Not Defining Your Goals is Like Sending A Boat Out to Sea With No Compass. You End Up Back Where You Started Or Hopelessly Lost

 A lot of people ask me, well not a lot more like several…. ok, one guy asked me how come I haven’t written any Mother Hubbard blogs in a while. Well the truth is cuz everything’s been pretty much ok. You see I don’t consider myself a writer, not in the sense that regular normal writers do. I am what I like to refer to as a soapbox writer; meaning I only write when I’m pissed off about something and want to get up on my soapbox and spew my opinions. It’s like therapy and it makes me feel better and it’s free. I tend to get riled up pretty easy about (perceived) injustices in the world, especially in the music business so you would think with the state of things there would be enough material to be typing 24/7. It would seem so wouldn’t it?  But there comes a time when the don’t give a shitter out weighs the need to preach and you realize peace of mind is a beautiful thing and let someone younger and more qualified fight the good fight. So instead of ranting at you fine people I tend to limit my rants to an audience of one with Mr. H and call it a day. But sometimes that gets kinda lonesome as he’s not much of a talker and occasionally nods off on me so here we are.

Every year at this time I start thinking about my goals for the New Year and sometime between Christmas and New Years day I will write them out. Now these aren’t New Years Resolutions. You know things like “I’m going to quit cussing” that I know I’m going to fail at during the first Cowboy game after January 1^st. These are yearly goals, a blueprint if you will for what I/we would like to accomplish during the upcoming year in my Management Business….commonly referred to as Ray’s career.

I also like to write out personal goals, as I’m a firm believer in if you’re not growing you're going but we’re not here to talk about those. 

Goals aren’t to be confused with dreams…. dreams have no time limits and are more abstract…like I wanna be an Olympic ping pong champion or have Johnny Depp paint my toenails. I consider goals roadmaps to attainable dreams. Like a GPS for your life. Or as Napoleon Hill says “Goals are dreams with a deadline.”

So you are probably asking yourself is there a point here somewhere? Hang on; I’m getting there. How many of you reading this are aspiring musicians or songwriters? Judging by the Facebook profiles of the 2K plus “friends” I have that I’ve never met I’m willing to bet that most of you reading this are WGWG’s. (White guy/girl with guitar). And let me guess. Your friends tell you that you are as good as Randy Rogers. That’s great. Good for you. And ok I know what you’re thinking, if I would go check out your You Tube page and show it to Mr. H then more than likely he would call Willie and get him to record your song and well.... don’t get your Grammy speech polished up just yet. (You laugh but you’d be surprised how often we get this!). Oh I wish it were that easy.  

Ninety percent of the reason I don’t manage other artists is due to the unrealistic expectations most have on the work involved and the time it takes to succeed in the music business. It doesn’t just happen by chance. Oh I guess it does sometimes…even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while but that’s the exception not the norm.  The majority of those who have reached any level of success had a plan. And they wrote it down. And they checked it often and they adjusted where needed. I’d bet the farm Randy Rogers management didn’t just sit around posting videos to YouTube then wait for their big break.  I know them and they’re smart. 

The good news is that the process is really pretty simple. The bad news is that it takes some effort, consistency and realistic expectations and more important, talent.  The outline I use has pretty much been the same for 25 years. What is the goal, what steps need to be taken to achieve this goal and what do I already have going for me to achieve it.

Once you write these out put them someplace where you can look at them daily or at least weekly. Out of sight, out of mind is not just a catchy saying. Take the action on your list and be sure and celebrate your accomplishments. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. You have to participate in your career. You can't just show up and expect to make progress. Kinda like me buying cute yoga pants and putting them away in a drawer only to pull them out at the end of the year and wonder why I still can’t do a pretzel headstand.

So get out your paper or laptop, and get started. If you get stuck, I have a handy little .pdf file with an example to get you started. Or post a question and I will do my best to answer. But don’t send me an email cuz then I end up with 10 all asking the same question and that isn’t efficient. Now I’m off to practice my headstands and you all have a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

xxx

Mother Hubbard

Is Katie Key Really The Wizard of Oz?

I got an mean tweet today from some young gal who is probably really nice and in reading some of her other tweets noticed she had sent my husband a nasty tweet a couple of days ago accusing him of speaking ill on twitter of a band he happens to be fond of. Now I can take the heat. I’m aware that my attempt at sarcastic humor often falls flat and I will take the shots when deserved. But Mr. H on the other hand is by God the closest thing I’ve ever met to Gandhi and I’ve met a lot of fucking people. Seriously the dude is kind, genuine and just flat doesn’t talk ugly to or about people. So when this little Christian girl who in between posting Scripture verses bashed both me and the Wylie Llama it got me all riled up, after it got me all sad. I thought it might be a good time to clear up some misconceptions floating around lately regarding the way things work in the music business for those fans and artists who may not otherwise know and may make judgments based on incorrect information.

Now I’ll be the first to admit that that my lack of formal education may in some eyes deem me less than qualified to expound upon numerical hypothesis. But I’d have to be eat up with the dumb ass to not be able to figure out a couple of things hanging around the music business as long as I have. The first is that getting to the top of the charts means one thing and one thing only. That your record got more spins than someone else’s that week. It doesn’t mean that you paid a promoter to do some back room deal to run your numbers up the magic chart flagpole or that Mr. Billboard or even Katie Key has decided to sprinkle success fairy dust on you that week. Frankly it’s preposterous to think they have the power to do so. The numbers are easy to check by anyone who wants to take the time to do so. Radio stations send a weekly report of how many times they play each song to the people who compile the various charts who then add up those numbers and bada bing it’s posted for all to see. Does being in the top ten mean you are more “successful” than someone else? Nope. Does it mean you are now on your way to fame, tour buses and piles of money? Nope. Is it an ego boost? Yep. Is it nice to brag about? Yep. Can it get you laid? Yep. Does it pay your light bill? Nope. It just means for that week your record was played more than someone else’s. It’s simple arithmetic really.

Now if because of those spins listeners go buy your record and attend your concerts then bravo; you’ve got something people respond to which could lead to success.

If on the other hand you get lots of spins and still don’t sell records or garner respectable numbers at shows then who are we to blame? I wouldn’t think it’s the stations or the promoters or the venues or the person at the charting company who compiled the numbers. Wouldn’t we blame the fans for not coming to the show or buying our record? Why of course not, that would be silly. So I guess that leaves the artist. As painful as it may be and believe me I have been on the lean end of the scale as often as the fat end (no puns on my ass size that’s not what we are talking about here) there is no one to blame for our lack of success but us.

Getting along with those in the industry certainly helps as it does in any industry. Networking is a large part of this business of music. Lashing out at others can, as should be expected cause people to not want to help you or do business with you. It takes a tremendous amount of work, a team of talented people, a good business plan and perseverance to make it in this industry. Being nice to people can make it easier. In addition to that you have to write good music, put on a good live show and eventually you will attract a following regardless of what your current status is on any chart and no single person or group of people in the business can do anything to control that. There are no victims, only volunteers. It sucks not be able to blame someone else.

We all have struggles regardless of what position we are in. As a fan, a manager, a blogger or a record promoter none of us are immune to the daily challenges of this business and none of deserve to be blamed for others mistakes or failures.

There was a guy that said a long time ago and I believe that it still holds true that we should treat others, as we would like to be treated. We all came to the party because of the music, those of us who stay do so because of the music and when it’s all said and done that’s all that should really matter.

Laminate Managers, Artist Development and my Top 10 Pet Peeves

In my humble opinion one of the most overlooked necessities in the Texas Music Scene is Artist Development. In the "old days" a new band signed by a major label might spend the first couple years being "developed" by a team at the label before releasing it's first  record. They would school you in everything from image to musicianship to songwriting to fan base development. As smaller labels die out and larger ones tighten their spending Artist Development seems to have for the most all but disappeared. Many bands getting signed today either have already developed past the point of needing it and are selling records in the numbers which attracted the attention of the labels in the first place. Many of the brand new out of nowhere bands are creations of those very labels they are signed with, carefully put together based on look and demographic calculations.

But what about those artists who are out there trying to figure it out on their own. Many just have that "cool" factor and don't need a whole lot of help developing and are ready to sign on with an experienced professional manager. Many should never quit their day job, get this band thing out of their system and go back to the real world. Most fall somewhere in between.

One of my observations and something I tend to poke fun of a lot are what I call the "laminate managers." They go to every show you play because they get in free and have had occasional success with girls using the "I'm with the band" line. They are your fraternity brother, best friend, brother in law etc. Eventually they help you load in/out and sell merch. You let them tag along to a festival show which you are playing the noon slot in order to give the appearance of having a 'crew". You give them a laminate, they put around their neck. The result; instant hard on. The illusion of power, prestige and overall "I have arrived" feeling that accompany that 3 x 4 piece of plastic on a leash are overwhelming. They are committed 100% to doing whatever it takes to stand at the podium and again be awarded the gold medal laminate. They offer to be your manager. Knowing that having a "team" is a true sign YOU have arrived you agree. And though you notice a year later that nothing has changed in your career because your "manager" has no experience, no plan, no connections and no clue you swell with pride as you play the BBQ circuit because all 23 people in the audience can clearly see the shiny laminate hanging around your "crews" necks and surely they too will realize that you have arrived.

I love Artist Development. When you do find a good band that has what it takes to be a success there is nothing more exciting to me than to take what I have learned, utilize the connections I have made and share it with an artist who just needs some help to get to the next level. I don't advertise that I do this nor do I talk about it when I have signed on someone to work with. I already get too many requests for "listen to my band". In addition many times a few months into the relationship you realize the artist isn't willing to do what it takes or has his/her own agenda and just needs me to open some doors. Once this is apparent then I bail, no use wasting either of our time.

But every once in a while I connect with someone who allows me to create a plan, is willing to do the work with minimal resistance and has the patience to wait out what always takes longer than they imagined. The reward for them is a head start in an industry where swimming alone can be tiring and unproductive and for me the validation that after all these years maybe I have picked up a thing or two and that giving is always more gratifying than taking :)

So I have put together a few of my top ten pet peeves for those who would like a little unsolicited advice.

ARTIST DEVELOPMENT LESSON 101

10.) Come up with something original for your logo, ripping off Jack Daniels, Luckenbach, Lone Star or Corona Beer is not only unoriginal it's Trademark infringement.

9.) Never, ever wear Affliction clothing especially with Aviator sunglasses

8.) Do not use the words "critically acclaimed" or "hit single" anywhere in your bio unless you have a top ten on the BILLBOARD charts.

7.) No more songs which progress from a G chord to a D chord to an E minor chord. It's been done over and over and over; stop it.

6.) Never send unsolicited music to a busy music business professional. It will get deleted. If you are asked to send a sample of music ask the preferred method and how many songs ie. yousendit.com, SoundCloud, Dropbox or Email.

5.) Sending an email to a manager requesting to open for one of their bands with a "we are big fans and it would really help us" along with here is where you can go check us out will not get a response. It's not our job to help you and we certainly aren't going to go "check out your music"

4.) Emailing, texting or tweeting me wanting to know if I listened to your CD. If I have and I like it I will tell you. If I have and I did't like it I won't tell you that I didn't like it cuz even I'm not that mean. Chances are it's still on my stack.

3.) Opening bands who go over the alotted times; if you start late too bad, finish when you are supposed to. The headliner is expecting to go on at a certain time, make sure he does. If the crowd is digging you that much they will come to one of your shows.

2.) If your sound check takes over 20 minutes it's called rehearsal, you should have done that already

1.) There is absolutely no reason to wear a laminate at Cheatham Street much less 8 of them, there is no backstage You're embarrassing yourself, take them off.

Once Upon A Time There Were Songwriters.....

When our kid Lucas was little we, like parents have done for thousands of years, would make up stories at bedtime in order to help their little one drift off into dreamland so mom and dad could you know.......watch Comedy Central. In our house Ray was by far the preferred storyteller as each night would be a new adventure full of details and drama fit for Disney. I on the other hand told the same old tired "Once upon time there were dinosaurs...” Since I tend to ponder irrelevant shit a lot I was wondering this morning what kind of stories the cavemen and cave women told their little cave babies when dinosaurs were not yet extinct. That eventually brought me around to the topic of this post.

I've noticed more and more, especially in the local Texas/Red Dirt Music Scene infringements on Copyright owners intellectual property. In other words, people ripping off songwriters. Now I'm not talking about blatant illegal downloading that's typically done by people, the majority of whom are blindly ignorant (or wouldn't care even if they knew) the songwriter in addition to the recording artist is due money. That's a whole different post someday in the future. I am talking about other songwriters, bands, small independent record labels, bloggers, some internet radio stations and anyone else calling themselves a music business professional. Those who are in the business and should know better. Who think, "Giving the artists exposure is helping them”, as one blogger who gives away free downloads of every TX/RD artist states. He doesn't write reviews, get permission and give away one song like the many reputable bloggers do, which in my opinion is a good thing. No, this guy takes old as well as brand new releases and puts up a link to download the entire record. When one artist requested his songs be removed Mr. Asshole Blogger publicly chastised him as if he, the artist were the bad guy.  My question to Mr. Asshole Blogger and others; what about the songwriters who wrote the songs you are giving away? Many are not the artists or band that recorded the song. Were you aware that for every CD sold, every digital download sold there is a royalty payment due to the songwriter and the publisher of each song? That's right, so let's just say for example a well-known Okie band records "Wanna Rock n Roll" which happens to have been written by Ray Wylie Hubbard. RWH also the owns the publishing on the song. Each time said Okie band sells a CD or digital album or single song of their recorded version of WRR Mr. Hubbard gets 9.1 cents. Well if you do the math and Okie band sells say 100,000 records (BTW they sold more than that!) then Mr. Hubbard gets a royalty check for $9,100. This allows him to finally pave his steep driveway and no longer incur flat tires every few months due to navigating a caliche hill, which gets washed out every time it rains. (I fondly refer to it as Ragweed Rd. We’ll talk about the fence that gangsta rapper 50 Cent built in a future post.)

But what if those mechanical royalties were never paid?  What if YOU were dependent on royalty income to provide a roof over your head and food on the table for your family? Did you know that many songwriters have no other source of income? Many are no longer working musicians and many never were; so the flippant excuse downloaders use of "they make a fortune off touring and merch" doesn’t fly with me. A large percentage of artists/bands who do find success (less than 5% reach national touring level) do not write their own material so somewhere out there a man or woman who wrote their hit song is depending on the mechanical royalty paid when you BUY that CD or digital download.

Much of what I do in my role as manager for RWH is song catalogue related. Though we have a publisher administrator (Bug Music) who collects and distributes the mechanicals from record labels and negotiates licenses for RWH songs there is a tremendous amount of additional business that has to be handled in our office. Wading through the various laws, terminology, royalty rates and general practices can be daunting. It requires education and a never-ending one at that. Just when you get to a point where you understand it all the laws and rates will change! Bring in the digital age and you have doubled the amount of information you now must keep current.

For every informed songwriter/artists/manager that I run across in this scene there 10 who don’t have a clue or have incorrect information about Copyright/Royalty Streams/Publishing etc. Many who make more money in a month than most of us will all year! I'm digging that the fans are willing to go out and support their TXRD Artists and that so many can afford shiny new buses and an entourage. It's all good.... until it's over. Because no matter what REK says the road does NOT go on forever and the party DOES end.

So, instead of bitching about the mistakes and/or intentional copyright infringements I run across I thought it best to write about it. My hope is that you won't just take my word as the law or gospel truth but will read something that gets you thinking about it all and propels you to be proactive in your own career or the artists you work with. Most of what I will be covering the next couple of weeks, months or until I get bored will be the basics.

Then in the future if you should find you no longer have that gig/merch $$ rolling in but because you have properly managed your catalogue your songs can still have a life of their own and provide you a nice income.

And most importantly your grandkids or their grandkids won't be handing down bedtime stories story which begin "Once upon a time there were songwriters..."

Mother Hubbard's Tortilla Soup

Sunday's at the Hubbard house generally consist of decompressing from the weekend spent singing, playing and driving. As the weather becomes to cold to sit on the porch and watch the grass grow we like to hang on the couch with a fire going and football or music documentary's on the tube. We normally don't even leave the house and no one enters unless they already know the gate code. If we are going to dine on something other than the deli tray leftover from previous nights gig (like the one Ray stole from Casey Donahue's dressing room last night; sorry...ours only had broccoli and carrots, yours had meat!) then I usually cook up enough food to last all day and more times than not it's tortilla soup. I have worked on fine tuning the recipe over the years and I think today was indeed my best batch. Apologies in advance for the lack of proper measurements on several of the ingredients. You can't really mess this up so just go for it and send me an email if you have any questions or just want to let me know you made it and it was yummy!

5 Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 1/2 onions
3 Celery Stalks

Orrington Chicken Stock Base (Any chicken stock or broth will do but in my opinion this takes it from good to great)
Comino Powder
Chili Powder
Cayenne Pepper
1 Jalapeno Pepper
2 Cans Hominy
2-3 tomatoes
3 Avocados
1 garlic clove
soy sauce
1 lime
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded cheese (I prefer Monterey Jack or Cheddar/Monterey Blend)
tortilla chips

I like organic boneless chicken breast which I cut all visible fat off. Lay them in a big soup pot and generously sprinkle with comino powder, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Pour in just enough chicken broth to cover breasts add 1/ 2 chopped onion cover and cook on low/medium heat about 30 minutes until no longer pink inside.

While chicken is cooking mix together the following for your Pico Di Gallo and refrigerate:
2 or 3 chopped tomatoes
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro stems removed
1 jalapeno (the more seeds you leave in, the hotter it will be)

Once the chicken is done I throw out the cooking water as it has too much fat for me (actually I share the love and add it to the dogs food). Shred each chicken breast into bite size pieces by holding it on cutting board with a fork in your left hand and use your right to hold another fork and stab chicken and pull apart to shred.

Once it's all shredded return to pot and add about 3 stalks of chopped celery, juice from 1/2 lime and 1/2 chopped onion. Add about 6 or more cups of chicken broth and cover. Simmer on medium heat about 20 minutes while you are making your guacamole.

In another pan heat two cans of hominy

Mix the following ingredients for your guacamole:
3 avocados mashed
1 clove garlic chopped
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Juice from 1/2 lime
2 large tablespoons of your pico de gallo


Now it's time to assemble your serving line. Let each person serve themselves as they can adjust the portions of each according to their individual taste. Below is the order we spoon the goods into our bowls.

Hominy
Tortilla Soup
Shredded cheese
Guacamole
Pico de Gallo
Top with a couple of tortilla chips

Enjoy and if there is any left over it's even better the next day!

College 101

As we embark on a new school year many of you will be leaving home for the first time. Imagine, no one telling you what time to come home or to clean your room, brush your teeth or God forbid ask, "Where are you going"?

You will undoubtedly receive practical advice from mom and dad when you have the “going off to college talk”. You know... study hard, call home, don't drink and drive and pick your friends wisely. All good advice but there are a few additional things you should know that mom and dad might not include in the "talk". If you are a Freshman you may want to print this out and tape it on your fridge so you can refer to it often; for upper classmen hopefully you will not have violated too many of these already and a quick refresher may be in order.

GIRLS

1) NEVER under any circumstance take a picture with your cell phone that you wouldn't want your grandmother or your dad's boss to see. Trust me no matter what your guy says, it WILL be shown to his friends and it CAN end up on the Internet. If he says it’s for his private “moments” he is lying. Those are spent with Playmate of the Month pics, not you.  Note to self:

Internet = everyone in the universe can see it = forever = you will never be able to marry a Governor or a Preacher or the President.

2) Videos - Unless you are planning a career in the adult film industry don’t even think about this. (When was the last time Paris Hilton or Pamela Anderson had a steady boyfriend? Once their sex tapes where made public even their prospects were reduced!) See rule #1

3) Attire - Mom is no longer monitoring the amount of clothing you wear and it will be tempting to go all Beyonce here. Let’s try not to get too carried away. A little cleavage is sexy; butt cracks are not.

4) If you are not ready to have sex with a guy then stay away from the area below his waist and above his thigh. Any activity you participate in which involves this area is considered sex. If he tells you otherwise he lying. President Clinton was wrong; a penis in your mouth IS considered sex. Why do you think they call it oral sex?  Sorry guys but it's time someone told them the truth. They will have daughters some day and they need to know this. 

5) This one is important, pay attention. A roofie is not the guy who put new shingles on your parent’s house. It is a drug that is slipped into your drink by a guy who can’t get laid by any means other than drugging unsuspecting girls. Yes it happens to people like you. Never leave your drink unattended or accept a drink from someone you don’t know well.

Guys

1)    Clean out your car before picking her up for a date. No need to overkill with the Armor All on the dashboard, just remove the books, dirty socks and Whataburger leftovers. A little insight to how our mind works:  Clean car = responsible guy, nice family, bright future, we’ll have a house in the suburbs, marriage material = let’s have fun tonight.   Trashy car = mama’s boy, dad’s in prison, trailer park in the future, I’ll have to work 2 jobs = feed me and take me home.

2)    Condom’s – Always use them, no exceptions. Regardless of what the media portrays; people in Third World Countries and homosexuals are not the only ones who get Aids. College kids in America can and do, lots of them.

3)    It will be tempting to skip class from time to time in order to participate in a HALO or WOW tournament. But be careful here as video games are like crack. One day turns into 2 weeks and the next thing you know a whole semester is gone and you have only attended class 6 times. There is no place on a job application to list your HALO ranking or number of kills. No one over 25 cares, least of all your parents.

4)    Do not take your clothes home to your mother to wash. Sounds cute, looks bad. It’s simple really: dark jeans, underwear and shirts can be washed together on warm water with cold rinse. White clothes together on warm wash cold rinse, only use the bleach if everything is white.   Towels and socks together on warm wash/warm rinse. (Washing towels or socks with dark t-shirts leaves all those little fuzzies on your shirts) Anything that might shrink or anything with bright colors that might bleed wash on cold and hang to dry. You are in college I know you can do this.

5)    Putting a roofie in a girls drink to “loosen” her up so she will have sex with you is not harmless, funny or cool. It is a felony. It is rape. If you can’t comprehend how traumatic rape is don’t fret, as your first week at Leavenworth Penitentiary will solve that problem.

Girls and Guys

            I am sure you have already been told this but I feel it bears repeating hopefully impressing upon you the seriousness of this simple task. Call home, really. Just dial; tell them you are doing great and just called to check in and let them know you miss them. Do not ask for money on every call, they will expect it. Try and grasp this concept. When you don’t call your girlfriend/boyfriend they just get irritated. Don’t call your mom and she’s devastated. We may not tell you but trust me; we created you, we live for you, we would kill to protect you. It’s just a phone call; make it.

            And finally don’t forget to have fun, make friends, learn something and enjoy. Most people will tell you their college years were some of the best years of their life. You have worked hard to get here and you will have to work hard to stay but the pay off is worth it. Now go out and create some great memories and a bright future!

xxx

Mother

                                                                                                                                    

What's a Mother to do on a Friday night?

Well the bad news is the boy is 17 and no longer wants to hang at home on the weekends with his mama when his daddy goes out on the road. If he is not playing guitar with Mr. H then he is somewhere out there doing whatever 17 year old kids do these days. Don't want to think too long on that one...
So Mother Hubbard has been spending a lot of time at home on the weekends all by my damn lonesome. Not sure what to do with myself when the house is empty. Choices are: A)organize Mr. Hubbard's sock drawer or B)work on answering or filing the 1,100 plus emails lurking in my inbox which seem to multiply faster than I can hit the delete button. Hint:There is no C. But damn I am the President of a record label...Clive Davis probaby isn't working on weekends. I bet Mr. Beyonce's daddy Knowles isn't agonizing over some P & L sheet on Friday night so I shouldn't have to work either. But I am bored. I tried gardening..killed everything. Bought more, killed it too. You have to be consistent with the watering thing. Tried sewing and well that went well till I sewed my finger last weekend cause I was driving the sewing machine thing to fast. Hurt like a sonofabitch. Plus it's boring to sit home like some Betsy Ross old lady and sew by myself. Before I settled down my wild ways many years ago I was thinking about joining the Convent and becoming a nun cuz I figured it would keep me out of trouble. But checked into it and realized solitude is not a virtue I do well with so I got a job selling and repoing cars instead. Well that is where I find myself again. At a crossroads. Not much for hanging in the honky tonks by myself...that is kinda creepy; so that is out. Well I am open to some suggestions...

Hey...here's a thought; how about if I become a professional designated driver! Since I don't drink any more but still like to go see a live show now and again and when Mr. H is home he isn't one to go to a honky tonk unless his name is on the marquis. I can understand that I guess. But every once in a while a girl wants to go out and smell stale cigarettes and watch a good band. I was diagnosed as a teenager with neon poisoning. That means when the neon lights go it is wired in your DNA to be in a honky tonk. Can't help yourself.   So I could put an ad maybe on Craigslist and be Mother Hubbard-Designated Driver or Mother Hubbard's Pub Crawl. I would be cheaper than a cab and know where all the good venues are...hell I even know how to go in the back door at most of them. I am old enough to be most peoples mom so I would not be mistaken for someone's date so wouldn't cramp the guys style if I was DD for guys. If I was driving a bunch of girls then I could teach them some of my old work the room "secrets". It sounds like a win, win situation for everyone. So let me know what you think!

But in the mean time until I get some Designated Driver gigs, I am going to go find some cool new music on a few of my favorite blogs and post it here so we can broaden our musical minds together.

Tonight we landed at Saving Country Music. I like the fact that Triggerman over there seems to find so many bands that I never heard of...meaning they aren't on every other blog or music biz online mag I read every day which could mean either they can't afford a high priced publicist to get them strategically placed in the viral outerspace of coveted ink which can be a good thing because it usually means they are new and there is something so organic about that. It gives me warm fuzzies to hear new music with grit and soul and don't give a shit if I ever get a beer commercial honesty. It makes Mother happy. So cruisin on Save Country Music I saw a name I have wanted to check out for a couple months and dove right in. Lucky Tubb. Now Lucky is a Texan and I know a lot of you out there probably think we are all cozy like bugs in a rug and know each other and go drink from the same koolaid fountain every night before bed but that is not entirely the case. Not sure where this kid has been hiding or how long he has been out there but I met him a couple of months ago over at Lone Star Music in Gruene when I was dropping off some CD's of Mr.H for them to sell. (Yea, I do that). Well I walked in and there was this kinda scraggly looking youngish darling guy dropping off merch to sell also and he kinda reminded me of a young Mr. Hubbard...ya know "total gun toting, cigarette smoking, cuban heel cowboy boot wearing, tequila drinking, bad boy; but with polite manners and a souther drawl and so cute I just wanted to take him down to the taxidermy and have him stuffed so I could put him on a shelf in my living room. Ya with me...? Well we introduced ourselves and hugged like long lost cousins because that is what Texans do and started telling road stories and laughing, cussin and entertaining the fine folks at Lone Star Music. Nothing calculated or branded about this one. He has gypsy traveling music man in his bones. So you would think with a intro like that I would have put his CD in the car and checked it out on the way home but the CD player in the jeep is broken and when I got home stuff starts pulling from 9 directions and I never followed up on it. Well all I gotta say is my bad. He is everything he looks like he is gonna be and doesn't disappoint one bit. But don't take my word for it go here and listen and decide for your own self. Would love to hear what you think once you do.

You can go straight to Lone Star Music or to his myspace page to check out his music and  while you are listening go back over to Saving Country Music and read all about him. I am digging Damn the Luck, Not At All, West, Lonesome Cowboy and Used Up Love. His music reminds me of the old Merle, kinda Conway country that makes you want to go down to the nearest VFW and grab one of those old leather faced cowboys with a frisbee sized belt buckle that doesn't talk except to say ma'am cause those are the ones that have been two stepping since they were ten and know their way around a dance floor.
 I'm feeling lucky finding this one.

XXX
Mother