M. David Hornbuckle

Category: bands

  • September Gigs

    September is full of gigs. Here’s the lowdown:

  • PopCanon Reunion is ON, Motherfuckers!

    That possible PopCanon reunion I mentioned here a while ago is actually happening. After almost a full month of maddening 6-way emails about schedules and other details, we finally settled on a date of October 15.

    It will be in Gainesville, Florida (naturally) at a new club called Double Down Live (not to be confused with the ZZ Top album of the same name). As always, our good pals Squeaky will open. The famous PopCanon Fight Song has new lyrics for the occasion.

    We are scared to death.

    It’s been more than ten years since we’ve played together as a group. Some of the band members have not been playing much music at all in the past ten years. Ned said on the phone to me, “This is going to suck, isn’t it?”

    I said, “Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve sucked.”

    Ned replied, “Yeah, but we haven’t sucked on stage in ten years.”

    I said, “Maybe you haven’t, but I still do it all the time.”

    In all likelihood, it will not suck. We will have a couple of rehearsals the week before the show, and we all have a couple of months to brush up on things individually. I am very very excited about it, and I believe we still have a lot of fans in Gainesville that will be excited about it too.

    Man, we love to rock.

    So now, to prepare the set list.

  • Solo Show Sunday at Stillwater Pub

    This Sunday, July 10, I’ll be playing a solo show at Stillwater Pub in Birmingham. Tym and Brent will join me for at least one set of acoustic Ghost Herd numbers. There may be other special guests. I’ll start playing around 9:30 or 10a nd play until they shut us down. Come on out!

    http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170302976370747

  • Ghost Herd News for June

    We’ve just set up a fan page on Facebook. Join us there.

    Listen to Southbound on Birmingham Mountain Radio tonight between 9 and 10 pm Central to hear our song “Familiar Strangers.”

    Our next show is Friday, June 24 at Sipsey Tavern in Birmingham. It will be a rocking good time as always. Be there.

    That is all for now.

  • Interest in a PopCanon Reunion?

    With our old haunt Common Grounds in Gainesville, FL closing down, there’s been some mutterings about a possible PopCanon reunion sometime in the near future. The former band members have discussed it, and we can’t get it together before Common Grounds closes its doors, but we are all very interested in doing a show–maybe a couple of shows–later on this year, perhaps in the fall.

    I talked to Tony from No Idea records about us doing this reunion at the Fest this October, but it was a no-go. So we are left to our own devices. Will people actually show up to see this? We don’t know. Every time I go to Gainesville, at least a couple of people tell me how much they liked that band, which is amazing. The height of our popularity seems to have been after we broke up. Most of the time, we were struggling to bring 25 or 50 people in the door. But then again, our Last Show Ever was an event not to be missed, and the reunion show we played a year later got a pretty good response.

    I told Ned we should do a week-long tour. It would be hilarious and stupid, almost hilarious and stupid enough to actually do it. Someone said they could get us shows in Atlanta and Miami. I could probably get us a show in Birmingham, Raleigh, or New York. But then Ned reminded me how depressing it would be to drive to all those places in a van and play for nobody. One show in Gainesville is probably all our fame can muster. Can we even muster that?

    So who knows? Maybe this will happen. Maybe people will witness it. Maybe Randy from Blue Sky Baby will meet us at the county line with a plate of ribs.

    As for Common Grounds, I’ll be going down there next weekend to pay my respects. I’ll write more about the club at that time.

  • Update Update and Short Story Contest

    It has come to my attention that I haven’t updated this blog in more than a month. So here’s a quick run-down. I haven’t been writing much here because I’ve been writing a lot elsewhere.

    First off, Steel Toe Review is getting better all the time, publishing new work every day or two. And we are hosting our first short story contest with a $100 prize. You can see the details on the home page of the STR site. This is a themed contest. I have long had this idea that Birmingham/Red Mountain is sort of like a spaceship that landed 120 years ago in the middle of Alabama. This probably has a lot to do with my fascination with Sun Ra, but also I think Birmingham just makes a lot more sense when you think about it that way. So I’d been thinking about writing a story like this but I never got around to it. So now, here’s $100 incentive for other people to write it for me. Exciting, no?

    Secondly, I’ve been writing new songs, performing, and recording. This coming Friday (March 11), my band is playing a show at the DanielDay Gallery/DreamMecca Studio in Lakeview. Our sister band Results of Adults are opening for us. There is a $10 donation at the door, which I know sounds a little steep. BUT it’s BYOB, so you will save lots of money by bringing your own beer.

  • Reminder: Show tonight

    Tonight is the debut of my new band with Brent Stauffer and Tym Cornell. I’ve known both of these guys for almost 20 years, and I’m excited to be playing music with them both again. The music this band plays is catchy, melodic rock and roll with a little bit of folksiness here and there.

    We sound a little something like this:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/mdhornbuckle?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/PqvrhNtju4o
    http://www.youtube.com/user/mdhornbuckle?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/QI1kVgdFWgg

    Tym’s band, Results of Adults, is playing second. He’s a great songwriter in his own right–with a lot of psychedelic influence.  Our band will also be playing one of Tym’s songs, as well as a couple by our old songwriting partner George Mostoller.

    The opening band, Hifidelics, is a surf rock band. I haven’t heard them personally but I’ve been told on authority that they are very good, and it’s probably unfair to make them open. They should probably be headlining.

    The cover is a mere $5, and you’ll get to see three awesome bands. The first band will go on promptly at 9pm.

    See you at Sipsey.

  • New Band Debuts in Less than Two Weeks

    Saturday, January 15 at my favorite local watering hole, Sipsey Tavern.

  • Parkside Cafe This Thursday

    Thursday night, I’m playing  a set at Parkside Cafe (4036 5th Ave South) at 9 pm. I’m opening for an alt bluegrass band from Athens, GA called Packway Handle. I haven’t heard them yet, but numerous people have told me they are very good.

    In additional music news, I’m having the first rehearsal with my new band this afternoon. I have Brent Stauffer on bass, Adam Guthrie on lead guitar, and Scotty Hamilton on drums, all very talented musicians that I’ve known for many years. We still don’t have a name.

  • I Have Arrived

    About four and a half hours ago, I arrived at my parents’ house in Birmingham. I’ll be looking for my own apartment here later on this week. I expect to keep this blog more up to date from here on out. I have a LOT of creative projects that I plan to get started on now that I have no excuse not to.

    The first thing on the agenda is to get the Southside Fiction Writing Workshop off the ground. I want to use my experience as a writer and workshop leader to help other people in the area to hone their fiction writing skills and also to access the parts of their subconscience that lead to inspiration. I think this is a little like group therapy, and I like that. I believe this is one of the clearest ways that I can use whatever talents I have to actually help people recognize their own potential and be better versions of themselves.

    Now if I can just get a few people to sign up…

    If you are in the Birmingham area, spread the word.

    Other things I’d like to start here, which I’ll talk about in more detail later:

    Any of my Birmingham friends that want to help out with any of these things, get in touch!