The old site was a little worn around the edges, so we thought we’d try something new. Most of the old stuff is still here, but now you can contribute as well. SO be looking for an updated calendar (for a chnge) and news of The Horse. And drop us a blog if you’re feeling bloggish.
maj-tom
Welcome to the best classic rock band in Southeast Texas… well, we think so anyway.
And why not? For the past 9 years, we’ve brought you the best, purest Classic Rock and Blues of anyone around.
If you’re gonna play cover-tunes around here, you’d better get it right, and Rockin’ Horse does just that… from ZZ Top to John Cougar, J. Geils to Pink Floyd, and Santana to Golden Earring, The Horse brings it to ya… loud and proud just like it was meant to be played.
So for a ballz-out good time with the music you know and love, come spend an evening with Rockin’ Horse.
We promise that you’ll love it as much as we do!
In the meantime, feel free to poke around on our site.
You can listen to or download our demo, check out our band bios, and dig through the stuff we weren’t quite sure what to do with.
And be sure to leave us an email address so we can let you know about upcoming events. Send it here.
Keep Rockin’
-Major Tom
Rockin’ Horse Demo Tape
(That’s right. We’re calling it a demo tape. Rock and roll, baby.)
Brian Boland: Drums & Percussion Brian Boland’s drumming career began in 1982 in sixth grade band. Soon after he switched to a drumset and it was rock-n-roll from then on. The first real band was in 1985 when Cheetah was formed, which lasted a few years. Afterwards, he and Marcus Breaux formed Hiwire and continued work on that project until 1999 when Rockin Horse was formed. Influences include The Allman Bros, Little Feat, Santana, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, and Zach Boland, his 9 year old drummer son, to name a few. Brian is currently playing DW drums and Zildjian cymbals.
Marcus Breaux: Lead Guitar & Vocals Marcus has been playing guitar for 23 yrs. (since age 11). He played his first gig when he was 15 years old. Met drummer Brian Boland at age 17 and they’ve been playing together ever since. Both graduated in 1989. Marcus and Brian started up Hi Wire in 1991 and the band lasted until early 1999…an incredible 8 years! Brian and Marcus joined up with Tom Janise (from Reality Check) in 1999 and Rocking Horse was formed. Marcus has taught guitar for a living for the last 16 years. His guitars of choice are a couple of vintage Les Pauls, but he also plays a Strat, a Gibson SG (for slide work), and a very cool Firebird (recent acquisition)… amps by Marshall and Overbuilt. Favorite artists include The Stones, The Band, Jimmy Buffet, AC/DC, The Beatles, John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers, Santana, and Zeppelin.
Tom Janise: Guitar & Vocals I grew up in the heyday of bands like ZZ Top, CCR, Jimi and Janis, The Stones, andSteppenwolf. It was a great time to be young and naive about music. There were so many great influences, many of them local, that it was hard not to develop a broad appreciation of rock and blues. My Dad had an old F-Top Silvertone acoustic that I used to bang around on. When he had lost all hope that it might just be a passing fancy, he bought me a Kent electric guitar and an old Falcon amp from Friedman’s Pawn Shop. It was on. Over the years I’ve had the privilege to work with bands like <strong><em>Hazardous Waste, Third Stone, The Electric Grapevine, Stone Angel, Night Shift, and Reality Check before joining up with The Horse. My gear includes a beautiful ‘73 Les Paul Custom, several Strats… including a ‘91 with Muy Grande pick-ups, an ‘82 Strat Elite, and a Texas Fat Strat. A couple of good acoustics, made by Carvin and Parkwood. My amp of choice is an Overbuilt Barn Boss 2x12. After trying and buying an almost impossible array of guitar amps… from Crates and Peaveys to Marshalls , Mesas, and Fenders… I have come to the conclusion that the Overbuilt is quite possibly the best sounding guitar amplifier on the planet. I also own a Fender Concert and a hand-built Moser Dragon, both great sounding amps in their own right, and somewhat easier to carry than the Barn Boss. I also want to mention here that I was given the chance to co-publish The Connection Magazine, a music newspaper geared to local music and musicians.Steve Piccone and I had a great time with the paper… we met some cool people and made some great friends. The Connection hosted the area’s longest running Open Mic Nightat area clubs like The Handlebar (North and South), Changing Times, The Stoned Crow, andAntone’s. A lot of area bands, and some pretty lasting friendships, owe their beginnings to those crazy Tuesday nights over a stretch that lasted nearly ten years! I miss doin’ the Open Mic thing, the players and the Patron, but it sure was tough getting up for work on those Wednesday mornings! The Connection published it’s last issue in 2001, and folks are always askin’ me when we’re gonna crank it back up. I usually tell ‘em that we’re ready to go, if they’re ready to put in some really long hours and help pay for some press time!
Michael Smith: Bass & Vocals
Instruments: bass. Also guitar, synth pedals, vocals.
Influences: Eric Clapton, Rush, The Yellowjackets (the early stuff), Kevin Keith.
Favorite sayings: “Less is more.” “Dropped your watch.” “Is smoke supposed to be coming from there?” “Cooperative Beer Effort.”
Years playing: 35.
Seriously: 28.
Relevant gear (bass): Parker Fly-5, Ibanez SG400, Eden WT800, Schroeder cabs, dbx compression.
Past bands: Constellation (79-81), Northwestern Oklahoma State University Soundsations (80-81), Northwestern Oklahoma State University Jazz Ensemble (79-80), The Pelger-Huet Group (01-03).
Current bands: Rockin’ Horse, Too Laid Back.
States played in professionally: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Colorado.
Music played: Anything but country, techno-crap, and screamo metal.
Nicknames: Picker, Smitty, Doc, Stephen King.
Interests outside of music: sailing, hematopathology.
Family: Teresa (wife), Shaun (son), Nikki (daughter), Oreo, Cocoa, and Snicker (border collies).
Favorite drinks: an ice cold…
OLD GIGS: Oct 4 - Club 87 - Orange, TX Aug 16 - Club 87 - Orange, TX July 5 - (private party) - Baytown, TX June 7 Club 87 - Orange, TX May 30 - Just One More - Liberty, TX May 10 - Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) Rally - Evadale, TX Apr 26 - Softails - Baytown, TX Apr 25 - (private party) - LaBelle, TX Apr 11- Just One More - Liberty, TX Mar 29 - Evadale Catfish Festival - Evadale, TX Mar 23 - (private party) - China, TX
Ok… Hurricane Season ’08 is effectively over and thank goodness for that! I’ve about had my fill of all things hurricane. After enduring 4 storms in 3 years (count ‘em: Rita, Humberto, Eduarto, and Ike) statistically speaking, you’d think we’d be in pretty good shape. But having lost two houses and a large part of my sanity in that time period, I’m not willing to concede to that concept just yet. I mean, we had a fairly good run before ’05 brought Ms. Rita to our doorstep. What was the last one that had any effect on us at all? Alicia in ’84, I believe. I’ll take another 20+ year hiatus, no problem!
But we’re already getting predictions for ’09. Hell, they’ve already released the names of the ’09 storms! I ain’t ready for this, folks. I still have a beach cabin spread over a good portion of the Bolivar Peninsula, not to mention a good number of stumps to grind and gutters to replace right here at the old hacienda and I can’t seem to get away from work long enough to hem all that up. Hey, I have no axe to grind with our friends over on the East Coast, but they should step up to the plate and take a couple for the team in ’09! We need a break.
Stumps and gutters ain’t all that took a beating around here. Several of the places that were regular live music venues bit the dust during Ike’s visit. The Tiki Hut, Ship’s Wheel, and Sharkey’s in Crystal Beach are no longer recognizable as buildings. Just One More in Liberty was destroyed as well. And I haven’t been able to contact the folks over at Soft Tails in Baytown (right next to the bayou). Makes it kinda hard for a bunch of old rockers to play enough to pay for their habit! It was bad after Rita, too… remember? Folks just ain’t ready to spend money on entertainment when there is real stuff, like carpet and dinette sets, to buy. Add to that the election frenzy… and all the backlash over W’s buddies gang-banging the money market for the past 8 years… and you’ve got a recipe for a rough couple of years in the music bidness.
But we’re a resilient bunch, willing to play for beer and BBQ if that’s all that’s out there. Here are some economic tips for musicians caught in the recessionary slump…
1) Get out your WD -40 and oil up those strings. You’ll get another week or two out of them, at least. And WD-40 costs less than Finger Eaze. It smells funny, but it’s cheap.
2) Cut out the shots of Patron during the gig. Stick with beer. You might even be able to talk the bar into furnishing an occasional pitcher.
3) Save those old tubes. I have a tube tester… we can match up some of the less burnt-up ones into similar pairs and save serious bucks!
(You might wanna stock up on chassis fuses if you go with this option)
4) Get a bigger tip jar and pick out some well endowed lass to pass it around for you. Sure, she’s gonna drag a couple of $20’s while she thinks you ain’t looking, but it’ll be worth it!
5) Take one vehicle to the gig. I know it’s nice to drive yourself… gives you time to plan out your sets and to get your head together before you play. But with gas prices what they are, you should utilize some of that extra space in the cargo trailer for those that won’t fit in the cab of your truck. Draw straws to choose, then throw in a flashlight and some old couch cushions and make an adventure of it.
Hey, times are tough.
-The Maj
Let the rains stop, for cryin’ out loud! This is festival time. Time for the river and the beach and the park. Time to sit outside and listen to some good music and drink frosty malt beverages with your buds. I don’t know if it’s been 40 days and 40 nights yet, but it’s certainly workin’ on it. I know. Let’s build us an ark and use it as a stage. First we figure out how long a cubit is. Then we’ll round up two of everything… a couple of classy Les Paul’s, two Marshall half-stacks, a couple of old Twins with cigarette burns on the vinyl and maybe a toilet paper patch on one of the speaker cones, two drum sets… one acoustic ( DW maybe) and one electric (definitely Roland) … both with double bass rigs, of course! A pair of vintage Strats, beat up and broke in like your favorite old boots, two SVT’s complete with refrigerator cabs, an old P Bass, a Jazz, or maybe a light new Cirrus to thump on… you get the picture. We’ll float around and make merry noises while we wait for Mount Arafat to dry out again. No cover charge, smoking on the poop deck only. Somebody watch for the doves, will ya! Or were those Seagulls?
But seriously folks, we just got rained out of a prime gig down on Crystal Beach, right in the middle of The Zoo. Where’s the justice here? For that matter, where are the bikinis, the sassy tattoos, and the tawny young lasses that wear them so proudly? Where are the Show Me Your Tits signs and all the idiots that wave them, grinning like its an original idea? That homogenous blend of preppy school kids, career rednecks, old hippies, and gang-banger wannabes… wafting with conflicting aromas of beer, barbeque, coconut oil, Marlboros, and ganja. That randy cacophony of Travis Tritt, Ted Nugent, Beyonce, Grand Funk, Los Lonely Boys, and JayZ competing with a veritable symphony of Flowmasters, 4-wheelers, and police sirens. I’m really gonna miss all that. Guess I’ll sit on the porch instead, and watch it rain. Baby… please get me another beer while yer up!
We’re back, though… after a short and fun-filled break The Horse is back. Guess I’ll update the calendar and get back in the swing of messing with this site more than once every three months! If I make it a habit to put new and interesting stuff on here occasionally, y’all might actually log onto it every now and then to check out The Horse. What have we been doin’ this last couple of months? Marcus has been picking up some extra cash playing with a couple of country bands in the area. Brian has been working all the OT he can get so he can afford insurance for his 16 yr old daughter, Taylor, who has a new car. (I can relate!) And the Doc? Who knows what evil lies within that mountain of a man? It’s the quiet ones you really have to watch, you know. Me? I’ve been on holiday in Tibet. The Dali Lama says “Hey!”
Keep Rockin’
-Major Tom
