A Hard Man is Hard to Find...apparently the editors at the DFW Metroplex's finest "Adult" weekly "Metro A N E" (an Adult Weekly is like an Alternative Weekly with the first 80 pages removed) have taken to running Hickoids liner notes as content. They couldn't find one single pervert in a city of five million people to jot a little something down for them? I'm kinda' pissed---I told 'em it was OK only if they ran it next to the tranny escort ads! There's also an obit piece on Dallas/Tulsa underground film maker and musician Joe Christ on the next page, a nice guy who understood shock value.
WARNING: ADULT CONTENT
Metro ANE 6/24/09

Hey all...here's a little story I shared with WM Smith of the Houston Press about Poodie Locke, longtime friend and stage manager for Willie Nelson. He was a sweet and genuine man. My condolences to his family and innumerable friends. JS

The Poodie Bounce


http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2009/05/lonesome_onry_and_mean_poodie.php

Hey Folks - I received a letter yesterday from our original drummer Arthur Hays ( brother of our original, now deceased, bassist "Dusty" Dick Hays). As many of you are aware, Arthur has spent the better of half of the past two decades in "care" of the Texas Department of Corrections and is currently imprisoned at theWynne Unit (Huntsville).
I've known Arthur since I began playing in bands with him at the age of 16, over twenty-five years now. Arthur is a smart man, Arthur is a kind man, and Arthur is a talented man on a number of levels. Arthur IS an important figure in the founding of the Texas punk scene in the late 70's.
 Arthur  has also had pretty serious substance abuse issues most of his adult life (and is also now in poor health for reasons attributable to his lifestyle).
Without getting into the relative merits of the "War on Drugs" or Arthur's specific charges I will say I don't believe he deserves to be incarcerated alongside murderers and rapists for relatively minor, NON-VIOLENT drug beefs and parole violations. I am sure Arthur himself will own that he has behaved stupidly and would like to have back all the time he has lost.
This is where you come in. Arthur has a parole hearing coming up soon. He has a family member in San Antonio that has agreed to sponsor him with housing and employment. He needs your letters of support, especially if you have experience with recovery and express the desire and willingness to be someone that Arthur can call upon so that he doesn't return to the path that has led him nowhere thus far.
If you e-mail me at  saustexmedia@aol.com  I will be happy to provide you with a form letter that states that you know Arthur, that he possesses some of the good qualities I mentioned above, that you support his release and will without making any explicit promises be a friend that he may contact for the spiritual support that he needs.
You can write Arthur directly (no myspace where he's at):
Arthur Hays
1332185 Wynne
Huntsville, TX 77349
 
Thanks, Jeff Smith/Hickoids
 

Hey Friends---Sorry to deliver the bad news this way, but our old drummer and friend Tennyson Lemaster passed away at his home in Lawrence, Kansas this past week. Tennyson was a sweet but intense guy with a great work ethic that he brought to drumming. I remember in the early 90's he would spend hours rehearsing alone, after getting off work from his day job as a STONE MASON !! He earned his Hickoid handle "Venison" in the early morning hours after a show in Wichita. There was a vehicular mishap involving the band's van and a deer in a corn field outside of town. Even as much as he disliked the nickname he was a good sport about it. Little did he know how valuable his experience with the 'Oids would be, as he went on to have a career working with autistic children.
He also played with Austin outfits Polio, the Gay Sportcasters and some others I can't recall at the moment. At the time of his death he was in a Lawrence based band , Red Lefty.
We'll miss Tennyson, as will his other band mates, family and friends...you can view his obituary online at: http://www2.ljworld.com/obits/2007/jul/08/charles_lemaster/

take care,Jeff & the Hickoids

Hey Friends--- the report  we received of Arthur Hays' demise was "premature". The blog we previously posted was based on what we believed to be reliable information and we're sorry if we unnecessarily upset anyone....We're glad he's still with us and not ready to take his place in Hickoid Heaven...th' Oids

Hey Friends- just wanted to say thanks to everybody who came out to the Scoot Inn show last Friday in Austin...we realize it was SXSW and you could have gone to see a hundred other bands, but YOU came to see US. If you were there, you probably realize that were some technical problems relating to the electricity for the outdoor stage that prevented us from playing that night. It was the result of an innocent,yet unfortunate mistake by one of the club staff. The band received assurances from the management of the venue that we can do a FREE make-up date some time in the not too distant future. We'll post a bulletin when details become available. We appreciate your corntinued support.-- The Hickoids