Category: Sound


West Texas Mammoths 1In a previous open mic tales post, I talked about the two guitarists of West Texas Mammoths. David Kapsner and Michael Jekot played an acoustic set that night. Michael sat in with me on my song, Chocolate Eclairs and Apple Fritters. Monday night I had the pleasure – as did all those in attendance at the Poor David’s Pub open mic, hosted by Mr. Troll, to see the whole band play. There was a decent crowd, there for both the band and the open mic.

The duo played a very good acoustic set the previous time. The full band played a fantastic set equally as impressive as the acoustic show, but on a different level. That level was set by the punch and drive of Tyler Rosa on bass and Joseph Noga on drums. The set began with Backwoods, and One More Beer, from their three song EP. And every band needs a beer song. Red Dress, and Moth to Flame, preceded Wasted Days, the third song from the EP. So Cold came next.

Pistol Point was the next to last song, but was easily the best song of the set. All of WTM’s songs are steady West Texas Mammoths 2driving songs with the nicely timed leads of Michael Jekot. Kapsner kept the rhythm in his own right as his vocals blended seamlessly into the songs. But, in Pistol Point, they pulled out all the stops. The band whipped into jam mode, with the two guitarists playing duel leads reminiscent of the Allman Brothers. Queen of Diamonds nicely wrapped up the set.

It is refreshing to hear a young rock band that is more into playing good music than outer trappings and a spastic stage show. They took control with the first song and never let go, with one song driving into the next. You have a chance to hear them for yourselves. They are playing at Trees tomorrow night with Bart Crow, Madison King, and Marcus Woolverton. Don’t miss the chance for a really good show.

Peace be with you.

1 Last Chance 1There were two featured artists at the Poor David’s Pub open mic on Monday night, January 11, hosted by Mr. Troll. Actually more like a featured artist and special guest. 1 Last Chance was the featured artist. The band, from Oxford, Mississippi, consists of Brandon McDaniel on lead guitar, Jacob Hampton on guitar, and Johnathan Ray on drums.

They call themselves a combination of punk, alternative, and progressive, rock. I detected a smattering of grunge as well. With Ray’s driving force on drums and Brandon’s rythmnic control on guitar, it was easy to forget there was no bass player. From one high intensity song to1 Last Chance 2 another, the intensity did not waiver throughout the set.

They played all three songs from their EP, This Nowhere – A Perfect Machine, Changes, and Devin. The EP was released in July of 2015. They ended the set with a punk version of (I’m not your) Steppin’ Stone that Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees would call “interesting.” 1 Last Chance is headed to Norman, Oklahoma, Amarillo, and Fort Stockton, Texas before heading back toward Mississippi. They are scouting potential studios for their next recording sessions while they are on the road.

Ghoulies 1The “special guest” was sound man Carlos Sanchez and the Ghoulies. They are a six piece band. I don’t have any names, other than Carlos. Hopefully, Troll will post in the comments with their names. They covered Eric Clapton and Texas Tornadoes, and did them well. At the end of the open mic, a few members of the Ghoulies joined Scott Thornton and Tin Man Travis for an all out jam.

Peace be with you.

Roy Elkins 1Roy Elkins, CEO of Broadjam.com, has been Master of Ceremonies for the Dallas Songwriters Association Song Contest Award Ceremony for several years now. This year, he offered to come a day early and give a Your Music and Your Business workshop – at no cost. With the awards ceremony/Christmas party always on the second Tuesday of December, which would be our regular meeting night, we decided on Monday for the workshp.

DSA President Michael Brandenberger has known Tommy Roberts for many years. Tommy Roberts is co-owner of Tone Shop Guitars, north of Beltline on Midway, in Addison. Michael asked Tommy if we could have the workshop in their very large showroom. It is a very nice store. Tommy said they would be happy to have us. I met with him and we went over details.

The day of the workshop, we had 26 rsvps. We were shooting for 30 people. I brought 32 chairs. The Attendees workshop was to begin at 6 p.m. I arrived at 5 p.m. and one person was already there. Since it was a guitar shop, the early arrivals had something to do – which was one of the reasons Tommy was eager to have us.

Since a few people had not arrived by 6, we started a little late. Several people arrived during the presentation. The final tally was 28, with two no-shows of the original rsvps. At such a busy time of year, with traffic like it was, we had a great turnout.

Roy gave a very entertaining and informative presentation. He talked about starting Broadjam because he wanted to help songwriters. The used Broadjam, as well as his experience in the music business to illustrate his points. Roy discussed what, and how, to prepare for a pitch. He described good and bad music or song pitches.

Roy Elkins 2Elkins showed the crowd a written pitch that he had actually been given by a member of a band. The writer was apparently inviting Roy to see them at a show. He went on to basically say that the drummer sucked, but they were still going to use him just for the night. He made some more excuses – with bad punctuation and grammar. He ended by saying “you can find our music on soundcloud, sonicbidz, and revernation.”

Roy talked about how ridiculous the mistakes were. The punctuation and grammar mistakes were obvious. Have good material for them to hear. If it’s good, there’s no need to make excuses. Stand behind your work. And if you want someone to listen to your music, you don’t tell them they can find your music on their competitors website.

“It happens more than you think. I talk to those guys all the time (representatives from the three companies mentioned above) when we’re on panels together,” Elkins said, “and we always laugh about it.”

It was a great workshop. Stay tuned for posts with advice culled from the recent meetings and workshops and experience. You will also read a bit more about Roy in a post about the song contest award ceremony. In the meantime, however, if you are a songwriter, join Broadjam, fill out your profile, and check it out. As with most online music sites, there is a free level. But there is quite a bit you can do, with extras at a la carte expense (which is reasonable). You can have your song reviewed by professional songwriters. And much more.

Peace be with you.

Carlos and Dan Monday, November 30th, at Poor David’s Pub, was not only the regular open mic, but a birthday party for the sound man, Carlos Sanchez. Even though his birthday was actually on Sunday. Open mic started a little late, giving some of the band members time to get there and set up. There was to be a featured artist, Daze of the Moon at 8:30, with Carlos and the Ghoulies playing at 9.

The open mic started about 8 – rather than the customary 7:30 – with the host, Mr. Troll. He played two songs, one of which was Cry. It is my favorite of Troll’s songs. Cyndy made a point of telling Troll how much she liked the song – not knowing it was my favorite.

Troll then introduced PDP owner, David Card,

David Card

David Card

who played a song for Carlos. He had just finished the song a couple of hours earlier. It was a humorous, as well as touching, tribute to Carlos. Craig Langford played next. Craig is a good songwriter with a unique voice. Follow the link to hear his music or check out his music on iTunes.

I followed Craig. Before I played my two songs, I ask Carlos up to the stage. As Showcase Director for the Dallas Songwriters Association, I presented Carlos with the inaugural DSA Sound Man of the Year Trophy for his sound work on the DSA quarterly showcase/fundraisers and his work in general. Carlos recorded the shows and gave them to us on cds. He is easily one of the best sound men in Dallas.
Dan Roark 1
One of the songs I played was a new song I wrote with Carlos in mind, called the Sound Man. When Daze of the Moon finally came on they played a tight, rocking set. They call their music alternative rock, but it simply sounded like rock and roll to me. And that’s a good thing. Carlos and the Ghoulies jammed the house down, with open mic continuing after they left the stage.

It was a great night of music to celebrate Carlos Sanchez’s birthday. And his sound work. Congratulations to Carlos – DSA Sound Man of the Year!

Peace be with you.