The 12 Gigs of Christmas

November 15th through December 20th – Various Houston Area Locations

Tonight marks the end of the band’s Christmas/Holiday music season. Lee is packing away the jingle bells, Matthew’s Christmas suspenders and Santa hat will go back in the trunk (hopefully), and the lighted garland on the piano is being unplugged and stowed for the last time of ’07. The trio leaves the final holiday performance to head home to celebrate the season with their families. It’s been a good run – the guys have been playing better than ever and have made many new friends along the way. As GP3 looks towards the 2008 year, they also reflect on some of the highlights of the Christmas gigs over the last month.

Here are some of the more amusing moments:

Nov 15th : Mall of the Mainland
This is the first of the holiday events that the trio has been hired to perform at. The guys watch as ‘Christmas Town’ is constructed before their very eyes... well, almost constructed. Very light customer traffic, but the Corn Dog 7 seems to do well.

Nov 29th : Mall of the Mainland
After the Thanksgiving holiday, the guys return to a finished Winter Wonderland at the mall. Patrons line up for pictures with Santa across from the trio's stage. Matthew and George think that Lee looks more ‘Santa-esque’ than the fellow they’ve got in the red suit. The mall’s owner visits the bandstand and is delighted by the band’s banter with the audience. The guys play right up until a few minutes before closing time when a breaker blows and takes down their sound system and giant reindeer display behind them - oops.

Dec 4th : Duke Energy Christmas Party @ Courtyard on St. James
Lee gets stuck in traffic before the event as he picks up Quizno's sandwiches for Matthew and George. A frustrated Lee stomps up the balcony where they’ll play exclaiming “Never again! Don’t ever send me out for food before a gig EVER again!” George and Matthew can’t resist the chance to push a little harder by laughingly, asking “Where are the chips?” “Chips???” The scowl on Lee’s face resembles the many nutcracker center pieces in the restaurant. More laughter from George and Matthew (Even though they enjoy Lee’s rant, they are grateful and suspect that Lee's not too mad).

The music is solid – the guys have played holiday tunes for weeks and have their footing. The food is great. It's a buffet that could feed all of Santa’s workshop: dark and white chocolate fountains gushing at full speed, giant shrimp the size of small boomerangs. Matthew drinks the iced tea like he’s trying to set a world record.

The guys slip in a few parody songs that loosen up the room. Everyone gets so loose in fact, a few ladies come up the balcony to sing FELIZ NAVIDAD with the band. George’s puckish nature gets the better of him, as he sways two of the older ladies to compete in a ‘Christmas Song Dance-Off’. An act of mischievousness that would make Robin Goodfellow proud, but no one seems to mind.

Matthew concludes the party by announcing “You Duke Energy guys are great… but I’m still not changing energy providers.” (Laughter)

Dec 6th : Mall of the Mainland
Meanwhile, back at the mall…The first set is interrupted when George receives a citation from the Texas City police for being double parked in a fire zone. Later the trio plays the theme from NEW YORK, NEW YORK over and over for the mall’s owner (what a bunch of kiss-ups). During a break much later in the evening, the guys sneak into Santa’s area (closed at 7:00 PM) to take some action photo’s of their own. After it's all done, the three load the equipment in their sleep.
Dec 7th : Craft Show Matthew and George play a 2 ½ hour ‘unplugged session’ at Administaff’s annual Holiday Craft Fair. Local rapper, IBC joins them for a weird version of Adam Sandler's HANUKKAH SONG. Shoppers are delighted to hear live music as they buy everything from handmade birdhouses formed from beer cans, whiskey cake, and poorly painted driftwood that is suspiciously shaped like Rudolph.

Dec 8th : StarBucks Coffee
The trio performs on VERY windy evening outside on the patio. The monthly rummy tournament is interrupted by a gust of wind that sends the playing cards towards the parking lot. In the middle of the first set, Matthew is called away to visit a patient across town. He returns to launch the group into the Christmas parody songs of their alter-ego, Camryn Manheim Steamroller. Parody CDs are awarded to the band’s near-hypothermic guests who stuck around to answer holiday trivia.

Dec 13th : Mall of the Mainland
“Didn’t we just leave here?” The guys return to the mall and are pleased to see the crowds are building. George and Matthew pass out musical instruments to the kids in the audience including jingle bells, triangles, and tambourines. The children (and some parents) play along. Jingling and holiday clanging echo out of the food court and fill the mall. Later, the trio nail a new jazz version of LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (Matthew sings the 'David Bowie' part). When Lee has to take a personal call, Matthew and George try to get Sameer, the kiosk vendor to play drums. But Sameer has too many customers (yes, it's true! The mall has customers - It's a Christmas miracle! God bless us, everyone.). The guys play almost all of the Christmas parodies tonight. George tells Matthew "...If anyone here were listening to what we're singing, they'd string us up. I mean after all...most of these songs are about waiting to the last minute to Christmas shop, holiday credit card debt, Santa's obesity, being too cheap to buy good presents and so on." "Feeling guilty?" "Maybe just a little... yeah, I do." and the group plays five more parodies before calling it a night.

Dec 14th : Jaguar Exploration Christmas Party @ Brenner’s Steakhouse
George is lost...Which is not uncommon - his lack of a sense of direction is legendary. Only this time he's been driving for close to 2 1/2 hours. It's not that he doesn't like maps or anything - he does, he thinks they're pretty and all. The problem is that the maps never have a tiny picture of where his car is at a given moment. Even if it did, it probably wouldn't matter. In truth, George could get lost operating a train on railway tracks.

Matthew arrives to the steakhouse to find only Lee in the parking lot. "Where's George?" "I don't know. He should have been here by now." "What do you mean?" Lee explains, "I talked to him over 45 minutes ago, and based on where he was he should have beaten both of us here." "Hmmm." "What?" Matthew cautiously admits, "He called me too... for directions."

Lee attempts to call George's cell again, but there's no answer. Lee dials again. "Lee, if he's not answering, it's probably for the best. You won't want to talk to him if he's frustrated." Lee ignores the warning and calls one more time. But George doesn't answer because he's on the line with his wife, Sabrina. She has logged on to her home computer and 'Mapquested' where he is, and is painstakingly directing him street by street towards the destination. The whole experience is a little like the movie Airport 75 except George is in the Karen Black role instead of playing Chuck Heston's part.

George finally arrives with just minutes spare. Although he doesn't deserve it, Matthew and Lee are amazingly gracious to George about taking so long. Since this is an 'unplugged' venue, the three are playing again as soon as the piano is plopped down in position. This particular event is unique because the trio has been hired to perform instrumental only versions of the the Christmas music they've been playing -no singing. The dining area is small and quaint, but because of its size and volume constraints, Lee is forced to play more softly than ever before. Matthew and George are impressed that he's able to keep the tempo on the upbeat songs while remaining so quiet.

And even though the group is supposed to only be background music, they still receive polite applause throughout the evening. Matthew is surprised by this since it's equal to clapping for the restaurant's wallpaper. The only other time that the trio are officially acknowledged is when some of the dinner guests who are seated in front of the closet where the cases are are asked to move so the guys can pack up. The trio leave, but this time George follows Lee home to the interstate.

Dec 20th : Mall of the MainlandThe guys setup in front of a group of people already seated and ready to 'get their jingle on'. Knowing that this is the last scheduled event of the year for the trio gives the boys an extra burst of enthusiasm which shines through the music. Song highlights include an extended (and very dynamic) jazz instrumental of ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH evenly tempered with a New Orleans style version of FROSTY THE SNOWMAN.

The audience senses this loose, no-holes barred attitude that defines the evening, and many approach the stage. Some talk to the group, some ask to sing, some even are invited up to play. A troop of League City Intermediate School students get into the act when George finds out that they are in the school's band program. He and Matthew pass out the jingle bell instruments. The youngsters instantly chime and jingle along as the GP3 plays THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (a song perfect for the extra percussion). As soon as the middle school pupils leave, a young man named James asks Lee if he could play the drum kit with him. Lee agrees and the two rock out on RUDOLPH. Lee takes a seat in the audience as James plays CHEAP and HOUSTON CHRISTMAS BLUES. Matthew and George don't seem to mind. The final 'special guest performance' is given by Jennifer (A.K.A.Jingle Belle) from the shoe store. The band met her last Thursday and invited her to come back and sing tonight. She chooses Nat King Cole's THE CHRISTMAS SONG and SANTA BABY with the band serving as backup.

The trio is delighted that everyone is feeling at home enough to be a part of the show. But all of the 'extras' make the time pass very quickly tonight; it's almost time to go. Matthew suggests that the three finish with AULD LANG SYNE since the trio won't play together again until after the New Year. Lee says "That was nice, but we can't go out on slow song tonight. Let's play something upbeat. What's that Eagles' song? You know that Christmas song from the Eagles?" George and Matthew are shaken loose from the sentimentality of AULD LANG SYNE and comply. The night finishes with a rousing COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. As the final 'chimes' of the song are played, George's smile can not be contained. He is warmed by the fact that these are the final notes to be played by the trio this year. He smiles first at Lee, then Matthew who return the gesture then punctuate the end with a big rock n roll G7 chord punch.

And with that, the GP3 Christmas music season closes for 2007.
We'd like to conclude the last blog of the 2007 year with a message from George himself:

Thanks to everyone who has lent support to us over the past year. Whether this was demonstrated by coming out to participate at an event, hiring us, heckling us, or simply, reading these blog pages every week, the gift of your friendship and encouragement has urged us on. When we look back over what our little rag-tag trio has been allowed to do over the first five months, we are both humbled and astonished. We look forward to new adventures in 2008 and invite you come along.

'Have a merry Christmas and a wonderful start of the New Year.'George, Matthew, and Lee

Fa-La-La-Lollapalooza

Mall of the Mainland – Texas City

After the Thanksgiving break, the guys head back to the mall…not to shop – but to perform. The food court has been transformed into a mystical winterland. There are two giant reindeers which form an arch at behind the band’s stage. Balanced between their two noses is a majestic Christmas wreath. All of this is lit up, making a splendid backdrop for the guys. Matthew and George joke about climbing onto these beasts to sing a song or two. George is pleased to eat the words he said during the last visit about ‘Mall of the Wasteland’. Reagan and the decorating crew really came through for this place. The mall even feels a little cooler temperature tonight.

The band loads in. George gets caught up in the Christmas spirit and offers to buy Lee a bag of theater popcorn from the megaplex across from the bandstand. The two ask for a small bag and the workers behind the counter produce a comically small sack that has to be less than 5 inches tall. Lee and George exchange bewildered looks then back at the counter. “Is this the courtesy cup size? I mean, you can’t even put a fist in there. What’s the next size up? (pointing) How much does that one cost?” “It costs $4.75… but believe me, that’s a good price.” “Compared to what?” The counter person acts as if he’s relaying some insider trading information by leaning over to them and admitting in a hushed tone “…next month it’s going up even more – so today’s price is really deal.” George is not convinced, but concedes for Lee’s sake. George makes a crack about having to have a co-signer at the concession stand these days and the two head back to unload.


Matthew is already set up. He’s wearing green Larry King-like suspenders with little white Christmas trees running down them. Very stylish – and hip (if you're 78). Lee and George play the ‘Door-Not-Door game’ with the flatbed dolly and the series of locked and unlocked mis-sized doors. After a quick set-up of the remaining gear, the guys kick off the set with WINTER WONDERLAND. A few measures in, Sameer, the worker from one of the small kiosks, approaches speaking in his cell phone. He tells George that mall security says the Texas City Police are outside at his car?


George leaps from the stage and races to the mall’s exit. He slams into one of the locked ‘decoy’ doors. He makes his way outside in time to see the officer emerge from the patrol car. George introduces himself and explains that he’s parked here to unload musical equipment for the event inside. And that he simply forgot to return to move the car. After Officer Ostermayer runs a check on the car’s plates, he writes up a warning citation for being in a red zone. George thanks him for ‘letting him off this time’ and promises to be more attentive in the future.

Meanwhile, back inside Lee is asked by an African-American man if the trio will be playing WHITE CHRISTMAS. Lee says yes. The man cocks his head and squints “So you WILL be playing WHITE CHRISTMAS?” Uh…Lee isn’t exactly sure how to respond to this. Gratefully he doesn’t have to – George returns to the stage and dedicates the first set to Officer Ostermayer of the Texas City P.D.

The music settles in quickly and mall patrons begin to gather and sit in the chairs that have been put out in front of the stage. George grimaces when he sings “...and I’ve got some corn for popping…” remembering the imminent popcorn increase as looks over to Lee. A few tunes later, Mayer (the owner of the mall) checks in on the guys. He is impressed that George remembers his name from the ribbon cutting event back in September. He asks for a very non-holiday song from the group: THEME FROM NEW YORK, NEW YORK. Having not ever played it, the guys do an alright delivery, faking through it every step of the way. They are relieved to have made it through without exposing the bluff (whew). But Mayer likes it so much he asks for them to play it again. Then again when his assistant Kelly arrives. By this take, the trio starts sounding pretty good with it. So much so that they decide to add the tune to their repertoire.

Speaking of new music: Matthew decides to introduce a new holiday parody after Mayer leaves. It’s a joke version of Pink Floyd’s BREATHE he’s written called WREATH. The mall Santa leaves his post promptly at 7:00 P.M (no doubt to check the toy inventory levels of the North Pole). The guys sneak over into 'Santa Land' and talk Sameer into taking some action photos of them in St. Nick's chair. Afterwards, Matthew heads over to his favorite Vietnamese deli, 'Hello Josephine' in the food court to brush up on his dialect with Wang. George follows Sameer back to the phone accessory kiosk. For months, George has been on a quest to find the perfect cradle/holster for his phone. His searching is equivalent to the zeal of Ponce de León for the fountain of youth or the crusaders for the Holy Grail. Sameer doesn’t have what he needs, but George persuades him to order one to arrive for a future visit of the trio.

The group returns to the stage as George sings a delicate and haunting version of HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SING. He tests the limits of the court’s acoustics as the sound of his voice gently, but firmly reverberates off of the ceilings and walls down the corridors of the marketplace. It feels as if time itself slows for a few moments - it is truly spectacular. Never considering himself a ‘bonafide singer’, George even surprises himself…then he has a surprise of a different type when a bug flies into his mouth at full speed causing him to choke and end the song prematurely. Matthew sings a few more parody songs while George recuperates from the kamikaze gnat attack.


The night’s final song unexpectedly ends up being the Eagles’ COME HOME FOR CHRISTMAS due to an electrical circuit blowing. The band’s board is plugged into the same breaker as the 10ft reindeer backdrop. Lee begins to shout “Mayday! Mayday! Reindeer Down…We blew out a reindeer!” The guys decide to pack it in as the listeners disperse. But the guys have a lot of silly still left in them. Each takes a turn doing impersonations of singer James Brown. Matthew singing ‘Fax Machine’. Lee surfs the flatbed dolly. George rips the black skirt from the piano and drapes over his shoulders “Ooooh! Ya Killin’ Me Baby!” Eventually the threesome regain their composure as the conversation moves to wether or not George genuinely knows someone who met Harry S Truman once and the like. As they say their farewells in the parking lot, George glances over to check his car windshield to see if there are anymore citations. George snatches the overpriced popcorn from Lee before he tosses it in the trash and the three head back home to Houston.

Going to the Chapel

The Wedding Chapel - Galveston, Texas

It's early...very early. But Lee's already up and scurrying around the beach house, loading up his van for the day's excitement. Matthew, then George reluctantly emerge from each of their sleeping bag cocoons at half of Lee's speed. Matthew slowly staggers to the shower to break the zombie-like stupor he's found himself in. The three are shaking off the after-effects of an gig from the night before. The evening was the start of an extended contract with a mall in Texas City. Afterwards, the guys took a 1:30 AM ferry boat ride from Galveston over to Crystal Beach. The Christmas music is still ringing in their ears. (Yawn).

George rolls up his sleeping bag, while Lee is on the phone with today's host: Nathan G. Lee and Nathan have been friends for decades. He now owns a popular bridal chapel on the island (GalvestonWedding.com). Nathan's place handles up to 15+ weddings per weekend during the peak season. His 'bread and butter' is the photography and video services he offers in addition to the use of the chapel. Nathan is looking to expand his repertoire by adding in-house recording services for voice-over work, musical demos, jingles, etc. A sizable investment has been made to build a fully functional recording studio in the unseen second level of the wedding chapel. But Nathan needs a few 'guinea pigs' to make sure the studio is in full working order before marketing it to customers.

Enter the guinea pigs: The trio has been using a demo of home recordings (made by Matthew and George) for months to pass out to potential customers . Lee is eager to upgrade the group's media kit to include a 'professional recording' and Nathan's price is right in line with the band's budget at this time: IT'S FREE!

As tired as the guys are, there is an air of expectancy at the beach house. Sponge Bob Square Pants plays on the television. Matthew has never seen the show. He and George discuss Sponge Bob's outstanding work ethic contrasted with Bob's slacker friend, Patrick the Starfish. Inspired, they make a pact to be 'Sponge Bobs', not 'Patricks' today. Lee (Squidward) is downstairs in his van ready to go, so George clicks off the tube and they head out. Unbeknownst to our fearless three, Matthew has mistakenly left his 'Scooby -Doo Rag' behind in the bathroom! (GP3 censors have asked us to refrain from going into too much detail here -check with Matthew directly to learn how this impacts the band).

On the ride over Lee and George leave their vehicles and move to the front of the ferry. The ensuing conversation includes everything from fishing, typhoon season in the Vietnam coastal region, the Jan-Michael Vincent/Gary Busey movie Big Wednesday and it's relationship to Lee and more. As the ferry approaches the dock, George returns to his car to the sound of some idiot's car alarm honking in the distance.

Nathan calls Lee and says he's running a behind and needs a little more time before the guys arrive. So the three head over to a Denny's for breakfast. Lee and George arrive first and convince the waitress to sell them a Denny's gift card with a $2.00 spending amount that they will give to Matthew to 'buy' his breakfast. Lee mentions to George that his new van has a car alarm system on it that he was unaware of. "That was your horn on the ferry?" "Yeah - I couldn't figure out how to turn it off!" Matthew arrives: "Hey did you hear that car alarm on the ferry boat?" "Yeah, That was Lee." "On the ferry?" "Yeah. (laughter)"

The boys finish breakfast and make their way to the register. As Matthew unknowingly attempts to pay for his meal with a gift card that only has $2.00 on it, Lee notices a Crane Claw Game in the corner. George and Lee (both being a tad compulsive) begin pumping quarters into the box to win a ridiculous looking plush donkey with a cape. At the height of the frenzy they manage to convince one of the waitresses to even try. A small crowd gathers around the machine. After several attempts George realizes that he is completely inept at the game and begins to 'sponsor' Matthew to play. But to no avail...the 'Super Donkey' remains trapped behind the glass. George looks for others that he can enlist. Lee tries to reach his arm up through the mechanism to 'liberate' the doll (a stunt he used to do as a young boy with soda machines). But it doesn't work today...and they have exhausted all of their tip money - dejected, the trio abandons the effort.

Upon arriving at Nathan's chapel, Lee breaks out the camera for some photo ops by the plaster horse-drawn Cinderella carriage out front. Each take pictures wearing 'The Magical Recording Hat'. Eventually, the guys make it inside to find Nathan performing some last minute touches to the system. He's almost ready to go... or not. There's a problem with the signal coming from the piano/keyboard booth. Matthew helps Nathan calibrate the eq and tries to solve the midi send problem.

Meanwhile, George waits patiently in the small sound isolation booth. As the two continue to make modifications to the system in the control room George's mind wanders. He imagines that the small chamber that he's confined in must be like John Glenn aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft (only instead of control switches, there are multiple keyboard and synthesizers all around). Thoughts move to how he'd like his coffin to be designed with this many keyboards inside: Buried like a Piano-Pharaoh with everything needed to play gigs in the after-life. But these fantasies are interrupted as it discovered that there's an adapter needed that Nathan doesn't have.

Lee over-enthusiastically offers to go to a nearby Radio Shack to pick up a component. George yells to him from the sound booth that he thinks he has one of the adapters in his car, but Lee insists. As a matter of fact, Lee is SO determined to run this errand, suspicions are raised about his real intent. Matthew and George are convinced he's headed back to Denny's to play the claw crane game again. Whoever wins the donkey with the cape would have bragging rights for a long time. And bragging rights in the GP3 are huge and valuable currency! George becomes equally suspicious when Matthew suddenly has to leave to find a Kinko's to send a fax, even though Nathan has a fax machine directly behind him in the studio.

After an hour or so of tinkering with the system, Nathan decides to have George bring his piano from the car and plug in directly. Sometimes simple solutions are best. Lee returns, then Matthew. To George's delight neither have the donkey. George puts the tip jar out on his piano. "You never know..." Matthew and George begin to lay down the 'scratch tracks' for 7 or so songs. The work progresses very quickly now. Lee's in another part of the studio singing from a Peter, Paul, & Mary songbook he's found. George and Matthew nail the vocals; usually in less than 2 takes (the red hat is working overtime).

As night begins to fall, Matthew heads back to Houston; few hours later followed by George. Lee is the last to leave at around 11:30. It's been a long day, and the guys have worked hard. Nathan is the most tired of all, but the CD is off to a good start. The trio will return in early 2008 to finish up for a 1st quarter release, but for now the super donkey waits.

To Be Continued...

For Those About to Jingle

Mall of the Mainland - Texas City, Texas

The trio kicks off the holiday season in the most Christmas-spirit evoking place that they think of: 'The food court of the Mall of the Mainland'. Tonight is the beginning of a six week contract with the mall in which the guys will perform holiday music every Thursday until the holiday.

George and Lee are warmly welcomed by their host, Kelly. She takes them over to the stage area which is surrounded by incomplete Christmas decorations. They are introduced to Reagan who has been hired to assemble all of the ornaments. He and his crew have their work cut out for themselves: The entire area looks like 1945 post-war Berlin with seasonal rubble and debris scattered everywhere but on the band's stage. Little elfin bodies lie face down in white woolen material intended to look like snow. Rows of knotted Christmas lights run like barbed-wire across the floor, in the shadow of a partially constructed giant Christmas tree. It could not look worse if the Grinch, Dickens’ Scrooge, and Mr. Potter from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ had aligned themselves together and blown up the mall’s display and hauled the largest fragments off to a tinsel making factory. What a mess.

Matthew arrives. “Shouldn’t they be doing this late at night when the mall is closed?” Note: Many years ago Matthew and George worked for a plant company responsible for the upkeep of foliage and trees within a mall. All of their plant and tree maintenance was performed after hours in order to maintain the magical quality of the mall. As if the stores had mythically sprung up in the middle of the Garden of Eden – But this mall has a different philosophy…Oh well.

George is engaged in a conversation with a nice elderly man named Calvin Davis. The two are discussing jazz greats Miles Davis (no relation) and John Coltrane. He learns that Mr. Davis plays guitar and tries persuade him to play a few songs with the group in the upcoming weeks. He politely declines for tonight, but maybe he'll be back next time.

The three begin playing, and throughout the evening all of the classic holiday songs that you'd expect are covered. But this place is a ghost town. Not counting the elf mannequins, there may be a total of 14 people in this mall that are not employees. Granted it's a Thursday night, but where is everyone? In an effort to generate some business for the lonely mall kiosk vendors, Matthew begins doing 'commercials' for them between songs. "Titan Sunwear: From Cronus to Gaia, all of the Titan's get their eyewear from Titan Sunwear." and remember "The Surgeon General has determined that you should accessorize your Shaheen at least twice a year. When the time comes, you can rely on Sameer Accessories." etc.

As the evening progresses, Reagan's workers continue to decorate as the band plays. The trio has different ideas of what the end product will be. They determine it will be either a replica of Santa’s workshop, a quaint alpine village with friendly ‘snow people’, or a DMV in Antarctica. (Check the blog in a few weeks for the answer).

Matthew decides the time is right to 'unleash' the Christmas parody songs. He and George have a number of classic rock songs that they have 'converted' into Christmas tunes. One of the night's highlights is a song about Thanksgiving dinner, READY FOR LUNCH taken from the Bad Company tune READY FOR LOVE. After this, George invites two young boys up from the 'audience' to sing SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN on Matthew's mic. "Hey, these guys sing better than Matt!" Then Matthew and George sing O TANNENBUAM in honor of the half-finished 30 foot (well, make that 15 foot) Christmas tree.

The night tapers off with a soulful instrumental jam in the key of G. George thinks of Calvin. The trio packs up, wades through the scattered poinsettias and elf parts headed for Galveston, while the decorating crew will work late into the wee hours of the morning. The band is hopeful that once the decorations are up, this mall will be more inclined to 'get their jingle on' and be flooded with cheerful holiday consumers. The trio will return in 2 weeks to see how it turns out.

Grape Expectations

Harborwalk Yacht Club - Hitchcock, Texas

The trio is hired to provide background music and entertainment at a wine tasting event at an exclusive yacht club in Hitchcock. Lee and George arrive together to the club and are immediately impressed with the elegance of the area’s surroundings inside and out. They are greeted by Eddie, the club’s manager who is very poised and charming. He spends a good amount of time with Lee and George on the outside deck (no doubt sizing these two up). Eventually Lee discovers that Eddie’s from San Diego and the two begin calling out cross streets from their earlier days. George has nothing to contribute so he lets the rhythmic sound of the water’s ebb and flow against the dock hypnotize him.

Eddie eventually moves the conversation back to business. He requests that no mics be used tonight. Looking around at the high ceilings, wood flooring, glass windows (all hard surfaces - good for acoustics) George agrees to try it. After Eddie leaves Lee expresses his concern. He questions George about being able to sing since he was out sick earlier in the week. “Your fever hasn’t come back-right? Are you up for this –singing without a mic?” “Sure (cough cough), I’m doing great!” “We’ll just go into ‘Troubadour Mode’” “Troubra – what?” “It’ll be fine. But are you able to play the drums soft enough for Eddie’s ears?” Lee shrugs.

Matthew arrives soon after, and the three load in. It’s 6:00 PM and guests are arriving to an ultra-mellow ‘unplugged’ version of George Poe Trio. Matthew enjoys being the ambience of the room, providing the soundtrack to a hundred conversations that echo through the room.

Eddie introduces the evening’s guest of honor, Vic Bourassa flown in from Bourassa Vineyards of California (www.bourassavineyards.com). Through the course of the evening Vic will stand up and lecture about the particular wine that is being served. Each segment is a five minute speech about wine making. This is time enough for the guys to take a quick break. Matthew sneaks off to the men’s room and unexpectedly discovers a room of stylish elegance. He thinks to himself “Wow, this club is really nice.” He notices that there is even a mouthwash dispenser for the guests. Meanwhile, Lee is downstairs stretching his legs, George stays behind and learns that NAPA makes wine as well as auto parts.

Vic finishes to applause, and the music starts again. Halfway through the third song of the set, two young ladies approach the piano. They present wish list of song requests to George and Matthew. A bewildered Lee asks “What did they want?” Knowing that Lee doesn’t have his reading glasses with him, Matthew jokingly tells him “They gave us their phone numbers.” George admits they’re songs and begins to play one of the requests: FLY ME TO THE MOON. The 2nd request is a song that was originally removed from tonight’s list, MOONDANCE, but Matthew agrees to do it anyway “for the people, for the fans”. The table that the requests came from are impressed. They send more, this time starting off with Van Morrison’s BROWN-EYED GIRL. The guys get into the groove of the song so much that Lee even sings the background “Sha la la la la la la la te da” bits. Matthew and George are noticeably surprised. The trio’s momentum continues to build for another few songs, paused only by another speech by Vic, the wine guy.

Lee listens to Mr.Bourassa tell of the various processes of wine making. He is struck by how closely this resembles what he imagines a bomb making class taught Al-Qaeda must be like. George decides to sneak away to find something to drink so that he can take some more Ibuprofen for his throat. Eventually he ends up in the glamorous men’s room that Matthew talked about. When he goes to wash his hands, he notices two tiny spigots, but which is the soap and which is the mouthwash? He’s got a 50/50 chance – and gets it wrong. For the remainder of the night his hands will smell minty fresh.

The music resumes with another request, this time a little more challenging: The members of the ‘request table’ have ask for KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG. The boys deliver pretty good rendition of the tune considering none of the three have ever played this together or individually – ever. Next, a man approaches and asks if his girlfriend can sing a song with a mic. For those of you who are new to the world of entertainment, take note: Letting slightly intoxicated people perform with your band is almost always a BAD IDEA. There’s nothing quite like people filled with wine thinking they’re the next American Idol. But the trio takes calculated risk and say Yes. They hand over a songlist over for Katherine (the girlfriend) to choose from. She selects the Eagles’ tune DESPARADO. “In the key of A, Please.” Hmmm…maybe this will work after all – she apparently knows her voice. Matthew and George feverously transpose the song from the key for George’s voice to Katherine’s. George welcomes her to the mic and Katherine takes over. As she sings, the dynamic of room is transformed: what was just the background music is now center stage. The guy’s gamble has paid off. Katherine proves to sing well enough to carry the room, and receives a round of enthusiastic applause.

In order to maximize this new-found momentum, George immediately whips up the Ray Charles tune HALLELUJAH, I LOVE HER SO. It’s at this point that an interesting shift begins to occur – one might say that the band seems to sound better to everyone now because they’re filled with wine , but something more is happening here – this place has crossed some threshold – it is not the same place it was three hours ago. Even though George is popping Ibuprofen for his throat like handfuls of popcorn now, the air is electric. Vic, the wine expert, is gone now (presumably back to California) leaving the night without an emcee and focus. The guys quickly seize the opportunity to fill the void. Todd’s wife pleads with the trio to perform something romantic to get her husband out on the dance floor. The familiar chorus of CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE begins to play –it works as Todd and many others rush to slow dance.

This is followed up by SHE’S GOT A WAY. It’s sounds great until halfway through the song, George begins to choke. No more singing, just coughs and choking. George’s face is red, but he keeps on playing and the three finish the song as an instrumental. Lee thinks to himself that the night’s over: no piano player = no playing. But George manages to find a reserve burst of energy. Lee is shocked. Note: As of the writing of this blog it’s been learned that George was unknowingly suffering from Streptococcal pharyngitis (or by its street name: 'strep throat').

The three begin playing with an unleashed verosity and zeal. They’re playing like madmen on a mission. Every time that the dancing guests almost make it to their seats to catch ‘a breather’ the guys launch into a song more intense than the one before, drawing everyone back to the floor. George winks to Matthew when he sees that Eddie has given in and is also out on the dance floor. After another 45 minutes, the night’s pied pipers wind up 4 hour marathon with a bouncy closer of Irving Berlin’s BLUE SKIES.

Matthew and Lee bask in the afterglow, while George pops out to the deck to get some fresh air (and cough). He is reminded that his hands smell strangely minty. “This place is beautiful.” He closes his eyes and listens to the rhythm of the water hitting the dock again. He returns inside. “Good gig.” Matthew and Lee acknowledge in unison, “Yeah, Good gig.”

Humble’s Got Talent

Starbucks Coffee - Humble, Texas

The fresh coolness of November air delivers a thin layer of condensation upon the 1960’s Starbucks in Humble. The temperature is a coffee house’s dream: Not too brisk, but enough of a chill to move product. And on a night like this the status of the Starbucks crew is elevated from mere baristas to that of magical beverage alchemists who transform stagnant dry beans into savory warm mocha elixirs.

Our trio arrives at the site, and with the help of Lee’s second eldest son, Austin, the guys are ready to go again. Due to the successfulness of the group’s last visit, the store’s management has installed an outside wall outlet to plug into. Lee and George view this modification on the band’s behalf as a welcome sign and are even more eager to get the night started.

The Palomarez family arrives at the same time as Eileen and Robert. Everyone takes their seats and… well little Rosie and her younger brother, Xavier don’t sit –they begin dancing in front of the band. They both are wearing fairy wings (no doubt left over from Halloween). George makes a joke about the infestation of giant gnats seen in this area, but this won’t stop these two -they will dance most of their visit.

During the opening verse of the second song, THEY CAN’T TAKE THAT AWAY, the sound goes dead. “Well apparently they CAN take that away!” On closer observation, it’s determined that the sound board + the light system that Lee likes to shine on Matthew and George’s feet are too much for the new electrical Starbucks has hooked up. While Lee reports the problem inside, George announces that the drain from both systems is too much for the new electrical outlet and “...We’ve blown a breaker.” He continues, “We need to decide if we want music or lights. Let’s take a vote…” Gratefully, the music wins (if even only by a slim margin). Meanwhile, Matthew suspiciously looks around to see if he recognizes any of the audience as saboteurs from Jitter’s (see previous blogs).

Suddenly a lady emerges from the crowd, and introduces herself as Susan. She offers to loan the guys an extension cord. George manages to parley the extension cord offer into a possible gig at an event that she has coming up. Cards are exchanged, the cord is ran from inside, and the sound is restored. The three debut the Dean Martin classic AIN’T THAT A KICK IN THE HEAD and dedicate it Susan, the Dancer.

For a little something new, the band introduces jazz arrangements between songs written for a wine tasting event the guys are performing at later in the month. The crowd responds well to the music-only segments. Xavier and Rosie keep dancing. George is so moved with the two dancing fairies, that he asks Lee and Matthew to play Sinatra’s sentimental YOUNG AT HEART.

Loretta, her brother Fred, and Nephew Keith, and respective girlfriends arrive in time to hear Matthew giving a public service announcement about the Sunday morning’s time change. Lee and George sarcastically perform a few bars of TIME IS ON MY SIDE to compliment his voice-over. Then Loretta requests her favorite GP3 tune: HONKY TONK WOMAN. So Chris introduces it with a flawless Christopher Walken impersonation demanding ‘I have a fever and the only cure is MORE COWBELL!’. Later in the song he encourages Lee to ‘Put some Bigelow on it’ during an improvised bongo break.

To balance out the set, the guys ease into an extended version of HOLDING BACK THE YEARS. Mary, George’s mother makes a surprise visit. At the conclusion of the song, Robert approaches Matthew and George to comment on the arrangement. It’s the first time that he’s heard the group with the string enhancements – it’s very ethereal, very nice.

Before the dust settles on that, Lee calls out for the Jackson Browne hit, DOCTOR, MY EYES. He invites Austin to play bongos as they double up for a percussion solo. It gives Lee a well-deserved opportunity to strut his stuff for Darryl, a friend of his for over three decades.

Jody, her daughters, and friend Pam arrive to hear the trio perform a quirky rendition of Radiohead’s CREEP. Through some type of Jedi mind-trick, Matthew quickly discovers that Jody sings in a band called Smoke Break. He invites her to sing a tune with the trio. George gives her the ‘Big Book’ of the group's songs. "Pick out something to sing." Her choice: CAN’T HELP FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU. Halfway through the song she mentions that she never gets to sing ballads or slow songs with the band she’s in. George seizes on this and has Lee and Matthew double the tempo for a few laughs. Jody manages to make it through and the trio mercifully slows the song down for a big finish.

After several failed trivia attempts on the Jackson Browne / Daryl Hannah movie question, Matthew reveals that the Vangelis song ONE MORE KISS is actually from the 1982 Sci-fi film Blade Runner. Matthew and George jokingly take full credit for the re-release of the classic, as they have performed the song for years. A second (and easier) question is asked. This time it’s about George’s recent visit to Hoboken, NJ. Pam (who’s husband is from Jersey) instantly snatches up the prize and event flier.

At this point the evening progresses intro a strange karaoke-dare-freakshow type thing. It's just what Robert was waiting for to make his move. He has the ability to click and pop his teeth in a way that almost sounds like music – almost sounds like music. It sounds very unusual, but Robert knows he’s safe to do this with this crowd. So he takes the mic and begins making aborigine-like pops to the tune of HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY. A few moments later, Robert accepts the challenge of facing Lee in a pop-off. Lee readies his wood block. Robert licks his lips. And they're off battling it out to the song YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME. An audience member is so moved by this ridiculous display that they put a check for $1.00 in the tip jar. Yes, even though there is an ATM at the bank next door, someone writes a check (Matthew decides to frame it). Not to be out done, Eileen gets into the act. A die-hard Beatles fan, she chooses to sing I’M LOOKING THOROUGH YOU with the band as a rebuttal to Robert’s clicking.

In a bit of a twist, the trio night finishes off with the same song they started with: ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE like bookends framing the evening together. Austin resumes his station on the bongos. This prompts George to encourage all of Lee’s sons to all gather around to play a piece of the drum kit as George sings “What a day this has been…what a rare mood I’m in…There’s a smile on my face…for the whole human race – It’s almost like being, almost like being in love.”

Caught in the Act

Starbucks Coffee - Humble, Texas

Many have asked ‘Why doesn’t George Poe Trio play Jitters anymore?’ The answer is that three had decided it was best to bow out of playing the monthly engagement because one of the female barristers had become increasingly antagonistic towards the trio. Following her lead, some of the workers had even begun to be unpleasant to the group’s supporters. The undeserved treatment of the band’s friends displeased Lee and George very much, and they felt something had to be done. The store’s management was always cordial to the group, but they were absent on the weekends when the band would perform. Rather than complain (and possibly get the girl reprimanded or worse - fired) the boys decided to quietly ‘dismiss themselves from service’ to pursue greener and more welcome pastures. August 18th marked their final visit, and George Poe Trio was able to graciously end the relationship peacefully and without incident before tensions escalated. Since there was never a formalized agreement between Jitters and GP3, the guys simply just stopped coming. They chose a more centralized location in Humble to make it more convenient to the group’s supporters. A Starbucks Coffee on FM 1960 (dubbed ‘The Lab’ by George) is the new home port for the group.

It’s a very refreshing change as Lee and George are eagerly welcomed by Chip the weekend manager (and his crew). A few handshakes later, the two go into ‘Battle Mode’. Within moments the GP3 calliope is ready to go again. Matthew arrives and already is sampling the coffee delights of the venue even before his bass is out of the car. He notices that Lee has managed to cut his finger on something and is bleeding out like a sieve. George and Matthew consider it a bit of a christening to this new locale. George helps by tying off the bleeding finger with something that looks like a fabric softener sheet -but it works and Lee will survive (at least through the evening).

Randy, Jacob, and Teresa drop by along with her in-laws. Teresa’s visit is significant to George since she was at the very first Nothing Special event nearly a decade ago. For those of you GP3 historians, Nothing Special was the precursor to George Poe Trio. It was started by a singer Todd Gill and George. These two played Houston area retirement homes until Todd was ‘extradited’ back to Louisiana . So in 2004, Matthew joined forces with George to continue the NS legacy. Both played convalescent centers, coffee bars, postal expos, etc. until an unsuspecting Lee saw them one night and asked to join in. Footnote: Nothing Special was pretty much same thing as GP3 just without all of the ‘Bigelow’ on it. The point of all of this is Teresa was there when all of this silliness began. Some say it’s taken her 10+ years to gain the courage to return, but George would like to think that she’s just been really, really busy.

Tonight the guys ease into the groove like the first smooth sip of a warm mocha. Understated elegance of tunes made famous by Gene Kelly, The Platters, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra resonate off the stone walls of the shop. A soft breeze finds its way down the hill to the patio basin past and envelopes all of the outside patrons. A beautiful evening.

Eileen arrives towards the end of the first set (Robert is away in Lee’s hometown of San Diego at an I.T. conference). By now Teresa’s 7 year-old son, Jacob has been flirting with little girl whose mom finds it endearing. But Teresa’s father-in-law, Steve is hungry and is ready to leave. George promises to play THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS if Teresa will stay. Even though it’s her favorite song, she knows George well enough to know he’s bluffing. They leave as others assume their table.

The trio decides to ‘test drive’ TIME OF THE SEASON by the Zombies. Eileen gives the lukewarm performance an “Eh…not yet” wrinkle of the nose. No problem. The guys press on with a soulful and slightly slower version of SPOOKY by the Atlanta Rhythm Section. This one hits the mark, and they’re back on track.

Becky Sue arrives soon after, and she and Eileen resume their monthly rummy tournament. And even though Robert is nearly 1500 miles away, they still accuse him of cheating. George announces the evening’s trivia question: “The Heather Mills/ Paul McCartney divorce settlement was awarded a few days ago. If Heather Mills was paid for each day of marriage, what would that amount to in American dollars? Think about that as we play a song which was written by Sir Paul for his first wife, Linda” The guys proceed to perform a string-rich version of MY LOVE as ‘contestants’ attempt to work out the solution.

At the conclusion of the number, George shows off a VHS copy of SPICE WORLD. “Gratefully, this is the only movie that the Spice Girls were ever allowed to make that we know of. And it can be yours tonight if you can guess how much was granted to Heather M. in a per day amount over 4 years.” A few feeble guesses later, and George reveals the answer: The equivalent of $93,000.00 US dollars per day or 1.7 billion for a little over 4 years ‘work’. Gasps all around. Then he foolhardily asks: “How much should I have been paid, being married to Sabrina since 1989?” This is a dangerous question since Sabrina and the kids have just arrived and are walking up. “What did he just say about me?” George manages to wiggle out of this precarious spot by answering: “Aw, Come on…you can’t put a price tag on that!” But Sabrina is not satisfied with this contrived reply. She fires back by smugly walking up and placing an odd looking red business card in the tip jar. “This is what it’s worth.” George pulls the card out to see that it’s a Jitter’s Coffee ‘Frequent visitors’ card. The guys laugh – it’s a slam dunk for her.

George’s children, Faith and Joel come in Halloween costumes the family purchased earlier in the day. Joel, age 3, is dressed as X-Man Wolverine; while Faith (7) shows up as the Velveteen Rabbit. George announces that GP3 are avid supporters of the arts, and there is a local artist competing for the band’s tip jar this evening. He brings Faith up to the ‘stage’ and announces she has some of her overpriced drawings for sell, and purchases are likely to go towards a college fund or maybe just a WebKinz doll. [See a rending of George Poe Trio that they were tricked into buying here]

After another set of songs, Matthew’s new feature is showcased: “What in the World Happened Today in History?” segment. He musters his finest oratory voice: “Today marks the release of the 1957 film The Amazing Colossal Man It’s the story in which Lt. Col. Glenn Manning, a soldier in the U.S. Army suffers serious burns over 90% of his body following inadvertent exposure to plutonium radiation from a bomb blast. The radiation causes him to abnormally grow into a 60-foot-tall giant. At this size, his heart is unable to supply sufficient blood to his brain and he gradually goes insane and wreaks havoc in Las Vegas before being cornered by the Army at the Hoover Dam.

“Also on this date, Marie Osmond and Paul Simon were born. We want to honor them both now buy playing two songs – two Paul Simon songs that is. We just couldn’t bring ourselves to play PAPER ROSES.” The band launches into SLIP SLIDDING & AWAY even though they’ve never rehearsed it. Though Lee is apprehensive about it in the beginning, it sounds good. They play the last verse twice as Matt nails the harmony –very nice. This is followed by another Simon hit, STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS.

George’s mother, Mary arrives. His younger brother, Nathan is also down from Austin . George adds to Matthew’s This Date in History announcement: “It’s Nathan’s birthday today!” Matthew asks “Did he write any songs we can play?” “No, but he was born on this day in 1974.” Nathan replies “No I wasn’t.” “You weren’t?” “No, I was born in ’73.” “Are you sure?” “Of course, I’m sure.” “Oh…I’ve thought that for years now you were born in 1974.” “Nope.” “Well, what happened in 1974?” Matthew chimes in “Ed Sullivan died on this date in ’74.” Mary joins in “Your other brother was born in ‘74” “Really? Are you sure?” A resounding “YES” from all involved. George plays HAPPY BIRTHDAY for Nathan who by this point is trying to turn invisible.

The band takes a brief intermission to greet their guests. George starts up some pre-programmed music. Faith and Joel dance spasmodically to the quirky POPCORN song followed by Herb Albert’s A TASTE OF HONEY. Their Uncle Nathan talks to Matthew about conspiracy theories on Austin radio. George apologizes for date of birth mistakes, and decides not to ask to see Nathan’s driver’s license for confirmation.

The trio return from the break playing OVERKILL. Joel has terrorized just about everyone here with his mock-metal alloy adamantium claws and Faith has made a killing of $6.00 on her art. She hands a $1.00 bill to Joel to put in the band’s tip jar - A heart of Gold. Sabrina and kids head out to Denny’s for a dinner with Mary and Nathan. The band plays MARY’S PRAYER and WIND CRIES MARY in honor of George’s mom as she leaves. Sorry, no TAKE FIVE tonight.

The sun has completely gone down now. The coolness of night is setting in. A car alarm horn echoes in the distance, probably from the Deerbrook Oaks strip center across 1960. Matthew and George attempt to match the rhythm and the key. “It’s an Eb I think”. This leads into Matthew leading into a preview of Christmas song parodies that he and George have written. Matthew has changed the lyrics of the Police song ROXANNE into “Santa…You don’t have to put on the Red Suit…” It sounds pretty good considering they haven’t played this in about a year. Next is a new favorite by the group of HOLDING BACK THE YEARS. This leads into an impromptu version of Pink Floyd’s BREATHE from DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Chris arrives during the song with his barefoot son Xavier. Named after Dr. Xavier of the X-Men comic (It’s a shame he wasn’t here to see Joel as Wolverine).
After the song, Matthew decides to strut his linguistic stuff that would make Gilles Fauconnier proud. He gives a dissertation about the origins of words used in the song: “The lines ‘Strangled by the wishes of Pater, Hoping for the arms of Mater” Pater means "father" in Latin, Greek, and Umbrian and may refer to: Dis Pater, a Roman and Celtic god of the underworld, later subsumed by Pluto or Jupiter. While the term Mater is a formal term for mother, from Latin… blah blah blah. While Lee and George are secretly impressed, this is too good to pass up! Both start to give their theories as to what the lyrics ‘really’ mean. “

Mater is the tow-truck in the Pixar movie CARS . Because he is a tow truck, his surname is TO’Mater, as in Tomato. He is rendered as a 1958 International Harvester tow truck…blah blah blah.” Matthew gets the point – Shut Up and Sing!

Loretta, Cindy, and her mom arrive as the band plays THAT LUCKY OLD SUN (Tim is away tonight painting his son’s room). Cindy requests HONKY TONK WOMAN. This is one of the top 5 songs of all time that features the cowbell. “More cowbell!” yells Chris. “I’ve got a fever and the only cure for it is MORE COWBELL!” That’s all the encouragement Lee needs. Chris requests Frank Sinatra’s COFFEE SONG but Matthew’s mic is not loud enough to deliver the full effect. Chris is pleased even so.

Matthew makes an offhand comment about how Starbucks is named after the character in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. George is dumbfounded to learn this “I didn’t know it was named after the whaler when I read Moby Dick. Are you sure that it’s not named after the character on Battlestar Galactica played by Dirk Benedict?” “You’ve read Moby Dick?” “Yes, why does that surprise you? I read it about six months or so ago.” Matthew is surprised that George has read Moby Dick. George is surprised Matthew has seen the original Battlerstar Galactica. The two look suspiciously at each other and then look away.

The trio starts the final set with THINGS WE SAID TODAY. Despite George’s efforts to encourage them, Lee and Matthew offer the most unenthused band introduction solos of all time – Matt doesn’t even play. George laugh’s it off and the three finish up with HALLELUJIA, I LOVE HER SO straight into WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD. The crowd acknowledges that they’ve had a good evening.

As the guys begin packing up their gear, George is enchanted by the sense of community forming between the group’s supporters. It’s more than just people milling about, there are genuine connections forming. He tells Lee “This is what it’s all about.” This epiphany is interrupted as shouts of “Hey you…Hey guys!” coming from the drive-thru exit area. Matthew is puzzled as he leans towards the open car window. The unknown voice continues “Hey what are you guys doing here?” George and Matthew simultaneously recognize the driver. They look each other then back to the driver. They can not believe there eyes – It’s Frank! The coffee barrister from Jitters! He repeats “What are you guys doing here?” Matthew laughingly replies, “What are WE doing here? We should ask you - What are YOU doing here?” A bewildered George adds “Yeah, Don’t you WORK at a coffee house?” A smiling Frank attempts to defend his hypocrisy, “Yeah, but they closed at 9:00… it’s after 10:00 now.” “Frank, you should have come up. We would have bought your coffee for you.” Frank goes on to say how the female barrister that had given GP3 such problems (who will remain nameless in order to protect her from GP3 fan retaliation), has been fired from Jitters.

As Frank’s car disappears into the darkness Matthew and George are still in disbelief. They return to wrapping up mic cords and eventually meld into the many conversations of the night. It was nice to see Frank – maybe they’ll go back to Jitters some day. Maybe they will…but for now…for now they’ll call this place their home.

(Gig) Master of Your Domain?

George Poe Trio is trying out a new service for booking events. It is an internet based company called GIG MASTERS. The web site boasts of helping over 17,000 professional performers book everything from weddings, corporate events, private parties, cage matches, etc.

Our aim is that new service will be easier for potential customers (or rather, 'POE' -tential Customers) to hire the guys for events. We expect that this will help GP3 too. Hopefully this will put an end to the guys having to decipher smeared writings about gigs on Jack-in-the-Box napkins, the backs of business cards, or Matthew's hand. Although, it likely that Matthew will continue to scribble down info on to his palm - it's a start; and by the way, Matthew has a really large hand (the left one).


Here's the link: http://www.gigmasters.com/jazztrio/GeorgePoeTrio/


For those of you that are too stubborn and/or fear change, the former method will still be available at: http://www.widsonline.com/GP3/Booking.htm

Regards,GP3

Matthew's Top 10 Reasons to Hire GP3 Instead of Buy Halo 3

10. Because GP3 (George Poe Trio) comes before HALO 3 alphabetically

9. George Poe Trio doesn't have a parental advisory

8. No standing in long lines to get a copy of GP3

7. Master Chief doesn't take musical requests no matter how much you ask

6. Try seeing HALO live

5. Who ever heard of "Put some HALO on it!"?

4. GP3 is rendered more life-like (most of the time)

3. Nobody ever died in an internet cafe wearing an adult diaper while listening to GP3 (although there was that lady that had a heart attack after singing with Matthew and George that one time -true story)

2. No Carpal Tunnel Syndrome


And the number 1 reason to see George Poe Trio instead of buying Halo 3…


1."You had me at HALO."

Have a great and prosperous week,
GP3

George Poe Trio Encourages You to Waste Time at Work!

Announcing the GP3 Games Page. For those of you that are hard-core video gamers, you know that today marks the release of the highly anticipated Halo 3 video game. The GP3 marketing team decided that this would be a perfect opportunity to release some crappy little games of their own. In contrast to the high-tech Halo and other games, our games are very Lo-Fi, Compare Here. But they are still a lot of fun and some are quite challenging. Here’s a listing of they’ve put out there for us:

Tic Tac 'Poe'A hilarious game of Tic Tac Toe against Matthew's Evil Twin who uses upright basses instead of O's

Lee's Picture Scramble Game Unscramble pictures just like the retro hand-held plastic square game
George's Memory Game A timed game of skill and concentration using GP3 images

Lee's Hyper Cube This virtual cube puzzle is like a Rubic's Cube on steroids!

GP3 Collage Memory GameTest your memory by revealing the correct squares of the collage

And our personal favorite:Guess Matthew's Social Security Number Guess Matthew's SSN, assume his identity, and tour with GP3

See them all here: GP3 Games Page

There’s no waiting in line, And the best part is that IT’S ALL FREE!
Enjoy,GP3

If the Shoe Fits

Footsies – The Strand, Galveston, TX

To celebrate the anniversary of the opening of Footsies Shoe store, Joyce and JaRue have hired GP3 to perform outside of their store on Galveston Island. This is the trio’s third visit to this location, but the first time for an afternoon session. Previous engagements here have begun around 6:00 PM. and gone a little past 9:00. Today, the boys will play from 3:00 – 7:00, and it’s a scorcher. Lee and George struggle with the little blue tent that the ladies offer. In these conditions the blue tent = life. The Footsies crew keep the guys loaded up on water (probably to avoid a heat-exhaustion law suit from Matthew or George).

Despite the temperature, the band is pleased to be here celebrating with them. At the end of the street, Lee can see a cruise ship docked and loading. This thing is huge! George says that it must be as tall as a six-story building. The three briefly imagine what the music on the cruise must be like. Maybe they have karaoke, a DJ, or someone singing MIDNIGHT AT THE OASIS, or something really special like a husband and wife dressed to the nines in sequins and polyester singing the hits of Captain and Tennille (with a big MUSKRAT LOVE finale). “Those cruises are air-conditioned, right?”

In an unexpected and magnanimous gesture, Lee has brought George a hat for the occasion. George is grateful. This will help to keep the sun out of his eyes, and maybe act as a disguise from…oh, too late...Here comes that woman that IS NOT a groupie or stalker- even though she manages to find them every month. She claims to have just been passing by. But she is not a stalker and definitely not a groupie. Just a coincidence. Serendipity if you will. The guys still do not know this lady’s name, but they have crossed the point of no return to where they can not admit that they don’t know it. So there is a lot of “Oh hey you.” “How are you doing there?” “Hey, now there’s a familiar face”, etc.

It’s 3:00, and the band starts strong. After a few solid faithful songs, George takes the guys ‘off-road’ as he calls it to perform a few outside of the main list. The first is a touching song written by Eric Clapton, TEARS IN HEAVEN. The mark of a good tune is when someone other than the writer can perform it and it stir up similar feelings. That‘s exactly what occurs with this one; even though this is the first time for the trio to play it, the song still carries an emotional impact.

At that moment, an inebriated biker from the biker bar across the street approaches the group and asks about the specials inside. Matthew and George attempt to diplomatically explain that “It’s a shoe store, not a bar.” “They don’t have drinks inside? Is it, like…topless in there or something?” “No,” Matthew replies, “They only have shoes. I mean they only SELL shoes in there-no drinks.” George jumps in “Yeah, fully clothed people selling shoes to other fully clothed people.” The man incredulously looks past the band into the store windows. “Not even Bloody Marys?” “No!” reply the guys in unison. Disappointed, the man wobbles away. They watch as he heads back to the direction of the biker bar (where he was undoubtedly cut off from drinking).

Across the street from Footsies, there is a Segway rental company called Big Hummer.com. Segways are essentially pogo sticks with oversized wheels. They are marketed to people who are either too lazy to walk, or can not afford a seat (making it a moped). This company rents the ‘pogo sticks’ and gives Segway historical guided tours through the streets of Galveston. Today they have many participants eager to explore the area while standing completely stationary.

These ‘Segwaians’ mount their scooters as the trio begins to play the song HOLDING BACK THE YEARS. The riders roll across the street in a perfect line that would please any marching band drum major. But as they whiz by the Footsies’ band stand, a rider falls off, tumbling down at a break neck speed of say 1.6 MPH or so. He crash lands right in front of the band. “Man down! Man down!” yells George into the mic as the song continues to play. “Oooh, not getting the deposit back on that one.” George quickly changes the words of the song from “I’ll keep holding on” to “I can’t Keep holding on” (which is basically all you do on these things). The guys feel that they’re safe from any retribution from this guy since he is either remarkably uncoordinated, or too drunk to stand still on a Segway. Instantly, the entire Segway hive has surrounded the fallen rider, and is attempting to lift him back on to his ‘pogo stick’ without leaving their own sticks. Apparently, these scooters are so valuable that if left unattended even for a few seconds to help a fallen rider, the transport would be in jeopardy of being hi-jacked by a pedestrian looking to upgrade his ‘sidewalk status’ (probably a drunk from the biker bar). As the song ends, the Segway riders buzz away to continue their adventure.

Lee has started to get under the blue tent after every song. This is worth noting because Lee’s occupation (working on roofs in Houston) requires him to be out in the sun quite a bit, but this heat even tests his resolve. During one of his visits under the tent, he notices that the cruise ship is no longer at the dock. It left without a sound, disappearing like some David Copperfield trick. George suggests that maybe it was just a mirage, or a hallucination brought on by the heat.

Speaking of heat, George realizes that due to the left side of his body only being partially covered by the magical blue tent, he now has a sunburn. Now the heat is radiating from outside and within. But his burn is just on the left arm, and on the left side of his face and neck. Good thing he had the hat from Lee or his entire face would be the same color. He wonders if it’s karma for making fun of the uncoordinated Segway rider. Nevertheless, he thinks that he must look like the Two-Face, the villain from the Batman comics. In the end, he chalks it up as an occupational hazard when playing outside.

When GP3 was invited to play this event, Footsies’ owners Joyce and JaRue had asked the trio to perform songs that have a shoe theme. George and Matthew joyously committed to this, before realizing they only knew 3-4 shoe songs. The medley of viable shoe songs that they came up with only included BLUE SUEDE SHOES and THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR WALKIN’. Understanding the basic dynamics of performing, the trio was forced to admit that you can only play these two songs for a limited duration before someone catches on that you’re out of shoe songs.

The solution is song parodies. Matthew and George ‘moonlight’ with a few other guys in a seasonal group known as Camryn Manheim Steamroller. This comedy band performs during the holiday months, and is known for changing classic rock songs into Christmas tunes. George asks Matthew to write some parody songs to accommodate the shoe request. Between the two they come up with ONLY SHOE (Only You by the Platters), YOU WERE ALWAYS ON MY FEET (Always on My Mind-Elvis & Willie Nelson), MY SHOES (My Girl by The Temptations), SHOE SIZE (Blue Skies by Irving Berlin), I LIKE TO WEAR PUMPS (I'll Follow the Sun by The Beatles). And they finish with a special song about Footsies to the tune of TEA FOR TWO. Click here to see the lyrics

As the trio concludes the Footsies tribute, several charter buses arrive across the street and begin unloading passengers. The guys quickly discover that the convention center is hosting a real estate seminar this weekend. The street is filled with salespeople eager to spend their sightseeing money at the strand. George’s mind immediately runs through a mental list of songs that would comically appeal to this new group of listeners. Tunes like PINK HOUSES, OUR HOUSE, HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, etc. race across his brain. But alas, the boys have done their duty today…he suspects there will be other opportunities. For now the trio settles for ending with the Beatles OH, DARLING dedicated to the ladies of Footsies. The three pound it out with a zeal that would make Sir Paul proud. “Well that certainly was…” Oh wait, that’s not the final song, a lady and friend passing by requests that the guys play “one more little song” so she can dance. Her friend scolds her, and reminds her of how silly she’ll look. “I don’t care!” I want to dance.” Upon hearing this, Matthew and George decide to play one more. Who are they, to deprive this request? The three finish with a swing version of I’M LOOKING THROUGH YOU.

Whew, The guys are tired, but in a good way. They begin break the gear down. Lee and George pause a moment look at the check this time. The bittersweet relationship the two have with the blue tent continues: But being weary from the heat, slippery hands from sweat, and George’s ½ burn, the tent has the advantage. The two struggle to shove it back into the case. They even enlist Matthew’s help this time, to no avail. It’s like trying to shove a polar bear into a file cabinet. “Did the heat make this thing expand? Uugggh!” There it goes!” (Elapsed time: 7 ½ minutes). Lee gratefully returns the tent to the ladies inside. Matthew and George follow. “Hey there’s cake in here!” The three present Joyce and JaRue (and the rest of the crew) an anniversary gift. Pictures are taken, refreshments are offered. Eight to nine cups of lemonade later they say their farewells.

"Thanks for having George Poe Trio, Happy anniversary Footsies".

Handshakes, Ribbons, Warriors, and Cheese

Mall of the Mainland – Texas City, TX

The Texas City/La Marque chamber of commerce has asked the trio to perform at a ribbon-cutting/mixer event. The group is to play inside the Mall of the Mainland in an area that appears to have once been a functioning restaurant. Now the space has been converted for special mall events. Judging by the décor, it looks to have formerly been a Bennigan’s restaurant. All of the signage and artifacts have been removed from the walls and ceiling, but those booths and the bar are unmistakable. George arrives early enough to tour the mall and sets out to learn what he can about the area.

The ‘no-name’ restaurant the guys will be at is directly across from a Tilt arcade game room. The pulsating neon light beckons to him like a siren’s song, and since George has an hour or so to kill, he easily gives in. He meanders around inside a bit, and then he sees it: “Gauntlet Dark Legacy”. It’s a modern version of the Gauntlet video game from the late 80s, in which medieval characters run about in a castle environment hacking up sword wielding skeletons and other undesirables. Not that George was ever really that good at the original game, but much of his courtship to his wife Sabrina took place in front of the game. And in truth, much of their marriage is reflection of how they worked together in the game world. George’s warrior character would unsuspectingly wander into a nest of evil ghouls with glowing red eyes, requiring Sabrina’s elf character to bail him out with her faithful cross-bow. Ah…Good times. The only problem was that the 80s game was programmed to work the players into a frenzy, and then demand more coins to continue or suffer elimination of their fighter, wizard, etc. “Warrior need food badly! Insert more coins NOW for more time!” This version uses the same tactics. Ah…but not today - George smiles as the game pleads with him to shell out more quarters. He ignores it and walks away.

He strolls past the food court, a nail salon, a You-Pick-It You-Paint-It place, a small bookstore. George suspects that one can learn a lot about a community by how much of the magazine rack is devoted to wrestling, tattoo design, or wooden-duck making. After a quick perusal of the periodicals, he determines that the trio is in good company for tonight.

Lee has arrives, and parks beside George’s car. Looking in the vehicle’s windows, he notices that all of piano equipment is still inside, but George is nowhere to be found. Lee has unloaded almost the entire the drum set, when George nearly bumps into him with his Subway sandwich in hand. The two encounter a wonderful man that they’ll be working with named Etienne. He explains that he is the Aesthetic Director of Mall of the Mainland. He is very helpful, though his overuse of the word ‘Fabulous’ secretly has Lee a little uneasy. A flatbed dolly is offered to the two, and they almost finished stacking equipment on it when Matthew appears. The three spend 5 minutes loading the flatbed, only to push it a distance of 45 feet and unload it again because the door is too narrow. (George is already laughing).

The boys set up on the stage – yes, stage (with lights, curtains, etc.) in a Bennigan’s. Their humor is lost on Etienne. He attempts to be accommodating, but it’s a lost cause with these three; Matthew and George inadvertently convince him that there will be a puppet show later, while Lee asks for the hors d'oeuves tables be moved into the band area so they can get started eating before the guests arrive and want some. Bewildered, he brings a white table cloth (for the puppet show) to the guys in time to hear Matthew and George contemplate how much sour cream dip Lee’s small drum tom could hold if turned upside down. GP3 is an A.D.’s albatross. But as odd as these three are, he finds himself endeared to them already, and decides they are, in a word…Fabulous.

As Lee and George continue to set up, Amy, one of the evening’s coordinators arrives to welcome them. She works with Kelly, who saw the trio perform a few weeks before in Galveston. They are excited to have George Poe Trio here, and the trio is excited to play in air-conditioning again.

A few moments after the ladies leave the stage, George gets a call on his cell. “Matthew?” looking around, “Where are you?” “I’m in the bathroom.” “In the bathroom? Is everything alright - are you sick or something?” Matthew replies: “No-no, I’ll tell you later.” “What are you talking about...why are you whispering? Are you sure you’re okay?” “I’m okay, nothing’s wrong…do you know Lee’s cell number?” “Yes, Matthew, I do but…” “Nevermind, nevermind”, . In the time that it takes Matthew to look up Lee’s number and call it, George and Lee discuss what could possibly be going on with Matthew. “Was there a Senator Craig from Idaho in there or something?” “I have no idea what he’s doing, but I’m going to check on him” But before George can make it down the stairs, Lee’s phone rings and the routine begins again. However, Lee finds out a little more than George did. Matthew has found a phone on the lavatory in the men’s room, and is checking to see if it belongs to either of them. Matthew soon discovers that it belongs to one of Etienne’s fabulous workers and the 'crisis' is averted.

It’s almost time to start and the crowd is trickling in now. Matthew has purchased a new mic that is actually designed for the upright bass (see previous blogs). It sounds-Fabulous! Not to be outdone, George has brought a compact keyboard module that allows him to play piano and string sounds (and organs) simultaneously. These modifications to the bass and piano add an entirely new dimension to the group’s sound. Oh, and…uh, Lee’s haircut looks nice too. Though as good as the bass sounds, Matthew is more transfixed on a huge block of cheese that Etienne has placed on a table to the left side of the stage. (Matthew has secretly named the object of his desire ‘Harold’).

The trio quickly launch into the set list. The first tune of the evening is Simply Red’s HOLDING BACK THE YEARS, and with all of the new audio embellishments, it sounds great (or if you prefer, Fabulous). Many compliments are given to the guys, to which they acknowledge with a smile and nod of the head.

The guys burn through the ‘core’ set list. These are the 'primo' songs from George Poe Trio – the cream of the crop. After an hour or so in, a man named Mayer introduces himself to the guys. A very pleasant fellow, who turns out to be the owner of Mall of the Mainland. Matthew quickly picks up on Mayer’s dialect, and the two begin to speak in Farsi to each other. (Dumb looks from George and Lee). Mayer asks if he can use a mic to announce the ribbon cutting. After multiple attempts by Mayer to mobilize the crowd to go outside for the photo-op, Matthew clears the room when he threatens to lead a group prayer with anyone who stays behind.

Once everyone’s out of the main area, the guys descend on the food tables. But all of the plates are gone!!! Where’s Etienne??? Matthew has made contact with Harold, the giant block of cheese and it was worth the wait. George and Lee are feeding on two different types of chocolate cake. The threesome are good to play for a few more hours now; and just in time, as the chamber members are headed back in. George offers up a jazzy rendition of I’M LOOKING THROUGH YOU, followed up by the debut a number of new songs to their repertoire including the HONKY TONK WOMAN, MAGARITTAVILLE, and others.

Then an elderly couple approach Lee and George. They request that the band play a cha-cha for them to dance to. Not having anything that resembles a cha-cha beat song but wanting to please, Lee and George heartily agree to do one. “Just put down a cha-cha beat, and Matthew and I will lay something on it.” says George. So Lee starts it up, a few measures in, George begins singing I’LL FOLLOW THE SUN. And to George's surprise it works! The trio cha-cha these two sweethearts ‘till the couple is worn out. Everyone enjoys it; these two lovebirds steal the show with their charm for each other.

A young man asks if the band can play the Randy Newman song YOU GOT A FRIEND IN ME. George and Matthew are astonished that they actually have a relatively obscure song like this in the songbook. It's a great tune, in fact Newman received an academy award nomination for it back in 1995. It's just a shock that a gen x'er would ask for this. Matthew and George look to see if Lee is pranking them. He's not - and the tune comes off flawlessly. Matthew suggests the trio ‘slow things down a bit’ and play the ‘Men at Work song’. At which the band unloads a stellar version of OVERKILL which is arguably the finest song of the evening, (Matthew’s harmony is second to none).

A few up tempo songs later, Kelly and Amy thank the trio, and the evening closes with a soulful version of Eric Clapton’s song WONDERFUL TONIGHT. As the area empties out, tables are bussed by Etienne’s fabulous crew, mic and speaker cables are wrapped, and the only thing left to say is…”Warriors need food badly.”