Previous events

Date Event Location
Max Stalling Sons of Herman Hall, Dallas Sons of Herman Hall, Dallas
Max Stalling Denison, Tx Denison, Tx
The British are Coming! The Mansion, Dallas The Mansion, Dallas
The British are Coming! Gilley's, Dallas Gilley's, Dallas
The British are Coming! The Mansion, Dallas The Mansion, Dallas
Max Stalling Armadillo Palace - Private Event Armadillo Palace - Private Event
The British are Coming! The Mansion, Dallas The Mansion, Dallas
Max Stalling Granbury Live, Granbury Granbury Live, Granbury
Max Stalling Our Texas Tunes, Lewisville, TX Our Texas Tunes, Lewisville, TX
Max Stalling Gruene Hall, Gruene, TX Gruene Hall, Gruene, TX
Max Stalling Private Party, Falls City, TX Private Party, Falls City, TX
Max Stalling Melody Mountain Ranch, Stephenville, TX Melody Mountain Ranch, Stephenville, TX
Max Stalling Love and War in Texas, Plano, TX Love and War in Texas, Plano, TX
Max Stalling Texas Theater, Waxahachie, TX Texas Theater, Waxahachie, TX
Max Stalling Gilley's, Durant, OK Gilley's, Durant, OK
Max Stalling Dosey Doe, Spring, TX Dosey Doe, Spring, TX
Max Stalling Luckenbach Dancehall, Luckenbach, TX Luckenbach Dancehall, Luckenbach, TX
Max Stalling Larry Joe Taylor Music Fest, Stephenville. TX Larry Joe Taylor Music Fest, Stephenville. TX
Max Stalling Waxahachie Film Festival, Waxahachie, TX Waxahachie Film Festival, Waxahachie, TX
Max Stalling Wolf Pen Creek Ampitheater, College Station, tx Wolf Pen Creek Ampitheater, College Station, tx

Product Review: Remo Vintage Emperor Drumheads 

I have long been a fan of Remo drumheads and I'm sure they were the first heads I ever bought with my own money and the first I ever played on.  I have certainly tried other brands, some of these I actually like.  But after all these years of playing drums, I still find myself buying the heads that give me a consistent, reliable and pleasing tone.  Remo drumheads fit that bill.

I had previously played Remo coated Ambassador heads and then  the coated Emperor heads until Remo brought back the original Emperor head.  The original is a slightly thicker model made up of 2, 7.5 mil polyester sheets.  I don't really remember the original head as they had phased out the original model and brought in the newer, thinner model.  I was a little skeptical at first but took a chance and I am glad I did!   These heads sound fantastic in just about any setting and on any drum.  I have used these on new drums (Ludwig, Yamaha) and vintage drums as well (Slingerland, Ludwig).  The heads sounded livelier than I expected yet full and warm at the same time. Tuned down low with a little dampening, these heads were thick and heavy  sounding with some growl.  Sound men  are always astounded at the amount of low end I get with my floor toms.  Tuned higher on smaller drums they still retain a certain warmth but with the bouncier more lively feel of an Ambassador.  These heads would work great for the jazz player who like his drums tuned high but with some warm and body.

The snare drum is certainly the most important drum to most drummers so I was amazed at how much I loved this head on my snare.  I've used these heads on metal drums, wood drums, solid wood drums, deep drums and thin drums.  Every one of them sounded better with this head on. 

The descriptive words almost sound contradictory but the heads sounded crisp and sensitive yet fat and warm.  I tend to favor a medium tuning (not to high or low) and the heads really shine here. It doesn't matter if I'm in the studio or playing live, these heads always make me sound better.  On top of all of this, the heads are extremely durable. I will literally go for months without changing heads because they still sound so good.  I have even bought new heads figuring it had to be time to change out the old ones only to find that the old ones still sounded great.  I'm no heavy metal drummer but I hit fairly hard and am generally hard on my gear so I have been very impressed by these heads durability.

I have not tried the clear versions of the Vintage Emperor but I'm sure they sound just as good but with a little more attack.

I highly recommend these heads to any drummer playing any music and I think you will agree, these are excellent drum heads for any style.

Chicken Fried Cowtown. Star Cafe! 

Welcome to my first official installment on my new Blog series, "Chicken Fried Blog". 

My first stop takes us to Fort Worth, Texas; specifically the Star Cafe in the Stockyards. The Band and I were playing across the street at the Thirsty Armadillo (another story!) and our guitar player Clay suggested the Star Cafe as a good spot for a Chicken Fried Steak (known from this point on as CFS). 

The Star Cafe is a rustic little cafe that looks like it's been there for about 136 years with waitresses hovering around the same age.  I felt good about this place.  Blue haired waitresses named Tina just smacks of a good CFS!  I ordered my CFS dinner which came with mashed potatoes, a small salad (with ranch dressing of course) and a dinner roll with butter.  The first thing that struck me was the small stature of the CFS relative to the price.  I figured for $12.99, this thing was going to be mammoth.  I would call this CFS medium/small to medium in size.  I guess this was to be expected in the Stockyards (tourist trap), but hey, the waitress was friendly between puffs from her Laramie cigarette!  The overall look of the plate was haphazard at best.  Very Junior High lunch room.  For $12.99 I was at least expecting a little parsley!  The CFS itself was nice and crispy on the outside, and fairly tender on the inside.  Most places it's the other way around.  The steak had a good amount of thick gravy that I thought was a little salty.  I know it sounds a little silly to complain about its saltiness when the gravy is covering a deep fried slab of beef but I am trying to make this sound like a real food review!  The mashed potatoes were lumpy which in my book means that they (The Star Cafe) actually made them from scratch.  I'm not sure if you can get the same lumpy results with potato flakes from a box.  Maybe I should try. The side salad was typical green salad with bits of purple cabbage and bottled ranch dressing.  Overall, I would give the food a solid 7 out of 10. 

The real issues began about halfway through our set later in the evening.  Now, I'm not sure if this is my age showing or if this is normal for people who eat mass quantities of fried food but I got me a  real good case of the  heartburns that took 5 Rolaids (Walmart brand-has more sugar in them) to put the initial fire out.  Upon arriving at home around 3 a.m., I had to have a few more so I could sleep.  Maybe I need to re-think this whole blog idea.  I may actually have a real heart-attack if I do this on a regular basis.  

So I'm changing the rules.  I will continue to order at least 1 CFS per week, but I will be sharing it with my Max Stalling band mates.  I will give each member a score card so they can rate the Chicken Fried Steak of the week.  I will tally the scores and let you guys know the results.  This, I'm sure will save me some trips to the emergency room. 


So, to sum up; Star Cafe CFS -    
Heartburn - 

Till next time, keep eating you happy Hillbillies!

            

New Blog Series Coming Your Way! Who's Hungry? 

Howdy Folks! I will be introducing a new blog series in the next few weeks entitled, "Chicken Fried Blog". This blog will be soley devoted to the glory that is the chicken fried steak.  As a child, there was something magical about the chicken fried steak.  It was a treat to difficult to prepare at home and we ate out so rarely in those days that I hardly ever got to eat one.  But when my Dad gave me the OK to order one when we did go out to eat, man, it was like a gift from above.  So  the idea for this blog has been long in the making and something me and my band mates (Max Stalling Band) have been discussing for years.  In our travels, we always seem to stop at various restaurants that  proclaim that "they" have the best chicken fried steak in .... (that small town, Texas ,USA, World!).  Well we figured they all can't be the best. There must be some that are better than others.  This is what I intend to find out!  
So, in the name culinary curiosity, I will consume at least one chicken fried steak per week and post my results here.  My Doctor thinks this is a great idea, something about a boat payment.   Anyway, I will be judging the steaks on appearance, presentation, size, texture, taste, doneness, crispiness of batter, taste of the gravy (you gotta have gravy!) and the thickness of the gravy.  I will also judge the "chicky frieds" based on price. Now just to be clear,  the chicken fried steak I'm refering to is made from a cow, cube steak ( tenderized round steak), pounded until tender, dipped in a batter and deep fried.  I'm not talking about chicken fried steak made from exotic cuts of meat like Elk, Venison, Black Bear or Nutria! Just the good old fashioned Texas version, which by the way is the best.  I will  include comments from my band mates and some pictures of each dish I review. This won't be a scientific study or a forum to tear down restaurants that have less than stellar food, just an honest search for the best chicken fried steak within my reach  Hopefully at the end of all this I will be able to crown "King Chicken Fried Steak" and not have a heart-attack in the process.  Please feel free to comment on my findings or better yet, give me some suggestions on where to find the "Best Chicken Fried Steak in the ........?!?!  

Patience, It's what I offer 

What I offer with my lessons that others don't seem to offer is Patience.  Many teachers will rush through their lessons just to get them over with.  I like to take my time and really teach each week's lesson so that my students grasp whatever concept I'm trying to impart on them.  I don't assume that every student will understand a concept after a single explanation from me.  I try to find creative ways to teach my students whether with visual aids, audio examples, funny stories or analogies.  Whatever it takes!  But  To do this takes time and Patience.
I have been using various sites on the internet to help me spread the word on my services.  None has helped me more than Thumbtack.  The platform is excellent and gives me multiple ways to reach potential students in ways I'm not able to do on my own.  Check it out, it's really cool!

<a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/tx/richardson/drum-lessons/drum-lessons-my-place-or-yours">Drum Instruction</a>

Why do my friends hate teaching and I don't? 

I don't know how many times I've heard these words from other music teachers in my life. "Teaching Music is hard and not all it's cracked up to be."   I've heard that hundreds of times.  Maybe thousands of times!  Other Teachers moan and complain about the long hours and low pay from students who are disinterested in lessons, at best.  I mean, who wants to practice the drums (insert your instrument here)?  It takes lots of time and energy and what about the noise?  Oh the noise!  Is there anything worse than listening to a beginning drummer (insert your instrument here-again) while learning to play?  And drums are expensive. Who can afford a decent set these days?  If you can afford them, who wants to buy a set of very expensive drums only to have their kids interest in playing wane after only a few months.  Then the drums just sit in a corner collecting dust or holding wet laundry.

These are the challenges of teaching an instrument to anyone regardless of age.

Some folks just aren't up to the challenge.

My experience has been very different from my overworked, under-appreciated brethern.

I like teaching.  No, I love teaching!

These people (students) who come to me on a weekly basis think I'm giving away this valuable knowledge for very little cash.  What they don't understand is that I learn so much from them that sometimes I feel like I'm the one who should be paying!  The kids especially.  They are so fearless.  They will try anything without heitation.  "Hey Billy, I want you to play a samba feel with the bass drum , eigth note triplets on the snare, straight eigth notes on both the ride cymbal and hi-hat, clave pattern on the cowbell with your left foot all while whistling dixie!"  Billy, "how fast?"  That's a kid for you.  And it inspires me daily.  I try to apply this fearlessness to my everyday life and in some cases I can.  But most of the time that little voice in my head starts in.  You know the one I'm talking about.  "You can't do that.  You're too old!"  Dang!  Just when I thought I might possibly, sometime, maybe be able to think about doing it. Kids are awesome.  
I try to impart this wisdom to my older students and I must say I am moderately successful in convincing them.  It may be my cologne. Or maybe it's that I truly believe anyone can do anything if they just put their mind to it.  I've seen it repeatedly for many years.  It really works.  Maybe I'm getting good at this teaching thing that I love so much.  Or maybe the students are just getting smarter.  Yes, I'm sure that's it.

So for all the disgruntled teachers out there;  I encourage you to give it up and retire.  You deserve it. It's time to start that record project or novel you've been talking about for 25 years.  So just go ahead and quit and send your non- practicing, I don't care students over to me.  I love 'em! 

Go here to check out my lessons.
<a href="http://www.thumbtack.com/tx/richardson/drum-lessons/drum-lessons-my-place-or-yours">drum instructor</a>

Greetings! 

Howdy everyone. Welcome to my new Blog space. This is where I get to rant, observe, muse, pontificate and maybe tell a joke or 2. Why? Because this is my website and I pay for it! I will cover topics ranging from life on the road, what's it's really like being a musician, the state of the music industry, reviews of bands, Cd reviews, general drum talk (gear, drummers, etc) plus anything else I feel like. If you have a topic you would like to share with me, well then do it. Maybe I will actually use it. Until then, Laters.