I almost stayed on my couch, I can't even lie. My wife went to bed and I was like, "well maybe I'll just go to b..." and I pulled myself up and hit the streets in the life giving rain. And I am so glad that I did. First of all Hotel Vegas is one of my favorite live music venues to hang in. Its just good vibes and the right amount of raw. Place looks like the sound would suck in a punk rock way, but for Reggie's set at least, the sound was utterly perfect. I even complimented the sound man and he said he's been on the road with Gary Clark Jr. Touche, so yeah he knows what he is doing.
Anyway, Reggie Coby of the League of Extraordinary Gz really has something special. On the beats and on the mic. Singing and rapping. He's a modern day renaisssance man, if that is indeed how you spell the word. Fucking hell he's the man. The crowd went ballistic the whole time.
Even when he brought up Do Wrong and gave itup to the late, great Esbe da 6th Street Bully, may he rest in peace.
This was actually really rough. Also I am hoping there is better footage than this out there of the whole show. Twas no joke. Try not to cry, be tough like Da Bully. Yeah right...
So happy for my brother Reggie for real.
So happy, like him. He was geeked the whole night. Musinah is one of his favorites and this was the first show he ever put together on his own. Did a great job and made a real connection with the people, and hopefully Musinah.
Max Frost is also an ATX Force to be reckoned with!
Muhsinah hit the stage and brought the gorgeous for real. Her music is just that, gorgeous, and composed and played by her. She had a shaky start, singing to a laptop, but when she hit them keys and pads it was straight magic. Lots of fun to be had last night.
I want to see her again. Next time in Austin I predict Mohawk. Then the next time, Stubb's.
David Didonato Doing Da Damn Dang
My two chicks posted up at the bar.
When I arrived last Sunday I went straight to the Doubletree Hotel, which is now one of my favorite hotels. My room had a sliding glass door that opened up basically on to the river, literally. It was directly below my second floor balcony, and I was able to leave the door open both nights I was there and just fall asleep listening to the rushing Clark Fork River.
The river really does rush, and is cold. On this particular day though it was 80 degrees outside with bright sunshine. Seemed like everyone in town was out, walking the paths along the river, sunbathing, fishing, and what not. Me, on a day like that, with a river right at my toetips, I of course hit the bar at the hotel with Eric, which was on a super cool deck overlooking what seemed like EVERYTHING at that moment (mountains, river, etc) and had a few local beers. Cold Smoke being the best and Moose Drool being a close second.
Anyway, walking around downtown Missoula on an 80 degree day in the springtime really does not suck. In fact it was really energizing. The perfect combo of beautiful nature, and just what you need and not too much more, city life.
Here's Eric, Scott and Judy. Eric is from Seattle and connected me with the school. He and I presented to the class together and it was a real pleasure to work with him. Scott started the Entertainment Management program at University of Montana and Judy is his wife who also plays an integral role in all of this.
No I wasn't just out there fishing, I was on a mission.
I don't know.
I want to know more about the hip-hop scene in Missoula. Seems untapped. But the record stores, especially Ear Candy, were thoroughly stocked and there seems to be a real scene there.
I also want to spend way more time being lazy in the vicinity of that river.
And drinking Kettle House beers. Man, they need to get that to Texas. That COLD SMOKE SCOTCH ALE on tap is one of my new favorite beers.
Dynamic Duo. We should speak at MORE Universities. I joined LinkedIN for that reason but don't really understand LinkedIn.
This is rush hour in Missoula. Pretty much what I am talking about...
These photos are just a small preview.
She's even got a good amount of DJ Screw's personal vinyl collection. I haven't seen that yet but will definitely make the trip to do so.
The first panel was mind blowing for a guy like me. K-Rino, Steve Fournier, Willie D and Ricky Royal? These are THE dudes I came up on in my youth in Houston. Steve Fournier ran all the most historic clubs and a huge record pool. He even wrote about Houston in The Source Magazine when it first came out. Dude is a legend and someone I definitely admired. And K-Rino, Will and Rick all were like, the kings of the rap community at that point. So this was huge.
I don't want to try and retell the stories here. I just can't wait till the videos come out. I'd watch this one again for real.
Meshah Hawkins, Lil Keke, Lance Walker, Shorty Mac and ESG (and later Big Pokey) all broke down the history of DJ Screw and his music. More amazing stories for sure.
My friend Kasia was in town from WARSAW and came out to the event and sent me this picture of myself, moderating the Legacy of DJ Screw panel. We added OG Ron C in at the last minute, as ZRo didn't show up, and he added a lot to the convo with me, Bun B, Paul Wall and Chingo Bling all talm bout how far this music has come. It was pretty perfect actually. I'd actually like to see this one myself. Count how many times I said um, and twitched my hands. ANYWAY it was a super dope event and I'll definitely post videos when they come available. Wish I would have taken more photos, but it was right after SXSW and I was still in a state of shock. Also my mind hasn't been in this shit lately, OBVIOUSLY.
My mind is more here, at the beach. Which is where I'd like to be way more often. Took a family trip to Surfside for Easter weekend. Lovely, just lovely. Not sure how this water is looking blue in the photo, its brown for sure, but not as bad as it could have been. We swam the whole time.
Which is what I want to do.
Even if cars drive up and down the beach which is something I never understood but locals seem to like.
Easter weekend as you may or may not know was also the Unofficial Texas Beach Party Weekend, and well, it ended in gunfire with multiple people being shot, and one man dying. We had no idea as we were maybe a mile away at our hotel, but found out when we asked some folks in this insane traffic, what happened. Some of these folks sat in their cars for 3 hours waiting to get off the "island" and back to the city. Sad end to a great weekend. Not for us, but for a lot of others.
Oh yeah also there was this swarm of bees in our yard for a couple days.
I figured it was a hive, but then it was gone. Completely gone.
So was it just a swarm?
I don't know, the butterflies wouldn't tell me.
And neither would they.
