The WoodGrain consumes legendary amounts of booze… would any of you ever consider going to rehab?-Amber Philadelphia Pa.
Franky Fernando: Rehab’s for quitters!
Joey Black: Is there a bar there…?
Mr.Nate: No! I’ll drink myself to death first!
If your band could play anywhere, where would it be?-Dedra Lewisville Tx.
Brak: Austin City Limits
Franky Fernando: Woodstock baby! Unless you’re talkin’ serious…in which case… anywhere in Amsterdam!
Kunkle Whitebread: Hillsboro Ks., or either Fillmore… east or west. How ’bout a Jim Beam distillary…
Mr. Nate: WoodStock, the first one…
Joey Black: Inside the ocean, in a submarine, near the bottom of the Marianna Trench… or Figi…
What was the first song you ever wrote and why?-Sherrey Plano Tx.
Joey Black: Well, I know that the first song Mr. Nate EVER wrote was “Blackwater (Hide what I done)” & he taught it to me pretty early on. It’s about ditchin’ your old lady’s dead body in a river… so… one can only guess why he came up with it. Uh… as a complete group the first original that came together for us was “Come Back Soon”. I wrote it one day after my wife left for work & her perfume lingered in the air making me miss her. It’s a good, sexy tune.
How long has Joey Black been playing the guitar?-Cindy Cleburne Tx.
Joey Black: All together about 18 years, but playing seriously… about half that time.
What are some interesting trivia facts the fans of The WoodGrain would like to know about the band?-Ashley Carrollton Tx.
Kunkle Whitebread: How LITTLE time we spend on our hair…?
Joey Black: Uh… I watch some total chick shows on TV with my wife. Ugly Betty & Desparate Housewives to name a couple.
Mr. Nate: I can build musical instruments…
Franky Fernando: All of our music is raw, uncut emotion…
How many original songs does The WoodGrain have?-Cynthia Arlington Tx.
Joey Black: Thirteen…? I think… Sweet Elijah, I Don’t Give A Fuck, In the Doorway, Blackwater, I Don’t
Like the Blues, Walkin’ Into the Rain, New Boogeyman Blues, Cranberry Juice, Come Back Soon, Highs been Low, Black Shoes Brown Hat, Buyou, & Stay Down ’til ya Come Up
What artists have the greatest influence on each of the band members?- Ashley Carrollton Tx.
Franky Fernando: Micheal Shrieve, Chad Smith, Quest Love, & Buddy Berry
Joey Black: Well, I’m fanatical about Jimi Hendrix, but with regards to THIS band…my greatest influence has definitly been Mr. Nate.
Kunkle Whitebread: Waylon Jennings & Mickey Rapheal, Willy’s harmonica player.
Mr.Nate: All ’60’s R & B… uh Rye Cooter, Taj Mahal…
Brak: Townes Van Zant, Steve Earl, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Beck, Willy & the boys… old rock & roll… new shite… a little of everything I’ve ever heard…
Where do babies come from?-Scott Carrollton Tx.
Joey Black & Mr. Nate: From gettin’ fucked up with your girl at a WoodGrain show… we hope!
How do you think fatherhood affects being a rocknroller?-D.Z. Fort Scott Ks.
Franky Fernando: It doesn’t. You gotta keep’em separated.
Joey Black: I try to keep my family life separate from my rocknroll life, but as my son gets older it has been nice to him come to a couple of shows & help out. He’s old enough now to kind of know the score, & as much passion as I have for playing mucic in The WoodGrain, spending quality time with my son is my real passion. I live to watch him play sports!
Better late notice than no notice… The WoodGrain drummer Franky Fernando is now the proud father of Mack Alexander Casarez. Mack was born this past Fri. at Baylor medical center in Irving. He weighed 8lbs. 12oz., looks just like his dad, and has huge… huge hands. Congatulations Allison & Franky… Now let’s get that boy fitted for a baseball glove!
It was a night to remember… a day to forget. So why am I immortalizing it here on the intra-web? Because it’s really to damn funny a’story not to share with the masses. Or… at least the ten or twelve fans of The WoodGrain who haven’t already heard the legend of the four hour soundcheck.
It was Grand opening weekend for Rockin’ Paradise (formerly Hiccup’s & Daddy Rocks) & The WoodGrain was slated to headline the entertainment this past Sat. Nov. 14th. To try to insure that things would go off without a hitch during the evening The WoodGrain agree’d to meet at R.P. early (3PM) to coordinate things with D.J. YagerMonster… (seriously). We knew that they had house P.A. speakers for D.J. YM to blast tunes during our breaks, but we were responsible for bringing a soundboard for all the band mic.’s.
Once all members of The WoodGrain were set up…& our new sometime-part-time soundman Stark a.k.a. “Slink” had everything coordinated with D.J. YM… we all very casually took 15 thinking “We’ll come back…knock this out…then go home & party like rockstars until showtime…”
Right…
This is where things went haywire… Everything SHOULD have worked… nothing did… Hoping to have been back at my place eating like kings (thanks Andrea) by 4:30… it became 5:30 before we deduced that EVERYTHING worked except the soundboard we had brought. This was NOT GOOD. Myself, D.J.YM, & Mr. Nate were frantically calling each of our limited contacts in hopes we’d find a soundboard (such a delicate & usually valuable piece of equipment) on such incredibly short notice…on a Saturday night. I was ready to give up hope & cancel the show when a name popped up in my phone… A name I wasn’t sure I even had the right phone number for. That name was Henry Story, dummer of Grandma Black. Grandma Black was the cover band I (Joey Black) used to front. Not knowing what to expect. Not expecting much if anything… I said “fuck it” & dialed Henry.
Halelujah he answered & actually had a soundboard we could use!!!
After making the 45 min. round trip to the Colony & back I triumphantly re-entered Rockin’ Paradise…new soundboard in hand. We could FINALLY do a sound check!!! Problem was, our stomachs were growling loud enough at this point to be heard through the mics. & Franky had already had to leave. After all that we rushed through an extremely shaky, crowd annoying, half assed sound check.
Over four hours we’d gone from pride & confidence to unsure hopefullness to complete desparation & back to YOU GUESSED it pride & confidence & BACK to unsure hopefullness. At least we could finally go home & EAT.
After an AWESOME meal (again, Thanks Andrea) our pride & confidence once again ran high. After all, we ARE The WoodGrain…the greatest bluesfolks music band on the planet! Where there’s The WoodGrain there’s a way.
The show went great. We had a great turn out & hopefully added to our ever growing list of crazy die hard fans. We hope to play Rockin’ Paradise again soon. They really do have the cheapest drinks in Lewisville. Special thanks to Stark. He stressed out over the whole soundcheck thing more than we did, and thank god because we couldn’t have pulled the show off without him.
Thanks a ton to the R.P. management and staff. Thanks to Mongo on security. Thanks to the us… The WoodGrain… for kickin’ ass & takin’ names. Thanks to Henry. Thanks most of all to the fans. We love you!
The WoodGrain isn’t now & probably never will be politically driven in our endeavors. We’re musicians & while we DO have opinions… we simply aren’t the people who should be trying to shape other’s opinions about anything other than our music. However, that does not mean we won’t play for the right cause, & this past Sat. that’s precisely what we did. The Veterans of Foriegn Wars troop rally/car show/musicfest at Hulen Park in Cleburne Tx. hosted by Sgt. John Luarales & Real Rodz was a truly beautiful event on an even more beautiful day. I couldn’t say enough times (into the mic. or otherwise) how thrilled we were to be a part of it.
It was a scene of American life that I’ll never forget. On that day, at that park, the grass WAS greener, the smiles WERE warmer, and I just couldn’t get the John Cougar Melloncamp song “Ain’t that America” out of my head. Cheesy, I know, but really…being there…looking out at the kids playing, smelling the food, checking out the sweet vintage rides, & listening to the opening performers (members of The Dirty Jewwett Band who DIDN’T have the flu)… I couldn’t help but actually think AIN’T THAT America! So, performing at an event in support of the men & women who have fought & put themselves in harms way for that America was a huge honor for The WoodGrain.
It was our first time playing in the great town of Cleburne, the hometown of myself, Brak, & Kunkle WhiteBread (and for the most part my entire family). It was both awesome & kinda sad to be playing a show in the park my Grandma always used to bring me to. As children she used to pose Kunkle & I for pictures in front of the historic Train that sits not but a hundred feet from where the show took place. It was awesome to be playing for several family members who are not usually able to travel to our shows. It was very sad that Grandma Dorothy & Papa Warnell were not able to be there. But… I know they were there in spirit… probably NOT hiding their beers… and certainly arguing…
The show went great… the after party at Sgt. Laurales went even better. Thanks John!
In closing, the issue of support for returning veterans is something that’s quite a hot button right now. Unfortunatly… not without good reason. More support structure IS needed… wether it’s some form of support from a local V.F.W. post (which Luarales is planning on opening soon in Cleburne) or more thorough care given by the government, military, and/or Dr.s that are responsible for these returning heros. Once again, we’re only musicians & we are not in the business of trying to influence political opinion (you may be completely opposed to the war itself)… but returning veterans needing more support right now is not my opinion. It’s a fact.
LoneStar Last Night where were you… Tomorrow Cleburne Hulen Park 3-8pm WoodGain @ 6-8pm
For The Vets, and VFW founder in Cleburne Johnathan Laureles, Car Show and Food… be there
Alright… here’s the low down… “Boats & Ho’s” was both a great success & a slight failure… Great costumes & crowd participation with regard to the theme, the bands were ALL awesome… ya da ya da ya da… I just can’t believe we weren’t able to draw more people… Especially during the earliest part of the show… it was easily one of the most beautiful days of the year… but hey, if you missed it, too bad! There were also problems with the sound system that were beyond anyone’s control… I think Scott & Jeff (A-B Productions.com) did an outstanding job & without the equipment & service they provided… the show WOULD NOT have gone on…period.
Halloween/Brak’s 30th Birthday party (also at LoneStar) was another wonderfully diverse WoodGrain party… With special guests, local underground hip-hop act HK (poorandangry.com), The WoodGrain got started blowing the NEW roof off of the joint… Lady GaGa & Brittany Spears each made an appearance… the beer flowed like wine & the women flocked like the salmon of Cappestrano …
…our schedule has just been updated… check it out… as well as the new pictures and videos ‘Slacks’ made mention of … here’s one…
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last… & I hope not least… look for (drumroll ……………………………………… ) The WoodGrain’s first studio (non live) album to be released some time in Feb.. It’s gonna be like ordering a hamburger… but actually getting a “cheese”burger… crazy I know… but hey this will be a hot gift idea for Xmas ‘10… the record, not… the “cheese”burger…
And that’s the LOW DOWN…
