Saturday, October 18, 2008 - Wamic Sportsman Pub~n~Grub

Sunday, August 28, 2008 - Kathy's Decade Party

Everyone was blown away at Kathy's family reunion/decade party.  Not by us, by the wind!  We had some pretty strong gusts and at one point our stacked speakers tipped over.  Ken had to use his ninja skills to catch his other guitar (WITH HIS FOOT) when it blew over in the middle of a song; he didn't even stop playing!  We did manage to dodge all the falling pine cones, so luckily, no band member was injured.

Sunday, August 24, 2008 - Blog is Moving!

It's been a drag updating both the web page and our myspace page. That being said, I've created this page and (painstakingly) moved all the blog stuff from our myspace page here to our website!  I know, I know, try and control your enthusiasm!

Sorry, but I don't know how to allow comments on the blog (not that anyone leaves them...lol) so if you want to get a hold of us or send us hate mail, use the email link!

First the good. We just confirmed today that we are going to play on August 22 at a summer ending party. Should be a lot of fun.

Now the bad. Casey has decided that he has other musical obligations and will quit the band after we play at Kathy's reunion party on September 28th. Casey was a very good asset to the band and will be missed. We thank him for sticking it out the next couple months while we search for another bass player.

PS- I want that jalapeno pepper recipe before the end of September!!!

We made it through the 4th! Lots of planning and setting up but we made it through. About 60 friends and family showed up, ate, drank and were all around merry.  I for one had a great time.

We had some issues with a few songs, but that's still kinda par for us. We sounded better than we did at the rodeo so that's good. We want to try and keep the momentum going...maybe get another shot at the Elks on a weekend. We do have a few irons in the fire but nothing set in stone yet. Will of course keep you all posted.

So tonight 6/8, I'm going to post a couple video snippets of both the Rodeo and the 4th of July gigs on the website.  I've already uploaded some pix so feel free to check them out. If you happen to have any pics of either event let me know and I'll add them to the mix.

Oh, and as usual, Casey's "armadillo" eggs were a hit.

So initially we were supposed to play at the Vancouver rodeo on the 2nd and 3rd. They changed their minds and wanted us to play on the 2nd only. But instead of playing just as people walked in, they also wanted us to play a dance after the rodeo was over.

So, we went up there around 3pm and set up next to their beer garden under a small tent. We played for about an hour and a half before Megan had to go sing the national anthem. Once that was done we watched a few minutes of the rodeo events then moved our equipment to where the dance was going to take place.

Just as the rodeo ended and a large crowd of people started heading to the dance, a thunderstorm started pouring down rain. Most of those people took an immediate left turn and headed for their cars. So much for packing the dance floor! At any rate, we did play for a couple more hours and did have a few folks kickin' up some dirt.

All in all it was a good time. There are some pics if anyone is interested.

Great practice on Friday! It's amazing how things can turn around in less than 24 hours. Even the new stuff showed quite a bit of promise. I think "Because The Night" might be a really good song for us once we get the fiddle part filled in.

We're stepping up our practice schedule since the Rodeo and 4th of July gigs are coming up in a month. I would imagine we won't have any more "Thursdays" since we're practicing almost twice a week.

K, that's about it. From what I can tell, there are 12-15 of you out there that are reading these blogs on a regular basis. How about some comments already!

Well, we didn't actually sleep over. That was our intention but we just ended late and went home.

Had a great practice though. We went over our brand new songs and we actually got through them pretty well. They aren't rocket science as far as difficulty level, but it was nice to get through them with only minor hang-ups since it was our first time playing them.

The only news to report is a potential "guest member". Our friend Sarah is going to learn a few of the songs on her viola. It is very close to a fiddle but a little deeper. If we like the sound she'll be joining us in some songs! She's going to come to our next practice this Thursday so check the next blog to see how it goes.

Boring blog this time I know. Hey, we can't always be on our game!

So since the last blog, we've played both the Elk's Lodge and a cinco de mayo party.

We showed up at the elk's and some dude had his equipment on "OUR" stage...lol. He wasn't going to move it so they put us on their large stage in a giant room. It wasn't real good for the members since we were a couple hundred feet away from them. They could still hear us okay, but the dance floor was a ways to walk. That being said, the only dancing that was going on was from the people that we brought with us. Two good pieces of news though. One: we got a two dollar tip...that's right, .40 cents a piece. I invested my portion in some real estate. Two: Sounds like they want us back. This might become a regular thing.

Last Saturday, we played a cinco de mayo party in Troutdale. It started off a little slow, but once everyone got a little tipsy, they started dancing. They didn't want us to stop playing! We ended up playing everything a second time since we ran out of material. We did get a couple gigs out of the deal. One guy is having a grand opening for his restaurant and he wants us to play. We will. Another gal has a place up in Vancouver and she wants us to play there. Once I get solid dates I'll post them here.

We've added some songs (nine or so) to our list. We'll start practicing them next week. We need to continue to build our playlist so we don't need to keep playing things twice!

Next practice this Tuesday.

Brannon out.

Not really a lot to say about our most recent practice. We sounded okay. We did decide that we need to start learning good endings to some of the songs. As it is, we sometimes just stop playing. We are also going to start stringing songs together so there isn't silence between them. We'll start working on that stuff after this week is over. We have the Elk's Thursday and a Cinco De Mayo party on Saturday so we'll be plenty busy.

We have one last practice on Tuesday before those gigs. Hope we tighten up a little more.

Ken is also thinking of putting together a little rock medley. Play 15-20 seconds of some popular rock songs and string them all together. Kinda like our own live version of a mixed tape (that's right kids, music used to come on this stuff called tape).

~out

Sunday, April 20, 2008 - Website Almost Complete

The rest of this blog was entered in our myspace account before being transferred here so the narration might seem a little odd.

Lots 'o news to report.

1- The official band website is almost done. Just need to put some finishing touches on it and we're good to go. www.wayoutwestoregon.com there are a few videos on there that should be new to everyone. I'm going to put another one up there tonight.

....end of line. (who can name that movie?)

As some of you thousands of readers know, we were trying to get the Vancouver Rodeo gig this July. Ken and Megan went up there and showed them a couple videos of our Elk’s performance. 20 or so people hovered over the laptop as the music started to play.

Nuff said. We’re in. The only question is what days we will play. Looks like we can have all four (July 2nd-5th) if we want. We will probably only do a couple days but I won’t know for sure until we all get together and chat about it.

Some gal that was there also asked if we were interested in playing some event she was putting together here in a few weeks. Probably going to pass on that since we won’t quite be ready. July is still a few months away and that will give us ample time to fine tune some issues before the Rodeo.

Anyone got some boots, buckles, and hats I can borrow...lol

Until then, we’ll probably try to play the Elk’s a few more times. It’s good experience and a relatively easy crowd to please!

Things sure are happening fast.

As promised, here is a link to our first live performance. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98fOXeWeV6I

I am also developing a website for the band. This will make us look more professional and I will be able to put all our video, audio, and other information in one place. Will keep you all posted.

Site should be up within a couple weeks.

We are officially official!

We went to practice at the Elk’s on Thursday. I asked the guy where I was supposed to set up my drums and he pointed at their main stage next to the dance floor! I about had a panic attack! I wasn’t expecting to actually be in front of anyone. I was under the impression that we would be in a separate room away from the members. I figured they could hear us a little but couldn’t see us. Guess I was wrong. They even posted a little sign advertising live music that night.

We obviously played for free, but we did score some free burgers!!! A nice lady offered to buy the band dinner and it was burger night and a few of us took her up on the offer. Heck, I’ll play for free grub any day!

They asked us to come back this coming Thursday so I guess we weren’t tooooo bad (maybe the free part had a lot to do with it...lol) We still need some work but we’re definitely getting better.

It was really awesome when people started dancing and clapping. Really makes the practicing worth while.

I’ve got a video of the night, but I’m not going to post it until I get everyone’s thumbs up.

Next up.....Elk’s Lodge Part Deux...then the Rose Garden?

So we are going to have a practice at the Elk’s club this Thursday. It’s going to be the first time we’ll play near other people (think we’ll be in a separate room). We are going to have a practice at Kathy’s the day before to pick the songs we are going to do. There will be somewhat of a "noise limit", so we probably can’t play any of our best stuff. No biggie, it’s just going to be a practice, not an actual gig.

We want to get a good recording on Thursday so we can get something together for the Vancouver Rodeo guys to listen to. We are meeting with them the first Monday of April to let them hear what we’ve got to offer. Should know shortly after if we are going to play there or not.

If any of you readers (the two of you!) want to be the cameraperson let me know. We’ll supply the ear plugs and anti nausea serum.

Okay, the last practice was just an anomaly…thank God! We sounded pretty good today out in Colton. We fixed some issues with some songs and should be able to put those on the shelf. We even got through our eight new songs with some success. Still pretty rough since we've only had a copy of them for a week and a half but they'll be polished soon.

Looks like the band might play, and Megan is might sing the National Anthem, at the Vancouver Rodeo. We're not sure what day. We have a meeting with the rodeo man the first Monday of April. Will know more then and I have a feeling I'll blog it…lol

Other developments: Megan, using her Elk's club connections, has worked out some practice space inside the Elk's club. We'll have to keep it somewhat quiet (blown hearing aides and all) but it will be nice to actually set up more like we will when we go out and play. Look out Harold and Ethel, Way Out West is comin!!!!

We still need to come up with a logo and some band pix. I've got a good friend that does some awesome camera work and hopefully we can get his expertise behind the lens. I know a few people that can draw (Ken included) so hopefully we can get something made up for a logo.

Next up…Saturday in Colton.

OMG, what happened? I blogged about a week ago saying that we were getting to the point that all our practices were good. Guess I jinxed us. We couldn't play for (insert four letter word). Guess we were just off for some reason. I'm not going to worry too much about it, we'll be fine next Saturday.

We've added 9 more songs to the mix. Will be refreshing to start learning some new stuff. That will put us at 25 songs which will be about an hour and a half. Plenty for our 4th of July gig.

Best part of this practice was we finally settled on a name......

Way Out West

You likes? We figure when we're touring all over the U.S., people will know we are from the west coast. At any rate, that's the name.

K, laptop battery is about to die so that's all I got.

~B

Oh, one last thing. I'm very upset with our singer...she conned me into singing summer nights with her at Dukes last night. I was so terrible John Travolta's rolling over in his grave and he's not even dead! I'll have a mic when we perform, but it's ONLY for banter, absolutely NO singing!

First off, FOOD, lots and lots of FOOD. We all gorged ourselves on steak, potatoes, salad, shrimp, and of course, Casey's now famous stuffed jalapenos. I haven't eaten since! We sure are a bunch of characters, we were all telling stories and jokes and I think at one point I may have peed my PJs. Yeah I said PJs. We all agreed to wear PJs that night. Nothing like a room full of adults giggling in their pajamas...who says you have to grow old?

We tried a recording but had several challenges. It was the first time we tried recording single tracks at a time. I think once we do it a few more times we'll get the hang of it and get out a promo disk. Speaking of which, there is a possibility that we may be playing the Vancouver rodeo this July. Nothing big, just playing music for the people coming in, but a gig none the less. Will know more next week. Keep the phalanges crossed (fingers for those without their pocket dictionary).

Not sure when the next "sleepover" is going to be. Still recovering from the last one. Next up, Practice at Kathy's on Wed.

So we have committed to playing on the 4th of July. For those that are interested, let me know. Everything should be carved in stone after the weekend. I'll amend this blog once all the details are finalized but here is what I can tell you thus far:

We are going to sell tix for $5 and that will cover all of the following:

There will be a pig roast

There will be a couple Kegs

We are going to have our version of valet parking

We will be giving out prizes

There will be camping sites for those who want to camp overnight (BYOT)

....and the best part.....WE WILL PROVIDE LIVE MUSIC!

-----------

(amendment coming soon)

Not much to amend. We've got a hook-up on a pig roaster so we're good to go. Looks like it will be a noontime arrival. Will send out reminders as the date approaches.

Yep, every practice is getting better. We used to regress from time to time but now it seems like we're at a point where we just need to tweak a little here, change a little there, and we're good to go.

We've got the big "sleep over" at Ken's this weekend. We're going to try and do a more professional recording instead of the video camera method. And of course, I'll post a link if it turns out half way decent. Not much else to say.

So we've had a couple good practices in a row. Things are starting to turn that corner and we're sounding like we're ready for an open mic night soon.

We talked a little about maybe playing for friends and family this 4th of July. Will keep ya posted on that. I'm in!

I record all our practices with a video camera. Here's a link to some of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=thecountrycrew&p=r

I was thinking about how long we've been together. Here's the short timeline:

Ken and I met Megan in July of '07. (Only 7 months ago?)

Our first practice with Kathy was Oct. '07.

And Casey joined January '08.

That's not a lot of time together so I'm pretty happy with where things are at.

Just for nostalgic purposes, here's some names from the past that actually made it out to Ken's a time or two : Joe, Stephanie, Carla and Uve, Hillary, Andrea, Ken (K2), Jennifer, Elizabeth, ad Michael. There's also about 10 more people that were potential band members but I can't remember their names.

So, lots-O new stuff going on.

Last Monday (1/14) we met our new bass player (Casey). We played a for few hours at Kathy's. It was pretty rough sounding, but we hadn't been together for a while and we had the newbie too. He only had a copy of our CD for a day or so. If I had to grade our practice, I'd give us a C- at best.

However........

Saturday, we all got together out in Colton. Great practice. Casey was more familiar with the songs, Kathy had the keys turned up, and we tried scripting the song order and stringing them together for the first time. The three new songs we learned were still pretty shaky (the lug nuts were off and the wheels were just barely hanging on)!

It seems that some hacks already have the name Double Shot. They space the words and we do not, but close enough! Megan uttered the phrase "Technical Impurity" during practice and we all laughed. Then we thought, hmmmm, maybe the new name? She also told us to lay off the "Sin Water" (booze for all you squares out there), and again we though hmmmm, maybe the new name. At any rate, we'll be called something eventually.

We went to an open mic night last night (to gauge our competition), but they cancelled it that day and we didn't get to see anyone play. Bummer :(

Next up, Monday the 28th out in West Linn (Kathy makes awesome clam chowdah by the way).

I think a few more practices like last Saturday, and we might be ready for an open mic night ourselves!

We won't forget you little people!

Awesome practice out in West Linn! We tried a couple of the new songs for the first time and it went pretty well. Then we broke out the Sambuca and things really started to pick up!

Not sure what was funnier last night: Ken's holstered pistol, my saddle hat, Megan's pre practice rituals or Kathy's ability to hold a microphone in a way I've never seen! Last night was just as much a bonding experience as it was a practice.

And for all you readers, stop buying shirts! Ken is designing a logo for the band and we'll eventually have DoubleShot shirts. They will more than likely be the next fashion trend, so place your orders now. Once the logo has the final touches, I'll post it here for all to see.

Not sure when our next assembly will be but I can't wait! Ken is off to Cancun (me jealous) and the holidays are coming up so it might not be until the first of the year.

See ya in '08

Kathy was kind enough to put together this video of our first performance. Click the link to see us in action. Good Job Kathy!!

Debut Performance

Requires flash player

Okay, due to all of our public appearances, autograph sessions, and radio talk shows, we were too busy to practice for a couple weeks. That being said, things took a small step back, BUT not too bad.

We decided to add 5-6 new songs. Once we figure out which artist's version we are going to play, I'll put them on our list. I'm sure you are all checking our page hourly in anticipation. We should start learning these songs over the Christmas holiday since we again won't have time to get together. Come the first of the year though, IT'S ON! 24 hour practices, sleeping with our instruments, the whole nine yards!

Next practice this Monday, probably our last of 2007.

Out in Colton for this practice.

We made our first (rough) recording. Like all GREAT bands do, we had our first bit of band drama. No biggie, maybe the Sambuca had something to do with it.

Musically though, we sounded pretty good. Definitely our best effort to date. Due to the upcoming holiday, we're not going to get together until the 5th. That's a few weeks away so we will either:

1- Practice our a$$es off and sound awesome come the 5th.

2- Take a step back and lose some momentum.

I know nobody reads this, but I like to post them so we can all look back years from now and remember how tough it was starting out.

I for one didn't feel comfortable behind the set today. I thought things kinda took a step back from the last practice. Could have been due to the fact that we all just got off of work and Megan had just been in an interview. We'll chalk it up to those excuses. It sure isn't because we're not good! We'll make up for it this coming Saturday at Ken's!

Things sounded about the same as last time. Two weeks off in between practices is really too much time. Also, we need to start doing our homework on our own. We spend a lot of time in practice figuring out things that could be done on our own.

Hopefully we've ironed out some things in a couple songs. We should have Oh Atlanta down now and know how to end it. We also tried stringing a couple songs together and it went fairly well.

Ken is working on the recording side of things. We will probably record some stuff next time we're in Colton. Can't wait for that.

And finally, Kathy was sweet enough to bake a birthday cake for yours truly. Thanks again!

We all headed down to Kathy's for a Monday practice. It was great to have a keyboard player. Things sounded much, much better than last practice. Our bass player decided to venture off to another project. Shouldn't be real tough to replace him and then we'll be at full strength.

Can't wait until the next practice.

Practice started out rough, but came together after lunch. We also met our new keyboard player "Kathy". We worked out a few bugs with a few songs and are ready for the next practice next Monday.

With the addition of the keys, we have all the players we need for a while. Now we can start refining the songs and hopefully be ready late next spring for the "Colton Round-up" at Ken's.

Looks like on the 8th of December we're going to do some Christmas songs for the kiddies. I guess it's officially our first gig.

Still need a keyboard player. Many of our songs require keys, so if you know of anyone let me know.

~B

Practice went fairly well. We are getting through the songs much better now. We are still looking for a keyboard player which should help quite a bit.