Back to the Blogger!!

It's been far too long since I've taken the time to sit down and blog about anything and I've decided it's finally time to get back in the swing of things. Writing these first few blogs before we transferred over to the old website blog were a source of great joy and entertainment for me and I'm looking forward to getting back in the proverbial saddle and doing the thing I love most about my job...writing. I'll be doing the blogging here and linking up to our brand-spankin' new website over at http://www.thedamnquailsband.com.  That's the only official website of the Damn Quails and contains CORRECT information regarding our touring schedule, upcoming events, new pictures, videos, etc. Please visit the site, bookmark it, and delete the link to the old website as it's no longer under our control.  The reason?  Read on....

I know a lot of you have questions about just what the hell has been going on with us over the past few months regarding the unavoidable (and pain in the ass) business side part of our little traveling band and I sincerely wish I could answer all of those questions with brutal and indignant honesty.  Alas, now is still not the time for me to do so, but as soon as I am able to discuss the whole thing, I'll write a blog long enough to rival a good Stephen King short story and everything will be fully explained.  For now, all I can say is that we are still working through some business and management issues, but we're definitely still a band and still dedicated to rocking the ever-loving shit out of your town, home theater system, and car stereo.  Wacky Mac is still one of our closest confidants and we love him more than ever no matter what you might have heard through this devil's grapevine we're all caught up in.  Most importantly, thank you from the bottom of all of our tiny Quail hearts for sticking with us and for understanding (or at least accepting) the vagueness and overall lack of information regarding our current situation.  Thanks, thanks, a billion times thanks.  On to lighter news...

Those of you that have been kind enough to come out to a Damn Quails show over the past few months have already gotten a sneak peak at some of the material we're going to be recording for our eagerly anticipated second record.  Gabriel has been playing "Tightrope Walker", "Give it Some Time", and "Streets of LA" nearly every set, and I've recently been bringing out  "Las Vegas March" and a super new song that I've yet to officially give a name to.  In my slightly off-kilter little songwriting universe, I generally don't give titles to songs until they've been tracked out, slapped on the ass, and sent kicking and screaming into the world, so forgive me if you're the kind of person that absolutely must have a name for something...I'm an odd duck...er...quail.

Speaking of ducks, our resident multi-instrument playing genius Mr. Jon Knudson has a new pet that some of you have already had the pleasure of meeting.  His name is Jeff Duckley and he is most definitely a duckling that's traveling with us in a cardboard box or sometimes upon the shoulder of his equally mischievous owner.  You can keep up with our exploits through his tiny little ducky eyes at facebook.com/quacknicholson or follow him @jeffduckley on twitter.  Jeff is going to be having a few little contests here and there that the band will be taking part in, so make sure you follow him up and keep and eye out for those.

Another spiffy new feature we have in the works is our upcoming foray into the new and exciting world of podcasting.  I've been obsessively going through Matt Pryor's various podcasts in which he interviews fellow singer/songwriters from his particular genre and shoots the breeze about songwriting, touring, and fan funding records.  Matt was the lead singer of The Get Up Kids, one of my absolute favorite bands growing up, and he has a very unique perspective on the world and plight of the touring musician.  We in the Texas/Oklahoma scene have our own set of unwritten rules and social mores and it's really interesting to see the similarities and differences between our genres. On a similar note, check out http://www.downwrite.com/.  These guys have taken songwriting to an intensely personal level by featuring a rotating cast of writers and giving fans the ability to request a song written specifically about whatever they want, pay a fee, and whichever DownWrite artist they want will write that fan his or her own song.  Imagine being able to drop $100 or $200 (depending on how polished of a recording you prefer) and have me or Gabriel write a song about your significant other or your life-long crush or your first car. Essentially, you feed info, pictures, or stories to your favorite DownWrite artist and they write and record a song just for you and email you a copy in a matter of weeks.  They're doing really great things so please take a sec and visit their respective sites and take a gander at what's going on outside of our little niche in the universe.  But I digress...

I'm doing some research and getting pumped up about recording the very first and very official Damn Quails Podcast!  That's right folks and folkettes.  In the next month and change, I'm going to be recording an official TDQ podcast once every few weeks that you'll be able to subscribe to and listen to at your own convenience.  I'll be talking with the members of the covey you know as well as a special guest or two from time to time as well.  The official TDQ Podcast will essentially exist to keep everyone updated on shows, give us a chance to talk about our personal lives a bit, and let you in on  general band-related stuff straight from the bird's mouth.  We're all pumped about getting it going and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we're going to enjoy recording it.  In addition to the Official TDQ Podcast, we're also working on a separate (but infinitely more hilarious) podcast featuring everyone's favorite drunken harmonica maestro, Biggie.  I'll be doing the moderating as Biggie answers YOUR questions about life, love, harmonicas, battle tactics, music, French cooking and cuisine, rugby, video games, and most anything else you want to ask of the man himself.  It's going to be like an Anne Landers type column, only with more alcohol and cursing.  Prepare yourselves for "Get Your Shit Right with Biggie".  We've already set up an email address, so email any and all of your questions for Biggie to getyourshitright@gmail.com.  You can also tweet your questions to @thedamnquails #getyourshitright or just post 'em up to facebook.com/thedamnquails and I'll make sure he gets them.

Thanks for sticking with this fairly long blog post.  I hope you cats that followed the blog over the past few years will pick it back up again and share it with your friends and fellow fans.  Before I sign off, I want to thank everyone that's lent us any level of support during the past few years, from the supportive social network messages to the phone calls and handshakes and general having of our backs.  We honestly would not have made it through without the support of you fans that are really putting food on our plates and paying our rent and bills by coming out to shows, buying merch, and having a good time with us.  Our fans are the best fans on the planet and you all deserve a billion high fives for being so incredible. If you guys and gals keep sending us the love and making it out to gigs, we'll continue to make music that we believe in and rock the fuck out for you every chance we get.

Until next time....

--Bryon White/The Damn Quails

Gigs galore, an evening with Grady Cross, and testing the weight limit at the Deli

In case you haven't noticed, we over here at the Quail camp have been steadily filling up dates on the old calendar in preparation for the release of Down the Hatch, our new record on Mike McClure and Chance Sparkman's new joint venture 598 Recordings.  14 tracks of original TDQ material with some of the best players in Oklahoma and beyond, co-produced by Mac and the magic man himself, Mr. Joe Hardy.

Or Dobro Joe as we like to call him.

Dobro Joe has worked with more people than I care to mention (okay, I'll mention some.  ZZ Top, Steve Earle, the Replacements, etc) and is a pretty unique dude to say the least.  His facebook photo looks like he got real drunk at a Mexican restaurant on his birthday and was subsequently blinded by an extra-sizzlin' fajita platter.  Photogenically speaking, not so great.  Musically speaking, dude is a powerhouse of mammoth proportions and every bit as tasty as his impressive resume implies...or, more appropriately, shouts from the rooftops.  It's really, really, really damn good.

Speaking of good, we had our first official full band gig at Grady Cross' new joint, Grady's 66 Pub in Yukon.  The first thing that hit me was the similarity in feel to the old Tumbleweed in Stillwater: A little dark, lots of neon (mostly provided by fellow red dirties, including McClure...his is obviously the biggest by a country mile or 4) and cheap beer that flows like...well, like cheap beer.  We had a chance to pow wow with Grady in his studio/jam room/personal wet bar before the gig and had an awesome time hanging with him.  A nicer guy you're not likely to come across (get it?), and the most glaringly cool part of the whole thing was his attention to the needs of we humble performing folk.  We wanted for nothing the whole night, except for an occasional bucket that we blew through like they were going out of style...and that's our own damn fault.  About midway through the night, Grady graced us with the traditional Grady's 66 band beverage; an ice cold bottle of Boones Farm Wild Cherry.  It was passed, emptied, and the rocking continued well into the night.  Unlike most crowds at many of the bars that dot the Oklahoma landscape, the folks at Grady's were polite, attentive, and actually paid attention to the songs as opposed to drunkenly stumbling around and screaming at the top of their lungs.  Cool deal.

Meanwhile, things in Norman are effing great.

Monday Night Madness has progressively become a living, breathing thing of a concert.  While the majority of other spots on Campus Corner are peppered with a few loyal patrons on Monday night, the Deli is an explosive hub of players, friends, college kids, and the ever faithful regulars that make it such an amazing show for us each and every week.  We've added the acoustic guitar stylings of Mr. Blake Lennon to the insanity, which puts us at a steady 9 players on stage throughout the night, and an occasional guest appearance by any number of local yokels.  Last night, Mr. Alan Orebaugh sat in for a few tunes on baritone and pedal steel (his first time, though you couldn't tell it) and we had Nooch up for a rendition of an old Mama Sweet tune that we all love so damn much.  Ryan Engleman continues to astound on the pedal steel/baritone duties and it's a pleasure to get to jam with such a nice guy and phenomenal picker once a week.  Needless to say, if you haven't had a chance to witness the insane circus that is the Deli on a Monday, you probably should while you can still get in the doors.  It's not quite Hosty packed as of yet, which means you can still move around comfortably and sometimes find a chair, but it's getting there.  It's always an ethereal connection that happens on stage, but this gig brings out the creativity and the passion in a special way.  I think it's because it's just a bunch of really good players getting together to play some really good music.  Simple formula, but effective.

Keep an eye out on this here blog and the facebook page as there's lots of stuff happening and you don't want to get left out of the loop...do you?  I'm also getting ready to start a little weekly band member profile for each of our members, so keep an eye peeled.  August 12th is our very first show at the infamous Wormy Dog in OKC, opening up for Mike McClure.  COME SEE US!