South LA

Ahhh I am so exhausted. Getting up at 5:00am is definitely getting to me. I have been so busy lately. Work has been going pretty good. I have been learning a lot, but I guess it’s hard not to when you are working 45 hours a week.

Last weekend I cut out a little early. Dad, Kris and I went to the South of Louisiana to hang out with the Justin and Jerry (some friends of ours). We got down there Friday evening and went to dinner at this place called Hollier’s, and then headed over to the La’Berge du Lac… a brand new hotel and casino there. It is really nice. We had a lot of fun hanging out in the casino and drinking…

That night I didn’t get to bed until 3:30am… so I slept thru breakfast the next morning… and got up in time for lunch J then Dad, Kris, Justin and I went down and fished the coastal marshes… we caught like 4-or-so fish and headed down to check out Holly Beach. When we got back to Jerry’s place we fired up the grille and Dad threw on some steaks. Dinner was really good. Then we hung around and enjoyed the good company. I haven’t seen Jerry and his son since we all went deep sea fishing out of Galveston Island last time.

Sunday we drove back to Dallas. We threw the fish on the grill and hung around.

This week I went over to my brother’s store and got some custom framing done… he is a really hard worker. I am proud of him. I saw Lacy the other day. I met her @ Starbucks off of 75 and Lemmon, and then headed over to check out her new apartment. Last night I went to dinner with Vanessa… she was in town for the evening… She is flying to Lubbock this afternoon. I am jealous.

This weekend will be one of the last weekends I spend in Dallas. All the rest are packed with traveling and packing and whatnot. I think I am going to have a couple friends over for a cookout. We’ll see how that goes.

D-Fest in Tulsa

Ah, this past weekend was great. Friday I worked from 7am until around noon, and then I caught a flight from Dallas to Tulsa for D-Fest (which is short for Diversafest). It consists of around 96 bands on 8 or 9 stages in downtown. This thing is a SXSW in the making. Watch out Austin.

When I landed to took a shuttle to the hotel because Nick and Keith weren’t in town yet. I checked into the Downtown Plaza where the conference was being held. I laid around for a couple of hours, just relaxing until they got into town. It was nice to do nothing for a little bit.

Whenever the guys got to the hotel we got ready to head out to D-Fest to register and get Nick all set up for his showcase. The people were nice. They had a pre-party @ The Venue for all of the industry people and musicians. Then we headed over to Dalisandro’s, where Nick was playing. We met some cool people hanging around. Nick’s set went really well. We hung around for a bit waiting on a shuttle to get back to the hotel to put the stuff up. We ended going back out and catching a few more bands that night.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the conference. Nick had to jet because he had a gig in Norman. Keith and I went to about 6 conferences all day long, ranging from how to build the perfect press kit to talking to A&R people about what they are looking for to diversifying the income. It was a lot of information. Most of the panelist seemed like they were very knowledgeable in their area. It’s so cool to see the inside of the industry, and see how it works. I understand that I only saw a small percentage of what all goes on, but it was cool to be apart of that.

The guys from Gooding were there. They are pretty good friends with Nick and Keith. I’ve met Gooding (who is the lead singer and guitarist… and his name also doubles as the band name) once before. He was a panelist in two of the different conferences. You can really tell how much different bands really bust ass to get where they are.

That night Keith and I headed out to all of the different venues where D-Fest was being held to catch different bands all night. We saw about 9 different bands Saturday night. And then we went to the penthouse on top of the bank building that sits on the corner of the festival. We hung out with a couple of people up there and bullshitted.

Then Gooding called and invited us to the D-Fest VIP after party back at the hotel. It was in one of the suites up stairs. I met a few people who were pretty cool. I like hearing other people’s stories about the industry or themselves as musicians. There was a guy at the party who was so wasted he passed out in a chair. Now one might think because this is a VIP party for a decent sized festival in Tulsa people would take care of this guy and find out what room he is staying in…. nope. People proceeded to write on this guy and put things on him and in his hair. It was kind of sad, but at the same time this kid probably deserved it. He was so wasted whenever I’d talked to him earlier that night. Know your limit kids.

Sunday we went to grab some lunch at Spaghetti Warehouse and then back to the hotel for a pool party put on by D-Fest for everyone involved in the conference. We ran into the wasted kid again and he was wasted again… or still… I am not sure which haha. After that was over I headed back to the airport and flew home.

I really appreciate Nick and Keith for inviting me this weekend. It was definitely a blast. I don’t think I have ever had so much free Miller Light and pizza. Haha.

Vanessa picked me up and we went to have dinner. That was nice.

This week has been hectic at work. I have put in about 45 hours and I am exhausted. Hopefully the weekend will hold something great.

Independece Day...

ok, it's been a long time since i have updated this thing... lemme give you the quick version...

since i last posted... i realized i hate statistics more than any other math class... (that i have taken.... which isn't saying much... but it really does suck) I am currently failing I think. I have never failed anything so I have to bust my butt to pull it up.

I went to see Marc Broussard, Sons of William and Eliot Morris in concert a couple weeks ago. I went with hollie and elisha. We had a really good time. Last Saturday (the 25th) Nick opened for Graham @ Gypsy. It was really good seeing Nick and Keith again. The show was great.

I have still been hanging out with Kris a lot.. and watching the 4400 on Sundays.

Shelly is leaving for London on Wednesday. Andrew is leaving for London on Friday & Heather just got back from Italy this past week.

I went to dinner with Vanessa and a few friends @ Snuffers on lower Greenville. It was good hanging out with her again.

Work is going okay. I have been so tired juggling work and school and random partying.

Friday Kris and I drove to Lubbock to stay @ the good ole APT.... and hang out with my roommates and some friends I havent seen in a long time. I spent a lot of money and had a really good time. I think I went to 6 different bars in 3 days. hmmm is that bad?

We drove back this afternoon... and I ended up going to Philip's to hang out with some friends. They had a 4th of July party over there.

I know I am leaving out a ton of stuff... but my brain is too tired to remember anything.

This is my last week of school, and this weekend I am flying to Tulsa for D-fest. There is a conference during the day and Keith got me a industry pass for the day time. At night there are tons of bands playing. Nick is playing on friday night @ some bar. It should be a lot of fun.

Now I am off to bed... Don't forget to thank any and every person you know involved in the United States Military.

Until next time....