The Colonel profile picture

The Colonel

Independent

About Me

I like music, history, going out, running, roller skating, RC Cola, freight trains, Amtrak from Alpine TX to Houston, Vinyl, drums, bass, Houston, Marfa, San Antonio, Austin, Galveston, Terlingua, New Orleans, mass transit, travel, and old stuff. I live in Marfa, TX now and am converting an old funeral home into a dancehall, which will also have a full game room (2 shuffleboards, real 45 RPM jukebox, pool tables, ping pong, pinball) and serve limited food. I live in the Airstream trailer that used to be in the Houston Continental Club's backyard. I still maintain a small apartment in Houston and am a proud member of The Houston Club, the oldest private club in Houston (1894). I was born and raised in Houston, graduated from Lamar High School and then UT Austin and have never been married or had any children. I have a goddaughter named Ellie who is awesome, many friends and stay very busy, yet I am actually somewhat of a loner at heart. I'm a singer, bass player, drummer, harmonica player and occasional guitarist/keyboardist. My specialty is roots rock music, but I'm known these days more for Sinatra-styled pop. I play in several bands including The El Orbits, Allen Oldies Band, The Conrads, The Aqua Velva (B-52's tribute band), and Banana Blender Surprise. I lived above the Continental Club in Houston from 2000 until the end of June 2007 and in 2004 I played over 300 gigs (too many). On the side I work on electric stuff (wiring, etc), run, roller skate, drink, and eat a lot of Vietnamese food when I am in Houston. I still love the Astros and dig the Rockets too. My favorite sport, because of the volunteer nature of it and the people involved is ROLLER DERBY. I am proud to be "the Colonel", the Crowd Wrangler and on the court announcer for Houston Roller Derby! I began my tenure with the HRD girls in early 2005 when they were (very shortly) known as the "Space City Rollergirls". HRD's first bout was in October of 2005 and I am proud to have been ther from then up through the present and into the future! I am also a volunteer emcee for various charity events. I have a heart condition- best thing that ever happened to me, actually. I resumed drinking coffee on doctor's recommendation after I had heart failure at age 30. I drink Coffee and RC Cola pretty much every day. See my RC COLA group- join it if you have your mess together on Royal Crown. I still try to get at least SOME exercise in daily, even if it's low intensity stuff like miniature golf or bowling. Althoug I have three cars, I am totally PRO mass-transit and prefer walking to any other form of getting around - especially in beautiful Marfa. Someday after I am done playing music full time I might teach high school history (yeah, as if I'll ever get there!) I also own three Seeburg 45 RPM record jukeboxes, a 1967 Suburban (Murgatroyd), a 1980 Suburban (the Brown Chariot) and a 1980 Mercedes 300D (Bill Paulk (the moon pie guy)'s car). My family lives in Houston and that's where, when the goods hit the fan, I'll wind up; however, until 2013 or so I'll be your friend in Marfa!

My Interests

History, Houston, Marfa, TX, running, roller skating, music, analog photography, drinks, good food, Texana, old stuff, drums, photos, electrical work, RC Cola, Galveston Island, San Antonio, bowling, mass transit, 45 RPM singles, Astros, family, friends, shuffleboard, jukeboxes, Fender tube amps, Ludwig drums, Fender Precision Basses,Craftsman tools, local musicians who work hard, working jobs for reasons other than strictly MONEY, soul, blessings, life.

I'd like to meet:

I love this because my friend Crystal Jackson is surely furious that it's not "Whom I'd Like to Meet". Anyway, here it gos, in part- Historical figures from any era, James Brown, Roy Hofheinz, Chuck Berry (again), Huey Meaux, David Bean, Gwen Stefani, Mel Torme, Sunny Ozuna, Little Joe Hernandez, Mel Waiters, Jose Lima (again), Question mark (from ? & the Mysterians) and mentors from my past who have moved on beyond this world.

Music:

Grady Gaines, Big Robert Smith, Doug Sahm, Andre Williams, Roy Head, Archie Bell, the B-52's, The Blazers, Los Lobos, The El Orbits, Mel Torme, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Jimmy Reed, Grand Funk, Mose Allison, Buck Owens, Dreambreakers, Jackie Pepper, I.J. Gosey, Little Feat, Gwen Stefani, ZZ Top (old), Fabulous Thunderbirds (old), The Judys, Johnnie Taylor, Muddy Waters, Sunny Ozuna, Talking Heads, Steppenwolf, Tail Gators, LeRoi Brothers, Earthpig, Adam Bork, The Gourds, James McMurtry, Herschel Berry, Joe King Carrasco, Flying Burrito Brothers, Ray Charles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sam the Sham, Seals and Crofts, Junior Walker and the All Stars, B.J. Thomas, Fats Domino, NRBQ, The Mummies, The Wailers, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, The Animals, Ten Hands, Joni Mitchell (old), Little Feat, Rare Earth, Lee Fields, Damnations, Gourds, Jesse Dayton, Hadden Sayers, Patrice Pike, Small Stars, Honky, Johnnie Rivers, Mel Waiters, Z.Z. Hill, The Kinks, Randy Garibay, Run DMC, Mike Jones, Paul Wall, Geto Boys, Little River Band, Duke Robillard, Anson Funderburgh, Keith Ferguson, Omar and the Howlers, Grand Funk Railroad, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff, Sons of Hercules, Esquerita, Little Richard, Roy Orbison, Bille Holliday, Buddy Holly, Augie Meyers, Gary Clark, Jr., Iguanas, Jon Dee Graham, Milton Hopkins, Ardis Turner, Kinney Abair, Rebirth Brass Band, La Mafia, Bo Diddley, Doug Kershaw, Fats Domino, Derailers, Elizabeth McQueen, Joni Mitchell, Little Milton, Little Joe Washington, and just about every music program on KCOH AM 1430 in Houston. www.kcohradio.com on the web.

Movies:

I don't see a lot of movies, but I tend to like documentaries and art films as well as longer and better written Hollywood movies. Usually I let other people filter out the typical crap before I will see a movie, unless we're on tour and there's one on the hotel TV.

Television:

TV is pretty much obselete unless you are looking to watch sports. I have never actually owned one of my own.

Books:

I love reading books and don't get enough time to read them. I especially like non-fiction, Texana, history and biographies.

Heroes:

I have a lot of them, most in my immediate world. Others who you might know include but are not limited to James Brown, Doug Sahm, and my grandfathers Ward Beebe and Bob Powers. Club owner/manager mentors that have passed on to the other side- Clifford Antone (Antone's), Keith Coit (Satellite Lounge), and Paul Sessums (Black Cat Lounge) Rest in peace, brothers.

My Blog

Coming up on July

July is nearly here. Everything out here is cool. We finally are getting the roof completed on the building. The three man pros are doing that with their welders and Framing nailers. Meanwhile I am do...
Posted by The Colonel on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:35:00 PST

Jon Langford - Ticket to Nowhere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJxIN3a90hM Here's some footage Paul Minor edited of the recent Jon Langford shows in Far West Texas. I love playing bass with Langford. For those of you who m...
Posted by The Colonel on Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:31:00 PST

Pressed for time, but a short update

The last three weeks have been probably the busiest I have had in 3 or 4 years. As is common when I get this busy, amazing stuff has been occuring left and right, and I haven't even had time to digest...
Posted by The Colonel on Tue, 13 May 2008 10:51:00 PST

My campaign officially began today

I am running for Marfa City Council. Over the last 9 months I have attended the vast majority of meetings (and also public hearings). After initially deciding not to run, I was asked to consider it b...
Posted by The Colonel on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 08:59:00 PST

Johnny Guitar Watson

Was an unbelievable talent. Do yourself a favor and start listening. Itunes has it. Anything  between ’74 and ’79 is the goods. Seriously. Houston born, made it famous in L.A. Still t...
Posted by The Colonel on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:53:00 PST

Progress is being made

The roof of the building began coming off today. It turns out tere are about seven layers of old roof underneath the tin. This makes sense, since, from the exterior, the roof looked to be in good shap...
Posted by The Colonel on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 06:43:00 PST

Back home

I’m back home in Marfa. It’s cold at night here-still. I had an eventful week and ahalf. Roller Derby, H-Town, SXSW, travel, etc. I’ve got a bunch of writing to do now that I have m...
Posted by The Colonel on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:32:00 PST

Hillary Clinton is killing me

OK, so I'm not much for Presidential politics. Honestly, local politics, although much less glamorous, are far more important to pay attention to and to vote in than any Presidential race, especially ...
Posted by The Colonel on Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:47:00 PST

General recap of the last week

After leaving Houston Thursday afternoon (had car trouble with the Brownie for the first time in a very long time) I headed to Del Rio where I had a reservation at the Motel 6. Early Friday morning I ...
Posted by The Colonel on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:10:00 PST

Absurd

While driving 620 miles today from Marfa to Houston I turned on AM 740 in time to hear Michael Berry and some of his show. First off, Michael Berry is 37 years old, married and is a former Houston may...
Posted by The Colonel on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:41:00 PST