SXSW PART II

Welcome back folks.

I think SXSW finally got to us ladies and gents, on Sunday we were somewhere in Oklahoma and we decided to drive all the way to Minnesota without stopping. So that left us arrivin in the great state of Minnesota just as the sun started to rise. Which led to blending of sunday and monday turning into one long day with weird naps in between. 

So..a little more rested here is my attempt to recap our second day of shows at SXSW 2014...

But first.....

FRIDAYD NIGHT continued....We last left off at our show at the Liberty Bar.  Hungry and needing a little break from the festival we landed at Maria's Taco X-Press!

Now this place was truly awesome, there was some folks playin some rockabilly music on the stage and people on  outside takin it in as well as some tasty lookin food. So we went inside. This place was so funky looking. It reminded me of my old van. "that will be a later blog entry"

Maria herself came to say hello, her and her staff we fans and honestly they treated us like family. It was such a wonderful meal, great company and very rejuvenating. While we dined Maria had told us an inspiring story which I will share to you. She started her restraunt in a food truck and not knowing how to cook. And she just kept going, being herself and her dreams got bigger and bigger and carried over and into this world. And now 17 years later she has this oasis of  Creativity and Passion. Heart and Soul. Great food and honestly a place away from home that felt like home. Another example of the power of not giving up.  Thank you Thank you Miss Maria and everyone at Taco X-Press. Hey Now and Holy Buckets!

Invigorated we decided to go back into the Festival, we found a super awesome LIGHT park.
In the middle of all of the buildings and bars and closed off streets there was this park with tall trees, so it was dark. But in the darkness there was light. Cool creative, interactive light. One of them was a piano. Hope you do enjoy..

We marched onward, we turned a street and the some of the sounds of my middle school flooded the streets it was SOUNDGARDEN. I think they were rockin on a rooftop somewhere. We were walking on this street and they had their concert being projected on this building and they had small pa set up so you could hear it. We had to stop for a listen.

The hours were getting late and we still had an hour drive back to where we were sleepin for the night, but we had to check out DOSH
It's always fun to see Minnesota Musicians on the road. You breath home for a minute. Dosh was joined by the freakin awesome JT BATES on the skins. I love that dude's drumin.
Super creative rhythmic melodies sound collage  percussion drives the heart.

We didn't get back to the spot til pretty late, and I was vibrating from all the Music and Expression I couldn't fall asleep. So SATURDAY mornin came quick. 

We had two shows to play so we got our ties on and I'll tell you what. The warm weather and dressin up in vests and ties and suit coats and hats makes for a hot day,  to say the least. But if it's special then why don't we dress with style? 

Our first stop was at the Hyatt and it was off the path of the Festival so to speak, but still very fun! The The ceiling was super high so the acoustics sounded so cool, almost cathedral like.

Thank you thank you to All who came out to our "lounge" set. Super intimate and fun. Thanks.

The sun was goin down over Austin which, meant it was the moons turn and night time hit the city. It took us a while getting through traffic and the crowds, but we made it to the Holy Mountain, where our second gig was. After we unloaded, we had to go find a spot to park, we found one only a couple blocks away and FREE taboot! 

We made our way back to check out the NEW FRONTIER TOURING SXSW SHOWCASE!

We were able to catch some of Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds and Rosco Bandana both bands rocked and were fun to see. We've played with Sister Sparrow before so it was awesome to see them again, and it was cool to catch Rosco Bandana. I AM so blessed and so very thankful  to be a part of such a talented group at NEW FRONTIER. And I AM equally blessed and thankful to be in the company of such talented and amazingly creative and cool and great people as the musicians that are in the bands that fill their roster. THANK YOU THANK YOU.

After sweating and some sweating it was our turn to go up and do what we do. And yes folks we gave them our hearts while we threw our songs to the heavens .

40 minutes seemed like 2. And before I knew it we were done. It was  like we were in this soul funk music sauna so  maybe that's where my gauge for time went. After we got our thangs off the stage our whole band made a B-Line to go check out the BACKYARD stage, which would soon feature Cody ChesnuTT!

Raw and Emotional super powerful. Please check him out if you haven't already.

Thank you Thank you NEW FRONTIER for havin us be part of a special evening of Music and Spirit.

Thank everyone at SXSW volunteers, vendors, everyone. Thank you to all the fans who came to SXSW to support live music.

And Thank you to each and everyone of you for your continued LOVE and SUPPORT I can FEEL it.

PEACE to your HEARTS. PEACE to your MINDS. and PEACE to your SPIRIT

until next time..

SXSW 2014 Part 1

Hello again folks and friends
welcome to another edition of a beard's eye view.
This will be part one of a two part recap of our adventures at SXSW 2014.

PART 1...but first a cool story of something that happened from a turning a concert last month into a coat drive.

February was time to get a lot of work done as well as an opportunity to serve my community a variety of different blessings.  Just a quick side note, I'm not sure how many of ya'll remember the last blog and the story of all the coats that we're donated to those in need. After dropping the coats off at the Salvation Army, I received a call from miss Julie at Salvation Army saying "thank you for your help and your heart", and I said "THANK YOU for all that YOU do." I then said "imagine what we could do with more planning and foresight.
She told me how March is MN Foodshare Month and that they're trying to bring awareness that people are going hungry within our own communities. The Salvation Army feeds breakfast to our human family monday through friday every week. Miss Julie said that CKC Catering was going to come and serve the people. She then said they were going to put linens on the tables and asked if I would come in and play for the people. So I did.
I felt it was a wonderful opportunity to give and serve.
It was so cool to watch as the people came in. Their reaction to the music, the linens, the buffet style line for the food, juices, and even  syrup. Things we take for granted every day. I overheard some guy say, "I haven't had a breakfast like this in years"
I feel one of the mantras for 2014 is
MUSIC AS A VEHICLE FOR CHANGE
 Here's a cool link from Salvation Army North, that goes into better detail on what happened that morning in St. Paul.

SXSW 2014

It was only about a month ago the last time we were in Texas, so the drive was familiar.
We took our time getting down there and arrived in Austin on Thursday night.
We went to get our wristbands/badges so we didn't have to mess with check in on the day we played.
Then we hit the streets of Austin....

The streets were filled with everything. So many people, lights, smells, expressions. Heavy metal music dancing with folk music. Drum circles. The energy was big and after the long haul we went back to rest for our show the next day.


We played the CAUSE ROCK DAY PARTY at the LIBERTY along side a slew of MN musicians,
to name a few Actual Wolf, Enemy Planes, Saints of Valory, Communist Daughter.
As well as a panel from MN non-profit ROCK THE CAUSE 

The panel included Laura Sobiech, who is Zach Sobiech's mom. Zach has an amazing story. He was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer at the age of 14. Then in 2012 he was told he only had a year to live, so he started writing songs to have his family remember him. One of those songs was CLOUDS.
The song has spoken to the people and with the help of Rock the Cause, Children's Cancer Research, Zach's family and story and all of the people that donated their time and gifts. They have collectively raised $750,000.00 for cancer research to be distributed to the U of M. HEY NOW and HOLY BUCKETS!
So proud to call these people our peers, and even more blessed to call them our friends.
As the story goes it was then our time to take the stage and as we do. So Dylan Nau, Maxaphone, Kevin Gastonguay and I hit the stage. We threw our songs to the heavens and hearts to the people.

Thank you Thank you Thank you...Thank you to all who came out, and a continued thank you for your continued support. Also a big thank you to SCOTT HEROLD and the rest of the folks at ROCK THE CAUSE. Thank your heart, your drive and your passion.

We have two shows TODAY SATURDAY MARCH 15th 2014!

6:00pm at the HYATT REGENCY and 11pm at the HOLY MOUNTAIN!

Peace and Many Thanks

Welcome Back

Why welcome back folks. I do believe it's been some time. Since we met up last we were catching up on the East Coast Tour > Goin South to Texas. Which basically equaled the month of january. So February was a month to be HOME.

What looked like to be a month of rest and catching up was anything but...
There was a week in February where I couldn't say No. Which meant the week before that was filled with a bunch of press and promotion which I truly love.
We'll start our story in the beginning of the week itself, which actually starts on a saturday.

Saturday I was asked to MC a Music Recital at the Mall of America by a women who told me she was a friend of my old piano teacher. It was  for MMTA "Minnesota Music Teachers Association" www.mnmusicteachers.com/musiclink in conjunction with the Music Link Foundation. www.musiclinkfoundation.org. It was a lot of fun to see the little ones play piano and some of them even sang. It reminded me of when I was younger. It was fun to watch the people walking by at the mall. Fun to watch as they got closer the the music almost every single person's faced SMILED.
Music has such an effect on us as people. So cool to continually witness.

Sunday Night I got to meet back up with my friends from the SMILE NETWORK www.smilenetwork.org and Jason Davis from "on the road with Jason Davis"
It was an evening of music and giving and sharing. The night started with Elizabeth Kupchella, singing and looping her voice while her acoustic guitar played underneath. www.reverbnation.com/eliabethkupchellamusic
Then I went up and sang and told some stories. Which was followed by them airing Jason Davis' On the Road. The special which told the story of our trip down to Mexico with the SMILE NETWORK.
All the proceeds of the evening were donated to SMILE for future surgeries. Thanks to all who came out!
Here's the link to Jason's episode " SMILES FROM MINNESOTA"
www.kstp.com/article/stories/S3319429.shtml

Monday was a benefit for the Southdale YMCA.  My friend Paul Peterson gave a call and said you wanna play a fundraiser at the Dakota? He then told me who the band was going to be.....
Paul Peterson on vocals and bass, Patty Peterson on vocals, Eric Leeds on sax, Cory Wong on guitar, Jay Corkran on drums, Kevin Gastonguay on keys. He then says Larry Braggs the lead singer from Tower of Power will be there as well. I said Yes and yes and yes...

It was a very fruitful evening, thanks to all who came out and thanks to All for being so generous.

Tuesday was one of the only days we could squeeze in at the studio. So D Nau and I got to work..
Very excited to share with you ALL the completed version of MAKE HOPE...HEY NOW!

Wednesday was back on the train, we met up with our friends from TCL at the Happy Gnome in St.Paul. A little behind the music for ya'll the Happy Gnome is where we used to play every Wednesday Night before the VOICE.

So Emily and I went live at 3:24 to announce Nicholas David and the Feelin Band will be playin a free show at the Happy Gnome that night. We only asked if folks would bring a food donation or a coat for the salvation army. I know it's been cold all around. But it's been extra cold in Minnesota. So the folks that don't have homes or shelter have been extra cold.

Before we knew it, it was show time. Super fun to be back. The hours flew by and we threw down some grooves. What a blast!

special thanks to kristi flad for the pic. Before we knew it the show was done. I went and said hello to the folks, started to pack up and then went over to the merch table and this is what I saw...

I remember thinking why did we bring so many boxes of t-shirts for tonight's show? My mom then tells me all those boxes are filled with coats the good people of Minnesota brought a bunch of coats! 5 Boxes plus a couple extra coats a bag of food and $ 10 cash. All that GOOD in a span of roughly 7 hours! Thank you thank you folks for practicing what you preach, it is truly inspiring. So happily and very excited I took the goods to the salvation army and they very happily accepted the donation and very happily posed for a picture..

There was a couple days worth of using music as a vehicle to make change in our own community.

Thank you to all you  helped, who contributed, who shared their time, who shared their gifts.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. 

We'll see you on the road.

Peace and Many Many Thanks

FROM CONROE BACK TO SNOW

Home, to some it's EVERYWHERE, to some it's the soles of their FEET. To some it's WHEREVER they can lay their HEAD. And to the Folks in the Nick David Tribe, we  call MINNESOTA HOME. We look past the double digit negative numbers because our Hearts warm with  a FIRE here. HERE,  WE ARE HOME. This is where our ROOTS are planted. This is where a lot of our TRIBE'S STORIES MEET.

We have been blest since late SEPTEMBER to be able to  start to make a good portion of this country our HOME. Thanks again to EVERYONE who's come OUT to SEE US. It has been AMAZINGLY WONDERFUL and A TRUE PRIVILEGE to SING and PLAY for YA'LL. It has been SUPER COOL to MEET YOU in PERSON as well. 

Most of the time when we meet, I'm always thinking "YOU'RE THE PEOPLE THAT WATCHED ME ON TV" Seriously it's an honor to meet EACH and EVERYONE of YOU.

Truly folks in ALL SINCERITY, PEACE and MANY THANKS for not only your SUPPORT, but for your LOVE. Thank you for sharin your stories with me. It TRULY REAFFIRMS WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT THIS IS THE COURSE AND NOW IS THE TIME.

In keepin with TRADITION; one of the many pillars here at A BEARD'S EYEVIEW, here's a recap on our FINAL night of the GOIN SOUTH TOUR. Hey Now!

Our last stop was THE DOSEY DOE CAFE in CONROE TEXAS. www.doseydoecoffeeshop.com

This place was super cool, after driving around a good portion of Texas not to mention just gettin back from out EAST we were a little tired. We rolled up to the spot and it was connected to a strip mall. Truly folks, we've learned to keep an OPEN MIND on the ROAD. We walked into the spot and the second you walk in, it's like your in a trading post from the late 1800's early 1900's. And peppered through out the walls, were signed guitars by many a country great. We ALL once again had some extra pep in our step folks.  The twists and turns of this journey filled our SPIRITS with some of the MAGIC of the past. When MUSIC was the SHOW.  It was so cool. What ambiance, what history. I don't take a second of it for granted. To walk the highways of the STORY of music, to WALK the FOOTSTEPS of the GREATS, to TRY and LEARN. To TRY and BECOME BETTER. 

The show at the Dosey Doe was an earlier one ladies and gents. We took the stage at half past 7. Also known as 7:30. I do believe part of it had to do with it being the last night of pretty close to a month of being on the road. And I'm sure part of it was the mood of the cafe and how close the people and our band were. Super Intimate. It was beautiful. I had tears in my eyes for a good portion of the songs the entire evening. It was powerful. The range and exchange of EMOTION and ENERGY was very special and something I will never forget. The show in Conroe came with some extra Passion, we left it ALL on the STAGE.

BIG THANKS to STEVE, TEDDY, AMY, ELLEN, and the rest of the SUPER AWESOME STAFF at the DOSEY DOE CAFE. Thanks to Kevin for helpin us get things set up on stage.

And THANK YOU THANK YOU to  THE FEELIN BAND, thank you  DYLAN NAU, MAXAPHONE, TIMMY CARROW! JIM on sound, MA on merch. What an Adventure. Thanks to the rest of the FEELIN BAND holdin down the fort back home. Thanks DEBRA G., MIKE CINI and JOHNNIE TIMM. Thanks Miss Abi for the wonderful artwork. Thanks to Jackson for keepin the interwebs moving, as well capturin some VERY BEAUTIFULLY UNIQUE images. www.aframeforward.com ...Thank you to Mike and Maureen who help get the word out on what we're doin. And last but certainly not least, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the WONDERFUL FOLKS at NEW FRONTIER TOURING www.newfrontiertouring.com for CONNECTING the DOTS and MAKING IT POSSIBLE for US to take it to the STREETS!

But what are streets without people? Well I guess they're still streets, but what is a TRIBE without PEOPLE? NOTHING. None of this would be possible without YOU folks. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

We'll HOPEFULLY see you out on the road. PEACE, PEACE, PEACE.

Holy LUCKENBACH folks!

Now ladies and gents, as some of you well know, we have been taking it to the streets. Taking it to the people and it has been truly amazing. And as amazing as it has been, it's been very crazy to keep movin from town to town. You start to gain and build this momentum, it get's kinda hard to slow down.
So a little tired we headed out from Austin to LUCKENBACH for their annual BLUESFEST.

After driving over rolling hills, covered with the tree's you saw in the Young Guns movies, and many a turn we found the LUCKENBACH DANCEHALL. www.luckenbachtexas.com

Please go check it out for yourself folks. And in keepin in line with these gigs walkin in the footsteps of the greats, this place was no different. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings as well as Robert Earl Keen to name a few.

We followed the signs to where it said Band Load parked, saw an awesome looking hat shop, walked right up and saw my hat that was waiting for me for I don't know how long. I said I would love to try on that hat, and the second it was on, it was mine. 

Thanks Boo for takin the time to be so helpful, thanks for fitting my favorite hat on the planet. And truly thanks for being so awesome. Next I said hello to Cowboy R and hopped on Tumbleweed, a huge Texas Longhorn. 

All of this happened within the first 15 minutes of setting foot on this magical land. HEY NOW and HOLY BUCKETS!  Not to mention the wonderful music of Garrett LeBeau www.garrettlebeau.com

as all this is happening. Talk about a recharge folks, there was definitely some more pep in my step. We then headed backstage to get ready for the show. The wonderful Miss Abbey who was the main reason we were in LUCKENBACH asked us for a pic of our whole team. Here we are.....

Hope you do enjoy.

Minus me in the 10 gallon hat, our crew is JIM on sound, MA  on merch and mom power, miss Abbey "the one who got us on the bill", D Nau on guitar and sampling, Maxaphone on sax and EWI and Timmy Carrow on keys. This is part of our TRIBE and huge parts of making all of this possible. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU miss Abbey for makin this possible and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the NICK DAVID TRIBE. HEY NOW!

If you can't tell folks, this was and is a special spot and was almost like a world you read about in the storybooks. This place charged my battery 10 times over. What a magical spot. Before we knew it, it was time to hit the stage and share some stories of the Heart with the wonderful people.

The wonderful, the beautiful, the amazing miss Tameca Jones went on right before us and she dusted off that stage with some solid soul. She can SANG. www.reverbnation.com/tamecajones

A quick side note, miss Tameca and I met auditioning for the voice, so this wasn't the first time and it most definately won't be the last. As we were getting our gear ready, they had time for one more and she told the people how we met and dedicated "with a little help from my friends" to me..so's waitin in the wings and after many "you should do it", I went and up and joined miss Tameca on the choruses it was so on the spot and so fun. Then it was our turn.

The show was rippin and full of energy! We brought some of that Northland FUNK and the people loved it. The exchange of energy was wonderful. What was an hour and fifteen minute set felt like a few songs. So much fun. The next thing I knew we were done and had clear the stage for the next act

Malford Milligan. Again this dude's got a very soulfully smooth voice. So blessed to share the stage with such talented and gifted spirits.

Speakin of gifted spirits, Thank you to everyone who came out to the LUCKENBACH BLUESFEST.

Ya'll truly truly lifted our spirits and sent us wonderfully on our way to CONROE. Thank you folks for your support and love. It warms my heart and brings such JOY and GRATITUDE. I AM so GRATEFUL. Peace and Many Many Thanks. 

p.s.

there were a couple other bands on the bill that played before we got there and after we left, they were 

Texas Tornados,Van Wilkes and Debbie Walton. It's an honor to share the stage with such talented folks. Also a big big big THANK YOU to VIRGIL who was head of security. Thanks for all your help and thanks for the awesome walkin cane. HEY NOW and HOLY BUCKETS!

Back on the Road, TEXAS style

Welcome back folks, after being HOME for two days to recharge with  FAMILY before headin southbound to TEXAS! We managed to leave the great state of MINNESOTA during another "polar vortex" and when we got to TEXAS it was like 30 degrees! Now for a Minnesotan, especially this winter that's practically spring.

We left Minnie around 9 am and made it to Texas about 2am, Holy Buckets! After finding out our hotel rooms were sold, they then moved us to a different hotel , when all was said done the alarms were goin off, we had a spot on Good Day Dallas.

Everyone at KDFW FOX 4 NEWS was very welcoming and kind. It was very nice to work with helpful considerate folks, especially after the ride down, and getting very little sleep. Plus the audio guy Dennis is an amazing scientist of all things audio, he showed us so many cool old, vintage microphone, home-made DI's, it was cool and very refreshing to see someone LIVING their LIFE with passion.

Here's Dennis ya'll. Thanks Dennis.

And here's a link to our spot on GOOD DAY DALLAS,  just click the link that'll take you to the Video page, where I'll be waitin. Hope you do enjoy..

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/category/233373/good-day

After the TV spot, we went back to rest and prepare for the show at the HOUSE OF BLUES DALLAS!

Thank you, Thank you to the folks of Dallas for comin out and sharin your evenin with us we truly appreciate.

It is truly a wild and amazing honor and blessing to be able to take the songs of the heart to the streets, and honestly not knowing what to expect each night in each town. But, every night YOU the people come and share your time, your breath and your stories. YOU the people make this possible, and WE are so grateful, and BLESSED by your continued LOVE and SUPPORT.

PEACE and MANY MANY THANKS.

We Are Home

We are home ladies and gentleman. I know that I say THANK YOU a lot, and I mean it  a lot, even when people thank me, I normally say "thank you", instead of  "you're welcome". Thank you not only to everyone we met on the leg of this tour, but truly THANK YOU to EVERYONE we met the last tour and the tour before that, THANK YOU to the people that have been HERE since day ONE! THANK YOU for the ONES that are reading this right NOW. THANK YOU to EVERYONE and EVERYTHING, it has brought US exactly to right NOW, THIS VERY MOMENT.
And this very moment we are back home, trying to charge our batteries, if only for a second, before we hit the road again, and head SOUTH, this time to TEXAS!
But, before we go any further in TRUE BEARD'S EYE VIEW fashion, we gotta fill you in on the final night of our TOUR in LARCHWOOD, IOWA.

As we left Kansas City, and got closer to our last spot before we stopped HOME, the scenery started to look at little more familiar, big skies, mostly gray in the winter, open prairies, speckled with trees throughout, we were getting close to home. Except we didn't see much snow.
Our last spot was in Larchwood Iowa, which is pretty close to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We played the EVENT CENTER at the GRAND FALLS RESORT AND CASINO.
www.grandfallscasinoresort.com

In keeping with the tradition of this tour, this is the room that many of the people that have added a chapter or two to the history of music played, plays, or is going to play in this room. I grew up listening to KOOL 108, which was actually 107.9. We got asked to sign the wall, and we look at the wall and it's B.B. King, Michael McDonald,  the Guess Who, REO Speed Wagon, Grand Funk Railroad, WAR, Charlie Daniels Band, it was crazy. They've even had Bob Newhart. I share these names, only to share a dream coming true and in a HUGE  way none of it would be possible without YOU.
Every piece plays a part. THANK YOU.

In keepin with "Tradition" we loaded our gear onto the stage, but this time folks our BAND morphed and transformed for this gig. DebraG went to participate in what is becoming an annual tradition in Minneapolis;  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANIS, where a bunch of the TWIN CITIES LEADING LADIES get TOGETHER and pay Tribute to the ONE and the ONLY MISS JANIS JOPLIN!

We met up with our rhythm section too 

folks. "we're getting the band back together"  We were joined by Mike Cini on the drums, Johnnie Timm on the bass and Timmy Carrow on the keys. It was great to see them again, and before we knew it, it was SHOWTIME. 

Peace and many many Thanks to EVERYONE for YOUR SUPPORT. Thank you Thank you to Dan, Sharon, Cheryl, and everyone else at  Grand Falls Casino. Thanks to Trevor for helpin on monitors, Thanks Billy and everyone else doing the video and other audio. And a special Thank you to everyone who came out and shared your evening with us! We almost sold it out, they said "we haven't had this many people here since Miranda Lambert"

Truly folks, thank you for your LOVE and SUPPORT without it, none of this would be possible.

HEY NOW and HOLY, HOLY, HOLY BUCKETS!