Blake & Mitch Blog

It's Been Too Long

Tue, 4 May 2010 21:04:08 -0500

It really has. I want to apologize to everyone. I really wanted to stay up to date with the blog and I fell off the wagon. Well, here’s to getting back on. Obviously, lot’s of things have been going on since I last posted so I will try to bring everything up to speed.
First things first, the record is done!!!! It is titled “White Lines & Stars” and you can pre-order it now online. We will release it later on this summer. This has been a long, but rewarding process and I think everyone is going to enjoy it. All of the songs are making their way into the live set and it is so much fun playing new music. So, catch a show if you can. Mitch and I are about to set out on a 2 week radio tour to promote the 1st single off the record which is also titled “White Lines & Stars”. This particular tour is going to take us from Livingston to Amarillo and everywhere in between. The single went out to radio last week and will begin to spin sometime in the next 2 weeks. Call your local station and request “White Lines & Stars”!!! As soon as I get a radio list, I will post it on the website so you can find a station near you. We are going to build this from the ground up and we need your help. Call the stations, tell your friends to visit us on Facebook, and catch a show when you can and we’ll watch this thing get bigger and bigger together. I am so excited I can barely sit still!!!
Like I said on Facebook, we’ve got a busy week ahead. Tuesday, Mitch and I are opening the show for the 1st ever reunion of Foster & Lloyd in Texas. It will be at Dosey Doe in The Woodland’s as apart of their Real Life, Real Music series. This is a dream come true. To share the stage with these country legends is going to be amazing.
Friday, we head north to College Station for what is sure to be a rowdy night on Northgate. We are playing the outdoor stage a Schotzi’s. This is our 1st time at this venue so we are looking to rock til the wee hours!!! Show will start around 10:30pm.
Saturday, we are back home in Cypress with a great band. We will be sharing the stage with Brian Burke. This guy is great. Amazing energy, solid songwriting, and boy does he have some pipes. We will start the show around 9:30pm. Brian is also a Cypress boy, so this should be just like a backyard party. Bring your friends and let’s close it down.
Some other things of note, we are putting the finishing touches on a little 6 minute video showing the progression of Rosehill to this point. It’s just a fun video with a few interviews and great video of us on the road. That should be up on the site in a week or 2. We are starting to book up throughout the summer and we are hoping to get the calendar pretty full. If there is a venue in your area that you would like to see us at, shoot us an e-mail or Facebook us and we’ll get on it. Guys, we are so excited about this record and we hope you are too. We have put our hearts and souls into it and we truly believe that you are going to enjoy it. SO buy the record, go to a show, buy a tee shirt, or just let us know what you think. This has been an amazing ride but this is only the beginning. “Our dreams are on the fly, and we’re just shootin’ from the hip”!!!!!

Blake & Mitch

Ronnie's Place

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:11:27 -0600

That is the name of the studio we recorded in this weekend. The 1st of a couple of sessions that will complete the debut release of Rosehill. It was originally owned by Roy Orbison, but later sold to Ronnie Milsap. Now you know why it is called “Ronnie’s Place”. What an amazing experience! We are ahead of schedule. We tracked 7 songs this weekend. The energy was great and the momentum was full speed ahead. There are some pics to kind of give you a feel of where we were. What you wont see in the pics is the outside. It was 15 degrees while we were tracking, so we didn’t spend a whole lot of time outside. Let me fill you guys in on what the schedule looks like for the completion of this album. Jay Clementi and Radney will come to Houston in 2 weeks so we can overdub vocals for the 1st seven songs. A couple a weeks after that, we will return to Nashville for another writing session. Then we will start the whole process over again; tracking another 6 or 7 songs in Nashville, vocals in Houston, and final mastering in Nashville. So things are on they’re way. A few things for the immediate future, we are back on the home court this Friday with a show at Cypress Saloon. Always a good time. Then, coming up soon, Mitch and I will open up for Radney at Dosey Doe in The Woodlands on February 5th. This is an acoustic show, but if you want to hear some of the songs going on the record, this will be the show you want to make. We took a lot of flip video in the studio this weekend and will get it up as soon as we can. We are working our tails off to get this record out and we are extremely excited and proud of how it is coming together. We will update as new developments come.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:48:25 -0600

Hello all! Sorry it has been awhile since we have posted a blog, but things have been pretty busy as of late. This past weekend, we spent 2 days in Nashville writing songs for the new record. WOW, what an experience! We got to write with some of the best in the business. Jay Clementi, George Ducas, Radney Foster, and Darrell Brown. These guys weren’t just amazing songwriters, they were amazing people. They were so gracious, as well as patient teachers. We wrote 6 songs in 2 days! Needless to say, we are a little brain dead. We go into the studio here in about 3 weeks. After that 1st recording session, we plan on having another songwriter camp before we go in for the 2nd time. The chemistry was so good that we don’t want to miss anything for this album. For the time being, we will be in Richmond this Saturday at the Lone Star Saloon. So come out for a good ole Texas Saturday night!

Between Nashville & Cypress

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:11:07 -0600

Nothing like flying by the seat of your pants. Got a call Monday morning saying there was 2 tickets available for us to go to the CMA’s. So, without really thinking about it, we got into the car at about noon and headed to Nashville. 13 hours and a lot of coffee later, we had made it to Nashville.
Tuesday, we went and toured the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Lynchburg. Really interesting and a lot of history, however the most disturbing part was that Lynchburg is dry. Which means, after the tour, there was no drinking. Can you say irony? Tuesday night we went up to the Exit/In for the Lee Ann Womack/Randy Rogers show. Both were great and we ran into a bunch of friends.
Wednesday, we slept off the Tuesday night celebration and got ready for the CMA’s. The show was fun, but long. Some really good performances, though. That night we hooked up with our buddy Alex Weeden from the Miranda Lambert band. We went to a couple of after parties and rubbed elbows with the “beautiful” people, but by midnight, it was time for some fun. We went to 1 of our favorite spots on music row called “Loser’s”. It was far more packed than usual. Come to find out that golfer John Daly was having his own after party there. Here is a little transcript of my conversation with him:

(John picks up a mason jar with a clear liquid in it)

Blake: John, what the hell is that?
John: Oh, this here is apple pie moonshine.
Blake: Seriously?
John: Hell yeah! Take a pull off of mine.

We left Nashville at 9am on Thursday and made it back to Houston about 10pm.
Saturday night we played our 1st show full band at Cypress Saloon since it re-opened. Man, I missed playing this place. The crowd was energetic, the sound was great, and the place is about 3 mile form my house. PERFECT! It was my birthday so after the show there was a whole lot of adult beverages and old friends. These shows are the best. Seriously, if you live in or around Houston, keep your ear to the ground about shows at Cypress Saloon.

We are gonna be off for a few weeks for the holiday as well as for rehearsal. We are bringing the band up to speed on the new songs before we go into the studio in January. Next big show will be at Cheatham Street Warehouse in San Marcos with Radney Foster on December 5th. Check it out if you can!

Motorcars & Motorhead

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 06:53:50 -0600

Halloween weekend. Not a more fun or crazy weekend on the schedule. We started out Thursday at Cypress Saloon for our usual Thirsty Thursday acoustic show, but this was anything but a typical show. NW Houston got a pretty bad thunder storm that lasted most of the night. By the time we got to the Saloon, there was no power. It was pitch black save for a few flashlights, but there was still plenty of people at the bar. Instead of packing it in and canceling the show, we decided to play completely unplugged. We played for 3 hours with nothing more than a few candles lighting the room and some very enthusiastic fans. I think we may start playing every acoustic show like that. The show had a very campfire feel and we had a lot of fun.
Friday, we were at the Firehouse Saloon supporting Mickey & the Motorcars. Everyone was pretty nervous at around 9pm as the bar was empty. Playing the night before Halloween can be tricky because your never sure if folks are gonna come out to the bar. But, by 9:30, the bar was packed. We had a great show and saw some old friends. Mickey and the guys were a blast to hang out with and their live set was awesome.
Saturday night was one to remember. The guys have been asking me to book a show on Halloween, so we could dress up, for years. A private party booked us call West of Dread. This party takes place at Fitzgerald’s here in Houston. It is not your run of the mill costume party. This is a black light party. All of the costumes and decorations glow under black lights. Total trip! We went as an 80’s rock band, as you can tell by the pictures, and we didn’t just dress as an 80’s rock band, we took on the entire persona of an 80’s rock band. Jack D straight from the bottle, screaming electric guitars, and so many high kicks on stage that I’ll be sore for a week. The party was great and we are so glad we got to be apart of it.
We are off this coming weekend, but we are doing Blake’s Birthday show at Cypress Saloon on November 14. This is gonna be a big one as it is our 1st show back full band at Cypress Saloon. Come one, come all!!!!

Rodeo & Ragweed

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:49:40 -0500

Another week down, another week closer to recording. This week started off with a meeting with our manager to discuss possible recording dates for this winter. The dates are not yet firmed up but its looking like we will be in the studio in December, January, and February looking to release the album around April. We are still cranking out the jams trying to get as prepared as we can to go in the studio. We will continue to write all the way through through the recording process cause you never know what you can come with. Friday we were back at the Lava Rock Lounge in Conroe for the second time. It was a fun show because we got to play a bunch of songs that we normally wouldn't get the chance to play. Saturday night we went and joined in at the party called "The Brazoria County Fair" with Cross Canadian Ragweed. If you didn't know, The Brazoria County Fair is the largest county fair in Texas. We headed down a little early so that we could check out the carnival and rodeo before it was time to "Work". We were just happy there was a break in the weather and the show wasn't cancelled. The crowd couldn't have been any more gracious. We had a great time playing and had just as much fun listening to Ragweed. This coming week is another work week. We will be at Thirsty Thursday's at the Cypress Saloon this week, come on out and play with us.

Song Writin’ & Show Playin’

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:38:04 -0500

Another week, another song, and another couple of shows. Thursday we were back at Cypress Saloon for Thirsty Thursday’s. We had a couple of folks come out that we haven’t seen in a awhile as well as some new faces. We may have had a little too much fun as I was hurting the next day. Played a new tune we wrote with Kyle Hutton called “Bigger Plans in a Smaller Town”. We got a nice reception from the crowd so we were happy. Another one in the vault.
Friday, Radney came in town to write with Mitch and I for the upcoming record. Mitch and I played a couple of the new songs Radney hadn’t heard yet and he was very happy with them. Then we moved on to something new. Radney had called me from the Nashville airport on Monday and asked me to write down some lyrics that were bouncing around his head. It was just 3 lines that if he didn’t get down, he was gonna forget. I wrote them down and didn’t really think about them until he got into town. Little did I know that those 3 lines would become “West of Sunset”. I am crazy for this song. It took us about 4 hours to write, but once we were finished, you could see the happiness on our faces. We spent the rest of the evening drinking and telling stories. It was a good day.
Saturday, we headed up to the Firehouse Saloon for our 1st show since ownership changed hands. Marty is the new owner up there and he is a true music fan. We had a great time playing at what has become our home base these passed 6 years. We booked a few more shows, so be on the look out for those in the coming months. Especially January 2nd when our buddy Alex Weeden comes back down with his band to open for us. If you were at last years show, you know the fun I’m talking about.
We have the weekend off for some much needed rest. We’ll get back at it next week.

Northgate

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:57:10 -0500

What a week! I feel like I haven’t slept in a year. We started the week out at Dosey Doe’s in the Woodland’s for the “Real Life, Real Music” series. It is a songwriter series hosted by Kyle Hutton, who is a great songwriter himself. Mitch and I opened up for Walt Wilkins. What a legend. The best way I can describe his songwriting is perfect delivery. He knows exactly how a story should be told. Mitch and I had a lot of fun and we got to play some new tunes. The crowd favorite that night was “Glass of Whiskey” which is awesome. Mitch, Cory, and I just wrote that song 2 weeks ago. Check out the pictures from the show.
Friday night we were supposed to play the Lava Rock Lounge in Conroe, but do to some booking issues, that show got moved to next month. Saturday was an adventure to say the least. We started with a photo shoot at around 10am. We hit 4 sites in and around College Station. Some of those pics should be up on the website soon. We finished the shoot around 1pm and headed over to tailgate. Let me tell you something; tailgating for 6 hours and then sound checking, and then playing a 3 hour set is exhausting! The crowd was out-of-control.The energy was amazing. We played just about everything we could until the bar closed. The bar folks couldn’t clear out the patrons until about 3am. I love playing shows like this. The crowd just doesn’t want to leave when the bar closes. Been there! Any ways, the only bad part was we didn’t role back into Houston until about 5am so, needless to say, we were complete bums on Sunday.
On tap this week: Thirsty Thursday’s at Cypress Saloon/Radney’s coming in town to write with us on Friday/Firehouse Saloon with Max Stalling on Saturday.

Rekindled

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 18:24:28 -0500

Had a pretty good time last week. It was so good to be playing full band again. There is so much energy on stage. It’s like a drug that I am truly addicted to. We started the week out at Cypress Saloon for our twice-a-month acoustic show called Thirsty Thursdays. We usually try to have at least one new song every time we play and this show was no different. Mitch tried out a song he recently wrote called “Walk Away”. What a great song. If you are ever in the Cypress area on one of these Thursdays, come on out. We basically play everything new. It is a way for us to try out new songs on a live crowd. There is are so many good moments that come out of this because most of what we are doing is made up on the fly.

Friday we made it out to Lone Star Saloon in Richmond. Despite having a flat tire, our drummers flight being late, and our sound guy showing up about an hour late, this was a monumental show! For a lot of reasons. We used to play LSS at least once every other month. We had good crowds and the folks that own the place couldn’t be any sweeter. Well, in October of last year the place burnt to the ground, literally. But, with true resiliency, they are back up and bigger than ever. The original place held about 75 people. The new place holds closer to 400 and the place was packed Friday night. I was a little nervous since we hadn’t played full band in 2 months, but the energy from the crowd and the simple fact that less than a year ago, this bar didn’t exist, got us amped up. We had a great show. I will try to get some pics of the bar up later. Saturday, we had rehearsal. We are getting the new Rosehill songs ready and things are going great on that front. Full slate this week. We have Dosey Doe on Tuesday, Lava Rock Lounge in Conroe on Friday, and Zapato’s on Northgate in College Station on Saturday. I will update next week. Have a great week!

Labor Day

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 20:20:11 -0500

In the six and a half years of our career, there are a few traditions that we have. Certain holidays that we choose not to book shows on so that we can be with our families and recharge the batteries. Labor Day weekend is one of those holidays. For me, it was opening weekend for college football. I headed up to my granddad’s ranch in Navasota. We spent Friday night preparing for Texas A&M tailgate (My family has been tailgating Aggie games for years) with a few of my buddies. After we finished preparing, we headed out to the stock tank on the back of the ranch for a little dove hunting.