Terry! Taro!

Our recent pair of performances at the 2006 Marfa Lights Festival were marked by the introduction of new keyboardist, Taro Gutierrez. If you were there, you heard... If you weren't there, have we got a surprise for you!

First though, we extend our best wishes to Terry Davidson, one our band's co-founders, in his new digs in seaside Corpus Christi. He now teaches in a local school district.

Terry was a fixture in west Texas music for over 20 years, both performing and teaching all over the Big Bend. Back in 2004, he and Tony Lujan had the idea of putting together a new band that would give both the opportunity to front a band of their own. Hence, The Resonators were formed, originally with only five members. Very soon thereafter, the band grew to six pieces, eventually reaching the current eight-member roster.

Even though The Resonators have had very good luck in building a fan base over the past two years, we're still a very young band. We hope this is just the beginning. Regardless, all past successes--and any that lie ahead--would not have been possible without Terry's guidance and patience. We'll miss you, man!

Looking for Terry's replacement, we crossed our fingers and hoped that we could convince long-time Ojinaga (Mexico) music "institution", Taro Gutierrez, to play. Taro's resume includes a full career as music teacher in Ojinaga, a post-retirement current position as mariachi director in the Presidio schools, and even a two-week playing engagement with Xavier Cugat in Las Vegas way back...

Taro currently has his own band in Ojinaga, Las Meras Cuerdas, so we're hoping we can juggle the schedule and keep him playing with us, too. But if hearing him play at Marfa Lights was any indication, ay caramba!

Marfa Lights!

The Resonators will be playing both Saturday and Sunday at this year's Marfa Lights Festival, beginning at 4:00 PM each day. Y'all come!

Ft. Stockton performance cancelled

Due to a death in the family of Tony Lujan, we have decided to cancel our performance in Ft. Stockton on August 19. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused anyone planning to come see us, but our thoughts and prayers are with Tony and his family in their time of loss.

Come see us in Marfa on Labor Day weekend. We play at 4 PM on both Saturday and Sunday.

Railroad Blues Friday, Pecos Saturday. Join Us!

The Resonators will have a busy weekend coming up this July 28th and 29th as we play Railroad Blues Friday, then the Pecos Cantalope Festival on Saturday. We hope you'll be able to join us on one or both evenings. As always we'll have some new material for everyone to enjoy; but most importantly, the band is sounding better than ever, so a fun evening is definitely in store.

Hope to see you there!

Resonators welcome new band members

The Resonators are excited to announce the addition of two talented new members to the band. Recently we hired Jesus "El Huevo" Hernandez to run sound for the band. This guy knows his stuff, period! In addition, Jesus already has extensive experience performing in other local bands, so it'd be no big surprise to find him up on stage at some point in the near future. We're glad to have you, Huevo! Also our Latin percussion position is cookin' again with Carlos Franco at the helm. Carlos was brought in top sub for Frank on a couple of gigs and the chemistry with the band was great. Carlos also has quite a bit of experience gigging in the Big Bend, so we're fortunate to have him with us.

Look for The Resonators at Railroad Blues on July 28th, then in Pecos on the 29th.

See you soon!

Independence weekend fun!

The Resonators will have two dates coming up this Fourth of July weekend:

If you're looking to escape that summer heat, then head out to Ft. Davis, Texas on Saturday, July 1st and enjoy their Independence Day celebration. The Resonators play starting at 9:00 PM. The show will be primarily latin and rock-n-roll, but we plan on sprinkling in a few country tunes as well. It seems to be a mix that just about everyone can enjoy.

On Tuesday, July 4th The Resonators will perform in Kokernot Park in Alpine, Texas. That show starts at 5:00 PM, concluding with fireworks at dark.

As always, we are most grateful for the support of everyone who comes out to hear us play. In addition, many, many thanks to the folks who are willing to put on events like these two, giving The Resonators the chance to get out and play!

April 21 at Atrium Club in Ft. Stockton

We'll be playing Friday, April 21st at the Atrium Club (next to Atrium West Inn) in Ft. Stockton, Texas. The show starts at 9:00 PM and wraps up at 2:00 AM. We're looking forward to taking our sound to Ft. Stockton for the first time, and hope you'll join us!

Blues show report; Eric Johnson coming to Alpine!

Rock on, Resonators! Our show Saturday night was a blast. The music was spot on and the audience was rockin', making for one fun evening. As always, we want to thank everyone for turning out to party with us, making Alpine a premier locale for live music. And none of this would be the same if it weren't for Railroad Blues. Thanks, Richard, R.C., and staff.

On to the music. After a busy 2005, The Resonators have renewed our commitment to getting a varied mix of tunes on every new set-list. This requires a significant amount of rehearsal and preparation, but it all seemed to be worth it Saturday Night. New songs included covers of: Jungle Boogie (Kool and The Gang), Higher Ground (Stevie Wonder), Bap Bap (Bonerama), Watermelon Man (Mongo Santamaria), Money (pink Floyd), and Ano Viejo. In addition, we played Joe Q (our tribute to Kinky Friedman), and Que Onda, both Resonators originals.

Jerry Castellano, our auxiliary percussionist, has decided to retire from the group, and we will miss him. Jerry played with us for the last year and subbed for Frank on several occasions. Best wishes, Jerry!

Well if you read this far, then you are a fan! And if you like The Resonators, then you probably are an aficicionado of an eclectic mix of great music. No need to say anything more than this: ERIC JOHNSON... Yes, the Eric Johnson Band will be at Railroad Blues on Wednesday, March 29. Lucy and I got advance tickets for $15 apiece (tickets are $25 at the door). Come on, are we kidding? No way! Show starts at 9:00 PM. If you can make it, get yourself to Alpine for this one.

Thanks for stopping in to visit our blog. See you soon!

Come see us at Railroad Blues on March 24th

We sure hope you'll come see us at Railroad Blues in Alpine on March 24th. This will be our first gig there in 2006, and, as always, our show there will represent the best The Resonators have to offer at the moment. And if that's not reason enough, I've asked Lucy to make a BIG birthday cake for the night. It's The Resonators second birthday! BYO Punch...

Happy New Year!

The Resonators will be performing at Lajitas Resort on New Year's Eve. The charge per person will be $25. Jim Hall will be performing with us on the bass, so expect a heapin' helpin' of the Texas two-step, as well.

See you there!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Whereever you may find yourself on Thanksgiving, take just a minute to remember all the blessings you enjoy in life. And then on the other 364 days of the year, do the same exact thing!

It's been a wonderful year making music with The Resonators and we greatly appreciate your interest and support. We hope you've had fun coming out to hear us, and we certainly look forward to more of the same for 2006. A goal the band has agreed upon in 2006 is to record and hopefully maybe even have our first release. It'll be lots of work but we can do it.

For those of you who endured a chilly evening in Alpine for Gallery Night, muchas gracias. For once, those stage lights weren't too hot!

Saludos de Playa Los Cocos, Nayarit, Mexico, y Feliz Día de Gracias!

John

GALLERY NIGHT!

November 18th and 19th. Time for Alpine's annual "Gallery Night." Musical entertainment on Friday will be Joe King Carrasco at 9:00 PM, then The Resonators on Saturday, starting at 8:00 PM. Both performances will be held in front of the depot. Don't miss out on this 'cause this will likely be the last time you can catch The Resonators in 2005 (for free, too!). The weather lately has been unreal, so you have no excuse to miss this one. See you there!

Hope to see you on November 5th at 'the Blues'

As 2005 comes to a close, The Resonators have some mighty fine venues to bid the old year 'adieu.' Coming up real fast will be our 6th show for 2005 at Railroad Blues in Alpine. If you haven't heard us yet, then make Saturday, November 5th the day you check that item off your "to do" list. Folks say that you shouldn't make a visit to the Big Bend without doing "such and such." Well, now add hearing a Resonators show to that list.

We'll also be playing Alpine's Gallery Night on November 19th, arguably Alpine's biggest community event all year. Then come see us on New Year's Eve in Lajitas.

Thanks for taking a look. We hope to see you Saturday.

We'll see you in Marathon on October 15th

The annual Marathon to Marathon will be held this coming Saturday, October 15th. For details about the race click here. The music will get started at 8:00 PM at the Marathon Motel and RV Park, and there is no cover! Once again, a beautiful fall evening in west Texas with music and friendly folks; it doesn't get any better than this.

What a beautiful evening in Alpine!

The Resonators played the dance at Our Lady of Peace church bazaar Saturday evening, October 1st. The calendar says it's fall, but the weather was more like summer; it couldn't have been any better! By the way, does anyone remember the big ice storm that happened on this very weekend back in 2000? Anyway, just a great evening for an outdoor dance. Thanks to the parishoners at Our Lady of Peace for having us play. It was lots of fun.

We'll be playing Marathon for the Marathon to Marathon evening party on October 15th, then at Railroad Blues on November 5th. On November 19th come hear us at Alpine's Gallery Night, right in front of the train depot.

Katrina benefit will feature SOCONOCO

A benefit for local Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Alpine had been slated to feature The Resonators on Saturday, September 24th. This was an event we had looked forward very much to being a part of. Unfortunately a series of events transpired rather suddenly that caused our group to lose the chance to help out. It is our loss that we won't be there, but we hope you'll still plan to attend. Charlie Bell and SOCONOCO will be performing, with everything happening on 6th Street (between Holland and Ave.E) from 7 to 10 PM.

See you in Alpine on October 1st!

The Resonators will be the featured entertainment at Our Lady of Peace Church Bazaar Dance coming up this October 1st at 8:00 PM. The church parish is located at 406 S. Sixth Street in Alpine, Texas. The band recently upgraded their sound system, so prepare yourself for that Resonator sound like you've never heard before!

Many thanks to Revis and the rest of the staff down at Lajitas for a fun evening this past September 16th. We hope everyone had a good time. As promised, the evening weather was a complete delight, accompanied by lots of music, food, and fun. Viva Mexico! Viva Lajitas!

Take care everyone.

Viva Mexico! Come celebrate in Lajitas on the 16th!

Celebrate Mexican Independence Day with The Resonators in Lajitas on Friday, September 16th. The celebration is free and open to the public, lasting from 7:00 PM until midnight. Food and refreshments will be sold.

Here's a summary of the evening:

• Event will be held at the Lajitas Trading Post
• Dinner from 7:00-8:30 PM, accompanied by mariachis
• Pinata for the kids around 8:00 PM
• 8:30 PM 'til midnight dance with The Resonators

Y'all come and party under the beautiful west Texas skies on a wonderful late summer evening. It doesn't get any better than this!

Kinky Friedman. Marfa Lights...Were you there?

Wow, what fun we had this past Labor Day weekend!

It all started on Thursday at the Kinky Friedman campaign rally at The Railroad Blues where Jeffrow (Tull) Cowell, The Doodlin' Hogwallops, and The Resonators played to a large, enthusiastic crowd. Jeffrow got things started, performing several Kinky originals, then The Doodlin' Hogwallops played a short set of folk/country, leading up to Kinky's stump speech. The Hogwallops resumed their set afterwards, followed by a lengthy Resonator set closing out the evening. Good times don't get much better than that memorable Thursday evening in Alpine!

The Marfa Lights Festival evening entertainment might just as easily have been called "Dances With Rainshowers." Both nights were interrupted briefly by rains (rain is good in west Texas!), but both shows went right ahead. The Resonators played on Saturday to a large crowd, then turned the rest of the evening over to Romaldo y Estilo. At about that time the rains came, but neither the crowd or band were to be deterred, and Marfa danced well into the night.

Sunday's afternoon just about got washed away. The rains started at about 3:30 PM and didn't let up for two hours. The Resonators were scheduled to begin at 5:00 PM but were delayed until 7:00 PM. By that time many vendors and attendees had already called it a day, so the outlook for the rest of the festival was uncertain. Suffice it to say, The Resonators brought the street dance back to life with a five-hour performance, filling in for the band which had originally been booked for the 9:00 PM dance. By evening's end, it seemed like Marfa had put on yet another successful Marfa Lights Festival and The Resonators were right there onstage to give everyone a rousing send-off.

Thanks, Marfa. Hopefully we'll see you again next year.

Resonators playing at Kinky Friedman event!

Kinky Friedman will be bringing his campaign for governor to far west Texas in early September, and you can catch him, The Resonators, and others at The Railroad Blues on September 1st at 8:00 PM (link). This should be one of the fun events of the year and potentially could draw a big crowd. Hope to see you this coming Thursday!