We are going to be re-working some of the takes (which were done live in our practice room, hence those very bright cymbals), but we think this is good enough to get us started.
H
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Demo CDs Are Ready
Yes, after many delays, the first batch of demo CDs are starting to come out of the oven. No cover art as of yet, just the logo.
We are going to be re-working some of the takes (which were done live in our practice room, hence those very bright cymbals), but we think this is good enough to get us started.
H
We are going to be re-working some of the takes (which were done live in our practice room, hence those very bright cymbals), but we think this is good enough to get us started.
H
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Flavors Festival: May 29, 2010
It's official!
We're bound to play at the Flavors Festival this coming May 29, 2010 for the benefit of the Houston Food Bank.
We might get to sell some promotional items, but we're not sure on what people might be interested in buying, and since "The Dukes" is not yet a household name I guess we can discard selling T-shirts, caps, or water bottles... any other ideas?
You can get to the Entertainment page of Flavors Festival by clicking here
H
Monday, February 15, 2010
Prommo Picture
I really didn't like the way the picture in the 'about us' section on the left-hand side of this blog comes out when trying to see it full-size, so here it goes again.
H
Pictures from Jan 30, 2010 presentation
John singing, spotlights and all...
Mark was really enjoying the show (Richard's profile and bass can be seen on the left.)
L to R: Horacio (straw hat), Bohemeo's owner (helping with sound), John, and Phillip carefully strumming that nice Gretch guitar.
L to R: Tony (trumpet), John, Mark, and Phillip
L to R: Jesse, Tony, and John
H
Demo - Demo Mix
This is a mix song of the songs included in our first Demo CD; it starts with Rock & Roll, and moves through different styles, just a sample of some of the different musical genres we cover. For this first Demo CD we didn't want to include any original songs... maybe in the future.
Enjoy!
H
Enjoy!
H
Demo - Stand By Me
This is a cover of Ben E. King's 'Stand By Me' in a different style. This one is also from our Demo CD and was also inicially recorded in a portastudio. And yes, almost everyone in the group sings (or pretends to... :-) )
H
H
Demo - Jailhouse Rock Medley
This is a departure from our main style, but I think we manage to get it right. It is a medley of songs --Elvis' style-- which start with Jailhouse Rock and goes through a couple other rock hits. This one we started to record in the portastudio and finished in order to have our Demo CD ready for promotion.
H
H
Demo - Que Casualidad
Another song from our first Demo CD, this time a kind of Norteno, Rancherita, or better known north of the border as Tejano style --Ramon Ayala's 'Que Casualidad', recorded live in our practice room (actually it's the living room in the singer's house, you know how these things go when artists get together!)
H
H
Demo - Margaritaville
This is a cover of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville from our first Demo CD. It was also recorded live in our practice room, and yes, the cymbals came out too loud... darn cymbals!
BTW, there were no mics aimed at the cymbals nor anywhere near them!
H
BTW, there were no mics aimed at the cymbals nor anywhere near them!
H
Demo - Try Me
This is a cover from James Brown's 'Try Me' from our first Demo CD
It was recorded live in less than ideal conditions (and yes, we know, the cymbals are too loud... )
H
It was recorded live in less than ideal conditions (and yes, we know, the cymbals are too loud... )
H
Demo for Flavors Festival
OK, so we have been invited to play at the Flavors Festival in downtown Houston, but it won't be until the last days of May...
In the meantime, we were asked for a Demo CD and we realized that we had put that aside in order to practice.
So we set up a couple of mics for the drums, a mixdown of horns, vocals and keyboards through the main mixer and did a live Demo recording during our practice. We had a couple of songs we had started recording in a portable multitrack studio, so we added a couple of tracks that were missing.
The next posts will be those songs.
H
In the meantime, we were asked for a Demo CD and we realized that we had put that aside in order to practice.
So we set up a couple of mics for the drums, a mixdown of horns, vocals and keyboards through the main mixer and did a live Demo recording during our practice. We had a couple of songs we had started recording in a portable multitrack studio, so we added a couple of tracks that were missing.
The next posts will be those songs.
H
Presentation
We had the holidays coming, people getting busy with their family and loved ones, and we were trying to get over the heartbreaking experience of having our presentation cancelled; yes, it's kinda strange, but to a performer having his performance cancelled that very same day is really hard, so our spirits were running low. really low.
However, there was hope at the end of the tunnel (or was that light at the end of the tunnel? ...no, hey! that's when you're dying!, so yes, hope it is). A local bar/restaurant (actually, the one that let us use their stage for taking the picture you see in this blog's 'about me' in the sidebar) asked us to come play there.
The day came. And again, it was an unusually cold day, so we didn't get as many people comming as we were expecting; still, the place was packed, but the patio and outside tables couldn't be used.
There were some problems with one of the amplifiers at the very last minute; there was no time to go and get another one, so the keyboard/rythm guitar was in jeopardy. Luckily, the venue's owner also plays in a band, so he gracefully let us use one of his amps --he also was very helpful helping us set the house sound system, so if you're ever by Telephone Rd., stop by Bohemeo's and you'll enjoy a very fine atmosphere and lots of friendly people.
All in all, it was a good experience. We got great reviews, our playing was tight, and our vocal harmonies really stood out.
Pictures coming soon (my flashdrive complained about being disconnected without stopping its u3 processes and erased almost 300MB worth of pictures! So yes, always click on the 'eject usb' --or however it shows in your computer-- before taking the flasdrive off it, or risk losing tons of precious information.)
H
However, there was hope at the end of the tunnel (or was that light at the end of the tunnel? ...no, hey! that's when you're dying!, so yes, hope it is). A local bar/restaurant (actually, the one that let us use their stage for taking the picture you see in this blog's 'about me' in the sidebar) asked us to come play there.
The day came. And again, it was an unusually cold day, so we didn't get as many people comming as we were expecting; still, the place was packed, but the patio and outside tables couldn't be used.
There were some problems with one of the amplifiers at the very last minute; there was no time to go and get another one, so the keyboard/rythm guitar was in jeopardy. Luckily, the venue's owner also plays in a band, so he gracefully let us use one of his amps --he also was very helpful helping us set the house sound system, so if you're ever by Telephone Rd., stop by Bohemeo's and you'll enjoy a very fine atmosphere and lots of friendly people.
All in all, it was a good experience. We got great reviews, our playing was tight, and our vocal harmonies really stood out.
Pictures coming soon (my flashdrive complained about being disconnected without stopping its u3 processes and erased almost 300MB worth of pictures! So yes, always click on the 'eject usb' --or however it shows in your computer-- before taking the flasdrive off it, or risk losing tons of precious information.)
H
Demo, Play, Demo
OK, so our Demo recording had to be put aside to make time for a presentation in downtown Houston. It was going to be a fundraiser event, so we were aware that we'd be on the spot, so we got to practicing someting that would be adequate for the situation. Having just had some member changes we were worried about the whole thing; we knew there wasn't going to be any money involved in the deal, but still, we take our performances seriously.
We had everything ready and were eager to give it all.
Did I mention it was going to be in downtown Houston?
Yeah, was going to be. And if you're ever been to Houston you know you must be prepared for any kind of weather at any moment.
So the very day of the event we had unexpectedly cold weather, rain, wind... the works. Everything got cancelled.
H
We had everything ready and were eager to give it all.
Did I mention it was going to be in downtown Houston?
Yeah, was going to be. And if you're ever been to Houston you know you must be prepared for any kind of weather at any moment.
So the very day of the event we had unexpectedly cold weather, rain, wind... the works. Everything got cancelled.
H
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