Cactus Hill

Archive
Page 2

October 19, 2002
Country Rose
North Platte, NE

By: Dave Wilson

The official Cactus Hill song made its debut right here at the Country Rose in North Platte on Saturday. What you do is you make up a verse about everyone in the band and then sing it. Sometime they're funny and people in the band laugh. Sometimes they're stupid and people in the band look at you funny. Sometimes they're just mumbling because you can't think of words fast enough. Some people in the band look at you funny, while some laugh, pretending they understood the jibberish you said. The entire time, people in the chairs and on the dancefloor look at you funny, like, 'What the heck is this crappy song?' Finally, I had to end the song when some lady dancing by gave me the off-with-the-head sign with her arm. Well, I sang a verse about her, then ended the song. You know what's good? That Merrick's restaurant by the hotel. Get the hot beef. With some peach pie with iced cream for desert.

October 8-13, 2002
Grizzly Rose
Denver, CO

By: Dave Wilson

Keith, Roger and I got a wake-up call around six in the morning on Wednesday after playing our first night at the fine saloon and dancehall called the Grizzly Rose. At least we thought it was a wake-up call, and assumed it had been set up by someone in the Jim/Al/Junker room. Manuel and Shane are too nice for that sort of evilness, we thought. We plotted our revenge on Wednesday and our chance to strike came Thursday after we left the bar. The Rose was packed on Thursday, as Kenny Chesney's people held a casting call for is upcoming video, which was going to be taped in Denver. Also, it was ladies night. Needless to say, Jim and Al stuck around chatting with the various Denverites as the rest of us headed back for some much-needed rest. We got back to the room and Roger and I went and pounded on Junker's door, telling him he had to get down to our room to see something. So Junker followed me into our room, while Roger went into the Jim/Al/Junker room and placed a wake-up call for 5:30 a.m. As it turns out, I don't think they had placed the wake-up call to us in the first place. because all Al said was that their phone rang early in the morning and it freaked him out. Sorry about that guys. Anyway, we ventured into the mountains to Estes Park on Friday, stopping for some trout jerky on the way. If you haven't tried trout jerky, you don't know what you're missing. So we drove around Rocky Mountain National Park, while Keith sang John Denver songs to us and Jim swerved all over the road. We stopped at Starbucks on our way out and we were sipping our coffee out back of the shop, watching this stream run out of the mountains when all of a sudden Roger claimed he could make this impossible leap across the river aided by three rocks. So Jim and I pooled together a $100 bet that he couldn't get across the river without getting wet, thinking the best-case scenario would be that Roger gets two up-to-his ankles full of 35-degree running water. So he him-haws around, dancing on the first rock just off the shore before he finally gets up the courage to make the bound. He takes a big running start, lands a foot on the first rock, about four feet out, then plunges ahead for the second jagged rock. Seeing as this second jump couldn't have been made by Carl Lewis, we watched as Roger splashed feet first into the water, then fell onto his right shoulder, drenching himself from shoulder to feet. Keith went back into Starbucks and got some napkins for Roger to dry off with as the rest of us rolled on the ground laughing for a good five minutes. Then we headed back to Denver with Roger in the back, shivering and laughing, stopping for more trout jerky along the way. The crowds were pretty huge on Friday and Saturday and we seemed to go over well. Though the best part about the club might have been the food they cook up in the back. I think I had something different every night and it was all the best food I'd had in a long, long time. Aside from eating at the bar and the Village Inn right next to our hotel, we once ventured out for a late night snack at a Village Inn that was supposed to be six blocks from the hotel. Well, it wasn't there. Just a gas station where Roger was afraid to get out of the car and I eventually settled on a burrito and some "Extremo" Gatorade. I rode shotgun with a hot, hot burrito in my lap and Roger and Shane talking loudly all the way back to the hotel. Sunday was odd. The bar was packed once again, this time for teen-night. They all crammed onto the huge dance floor and line danced the entire night. The entire night. To every song. That can't be healthy. Of course, neither is six meals at Village Inn and one ultra-hot burrito.

September 1 , 2002
Coyote Willy's
Lincoln, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

Throughout the four-day weekend at Willys, we were fortunate enough to try out a couple of different verses to "The Uncle Ron Song," which will be out on our upcoming CD release titled, "Songs About People We Know." On Friday, someone came to me wanting the words to The Uncle Ron Song so she could sing it to her very own Uncle Ron. Unfortunately, I was unable to give the words out as the copyright is still pending in Washington D.C. Also, the verses change every time, which makes it difficult to copyright. Sunday, we debuted "The Steve Watts Song," a mid-tempo ballad that ponders battling the ups and downs of life through the eyes of a Little Debbie truck. There was a great crowd on Sunday, which happened to be customer appreciation day. If you have nothing better to do -- or even if you do have something better to do -- I highly recommend you come out to see us at Willy's every Sunday night. Through September there will be a measley $2 cover, lots of drink specials and lots of people. Good times. Be sure to keep your ears out for our upcoming hit single, "The Shane Mason Song," which is climbing up the Mid-European Country charts as we speak. I'll leave you with a verse from "The Uncle Ron Song" ... "Old Uncle Ron he sure can dance. He reminds me of that *N'Sync guy -- what's his name? -- oh yeah, Lance."

August 24, 2002
The Country Rose
North Platte, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

Mr. John Farley is a pretty nice guy. One time he
baked me an apple pie. He puts us up at the Stanford Suites. Despite no alarm clocks, they are pretty neat. We worked on the John Farley song for Mr. John Farley, the owner of the Country Rose, this weekend in an attempt to perfect it before we record it on our upcoming album. It was a little rough around the edges, but it's getting better. We also played a lot of other music for a lot of people. What a great place to play out in the middle of freaking Nebraska. Who'd a thunk it? On Friday, we were treated to a mushy-mush dinner on Hawaiian night. I would have sported my Hawaiian shirt, but nobody told me. Oh, well. Hang 10, dude. At some point, I hope everybody will sing along. It's the Johnny Farley song.

August 10, 2002
Saline County Fair
Crete, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

I should have worn my boots, but I didn't. I guess I
was not aware that there would be a rodeo going on
this evening and lots of mud and crap around. So I
guess it's only right that when I stepped off the
stage in my Hawaiian-bought flip flops (not the
patented Cactus Hill ones I usually wear), my left
foot sank into a mud hole about a foot deep. My foot was covered in mud for the rest of the evening. I am an idiot. Why didn't I wear boots... or at least some sort of toe-covering shoe? What about the West Nile virus? Yeah, good question. We all should have been wearing bug spray, too, but not around Keith's guitar.

July 26-27, 2002
Butler County Fair
David City, NE

By: Dave Wilson

I don't know what it is about those West Central Eastern Nebraska shows, but I sure like 'em. Just like the Brainard Daze and the Bellwood Street Dance, this year's Butler County Fair (as always) was a blast. Lots of people just having a good time, I guess. Playing with Cactus Hill for four years, I can say without hesitation that this weekend ranked among the top-10 shows I've ever played. The Great Divide kicked off the festivities on Friday (with a swell rendition of Milk Cow Blues, I might add) and the demolition derby was Saturday's big attraction. I'm not going to say which had a better crowd, but it's a damn shame, that's all. Anyway, we had a great time playing a packed house in the beer garden both nights (thank you to both the Great Divide, the demolition derby and the BCF Board). Folks packed up against the stage all night... enough so that by Saturday, I had enough. It was time for a stage dive. It's a good feeling, being hoisted above a group of people. Then slowly you start to slip and the last four feet pretty much equals a thud in the dirt. Cool. Equally as cool was the person that was running around with a marker drawing moustaches on unsuspecting victim's faces. Well, I know at least one guy got a moustache. In other Cactus Hill news, the win-a-date with official photographer Mike Junker contest should be starting on the web site this week. Stay tuned. Also, I'll sell you my bow for $20. Heck of a deal.

July 20, 2002
Jackpot Gambling
Mitchell, South Dakota

By: Dave Wilson

If you like heat and corn, this was the place to be on Saturday. Manuel and I woke up bright and early and decided it would be a great day to go outside and walk around Mitchell. When I flung the door open to meet the day, I felt like I had opened an oven. No, I'm serious. The wave of heat that hit me was like nothing I had felt before. We would later see, sweating in our half-functioning air-conditionered room, that Mitchell was featured on the Weather Channel for having the nation's daily high at 109 degrees. Anyhoo, we drove downtown to walk the strip and check out a couple western stores. I was looking for a 1950s-Hank-Sr.-style western shirt, which I didn't find (let me know if you know where I can get ahold of such a piece of vintage clothing). We get out of the car and start walking. Of course, there was a parade going down the middle of the main drag... right in front of the Corn Palace and right in front of Jackpot Gambling and right in front of the two western stores. We walked through the middle of the parade and took a quick tour of the Corn Palace (pretty sweet), before standing and watching the parade for awhile, snacking on a bag of popcorn. I thought Manuel wanted to check out the parade, which featured a sea green 1985 Sunbird as a "classic" car, and Manuel thought I was checking out the parade. Once we figured out that we didn't need to hang out any longer, we continued our journey. Luckily, we did catch a glimpse of the Corn Queen. After checking out the western stores, we poked our head in the movie theatre to see what times the three movies in town were playing. We ended up going back to see K-19. It was the best 2 1/2-hour movie on a submarine, featuring no female actresses, no plot and bad Russian accents that I've ever seen. The bar was cool. No wait, it was hot. They kept the doors to the back beer garden open all night. We learned Friday not to wear long-sleeve shirts. So here we were Saturday on stage in the hottest city in the nation in tanks and tees, still sweating our rears. We had good crowds both nights and the overall bar atmosphere more than made up for our pain and suffering. I can't wait to go to Mitchell again. Maybe we can make the trip this winter... through snow... on the coldest day of the year. I wonder if they'll keep the doors open to the beer garden when the snow is blowing in. I'll be playing fiddle in mittens and cover-alls. Mitchell rules! WEE HAW?

July 13, 2002
Coyote Willys
Lincoln, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

One of the best things about playing Coyote Willys is being able to steal chewy sprees from Shane. He always has at least one pack on hand (purchased from the vending machine up front), which is kept beneath his high hat, just to the left of his left foot. I enjoy sneaking in, behind Keith's guitar (careful not to knock it over), and grabbing a couple amid each set. Typically, I pull out a couple reds, maybe a green and occasionally, a yellow. Usually, Shane has no idea that I'm stealing his food, but sometimes I get busted and he'll throw a stick at me... like tonight. So I kept his busted stick in my back pocket as I scoured the venue for someone to chuck it at. The sound guy is always an easy target, but I opted not to ruin relations with the person in charge of how loud my fiddle is. Instead, I did something with it. I don't remember what. I think I tried to give it to someone and they threw it at me. Anyway, I had a fun, tart and chewy time at Willys this weekend. Lots of people. Lots of fun. Lots of sprees. Lots of Hank III.

July 5, 2002
Brainard Street Dance
Brainard, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

I think the only thing that prevented this from being my favorite street dance of all-time was our dress. Someone decided it would be a great idea if we all wore white tank-tees as tight as tight can be. I quickly came to realize that I needed to work on my tan. And my buffness. Anyway, the crowd at Brainard was awesome. All sorts of folks packed in all over the place. That was cool. The weather, however, was hot. Good thing we were dressed to stay cool, I guess.

July 6, 2002
Bellwood Daze
Bellwood, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

A little drizzle came in right as we started soundcheck so we quickly tarped everything up and began a game of football in the street. Now, let me tell you, wet cement and lots of little kids running around can spell trouble, but the game's only injury came when Chuck (the sound guy, not the throwing motion) stepped through a hole in the flat-bed, while chasing a ball. Luckily, he survived and we took the tarps off. A couple bolts of lightning later, the drizzle started and the tarps went back on. So the crowd began to grow and like any small-town street dance crowd, couldn't understand why we wouldn't plugour instruments into the sockets, stand in puddles and play in the light rain, surrounded by lightning. Well, after a couple of hours, Cactus Hill gave in to the restless crowd. The drizzle let up and we went on around 10 p.m., despite a little thunder off in the distance. Lots of dancing and lots of brats. The brats ruled, by the way. Somehow, we didn't get electrocuted, however, if we had, the rescue squad members informed us that we'd be OK, because they were all right there. Hanging out by the beer tent and outhouses.

March 31, 2002
Coyote Willy's
Lincoln, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

Sometime before the show, Keith let me in on a little
secret. He told me how he gets his picture-perfect
untuck. I don't know if I want to release this secret.
OK, I will. He holds a certain amount of his shirt
away from his body at the chest and then tucks with
the right hand. When he's done, he releases the excess shirt and it falls into a perfect untuck. I'd never
seen anything like it before. I wouldn't have believed
it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. The
perfect tuck. I've tried many times to replicate what
I saw, but I can't do it. Maybe Keith will teach a
class on it next semester. And maybe Mark Wills could be his graduate assistant. As long as you get fine arts or humanities credit for it. That's cool with me. Anyway, Sundays are pretty cool at Coyote Willys. We've been having a blast... and the PBR is always crispy cold. Don't ask why the sudden interest in Blue Ribbon. Maybe it's just a Sunday thing.

January 27, 2002
Pla-Mor Ballroom
Lincoln, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

Four nights in a row is always fun (three at Willys and then Sunday at the Pla-Mor). Some people think it'd wear a guy down. I could play every night and not get tired of it. Uncle Ron and the Willys' crew decided to see how CH would handle a fourth night of playing mixed in with some heckling, mid-song distractions and various state-of-being-altering beverages. However, when presented with a challenge, Cactus Hill always rises to the occasion. Well, most of the time, anyway. We had a fun night with Homegrown, who presented some great old school songs, God bless them. Why can't we play more old school. Jim did let me do a quick rendition of "Hey, Good Lookin,'" which if you can't appreciate... well, whatever. You know who does appreciate some good roots music is Brian Jennings, of 96KX, who was talking up the Pat Green song, "Three Days." Good song. Good artist. Great genre.

January 26, 2002
Coyote Willy's
Lincoln, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

So I guess I can't say I've heard a lot of Kenny Chesney impersonations, but in my opinion, Rich Cassidy of 96KX does a pretty good, "Hi, I'm Kenny Chesney." I realized this as he introduced us on Saturday evening. I don't know whay he said it, but he did. It didn't hit me right away, but more a couple of seconds later. I thought to myself, "Dang, that was pretty funny." I don't think anyone else thought it was very amusing. But if you see Rich Cassidy, ask him to do his Kenny Chesney. It will make you laugh. Or maybe, you won't think it's funny, but it will still be amusing to me that you went up and asked him. The thing about Rich is that he always seems to be up on his fashion. Or at least he seems like he is up on his fashion -- be it rose-colored glasses or a new-fangled shirt. Maybe he's faking a good sense of style, but whatever. This fashion sense is very unlike the members of Cactus Hill, who still haven't mastered the tuck/untuck. Yeah, there I said it. You can tell a lot about a person just by how they tuck in their shirts -- and then how much they untuck it. Evenness is the key. Take Jim for example. Well, I guess he doesn't tuck his shirts in anymore. But he did for a short two-week stint in early 2002. Then, for some reason he gave up within the last two weeks. No tuck. You suck. At least try. Take a guy like Keith. Always tucks his shirts in. Always very even. Always wears black. He's a very professional guy. No questions asked. Shane, on the other hand, usually goes untucked -- not because he can't, but because that's his style. Laid back. It fits his personality.

January 19, 2002
Bull Blast 2002
Lincoln, Nebraska

By: Dave Wilson

It started off quiet as we were getting Keith (lead guitar) prepared for his singing of the national anthem. He was practicing before time in the men’s bathroom as he was a little nervous. He never knew that Shane (drums) was taking a #2 in the next stall and overheard his “bathroom rehearsal.”

A great turn out, they had to turn over 200 people away at the door because this event was jam packed.

While we were doing our sound check the bull riding was going on next door. I started to tune my fire fiddle and across the dance floor comes a stretcher with a failed “ring of fire contestant” agonizing in pain. See he didn’t get out of the way of this 1,000 pound bull and was catapulted, some say 20 feet in the air, only to land as an unconscious rag doll. I hear he recovered well and is doing OK.

We started our first set and the place was rockin’ from our very first chord. A lot of women, cowboys and beer. Just what the doctor ordered!

Friends and family members made this night a great success. We were told that we sounded great. We were also told by our newly hired Cactus Hill Dance Coordinator that we needed to add more West Coast style songs. Jim (lead) was a little taken back by this at first, however he understands that one of our main goals on our list is to keep our dancers happy. He now pokes fun of our instructor whenever he widdles by the front of the stage with his many dance partners. We are in the process of adding more West Coast numbers to our Monday night rehearsals.