Cody's Blog Archive

The truth is sometimes unsightly, Recaps, Thanks, Christmas, News, and Starting 2012

Cody Jinks, December 28, 2011

12/24/11 at 11:10 p.m.
It's Christmas Eve, late. Actually one of my favorite times of years. Not only because I'm remembering Jesus, but nobody is open and I can't get any business done. It is horrible even to me how disillusioned I get with everything. I don't know "your" normal. My normal is after hours with other nightwalkers and temptresses. Drugs and other shady shit I'm around but really don't see, desensitized I suppose. I don't care; I've known fiends that were closer than the flock.
I'm with the drunks and addicts and those seeking whatever they may be seeking, more than two hundred nights a year. Thanking them for appreciating or at least being respectful of what I'm doing. That's a lot of shows and I am tired, I've been burned out and told to go on vocal rest during the recording of the new album, which I'm already so tired of I could scream, but I can't because I'm supposed to be on vocal rest, we haven't had a permanent drummer for six months and are taxed.
Having said that: We've been on the road all year and I have to give mention to the guys that have to listen to my words, my ramblings, and ultimately take care of things on the road, but after a brief recap.
My drummer and friend of nearly four years Evan Ray went on to do some different things. He's been playing with Jarrod Birmingham who is a favorite of mine is doing well. Just from the perspective of the years and time, thanks buddy. I know you're doing well.
Jon has been with us going on two years and his contribution has been great. We have really worked on a sound the last few hundred nights. I'm always comfortable knowing Jon is going to be in the right spot if I forget where I am.
Josh Thompson, going on five years. I don't really know what else to say. You're the original Tonedeaf Hippie. All over the place, wherever we are at, you take care of me. It's been a long time and I appreciate it.

Now to the drummers that have helped us out. Bruce Alford, one of the most interesting men I've met. Jake Vaught, who just welcomed his first son into the world, Doug Swancy was there in a bad pinch one run, and Blain Crews who did the work on the record. But now we welcome Brendon O'Neil to take on permanent duties.

(Continued 12/27/11 at 10:57 p.m.)

Thanks also to Gary Lee who runs the tech stuff and his wife Melissa; you guys are a great support.

On to Christmas: If it's your thing and it's a time for you and your family...Merry Christmas. I wish you all good health and wisdom to do better this next year. Take care of your family; it's the only one you get. There are no holidays or reasons to celebrate without them. My Dad sang "The Cats and the Cradle" to me when I was young. I understood even at a young age what it meant and what would happen, it has. And the way he felt about those lyrics he sang to me so many years ago, I now feel them in the same regard. To watch my daughter's grandparents from both sides play as if they were children themselves alongside my child Christmas morning...That was good. That's something some of us never had. In Christmas conclusion, I hope you watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. This is mandatory, and it's not too late, you have until December 31.

Let's hit news: Payroll cuts for another two months so Washington can go home for the holidays. How about another expensive, pre-infected Band-Aid?
Pilots can now use iPads in cock pits; they'd better keep those things off until the plane is in the air. Then it's cool to play Angry Birds or whatever it is they do up there.

Hey, how about the mobs on the news waiting on the Michael Jordan reissues. $180 for these new shoes and people are ripping the doors off of the retailers to get to them. The funny part of it to me was that the people they showed looked like they might just wear those new sneakers right on down to the welfare office.

If I got on to politics right now I would need another thousand words or so, so I will keep this brief. Two Words...Ron Paul

Kim Jong Il is dead and his crazy ass kid Kim Jong Un is blowing shit up with his shiny, new, and forced against their willed army, mostly for fun I think. Do you think when they were called for dinner, someone just said, "Il, Un, dinner"? Or do you think they added the whole Kim Jong thing?
Hey, we are finally out of Iraq, which I am thankful for, but C'mon. How long can a place that's never really been able to keep its shit together in recent history last on its own successfully? Just saying.

"Can's For Koozies" has been a really cool thing and I sincerely thank everyone that has brought stuff out. I gladly gave a lot of koozies. There is still a chance, New Year's Eve is the last night for this year so keep them coming. Any canned food or nonperishable food item is great.

So let's talk 2012. According to the Mayans we have till about the second or third week of December, so we have a lot slated for the band. January starts off with almost twenty shows and wrapping the new record up. The third week of the month we will be on a mid-west run up to Minnesota and back down through Missouri to attempt a live recording at The Snorty Horse in Columbia. So, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Missouri, keep your eyes on the schedule.

The first of February starts with me in Berlin for a few acoustic dates, then back home and on the road until the band goes to Europe for three weeks in May.
Jon's wife is due early April when they will welcome their new baby girl, and my new baby is due early July. Speaking on behalf of the other guys: We appreciate all of your support, wish you well, and look forward to seeing you in 2012.

Listening: Everything

Reading: Nothing

Thanks, Thanks a Lot/News/The Neverending Record/Merry Holidays

Cody Jinks, December 2, 2011

Thanks, Thanks a Lot/News/The Neverending Record/Merry Holidays

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone, I hope all of you have much to be be thankful for. And if you have much to be thankful for... by God I hope you gave thanks.

I'm thankful my friends and family are well, I live in a "free" society and therefore get to make a living with my music. Everything else is bonus.

Now its time for Christmas... Sorry about what we've done to that Jesus.

I have a lot to weigh in on about the the recent news, so lets get started:
Kim Kardashian's two month marriage goes south. Who didn't see that coming? Really? That whole family is famous for being famous, and their butts. Hey, let's mark anything the Kardashian's do as who gives a shit. Where Im from, marriage means something more. You get married, you stay married, and you get to be miserable the rest of your lives like the rest of us.

The "Fast and Furious" debacle. That's almost like the days of Noriega right?

Gene Simmons is endorsing Rick Perry, I just thought that was funny. I thought Gene Simmons was cool man. I remember seeing that guy several times just drinking tea on the Wolfgang Puck patio in Hollywood next to the guitar shop I worked at. Me and some of the other employees would just stand there watching him in his jet black suit, slicked back hair, and shades. Just drinking his iced tea like the baddest damn tea drinker I ever saw. And now... Rick freakin Perry. "I wanna rock and roll all night, and ruin public education".

Sandusky... The predator, now the prey. Let the animals deal with that one, they always do.

Occupy protests: Now, I'm as pissed about being sold out as everybody else. But lets focus our efforts people. Whats your cause, the protest itself? Someday some of the people may look back on their part in the protest like I look back on being a great cheater in school. If I had given half as much to studying as I did to cheating I might have been better off. Do I care? No... but you know what Im saying. Go occupy a clipboard with an application on it.

Hey everybody, I read that black friday set records this year... I thought we were broke.

So I'll lighten up a little bit and let y'all know whats happening. I was sitting at Discount Tire yesterday and a forty something, well kept lady walks in and takes her place in line. When it was her time all I hear is, "Yeah, I need someone to look at the light that says "tire pressure is low". Imagine the faces of me and the dudes that were witness.

So we are wrapping it up for another month. Keep your eyes open for changes on the site, new merch, new dates, and a pre sale offer for the new record. It's

still not done, I've been out playing non stop and my voice has been strained, consequently vocal takes have been spaced out.

We are also going to start a new thing this year called "Cans For Koozies". When you come to any of the shows with at least three canned goods during the month of December you get a koozie, and sign up to win an autographed hoodie.

So Happy Holidays, what do you have to look forward to? Pissy people and those horrible commercials from Kay Jeweler's and Lexus. "Every kiss begins with Kay", "Lexus December to remember".
Maybe y'all should ask for new ad teams this Christmas.

Listening: Bob Dylan
Reading: Leo Tolstoy

Blog for October 28, 2011 The Halloween Edition

Cody Jinks, October 31, 2011

Let us begin: The last month has been happy and sad, life is a great mixture of emotions that are accepted readily... and not. I will start with the birth of a dear friend's son, my friend Justin and his beautiful wife Holly welcomed their son Rhett into the world in late September. Some of you may know Justin as that guy we call McKinney. I got to visit them on my way to a show the day after he was born, a good looking boy, and Justin can't deny he's his. The band hung out in the parking lot as I went up to say hi, good times.

The next day we had Frost Fest Five and had a great time as usual. Thank you to all that came out again. So let's just finish up in order of the calendar which is usually all I do anyway to remember some of the things that happen.

I found out early Tuesday morning October fourth that our friend Del and Dana had gone down on their bike, Dana was in I.C.U., and we had a few hours to go to the hospital to say goodbye. Jon and I were able to make it to the hospital and Del asked me to sing at the funeral, to which I agreed. That Thursday, two days after she had passed, some of her favorite local guys came together at a studio in Waxahachie to cut Amazing Grace. The cut was rough, real, and turned out the way it needed to.
Played the Boo Benefit Friday, which is a great cause out of Jefferson Texas. It's for children that have been severely burned. Played it before, it's a good thing. Played Saturday in town and then sang at Dana's funeral Sunday. Sang two songs at the service and that was the toughest time getting through songs I've had. We have some very good friends out there; some are reading this right now. We will miss you Mama Dana. Dana saved three lives by organ donation to my knowledge.

The rest of this blog will be random, maybe more so than others maybe. My topics are random and in no order. I started doing a Monday night song swap at The Magnolia Motor Lounge in Ft. Worth earlier this month. It's getting off to a slow start but its fun, if I don't get fired for it being slow I think I can build on it. I've had some really good people in so far, Scott Copeland, Guthrie Kennard, Jason Eady, and Zane Williams. And there have been literally about thirty people to come see us…combined. Really I'm just using it as a platform to jam with some really good writers. You should come out and catch a private show, for free. Seriously if me and any one of the people mentioned came to your house it would be pretty expensive.

As I am writing this, it is raining the first cold rain of the Fall; this time of year is my favorite time. It finally got colder today and it's been a beautiful, cloudy, rainy day. Having said that, I got my jacket out of the closet and put it on to see if it still fit. That's not true, I'm still the same size I've always been, I just wanted to put on my bad ass leather jacket and go through the pockets. It dawned on me that I must have been broke at the end of this winter because there was no cash hiding in any of the pockets. I don't leave cash in my pockets for the next winter, but sometimes on the rare occasion I have a little extra I might leave it in any pocket I may have.
What did I find?
One pack of fruit snacks, unopened--Kept those.
Hair clip for my daughter--Kept that.
1/2 can of stale snuff--Two out of three aint bad.

And since it has gotten cooler, I do have hoodies back in stock as well as a couple of new items with my name on them that you can wear. About to put them on the roadies merch store.

In Conclusion I would like to say, "It's the most wonderful time of the year”. When the world seems to want to slow down a little from another hard year, I'm enjoying being a night person even more. Halloween is my favorite national holiday, I enjoy horror movies and spook shows throughout the year but the time leading up to All Hallows Eve finds my Netflix busy with a constant stream of scary flicks. So during this most wonderful time of the year, gather the ones you love together and let them know how much you love them... by scaring the shit out of them. Happy Halloween.

Listening to: Murder By Death
Reading: Capote Essays

Blog for August 22-September 24 2011

Cody Jinks, September 26, 2011

Blog for August 22-September 24 2011
Gather round everybody, grab your hot teas, iced teas, lemonades, cokes, medimucils, dr. peppers, cold beers, cocktails, and more ovaltene please...I've got a noggin full so get ready.
Let's start with the week following the last blog when we played just South of Ft. Worth in the town of Alvarado at a real nice dance hall just down 67. When we got done with the first set we were just milling around backstage this dude walks in like he worked there so nobody said anything. He approached me with the usual "Hey what's up man"? then proceeding to tell me he was a squeeze box player and asked if he could come up and do a couple with us. I then tried to explain that this particular evening wasn't good because we were playing with a new drummer that we had never jammed with and we were just trying to get a feel for the guy and get through the show. Sometimes it's cool for walk up to set in for a song but you would rather have something like this happen naturally. The dude then goes on to tell me who all he's played and recorded with and that we could do any Johnny Cash in "G" that would be great. That's about the time I start wondering why he is backstage, and Johnny Cash in "G", what the hell does that even mean? He just keeps going on and on until finally I say "Look man, I'm not trying to be an ass but it just aint happening tonight, and why are you giving me a hard time?" I then left him and whoever else was in there at the time to avoid a scene. I thought that was it, I was wrong.
We go back on and are about to be done with our second set when "Guess Who" walks up onto the stage with accordion in hand? That's right, my back stage friend who was now coming up behind Josh and then saw Josh give a little look back and we both kind of ignored it. Then Jon walks over mid-song mind you and asks, "Did you know about this"? I nodded a no and turned to start another line when I saw security coming across the floor. The song ended as he was laying his instrument down and all I could think to say was, "Don't F@ck!ng walk on the stage unless I'm paying you". We played another song and then took another break, three setters, got to love ‘em. Jon goes over to security guy and says something to the tune of "get him to get his shit off of the stage", and he did. So I walk back to the bathroom and guess who is standing there? "Hey man, what's up with that" he barks. "What's up with that" I countered "is that I explained as nice as I could that tonight isn't the night for it, and don't walk on my stage uninvited".
"Oh it's your stage"?
"Yeah, when I'm contracted to perform for an evening it's my stage".
I went pee; he went and keyed "YALL SUCK" down the driver's side of the van. Did I see this happen? No, but let's fast forward to Sunday when I head out to play Andy Pate's benefit, I didn't notice because I was tired, and after that one in the early afternoon I head to play another bar in town and I know for a fact that the three people there to see me didn't do it. I went home, then Monday when I'm walking out to get in the van to go play I see "YALL SUCK" keyed down the side. After thinking on it for several hours I deduced it was our accordion playing friend. I know nobody did it at Spencer's Corner for Andy's benefit because...Well, who would do that? And I know it wasn't Sunday night, so I digress. Plus the YA, and the SU were keyed heavier than the LL and CK which leads me to believe it was a rushed job. I digress again.

Moving on to headlines: Let's recap the news from the last couple of weeks, I'm an on again off again news junkie and I like to get my news from several different sources. Most people have Angry Birds and light saber apps, not me. Three different news apps...Right wing, Left wing, and WTF. So Warren Jeff's goes away for good, good. Anybody that is a rapist that brain washes people by completely cutting them off from the world tells the parents of his compound that it's God's will for them to let him take their twelve year old daughters virginity. Yeah, that guy, it may be someone's will to take his virginity where he's going. See you dude.
Bert and Ernie, you know 'em as the two dude puppets that room together on Sesame Street. Bert's kind of an ass and Ernie is kind of a wet brain, but they are good buddies. Evidently someone out there tried to start some kind of a movement to have Bert and Ernie come out of the closet and be openly gay lovers on Sesame Street. My thought on that is this, go be gay. Go to a state that allows it and get married to another gay person and be happy and have joint healthcare. It's 2011; no one gives a shit anymore, just get over the fact that as a child you just wanted Bert and Ernie to be gay. I don't know what weirder, Ernie's fascination with rubber ducks, or that some sick bastard wants to see two dude puppets go at it on a children's show. So here is an idea...Join a gay movement with relevance.
So, onto the utter cluster mess that is the Middle East and Africa, on these I will be brief. Complete civil unrest, people dying by their governments hand and a famine in which aid can't get to the fleeing Somalians because of insurgents that no one can do anything about. Our nation is stretched too thin already and two of those big red super powers watch it all. Perhaps a break from the news is needed.

Let's finish up with all the kicks in the pants from the last month and then I will quit griping, maybe. The CD manufacturing, duplicating outfit in Dallas that have screwed up on each of the projects I've brought them did it again, and again, and now I'm doing my damnedest to not have to do business with them anymore. My first album was mislabeled on the CD itself, while my second and third albums were both late, causing me to cancel three combined CD release parties. Well, knowing their reputation for being tardy I ordered a new batch of Less Wise albums mid-July in hopes of having them the first week of August, this is a reorder mind you so I've ordered thousands of these. I get to their shop in Dallas on my way out to Winnsboro and they had printed the wrong copy of the record. When Less Wise first came out it was in a black sleeve with a far bassier mix. I then had it re-mastered and pressed in the white sleeve. So I show up and they have to wrong record, I threw a huge fit. People scattered to their offices and I proceeded to rip someone a new one. I don't normally do that, in fact the last ripping I gave was to the same dude for a late release. And the time before that, you guessed it, the same dude for a different screw up. I was so angry I removed myself from the building for a moment to gather my thoughts in order to go back in and finish the ass chewing. I'm pretty sure they hate me. I'll let you know if there is anything wrong with the re order of the re order that had a rush put on it. Funny thing is that it wasn't rushed at all, they just got in this week, so I get my re prints a month and a half later. Good business.

Hey guess what? The new record is going to be out later than expected, surprise surprise. I've been telling everybody the end of summer, maybe the end of September but I don't know if that will happen. We are working to catch back up on production due to a couple of things that were out of anyone's hands. What can you do huh? Just know it's still coming along.

Spent $1,100 on the van yesterday and got screwed around by the company that did the work, you know them; they specialize in tires and batteries. I take it in Monday and they are understaffed, I wait an hour before they tell me I need $1,100 worth of parts and labor and the alignment I requested would do no good. The repairs I needed were probably legit, me basing this on the fact that the last few months the sound coming from the front left tire area was drowning out the radio, much less any conversation at normal speaking levels. So I bring it back Tuesday morning and they fix it. My wife took me to go pick it up before I went to go play for the evening. I immediately notice that when I hit the brakes my wheel would jerk to the right. I called back to inform them of the issue and they told me to come back Wednesday. I took it in today and noticed again they were understaffed. I talked with the same dude as Monday about what was going on and he looks back at me tells me that "Based on the work they did it couldn't be related". So I retort, "I bring my van in and it's not jerking to the right, you work on it and I pay you $1,100. I get it back and discover a problem I didn't have before you fixed it and you tell me it has nothing to do with yall.
He says they will take another look at it and me and my almost two year old daughter again go to wait amongst the other unhappy faces. An hour goes by and my van hasn't moved. I picked up my daughter, walked to the desk and informed him it had been an hour and my van had not moved. "I've only got one mechanic on and he's on a break job" he says with the don't give a shit look. I left and called their corporate office and informed them that they suck.

Now for news of the random and strange: Saw a guy get the Heimlich maneuver done at a show a couple of weeks ago. These dudes were at a table eating while we were playing and one of them chocked. He stood up as he chocked and another one of the dudes went to work on him for quite a while. The other buddies were looking on in shock and Josh leans over and asked me if we needed to stop as a crowd was gathering. About then the object popped out and he was okay, wild. Also I'm selling my Black 2006 Harley Soft Tail Standard with 10,000 miles. It's mostly stock, almost perfect. You can Facebook me.

On a good note, I think the benefit for Andy went well; I had fun watching all of good players. Scott Copeland did a good job getting it together.

I've had four birthday shows since my actual birthday on the 18th, they just keep happening. Thanks to everyone that had any hand in all of those. I did get to give my Dad a new Martin while we were onstage last weekend at the Cajun Cowboy in Omaha. That was cool, Mom did good.

So now we are all caught up then, keep checking Codysroadies.com for schedule updates and new merch. See ya'll out there.

Reading: A Louis L'Amour book and just finished "Scuse me while I whip this out" by Kinky Friedman
Listening to a whole bunch of old LP's my Dad got from an estate sale, awesome. Also The Quaker City Nighthawks new record, killer.

By the way we just confirmed a three week European tour in May 2012.

8/25/11
I might as well make this a little longer being as that I can't get it out just yet on account of our new laptop is not wanting to connect to the internets. I also want to say that the company that has to do with tires and batteries called me back and made the situation right, so that was cool.

8/28/11
DOUBLE BONUS BLOG
Dear August,
Please go away, in fact just grab the rest of summer and get us on into fall. I'm sitting on the porch sweating; it's ninety five degrees at 10:30 at night. The band got through this last weekend of August but barely. Van call was my house Saturday at 2:30 and while on his way, Jon ran out of gas at the 635/121 merger. If you have been through there in the last several months you know that the whole 635/121/114 project is about as bad as it gets. So Jon runs out of gas for the first time in his whole driving life in that crawling traffic. We agree to meet up at a hotel near DFW airport where we sit and wait. Some time goes by and nothing, so I called back and find that the spicket on the gas can broke off so there wasn't a clear way to get the fuel into the vehicle. Those of us waiting, including our buddy Jason decided to go into the hotel bar for a beer. Jason bought the beers and we sat there patiently sipping them and figured he had to be close by then. Josh went out to get the video camera to log Jon's arrival followed by Jason and I. My phone rings as Jon is pulling in and looking for us. Camera comes on a Jon gives us some very colorful footage. You'll have to ask him the details of the story, but after sitting on the side of the highway for a couple of hours completely exposed to the heat with no water, he says he figured he was a goner. And as far as getting the gas into the car: All you need is a discarded Perrier bottle to pour the gas into to push the tank flap in far enough. I think it took him five bottles full to get the gallon of gas in. When asked why he didn't just cut the bottom of the bottle off to make a funnel he replies "I guess my brain just wasn't working by that point".

See Ya'll in September.

9/18/11
Alright it's late September and this thing is just now coming out. Not a whole lot to write home about I guess. We've been a little busier which is good. The recording is still coming along pretty well, and a couple of more setbacks along the way but that's the way it goes. Got no label or anybody else to ram rod anything through, it's the indie way. Sorry it took so long to get this out, but it was very long. By the way, Nate Kipp's new record should be out in a few. I've heard it, solid.

Blog for August 3, 2011

Cody Jinks, August 3, 2011

Late August babies, the spider dance, and Watermelon Festivals

Let us begin with the heat, we're at thirty something days of 100+ temperatures and seem to have a legitimate chance of catching up to the summer of '80. So where am I going with this? I was born in late August 1980 which means my dear Mother carried me during her third tri-mester during the hottest summer by far on record. So Mom says "Don't be such a wuss, it ain't the summer of '80 with a late August baby". And we all know about those late August babies, they're crazy.

Had a great run through the Mid-West a couple of weeks ago and would like to think all of the folks in Lenexa and the packed house at the Snorty Horse in Columbia. This leads me to thanking the Bruns' family for having us over again for Matt's birthday, and since we saw them last they welcomed their new baby girl Avery. The fishing was good too; just ask about the spider dance.

Did another outdoor show last week and the thermometer was at 117 where I was and I think that's just two damn hot to be playing outside on concrete. But more so I think it's too damn hot for anybody to actually be watching me play in that. Funny thing was, was that I didn't know it was an outside deal and I showed up in boots and jeans like normal. So thanks again to Candis Parvin for the quick run to Target for the shorts and flip flops. I left the tags on everything in hopes of a return but evidentially Target doesn't take back shorts with ass sweat stains.

Thanks to everyone that came out to the Naples Watermelon Festival and sweating it out with us. Had two funny things happen: (1) I proposed to a women on behalf of her suitor while on stage, and (2) had this dude tell his girl that he and I were buddies. I only found this out when I declined him the opportunity to come up and do one with the band and he had to level with me. He settled for a shout out, I hope he got lucky.

Y'all will still be seeing us out with different drummers as we are still looking for the right guy to fill the role. It's not easy; remember that you have to be able to ride in the van with somebody for hours at a time before you even play. It's like trying to find the freaking missing link. In conclusion, This Sunday you should come out to Spencer's Corner in Ft. Worth for Andy Pate. Andy has been playing for years with a ton of folks and recently has acquired some medical bills, so Scott Copeland has orchestrated this great benefit with a bunch of kick ass artists. Show starts at one, going to be a really good time.

Reading: Shit My Dad Says
Listening: Clutch

Blog for July 7, 2011

Cody Jinks, July 8, 2011

Tardy again, The New Record Begineths, All Access Texas, Shin Kabobs, and Moving On

I am sorry for not being a good blogist, our computer crapped out on us at the house and then we got another one and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it. Thank you all for your patience and understanding concerning my technical difficulties. But really I've just been very busy so I will try to get you up to speed.

We did start the new record about a month ago; we went into the studio four days straight and got a lot of work done. I normally hate being in the studio but had a pretty good time getting this one going. We will spend the rest of the summer getting it done. It will be eleven songs, some of which are years old and some that were finished right before preproduction, we're doing six or seven of them live right now.

We also did some more filming for All Access Texas at The Cajun Cowboy in Omaha; we started filming in January and finally got all of the footage I think. Heath Webb and Scott Copeland did their filming at Lola's Sixth a few weeks ago; they are the other two dudes that make up the first All Access Texas DVD.

Then it was vacation time. My Mom, Dad, Sister's family, along with me and my girls went to Gulf Shores, Alabama for a week on the beach. It was much needed break, especially after the first round of recording and schedule we played in May and early June. I did manage to burn my shins beyond recognition which has been awesome. If you weren't lucky enough to see them in person there are pictures and videos that may be leaked one day.

We're getting back to work on the record next week and we will be out running around like we always are, we also got some new girls shirts up in the merch store be sure and check those out.

And with a bit of a heavy heart I tell you that the band is no longer going to have Evan Ray on drums. Through discussions recently Evan has decided to move on, and on behalf of myself, Josh, and Jon, we wish Evan and his family well. Evan and I have played almost five hundred shows together the last four years. Josh and Evan played together for two years before they even started playing with me. What I'm saying is that once you have been on the road with someone long enough you basically become brothers. Good luck brother.

Blog for May 30, 2011

Cody Jinks, June 1, 2011

Happy Birthday Nolan, Fests, A New Record, and Ramon Noodles

Let us start with the announcement of the birth of Nolan Lloyd Thompson, Josh and Katie welcomed their new son into the world Monday afternoon and everyone is well. We are all happy for y'all, and on a personal note to Nolan: Listen to your dad; he's a good dude.
We've had couple of fun ones the last couple of weeks. We did the fourth biannual Frost Fest and had great time as usual. Thanks to everyone that comes out and has a good time with us, it seems to get bigger every time. Thanks again to our friend Nate Kipp for jamming with us.We also had the fourth annual Fuhst Fest. It was a pleasure once again to be a part of the party. Jason has become a very close friend of ours over the years and the party has become a really cool gathering of the most eclectic group of people, good times. It was also Jon's thirty second birthday that day, happy birthday to Jon.
So, a new record. A lot of you have heard us doing some of the new material, the bar tests. We go in to start recording in a couple of weeks, I'm ready. The response to the new ones has been great and we're excited to be going to work on another album. If all goes well we should be looking at a late Summer/early Fall release.
Today's random thought is on Ramon Noodles. I love Ramon Noodles, anyone in a band has lived off of Ramon Noodles at one point in time, but I still love them so. Back in the day if we had some hot dog wieners or some bologna to add into the Ramon, it was a feast. I still keep Ramon Noodles on hand and go through a box ever couple of weeks. It's soul food as much; I will never eat a pack of Ramon Noodles and not be glad. Ramon Noodle Recipe: For best results crush noodles in the bag, dump in bowl and add water. Microwave on high for a minute fifty three, mix powder, mix 2-3 ice cubes because your too damn hungry to wait.

Reading: A book on Folk Rock
Listening: Dire Straits

By The Way: We will be filming again at The Cajun Cowboy on June 11 for extra footage, if you didn't make it the first time don't miss this time.

Blog for May 10, 2011

Cody Jinks, May 10, 2011

Headline says... Obama heads to Texas to woo Hispanics on immigration reform. Cool, when he's here he can help put out some of the fires, or better yet he could go campaign along the Mississippi. But then again, screw'em they're red states anyway. Politics ain't my thing, Republicans, Democrats, it's professional wrestling. They talk a bunch of shit, make a show out of it and go out for call girls and drinks afterwards. It's a show. But I guess our nation's leader doesn't get it. I don't understand the glory grabbing for the Bin Laden killing. I don't understand how he could have the nerve to campaign in Texas right now with so many natural disasters.

Thousands are displaced around our country and he's campaigning immigration reform which really pisses me off even more. Hey Mr. President, close the damn border and have a nice trip back to D.C. But I do get it you see, the way he's taking credit for the assassination of Bin Laden which has turned to campaigning. What was his rating two weeks ago? No class in politics, no honor among thieves, no shame. My final point on this soapbox issue is the fact that the celebrations that took place after news of Bin Laden's death sat uneasy with me. We looked like a third world country on the nightly news. Do you think this ends the war? Do you think we're going to start bringing the troops home because of this? Our heroic leader made that a campaign promise three years ago, didn't happen. What makes you think it's different now? Empty promises for a nation that needs a leader now more than ever, maybe one day we will find one.

Had a pretty cool week, spent some time in South Texas catching up with an old friend and making new ones. Thank you Sam and Sarah again, and Sam just call me when ever you want those didgeridoo lessons. The band played for eight people Friday night in a 2,500 capacity building; however those eight were there to see us. I think.

I've also been doing a songwriters thing on Mondays in Denton at the Love Shack. I have a different writer every week and having a pretty good time doing it. Unless you come to see me at Adair's or The Elephant you really won't hear me say a lot on stage, so I'm learning to be better at banter.

Friday night we're at Adair's and Saturday night we'll be doing the fourth Frost Fest at The Jerry Frost Ranch in Bryan's Mill near Marietta. It's always a good time,

B.Y.O.B.; bring tents, campers or whatever. We've been looking forward to it, see y'all there.

Reading: American Songwriter Magazine

Listening: Willis Alan Ramsey

Blog for April 13, 2011

Cody Jinks, April 13, 2011

Honored, Private show entertainment, France's finest line dancers, I got to see a cool show, and "Hometown Station"

My goodness there is much to talk about; we shall run it all down from good to bad. I will start with the good. Last Friday night Cpl. Ned Johnson of the Marines (as well as Josh's brother in law) presented the band with a flag that had been flown over their camp in Afghanistan in our honor. He and Josh had concocted the plan to do this without me knowing. Had I known, I wouldn't have let it happen. Cpl. Johnson got up and spoke of forty six days of intense fighting, the Marines played my record during this time to help get through it. I was extremely touched, my greatest honor as a musician.

Saturdays' show was fine in Denison and Sunday I was down in Kingwood at my friends The Gallagher's place. I've gotten to know them over the last couple of years when I've gone down for some acoustic stuff. We usually hang out in the garage and driveway having a few, eating fajitas, and so on. So I get there, say hi, b.s. a minute and go get my guitar case, all the while there is a dude across the street power washing the hell out of his driveway. No problem, everybody needs to power wash the driveway from time to time, but after I had been playing for thirty minutes or so I commented on how he was still going. I was then informed that he had gotten started on it at about noon and it was then about five and he was about a quarter of a car length from being done. It all got so much funnier when the neighbor two doors down decides to move his boat around with a tractor that had a front hitch and possible carburetor problems stalled out in the middle of the street five or six times. Between the ailing tractor and the power wash king we got some songs done and had good time. But power wash dude, if you don't want to be inside that bad don't spend six hours washing a thirty foot driveway, get a divorce. That would look to be easier.

The following Tuesday we were back at Adair's acoustic and we had about sixty people from France come in. Those line dance clubs don't drink or buy any merch, so their line dancing was cut short after one song as by order of the bar. I don't know anybody anywhere that likes line dance clubs, except people in line dance clubs of course.

Last Monday night I went to see Scott Copeland, Mike McClure, Jason Eady, and Evan Felker of The Turnpike Troubadours, with Sam Anderson opening. It was good, really digging The Turnpike Troubadours stuff right now.

Had good shows last week, went capacity Saturday night and I have eighty or ninety blooms on my rose bush. I watered and then it rained.

Now I will dive into what I've been waiting to dive into, let me discuss with you my final thoughts for the day. I assume that if you read these blogs you have seen that I really like to keep them loose, nothing to serious usually. However on this I will give it to you straight, no joking. This past week Scott Copeland was fired from 95.9 The Ranch from his Sunday evening show for being racy, over the top, and not playing enough Texas/Red Dirt music. Big surprise. The Ranch has relinquished any remaining credibility they might have had in my humblest of opinions. Years ago this station started as a platform for "Texans, Outlaws, and Legends" and has now slipped into the ranks of the other pay to play stations that are trying desperately to get the general listening audience to believe they are something they are not.

What they are is just another pay to play corporate entity that is guilty of the same crap as the bigger country stations around here that they make fun of. The difference is that they hide behind the "Texas/Red Dirt" name, and the fact that they are the home town station. My next point…"Texas/Red Dirt", if I go the rest of my life and don't have to hear those three words in regards to a particular scene or movement it will be too soon. Let me break this down for you briefly, a long time ago you had a bunch of real music outlaws coming out of our state doing it their way. Townes, Guy, Shaver, Willie, I could go on and on. Those guys were doing it on their own with really good material, so the scene was set years ago. Fast forward through some good ones through the years to the late nineties and early two thousands to your Boland and The Stragglers, Randy, Wade, Stoney and basically everyone the frat boy bands have been trying to emulate since. You know the frat boy bands I'm talking about, the ones without balls enough to be a good country or rock band. So instead you get shitty pop country songs with a little fiddle or steel for some reach at credibility under the increasingly laughable umbrella of … You guessed it, "Texas/Red Dirt".

At the end of the day there are two kinds of music, good and bad, we also understand that radio stations have to play a certain mix of material for a large demographic so there is no problem there. Don't tout yourself as something you're not, don't hide behind labels, a spade is a spade. People I know that have wanted to hear me on our "hometown station" have been told I'm not country rock enough.

So to our beloved station, I ask you keep refusing to play my songs. And lastly, you knew what you were getting with Copeland when he started; I guess there is no accounting for taste. By the way, I was scheduled to be Scott's guest this last week. Funny.

Listening: Roothogradio.com, 95.3 The Range, Turnpike Troubadours

Blog for March 30, 2011

Cody Jinks, March 31, 2011

Notforgotton.tv, Miss Fiddle, Its freakin'cold, Happy Birthday Adair's, and Roothogradio.com

Right on schedule, let us begin. We played a newer place a couple of weeks ago called The Texas Bull and I would like to brag on them for Notforgotton.tv. They have a live feed that anyone can watch online but was set up for our people serving all over the world. It's the next best thing to being there I hope. I know we had people tuned in from three or four countries, including my buddy Sean from Taji, Iraq. And there were those of you tuned in from all over the country as well, so "Right On" to the The Texas Bull in Gainesville. And to our good friends Tina and Vic who placed the highest bid and set a record for the most money spent on a signed show poster for the bar. The money raised goes to keep the live programming going. And thanks to Tina for selling my merch too.

Went out to El Dorado, Arkansas and did a private show for a friend of the bands birthday. I think Tommy and his family has seen us in three different states and we had a great time at their place. But I think the highlight for the band was having Miss Clancy Ferguson sit in with us on the fiddle. A complete surprise to us, she was just there at the party with her fiddle and she just came up and laid it down. We got to talk to her some over the course of the night and her knowledge of country and bluegrass blew me away. A very talented young woman with an old soul of thirteen, Clancy you can jam with us anytime.

Did another private thing at another friends place this weekend when the cold front blew in. The band raided the coat closet as were playing outside, but it didn't matter because we ended up playing acoustic inside anyway. Thanks for the fajitas Jeff.

Did the TXRDR with Justin Frazell on Sunday afternoon with a bunch of people I didn't fit with and then was off to Adair's for their 48th birthday party. I've spent more time on that stage than any other and as usual the crowd was great. I suppose I know most of the people there by now anyway but it's still a great place and has been my home every other Tuesday for the past three plus years.

And finally, I met Josh from Roothogradio.com Sunday night and he told me about his station, you have to check it out. If you listen to it and like it hit the donate link, we all know the radio sucks because if it didn't we wouldn't have satellite and online stations.

Reading: Allen Ginsberg

Listening: Social Distortion and Roothogradio.com

December 30, 2010

Cody Jinks, December 31, 2010

Merry Christmas...My Bad, Fine Entertainment, and to a Good New Year

Once again, I hope this finds you well. I hope you're always well enough to find this. Let me preface with this: I got to see most of my close family this Christmas with the exceptions of Dad's brothers and Aunt Jesse's crew on Mom's side. It was about a thousand mile Christmas for me and my girls this year and we were stretched thin. Short story long, I wrote a song Christmas Eve when it seemed that all of the women in my life were probably pissed at me with changing the plans last minute. It was with good intentions I assure you. So I had a "Merry Christmas from the Family" moment and wrote the only Christmas song I've ever done. Look for it next year. We had a great Christmas, I'm just a Scrooge and I admit it.

I did go to see Scott Copeland last week with Jon and we ran out of gas on the way which really pissed me off because I was showing an eighth of a tank and the little yellow light wasn't on. But a call in to AAA made it right. That's the second time this year they've saved me. AAA, if you're reading this, I would love to do an ad for you, maybe sing a little jingle: "Who's gonna save your ass...AAA, Hey!" Scott Copeland is someone musicians go to see and I wish I could go see him more. He says what we all want to, but are afraid we'll get our assess kicked.

So there's not much from the road this month as December is slow, but I hope your Christmases were great, I hope your peoples are well.

Now onto what I will say should get some Grammy attention. The Union by Elton John and Leon Russell will give you back the hope you thought you had lost in modern music. It's the best stuff I've heard in a long time. I'm a huge Elton John fan because of my mother and her LP collection which contains most of his works from the seventies and eighties. I'm a Leon Russell fan because in one night I got to roadie, bartend, and watch one of the coolest musical experiences of my life. Me and Bobby Duncan were charged with unloading Leon's band's equipment and it was in a bobtail pulled behind the bus. I didn't know I was to do this until my boss at the bar said it was written into Leon's contract that the bar was to provide roadies. Guess who?... So, Bobby and I go out to help. Bobby had been called in, we start backing Leon's piano down the ramp, steep ramp and we're both on the downhill side with boots dug in, trying not to let this heavy freaking piano that belongs to a world renowned musician rumble down a ramp to the concrete. We made it. Of that day, all I can remember is the piano inside, seeing Leon whiz by the window on the sidewalk on his rascal and a show that opened up another world. It was 2004.

Listening to:The Union. (If "Gone to Shiloh" doesn't bring a tear to your eye, we probably shouldn't have a discussion.)
Reading: Keith Richard's Life
Just watched: True Grit. If you know me, I'm a Bridges fan, I'm a Cohen Brothers fan, I'm a John Wayne fan. I think I must have seen most of John Wayne's films growing up. I'd watch them late at night--they were great. True Grit passes my test. "Fill your hands you son-of-a-bitch," Dad's favorite line.

December 8, 2010

Cody Jinks, December 8, 2010

The kids, Good shows in East Texas, One more obnoxious network primetime "Country Music" awards show, and "You can have my copy, he's my friend"...

And a fine December evening to all of you fine folks, as usual I hope this finds you well. Just a few things to discuss tonight so let's get going, first off, I got to speak to the eighth grade students from Region 8 in Mt. Pleasant last Tuesday. As usual the kids had great questions about where they should go to school for specific careers in the arts and technology, who my favorite writers are, how long it took me to grow my beard and other inquisitive things. I always have fun speaking with them. Staying in East Texas, I can't leave out the last couple of shows we had out there. We finally made it back out to The Cajun Cowboy and had a Helluva show Friday and brought some of the folks there with us to Winnsboro Saturday night to The Double C and did it again.

 
Second, let me allow myself to give one huge round of applause to whomever it was that decided to give "Country Music" another award show. The others haven't had any real merit for some time now and I guess saying "The fifty third annual" anything just doesn't sound right. It sounds...old. My goodness, what shall we do? Let's just make another bad awards show to stroke each other off a little more. And...let's have a whole bunch of non-"country" acts there as well to spice it up and keep it fresh, you know some rappers and some washed up eighties hair metal guys. The categories will be basically the same, it's just more "Country" flavored pop bullshit we can force feed the masses while we've got a good run on it. Oh, and it will be the same bullshit acts as on the other shows too, the models that get up to sing their karaoke tracks that some hack wanna be songwriter wrote as part of his quota for his publishing deal. They can have their pretty singers that can't play their own guitars while not singing their own shitty songs and give them some more award shows as far as I'm concerned. I will keep doing whatever it is I'm doing, and writing what it is that I'm writing. I'm just afraid to call my stuff "Country"...What a dirty word that is anymore.

On a positive note: Today's feel good story leaves us with one ticket free friend and one musically satisfied Texas Highway Patrolman. Tonight I got a call from a family friend that was dog tired on her way home to New Boston headed East on I-30 through Mt. Vernon, the home of our recently departed first Dallas Cowboy, Dandy Don Meredith. We will call our friend "Shmortney" to protect her identity; she was doing eighty miles an hour when "The Man" lit her up. He asked her why she was going so fast and she noted that she was tired, it had been a long day, and she had just put a CD in and was cruising. The trooper then said "It must have been a good CD". She assured him it was, for it was one of her friends and she would give the trooper her copy if he wanted, but not like a bribe because those are illegal. And the trooper was still welcome to write her a ticket and take the CD both though she wouldn't be happy. He took the CD in trade for a warning, so once again I've done it. Shmortney, next one's on me.

Reading: Luke, Capote
Listening: Alice In Chains, Bing Crosby Christmas (Mom's Favorite)