A couple of months ago, Austin Pets Alive! asked to use one of my songs (Gray’s Song) in an adoption video, and of course I said yes. They contacted me again today and told me the video was completed for a sweet dog named Molly. You can see her video here:

by patrick ouriet (ARTUPMEDIA)

You can help too, and it’s SUPER EASY… All you have to do is shop at any of the dozens of stores that are donating a share of their profits for that day. (click here for a list) Also, you can come out to any of the locations that have live musicians performing, like me! You can see who is performing where HERE. (pdf)

I’ll be playing at the HAAM headquarters from 7-8pm (9/21). They will also have food and drinks! HAAM is located at 1206 W. 38th Street.

Also, there is an easy new way to donate to HAAM. When you text keyword AUSTIN to 85944 and reply “YES” it is a $10 donation to HAAM.

Thanks for helping to support a good cause. Please help us spread the word!

The crowd was decent. As many as 200… but they were all sitting at the little cafe’s and shops around the plaza, not right up on the stage, so the photos (below) seem a little empty.

I also added a solo gig the night They seemed to genuinely like the show, calling for an encore, buying cd’s, etc…

So all in all it was a really great experience this year. It was really cool to play the festival and even get on the big stage for a few minutes. Met some really great people and grew some existing friendships.

I really want to thank some folks for making this a great 2 weeks:
Yaume Lannoy, his “wife” Celine Dumas and their boy Tom, Micha Paqier, Elie Guegain, Christian Fillet, Jean Louis Hugonnet, Blandine Vincent, Mayor Lucien Stanzione, and the band Dr. Feelgood. And thanks to my family for toughing it out at home while I’m away for 2 weeks.

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So the first gig was really nice. We played at a ski station, off season of course so the crowd was small. Maybe 30 people? But the owner, Christian, is a blues lover (and damn fine guitar player) so he really enjoyed the night. So much so that he offered to put us all up for a week during the winter if we come and play again. That includes pay, food, skiing, etc…

The second show was for the fest in the southern France, but the night before the “real” festival. There were 4 bands, but we were the only band that would play both days. The organizer, Jean Louis, was kind enough to give us both days so we could make more money. However, that night was a little rough. We, the band, were a little cold with each other. The night before we were much more like a unit. This day we played more with our heads than our souls. The crowd seemed sufficiently pleased, be we were not. I worried well into the next day. I asked the guys if we could rehearse after sound check and they agreed it was a good idea.

Later, Yaume, Eli (a friend of Yaume who ran sound for us the first 3 days) and I ran errands. Eli (pronounced “Ellie”) gave me some great advise that lifted a huge weight off my shoulders.

So, our job for the big festival was to play the smaller stage in-between the bands on the slightly larger stage, which was really cool. We got to play 20-30 min sets then chill and watch the acts.

I must say with all humbleness, I think we really impressed the audience, organizers and other bands. When it came time for us to play each time, just about the entire crowd made their way to our stage. Estimated attendance somewhere around 2000 people!

Since you could hear our stage from the other side of the field, the headlining band (some Brits named Dr. Feelgood) Went out of their way to complement us. In fact, the bassist came to our stage and asked me if I would like to join them for their encore. Of course I did.

So before our final set, which ended the night, I dragged my gear about 150 yards to the big stage, threw it on stage when told to, and played my guitar with a big smile on my face. All of this was captured in HD video by the company hired to do so. I hope to have a copy when it’s ready, but I think it will be online too. Also, I took my little HD camera on the big stage with me to capture the moment. Haven’t seen it yet, but I’m sure it’s very shaky. =)

Oh, I just remembered another cool thing. The videographer hired to interview the musicians wanted to interview me too. At the end he asked if I would play a song on an acoustic guitar he had with him. I asked if he wanted something new or on the CD…? He said he wanted “this song”, and he began to play my song, So Excited. I couldn’t believe it – not only did he like my music, he was learning it! Crazy…

Below are the photos from that day:

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But this is the scene I woke up to outside my window this morning. This is the centre of the village, Allevard. More soon…

The French gigs are booked and finalized… I leave Tuesday, Arrive Wednesday and our first gig is Thursday… So, including the Au Pre du Blues Fest, we have 5 gigs between July 22-30. Here they are:

• Thu – 07-22-2010
  les Karellis : outdoor show
• Fri – 07-23-2010
  Althens des Paluds : outdoor show
• Sat – 07-24-2010
  Althens des Paluds : Au Pre du Blues Fest
• Wed – 07-28-2010
  St-Julien en Vercors : Café Brochier
• Fri – 07-30-2010
  Allevard : outdoor show

I can’t wait to play music with Yaume and Micha…. This is going to be great!!

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