Texas Big Beat!

On Sunday, November 1st, I had the opportunity to take part in Houston's "Texas Big Beat!" put on by the Houston's Percussion Center and is an event setup for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's a charity fundraiser for the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation to help keep music programs in schools, and secondly for the Cherish Our Children International organization. To learn about either of these charities, visit them online at: http://www.mhopus.org/ and http://www.cherishourchildren.org/.

"Feeling it" alongside Herman and the rest of the crowd in Houston!

Secondly, the event serves as a gathering of drummers who annually make it their goal to break the Guinness Book world record for the most drummers playing along to the same beat at the same time for a period of 5 minutes. This means that roughly 200 drummers gathered together on that Sunday in a warehouse near the George Bush Intercontinental Airport just north of Houston. I think I may have seen every conceivable type of drumkit ever made! Drummers both young and old, experienced and inexperienced had an incredible afternoon of hanging out, talking, checking out gear, and most of all -- drumming! I was honored to be there representing Ludwig drums alongside Barry "Frosty" Smith, and the 3 featured artists of the afternoon, drumming phenom Rick Latham, groove king Herman Matthews (a Houston native), and Texas's own Chris Layton! (As in Stevie Ray Vaughn?)

Hanging with my new pal Herman Matthews!

What an amazing show of talent these artists displayed and made the afternoon so much fun! I had met Chris on a few occasions before and it was great to finally have some time to talk a little bit away from late nights and bars. Herman Matthews was an absolute gentleman and I look forward to seeing him play again soon. He's currently on tour with Tom Jones and has toured with Stevie Wonder. (Hello? Heeeelloooooo? Stevie Wonder? As in laying down the groove on "Superstition" every night? I love that tune and drive most everybody I know crazy by singing it incessantly!) Here are a few pics taken from the event. Thanks Mike Henry and Donna Fisher of Houston's Percussion Center for their hospitality in making me feel so welcome all afternoon, and to Adolph Baez for the opportunity to represent Ludwig, and to Ludwig drums for their support of my drumming! Be safe out there and we'll talk again soon...

- Doddsy

Falling down on the job...

Notes from the road...

How the time passes so quickly. Every weekend we roll into a town and play a show and every weekend I think to myself "I need to blog about this". Now, a month later, I'm finally sitting down to write down a few of my thoughts. Sheesh...

Rhoades-Bomb is a badass in Dallas at the Granada...

Cactus Music - Thanks to everybody who came out to support us at the music store for our mini-set we performed before heading over to the bar for that night's show. I've been proudly representing on many nights wearing my Cactus Music trucker cap!

Kevin loves you all thiiiiiiiiis much!

Armadillo Palace - What a great bar! Houston is always a fun town to play in and everybody at the Armadillo Palace is always ready to get rowdy! Our old pal Peggy found us again after many months of having not been out to see us. (She claims she thought we had just stopped gigging in the area. Really? How in the world is that possible? Anyhow...) It was great to see you again and hopefully you'll be out again soon to dance again! Reed and Rachel Robinson - Houston is always good for a visit with some of our favorite fans. I drove myself on this trip and Reed and Rqachel were gracious enough to let me stay with them and I wound up with new front tires on my truck by the end of the trip - thanks guys!

Dennis catches the light across a smoke-filled room...

Sam's Burger Joint - Lil' Bit's annual birthday party and pre-Halloween bash is always such a blast to be a part of. Thanks again, Jen, for making us such a big part of your birthday shindig!

¡Odelay vato!

Hank's - The fun we have at Hank's is unmathced! Whether the crowd turnout is big or small, everybody there comes out ready to have a good time. Thanks to everybody who came out this past weekend to make the show so much fun. Again!

Dodds jumping from trains. Late night in Kansas City.

This next week will find us in Austin playing the Broken Spoke and hopefully we'll see lots of old friends out there ready to dance all night long! Have a great week everybody and we'll talk soon!

- Dodds

Celebrity Two Tons!

While on tour through Indiana and Illinois we stumbled upon the subject of celebrity look-alikes. Here's what we came up with. You be the judge...