Birdz Blog

Our first of three (and we hope more) 4th Sunday-of-the-month gigs at Boondocks happened on January 22 and we had a great crowd and a full dance floor for most of the night - Thanks!

The Railbirdz are still gigging only two times in February as we take time to work in about 10 new tunes.  We've got 5 new ones so far and they seem to going over pretty well; Use Me - Bill Withers/Wolfman Washington style, Low Rider - War, Cold Sweat- James Brown a la the Bone Shakers, Sing a Simple Song - Sly a la Maceo Parker, and Skin Tight - Walter Wolfman Washington.

Next gig is Dry River Pizza on Friday Feb 3.  Hope to see you there!

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The Railbirdz first gig of 2012 was at Dry River Pizza Co., on Kolb south of Speedway, January 6th.  Brendan and his staff make excellent food, there is a great beer menu, and when we got there to load in the place was jamming!  It would be nice to think they all came to hear The Railbirdz but the pizza probably had something to do with it.

The good news is that the crowd hung around for our sets and the band was as hot as those pizza stoves in the kitchen.  We introduced a couple of new tunes that went over well, and we will continue to work new material into the set list for the next couple of months.  We've tuned down the gigs a bit to give us time to rehearse, and for the next two months we will be playing 2 nights a month - First Fridays at Dry River ad Fourth Sundays at Boondocks.  The Boondocks gigs are great because we are hoping that some of our busy musician friends will be able to come out for an early Sunday evening (6PM - 9PM) and check us out.

In March we added a date at Hacienda del Sol to our January and February schedule and we are playing there on March 31st.  Beyond the Spring we will expand the schedule slightly, and we hope to return to RJs Replay as well.

Hope to see you soon!

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The Railbirdz debut gig at RJs Replays on Speedway on December 9th went really well and we thank everyone for coming out to support us.  Club ownership noticed that as well and they've invited us back in January, so we'll let you know when we firm up that date.

Speaking of next year, the Railbirdz are going to reduce our gigging schedule somewhat to give us time to work out some new tunes.  The schedule is setting up to be the 1st Friday of the month at Dry River Pizza, the 4th Sunday at Boondocks, and we're working on scheduling RJs as well. 

Thanks to everyone who has supported us during 2011, it is much appreciated.  We are looking forward to next year and meeting more new friends as we play out.

Have a safe and happy holiday, see you on the flip side.

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Bass player Dave Martin has returned to the Railbirdz, replacing Bob Thames who had to leave the band for personal reasons. 

Dave's first gig back with the Railbirdz is December 9th at RJs Replays, the old Berkys, and it'd be great to see some old friends and make some new ones at this revitalized venue.

The Railbirdz will be on a reduced gig schedule in for the first few months of 2012 as we work through some new material.  Starting in January and through March the Railbirdz will be playing on the first Friday' at Dry River Pizza and 4th Sundays will be at Boondocks, so come on out and get yo funky fix, and welcome back Dave!

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While working in with the new bass player Bob Thames the Railbirdz have been revamping (no pun intended) the song list and even attempting (gasp) writing some original tunes! 

Bur first, in recognition of the need to do popular songs that people recognize and that will fill the dance floor, we are working on a funk version of "Mustang Sally" that has 12 verses - each in a different key!

Next will be an atonal version of "Free Bird"!

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The Railbirdz will be on the back patio of the Bamboo Club tonight from 7PM - 10PM and we hope you can come and check it out.

Paul and Cindy are great people and have been supporting live music in Tucson and bringing live music to their restaurant on Friday nights for about a year.  Due to the realities of running a business in today's economic climate they are suspending live music on Fridays for a while.

The Railbirdz are grateful to the Bamboo Club for their support of our music for the past year and we are sad to see Tucson lose another venue for live music.  We hope you can come out tonight and check out this neat venue and hopefully we'll see live music back at the Bamboo Club soon. 

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We had an excellent gig last night at Redline Sports Grill - if you haven't been there you need to check it out.  Great ourdoor bar with kind of a Caribbean feel (except for the traffic at Oracle and Wetmore!), excellent wait staff and a great beer menu.

Tonight we are at Dry River Pizza on Kolb SE of Speedway and it will be Dave's last gig as our "regular" bass player, so come on by and get you some of their excellent pizza and say "so long" to Dave.  He will be subbing in with the Railbirdz in the future, and we really appreciate Dave as a person and a player.

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The Railbirdz are currently rehearsing with Bob Thames, who will be replacing Dave Martin on bass on November 1.  Due to the time requirements of his day job Dave will be stepping out of the regular bass role for the Railbirdz, though he will be available from time to time as a sub.

The Birdz are happy that Bob answered our ad for a bass player and with his funky style and groove we will not "skip a beat" when he comes on in November.  Bob has been part of the music scene in Tucson for a while and is a well respected musician, and the Railbirdz look forward to working with him.

Next up for the Railbirdz this weekend is a private party on Saturday October 22 and on Sunday October 23rd we play from 2:30PM - 3:30PM at the Oro Valley Marketplace at the "Arts in the Park Fine Arts Music Festival".  Come on out!

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The Railbirdz want to thank everyone for coming out to Boondocks Sunday night, it was great to see some old Boondocks fans and meet some new ones!  It was good to remember the 9/11 tragedy and its victims, but it was also nice to play some funky blues with my Railbirdz brothers and watch people work up a sweat on the dance floor.  Nuttin' better.

This weekend we are doing a band roadtrip to Las Vegas to catch a Tower of Power concert.  There's nothing like a TOP concert to get the funk juice flowing, so make sure you put some space in your calendar to check out the Railbirdz on September 23rd (Redline Sports Grill) and September 24th (Dry River Pizza).  We be recharged! 

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The Railbirdz return to Boondocks this Sunday for some Funky Blues and BBQ from 6PM-9PM, there is a $5 cover.

We are looking forward to playing Bondocks again and hope you can join us for some BBQ and good music.

As always, there will be a yodeling contest during the show and the winner this week will get some of Marty's leftover Fender Strat birthday cake!

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