I play bass and sing in Blaggards, a hard-workin' Irish rock band based out of Houston, Texas.
I've been writing songs, playing in bands and performing solo off-and-on since I was 16. In addition to bass, I play guitar (my first instrument) and a bit of piano. I also occasionally write poetry and short fiction. Before Blaggards I spent a few years studying creative writing at University of Houston.
I used to do web design and development, and am proud to have been a total web standards geek back when it was still somewhat controversial. I don't do very much coding anymore -- not much call for it now in this wild new Web 2.0 world -- but every so often those old skills still come in handy.
Apr 26, 2007
Why on earth I'm opening this blog I have no idea... I have my own website with Movable Type, so it's not like I need Blogger to get busy journalwise. I actually just wanted to leave a comment on another Blogger blog, and here I am.
I'd never experienced Blogger before …
Apr 26, 2007
One of the cool things about the extended weekend I spent in Austin after running from Hurricane Rita was rediscovering my guitar. My sole musical focus for much of the past two years has been bass, and my acoustic guitar had been sitting neglected in my livingroom for …
Apr 26, 2007
Last Wednesday night, as Hurricane Rita bore down on the Gulf Coast, my mother and I evacuated Houston in my Honda Element, loaded up with random musical instruments, a computer, assorted clothes, water, snack foods, and two cats. Around 2 o'clock in the morning, after …
Stop Making Sense, Brazil, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Superman, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Dazed and Confused, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doctor Strangelove, Time Bandits, A Hard Day's Night, Yellow Submarine
The Beatles, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Robyn Hitchcock, Dana Cooper, Black Sabbath, The Pogues, Shane MacGowan and the Popes, Beck, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Harry Nilsson, Adrian Belew, Crowded House, The Who, Pete Townshend, David Byrne, Ray Charles, Bing Crosby, Cibo Matto, Cornershop, Pixies, Nirvana, Chuck Berry, Lonnie Donegan, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, Stevie Wonder, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Little Richard, Elvis Costello, Southern Culture on the Skids, Billy Bragg, R.E.M., Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens, Sean Lennon, Prince, U2, Old '97s, Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys, Squeeze
Monty Python, David Letterman, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Torchwood
Luis H. Valadez, Jun 20, 2007:
hey, if you're into Ginsberg, you might dig Getting Punch in the Arm Over the Summer, an article i wrote about some time i got to spend with Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Miguel Algarin. and Anne Waldman. feel free to let me know what you think. ~lhv
Jon, May 14, 2007:
Hey Chad.....can't wait to come see you guys at Fitzgeralds friday night. I am ready to see Blaggards rip the shit up, can't wait. Hope you're great