tag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:/blogs/skinny-molly-news?p=38Skinny Molly News2023-05-03T13:49:03-05:00Skinny Mollyfalsetag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/72022892023-05-03T13:49:03-05:002023-10-16T09:45:29-05:00Euro Spring/Summer Campaign 23<p>Hey!<br>Mike from Skinny Molly here...<br><br>Just wanted to let everybody know that we are dustin’ off our Rock and Roll shoes and heading out for our <a class="no-pjax" href="/tour" data-link-type="page" data-link-label="Tour"><strong>Euro Spring/Summer Campaign 23</strong></a> pretty soon...<br><br>The first show will be at one of our fave places, The Flowerpot in Derby, UK on Friday, May 19th.<br>We will be doing a couple of new places in the UK and we will cross over to the continent to play in Germany and the Czech Republic in early June...</p><p>Covid almost wiped the music business out for us but we are hangin’ in and hangin’ on!<br><br>Now, for news on the latest CD...We were supposed to have a new CD ready for some time now. There have been several huge reasons that the CD isn’t finished yet. <br>Time for full disclosure, the main reason is this: <br>For the past several years I have been dealing with severe carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand. It’s insanely painful at times and keeps me from playing for long stretches at a time… normally we spend 10-12 hrs in the studio each day we’re in there, and there’s been no way for me to do that for the past few years. I CAN play a normal show, but I can’t do grueling studio sessions. <br>I’ve had two operations on my hand in three years. I have an MRI scheduled this week to see if there are other problems. I am taking care of it, and rest assured, I will be playin’ my hardest on this tour.<br><br>Next year is our twentieth anniversary as a band (as hard as it is to believe) and<br>we’ve got big plans. So we’re gonna keep rockin’ while we still can! Hope to see<br>you at a show!<br><br>Thanks!<br>Mike and Skinny Molly</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/68755032022-01-20T21:01:26-06:002023-05-03T13:54:32-05:00Happy New Year 2022<p>Happy New Year!</p>
<p>We've got some surprises lined up...more on that soon!</p>
<p>It looks like we will be back on the road starting in April,<br>into May, running all through the UK and Czech Republic,<br>with some festivals and returns to some of our fave<br>old haunts! Dates will be posted soon so check back<br>and click on "Tour"</p>
<p>We plan on spending June, July and early August<br>gigging as much as we can in the States and will<br>return to Europe in late August to pick up some towns<br>we missed in the UK, and the other countries we missed<br>in the Spring, including France, Germany and Spain, and<br>hopefully a run through Finland and Sweden.</p>
<p>The whole Covid thing has made this necessary, and<br>we will return to Europe in Spring of 2023 for an all in tour<br>and that will compare to our Epic 2012/2013 'Riot Tour'</p>
<p>Speaking of Covid, it has affected a lot of our friends and<br>and family and has totally screwed the music biz. Get out<br>and support your fave bands and venues and let's all get<br>back to normal livin'!</p>
<p>Skinny Molly</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><br> </p>
<p><br> </p>
<p> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/65824532021-03-23T11:20:07-05:002022-01-20T21:05:06-06:00Spring 2021!<p>Well here we are! 2021! </p>
<p>First of all, for anyone that lost loved ones during the <br>unprecedented previous year… <br>Our deepest sympathies are with you and yours. <br> <br>Our hope that the world can finally <br>be somewhat back to normal very soon, <br>and we’ll be back on the road doing what we <br>do best, and that this year is infinitely better than last! </p>
<p>So during the time off I’ve been renovating the studio <br>and part of my house, both of which I’ll probably still be <br>doing ten years from now. Seriously, the studio will be <br>finished soon and we’re going to re record and record <br>some new songs for a new CD to be out in late August <br>or early September. </p>
<p>We’ve got some shows booked in the States so far in July, and a European tour is slated to start around September 22nd in the UK. We had to cancel 2020’s Euro tour and the one we had set for Spring of this year. We will update the tour dates section as it warrants! Stay healthy! <br>Mike and SM</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/58102322019-07-01T12:04:38-05:002022-01-20T21:06:10-06:00Summer 2019! <p>Hey! Hope you are having a great Summer!</p>
<p>We've spent the time since returning from our 2018</p>
<p>Tour in December with more writing and recording,</p>
<p>save for a two week tour we just got back from that</p>
<p>ran through the UK and Czech Republic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Czech Republic has become a great market for us over the</p>
<p>past few years. and in June we felt like the Beatles when</p>
<p>there was a group of fans waiting for us at the airport upon</p>
<p>our arrival from London to sign autographs and take pictures...</p>
<p>we thought we were on some sort of Czech version of 'Candid</p>
<p>Camera' but turned out to be legit. What a hoot! As always, we</p>
<p>had a great time in CZ this run, which was highlighted by Bady's</p>
<p>Fest just outside Prague.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Joined onstage by our brother and killer guitarist</p>
<p>Paul Marcel for all the shows in Czech, and we had a three</p>
<p>guitar attack that was a complete blast for all of us! We always</p>
<p>miss the hell out of him when we leave the Czech Republic.</p>
<p>His entire family has become our family and we can't wait</p>
<p>to see them all again!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The UK run was highlighted by the Northern Kin Festival in</p>
<p>County Durham and Blues on the Farm in Canterbury. We</p>
<p>love playing festivals and got a great response playing 90%</p>
<p>our songs at all the festivals. We may still play a cover or two</p>
<p>in the future, but we have enough solid original songs to play</p>
<p>two different shows if we want to...Hopefully we can take another</p>
<p>shot at a live DVD in Europe this year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Up next are some dates in the States in July,</p>
<p>followed by a big ol' Euro end of summer, early fall tour</p>
<p>starting August 16 in Deest, Netherlands. The tour will</p>
<p>include more festivals, and stops all over the UK, Netherlands,</p>
<p>Czech Republic,Germany, Spain, France and more to come...</p>
<p>When we return home in October, we have more dates in the</p>
<p>Stateslined up as well. Watch the tour page on this site for updates!</p>
<p>Thanks a ton for your support!</p>
<p>SM</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/54367032018-09-20T13:35:59-05:002019-05-17T13:04:49-05:00Ed King/ Fall Tour<p>In the early morning of August 23, I was rousted out of bed</p>
<p>with a phone call that left me both shocked and sad</p>
<p>beyond belief. Ed King, my brother, musical mentor and</p>
<p>songwriting collaborator had passed the previous night.</p>
<p>I can't really describe how I felt, or how I'm still feeling.</p>
<p>This is the first time I've been able to comment publicly about</p>
<p>his passing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ed was one of those guys that comes along once in a lifetime.</p>
<p>A "touched by the hand of God" guitarist, a fantastic songwriter,</p>
<p>and gifted teacher that was always willing to pass on his</p>
<p>experience and knowledge to those less experienced and</p>
<p>knowledgeable. I count myself as one of the luckiest people</p>
<p>ever to benefit from his vast talent and ability. I got to sit</p>
<p>across from him and watch him work his magic, for days,</p>
<p>weeks and months on end as we hammered out new song</p>
<p>after new song. We rarely disagreed, and if we did, he'd listen</p>
<p>to my side of the argument. He WANTED me to stick to my guns,</p>
<p>and give him the reason or reasons why it should be done the</p>
<p>way I was thinking. I, of course, afforded him the same courtesy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He and I both felt the writing and recording we were doing</p>
<p>was of utmost importance, and it was. NOTHING got in the</p>
<p>way of our songwriting mission. We'd write and/or record</p>
<p>anywhere...on the bus, in his giant Chevy Suburban, hotels,</p>
<p>restaurants, at the gig, hanging out and watching the OJ trial</p>
<p>or our favorite "Mary Tyler Moore Show" re-runs at his house or</p>
<p>mine. We traveled a lot whether we were touring or not, to</p>
<p>get our heads in the right space to write and record.</p>
<p>I have a lot of memories from Florida to Maine and Texas</p>
<p>to Ohio and all points in between. One that sticks out was</p>
<p>when he taught me his secret to his slide guitar tone and</p>
<p>technique when we were in St. Augustine, Florida.</p>
<p>What an eye opener THAT was. I never would play slide in</p>
<p>front of him, but that information set me on a new path.</p>
<p>If it weren't for that one lesson, I never would have even</p>
<p>played slide guitar. I played slide all over our last CD. For me,</p>
<p>that was huge, and just one example of how he influenced</p>
<p>me. For him, it was an an hour of playing. For me, it was</p>
<p>a life changing event.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a hotel room in St. Louis with a huge bathroom that</p>
<p>had an amazing sound for recording mandolin parts that he loved.</p>
<p>We turned his room at the Residence Inn in Brentwood, TN into</p>
<p>our writing and recording base for a time before we could both</p>
<p>move to Nashville permanently. Ed rubbed off on me as a complete</p>
<p>foodie. He turned me on to great BBQ, Mexican food, steakhouses</p>
<p>and his wife Sharon's home cooking was some of the best you could</p>
<p>ask for. I'm a total food snob to this day thanks to my brother Eddie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ed was totally happy for me that I'm able to continue my career</p>
<p>as a musician and have a band that can tour as extensively as</p>
<p>Skinny Molly does. He almost joined us a time or two, but his</p>
<p>health was always a major concern. Ed did play on some of our</p>
<p>recordings, came by rehearsals, and was going to play on our</p>
<p>upcoming CD on a song or two that he and I had written.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm really thankful that Ed and I kept in touch and continued</p>
<p>to work together some over the years since we both were</p>
<p>out of our former band. That was always important to me</p>
<p>and I think to him too. We always loved working together.</p>
<p>The last thing we did together was his solo on a song</p>
<p>we wrote together called "Make it Easy" on Skinny Molly's</p>
<p>'Here for a Good Time' . The song was completely finished</p>
<p>except for his solo. Once he recorded it, I had to go back</p>
<p>and sing it again because I felt that his solo had kicked my</p>
<p>vocal's ass, and I needed to step it up. He was always good</p>
<p>for a swift kick in the pants.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ed's passing has left me in such a state that I have found it</p>
<p>beyond extremely difficult to finish the band's CD. I DO know</p>
<p>that he would want us to go out and do this upcoming tour with</p>
<p>all the fire that we can muster up, though. So we are going to do</p>
<p>just that. We are going to put at least one new/old "King/Estes"</p>
<p>song in the set that will be on the new CD.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>King Edward (one of about 30 nicknames I had for him)</p>
<p>I dedicate this tour to you, as well as our up coming CD.</p>
<p>Thank you for all you've done for the world musically,</p>
<p>and for me personally. I hope you know the impact you had.</p>
<p>Mikee</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/53768482018-08-06T18:11:37-05:002018-08-08T21:22:16-05:00Summertime!<h2><span class="font_regular"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/b56a7a26589ee54319e8ecba30f747998205b66e/original/img-6090.jpg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" />Summer 2018!</span></h2>
<p><span class="font_regular">The band is having a great summer! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We hope you are too! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We're working hard this summer, touring and trying to finish our new CD!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Our summer had been awesome, the highlight being our UK run in June.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">Two great gigs at two great venues (Manchester Academy, and Big Red in</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">London) was followed by what I think was our best performance ever at </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">an outdoor festival: Ramblin' Man in Maidstone, UK. That was one kick</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">ass gig! Opening for Steve Earle was a hoot! </span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_regular">The CD has been a long haul! We had started pre production</span><span class="font_regular"> </span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">over a year ago. </span><span class="font_regular">Between my carpal tunnel syndrome, </span><span class="font_regular">which won't</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">be fixed till after</span><span class="font_regular"> the Autumn tour, </span><span class="font_regular">Kurt leaving the band, and</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">having to find the</span><span class="font_regular"> exact guy we wanted as a drummer</span> (We had</p>
<p>considered using a studio guy for the CD, but that's just not how</p>
<p>this band does things) touring commitments, illnesses, and a</p>
<p>hundred other things, we finally got in and started recording the CD.</p>
<p>We cut three new songs at Sound Emporium, Nashville, TN</p>
<p>recently, and will be going back in a couple more times in the next</p>
<p>few weeks. The overdubs and mixing will be done at Zubolovo</p>
<p>Studios, and released on our own Moss Rose Records. I'm</p>
<p>doing my best to get it ready in time for the European tour.</p>
<p>We've got some dates in the States coming up at the end of August</p>
<p>and the beginning of September in Illinois, Ohio, Florida and Georgia!</p>
<p>The European Tour will start October 11, 2018 in London, UK</p>
<p>This will be our longest tour ever! We'll be in the UK, France,</p>
<p>Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Belgium, and Spain!</p>
<p>Click on the "tour tab" to keep updated on shows, and sign up for</p>
<p>our newsletter!</p>
<p>Thanks for supporting us and keeping us in business!</p>
<p>Mike and Skinny Molly</p>
<p> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/52355392018-05-15T12:07:15-05:002018-08-08T21:25:02-05:00Spring 2018! <p>Howdy!</p>
<p>Pleased to announce the band is up and hitting on</p>
<p>all eight cylinders...That's two cylinders per guy, I guess...</p>
<p>We are really happy with our new drummer, Kyle Law!</p>
<p>He hits 'em hard and plays for the song...We've got</p>
<p>three shows under our belt with him so far and look</p>
<p>forward to the rest of the shows in the States</p>
<p>before introducing him to our audience in the UK</p>
<p>where we will be doing three shows in June; the 28th</p>
<p>in Manchester at the Academy 3, the 29th in London</p>
<p>at Big Red and the 30th at the Ramblin' Man Fair in</p>
<p>Kent!</p>
<p>We are currently recording a new CD, and will have it</p>
<p>ready for the Fall tour in Europe...Things are moving</p>
<p>fast this year! Have a great Spring and keep checking</p>
<p>back here for any updates or new news!</p>
<p>Skinny Molly</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/50261032018-01-16T11:24:46-06:002018-01-16T13:37:25-06:00Happy New Year!<p>Happy New Year! <br>Although I'm not a huge fan of looking back, I guess it's my responsibility</p>
<p>to do a little 2017 year in review before I deliver plans for the new year…</p>
<p>2017 was a hard workin' and hard rockin' year for Skinny Molly!</p>
<p>Without going over every detail, the year saw us playing some of</p>
<p>the biggest shows ever in the career of the band. We worked harder</p>
<p>than ever, that's for sure. Here's a quick snapshot example of the kind</p>
<p>of running around the world we do: Fly in to London, England and meet</p>
<p>Tour Manager Martin Lewis for a two day drive to the south of France</p>
<p>near Bordeaux. Play the gig, ("Showbike Aquatine" one of our favorite</p>
<p>gigs ever) and leave directly after loading up for a 13 hour drive to Milan,</p>
<p>Italy for the "Southern Rock Festival" where we arrived just in time for</p>
<p>soundcheck. After rocking Italy for the first time ever we left right after</p>
<p>the show for a quick shower at the hotel and then hauled it to the Milan</p>
<p>airport to catch a couple of planes to Hamburg, Germany to play</p>
<p>"Hamburg Harley Days". After arriving in Germany on no sleep and</p>
<p>the plane's luggage held up for an hour, we were picked up by the</p>
<p>promoter, drove around Hamburg's closed roads and absolutely</p>
<p>inhumane road construction just in time to walk onstage with two</p>
<p>minutes to spare. Despite road fatigue beyond belief, the gigs all</p>
<p>went great. I'm really proud to be in a band where the guys love to play</p>
<p>enough to keep up near impossible schedules that would absolutely</p>
<p>vaporize most bands, the above being just one example. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The year wasn't all great news, however. Not long after the aforementioned</p>
<p>Summer run in Europe, Kurt informed the rest of us that he wouldn't be</p>
<p>able to continue on for the rest of the year, which included our 6 week</p>
<p>annual Fall tour which was about 6 weeks out… It was a big shock, as</p>
<p>2017 was his 13th year with the band that he and I founded. As hard as</p>
<p>it was, I understood as he has a family with school age children that need</p>
<p>him around more than he can be with our touring schedule. The good</p>
<p>news is, as we have been brothers for so long, nobody was angry and</p>
<p>Kurt will still play shows with the band in the States until we get somebody</p>
<p>to take what isn't an easy job in this band. I want to thank Kurt for his loyal</p>
<p>service these past 13 years and wish him the best of luck with any and all</p>
<p>that he does musically and personally. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once the initial shock wore off after speaking to Kurt, I called Christoph Ulllman,</p>
<p>who I've known since '05 and Jay had played with in Blackfoot for a year.</p>
<p>Christoph agreed to go out with us and came in and did a killer job on a tour</p>
<p>with the usual grueling schedule. I can't thank him enough for taking the bull</p>
<p>by the horns and knocking it out. I'm sure he and I drove the rest of the guys</p>
<p>nuts with HOURS of conversation about cars and vans (about which we are</p>
<p>both crazy) and saying "hi" to each other every 5 minutes as if we hadn't seen</p>
<p>each other in years. Yep, the road can make you do things that would make</p>
<p>"normal" people question your sanity, though that's something you rarely do</p>
<p>yourself. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Back last Spring, I had started working on songs to record for a new Skinny</p>
<p>Molly CD. Although some voice problems in the late Spring early Summer</p>
<p>(Thanks, allergies) stopped me from completing it. Some of you know another</p>
<p>CD is something I swore I would never do again after we completed Haywire</p>
<p>Riot. (I was proven a fibber when we started work on 2014's "Here for a</p>
<p>Good Time")</p>
<p>It's not that I don't love writing/recording/producing. I do. If I didn't I certainly</p>
<p>wouldn't have been doing it for the last 30 odd years. The thing is, after all</p>
<p>this time, I feel that I'm pretty well versed in what sucks, what is OK, what's</p>
<p>good and what is great in our style of music. And for this band to put out new</p>
<p>music that remotely approaches great requires my constant attention to</p>
<p>detail for at least year. Sixteen plus hour days seven days a week for</p>
<p>weeks and months on end. It's hard work, and that's what it takes. At</p>
<p>least it does me, anyway. I can't and won't put out anything that's under</p>
<p>the bar that we feel we've set as a band, especially song-wise. To do</p>
<p>the quality work we are and have been committed to requires major</p>
<p>effort, and we have to be mentally and physically prepared for it.</p>
<p>So after the Fall tour I came home and did basically nothing from</p>
<p>Thanksgiving to Christmas, save for some business I had to deal</p>
<p>with and swatting at re working the CD. Most of the songs are there</p>
<p>and it's time to record them for real. So, for 2018 there's gonna be a</p>
<p>new CD from this band, and I'm excited about doing it.</p>
<p>Thanks for supporting us and keeping us working into our 14th year as a</p>
<p>band! We appreciate you more than you could ever know!</p>
<p>See you on the road! <br>Mikee</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/48005822017-08-02T16:30:34-05:002018-01-16T11:15:13-06:00What We Did on Our Summer "Play-cation" <p>Well, after an eventful summer thus far, I finally have had a minute</p>
<p>to breathe (And write the news). Back in May, we ventured to</p>
<p>Sweden to play the Silja Rock Cruise (one of our fave gigs ever)</p>
<p>and blasted through Germany and Finland, ending that run with</p>
<p>a killer gig at one of our fave venues, the House of Rock in</p>
<p>Kouvala, and then a killer bike festival in Hänko! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We came home, did some recording for a couple of weeks,</p>
<p>and it was time to leave again. This time, we had what looked to be</p>
<p>an impossible run of three festivals in a row; starting at an absolute</p>
<p>kick-ass gig in the south of France called Showbike Aquatine. </p>
<p>We certainly regretted that we were forced to leave</p>
<p>right after the show on an eleven hour drive to Milan, Italy to headline</p>
<p>the "Southern Rock Festival", which was the first time we'd played</p>
<p>Italy (what an awesome place and gig) staying up all night to catch a</p>
<p>plane from there to Hamburg, Germany @ 6 am to be ushered directly</p>
<p>to the stage after landing for Hamburg Harley Days festival. Whew.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next night we played a cozy little joint on the Reeperbahn in</p>
<p>Hamburg called the "Cowboy and Indianer" where my long-suffering</p>
<p>Marshall amp blew up before we ever went on, smoke pouring from</p>
<p>it as it breathed it's last. Not to worry. Tour manager Martin Lewis had</p>
<p>my spare on hand, and we rocked the joint till the wee hours, without</p>
<p>a doubt the longest set we've played in years, thanks to the continued</p>
<p>encouragement by the club manager Sven. Those four shows took</p>
<p>the same amount of energy to run a small power plant in my mind,</p>
<p>but we had a ball!</p>
<p>Had a day or so rest then grabbed the overnight ferry out of</p>
<p>Amsterdam to the UK where we were able to totally regroup</p>
<p>and slay a couple of our fave venues over there; a rousing</p>
<p>date at the Three Tuns in Gateshead followed by a first time</p>
<p>sellout at the the Green Hotel in Kinross, Scotland! This whole</p>
<p>run was originally unplanned and put together around two fests</p>
<p>in the UK that were promised to us but didn't come through...</p>
<p>the first one being a totally unprofessional cancellation in Scotland</p>
<p>(you know who you are, and you know that a LOT was done</p>
<p>in order for us to play your event and keep our price low. Do NOT</p>
<p>appear at any of our gigs in the future without the deposit you owe</p>
<p>us; in answer to your email: No, we DON'T understand. I spent a</p>
<p>month of my life putting this run together with the help of Luke and</p>
<p>our agents and YOU dropped the ball and gave a lame ass excuse.</p>
<p>You know it. We know it. Pay the deposit and all is forgiven. Don't,</p>
<p>and remain at the top of the list of BSers, not to mention first in</p>
<p>line for litigation) The second fest just didn't happen...</p>
<p>not anybody's fault. Despite these problems we didn't cancel the dates</p>
<p>we obliged ourselves to that were back ups for the original UK fests...</p>
<p>We kept our word, didn't complain (or make money) and kicked that ass.</p>
<p>That's what we do. We keep our word and deliver the best show possible,</p>
<p>despite time wasters and BSers, and we will continue to do that! Special</p>
<p>thanks to all that DID come through. You know who you are: Brother Dom,</p>
<p>Paul, David, Dirk, Don, Sven, Georgio...Thanks for great times!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We returned to the States just in time to celebrate Independence Day,</p>
<p>and of course play some more shows, starting with a run to Mooresville,</p>
<p>North Carolina (near Charlotte) which is a big part of my old stompin'</p>
<p>grounds for the past 20 years. This was followed by a run up to Ross,</p>
<p>Ohio (just north of Cincinnati, another even older stompin' grounds)</p>
<p>for a gig at a joint I haven't played since the early 90's. A GREAT time</p>
<p>was had by all! Last week, we headed out to Effingham, IL for a gig</p>
<p>with guitar hero Ted Nugent, which was awesome to say the least.</p>
<p>(Thanks for the complements on Facebook, Ted!) I hadn't seen him</p>
<p>since we had toured in the mid 90's together when I was a part of</p>
<p>Lynyrd Skynyrd, and to say he hasn't lost a step would be a vast</p>
<p>understatement. All the energy he's ever had, he STILL has!</p>
<p>It was great to see some ol' buddies and have a rare night out</p>
<p>(for me anyhow) after the show with them!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Next night we were up to Sturgeon Bay, WI for the Burning Cow</p>
<p>Festival. I was disappointed that I didn't get to watch the cow burn,</p>
<p>but had a great time anyway! Two more gigs in IL followed: EJ Karz</p>
<p>in Verona...what a fantastic place with fantastic staff and some of the</p>
<p>best food you've ever had...I wish we were the house band there,</p>
<p>although I'm sure I'd be unrecognizable due to severe weight gain</p>
<p>in a matter of weeks.</p>
<p>Next up was the Iron Horse Social Club in Savanna which had a</p>
<p>great crowd... we had a blast...great way to spend a Sunday</p>
<p>on the mighty Mississippi River!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We have also started shooting a video which shows our process</p>
<p>of recording a new CD...at least some of the interesting parts...</p>
<p>it's called "In Front of the Music" which gives the viewer a front</p>
<p>row seat of the process of recording a CD...letting you see what</p>
<p>goes on before the CD is finished, thereby putting you in front</p>
<p>of the music, hence the title. It will air on our Youtube page soon!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now for the bad news: Due to the "lots of work, little sleep" schedule we've</p>
<p>been keeping since May, and my never ending allergy problem, my voice</p>
<p>is "beyond shot" as my doctor so gently put it at today's appointment.</p>
<p>I'm banned from singing or speaking for a a minimum of three weeks.</p>
<p>This will affect the release schedule of our new CD, and not in a good way,</p>
<p>as vocals are not yet finished. I will do my best to complete it</p>
<p>before the upcoming Autumn Euro tour, but I can't swear to it being done.</p>
<p>The Autumn tour is going to last about six weeks and is supposed to be</p>
<p>in support of the new CD. The tour will go on as scheduled for sure, but</p>
<p>the CD release might have to wait until Winter. Check this space for updates!</p>
<p>Keep Rockin'</p>
<p>Mike and SM </p>
<p> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/46520592017-03-30T14:08:58-05:002017-03-30T14:08:58-05:00Skinny Molly records their new album<p>As Skinny Molly records their new album, we want you, the fans, to be involved. Here is a clip of Mike cutting demos in the studio along with our fantastic engineer, Derek. For future videos, go to <a contents="www.youtube.com/skinnymollyband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.youtube.com/skinnymollyband" target="_blank">www.youtube.com/skinnymollyband</a> and hit "subscribe"!</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/45719782017-02-01T10:38:14-06:002017-02-01T10:43:48-06:00Happy New Year! <span class="font_regular">As I sit here and write this, I realize 2016 was a bad year for a lot<br>of people.The entertainment world was plagued by the death of<br>many famous and influential musicians, and we lived through<br>what must have been the craziest presidential race in our<br>country's history.<br><br>As far as 2016 Skinny Molly business goes, we had an<br>extremely busy year.We made four runs to Europe and played<br>some great festivals both at home and abroad. From "Rock the<br>South" festival in Alabama to the "Rock and Blues Custom Show"<br>and "Stormin' the Castle" in the UK, (to mention a few) and<br>some rockin' shows in Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden,<br>Germany, France and all over Great Britain!<br><br>We became the first band to sell out the Real Music Club in<br>Lauchammer, Germany four times in a row which made us really<br>proud and grateful to our German Fans!<br><br>We played more shows last year than we had in a long time, and<br>we're really happy to have played more Stateside shows and to<br>more people in 2016 than any year in the history of the band!<br><br>So what are we gonna do for 2017 to top last year? First up,<br>we've started off this year with plans for a new CD (to be released<br>in early Fall) and are in the "pre production"phase. Some songs<br>are written, and demos are being hashed out; changing keys,<br>arrangements, adding and subtracting. As Bob Seger once sang:<br>"What to leave in, what to leave out". It can be a difficult and long<br>process, but worth every second when it comes together. Nothing<br>is better to us than a new song that we KNOW is going to be fun<br>to play live!<br><br>We also plan on recording a live DVD this year at the aforementioned<br>venue "Real Music Club" in Lauchammer, Germany which will be<br>released at the end of the year! It will be a little different than "Live at<br>the Shed" (which we are extremely proud of) in that it will have some<br>never-before-seen footage from behind the scenes, chronicling life on<br>the road with the band. The goal is for it to be a lot more real than<br>today's "reality" shows on cable :) That should be pretty easy!<br><br>As far as firing back up the live shows this year it looks like we are<br>going to do some things in March in the States, and then go back<br>to Sweden, Finland, Germany and possibly France in May/early<br>June.<br><br>We're beyond happy to announce that we'll be on the Silja Rock<br>Cruise the weekend of May 12 2017 from Stockholm Sweden to<br>Helsinki Finland. We are trying to team up with some of our favorite<br>bands for some shows in Europe and it's looking good.<br><br>Check this space for latest news unfit to print! We will definitely be<br>returning to Europe in the early Fall, and will be taking a new CD<br>with us. Thanks more than ever for all your support and for<br>keeping us in business!<br>Here's to a great 2017!<br>SM</span>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/44149432016-10-11T19:46:33-05:002016-11-23T23:04:01-06:00Fall 2016Hello, Friends!<br>We just returned from a three show run through Ohio and<br>Illinois!<br>Had a blast seeing some old friends and making some<br>new ones! We setting off for the third leg of our 2016<br>Euro extravaganza...We totally enjoyed the summer over<br>there, playing some fabulous outdoor festivals...Now that<br>it's getting colder we are off to rock the roof off some of our<br>favorite clubs starting October 26th in Czech Republic,<br>blasting through Germany and France and will wind it all<br>up in the UK the 12th of November! It's going to be a year<br>before we are on the Continent again...with a new CD...<br>so come catch us while you can!<br>Thanks for your continued support!<br>See you on the road!<br> SMSkinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/43368972016-08-22T18:22:43-05:002017-01-15T14:48:38-06:00HOLD ON TO YOUR KRÄfTORS! SKINNY MOLLY ANNOUNCES SUMMER SINGLE<p><span class="font_large">To celebrate Skinny Molly's Summer return to Sweden (It's been 10 summers gone since the band played Sverige) we are happy to announce the release of our brand new single (which can be <a contents="downloaded here" data-link-label="Music" data-link-type="page" href="/music">downloaded here</a>) to celebrate the band's summer return to the first country we ever played as Skinny Molly! </span><br> <br>The song, "Kräftor och Öl, Crawfish and Beer" celebrates the similarities between a "crawdaddy boil" in the Southern United States and "kräftor parties" in Sweden…a good ol' fashioned crawdaddy boil (aka crawfish boil, Low Country boil, etc) is hard to beat, no matter what country you live in! The kicker here is this: Mike sings the song in both English AND Swedish, alternating between the languages every other line. <br>"I don't speak Swedish all that well," he says. "It barely approaches rudimentary to tell the truth. I spoke it a lot better years ago, but I can still understand some, as long as whoever is speaking to me doesn't talk to fast," Mike laughed.<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/b993d892799ccce12a4f25d178fab46a70e08206/medium/crawfishcover.jpg?1471975942" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></p>
<p>"But, it was really fun to record, and it brought back some great memories I have of Sweden and some of the people there that I'm still close to," Mike said. "Also, I started having boils at the house. I've eaten enough crawdaddy tails this summer to grow pinchers myself." <br> <br>"Kräftor" was originally slated to be on Mike's upcoming solo CD. <br>"I cut it with some friends a while back, but I decided to do it with the band instead because Skinny Molly is actually playing in Sweden in August, when the Kräftor parties are happening there. So I thought it be better if the band did it," Mike said. <br>The single will only be available for a limited time and will be followed up by a video at the end of the month. <br> <br>The lyrics show the singer's usual penchant for clever lyrics, and there is killer guitar all over the track; a deep grooving "Southern/Country Rock Buttkicker" if there ever was one! It's not just for the Swedes and the Americans. Enjoy it wherever you are!<br> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a contents="Listen and Download - Click HERE!" data-link-label="Music" data-link-type="page" href="/music"><span class="font_xl">Buy and Download - Click HERE!</span></a><br> </p>
<p><br><br><strong><span class="font_large">Upcoming Events: </span></strong></p>
<ul> <li><span class="font_large">24th August - Sankt Gertrud, Malmö Sweden </span></li> <li><span class="font_large">26th August - The Bomber Bar, Motala Sweden </span></li> <li><span class="font_large">27th August - Rockland, Sala, Sweden</span></li>
</ul>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/43195382016-08-10T20:37:42-05:002020-08-15T18:32:13-05:00All Kinds of Stuff!<p>Hey from all of us at Skinny Molly!<br>We hope y'all are having a great summer! </p>
<p>We are proud and happy to announce that Skinny Molly<br>has signed with Burke Allen management, which is part<br>of Allen Media Strategies, based in Washington D.C.!<br>Burke Allen heads up this operation; he's been a friend<br>of ours for quite some time, and we've worked with him<br>in a number of capacities…we've been discussing Burke<br>managing us for quite some time, and after he and I met<br>up last Spring in Nashville, we decided the time was right.<br>I've pretty much managed the band since we formed it,<br>and I feel like I've taken it as far as I can. Time to let a pro<br>handle it, and take on the world! Looking forward to a long<br>working relationship with Burke! He's one of a very few I'd<br>trust this to… </p>
<p>2016 has been a great year for the band so far…we've<br>played more festivals this year (getting the band in front<br>of lots more people) than in any given year since we started<br>back in 2004. Highlights this summer have been"Rock the<br>South" in Cullman, AL, "Rock and Blues Custom Show" in<br>Derbyshire, UK, "Middle of Nowhere Festival" in Lincolnshire,<br>UK, "Livewire" in Orkneys, UK and the Jeremy Graham "Nekid<br>Acres Jam" we did out in Mooresville, NC </p>
<p>We will be returning to the UK at the end of August (after a run<br>to Finland and Sweden for some shows in some awesome<br>places!) where we will be playing some favorite venues and<br>headlining the "Stormin' the Castle" festival in what is without a <br>doubt one of the top (if not THE top) markets for the band to play;<br>Newcastle-on-Tyne! We have been talking to the bookers that put<br>this one on for years, and we were finally able to make it happen! </p>
<p>Another 2016 highlight for me personally was getting to play "For<br>Y'all" live on WVVA TV in Bluefield, West Virginia as part the<br>"Rebuild West Virginia" telethon to help out the victims of one of<br>the worst floods in history earlier this year. While I was there I got<br>to jam, cut up and catch up with my old buddy Billy Ray Cyrus…<br>It was great to hang out with him, especially while being a part of<br>such a great cause. We hadn't seen each other in some time, only<br>catching up by text or seeing each other briefly in airports for the<br>past few years. He proved that night what a great and humble artist<br>he is, and always has been. Class act and funny! We had a blast<br>together! While I wish that it would have been 10 million, I'm proud<br>and happy that all the artists and newspeople there helped raise<br>over $330,000.00 for the cause! Being asked to be involved and<br>help is one of the proudest moments in my career, to tell the truth. </p>
<p>There were loads of famous folks there giving their time for the<br>telethon and NO egos. We closed with "Take Me Home Country<br>Roads" and all the artists, newscasters and crew took part. It was<br>hoot to look over and see Billy Ray singing harmony while I was<br>singing lead! Billy told me he'd be honored to be on our next CD,<br>and I'm gonna tell you, he will flat tear it up; he's an inspiration to<br>just be around and strum acoustics with. Can't wait to see and work<br>with him again! Remember, if you have a venue you think we should<br>play, a festival in mind, anything at all…this band lives and loves to<br>play live, so shoot us a line at booking@skinnymollyrocks.com and<br>we'll see what we can put together!<br><br>Thanks for your continued support from all of us at Skinny Molly! </p>
<p>Mike</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/42966582016-07-27T07:16:54-05:002016-07-27T07:16:54-05:00First leg of UK/Euro Summer Tour 2016<p>21st July - Towngate Theatre, Basildon UK </p>
<p>22nd July - Rock ’n’ Blues Festival, Derby UK - </p>
<p>23rd July - Middle Of Nowhere Festival, Stafford UK </p>
<p>28th July - The Musician, Leicester, UK </p>
<p>30th July - Orkney Islands Festival, Orkney Island UK - </p>
<p>31st July - Green Hotel, Kinross UK - </p>
<p>03rd August - Iron Road, Evesham UK - </p>
<p>05th August - The Wharf, Tavistock UK - </p>
<p>06th August - Three Tuns Gateshead, UK Mike Solo Show</p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/41938362016-05-23T21:23:30-05:002017-01-15T14:48:38-06:00Mike Estes & His So Called Friends <p>The South Comes North Tour 2016 in Finland begins today. Here are the tour dates: <br>May 25 OC Bar in Imatra <br>May 26 Taskari in Espoo <br>May 27 Totem in Lappeenranta <br>May 28 Krouvi in Mäntyharju <br>May 31 Henry's Pub in Kuopio <br>June 1 Leipätehdas in Vaasa <br>Mike Estes:Guitar,Vocals <br>Sämpy Salminen:Bass,Backing vocals <br>Tuomas Miettinen:Drums<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/63b19f0619fb00498d0d5ec90b93b06f6f402839/medium/mike.jpg?1464057845" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/41060792016-03-25T18:53:40-05:002020-05-16T15:59:45-05:00Skinny Molly Live At The Shed DVD<p>Skinny Molly's first DVD is going to be available on April 9 and we will be selling it at the Shed in Maryville, Tennessee!<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/0fdb661bfc99f98f9e922365ebd6e5b8f25815ec/medium/skinnymollyliveattheshedsmall.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/39760972016-01-06T03:36:43-06:002016-01-11T18:13:40-06:00Happy New Year!!!!!<p><span class="font_large">Happy 2016 to you, Skinny Molly website looker-atter! :) </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">We hope you had a really great Christmas and an<br>awesome New Year holiday!<br><br>I basically unplugged for about 14 days and did very<br>little except spend time with my loved ones and<br>caught up on as much sleep and home cookin' as<br>I could after this last leg of the "Here for a Good<br>Time" seven-week-long Euro tour! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">This last blast of 2015 us all over Europe, including<br>30 miles from the Arctic Circle in Finland, in December. <br>You read that right. December. We ended the run,<br>fittingly enough, upon our return to the States with<br>a gig in Sweet Home Muscle Shoals, Alabama<br>on December 12th. It was an outdoor show on <br>the river and the weather was unseasonably awesome!</span><br> </p>
<p><span class="font_large">On behalf of the band I would like to thank our promoters,<br>agents, opening acts and local crews in Czech Republic, <br>Germany, Belgium, France, England, Wales, Scotland, <br>Sweden and Finland! We are fortunate enough to work with <br>some of the best of the best in the biz and want all of them <br>to know we appreciate them and the work they do! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I would also like to thank Manu Aeshbach and Paul Marcel,<br>from France and Czech Republic respectively, for saving <br>the band's ass and stepping up to the plate and knocking <br>it out on the guitar part on very short notice. Jay Johnson <br>took ill RIGHT before the tour and we were in no position <br>to cancel…these guys came in and kicked major ass for <br>us. Jay is fine now and rejoined us for the last show in <br>Muscle Shoals. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">I also can't thank our super hero tour manager Martin Lewis <br>enough for always remaining cool under immense pressure <br>and not folding while I was pulling my hair out and/or ranting.<br>This includes the incident where I came 6 inches from certain <br>death in Sweden, but I will save that story for later. :) </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Most of all I would like to thank YOU for attending any of <br>our shows on the tour. We want to keep the band alive and <br>touring, and your continued support keeps us in business and <br>doing what we love. We have never forgotten that, nor will we <br>ever forget it! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">There's a lot being planned for Skinny Molly in 2016! <br>First up, we finally decided to release our DVD from the <br>2012/2013 Haywire Riot tour on April 9th! <br><br>The band is playing a gig (and a having a release party) <br>at one of the finest venues in the world (and one of our <br>favorites by far to play) "The Shed" in beautiful Maryville, <br>Tennessee, located at Smoky Mountain Harley Davidson! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">We chose to release it on this date at this venue primarily<br>because that's where we recorded it! Speaking of which, <br>the concert portion of the DVD is LIVE. I mean LIVE! <br>Any and all warts are in there. I'm really proud of the fact<br>we did it this way, and that no studio trickery was used to<br>make the performance something that it never was, which<br>seems to be the norm these days. We plan on doing some <br>cool giveaways in conjunction with the DVD release at the<br>show and have some REALLY cool prizes in mind… </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">AND we will be recording the entire concert again THIS year!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">The results will released along with our upcoming CD before<br>our Euro tour coming this October! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">As far as other news, I'm working on my so-called "solo" <br>CD which is as of yet untitled, and writing songs for the next <br>SM release, which we will start recording in late February,<br>and release in September of this year. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">We have been invited to play some festivals this summer in<br>Europe and are shoring those dates up, and working hard <br>to put together more dates in the USA than we have played <br>in the history of the band this year as well!<br>If you have a hot lead on a festival or date in which you think we'd be<br>a good fit, or have any questions or comments at all, don't <br>hesitate to contact us here at the website! We read all <br>correspondence and try to respond as quick as we can! </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Thanks and Keep Rockin' </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Mike</span></p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/39675992015-12-25T03:49:50-06:002021-08-27T10:57:21-05:0010,000+ Likes and going...<p>We hit 10,000 likes on Our Facebook page!<br>We want to thank each and every one of you who have liked us on Facebook! It means a lot to us and we appreciate your love and support! We couldn't do it without YOU!<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/7d07a4003ef50fd9f9ef72759e20d03a3d4f1b34/original/barn10000likessmall.jpg?1451036945" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/38936592015-10-12T13:25:07-05:002015-10-12T13:27:08-05:00Adding shows to the Fall Euro Tour...We are happy to announce we have just added what will be the<br>last show of the Fall Here For a Good Time Euro tour! We will<br>be appearing at Nells Jazz and Blues in London on December<br>9th 2015 to celebrate the end of the tour and Mike's b'day party<br>the same night! Keep checking back here often as we are adding<br>more dates to the tour...Finland in particular. Thanks and keep rockin'!<br>- SMSkinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/38754852015-09-30T00:05:19-05:002015-09-30T01:03:08-05:00Tour and DVD!It's been a a while since I've written any news although there has<br>been plenty of it...I've been busy recording my "solo" CD and<br>touring with Skinny Molly.The big news is we have is we are<br>returning to Europe this Fall for what will be the last leg of the<br>Here for a Good Time tour! (if you haven't already, you should<br>grab this CD while it's still on sale) You'll be glad you did! <br><br>The tour will kick off October 22nd in the Czech Republic<br>(home of the finest beer in the world in my humble opinion) with<br>stops in Germany, Belgium, France, England, Scotland, Wales,<br>Sweden and Finland. The dates that are posted on this site are<br>confirmed, but there will be more added soon!<br><br>In other news, we completed the mixing for our first ever live DVD!<br>The DVD is truly live, warts and all. We are really proud to have<br>recorded it in our home state of Tennessee, at one of the best<br>venues in the USA, The Shed! No release date is set yet, but<br>hopefully we'll have it ready by December of this year. We'll be<br>returning to The Shed in April 2016 and will be recording again! <br><br>Feel free to write us with any venue suggestions you might have<br>for us. We appreciate you for keeping us in business!<br><br> Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/37113252015-05-20T20:24:39-05:002021-05-21T19:24:15-05:00Summer Shows and Other Meanderings!<span class="font_large">Hello from Nashville, Dear Reader!<br><br>Mike here for a quick update on summer shows and some other<br>stuff! The band will be heading out on the road this week for <br>three shows in the Great State of Georgia! <br>Friday the 22nd we will be at Mulligan's in Brunswick, Saturday<br>the 23rd finds us at the Rajun Cajun in Valdosta, and we wind<br>up the Memorial Day weekend at Martin's Memorial Day Jam<br>in Trenton! <br><br>The following week, yours truly will be heading to Finland for<br>some acoustic shows. Finland is GREAT this time of year,<br>and I am very much looking forward to spending yet another<br>working vacation there in June! There will be much salmon<br>and smoked whitefish/trout consumed as usual along with<br>many trips to the sauna and shots of Korskenkova I'm sure!<br>Finnish solo dates are:</span>
<p style="margin: 0px;"><br><span class="font_large"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Friday, May 29th Ravintola Sulka Lahti </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Saturday, May 30th Ravintola Malmintori, H'sinki (21:00) </span><br><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Saturday, May 30th Ravintola Taskari, Espoo (23:30)</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Tuesday, June 2nd Henrys Pub,Tampere<br>Wednesday, June 3rd Santa Fe Tammisaari<br>Thursday, June 4th Makasiini, Hanko</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Friday, June 5th HRoF bike meet Orilammi </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Saturday, June 6th Shamrock,Vantaa </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35); min-height: 24px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">After that, I'll meet up with the band in Spain:<br><br>Thursday, June 11th Sala Custom; Seville<br>Friday, June 12th Sala ; Granada<br>Saturday, June 13th RR Espana Festival; Costa del Sol<br>Wednesday, June 17th Algeciras; Aura<br>Thursday, June 18th Jerez; Harley Festival<br>Friday, June 19th Jerez; Harley Festival</span><br><br><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">This past April, I started working on a solo CD. I'm not leaving Skinny Molly…<br>I'm just putting together a CD of homeless songs <br>that I've written over the years that don't really fit the band…</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">On this past May 14 (my dad's 82nd birthday) I realized a long</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">time dream of getting my dad, George Estes in the studio to record</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">a song with me. It was his first time being recorded</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">and he did a fantastic job. The CD will be out sometime in the fall. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35); min-height: 24px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">In other news, we have the performances all mixed and edited from</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">a show that we did at The Shed in Maryville, TN and it will be</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">finished in time to release before our Fall leg of the Here For A Good</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35);"><span class="font_regular"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Time tour which begins in late October in the Czech Republic! <br><br>We have some more dates in the States this coming July and August <br>so keep coming back here to www.skinnymollyrocks.com for updates!<br>Keep Rockin'<br>Mike</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 21px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(35, 35, 35); min-height: 24px;"> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/35739092015-03-04T03:38:40-06:002017-01-15T14:48:38-06:00Notes From The Road: Here For A Good Time Winter Tour 2015 Day 6 and 7 Swansea/Worthing/ Evesham <p> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"> January 25/26 2015</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"> Swansea UK- Worthing UK-Evesham, UK</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"> The Iron Road</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">The day of the Swansea gig in the last installment,<br>we were installed in a hotel near the M4 "motorway"<br>(that's "interstate" in American English) in a certain<br>chain hotel that the band had pretty much swore off a<br>couple years back. As it turned out, said chain has been<br>making some major renovations and this one was pretty<br>dang OK. Clean, decent shower, and the room was warm.<br>Basic necessities for a band that is on the road in the bitter<br>cold for a month, staying in a different town most nights.<br>Not a complaint was heard. </p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">I woke up Monday morning a bit late. We were leaving at 11:00 am and I hadn't finished yawning until 10:45. I started packing up and realized I couldn't find my wallet. Not really unusual, this happens once a tour or so, it must be here somewhere. After destroying the room, emptying my suitcase and computer bag, inventing new cuss words and running in a panic to the bus and searching it twice, I remembered where I put it. I have a tendency to hide my important belongings in places where no one can find them. Including me. </p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Sigh. I went to the restaurant and took advantage of the 20% off deal they had for staying at the aforementioned hotel. To call it marginal quality food would be an overstatement, but I was starving so I didn't care. Today is a "travel day". A travel day means there is no gig that night, but we have to pull up stakes and go in the direction of the next gig, take care of some kind of business, catch a plane, train, ferry, or take the Eurotunnel. Sometimes it's any combination of all or most of the above. Our travel days are normally pretty long, and today was not going to be an exception. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/04cc55e291bd1e2db1d54a46f336bdb0577b891d/original/10672302-10152732104052205-5218990398043817789-n.jpg?1425461101" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">It was also going to be a sad day, as we would be bidding farewell to our good pal Dave Gingell. He had to get back to his normal work commitments. Dave did a fabulous job as driver and merch man for the 4 days he was out. He was obviously born to be out on the road. I wish everybody could meet Dave…he's always ready with a story or anecdote, whether you want to hear it or not. But seriously, as soon as he gets over his sensitivity, he will be a true road warrior. Dave knows, and you should know, I'm only kidding here. We were going to miss him and I knew it. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/11af1fec5ef4cd7a6eaa4ad60bf7c50ed24b6688/original/11016533-10204111826529142-1256602809-n.jpg?1425461024" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Like an ol' cowboy going out for one last ride, Dave took the wheel and we drove four hours or so southeast towards his home near Worthing. We would also be picking up a guitar of mine that he keeps watch over. I keep guitars in 3 or 4 different states and several different countries in case I get stuck somewhere and need one. I only leave them with my most trusted friends. Dave's one of those guys. We were met by his lovely wife Sandy and fourteen cats. I'm kidding. Not fourteen! Only twelve. Dave makes a mean cup of tea, some of the best I've ever had, and so the band hung out a bit, talked and laughed and drank tea until it was time to leave and head back up north. We said our goodbyes and we were off. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">I usually have the hotels booked for us weeks in advance, but I left this day open for whatever was going to happen, as we weren't set on any plan. I just knew we'd be doing some driving. While at Dave's we had looked on the net for a hotel close to the next gig in Evesham. It was a three hour or so drive back to the north. Everything nearby was ridiculously expensive, as it wasn't too far from the famous University town of Oxford.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">I decided to call the promoter for the next night's gig, a fellow known as simply as Muntley (this was a new gig for us, so we'd never met) and ask him for a recommendation. He told me to just come on up and he would put us up in the band house that night off for free. Perfect! He also informed me that he would open the normally-closed-on-Monday bar for us. MORE perfect. I already liked Muntley, and I hadn't even met him yet. We headed for Evesham, making just one stop to get food and beverage rations when we got close to the club.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/900055e79222569341c0ada2eb3a81012434658d/original/photo-4.jpg?1425461486" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"> It's really tough to eat healthy on the road, mostly because you don't want to. I always buy some kind of cheddar cheese, Coke, Mini Cheadars, yogurt bars and some sort of red wine or beer. The cheese in Europe and the UK that's available in filling stations is better than any cheese you can get in a five star restaurant in the States in my mind, so I take full advantage of it when I'm over.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br>If you want to see really strange snack choices, you should talk to Luke. I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff, but I can tell you that what ever it is he buys, it doesn't say "organic" or "natural" on the package and is probably powered by some sort of laboratory concocted onion flavor. Kurt keeps Coke Zero and Doritos in business, and Jay gets sandwiches and the things to make more sandwiches. </p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Loaded down with a day's worth of supplies, we did the last mile to where the gig would take place, the Iron Road. We were met by Muntley and his lovely better half. They gave us a tour of the venue, which was built a LONG time ago. The woodwork was awesome, and they had a good selection of beer. I felt right at home. I was a little worried about the size of the room because live, this is a loud band. But it was a cool place. Lots of people you have heard of play here regularly. Muntley assured us there was a good pre sale on tickets and that folks around the area came to his venue for the music. Awesome! That's what we like to hear!</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/68678dbaa365c3a0bc8d5b526ec4efd37c827ea6/original/photo-5.jpg?1425461498" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We wrapped the night up early and went upstairs to the band house. It's spacious and has a kitchen. We plopped down on the various couches, but Jay sat in a chair and broke it after setting up his makeshift office. We turned on the TV, trying to settle in. I was worn out and had a stuffy nose. No sneezing or sore throat, so I didn't worry about it. Jay and Luke went after more supplies and to buy credit for one of our "hotspots" that we use on the road for internet. It was dang cold and I was dang tired. We found an American football highlight show on TV from the 70's, back when it was a real game in my opinion. We found out right away that the internet hotspot credit gets burned up very quickly if one does any sort of internet phone call. Fifteen minutes after getting in the band house, Jay was headed back to the store to buy more credit. Nobody else moved.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">The next day, I woke up feeling a bit run down with a scratchy throat, but nothing horrible. Everybody was in a decent mood, and we spent the day doing laundry. To watch this band do laundry is actually pretty hilarious. I'm really picky about not drying my clothes in a dryer, so I have to find places to hang wet clothes. This is why I'm able to keep the same clothes for 20 years. You know, because they are bound to come back in style (As if I care). Luke is real picky about not being real picky. His suitcase and it's contents are actually listed as a "must see" detraction in the Official UK Home Office Of Natural Detractions Registry. Kurt turns the heat up in his room to a million degrees fahrenheit to dry his clothes. Trust me, even for ME it's hot. And I LIKE heat. Jay just wants to make sure he doesn't have to pay for washing his clothes. He makes use of sinks and showers throughout the land, and his clothes look like it. Socks, drawers, jeans and shirts are strewn and hung everywhere, in complete half organized chaos. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Laundry done, food eaten, phone calls made and emails answered, we headed down around 5:00 for soundcheck. I love being able to stay at the place we play (aka a "play and stay") or at least real near it. It's a hassle packing up and driving an hour or more after a gig, because if you have done your job that night, you are worn out after the show. You just want to do the "after show hang" with the crowd and go to the hotel and flop down. A play and stay takes the pressure off after the gig, as one can hang longer without worry.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/bc0760c5f853999ec558f633c228259a6e77be3a/original/photo-1.jpg?1425461533" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Soundcheck went great, pro engineer all the way and a good house system. Twenty minutes and we were done. Time for more food and refreshments.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">I was starting to get a little sneezy. My throat hurt a little bit more. Now I was starting to worry a little. I hate singing with a cold and have done it countless times. It's NEVER fun. But I'm not quite convinced it's a cold yet. Wishful thinking.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We normally come to Europe armed with enough Zycam (Zycam is a cold length and symptom reducer that actually works) to take care of an armored tank division. Zycam or some reasonable facsimile thereof isn't available in the UK or Europe, so we stock up before we come over. As Americans, we haven't been previously subjected to a ton of the "same colds" that they have here, so our immune systems aren't prepared for it. One is especially vulnerable when worn out tired, as we are most of the time. I doubled the normal Zycam dose, and felt better not long after. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We played a really fun show, and the place was pretty filled up. If memory serves, we played a longer than normal set. With this band, close quarters make for a tight show, and it was. The show went well and we had a great time!<br><br>One highlight was seeing some friends that had come a ways from Wales. The biggest highlight for me was being surprised by the arrival of my "adopted son", one Ash Sims (aka "Mr Sims") and his parents. Ash is a very talented drummer who filled in for Kurt on a couple of tours many moons ago. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">The back story goes like this: In 2005 upon our arrival to the UK, Immigration declared Kurt unfit for public consumption due to his lack of a proper work permit. It was a complete nightmare for all concerned. Kurt ended up with a big black X in his passport and was deported back to the States. (Even a year or so later, after it was all straightened out, Kurt would get pulled in UK Immigration and get the evil eye and an extra going over when we arrived) But after realizing Kurt wasn't getting in the country, I went to 911 mode. We had a tour to complete and needed a drummer. I knew at least Kurt wouldn't be charged with anything, and they would send him home. The band was just starting to get somewhat of a following and the worst case scenario was canceling the tour, especially since we had put out all the money for plane tickets. We had some hustling to do. The first show was the next night.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Ash was recommended to me by a friend. Things might have went differently if the aforementioned friend had told me that Ash was all of sixteen years old. I ended up having to tell the promoters that he was my son so he could get into the clubs. Before he went out on tour, I met his parents, and thank God they trusted me enough to let him go on tour. I promised them I'd take good care of him on the road, not let him drink and that's what I did. (Well, except once. That too, is another story) I even took him to Dubai in United Arab Emirates for a show. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Ash did a great job on those runs and was a blast to hang with. He's a full grown man now, with a wonderful family of his own. His entire family are some of the nicest folks on the planet. These days, he has his own incredibly cool rock band called Invisible Vegas. They play like they mean it. I dig that. Do yourself a favor and check them out.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">After hanging with our friends, the night wound down and I was really glad we were staying over because I was definitely getting sick. I announced the bad news to the band, and they scattered like cockroaches. I don't blame them. I would have too!</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/d7d7aa1c7f8dbbd841f8e3c5d1a9c8f5f407903e/original/photo-2.jpg?1425461520" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Normally, Luke is the usual suspect of bringing a devil's cold to our ranks. But for the last tour and for this one, I was the guilty party. All the hand washing and keeping my hands away from my face didn't work. I felt bad about it, and didn't want anybody else to get it. Driving for hours a day in a bus makes that near impossible. I felt the cold shakes from a fever and crawled under the covers in bed near a heater with my trusty bottle of Zycam close at hand. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br>The only barely bright spot was that I know how to get through a show in this condition without too many squeaks or sounding too much like a sick duck. But "getting through" a show ain't what this band is about. Kicking ass is. I was going to have to try and get over this thing as quickly as possible. After all, I was here for a good time! Although I was confident I could shake it, we'd just have to see. And that's the scary part. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Thanks to all that came and to all concerned!</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Your comments are more than welcome and feel free to share on your fave social network!</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Mike</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/35632162015-02-27T15:42:55-06:002017-01-15T14:48:38-06:00Notes From The Road: Here For A Good Time Winter Tour 2015 Day 5 Swansea, UK<div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 24px;"> Sunday, January 25 2015<br> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;">Skeggness UK to Swansea UK</span>
</div>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">MOST of us woke up early enough to catch a good<br>(not to mention free) English breakfast. Luke and I<br>hobbled down to see what was available, right before<br>they closed at 11:00. I wasn't in the best of moods,<br>as I had gotten an email from our agent stating that<br>the promoter on the gig this night in Swansea, Wales<br>wanted to renegotiate our pay.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br>He was worried that his ticket pre sale was too low to reach our<br>guarantee, and he didn't want to have to go into his pocket to pay<br>us the full amount. This kind of thing ticks me off for one big<br>reason. If his pre sale was SOLD OUT, like a lot of them are,<br>he wouldn't be offering us extra money if it wasn't agreed to in<br>the contract, now would he? And this one wasn't. No gate percentage.<br> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br>Two things were running through my mind. 1) This venue (though it<br>was a different promoter) cancelled us two or three years ago. 2)<br>It's a six hour drive we were facing, and it takes a considerable<br>amount of fuel to get there. Fuel in the UK is some of the most<br>expensive in the world. In dollars, it's about eight bucks a gallon!<br>I didn't think it was smart to take the gamble on driving there,<br>doing a show, and not getting paid. On top of that, I didn't even<br>know who the promoter was for this show, as I wasn't told and for<br>some reason it wasn't on my "Day sheet" ( a schedule for any given<br>day's activities). So I called the agent, and told him in a very colorful<br>language that I wasn't cool with this, and I might just pull the gig.<br>This was my initial reaction. We'd just played a smokin' show in<br>front of a couple of thousand people and I didn't want lose the<br>upswing momentum. Talk of canceling makes agents and promoters<br>very nervous, as there are at least SOME people that are going to<br>show up, and they will be disappointed. This is a fact that is not lost<br>on me, and the last thing we want to do is disappoint our fans. We've<br>had probably 10 gigs in the last 10 years cancel through no fault of<br>ours. (For the record, we've never canceled a show. We canceled<br>a tour once, but that's a different story) But the promoters invariably<br>come up with some story for the people that show up to a cancelled<br>show to make it look like it's the band's fault. I can tell you in our case<br>it never is. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/9c226561d413f3d6927adaa91f556e66c3fa866b/original/10922063-10204111825009104-515055996-n.jpg?1425073308" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">After much thought, having a word with the band, and getting hotel<br>confirmation numbers from the agent, I decided to go for it. We weren't<br>gonna do anything else anyway, so lets go play for whoever shows up,<br>and take what money we get. I know from much experience that this<br>band is not a huge pre sale ticket band, and a lot of people show up the<br>day of the show to buy a ticket. There are times when some go home disappointed if it's a sell out. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">So we head down towards Swansea, stop at a Burger King (NEVER<br>AGAIN IN THE UK) get loaded up on snacks and truckstop goodies<br>along the way. I'm becoming semi famous for my truckstop shopping<br>abilities. If there's a deal to be had, I'll find it. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/bf62b39d70814ea4e519ce23e8455c04e80ab3ae/original/tuns-4.jpg?1425073297" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We drop bags at the hotel and head over to what's now known as "The<br>Scene". It was formally known as "Milkwood Jam" as I remember. The<br>scene upon our arrival was one Alan Jones. Alan is the promoter for the<br>gig. I've know Alan for years, we've done lots of shows for him and he's<br>always been fair to us. We have socialized and hung with him on many<br>an occasion. Alan was actually in a band that toured with Jimi Hendrix in<br>the late 60's. He's one of the good ones. As soon as I saw him, I said<br>WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY TELL ME IT WAS YOU? And I gave him a big<br>hug. He was glad to see me and the rest of the guys, I could tell. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We jumped all the gear in for soundcheck, which went really well, had a<br>bite to eat and a few beers. I knew I'd spent the entire day worrying for<br>nothing, because Alan knows how to promote. He told me that they had<br>been having a bit of trouble pulling in the venue the past couple of months. I<br>told him all he had to have done was call me and we would have worked something out. A bunch of worrying by 10 people for nothing. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">The sound engineer was one of the best ones we've run into (I'm gonna<br>take him out with us when we can afford him) and we played a really good<br>show to a very appreciative crowd. In the end, we got the money we'd agreed on thanks to a good crowd showing up. I'm glad we did it and we'd do it again. </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/1e2ebce5c28edd34907228dd15f3b23cfc1c3411/original/tuns-6.jpg?1425073286" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br>Thanks to all concerned and to all that came!</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We welcome your comments and shares on your fave social site! </p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Mike</p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/35568212015-02-25T10:48:41-06:002017-01-15T14:48:38-06:00Notes From The Road: Here For A Good Time Winter Tour 2015 Day 4 Skegness Rock And Blues <span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 24px;">Saturday, January 24 2015</span>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;"><br>Got up Saturday morning (note the word morning. This is <br>not a good word in touring musician language) and packed <br>up for our 4 hour trip to Skegness,UK to play the Rock<br>and Blues Festival at Butlins Holiday Park. It was cold,<br>but that was no big surprise. At least the sun was shining<br>again. A McDonalds stop was surely going to be in order,<br>as a few of us had quite a night at theTuns the night before.<br>The Rock and Blues Festival is basically the reason we<br>moved our "normal" touring window in the UK from<br>October/November to January. It's not a bad thing at all,<br>save for the weather, as the Rock And Blues is one of the<br>finest gigs out there to play; we'd done it twice before, and<br>it would prove to be great again this year.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/908faf53940b796b616162109e9edd0899ca2e91/original/11009037-10204111825089106-1249947807-n-1.jpg?1424882193" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; min-height: 29px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 24px;"> <span class="font_small">R</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 19px;">ockin' at the Rock And Blues Festival Skegness UK</span><font size="5" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </font><br><br><font size="5" style="font-family: Helvetica;">An indoor festival of this size (there can be a couple thousand screaming rock fans in one room at one time) is difficult to make run like clockwork, but this one does. It's highly organized and pro all the way. The fabulous crew there got all the gear up there and running for soundcheck in minutes. I'm usually kind of slow mover at soundcheck, and basically use it to go over songs, parts of songs, our to try out new songs I've got cooking. Most of the places we play have a great in house crew that can get things going quickly with no problems. I had a little trouble with my guitar signal, no big deal, the guitar rig hadn't been touched in a few months except for the previous night. The jack was a little crusty, and I can tell she just needed to be played…The monitors onstage and my in ear monitor sounded perfect. I was confident we'd have a good show.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/6b69395bc249e602f9ae7ae55b28e22255b0b820/original/11022817-10204111826449140-1520308327-n-1.jpg?1424882283" class="size_l justify_center border_" /> <span class="font_small">I must have said something funny. Kurt's </span></font><font face="Helvetica"><span style="font-size: 19px;">laughing. Why ain't I? :D</span></font></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">We got in our cabins and some of us rustled up some food. Nothing out of the ordinary, and all was pretty laid back. We were to follow John Cohglin's Quo, good friends of ours from other similar gigs. John being the original drummer in Status Quo, they play a great set of Quo songs. They are some of the nicest guys you'd want to meet on the road, and they offered me use of any of their guitars or gear, as they had attended our soundcheck and noticed I had a little trouble with my rig. THAT is the type of guys you want to do shows with, and we are the same way with other bands. There were loads of great bands on this gig!</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"><br>We got back in the venue in time to catch JCQ.They played a rockin' set and really got the crowd going, and I was a little worried that we wouldn't go down as well as they did. From the opening lick of "Here For A Good Time", my worrying stopped. I knew from that second that as long as the gear held up, we'd have a great show. It did, and we did. Looking out at all the people in the crowd smiling, yelling, singing along… that's why I still do this. They were really with us, singing along to the songs they knew, and showing us big love on the songs from the new CD. They must have liked the new songs, because we sold more copies of our new "Here For A Good Time" CD's that night than any CD we had ever sold in the history of this band!</p>
<div class="captioned justify_center"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/31096bf6a0b31cc25fb674d0e7c3b8d11e29f73e/original/11020320-10204111826569143-1661875673-n.jpg?1424882300" class="size_orig justify_center border_" /><p class="caption">Gettin' after it!</p></div>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;">We saw tons of old friends before and after the show, and did a big hang with all of them. Some of our peeps were there, including Paul Newcomb and his better half Rita, both of whom we adore and who are a big help to this band. One of<br>our long time promoters, Pete Feenstra, was in fine form as well! Pete had been dipping his foot in the water in the fashion department, and I didn't want him to think it went unnoticed. I usually give Pete a little flack for his choice of sweaters, but tonight he was on point, looking like a French magnate of some sort, with a colorful scarf and long coat. Upon seeing him in our dressing room I said, "Hey Pete, great outfit, man! "Pete being English, thought I was "taking the piss" but I wasn't. He was rockin' out, and did a great job as master of ceremonies for the gig. We also got to hang out with some of our favorite people in the world, Alan and Lisa from Raw promotions. They are some of the most fun people ever, and have done more than anybody in the Midlands to keep a viable music scene going. Truly dear hearts of ours, and we love them to death! This was one special gig. It always is! Thanks to all that came and to all concerned!</p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica;">Mike <br>Feel free to comment on this! Also, please share it on your Facebook page or twitter! Thanks! </p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; min-height: 29px;"> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/35498342015-02-22T19:13:18-06:002021-12-18T15:02:40-06:00Notes From The Road: Winter Tour 2015 Day 1, 2 and 3<span style="font-size: 24px; ">Notes From The Road</span><br><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 24px; ">January 21/22/23 2015<br>by Mike Estes</span>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; "><span class="font_regular">I arrived in London solo two days before the tour started<br>in order to pick up our bus (Shirley Jean) and gear from<br>our Southwest London based mechanic, Nick. He wanted<br>to go over everything with me before I left the next morning<br>to pick up the rest of the band the next morning from<br>Heathrow airport.<br><br>Nick showed me what he did and all about the new things<br>I had asked for on the bus; tires, battery, brakes, rotors,<br>a new heater to name a few. Great job, Nick! Business done,<br>I settled into our "B"hotel (although the showers aren't great,<br>they have a killer English breakfast) in the "no number room"<br>to sleep, because directly after I picked the guys up from their<br>long flight, we had a six hour bus ride staring us straight in<br>the face to make our way north east up to Gateshead for<br>the next night's show. Everybody was gonna be grabbing <br>sleep on the ride. Well, everybody except me. And Dave.<br>Read on.<br><br>Aboard for his first trip out with the band was a long time friend<br>of ours; one Dave Gingell. Dave came out to help drive and<br>sell merch for a few days. Though sensitive, he's a very funny<br>man. I knew he'd be great on the road and he was!<br>Thanks, Dave! <br><br>We took that long hike up the M1 as we had many times before.<br>Did the usual fuel/Mcdonald's stops. We have hit these places<br>a LOT over the past several years...The weather was cold,<br>but not unbearable, as the sun was shining. I felt like I had<br>been here not too long ago, probably because I had. It <br>almost felt like driving home. But this was just the beginning. <br>The beginning of one of the most difficult tours I've ever done.<br>Keep up with this blog and you'll hear all (or most) about it :)</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; "><span class="font_regular">We arrived in Washington near Gateshead and settled into our<br>rooms. Gateshead is basically part of Newcastle, and has become<br>a second home for the band. Our first show of the tour was at the<br>Three Tuns, a favorite place of ours which usually fills up with a bunch<br>of fun people that love music of all types. We couldn't think of a better<br>place to start this leg of the Here For A Good Time Tour. The Tuns <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/7ae073dae753165673c9080b21064698579d9c3a/original/tuns-5.jpg?1424653856" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/0dc64a5324d6dab12970a1720c54f921c7e82d62/original/tuns-3.jpg?1424653867" class="size_l justify_center border_" />itself might be one of the smaller venues we play in size, but it's a<br>TRUE "rock and roll honky tonk" It's loud. It's hot. (even in winter)<br>It's sweaty. And it ROCKS. We have gotten to know and become<br>close friends with many people from the area. We love them and they<br>love us back! Just like it's supposed to be! The people in Gateshead/<br>Newcastle go out and support live music…they don't let bad<br>weather or other mundane things like it being "a weeknight" stop them.<br>I love that about this town. Head in to Newcastle on a cold, rainy<br>Tuesday night, and it's hoppin'. We had a killer first show, better<br>than I even hoped it could be. We were just here on the Fall leg of<br>the tour in October and sold it out. It didn't sell out this time but it was<br>DANG close, and in my mind, a much better show. This has been and<br>will always be one of my favorite places on the face of the earth.<br>Thanks, y'all. :) <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/ee2d33062fc5fc58029ee98285219c8da96d6cfb/original/tuns-2.jpg?1424653880" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 24px; font-family: Helvetica; "> </p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/34621392015-01-12T07:25:15-06:002022-05-18T08:41:50-05:00 "Here For A Good Time" just went to NUMBER ONEThe title track of Skinny Molly's "Here For A Good Time" just went to NUMBER ONE on Hit Tracks!<br>Get your CD at<a href="http://www.skinnymollyrocks.com/store" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: rgb(59, 89, 152); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank">www.skinnymollyrocks.com/store<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/71542f796f71c2503d1fd4379e59c30e05939b91/large/10891665-10152634263852205-4903692459136117549-n.jpg?1421069059" class="size_l justify_left border_" /></a>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/34198602014-12-19T15:54:00-06:002015-01-07T16:08:51-06:00Been A While! <br>I haven't posted on here in some time...not long after my last post<br>we left for Europe on the first leg of our "Here For A Good Time"<br>Tour, behind our brand new CD."Here For A Good Time" was<br>released in London, UK at the world famous Borderline<br>Club..we ran the gamut of clubs and festivals on the tour,<br>trucking through the UK, Czech Republic, France, Germany<br>and the Netherlands. <br><br>The fan response to the tour and CD has been fabulous! After<br>much work and determination, we were able to get the new disc<br>out in the States in time for Christmas, and we were able to<br>spend Thanksgiving this year with our families. The tour will<br>pick back up in the UK at another famous venue, The Three<br>Tuns in Gateshead, on January 23rd. We will be back at some<br>familiar haunts and new venues throughout the UK, (including <br>the Rock And Blues Fest in Skegness) and wind up the tour in<br>Spain, which we are really looking forward to! We will return to <br>the States in late February and have a couple weeks off before<br>heading to the (hopefully) warm climate of Florida for some<br>shows at Daytona Bike Week. We will be jumping back and forth<br>across the pond a few times again this year, so keep coming back<br>to this site for the latest show updates. Everybody in the Skinny<br>Molly organization appreciates your support, and we look forward<br>to making the new year the best ever for the band! Merry Christmas<br>and Happy New Year from all of us at Skinny Molly!<br>Mike<br><br> Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/31975102014-09-22T02:40:02-05:002017-06-10T21:43:30-05:00How I Spent My Summer VacationSince we returned from Finland in May, we have played a decent amount<br>of shows this summer here in the States and in France. But as you might<br>know, we've been concentrating on recording our new CD "Here For A<br>Good Time" The CD is pretty much what the title says. We picked some<br>songs we'd played live for fun, and a couple of old songs I'd written a<br>while back that I thought should get the Skinny Molly treatment and a<br>second chance to be heard. I also wrote a few new ones, that I wound up<br>pretty happy with. Here For A Good Time is made for the finest bunch of<br>people in the world. Our fans! These are songs that you'll want to sing in<br>the shower and the car. At least I hope you do. :) <br><br>Although I probably say this every time I record a CD, I'm sure that<br>this time it's true; I've never put so much of me into a recording in my life. <br>It's taken 4 months of solid work; lots and lots of 12 to 14 hour days.<br>I'm not complaining. I love my job! I hope the hard work shows and that<br>you, dear reader, really like this CD! It's not as heavy or as dark as some<br>of the other things we have done, but it rocks. It's fun!<br><br> It's almost finished, and it will be ready in time<br>for our tour that begins in France on October 10, and will be available on<br>this site, but they will ship in November. If I can make it happen sooner,<br>I will. This is the last tour of our ten year anniversary year! We hope to see<br>you at a show! Check the tour page on this site!<br>Thanks!<br>Mike<br> Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/31550382014-08-25T18:31:35-05:002022-05-24T05:53:00-05:00Life in the Studio<div class="captioned justify_left"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/060d41d1db398d90aa29810ea1f2634dcc9d2248/medium/10351458-10152324938382205-2048462187304500586-n.jpg?1409009311" class="size_orig justify_left border_" /><p class="caption">We have almost everything we need to record tonight! What else would you suggest</p></div>
<div class="captioned justify_left"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/b4eb6e3e5fc57f0e164f2ad429df18a249136f1e/medium/10447665-10152321144782205-2730634458374025631-n.jpg?1409009329" class="size_orig justify_left border_" alt="" /><p class="caption">We had a wonderful time at Beeverfest, now we are back at Moss Rose Studios cutting songs for the new CD! No rest for the weary...</p></div>
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<div> </div>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/29571682014-05-19T16:42:07-05:002017-01-15T14:48:37-06:00Notes From The Road: Day Two<span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><strong>Finland Finally!</strong></span><br><br><b><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">After waking up to leave my beloved Tennessee, I found myself in the constantly under renovation Vantaa airport near Helsinki. Both of my bags had miraculously arrived, which is always a great way to start a tour. I have one huge suitcase with scarcely anything in it; my day clothes, stage clothes, shaving kit and little else. I mostly have this monstrosity for bringing cool stuff from Finland back home, which includes cigars, various bottles of exotic liquor, and sauna supplies. The smaller one has band merch and my constantly-exploding-due-to-being-overloaded "road bag" which contains everything I need on the gig. The band, including my full time bro and some time booking agent Sami were there waiting for me. </font><br><br><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">Everybody (except Sami) was looking about how I felt. It's always great to see Sami, (and the guys of course) he's a fabulous and talented cat who works hard and plays as hard or harder than he works. He's riding herd on this tour and I'm damn grateful he is. In all other parts of Europe, I do what he does, and he's one of the few people in the world I would trust to road manage this band. </font><br><br><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">Luke especially looked tired, which I totally understand, as he and I share a complete inability to sleep on airplanes. I usually use him as a mirror after a long day of flying and I'm semi dismayed by my virtual reflection. Jaybird has the enviable ability to sleep wherever he is; bus stops, taxis, park benches, Hotel lobbies, ditches; anywhere but on stage, so he appeared to be a little more rested than Luke and Kurt...We still had about a three hour drive to the first town on the agenda. </font><br><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">S</font><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">avonlinna is a breezy little town surrounded by water. A consummate fishing town. Wonderful and typical wooden Finnish homes. Summer is probably as good here as anywhere in the world. I notice its a little cool outside for this time in May, but my worries are quickly extinguished when Sami gives me the weather forecast for the coming days. Real Spring/Summer weather will be here any day. We get the gear loaded up in Sami's former-police-bus-now-tour -bus affair, and I wonder to myself how many musicians have ridden in it when it was on duty in its former official capacity. Within ten minutes, JBird was crashed, snoring and smiling. We made a quick stop for various refreshments, and I picked up a couple of vessels filled with my favorite Swedish "cidere" that I learned to love in Sweden years ago. It's called Rekorderlig Strawberry and Lime. Suffice to say Its like drinking "summer in a bottle", especially when poured over a big glass of ice. There's not an abundance of ice available (other than bars or hotels) in Finland for drinks, which can be troubling to an ice-loving American like myself. (One can't buy ice in bags like you can back home. They probably figure they get enough ice with their brutal winters, and once May hits, they don't want to see any again until late September). After one cider, I wasn't far behind Jay in catching some must needed sleep and neither were Kurt or Luke. An hour or so in, we were all hanging our heads chin to chest, sleeping and drooling to our collective heart's content. </font><br><br><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">I'd been on the road to Savonlinna many, many times, so I didn't feel as if I was missing any sites by throwing some Z's in my woefully overdrawn sleep account. We arrived at the hotel, which is typical Finnish. Not the Waldorf Astoria, but clean, comfortable and utilitarian. Next up was to find some grub. As a long time confirmed consumer of anything edible that lives in the water, I decided to once again live by my long-held -to mantra: "When on the water, eat the fish". And in Finland, you are rarely far away from water, which is just one more reason to love it here. As the temperature outside (about 50 F) felt like "soup weather" after being acclimated to Tennessee's early summer heat, I killed the proverbial "two birds" by ordering "perch soup". It was beyond perfect, and expensive as hell. Kurt got his usual pizza, and Jbird got a killer salmon sandwich. I was eyeing it the whole time. Luke skipped supper for bed and spent the next 11 hours there.</font><br><br><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">Next up, a short trip to the K store located directly across the street for a few hotel supplies for the in-room fridge. I've been a huge fan of of the peppered salami available here for the last fifteen years, and the cheese in Finland makes our cheese at home taste like hide glue. I got about a two day supply of each, along with some of my favorite Czech beer, a couple of bottles of the aforementioned cider and the one American product that tastes as good here as it does at home , good ol' Coca Cola. I'm set to head to the hotel sauna with fellow sauna aficionados Sami and JBird, after which I'll make a phone call home to my Dear ol' Dad to wish him happy B'day, and call it a night. The sauna session turned me into a rubber legged wet noodle, albeit a clean and happy one. Mission accomplished. </font><br><br><font face="Noteworthy Light" size="4">I barely remember laying down with the TV on (tuned to the one available channel, YLE), when I'm woken from my coma-like state about some five hours later at four a.m. by a very familiar voice that sounds as if it's owner is in my room talking to me. I try to shake off the drowsiness and I'm looking around the room to figure out where its coming from, because I'm sure that this person is RIGHT in my room. Before complete panic sets in, I figure out that it's coming from the TV, and it's my bro of a lifetime Teppo"The Country Doctor"Nättilä. Teppo is a legendary Finnish radio on-air man and a wonderful, wonderful cat that has been playing my songs from whatever band I've happened to have been in since 1994 on his Tuesday night radio show for the last 14 years or so. He's been a huge supporter of whatever I've done musically, and is an especially good friend of Skinny Molly. He and I share a kinship and brotherhood in everything to do with music, Cuban cigars, Cuban rum and life in general. He's Europe's number one authority on the subject of Cuban cigars; he makes trips to Cuba as much as he possibly can. Teppo has written great books and articles in magazines (that he has been so gracious to include me in) in addition to being a great old school On Air guy. He's also a member of a fabulous cigar club in Helsinki, and I was his guest there for an unforgettable experience a two tours ago. I had planned on calling him to meet with him on Saturday anyway, hopefully to hook up and burn down a good Castro, as I had picked a couple up for us during my long layover in Amsterdam. Teppo plays the best music you've heard anywhere on his show, ranging from stone country to blues to rockabilly, Americana, straight up rock and roll, to anything cool. He's a musician himself, and he gets life totally. A true National Treasure Of Finland. I listened to the entire show and the next thing I know I hear my own voice via a station ID I did with him a while back. Next up were two SM songs in a row, and a song recorded live from when I was in Skynyrd, all being played over the airwaves covering the entire country. It's a rebroadcast;the live show had went down earlier in the evening. He then tells his audience that Skinny Molly is in Finland and proceeds to list our entire tour schedule for the next two and a half weeks.. Teppo has always been one of my favorite people in the world, and I hope I get to hang with him on Saturday. What a wonderful welcome to Suomi by one of the finest people I know. Thanks, Teppo, you are truly Mi Hermano! </font></b></span>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Noteworthy Light'; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); "><b><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">Mike 5/14/14 6:00 in the am Finnish time. Gonna go see what they've got for B'fast. </span><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/44e528c96f9fda9fb1ba94e9a331dcaba5287388/original/1506635-10202297807819808-7952087832272035429-n.jpg?1400533959" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><span style="color:#FFFFFF;">Teppo "The Country Doctor Nättilä and yours truly at Blackpool in </span></b><span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><strong>Järvenpää, Finland at Blackpool</strong></span></p>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/29571562014-05-19T16:01:51-05:002014-05-21T14:15:13-05:00Notes From The Road: Day One<span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span style="font-size: 17px;">"The Hell Of Flying And Europe's Best Kept Secret"</span></span>
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<span style="color:#FFFFFF;"><span class="font_large">I hate flying. Absolutely hate it. Pushing, shoving, screaming, arguing; the proverbial wailing and gnashing of teeth. And that's just me and the dogs at the house before I leave to get on the plane.<br><br>The only thing that I hate worse than flying is booking flights. I used to have a method for doing this that yielded many a greenback saved, thusly putting me in line for getting away with the equivalent of aviation economical murder. After pulling off this secret for a few years, the airlines finally caught on (<span class="yiv0353010575Apple-style-span" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1399950082597_14788">I'm sure I wasn't the only one that had figured it out) and if I try it now, its the WORST possible option 90% of the time. The band does a lot of flying. Enough so that my Bro's In Arms and I are able to keep a decent "status" level with our "normal" airline. Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond status can lead to deals, upgrades and perks, which can make the "less-exciting-than-a-trip-to-the-local-sewage-treatment-plant" proposition of flying barely bearable. The requirements for achieving any kind of status on our "normal" airline have changed this year, and not for the better. Add to that the fact that their International flights are becoming more and more full and more and more expensive with less and less perks. So, for this tour we decided to abandon the idea of staying with the "usual" airline and started looking for a deal.<br><br>After days of shopping online and becoming beyond blurry eyed and pissed off, I found one. Sort of. I found tickets for just over the price that I had previously bid on a well known website where one can "Name your own price". My bid was turned down, but I was given another "deal" option. Turns out the "deal" is on an airline that I once had "Gold Status" with years ago. I was ready to go back, hat in hand. I even remembered my frequent flyer number, even though I hadn't flown with them in almost ten years. I went ahead and booked two of the other guys first (Never book more than two people at once; believe it or not, you'll pay more. Sometimes, LOTS more. Buying in bulk does NOT help you here) and then tried to book myself with one of the other guys. The price jumped for these as of yet unbooked tickets at that very second, bringing it just above the price of our "usual"airline. Great. I then tried booking just one, and it was the same price as the previous two guys' tickets, so I took it. Just one more was all I needed to save a total of 800 plus USD off our "normal" airline's price! However, It was not to be. When I tried to book my own ticket, it was 300 plus more than the price of each ticket for the other three guys. I'd already dumped close to three grand total and they are upping the price on me? A quick refresh of the window on the site of our airline of yore, and the price had just DROPPED by well over two hundred, and was barely a touch higher than what I'd just paid for the other guys' tickets... So, as I write this, I'm traveling alone, on an airline whose crap I'm sick of. (I did horse 10,000 miles out of them for my account after they screwed a detail, so that helped) <br><br>But, so what, really? Finally after sitting on the runway in DTW for over two hours, I'm off to Helsinki, Finland via Amsterdam, Netherlands to meet the fellers and embark on an eleven-shows-in-just-over-two-weeks-tour that almost didn't happen. Rock And Roll can be a game of " horseshoes and hand grenades" at times, but with some hard work on the part of my bro/ agent Sami, it sprouted like sweet corn in late May. As I write this I'm sitting in a completely full plane in a row with some very nice people that happen to be from the Czech Republic. I whip out what little of the Czech language I know and they are delighted that I know any at all. I just finished a new song on my trusty iPhone, while putting back a few beers. The guys will get to Helsinki before I do, and I'm a little jealous, as I consider Finland to be "my" country. It was the first country outside the States that I really started playing my original music I'd written on decent size tours. I got a record deal for a CD I recorded in Finland; I started spending months on end in Finland; it was my base for touring all over Europe, recording, writing and producing in the five years before Skinny Molly was formed. I did lots of media there, have loads of friends and biz contacts there and have had for 15 years as of last month. I was even made an official Finn by two different groups of friends in both the East and West because they said I possess "Sissu" (hard to translate to English, but it's kind of like balls-out attitude) and for my ability to hold my liquor and take a dang hot sauna. Finland still holds all the excitement that it always has for me; fabulous people, beautiful sites, wonderful food, clean air, great wildlife and forests with Pine and Baltic Birch trees and great products made from them, water and fishing everywhere, and my beloved sauna culture. These folks know how to live, and this is the time of year that the country begins my favorite season. I hope it doesn't rain, and I hope I catch that big ol' pike that broke my pole twice years ago. I'm going after him on a day off. I know where he lives. Oh yeah, I'm also going to play some rock and roll while I'm there. :) Finland is definitely Europe's best kept secret. It's a place so awesome that I think God spent a little extra time putting it together. Whatever you do, please don't go to Finland. I want to keep it all to myself! :) <br>Mike <br>5/14/14 9:17 TN time<br>Somewhere over the Atlantic, probably near Ireland, I haven't checked the "flight map" yet.<br>OK, just checked the flight map, and yep, right over the west coast of Ireland. It just occurred<br>to me for the 300th time that I have done this a lot. </span></span></span><br> </div>
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<div> </div>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/29426492014-05-12T21:48:29-05:002017-01-15T14:48:37-06:00Finland TourWe are touring Finland for the rest of May! Check out the tour dates! For more show information visit <a href="http://www.skinnymollyrocks.com/tour" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: rgb(59, 89, 152); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 20px;" target="_blank">www.skinnymollyrocks.com/tour</a><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/069b4023db9fa3ab393b1acd2805e376800f23d8/medium/finlandsmall.jpg?1399949300" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br> Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/28933732014-04-23T15:59:09-05:002017-01-15T14:48:37-06:00No Good Deed - Limited Edition<a contents="" data-link-label="Store" data-link-type="page" href="/store"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/dfe93e9cf9bf0e0e0deb0bdfbda7da59c277e295/small/ngdforweb.jpg?1398285804" class="size_s justify_left border_" /></a><span class="font_large"><strong>By fan request, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band,<br>we are are re releasing our first CD, No Good Deed" </strong><br><br>The first 100 copies will be signed by the band. This is the <br>release that contains the fan favorite "Better Than I Should" <br>This is a limited edition and will sell out quickly. <a contents="Order NOW!" data-link-label="Store" data-link-type="page" href="/store"><span style="color:#FF0000;"><strong>Order NOW!</strong></span></a></span>
<div> </div>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/28465382014-04-05T00:24:11-05:002022-05-24T05:58:02-05:00The Reason Skinny Molly's Eyes Are Red It was hard to believe, but it had been four years since I'd been on, and I was really glad to be going on as a panelist this time. I was honored that they thought I could cut it; One must swim in the deep end comedically and intellectually to be on Red Eye. <br><br><a contents="Read the full article on Mike's Blog here!" data-link-label="Mike's Monthly" data-link-type="page" href="/mike-s-monthly"><strong><span class="font_large"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Read the full article on Mike's Blog here!</span></span></strong></a><br><br><a contents="Listen and download the Red Eye theme song here!" data-link-label="Music" data-link-type="page" href="/music"><strong><span class="font_large"><span style="color:#FF0000;">Listen and download the Red Eye theme song here!</span></span></strong></a><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/7c7a7ce51dfc2f37d3215e3b9c2571156d193691/medium/mike-redeye-show-small.jpg?1396711707" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br> Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/28310612014-03-31T01:03:11-05:002014-03-31T01:03:11-05:00Mike returns to RED EYE! 3:00 am Tuesday FOX News Channel<span class="font_regular">Mike Estes returns to Fox News Channel's show of shows, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld.<br>"The show is on late at night, or early in the morning, however you want to look at it,<br>Mike says. "I look at it as the former. I'm usually up at that time anyway, and I'm a huge<br>fan of the show. It's my favorite one out there. And it IS out there" Red Eye airs<br>at 3:00 am EST weeknights (or mornings) on the FOX News Channel. </span>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/25967062014-02-17T16:14:18-06:002021-11-19T19:21:56-06:00Mike's interview with Eddy Mullet on the Kindred Sanction Show!Tune in to Class X Radio 88.9 89.1 FM (also at <a contents="www.classxradio.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.classxradio.com" target="_blank">www.classxradio.com</a>) Cincinnati OH Northern KY radio tonight, February 17th. at 7:30 EST for Mike's interview with Eddy Mullet on the Kindred Sanction Show!<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/b1aadc650a0538df8daf876acc04549ec246ae46/medium/clip-28.jpg?1392675190" class="size_m justify_center border_none" alt="Mike Estes" />Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/25859332014-02-15T00:18:08-06:002014-02-15T00:20:20-06:00Happy Valentine's Day!We hope everybody is having a great Valentine's Day weekend!<br><br> We are spending time in the studio recording and writing, and<br> glued to phones and computers booking shows for the coming year.<br> We will be posting more shows around our various social sites and <br> on this website very soon. <br> We are working on our Youtube channel, and if you have any suggestions<br> for us about content and what you would like to see, let us know! <br> Drop us a line here, or at any of our social sites! <br> Skinny MollySkinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/25426062014-02-07T19:27:56-06:002014-03-03T20:43:54-06:00Back To Cutting Songs, Not Hands!After a short hiatus from recording due to a hand injury, singer/ guitarist Mike<br>Estes has pronounced himself healed and has returned to Moss Rose studio<br>to resume recording Skinny Molly's third (as yet untitled) CD.<br><br>Mike is producing the CD with the rest of the band, and has some thoughts on<br>what's taking place in the studio: "We are onto something different, there's no<br>doubt.The songs are a little different, as far as there's more of a contrast in the<br>material.There are still some dark, even cynical lyrics happening like what run<br>a thread through the first two CDs, but this CD is probably a little more fun than<br>the first two. This band has a good time whenever we get together, and I think<br>more of that is coming through in the lyrics these days. I write the lyrics, and I'm<br>in a pretty good frame of mind here of late. I can really only write what comes out<br>and I can't put restrictions on what I write or try to steer things a certain way. I<br>think this CD will have more songs that are more along the lines of "Better Than<br>I Should" from the first CD. Instead of the lyrics being so dark, they are more about<br>coming out of the darkness. When we go out on the road, we have a big party<br>happening at the shows. I think some of that is gonna come through on this next<br>CD". The band has shows in the USA this Spring and returns to Finland and the<br>UK in May/June. Mike says, "The UK, especially around London, has been really<br>great to us. We are expanding in other Euro countries like Germany and the<br>Czech Republic. France has been really great too. We have a few festivals there<br>this year. Finland is, and will always be one of my favorite places to go. But we see<br>all kinds of great places and will get to go to some new ones this year, including <br>Ireland, and we're looking at going back to Sweden after a few years being gone.<br>I've kind of went the long way around here to get to my point, which is that we get<br>out on the road, we have a great time, and I think that it's coming out in some of the<br>new songs. On the other hand, the CD is only half recorded. I'm still writing stuff,<br>and you never know where the songs will go. Maybe one of the other guys will bring<br>in something like we've not done before. You just never know what will happen when<br>you are letting a song find you, instead of trying to force one, or trying to write a hit. <br>This is our ten year anniversary, I hope it's our best year yet, and I hope it's our best CD<br>yet too".Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/24422972014-01-21T17:34:43-06:002017-02-03T08:02:17-06:00New Year - New Look - New VideoCheck out our new video to the right.<br>Please also stop by our <a contents="YouTube Channel" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/skinnymollyband">YouTube Channel</a>.<br><a contents="www.youtube.com/user/skinnymollyband" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/user/skinnymollyband">www.youtube.com/user/skinnymollyband</a><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/30b7db1550482528aec2a93d862e79cf12d60cd4/original/videoscreenprint.jpg?1390347234" class="size_l justify_left border_" />Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/23320222014-01-05T15:38:58-06:002017-01-15T14:48:36-06:00New Year - New LookIt is not too late to wish a Happy New Year.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/8d3214a62adefae4703196743ec962679994f120/small/newyears.jpg?1388957670" class="size_s justify_left border_none" alt="" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>We have been making some few changes to this website. <ul>
<li>Moved the Social Media Live Feeds to under the <a contents="Fan Stuff Tab" data-link-label="Social Media" data-link-type="page" href="/social-media">Fan Stuff Tab</a>
</li> <li>change the layout of the homepage</li>
</ul>A few more to come....Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/22694502013-12-20T23:19:50-06:002017-01-15T14:48:36-06:00Merry Christmas from Skinny Molly! It's getting to be that time of year, the stockings are hanging over the chimney, the Christmas tree finally stopped falling over. Everything is done... Oh wait! Uncle Al and Aunt Peg are coming to dinner next week too? Well, we've gotta the solution for you! And you can even beat the mass violence going down at the mall. Skinny Molly is offering some holidays saving with reduced prices on everything in stock at <a class="_553k" data-link-label="Store" data-link-type="page" href="/store" rel="nofollow" style="color: rgb(59, 89, 152); cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; orphans: 2; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2;" target="_blank">www.skinnymollyrocks.com</a><span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; orphans: 2; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2;">.<br>We have the highly acclaimed Haywire Riot CD for only $12 from now through the new year. And we still have a limited selection of Tour T's available to commemorate one of the most memorable years of the band's history. Men's and women's shirts are currently in stock and ready to be shipped out for stocking stuffers. As for the band, we are battening down the hatches and getting ready to spend the holidays with family and friends. Then we are right back at it, writing and recording the new album to be released in 2014. It will be the second CD on our label Ruf Records and with a little less than half the tunes already recorded, it promises to break new ground while still remaining true to the Skinny Molly sound.</span><br><br><span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; orphans: 2; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2;">We here at Skinny Molly Headquarters hope you have a Merry Christmas and may the New Year be the best one yet!</span><br><span class="font_regular"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; orphans: 2; white-space: pre-wrap; widows: 2;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/85098/2237ea0b5bbfd0b07c8d0e9cbef077846b02f37b/original/christmas.jpg?1387570668" class="size_l justify_left border_" /></span></span>Skinny Mollytag:www.skinnymollyrocks.com,2005:Post/21992292013-12-09T18:48:13-06:002013-12-09T20:41:58-06:00December 9 2013: Tour/Christmas/New YearOur travel plans for getting back home from the last leg of the<br>2013 Haywire Riot tour were impecabbly timed.<br>Not by our own doing, of course.<br>We were lucky enough to leave before a big storm hit the UK<br>(where the last run of dates were) and also lucky enough to<br>get home before an Arctic freeze and insane winter storms<br>covered the entire Contenitnal US, with the exception of Florida.<br>So we were safe at home before it all hit.<br><br>This last leg of the tour was probably our toughest yet. 27 shows<br>in 30 odd days. Lots of 8-10 hour drives. We went to many places<br>we hadn't been before and made a lot of new friends in Germany,<br>Czech Republic, Netherlands, and France. We also hit some<br>familiar haunts and new places in Belgium and the UK.<br>We are very grateful to all the fans that turned out this year in<br>EVERY country. We know you work hard for your money<br>and could go and see whatever band you want. Our un-ending<br>thanks to those that choose to come see Skinny Molly!<br><br>We celebrated Mike's birthday last Saturday December 7<br>at Maggiano's in Nashville. A small circle of family and close <br>friends turned up, and everybody was well stuffed on fine Italian<br>food by the end of the evening! <br><br>To start 2014 off, we will be in the studio recording the rest of<br>our next CD. We will also be mixing a DVD that we did with<br>Monsters Of Southern Rock at The Shed, in Maryville, TN last<br>May. <br><br>We have started booking dates for next year! We will be<br>in the USA with some close to home dates until May, which is<br>when we go over to Scandinavia to play some clubs and<br>Festivals. We will return to the States in June and will be doing<br>a West coast run in California. There will be more USA dates<br>until late July, when we will return to France for a week or so of<br>Festivals and some of our favorite places. Hopefully our third CD<br>(as of yet untitled) will be finished by then. Late in 2014, the good<br>Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will be returning to Europe<br>for a big tour in support of the CD. Of course some of these things<br>can, do, and will change. But for now that's an overview of the plan!<br>All of us here at Skinny Molly hope you and yours have a safe and<br>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! <br><br>Skinny Molly<br><br> Skinny Molly