Spend Bikefest Week With The Voodoo Cowboys

Welcome to Vegas Bikefest 2009

Over 30,000 bikes will be rumbling thru Las Vegas October 1st – 4th. This will be a welcome boost to our local economy. Here are a couple of the Bikefest events that the Voodoo Cowboys will be performing at:

Thursday, Oct 1 9pm
Voodoo Cowboys at Tom Peters Gaming Bar
466 S. Decatur at Alta

Friday, Oct 2 and Saturday, Oct 3 7pm
Voodoo Cowboys and Driving While Blind – ZZ Top Tribute Band at the Las Vegas Country Saloon
Sponsored by Jack Daniels
425 Fremont St at Las Vegas Blvd Above Hennessey’s


Whether you ride or not, please excersise caution on Vegas roads to keep riders, drivers, and all of Las Vegas safe.

Floating With A Wireless Unit

By: Scott Woodward, Voodoo Cowboys ~ Bass & Vocals

Leaving your cord on shore

One thing I have found out working on a cruise ship, besides the bathrooms are too small and the shower curtains are very friendly is that using a wireless system on a ship can be either a blessing or a nightmare.

The Stages are either so small you can’t fit the drum kit or they are so massive your cord won’t reach from the backline to the front of the stage (some have ice skating rinks inside them) Let me say first I use my wireless because I’m clumsy and always tripping over my cord’s, not because I want to run around and jump off the P.A. system. So here is what I have come up with for using wireless unit’s on a cruise ship.

Make sure you can change the frequencies.
I was using a cheaper brand wireless when I first started out working on cruise ships and one night to the horror of the production manager my bass was coming through the house system during a really quit part in a production show in the main theater. Just imagine how the singer’s in the show felt when in the middle of their big number “I Believe I Can Fly “my bass comes ripping through the P.A. system with higher ground (the red hot chili peppers version). And on the other side, the band I was in was playing a very popular theme night in the main theater and right in the middle of a song an announcement from the cruise director came through my amplifier saying the buffet will be closing in 10 minutes. You need to be able to change your frequency because there is so many other wireless things are being used on the ship at the same time.

Bring plenty of batteries
Keep a supply of batteries it’s really inconvenient to run out, you can’t just swim to 7 – 11. My system for my bass take’s AA’s so I can sometimes get them from the sound man. But don’t rely on him, He may be busy and forget to get them for you. I also use wireless in-ear monitors and those take 9v batteries. Don’t expect to see those on the ship. Go to your local Enormo club and get the mulit-pack’s of them it’s cheaper than Wally world.

Have a back up plan
It’s always good to have a spare belt pack and cord ( I use the shure u-2 series and my unit is a double unit so I have two complete unit’s in one and I use one side as my back-up. But most important always bring a cord just in case. You never know when it’s going to be just easier to use a cord.

So that being said I love my wireless system. Clumsy people rejoice. Stage nomad’s yell it out. We love our wireless systems!!! We just don’t like the cruise director making announcements through our amps.

Voodoo Cowboys Live & YouTubed

By: Phil G, Voodoo Cowboys ~ Lead Vocals

Hey everybody, Phil G. here. If you read my last blog, you saw that I made a little mention of our youtube.com channel and if you've been following the Voodoo Cowboys for any period of time, (and we certainly hope that you have and will continue to), you know that we are all about promoting our gigs. For us, it's important to promote as much as possible so we can get the word out to our fans while helping out the venue at the same time.

We also like to make it fun for everyone because what good is being an entertainer if you can't have fun right? If you've been on youtube.com lately, you may have seen some of our videos that we shoot to promote our upcoming shows. We try to do one for every show big or small because the more people that come out, the more fun we all have... kind of like that old saying, "the more, the merrier." Sometimes we'll shoot the video right there at the venue but we also pick other locations to shoot video as well.

We also like to shoot other kinds of videos for our youtube.com channel like our reality series, "Phil from Philly" and it's especially important when we do charity events because we want you all to come out and have a great time while helping the different causes that we support. In all, we have in upwards of 40 videos on youtube.com and we hope you check them all out.

As always, whenever you watch a video we just ask that you leave a comment and rate the video as well. If you have suggestions or want to see something in particular, feel free to message us on our myspace page. You never know, we may just use your idea and if we do, we may end up doing something special with YOU! Anyway, thanks for reading and keep on rockin with the Voodoo Cowboys. See ya'll later.

Voodoo Friday: The most decadent way to end the week

Voodoo Cowboys FREE at The Las Vegas Country Saloon
Friday starting at 9:30 pm - 1:30
LOCATION: 425 Fremont Street Corner of Fremont Street & Las Vegas Blvd On the famous Fremont Street Experience You'll also have the chance to be a part of the filming of the Voodoo Cowboys behind the scenes reality show. Drink specials, pole dancing, free bullriding as well as the Voodoo Cowboys rockin' country~!!!!

STAYING POSITIVE AND FOCUSED

By: Scott Woodward, Voodoo Cowboys ~ Bass & Vocals

Pulling this off is often harder than it seems. You often have to deal with other band members personalities and mood and that can lead to things go wrong. If everyone can remember that you are there at the gig or rehearsal to make and play music this would make things so much easier. Trying to be creative when you’re in a bad mood or mad or not focused in the song can lead to train wrecks on stage or argument’s in the rehearsal studio. Try to remember that you want to do the best job you can, But you also want to have fun……

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