The Nightmare

37 black! 37 black! ahhh noooo! THIRTY SEVEN BLACK!!!

Dan bolts straight up in bed, covered in sweat, shaking uncontrollably. "The dream again?" asked Puspa. "Wha? uh oh yeah, the dream...again" Dan answered. It happened again over the Thanksgiving weekend, as it always has happened over 15 years now. He can't seem to shake it because he is still living with black 37 to this day.

Dan and the boys were at their top top, where bands only visit once, maybe twice in their career. They had been playing the Sands in Las Vegas, getting top billing with David Lee Roth. They had an ongoing gig for the next 6 months, and they were filling every fantasy with each payday check. When they were not playing, Dan would go to the slot machines, not wanting to get into an addiction with gambling, and play a few innocent rounds of the one armed bandit.

He would quit when his pocket of quarters ran empty, that was his rule, and not play again until next payday. The other guys dove all the way in, playing the roulette wheel, black Jack and straight up poker. Some of them were getting rather lucky, pulling in 4 to 5 g's a week. It could have been a set up, making sure the house band was happy. Either way, it started to affect Dan, seeing that he was the headliner, and his back up band were getting an extra stipen through gambling. So one day Dan moved up to the roulette wheel. 4 hours later, Dan walked away with 6,940 dollars.

Time goes on, they had completed their 6 month contract and they wanted one last night of gambling. Dan had wins and losses, as well as the other band members. David Lee Roth warned Dan that he should check himself, that he could get burned. Dan just laughed and bought David a toupee. Back at the table, Dan set up for a long night, as well as the band. They had made a bet amongst themselves, whoever won the most that night won 5,000 from the others. Dan was doing well, but the poker table was buzzing about the amount the band members were putting up on bids. Things were getting frantic, high wins and some devastating losses. That only spurred them on, which makes for rash decisions.

Then it happened, almost too coincidental, all at once. 3 band members went bankrupt on blackjack, the drummer busted on Texas Hold 'em, and Dan was signing over the Cadillac to play 37 black on the roulette table. 37, his age, that he thought was lucky. Fact is, it was his greatest year to be alive. He had everything...everything until that last spin of the wheel. "37 black, 37 black, common 37 black" repeated Dan. The rest of the band began to accumulate around him, totally broke, and watched the wheel. They did not know how bad he was losing, they did not want to let it be known that they were flat broke. 37 black! 37 black! 37 blaaaaaachhkk...

Now sobbing, Dan simply kept repeating "37 black". A complete breakdown. How did it get this far? How did he lose control? He knew what he had to do, and he hated thinking about doing it, but it had to be done. Dan called Colonel Bret Austin, told him the whole story, and the Colonel was on his jet the next morning. The good Colonel bought back the Cadillac, had his accountant tally the damages, and discovered that none of the West Texas Millionaires had filed taxes on the monies earned over the past 6 months of playing the Sands. That totaled 1.6 million dollars altogether.

The Colonel penned an agreement that is still binding today. He absorbed the cost, on the condition that they work off their debt by releasing 6 albums over 20 years, including a rigorous tour schedule, no gambling for the duration, undertaking breathalyzer tests during shows and every day they must make time to listen to one hour of Rush Limbaugh.

Dan is still reeling from the night mare, but had to get up and start his day. He makes a latte to go, slobs some peanut butter on toast and out the door he goes. The Cadillac starts up with a purr, and as we see that beautiful white Cadillac go out of the driveway, you can faintly hear the car radio crackle with the voice of Rush Limbaugh preaching the morals of a good American...

Texas Radio

It finally happened, West Texas Millionaires now have their own radio show, and it is very exciting to have this avenue on the internet, as we have yet another way of entertaining your senses through the ear canal. Not since Dan broadcasted over the cb airwaves back in the late 70's to traveling truck drivers has he had this great opportunity to share his music to the masses.

We are going to prepare our next program so that everyone has an opportunity to call in and ask Dan some questions about his upcoming album/cd, and to inquire into his other interests, like going to the Bonneville salt flats, and his interest in Nudie western ware.

So keep checking our blog for the next show, slated for Saturday at 12 noon Arizona time, which will make it 8pm in Europe, so you can enjoy the show before bedtime. We really appreciate your support in reading our blogs and that you have an interest in Americana/Western music that made such an impact on American culture.

Get Along Little Doggy

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Sometimes when your band is on tour for an extended period of time, the stress of the road starts wearing down on you and ends up in words not meaning to be said, resulting in feelings being hurt, and facial structures being altered. The West Texas Millionaires had been on the US tour for a year and eight months in 1989, had broken into the top 50 country charts, and the boys were each worth over 400 grand. Despite all this, they needed to let off some steam and relax, and Dan knew the exact refuge to escape too.

They were near Abilene Texas, where a relative of his named Earl Simonis had an interesting ranch which got out of the cattle business, due to the drop in beef prices, for a new product: herding foxhounds. Yep, it's a lucrative business, raising them from pups, running them across the range to learn the scents of the land, then sell them to customers mainly in Manassas Virginia to hunt.

Earl Simonis is a well known fox hound handling expert, who for many years has practiced and taught low stress methods for moving fox hounds on Texas Praries. The Earl Simonis methods of calm, slow movement of fox hounds on pastures can be defined as a stimulus-response relationship.

The day starts early, Dan and the boys finished up breakfast and saddled up, yelling and whistling to get the dogs started. They cover the east quarter of the 500 acre ranch till the dogs reach the first water tank for a brief break. Then its off to the north quarter, which can cause the dogs to stray and therein a cowboy has to round up those that got off the trail.

Lunch time, and Dan is wiping the sweat off his forehead, tired, dusty, and needing to refill his canteen to get the raw throat tender again. A bite of beef jerky and their off again. They are behind schedule, so the boys are going to have to push the fox hounds hard to make it to the west end of the ranch to bed down for the night. Whoopin and a hollerin they finally make it to the water tank and just in time too, the herd has spent their energy, and the boys dont want to lose too much weight off of the herd.

After the pack has been feed and watered, the boys then get their vittles cooking: fat back with pinto beans with salt water cornbread. As the sun starts to go down, Dan gets out his guitar, begins to sing his favorite trail song, and as he gets into the high range of the chorus, the whole herd of Fox hounds join in, howling in unison into the late hours of the night's full moon. It does'nt get any better than this.