Boy Wonder: Professional Musican 11

Day 10 - March 21st 2009

It’s funny how the universe balances itself out. How one day you could be having the worst day imaginable and then next you are having an experience you will never forget.

Yesterdays was the first time I had to do back to back shows with Bang Camaro, it would be the first real test to see if my voice could take the pounding that a Bang Camaro show inflicts upon you. I woke up with some pain in my leg having to recount the falling down a well story to some of the folks who hadn’t heard it. My band mates seemed more interested in my well being than laughing at me about what happened. We had another early load in so we departed for The Beauty Bar around 9 or so.

We pulled into the Beauty Bar at 10AM and got our gear to the outside stage. The party was sponsored by Sparks and Miller (more on that later) and it was actually catered by a local BBQ spot and boy did we take advantage of that. Beef, Ham, Sausage, salads and Iced Tea. I was in Heaven, and it was all free. I watched the band (with Rodrigo) do an interview for the website, another chance to watch and learn. They all seemed comfortable doing it.

I sat with Theresa the merch girl for a while and then traveled up 6th street to check out Leslie’s show. I will go on record again and say I dig that band. Those guys are the real deal. My time watching them was cut short as I ended up having to talk to one of the guys that’s running the HYPE! in my absence. Apparently things aren’t going as smoothly as one would hope when it comes to our dealings with certain people. I basically walked back to the beauty bar all riled up.
Shifting my focus back to living in the present moment, I walk into the beauty bar and hit the bar for the first time. Cute black girl with curly hair standing behind the bar offers me a Sparks, it’s free she says. I say sure. Bryn has been throwin these back since I got to Boston. Sparks is an alcoholic energy drink, and if you want my opinion it is not the right combination of stuff for someone to be messed up on. It hit me hard and it hit me fast. I wasn’t as much drunk as I just plain didn’t feel right. Like I had smoked like 12 crack rocks. I found Bryn and told him that I felt wrong and needed to walk it off. Bryn chuckled as I left to walk down 6th street.

I walked all the way back to where Leslie was playing (think of it as walking from Broad and South to Temple) to try to get myself together. I ran into Alex’s friend Matae (I’m probably spelling that wrong) on the way. She’d slept at the house with us last night, nicest girl (this operation seems to be a magnet for great people) we had briefly discussed my falling into the well at the house this morning and now here I am, my black ass lookin all cracked out. She strung some words together that created sentences but all I could think about is how I felt like my skin was going to explode. I ran into Jason Fox (bassist) from Leslie and we walked back to the Beauty Bar. Fortunately for me I was in good enough shape to perform.

The venue was packed again as the band launches into Thunderclap. We hit the stage for out on the streets and I’m feelin pretty good, cause I have a monitor and I can hear myself sing. We’re getting through the set pretty smoothly and then I hear words that you never wanna hear together in a sentence during a show. “Does anybody have a bass drum?!” Pete had snapped the head on his stopping the show in its tracks. Unfortunately you can’t throw down without Pete McCarthy, it’s just not possible. Bryn and Alex were trading licks as we waited to see what was going to happen. Someone saved the day, brought in a bass drum and we got to finish. We didn’t get to do I Know You Like My Band, but the set was pretty much in tact. I’m shaking my butt back and forth noticing that I don’t exactly move on stage like the rest of my fellow vocalists. It’s a bit weird but it feels good. I spent most of the show tryin not to bump into Morgan. The crowd loved it just like yesterday. Doz and I even gave quotes to a college newspaper.

We loaded the gear into the van, said goodbye to Theresa and it was finally time to hit the streets in Austin to see if I could promote myself and possibly make some money. Alex made sure that I knew to keep in touch with Glen at all times while I was out (he promised my mom to get me back in one piece) I busted out with Ain’t No Sunshine first, that tune always makes me comfortable, then I start tearing into the Boy Wonder stuff and something strange starts to happen. People are stopping, they are throwing money in my case and telling me how cool they think my stuff is some are even buying records. When a corner would dry up I’d move on and do the same thing on another corner. I played for about 4 hours and around 9 o clock I ran into the Bang Camaro crew who had the idea of dispersing and coming back while I was playing and surrounded me to draw a crowd, it worked too. They told me how much they liked my stuff which meant even more. They were goin to check out the Everyday Visuals at a Boston Showcase across from The Beauty Bar so I rolled over there and grabbed the keys to put my CD’s and guitar in the car. I was a tad nervous when I was walking to where we parked cause 6th street started to look an awful lot like North Philly. I found the car and quickly returned back to the safety of SXSW.

Sean and I decided to check out Hot Legs, Justin Hawking (singer from The Darkness)’s new band. They were pretty cool. We got a call from Bryn saying they were headed toward the car. Sean had the keys so we waited for a while inside before they got there. The band was hilarious and full of life when they entered the van and we drove back to the crib. Rodrigo was missing from the fold. No one knows where he ended up I hope he’s ok.

It was about 2 am but it wasn’t the end of the night. “Andre play something soulful.” I played some tunes. Sadler woke up and then he started playing some Doobie Brothers. The we (Bryn, Sadler, Matae, Sean, Doz and I) kinda jammed till 5 in the morning. Passing the guitars off and playing tunes. Bryn doin the Bryn shuffle (moves pretty good for a white guy) twas a truly unforgettable experience especially Sean‘s sweet Led Zeppelin renditions. We all turned in after a rousing version of the Beatles Come Together.

Tomorrow morning will be our last in Austin as we head to Atlanta. I had an amazing time here and can’t wait to return in April.