• I went down to Stillwater last night.
    Played the Copper Penny with a sick Burgess
    Mark Hunter and Katie came out. It was good to see both of them again.

    We hit Willies and the Wormy Dog after we tore down. The lead singer for 12 Pearls was playing an acoustic show at the Dog. We kicked it with him a little bit while he was on break. Good guy.

    Had another blowout on the way
    That makes two in a little over a month.
    Both were steer tires.
    I told the guy at Wal Mart in Stillwater to rotate the tires so the two newest tires were the steer tires. I guess down there that means put them both on the left side.

    Sitting at home in Sharon at the moment
    Getting ready to go to Salina by way of Great Bend
    Last night was show number one of the five in a row tour that we set up for this week last Saturday.

    Burgess is playing Trail Ride and Busters with me in May.
    We’re now actively looking for a drummer and a place for me to live in Stillwater.

    This is gonna be fun.

  • I’m getting ready to head up north to Frankfort with Burgess and some girls.
    We’re playing at Goob’s Guzzler tonight.
    Goob’s 20th Anniversary
    So the only way that we could figure out how to get all four of us and the equipment up to Frankfort without taking two vehicles was to fire up the Brougham and hook up the trailer.
    This hoop-dee road trip is gonna rock
    The gas bill doesn’t rock
    $35 to fill it up
    It had a quarter tank to begin with

    Wade Bowen’s show last night was great
    Talking with him before the show yielded the following quote:
    “You should have played an acoustic show.”
    I used my hands to make a gun symbol and pretended to shoot it into my mouth.

    For those of you wondering, I cancelled the Wilmore Opry thing tonight.
    I can’t justify driving 200 miles to play 2 songs for free.
    Perhaps when I’m retired and living at home I can go home and play for the old people in the folding chairs.

    If you haven’t purchased it yet, get EVERYTHINGUPSIDEDOWN, the new MMB album, available from their website at www.mikemccluremusic.com. Also, something else worth giving money to get is Soul Gravy, CCR’s new release.

  • I’m getting a big kick out of the book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them”. Funny as hell. Al Franken is very good and I’m sorry I never got a hold of this before. You should check it out.

    English: Al Franken giving a political speech ...
    English: Al Franken giving a political speech in Rochester, Minnesota. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • If you can’t make Salina on Wednesday, you should check out Wade Bowen at Shotz.

    Christopher J. Deines just called. He’s thinking about buying and learning to play a bass guitar. That’d be great. Something is better than nothing, and it’d be nice to get someone I know would be a good addition. We’ll see what happens. We added Rob before he knew how to play, and look where he ended up.

  • Aparantly, an open mic in Sun City means that everyone can plug in and play along with anyone else.

    Listen here, Buster. It’s hard enough for professionals to play along with me. How the hell can someone with experience in strictly old country, folk, and bluegrass (the adjective operates here on all three nouns) play along with music that doesn’t fit any of those genres? Hear this now: open mics mean you can have your slots. Play all night, I don’t care. I even enjoy it. When I get on stage to play my set, however, you’d better be getting paid by me to play along with me on stuff that you’ve rehearsed and are playing for me. Sorry, I had to rant. It was quite frustrating, seeing a crowd that was ready for me to play, a crowd that I could own, complaining to me that I couldn’t get after it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an open mic. I enjoy seeing the other players, guys who I genually like, perform. But playing along with me to songs they’ve never heard just doesn’t work.

    Sorry, I had to rant a little more.

    Rick gave me record pay and the 15th of May. Looking forward to it already.

    I saw Kathy Cox again for the first time in a long time. She taught me music in Jr. High and High School. I miss those times. It was awesome to see Wes Norman and Jeff Peters again. It’d been quite a while. Thanks to everyone who hung in there until 3:00am (read: wouldn’t allow me to get off the stage until 3:00am). It really felt good.

    Well, it’s going to be a wild week. Martini’s on Wednesday, Bobby T’s on Thursday, going to watch Wade Bowen in Hays on Friday, and then I get to play the Wilmore Opry in, well, Wilmore on Saturday.

    Until next time.

  • It’s funny
    I can go for months struggling to write a stanza or two
    Then, all of a sudden, I get a song or two.
    Look for my new single “The Mirror” in a [drug]store near you.

    For those of you keeping score at home:
    Yes, the address for Bobby T’s was incorrect on the email.
    It is not in the same building as Martini’s Steak and Chop…
    That’s Big Nose Kate’s.

    I told Rice to call someone if I don’t wake up before Thursday.
    I’m going to try some of this generic, NyQuill-style green stuff.
    You know the kind that comes with a free, plastic shot glass?
    I haven’t had a drink since last Friday.
    I’ll probably absorb the alcohol and throw up the rest.

    Here’s to chicken-noodles and orange juice…

  • English: Discovery Channel logo, used 1985-1995
    English: Discovery Channel logo, used 1985-1995 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    What happened to the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel? I remember when I was a kid how the networks would air specials about things like genetics, astronomy, biology and physics. Now all they can seem to find are shows about turning a car into a transformer or your house into a volcano or how to build a motorcycle while being disrespectful to your father/son. Maybe they should rename those networks to the White-trash Entertainment Channel. WEC…that’s it.

  • I’ve been buried at work lately. Its quite refreshing, actually, after playing 10 shows last month while keeping the job.
    Already nine are booked for April with the possibility of more. I’m going to have to hunker down for a while and scrape some cash to pay the wolves.

    Great shows at Martini’s and Bobby T’s Wednesday and Thursday.
    That’s for coming out.
    Look for a Buster’s show next week.
    Thanks for everyone petitioning Rick to get me in earlier than planned.

    Had a good time at the Bill Perry Invitational Poker Tourneyment Friday night.
    I made the final table and finished second in the Calcutta.
    Good times.