Whiskey Daredevils

Last week the boys played with the ever entertaining Hillbilly Casino on Wednesday at the Beachland, a couple shows with Death By Rodeo, and a Cedars gig with Rumble Daddy. The shows were marked by Greg gimping around like a pirate due to screwing up his left knee earlier in the week in an undisclosed accident involving a pole vault, 40 oz Genessee Cream Ale, and cowboy boots. Here's a quick run down: Wednesday was an all star affair with Death By Rodeo starting it up early. Ken's old bass head was miraculously still sounding good after spending the last 8 months in the DBR camp. The Daredevils got after it in the second slot, and then Nic Roulette and the Hillbilly Casino showed why they are the finest rockabilly band this side of the Ole Miss. There was even a Bobby Latina sighting when he brought down a distortion pedal for Gary to use, and later sat in for two songs with Hillbilly Casino. Hell, if we knew he was in the mood to play we would have cranked out "West Virginia Dog Track Boogie"...Thursday the Daredevils played the Ohio Bike Week event at the Barrel House Saloon. The Barrel House Saloon was actually a boat storage facility with a bunch of Jack Daniels promo stuff everywhere, a few ice chests of beer, and an unmanned PA. The biggest drag was the unrelenting rain that kept attendance down to the faithful. The math is undeniable. Rain + outdoor event=low attendance. However, the best was made of the situation and the band played a long set. Death By Rodeo continues to get better and better by the way. If you haven't seen these guys, make sure and go check out Luke on guitar. He can rip it up, and may be the skinniest guitar player since Ronnie Wood.... Saturday saw the return to Cedars. A good time was had by all as the beer flew around, and the band tore through about 20 tunes. Well, almost all... Gary doesn't like it if beer gets tossed around. He doesn't like getting it on his gear, which is understandable. It's not like he's playing some shitty Ibanez through a Sears amp. Still, at one point he wanted to "take his ball and go home", but he was quickly chastised by the more road savvy rhythm section. This is a rock band after all. The show finished without incident, and the band drove home very, very late.

The tour diary continues to be posted. Look for it right above you on the navigation bar. It is also being posted on the Scene local music section of their site. If you don't read the Tour Diary, you'll never know who The Squirrel is, where the drunkest crowd of all time was located, or which cops shook us down for $500. It's all on the way...

This week the band continues to work on new material. Three new songs will be kicked around the basement, and the band will tighten up a few that weren't played on tour for the mid July recording sessions for the next hit filled record. Your next big chance to see the Daredevils in action is this Saturday June 20th at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Hts. We'll be there. Why not you?

It was a big rock weekend as the Daredevils hit Dayton and Charleston WV. Highlights? Seeing a bunch of guys with 70s porn mustaches in the crowd at Blind Bob's in Dayton, but then learning it was all part of "Mustache March". Apparently this group of gents decided to liven up an otherwise horrible month of the year by growing whatever mustache they could. I'll tell you this. If they didn't have girlfriends before, those guys probably didn't get much action with the addition of the mustache. Gentlemen, I applaud you for your gumption....We had decided early on that we would take our Dayton gig money and lay it out on the college basketball games with the caveat that Leo would make the selection. Normally you wouldn't have someone that doesn't know ANYTHING about college basketball make a large wager on a game. However, Leo is off the weed for Lent ("Just like Jesus!"), and he has an abnormal clarity. After Leo's seemingly horrible selections of Michigan State and Villanova, we miraculously came up winners and got a room at the otherwise too highbrow Embassy Suites. One of the high points of staying at the Embassy Suites is the "Manager's Reception" from 5-6. Basically, the hotel provides comp draft beer and cheap wine for an hour. The interesting part of this one was that there was a legit event going on in a ballroom that bled over into the "Manager's Reception" area. The big thing I noticed was that the guest list from the event next door included Miss West Virginia in full tiara, ball gown and sash. We checked in to the hotel with 40 minutes left of the comp drinks. Ken and I went upstairs, Gary went to a computer, and Leo hit the bar. In 40 minutes Leo enjoyed four (4) Michelob Amber Bocks, and then decided to approach Miss West Virginia. Her two security guards quickly spotted Leo, and wisked her away from this potentially dangerous encounter. What would you do if you saw an evil looking leprachaun wearing a "Hooked On Jesus" t shirt and holding a plastic cup of beer walking towards Miss West Virginia? Damn right. You'd get her out of there too!

The band has been learning some wacked out covers and new originals to debut in Europe this May. With any luck, we'll be able to confidently play a Johnny Cash song or two, a Stones tune, and maybe some weird rockabilly/blues covers. As usual, we'll twist them around into being our kind of thing. There are also a few originals that are almost ready to play that we think you'll really like. Who wouldn't like a song about Mexican prison, or a 60's pop tune called "Cherry Chapstick"? And don't even get me started about the one from Gary's mysterious black eye from last week called "Me and My Black Eye".

The merchandise is also being refreshed with a new Will Ruocco designed workshirt, a Bob Storey designed T, and the new 7 inch all expected in stock within a few weeks. We always have good stuff on the merch table, but these two might be the best yet! If you want one, and are a weird size, let us know now what you want. We are always happy to custom order your Whiskey Wear.

On April 18th Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival will join us at the Garage Bar for a local Cleveland gig throw down. You'd be a God Damned Fool not to go to this show! Then we head to Illinois the following weekend for a Graham Memorial show that's sure to be a bittersweet celebration. See ya when we see ya.