The Good Graces Go West! New Orleans! SXSW! Austin!

We loaded up the Honda Element with gear and hit the road with The Good Graces about 10 days ago and headed out to play some shows for folks in New Orleans and Austin, TX. We played a long set and had a great first night at Igor's Checkpoint Charlie with our new friends, Polly Pry. Beers were had, dogs were kissed,  music was played and someone gave us a $200 tip. We stayed at a very cute AirBnB with a cute old Silverstream-like trailer in the front yard.

Pictures from New Orleans

 

The next day we rolled into Austin, Texas in the evening, grabbed some pizza at Home Slice and rested up for our show the next day. Up and at it early, we headed over to El Sapo where we met everyone from Music for Listeners and settled in with some amazing drinks and just as fantastic food. So, so good. We had a great time playing and hanging out all day. After our set we grabbed a table and saw Be Forest, Spring King, Hinds, The Parrots, Wilsen, and Emmy the Great. Everyone was fantastic! After the day party ended we headed back to the house, unloaded the car and headed out to see Bookclub, our friends from Atlanta perform at Love Goat. Feeling totally exhausted by the ended the night we finished up our Austin experience with some late night tacos at Guero's. Such a fun trip. Hope we can get back out this way again sometime soon.

Check out some pic and a video or our set.

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House Party Video from the BeAtlanta Show

Hey! I played a house party for BeAtlanta that benefited Wounded Warriors, we raised a bunch of money and I donated 50% of mercy proceeds to the cause. If you missed it have a look and listen to the video below. It would be weird to just look, but if that's your thing I won't judge you.

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New headphones at work = sanity restored

Back in the 90s when I worked at Thoroughbred Music I won a sales contest, a set of AKG K-44 headphones. Since I already had a pair of good studio headphones, which I still have and use for recording, I kept these in the box until this morning. Man, these sound really good and I can't hear any of the non-stop talking that going on here in the office. Why did I wait this long? New headphones at work = sanity restored. 

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2 solo shows this week!

Hey friends, I've got 2 singer/songwriter shows in the next week. Swing by if you can and if you can work in the phrase "greased lightning" I'll buy you a beer. Shhhhh... don't tell anyone.

Here's the deets:

Monday, February 17th @ The Roswell Tap in Roswell, GA - 9:30pm - 10:00pm

Sunday, February 22nd @ Keegan's Public House in Kennesaw, GA - 9:00pm - 9:30pm

Both shows are free and both places have great food and drinks.

 

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The Good Graces live on WREK

Hey, we played live on the radio! The mini-Good Graces with me, Kim and Monica headed over Tuesday night, got set up and strummed some tunes for you on the air. I especially loved the Q&A at the end of the show. The students did a great job!

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The Good Graces North Carolina Mini Tour

It's always a good weekend we you can jump in the car and play some music for some new friends in some new towns and this weekend was no exception. On Friday The Good Graces headed up to Brevard and Shelby, North Carolina to play a few multi-set shows at the Oskar Brewery and the Dragonfly Wine Market in Brevard and Shelby respectively and bring the music to the masses.

Friday night, The Oskar Brewery was alive with a boisterous vibe with the beer flowing freely, hearty laughs with buckets of peanuts on every table. Ken Voltz from the Brevard Area Music Scene came out and shot a video and took a few pictures. He and his wife were very nice.

After the show we immediately headed to Shelby, NC and stayed with Kim's parents. They are so incredibly nice! The next day we kicked around a bit. I helped Kim shoot some footage for a Theme Music song she was working on out in a big field. Check out the video below.

Next up we headed into downtown Shelby where we stopped by the Shelby Music Center for strings where we got a big story about the guy that runs the factory, before arriving at the Dragonfly Wine Marker to get set up and partake in their beer tasting event. 

After setting up we walked around downtown a bit, took some pics and then returned to play a few sets. Super fun and the folks that own that place could not have been nicer. 

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THE SUNSET DISTRICT AT THE MAMMAL GALLERY

Had a great time playing at the Mammal Gallery last Thursday night. It was a really cold night, and apparently they don't have any heat in the building so we kept warm by rocking out with our friends, The Vincent Blacks and Silent and Listen. Here's some pics from the show below.

More pictures from the show. Click to enlarge.

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The Good Graces Wine and Cheese Show tomorrow night!

Live from Wizkid Sound Studios, it's the first ever tGG Stageit show! Complete with wine & cheese! (BYOW&C) 

We'll be playing a very stripped-down (but with clothes on) set of selections from our new record "Close to the Sun," along with a couple of possible surprises (ooh!). Looking forward to connecting with some of our friends from across the globe!

To tune in, simply get your ticket from https://www.stageit.com/the_good_graces/wine_cheese_show/42825, and get online Feb. 1 at 4PM!

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PLS PLS at the EARL

I'm not sure there's another band in town that can lock into a groove so solidly as PLS PLS. Once you set the foundation it's anything goes. So solid and fun.

PLS PLS Website

PLS PLS on Amazon

Camera: Nikon D810 / Lens 24-70mm f/2.8

Dan Dixon from PLS PLS

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Hank & Cupcakes

Hank and Cupcakes brought out the dance party to the EARL last night. 2 people, drums, bass and a lot of 3D glasses. So fun!

Hank & Cupcakes

 

Hank & Cupcakes Website

Hank and Cupcakes Bandcamp

Camera: Nikon D810 / Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8

 

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DAMS at the EARL

I headed out to the EARL again tonight and caught 3 great bands, DAMS, Hank & Cupcakes and PLS PLS. The drummer in DAMS really floored me!

Camera: Nikon D810 / Lens: Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8

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Parquet Courts, Predator, and Uniform at the EARL

Robyn and I headed out to the EARL on Friday night to catch Parquet Courts and grab some food. I've been digging this band for a good time now and their last few releases have just been fantastic. I have a feeling that the next time they come through town they're going to be playing a much bigger venue.

Parquet Courts on Amazon.com

The lighting at the EARL has been pretty challenging since they've replaced most of the bulb lighting with some LED lights, and while I understand the practicality of them, they seems to keep the stage pretty dim most of the time, and the color of choice most nights seems to be red. I knew the room was going to be sold out tonight so we got there pretty early and just stayed up front for most of the night which really paid off since the lights were so dim and it was so crowded. 

Camera: Nikon D810 / Lens: Nikon 50mm f/1.8D

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Murphy's

Had a chance to perform at a surprise birthday party at Murphy's in the Highlands last night with Kim. It was a mashup or mostly Good Graces tunes with a few Sunset District songs thrown in for good measure. It was a really fun night with great food and wine and a perfect run through practice for our upcoming shows in North Carolina next weekend. 

Speaking of which, here's a little plug for our 2 shows next weekend.

2/6/2015 - the Good Graces at Oskar Blues Brewery

2/7/2015 - the Good Graces at Dragonfly Wine Market in Shelby, NC

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That One Guitar!

Hey friends! I'm getting ready to start scheduling some new photography sessions for my project, That One Guitar. What do you need? A good story about an instrument that you love and your pretty face. That's it! Please get in touch if you'd like to participate.

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