Rockin' Horse

Summer’s gone and here we are, dodging hurricanes and mosquitoes. Welcome to Southeast Texas, y’all! That’s OK, we’re all used to that stuff.

But the onset of fall means cooler weather is on the way and cooler weather means folks will slowly begin to emerge from their air-conditioned, hurricane-proofed houses and venture forth into the world once again. Like large, pallid butterflies they will leave the chrysalis and seek out the necessities of life… food, music, and beer. It’ll start slowly, but soon it will develop into an all-out swarm. Thousands will amass in a frenzy of freedom and hunger. These swarms are sometimes known as festivals, fairs, and bike-rallies! That, folks… is where we come in!

The Horse will be headlining Saturday night at Night of the Coyote on Oct 6, way out in the woods at the Mill Creek Motorcycle Campground in Spurger, Tx. Alan Leger and friends have really come a long way with the MCMC, holding two major rallies there a year… the Wild Azalea Run in March and Night of the Coyote in October. Lots of music, craziness, good food, and fun for everyone (over 18) whether you’re riding on two wheels or four. Another local band, Stone Free, will be appearing there, too. For more info, including a map and directions, scoot on over to mcmotorcyclecampground.com.

Also, the South Texas State Fair is a-comin’ to town, and Rockin’ Horse will be there. Haven’t nailed down a schedule yet, but I’ll let you know. Also looking forward to playing Softails in Baytown.

Had a great time at the Southeast Texas Musicians Forum party and jam on Friday, Oct 21 at Changing Times in Beaumont. For those of you who do not frequent the forum, it’s just a discussion board that has turned into something pretty special… over 750,000 hits in 2 years! Bands appearing at the Jam were Brother Man (a project including Mark Britt, Ben Sanders, Junior Lopez, and Tony Risotta), Larry Carrell’s new band, Stone Free, Rockin’ Horse, and the Wesley Niles Band. It was a large time, and we hope to have another one in about 6 months. 

Meanwhile, if you’re in the mood to blog, bitch, or brag… tune into the Southeast Texas Musician’s Forum.

Hey… thanks for stoppin’ by.

Keep Rockin’

-Major Tom

The holidays are over and all we’re left with is the fading afterglow of yuletide happiness, the residual reflux from all that roast turkey (or fried, most likely) and another bad sweater from Aunt Sally. 

Well there is the swollen Mastercard account and the dented front fender you mysteriously picked up at the Mall during the insanity of last-minute shopping, but basically it’s over. 

Only 300 or so shopping days ‘til next season. Now what? Oh yeah… tax time! What joy.

This is the dead zone… the joyless period of waiting between the frenzy of Christmas and the promise of springtime. 

Mardi Gras helped some, but the weather sucked so bad that I almost missed it. 

Somewhere out there, racing toward us, is a Spring Break… rife with nubile women and frosty beverages, surf, sand, the whine of jet-skis and outboards. But dammit, it sure seems like a long time coming! What do we do with ourselves in the meantime?

Now I know that your first impulse is to sit in the corner, watching Everybody Loves Raymond reruns and eating cold pizza, and try to ignore the joyless temporal void between the present and the tenative emergence of Spring’s first bikini. 

I understand that. But you can’t let yourself succumb to it. 

You gotta get out and make something happen, just to keep in practice if nothing else! 

Find a local club and support your favorite musicians, or (God forbid) go listen to somebody you’ve never heard before. 

Take care of your local music scene, and it’ll take care of you! No matter what the weather.

-The Maj

OK… we needed a break. Didn’t count on all the stuff happening during that break, though. It’s a good thing we were off! I appreciate all the support and condolences on the loss of my Dad, Melvin M. Janise, last Saturday. We were close and I’m gonna miss him.

Now back to business. We let our dance card almost empty out … time to beat the bushes for some work. I know Barefoot Tina’s is in the works again, and we have a couple of private parties lined up…  we’ll keep you posted on the calendar.

Y’all take care. And keep on rockin’!

-Major Tom

Hey, it’s festival time again, and the phone’s about to ring off the hook here at the stables. Everybody wants to get outdoors and enjoy the spring weather. We have the Heritage Festival and the Redbud Festival and the Catfish Festival and the Pecan Festival and the Texas BBQ Festival. How many did I miss? And that’s not to mention the bike rallies… Wild Azalea, Thunder in the Hill Country, Cowboys on the Coast… its gonna be a good year and The Horse is in full stride.