lot of folks and occasionally let me know when my Jersey boy attitude got to be a little much for my new Texas neighbors. Over the years we lost touch as people do. Especially musicians who are moving around a lot. I left Austin for awhile, came back and don’t spend a lot of time with the blues anymore. That once vibrant scene is gone too. Sixth Street is for shot bars and dance clubs, not blues joints and dives.

I think I ran into Nick once last year at the Saxon Pub but neither one of us remembered that very well the last time we spoke, which was at the opening day festival at the Backyard. There were quite a few faces from the old days at that show and I should have known that Nick would be among them. I interrupted him eating some backstage grub and we caught up for a bit. We reminisced about the old days a little, but mostly talked about what projects we were working on now and the trials of aging musicians. I was very hesitant to tell him that I play bass now, but he was as generous and encouraging with me as ever and we joked about it some too. After seeing him lay down the groove with John Garr that day I was reminded of what a fantastic player he was. Exactly what you need a bass player to be. I left that day, as I imagine he did, figuring that we’d run into each other again soon.

Idly passing time on the computer yesterday, looking at other people’s Facebook posts, I found out that Nick passed away on Monday, May 24th. I don’t have all the details yet and it doesn’t matter really. He’s gone. As long as I have a memory there will still be a Nick Travis for me. He left a lasting impression on my life. I’m grateful to have seen Nick and heard him play again so recently and I’m reminded of the importance of friends. Of staying in touch, keeping them close. Old friends and new. It’s something I’ve not always been good at. Maybe I’ll be better about that, maybe not, but no regrets. Not when it comes to Nick. I know he’s laying down the groove somewhere.
Miss ya brother…….

Posted 28 May 2010 † billsmall § Everything § music ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , ,

The Next Time

Like the song says, “Mostly I want to know that there’s gonna be a next time”.  Last Tuesday, I woke up anxious. There were questions, and not particularly useful questions, running through my brain. I was sleepy. I was jumpy. Agitated. I guess it makes some sense. Later that evening I was scheduled to play my first official CD release show in support of “The Next Time”. My first solo record in almost 10 years. It’s also the first time I’ve played my songs with a band other than the Mystiqueros in years. Of course when it comes to the band, I stacked the deck in my favor. Chris Gage, my friend, producer and musical wunderkind on guitar. Glenn, (I’ve played on everyone’s record including yours and toured with all kinds of amazing folks), Fukunaga on the bass. And, my Mystiquero brother other half of R-n-B drummer Ray Rodriguez. Of course having Glenn and Chris there was a source for more nervousness. Would I lead the band well? Would I remember the songs? Would I have any money to pay them?

As show time approached I began to let go a bit. I’d been in the studio that day playing bass on a project that WW was producing and everything was lined up as far as I could see. But would anyone come? I knew a couple folks would be there, (like my girlfriend) but would it be full? I didn’t expect it to be as full as the MQ release show, though that would be cool, but would the club have a good night? Luckily, the show was booked at The Mean Eyed Cat and after a year or so of monthly Monday nights with Sam Baker back in 2007, I felt very comfortable there. I knew I had MQ sound sensei Mike Horn running the show and making sure everything was handled. But, I was still nervous enough to slam a couple of ice cold beers in the first 20 minutes of set up. ( so good)

Show time arrived as it always does and there was nothing for it but to stand up and sing. I managed to call the first tune in the wrong key and after a re-start we began to play the new record. I decided to just play the record in order start to finish. Some of the songs have been around for awhile and some are newer. Some I’ve played many times and others not so much, so I wanted to see what the flow would be like if I just stuck to the sequence of the record. Frankly, I just couldn’t bring myself to come up with another plan at that point. Even though I broke a string in the second measure of the title track, (we re-started that one too!) I was surprised by how much I enjoyed playing those songs. It was really fun. And what a band. Those guys were stellar!!

The crowd dug it. And yes there was a crowd. Even the folks who just came to the Cat for a drink, having no idea who I was, stayed and listened. The audience actually moved in closer as  the show went on. It was nerve wracking and exhilarating at the same time to have everyone paying close attention, but that’s what we do this for isn’t it? That nervous exhilaration. That rush of energy passing between you and the audience. That’s what live music is all about.

So where does all this lead me? I want to play with that band again! I can see that show as  a step in re-awakening a part of myself that’s been resting for a bit. As I performed that night I was once again, “Bill Small”. Not just El Guapo, bass player of the Mystiqueros, but also the old singer songwriter, the guitar slinger, the artist that I have been, as well as the artist that I am becoming. I felt it all bubbling up that night.

So next time I may be nervous again. Next time I may have a different band, a different crowd. Next time I may reach some transcendental state of live performance bliss or fall flat on my face. But there will indeed be a next time.

p.s. This is kind of what the show looked like to me:

Posted 17 May 2010 † billsmall § creativity § Everything § music § singing ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , , ,

10 years after…… almost

In September of 2000, I released the first ever Bill Small record, “Singin“. I’d been involved in a couple of records and a cassette tape (showing my age) with bands before that, and I think “Singin” was the end product of the 90′s for me. All the musical roads I’d been down in my first decade in Austin ended with that recording. Now, just 4 months or so shy of 10 years after, “the next time” has arrived. This may well be the record that sums up the first decade of the new millennium for me. The roads I’ve traveled thus far. Seems like I might want to shorten my creation time or it’ll be 2020 before I manage another record! It’s been a bit surreal as the responses to the new cd have started to trickle in. Seems like people dig it. Actually, I dig it. Produced by my friend Chris Gage at his Moonhouse Studio, I got to show up and just be the “artist” to a large degree and so I still hear things in these songs that surprise me. So, record season is in full swing. The Mystiqueros “Agave” and now “the next time”. Get ‘em both. And as WW says’ “If you don’t like it we’ll refund your money and mow your yard.”

p.s. To get your copy of “the next time” just click the picture above.

Posted 10 May 2010 † billsmall § creativity § music § mystiqueros § singing ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,