Dan Simonis and The West Texas Cowgirls Roadside Stop

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From time to time Dan Simonis, while on the road, will stop and set up shop when he feels he has a hot spot for people to buy his album/coffee. He has done this on Highway 66, outside of Dallas, in Bakersfield and other places. So somewhere on our great American highways he set up his tent, put up his backdrop-- decorated Au Western frontier, and displayed his new Album and his Cowgirl coffee 1 pound packages. These were promoted by the famous Cowgirls themselves:

West Texas Jennifer

West Texas Ariel



West Texas Puspa



West Texas Jill

Sure enough, truckers by the dozen stopped to see just what was going on. Vacationers who had enough of bad motel coffee wanted the Cowgirl Coffee to revive and rejuvenate. And all were intrigued by Dan's new album, with all the bonus trinkets inside. Why, even Highway patrol stopped to have a free cup o' Joe and wished them well. Everything was selling like hotcakes from their tent:

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When all was said and done, Dan made plenty of bank. He folded up the tent, put the remaining product in leather bags, rolled up the backdrop and put it all in the trunk of the caddy. We last saw him driving over the mountain with the girls as the last rays of sunlight died out. Another successful day on the road with Dan Simonis and the West Texas Cowgirls:

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Humble Texas

There are many towns in America that have unique names. But Texas leads in the competition for the top 10. Theirs Fairview, followed in order by Midway, Oak Grove, Franklin and Riverside, Centerville, Mount Pleasant, Georgetown, Salem, and Greenwood. And Dan Simonis has played in every one of these town's bars. Being the struggling working artist, he has paid his dues on sometimes little to no patrons.
But being the working class hero, he stuck it out to become the artist he is today.

He talks about the war stories of being on the road, but one town stands out in his mind. That was Humble Texas. Its an all-American kind of town, and he took a liking to the small town flavor. He went as far as buying 40 acres and putting 30 heads of cattle on the grassy prairie. He finds Humble to be a lost heritage, a town that is the salt of the earth lost in the modern day. It was what inspired him to write "Back to Austin". He comments, "Humble is a place that is food for the soul, giving space for the heart to breathe."

And so we leave him in his restful state of mind, knowing that it is conducive for the artistic flow that musicians need. Humble Texas, a place you can kick up your boots and rest a spell.

West Texas Millionaires Steal the Stage...Literaly

Dan Simonis and the West Texas Millionaires have been on a highway robbery tour through Texas. They will slip into small clubs and tell the head bar tender that they are ready to set up and play, they got the go ahead of the owner and will split the door with the bartender. Well, what bartender could pass that up? So he lets them in, knowing the other band has their name already on the marquee, but an opening band that splits the money that the other would not sounds pretty good.

So Dan and the boys move like lightning getting set up, usually before happy hour begins. It is usually the busiest time 'cause there are drink specials, so a little for the door ain't so bad. The band goes through their set and they all start making toasts to get the crowd even more drunk.
They also have set up a donation jar in front of the stage for little Billy, a fictional character they dreamed up. You see, little Billy suffers from busy knees, a syndrome in which he can't help from bopping one or the other knee, up and down like an oil pumper, as fast as he can. It can get real annoying on a wood floor feeling it vibrate at 120 knee bops per minute.

When Dan knows the crowd is drunk enough, he tells this story and dedicates a song to little Billy, asking the people to just give what they can. Everybody in the house is skunk drunk and crying, pulling out wads of bills and filling the pickle jar plum full. The songs continue for just another 30 minutes and Dan plays the finale. The crowd roars, the band breaks down, happy hour is over at 6, everybody staggers home.

Then the real band arrives to an empty hall. "What the hell is goin' here!!" yells the band leader as the owner pulls in his Cadillac. "You know the terms, no crowd, no pay". When the band leader goes to the bar and asks why it's such a slow night, the bar tender replies, "Oh it ain't no slow night, these fellers called The West Texas Millionaires came through at happy hour and plum made bank for the night. Nice boys."

This scenario is starting to wear on his base fans, who can't figure out where he is playing next, since this formula pays twice as much and does not want to give his next destination away. Not only that, the other bands, of course, are sending out tracers to keep tabs on him, so Dan has to switch cars

Of course you know this means war.