May 31, 2008. 

Tonight we played the Cowboy Luau in Yukon, OK.  The Cowboy Luau is a free outdoor concert put on by music lovers.  We played at 9m, which meant the sun was going down and things were much cooler.  Some fans from Norman came out and we were joined by the entire Carnuccio clan.  We were followed by Brian and Sally from LA.  They were awesome!  There was an amazing lightening show going on and we wondered if rain would keep us from seeing our friends, Macon Greyson, perform.  But, the rain held out and the boys from Macon Greyson put on a hell of a show.  This was a fun little show and we hope to be part of an even bigger Luau next year.  Happy Birthday Stephanie Davis!

May 30, 2008. 

 

The Deli.  We were back at home and unlike our normal shows there, the crowd started out small.  As the night went on, they were lined up to see us play.  There were a lot of new faces in the crowd, but those faces were singing along to the songs.  So, I guess we must be doing something right.

May 24, 2008. 

Tonight, we were in Denison, TX to play T-Bones.  This was our first trip to T-Bones, so we were a little nervous.  Tim, the owner, and Temple, the bartender, however, took great care of us.  We had a small crowd (everyone was at the lake for Memorial Day Weekend) but the danced and cheered and by the end of the night, they were all wearing the Mama Sweet shirts they had bought.  We will definitely be going back to T-bones.

May 23, 2008. 

Tonight, we were in Tulsa to play Cain’s.  We arrived on time, always a feat for us, and sound check was as smooth as can be.  Afterwards, we walked down to the local Mexican restaurant, which was a bad decision.  I won’t go into the details, but we were worried we would have to leave the stage to run for the bathroom.  A great opener bought us a little time, so we it was our turn to play, we were good to go.  Dan Walker joined us, which is always a treat.  We had new fans in the audience and old ones we hadn’t see in forever.  Memorial Day kept us from an awesome turnout, but all in all, it was a really good show.

May 17, 2008. 

Our first trip to Austin!!!  We were scheduled to play at midnight and were the last band.  Apparently, the headliners in Austin play second to last.  Weird.  We didn’t care; we had a ton of old friends in the crowd.  We were also joined by the Hadlocks and some soon to be new fans too.  The response was amazing.  We simply couldn’t have asked for better.  I can’t wait to play Austin again.

May 13, 2008. 

Tonight, we gathered at Mr. Bill’s Bar in Norman for a benefit concert.  We have a friend that we fondly call Doc.  Doc has been suffering from a rare form of cancer for awhile, but the Mayo clinic has finally offered him some hope.  In exchange for what they have given him, he decided to give back by holding a benefit for Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong Charity.  Camille, Resident Funk, Eclectic Groove, and Mama Sweet all belted out tunes for the cause.  It was a great gathering of friends and something good came out of it.  What better way to spend a Tuesday night.

April 26, 2008. 

What a day!  We played the Dreamer Concept’s stage at the Norman Music Festival in the afternoon.  It was originally just supposed to be Alan and me, but Nooch, like always really wanted to play.  Alan agreed but only if he used wire brushes.  Well, the Boyd wanted to play too.  So, he decided to play an upright bass.  It was completely different from what we normally do, but it actually ended up being fun.  There were even people climbing on the roofs of buildings to get pictures.   We caught a few acts, including the Kittens (Trent Bell co-produced our album) and as the festival wrapped up, we headed over to the Opolis to play the Blue Fish After-Party.  If you know Norman, you know that the Opolis is not really our scene.  But, Quinton, who runs the Blue Fish Parties, is notorious for putting on awesome shows with great music, so we couldn’t pass this opportunity up.  I’m so glad we didn’t.  I’m glad we can say we played the Opolis, we held our own, and we made some new fans.  Nevertheless, I’m exhausted.  Happy Birthday Quinton!

April 19, 2008. 

Happy Tyler Day!  Springfield is to moonshine as Okarche is to Boone’s Farm.  It may not sound comparable, but mix that will 2 bottles of Jaeger, lots of beer, and the best chicken in the world and before you know it your head is spinning.  We hung out with Heath and Keith and the Brandon Clark Band.  We shot the shit, shared stories, smoked cigarettes, and drank.  It was a lot of fun.  I got my protégé, Wyatt, on stage.  Wyatt strummed my guitar and had the best night of his life.  I hope that his family will get him a guitar soon, so that next year, he can really play with us.   The people of Okarche are some of the best that you will ever find and this cause (a scholarship in memory of their friend and family member) makes every trip to Okarche amazing.

Monday, 4-14

Camille invited me to play with them (Engelman) at the Deli's Monday. I really like singing with her. I'm not real talkative right now, sorry.

Sunday, 4-13

Benefit for the American Heart Association at the Smokey...er...Wormy Dog. Oh the irony. We got there just in time. Fun lil song swap. Camille was there drinking beers. I think we continued our Sat that fair afternoon. Afterwards we went down to Tarahumara's for Alan's B-day feast. Yum. You get a new chin every time you eat there.

March 17, 2008

O'Connell's on St. Pat's. Done. That's home turf, baby. We played that party a few years ago. Our slot was at noon. This time we were second to last. Comin' up, bitches! This year it didn't rain. Although it acted like it was going to all day. Loaded in and got our heads straight, waited around in the back. There were so many people there I didn't really wanna wade threw them. Crowds sometimes make me nervous. Especially a crowd of green beer swilling maniacs. We got the best slot, dusk. When the stage lights come on, it just seems like a different party. We opened up with 'Like the Sun,' which is a new song we don't normally do. It was, like I said, our home crowd and they were wicked. Loud shit. It's really starting to get badass when everybody sings along to "Best of the Situation," so keep it up! We played our 70 mins and then got off. Wade Bowen was up next. We've done support for those guys three times in four months. I think they think I'm stalking. They were cool, as always, and the Norman crowd really warmed up to them. As well they should, It's a great show. Whoa nelly, had some whiskey. Canadian, not Irish, though. Sorry dude. Thanks for readin' and come say 'hi'.

March 15, 2008

Well, we got to head down to Bill and Mary's on Saturday. Wallstreet is almost always a blast. It's interesting because the fine folks don't always know what to think of us at first. Boyd's basslines aren't always traditional, but we seem to get the point across. Scott Sears was not there for the first time, ever. He did call, however, to tell me that if he knew we were gonna be there he would've quit his job. Awesome. Grady brought his crew. They showed the people of duncan that it is possible to approach the stage at a Sweet show and not lose an eye. Mean Machine also got some great shots of us and put some vids up on youtube. Head over there and search for new Mama Sweet vids. Most of the time the camera was on Alan's fingers during solos. Just in case someone out there wants to learn how to play our songs. I would consider it an "advanced" lesson. There were no scuffles in the pool room. And we managed to turn some people on who had no idea who we were. Good times.

March 7, 2008

When we played the White Elephant, Jill, the owner of the Longhorn Saloon came down to see what we had to offer.  She was really impressed and asked if we might be interested in filling a slot that had been vacated by a last minute cancellation.  Because we had reserved the weekend for shows in Austin (that were moved to April), we free and agreed.  The Longhorn Saloon has been around since 1919 in one form or another, but it has one of the best sound systems we have ever played on.  The Longhorn just reopened with Jill as the new owner so the crowd wasn't huge, but they were definitely receptive to what we had to offer.  We got to do a really diverse set and had a lot of fun.  The staff was awesome and all bought t-shirts.  The Longhorn Saloon is a place we definitely want to return to. I just hope that we will be able to bring more of our fans next time.

March 1, 2008

It hadn't been that long since we had played the Deli last, so we were worried that the crowd may not be what we were used to, but it definitely was!  The place was packed and it was a beautiful night out.  Despite the fact that by the end of the first set, Nooch's hand was gushing blood (easily fixed by band aids and duct tape), we could tell that it was going to be another unforgettable night at the Deli.  We had a lot of friends in the crowd, including Katie who hadn't been to a Deli show in over a year, and a lot of new faces as well.  By the end of the night, it didn't mater if it was their first Mama Sweet show or their 100th, they all seemed pleased that they had shared their night with us.  You really can't ask for more than that.  Of course, an opening gig for Wilco wouldn't be bad.  Someday.

February 29, 2008

Tonight, we got to play inside the White Elephant in Ft. Worth, TX for the first time.  Kurt South opened for us and had his brother and his friend join him on stage.  He was really enjoyable and set the pace for a great night.  We had a couple of great dancers going all out while we played and were joined by people from Duncan, OK, Midland, TX, as well as people from Ft. Worth who had become fans after seeing us play before.  The Colins also came to see us play.  We had a lot of fun and that van makes it so much easier to travel.

February 26, 2008

We played our acoustic Tuesday night at the Deli tonight.  We had special guest, Chad Dorman, from Austin, TX join us.  He is an incredible songwriter and a really nice guy.  He brought a group of really enthusiastic people from Edmond/Stillwater.  It was a great crowd of people who were really there to listen.  I like shows like that.  We had a lot of fun and can't wait to get ahold of Dorman's new CD when it is release later in the year (it was produced by Travis Linville and features Nooch on drums).  I'll let you know when it is released.

February 22, 2008

Back north to the Snorty Horse in Springfield, Missouri.  If you'll remember last time we all had a blast, maybe even too much of a good time.  So, we were excited about our return trip.  We were set to open for Mark Chapman, a local hero in the music scene.  He and his band were very friendly and we were all in great spirits.  We got on stage and gave the patrons our power hour.  We had made some fans last time and I think we made even more this time.  I met a former professional wrestler who allowed me to do a few moves on him.  We were really enjoying ourselves and just when we thought it couldn't get any better, the Amish arrived (pictures will be posted soon that prove their existence).  This time their beverage was in Michelob bottles and it was just as good as we remembered.  We didn't indulge as much as we did last time, but we certainly had a good time.  Mark Chapman and his band are probably going to come open for us in Norman.  Although we don't have any Amish at our shows, we hope they have as much fun in Norman as we did in Springfield!

February 21, 2008

Gypsies no longer!  For awhile now, we have been getting slack from our friends about travel out of town in a 2-3 car caravan.  Since Baracus died, we have been taking my truck (often with a uhaul trailer) and Ethel (Whitney's car).  We always got there, but it took a lot of gas and even more effort to get everyone going at the same time.  Fortunately, this will no longer be an issue. WE JUST BOUGHT A VAN!  That's right, we're hanging with the big boys now.  We have our own 15 passenger van.  All of us and our gear fit comfortably in it and it is actually cheaper to drive than taking 2 cars.  So, come to our shows, admire our new purchase, and buy lots of merch so that we can make the payments!

February 16, 2008

Today was a gloomy day, but as I predicted, the freezing rain never appeared.  We headed off to the Arbuckle Ballroom to open for Wade Bowen.  As always, we were running behind.  We made it to Davis as Wade and his crew were heading out.  The drummers (Boyd, Nooch, and Brooks) converged to admire Brooks' new kit, Sis and I played pool, and Alan fiddle with pedals as Lance got things wired. We finished sound check pretty quickly and then headed off to Casa de Orebaugh.  Alan is from Ardmore, which is only about 20 min from Davis.  So, Alan's parents (Frank and Sandra) invited us over.  We were welcomed by the smell of homemade lasagna, garlic bread, salad, and chocolate chunk cake.  After stuffing ourselves, we raced back to the Ballroom.  We played a set mixed with some slower stuff, which gave the older folks something to two-step to, and some faster songs to catch the attention of the younger people in the crowd.  By the end of our set, the crowd seemed to be enjoying us as much as we enjoyed Sandra's lasagna.  We stuck around to listen to Wade and like last time, he put on a great show.  You can really tell that he enjoys what he is doing and who he is doing it with.  Not only that, he writes songs with real meaning behind them, which obviously hits home with me.  We left before the end of the show b/c a couple of us were fighting the flu and needed some rest.  But, we definitely look forward to our next paring with Wade (St. Patty's Day at O'Connell's) and our return trip to the Ballroom (March 14).

February 15, 2008

Back at the Deli.  Do you guys ever get tired of hearing about our shows here?  Tonight, for us at least, was very different from our normal Deli gig.  We had an opener.  We have probably had 2 openers in the last 2 years.  We came into contact with this band, Dertybird, through the Deli.  Dertybird had contacted the Deli wanting to play, but the Deli doesn't like to put bands on the stage without sampling them first.  So, we were asked if we might be interested in having them open for us and, in return,  we go open for them in Austin.  We checked out their myspace page and they sounded ok, so we agreed (our album was recorded at Dirtybird Studios, so we figured their name was a good sign).  But when they took the stage, we were blown away.  They are quite different from us, more blues based rock, but they were amazing!  They had a great sound a