Whiskey Haulers: News

Thanks everyone for hangin' with us at the Washoe Club in Virginia City. We had a great time and the energy was electric. I have not heard such crowd participation on Velvet Elvis is a long time.

Special thanks to Michael Thompson for sitting in on Harp for a set. He's a real pro and added to the sound of the band.

We had so much fun we ended up sitting around at the bar after packing up our gear. Cliff and Jennifer told us all about the history of the Washoe Club including showing us the bullet holes in the ceiling and big mirror behind the bar. We were so engrossed in the stories and so pumped after the show that we lost track of time. I finally looked at my watch and it was 4:30! Luckily, we had a room for the night but, let me tell you, the drive home the next day was pure hell!

For those of you who have not been out in a while....

There is sump'n brewing down at 3rd Street Blues on Thursday nights. Greg has hired the Blue Haven band to run the weekly blues jam and it is a hit! The bar is comfortably full and hoppin' for a Thursday night. Rich does a great job of lining up groups of players so that everyone gets a chance to shine and the music quality is often (not always) very good.

It's a laid back atmosphere and a lot of fun. If anyone plays an instrument and loves the blues, come on down and sit in and hang out with other musicians that have lots in common.

If you aren't a player, come on down and dance to the best blues you can find in Reno on a Thursday Night.

Check out the new Music section for a couple of original tunes and a video from our last gig at the Washoe Club.

Check back often as we will be adding more pictures, music and videos soon including a separate folder of high resolution professional pictures by Josh!

Congratulations to our very own Nick "Cleanhead" Klaich and his new bride Katie! The two were married in a beautiful ceremony on Mt. Rose. They are going to be in the islands for a couple of weeks so the band is taking a brief break.

The Haulers were all in attendance and particularly well-behaved, I must say. Don't let our respectable behavior fool ya though, we will be back in full force and as rowdy as ever at the Street Vibrations Kickoff Party at Abby's on September 20.

See you there!

Joe and I got some free tickets to the Reno "Blues" Festival last weekend. Mostly R&B acts. Tommy Castro stole the show even though he had strep throat and couldn't hardly sing. He played great and it was good to see him as I haven't seen him in a couple of years.

The turnout was slightly better than in the two previous years and it was more comfortable due to cooler temps and some shade, but the rows and rows of empty chairs, lots of security, and several layers of VIP zones where still there which really ruined the atmosphere.

We had a couple of beers and enjoyed Tommy's show and then bailed early most likely because we were still tired from the all-night party at the Sonora Blues Festival the Saturday before.

I think a couple of the better local bands (Whiskey Haulers!) on a side stage and some regional big-stage bands (MOFO Party Band, Shane Dwight, Kenny Blue Ray, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Ron Hacker, R.J. Mischo, etc, ect, there are many!......) would fill in the gaps between headliners nicely and bring out more of the local crowd.

I wish the Reno Blues Festival the best of luck in the future and hope it grows bigger and bluesier.

Another weekend off for the Haulers as Nick is busy fightin' fires and rescuing kittens from trees!

Joe and I took the opportunity to head down to Sonora and look for some inspiration at the Sonora Blues Festival. What a time we had!

We rolled in just before the Mofo Party Band went on stage. Midway through the set, John Clifton saw us from the stage and said "The Great Blues Band, the Whiskey Haulers from Reno are here". That was too cool and we had people talking to us all day after that. Those guys are the best! It was great to see them again and they really tore it up and stole the show like they always do.

Other performers included Sonny Landreth, Little Feat, Mick Martin, Shane Dwight, John Nemeth, and Cafe R&B. I was really impressed by Cafe R&B. They are really talented and put on a great show. Bluesier than their name implies. Check them out if you get a chance.

I didn't see anyone I recognized from Reno down there. This is a first class festival that is fairly close to town and in a beautiful location. Next year I am going to round up the troops and get a whole group to go and camp out.

So be ready for next year!

Geno

Thanks for everyone who came out to party with us in Virginia City! We had a hot show on a cool summer night at historic Washoe Club. This was our second show up there and the first one was in the middle of a blizzard last December! We had fun with Cliff, Sherrie, and the whole gang and really soaked up the ambiance of the place.

If you haven't been to a show at the Washoe, you are missing out on a unique experience. The uncrowded atmosphere make it comfortable and fun, the high ceilings make the band sound really good, and the owners, bartenders, and locals are a fun group of characters! There are always folks out on the dancefloor consisting of miners, tourists, bikers, locals, and cowboys all mixed in together! Everyone fits in at the Washoe!

Hope to see you again at the next show and check out the new photos in the Gallery!

Off to Taylorsville this weekend. The best kept secret in the Sierras. This is one fun festival and Kenny Neal is the headliner this year. He is one of my favorites and always puts on a great show! I will give you details when I get back.

Geno

June 20, 2006 may be considered the birthdate of the Whiskey Haulers! On this day, Brad, Geno, Joe & Nick rehearsed for 1 hour, then performed a 3-song set at the Sidelines Bar. The 3 songs were Dallas, Folsom Prison Blues, and Dancing Shoes. Today we're bootleggin' the same blues. Thanks for listening!

Let's have a toast to the next year.

RBrad

The Whiskey Haulers’ June 15, 2007 gig at 3rd Street Blues turned out to be another memorable show. The show was a double bill with Reno’s local Jason King Band – what a great group of guys to hang with! As the story goes, Jason and Geno went to high school together and Jason was with Geno when Geno bought his first guitar.

The Whiskey Haulers started off the show at 8:15PM. Did we forget to say, this was Geno’s bachelor party?! Geno and Judy were getting married the following day. What a lucky guy! In attendance were members from Geno’s family, Judy’s family and some of our closest friends. Another packed barroom!

Besides our usual bootleggin’ blues, the highlight of the Whiskey Haulers’ set was an all-star jam with Jason King (guitar) and Freddie (harmonica). Most memorable was “Big Brown Eyes” dedicated to Judy. During the jam, Geno put down his guitar to dance with the future Mrs. Tortelli while the band was laying down the blues. Geno didn’t miss a beat as he was back on stage to sing the closing verse and chorus!

The Jason King Band closed the night with a fiery 3 hour set of Rock and Blues. Joe played guitar with the Jason King Band on a few tunes because he could hardly stop playing.

RBrad

Hello Bootleggers!

Thanks for the hundreds of emails I recieved with friendly reminders to update the website! Some of the reminders got pretty creative. I would list a few but this is a family show.......

BLUE HAVEN 10 YEAR BASH IS IN THE BOOKS!

Thanks again to everyone who came out to celebrate Blue Haven's 10 year anniversary. It was a night I will never forget. The day before the show, I get an email from Haven letting me know that they have arranged to have the whole show professionally recorded! The show is in the process of being mixed down right now and hopefully soon we might have a track or two that sound alright! Be sure to listen for us on the KTHX blues show if we get something we can use. Enough about that.. On to the show.

The energy in Third Street Blues was electric. The Blue Haven guys helped us out through a short sound check and everything sounded well balanced. At 8:00 sharp on my G-Shock watch (thanks Dad!) Mike "Funky" Komadina introduced the band with all the energy of a fire and brimstone Baptist Preacher. The Whiskey Haulers were on!

We only had an hour to play so we played most of our original tunes and a couple of our favorite covers. The dance floor filled up even before the first verse of "Sunset and Vine" was finished. Looking out in the crowd, there were a bunch of new people, familiar faces, and the whole Mofo Party Band at table right up front! We have followed the Mofo's for years and it was a special treat to play for guys that we consider the very best! Everyone in the place was grooving and had a big smile on their face! We finished the set with "Velvet Elvis". The crowd response was incredible and I saw Rich "Full Moon" Maloon giving us the thumbs up from the side of the stage!

We pulled it off!

Blue Haven came out next and showed everyone where 10 years of hard work and dedication will get you. I have seen them dozens of times and it seems like they are better every time I see them. They played a great set and the place was packed with long-time fans calling out their favorite Blue Have songs. As their Tee Shirts say.... Nothing Like Being a Haven Head!

There was a short break and then the Mofo Party Band took the stage. Most people had never seen them and did not know what to expect. If you weren't there, you really missed something that I can't explain. Funky says it best..

"Seeing the Mofo Party Band is like going to church and going to a boxing match all at the same time."

They take the stage with so much energy they almost knock you over in the first couple of notes. By the end of the first song you are sweating, your voice is gone from shouting, your drink is knocked over no matter where you put it (or if you were holding it), and your memory card on your digital camera is full. And thats just the first song! It gets better from there.

John and Bill Clifton, Jake, and Daniel all seem to feed off the energy of the crowd and it was a barn burner. I really can't describe it more than that. You have to experience it. If you haven't seen them, go see them soon!

The Mofo Party Band played two killer sets and then members of Blue Haven and Mofo got together for an all star jam.

It was a night none of us will ever forget!


Check back soon for some pictures of the show. I am in the process of gathering them from various cameras.

Last August, we had a family reunion in Santa Barbara. Looking through the local paper, I saw that the Santa Barbara Blues Society was having their annual shindig that very weekend. Joe and I decided to go check out the local blues scene.

Figuring on a beautiful outdoor festival underneath warm California skies, we donned our usual music festival gear. With Joe in his Blue Haven tank top and headband, we would have been right at home in Taylorsville!

Santa Barbara is different my friends! This was a dockers, polo shirt, fine wine crowd if I have ever seen one. The show was in a big cold rectangular hall with lots and lots of chairs (reminded me of the last two Reno Blues Festivals, but thats another story!). I went up to the bar and ordered a bud light. I thought they we going to have me arrested by the look on the guys face. I ended up with a so and so's award winning mirco-brew that tasted like soy sauce with just a hint of choke-cherry. Whatever, after drinking 3 of these, my $20 was spent and I was ready for the music.

I don't recall the first couple of bands that played. They were O.K. more a whitewashed blend of R&B than low-down, dirty blues. Must have a dozen or so people rumpling their dockers out on the dance floor at any given time.

Just as dissapointment was setting in, the headliner Henry Harris- aka Southside Slim took the stage.

Southside Slim took the stage with all the dazzle and splash you would expect from a modern blues guitar slinger from L.A. Slim is almost over the top.

His unique vocal style reminds me of someone explaining something crazy that just happened to him; out of breath, voice cracking, just filled with excitement. Then he trails off his vocals with a heavy vibrato that puts a smile on your face.

His guitar style is ferocious in its attack. He's a fast player but keeps it bluesy at all times. I really dig this modern style that's rooted in old blues traditions. he never resorted to scale acrobatics in his solos like I have heard so many so called blues players do. He plays in high energy, almost reckless, bursts which fit his style perfectly.

His stage presence is naturally high in energy. He doesn't use canned Chuck Berry moves, but rather just moves and grooves to the song. He was damn near down on the floor for the low notes, bent over backwards on the bends, and it felt like he was in the crowd challanging anyone during the rhythm.

Southside Slim really tore the place down and made the whole night worth it!

Joe and I each bought a couple of CDs. He is on a small label, southside records, and the recorded tracks vary quite a bit. Blues, R&B, and even heavier experimental rap stuff are recorded. By far the best CD, and highly recommended, is a live recording done at the famous Alley in Santa Cruz.

Check him out at:

http://www.southsidela.net/slim/
I highly recommend his cd "Live at the Alley"

Geno

Thanks for hanging out with us last Friday and helping us celebrate our good friend Jerry Lee's birthday. We had a great turnout and the whiskey was certainly flowing!

Jerry Lee sat in during the second set and laid down some tasty bayou licks on his hot-rod guitar until he broke not one, but two strings! That's the kind of intensity we like on stage!

The Haulers are going back to the basement! We have a couple of tracks that we want to lay down with the hope of getting some play on the local blues shows. Greg Shanklin, the host of the Saturday afternoon Blues Show on KTHX radio (100.1 FM 6-8pm) has assured us that he will play a couple of our songs if we can get him a quality CD. So with any luck, we will be able to get a couple of original tracks recorded and soon be on the radio!

Could these humble sessions be the start of our first CD?

Make sure you listen Greg's show on Saturday afternoons. Call him up and request the Whiskey Haulers! Let him know you are listening and that you support Local Blues!

Geno

Come out to Third Street Blues tonight and party with the Whiskey Haulers as we celebrate the birthday of our good friend Jerry Lee!

It should be a great time and we might even have him sit in and boil up some his signature "chicken pickin' licks" on his hot rod strat for y'all.

It's a beautiful Spring day in Reno and a great night to check out the new and improved downtown scene. Take your sweetie out to dinner and a romantic walk by the river, and then stroll on up to Third Street and dance to those swingin', jumping blues.

Who knows, you might even get lucky!

Thanks to everyone who came out to our St. Patty's Day show at Abby's. the show was a tremendous success and everyone had a great time. Something about dressing up in green always seems to get people in a festive mood.

Check our image gallery for a couple of pics from the show and we hope to see you all again soon!

Come on out and join the Whiskey Haulers for a St. Patty's Day celebration at Abby's Highway 40 Bar. We have been busy in the basement cooking up some new swingin', jumpin' blues just for ya'.



We will also have a special suprise put together by our drummer, pr man, and flier maker extraordinaire, Nick.

I was down at the Tower Records closing sale last fall and picked up bunch of cd's and videos. The standout was Volume II of the American Folk Blues Festival 1962-1966. The footage is crystal clear black and white recorded in a Germany TV Studio.

Here are the performers from Volume II.

Sonny Boy Williamson
Sunnyland Slim
Willie Dixon
Lightning Hopkins
Victoria Spivey
Memphis Slim
T-Bone Walker
Roosevelt Sykes
Matt "Guitar" Murphy
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
Howlin' Wolf (With a young Hubert Sumlin)
Big Mama Thorton

For me the highlight of the DVD is when Sonny Boy Williamson sings "Bye Bye Bird" and "My Younger Days" from 1964. He has such style and power in his voice and harmonica. This is probably some if not the last footage of the legend before he died in 1965. Watch his perfomances and think of this characterization of Sonny Boy I found on Wikipedia:

"Williamson was characterized by a hip-flask of whiskey, a pistol, a knife, a foul mouth, and a short temper. He had always worn fancier suits than he could afford, and his tour of Europe allowed him further embellishment, adding a finely tailored two-tone suit and a bowler hat to his unique, grey-goateed image."

Every track on the DVD is excellent and captures the performers in a visually creative and relaxed atmosphere. Check out the stage presence of the great Texas entertainer, Lightning Hopkins, the size and power of Howlin' Wolf, the buttery smooth guitar licks and lyrics of T-Bone Walker, and the young guns, Matt Guitar Murphy and Hubert Sumlin early in their careers getting a chance to tour with the legends.

Sometimes I think that modern blues has turned into a guitar contest with performers overlooking vocal prowness, creativity, and stage presence. Who wants to see some ill-kept and poorly dressed guy standing flat-footed staring down at his fretboard while blazing through the Mixydixylixydolian Scale?

Looking at this classic footage helps to remind me that the blues is more than just a style of music. It is a performance art. Not too fast, not too loud, plenty of emphasis on the show as well as the music, and you've got your blues cooked up to perfection!

See if you can find this dvd at your local record store (if you still have one!) or online and watch these stars at the top of their game. Seeing legends like T-Bone perform adds a whole new dimension to this great music that most people only hear on cd's or their local blues radio show.

Geno

Thanks for everyone who came out to see us at Abby's on a rainy Friday night. It was our first show there and a huge success! Check out a couple of pictures from the show in the Photo Gallery.

Abby's has so much atmosphere and everyone is so friendly that it feels just like home. Highlights of the show for those who missed it:

1) R Brad unveiled the new Fender Hot Rod DeVille amp. R.B.P. made the jump from rocker to bluesman and tore the house down with his tone! He may have been a little loud but no one was going to tell him to turn down that night. Creamy smooth tube distortion all night long!

2) Joe's new shoes! Gotta Dig 'em.

3) Celebrities in attendance! Luke from the Atomiks, Chris from Sinfull Skin Tattoo, Tom from the Valley, the artist known as Jaycee, "The Beast", and Michelle and the Wild Girls made it a great night!

Check back often as we have some fun shows we are putting together in the next couple of months.

I am trying to update the website weekly. If you stop by and it hasn't been updated, drop me an email and get on my case!

Geno

Thanks everyone who came out to Third Street Blues last Friday. We had an absolute blast playin' for you all and hope to see you again soon.

Check out a few photos from the show in our gallery.

Our next show is this Friday, February 9 at Abby's Highway 40 bar. This is a great music venue and a classic Reno hangout. Strap on your dancing shoes and come on out!

Get ready to swing and jump with the Whiskey Haulers at 3rd Street Blues on February 2nd. R Brad is back from Brasil and has brought back some hot new licks from south of the equator.

The rest of the band spent January in the basement working out some brand new material and some new twists on a couple of our classics.

Hope to see you all there!

I am officially engaged to my long time girlfriend Judy. We are both very excited about taking the next step in our relationship. Judy has always been a bit “unconventional” and is a huge supporter of my musical endeavors so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at how the whole situation went down. Dig this……

……..We decided to ring in the New Year with our good friends the Blue Haven Band at the Washoe Club in Virginia City. We got there early, got a room at the new Ramada, and had a nice dinner with Mike and Kim. Looking back on it, there was a nervous tension in the air that I thought was a little strange. I just wrote it off as New Year’s jitters. We went back to the hotel, changed, and made our way to the Washoe for a night of dancing and revelry. Everything went as planned as Haven had the whole place jumping and dancing. Midnight came and the countdown was right on. Cheri and Cliff had food, champagne, and dropped a load of balloons at the stroke of midnight. Hugs and kisses were exchanged and then the band jumped into their next song. At the end of that song, everything got strange. Mike called Judy up on stage to say a few words and she started into and emotional speech about how important I was to her. I thought it was very nice. Then out of the corner of my eye, I see Cliff, the proprietor, approaching me with a vintage rifle in this hand! Cliff made sure I didn’t bolt out the door and herded me up to the stage. Judy was just finishing her speech and concluded it by asking me to marry her! I could not have been more surprised and was happy to say yes! We danced the night away

As it turns out, just about everyone in the bar had known ahead of time except me. It really was a magical occasion and a memory that we will all cherish the rest of our lives. Thanks to Judy and her partner in crime Kim, the Washoe Club, Blue Haven, and everyone else who made it such a special night.

Geno

Hello to all you Haulers out there. The band is taking the month of January off while Brad and his wife are in Brazil. But dont be sad, the rest of the boys will be in the basement grinding out more of those Bootleggin' Boogies that you crave. Keep a sharp eye on the site because "The Whiskey Haulers" are going to be throwing a huge suitcase of blues your way in the first weekends of Feburary. . See you soon!!!

What the Whiskey Haulers are saying about their show at the Washoe Club on December 16, 2006

Brad:
“It couldn’t get much better. A winter snow storm covered the city streets. the ambiance of the Washoe Club was seductive... the original stone walls, the “newer” brick walls, the 100-year old wood floor. And they have the history going back to the Comstock days and the Millionaire’s Club. Mark Twain hung around here telling stories. Janis Joplin hung around Virginia City in the 1960’s; she had to visit the Washoe Club at some point!”

Thanks to VPoint –TRC (It’ll always be VPoint) for having the Haulers perform at the 2006 Christmas Party.

This show was sentimental for us because the Haulers were born in the VPoint basement somewhere around 2000. That’s where R. Brad and I met and began working out grooves on guitar with Marty Ugalde on drums. The “Love Pumps” never made it out of the basement, but the ‘pumps’ transformed into the “Longhaulers” with Joe on drums and Lowell Patton on bass and vocals. We played a few parties and even toured central Nevada playing gigs in Eureka, …… and well, Eureka. Eventually the Whiskey Haulers broke out of the basement with the addition of Nick on drums and Joe’s move to bass.

It was great to bring Lowell up on stage and have him sit in on bass and vocals for a couple of songs. Lowell’s vocal on “Turn the Page” and R. Brad’s wicked lead were the highlights of the show! It brought back good memories of those late nights in the basement.

Searching for the Blues – San Francisco October 27, 2006

The Hauler’s had a weekend off so Judy and I headed to the bay to see the Mofo Party Band Friday at Lou’s Pier 47 in and Johnny Nitro and the Doorslammers at the Saloon on Saturday. Man, what a weekend!

We packed up our motorcycles and headed over the hill early Friday. The trip went well other than getting a little lost in San Fran. A quick shower at the Holiday Inn Express and we were out the door. We walked around the corner and I could here the unmistakable voice of John Clifton singing “Country Girl” floating across the warf. Lou’s was comfortably full of people (mostly tourists) and the Mofos tore the place up! Bill played on the bar, John sang a cappella in the crowd, Jake thumped the stand-up bass like a madman, and Daniel keeping the steady beat! It was a great show, and best of all, there was an all-night Denny’s across the street for a late night omelet before calling it a night!

Saturday, we woke up none to early and walked all through the city. The fish market at Chinatown was definitely a trip! People were getting an early jump on Halloween and there were some people who I wasn’t sure if they were in costume or in their everyday clothes. We finally got to the oldest bar in San Francisco and I saw I had gotten my schedule mixed up so we wouldn’t get to hear Johnny Nitro sing his famous “Dirty Dishes”. Instead it was West Coast Blues Hall of Fame inductee Curtis Lawson, whose specialty is “Putting Shoes on the Rhythm and Blues”. The band, featuring Drake Levine on guitar, warmed up the crowd before Mr. Lawson took over the stage dressed to the nines in a red outfit and flashy hat. A great night of soulful R&B followed and the dance floor was packed with a fun, bluesy crowd. The Saloon is a tiny bar with a great atmosphere and should not be missed. Sunday morning we rode over the Golden Gate Bridge just to do it, turned around, and headed home with a head full of great music and some worn out dancing shoes. You can’t beat that for a weekend getaway!