Howdy All,

This is just a note to ask for your support regarding this year's Houston Press Awards.  We've been nominated in a few categories.  Here they are below.

Mighty Orq - 'Best Guitarist'
Westside Johnny - 'Best Bassist'
The Mighty Orq - 'Best Blues'

--IN ADDITION--
We'd also like to request that you WRITE IN

Matt Johnson - 'Best Drummer'
And LOST FIDELITY - Best Radio Show (Music)

You can make your voice heard here.  Just copy & paste the link:
http://polls.houstonpress.com/polls/hou/musicawards2009/

Voting ENDS JULY 26!!!  Vote early and often!

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement.  You guys are the best!!!  We'll see you all aoon, and hope all is well.

Rock On!

Orq, Matt, & Westside

Hey Y'all,

This kind of relates to Matt's blog about working hard.  We're hard workers for sure.  I don't know how many of y'all book bands, but I do a fair amount myself and it's a bit of a chore.  However, I have rarely dealt with folks who are down right rude.  Usually people are non-responsive if they're not interested.  You have to stay on folks via email and phone pretty regularly to get a response.  It's pretty much like cold calling.  The bookers know this just as well as folks soliciting gigs such as myself.  But man, just now I talked to this guy who was a complete and total grouch.  I'm not going to name any names but, man he must have been having a bad day.  It's always surprising when people are unabashedly ugly.  I'm just trying to do my job: book the band.  People like the fella I talked to strike me as burecrats who maybe don't like their job so much.  Ah well.  Little people like that earn what they get.  It's hard enough though without folks treating you like YOU'RE the one who farted in the mashed potatos.  Hell I didn't want to play at that bar anyway.  OK I'm done bitching.  Thanks for listening.  Hope y'all are having a lovely Monday.  And remember, when folks treat you like a jerk, just smile and say thanks.  That'll piss 'em off even more.  Heheheh.

Peace,
Orq

Hey everyone,
I just read a quote that sums up our constant struggle to improve as musicians, people, and as a band.  This is a quote that I got out of a book entitled, "Roadshow, Landscape with Drums" by Neil Peart.  If you don't know, Neil Peart is the drummer/lyricist for the band Rush.  I was a HUGE Rush fan at one point in my life, and still am, albeit not as nutty as I once was(any drummers remember hearing "Moving Pictures" for the first time?).  Anyway, this is a quote by none other than Buddy Rich.  Here it is:

 

“Let’s put it this way:  I have that ambition.  You don’t really attain greatness.  You attain a certain amount of goodness, and if you’re really serious about your goodness, you’ll keep trying to be great.  I have never reached a point in my career where I was totally satisfied with anything I’ve ever done, but I keep trying.”
--Buddy Rich, when asked if he considered himself the world’s greatest drummer

Amen Buddy.

Disclaimer:  We are NOT saying that we are great.  What we're saying is that you have to keep working hard and attempting to achieve said greatness.  I think the "work hard" part is key.
See ya soon,
Matt

Hey y'all,

Long time no speak.  Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. 

Please help us name our buzzard!  Check out our profile pic and offer up a name.  We'll decide the winner and announce them at Tequila Monday on March 30th, 2009 at The Big Easy(www.thebigeasyblues.com) .  We're not sure what the winner is going to receive yet, but you can rest assured that it will be a pretty kick ass prize.

We have a TON of new things happening and coming up in the world of The Mighty Orq.  New website(which is what the buzzard is for), Live album/DVD, Recording our next studio record, STREET TEAM(please let us know if you would like to be involved in our ORQ ARMY and we'll get right back to ya with all the details), GERMANY/EUROPEAN tour in September of 2009---this will also include workshops/clinics at various music stores around Europe, and more. 

Once again, please help us NAME OUR BUZZARD!  You can email us through here or our facebook site, which is:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mighty-Orq/17811466311

Thanks for all the support.  TRULY! 

Matt
for ORQ, TOMMY, & MATT

THE MIGHTY ORQ
www.mightyorq.com

 

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes on our German/European tour.  We TRULY appreciate every one of them.  We are excited to get over there and promote our last record, To The Bone.  We plan on updating this site and also our www.facebook.com sites while we are on the road, so keep up with us on this intraweb/superHIGHway of information. 

In case you haven't heard, we do have a new bass player now, his name is Tommy Luna.  He's a great guy and a killer player.  Come out to a show soon and introduce yourself. 

Speaking of shows, we're doing a HUGE show w/ our friends Skyblue72 at The Warehouse in Houston on Saturday, December 20th.  It will be a welcome home show of sorts.  We'll be ready to rock on some good ole' American soil after being in Germany for 3 weeks.  You can get tickets at www.theconnextion.com/skyblue72 .  They are only $10 in advance so get them now.  There is talk of a certain guy named Monte Montgomery playing this show with us, we'll keep you up to date. 

That's all for now.  Wish us luck on getting through security at the airports.  See ya on the 20th in H-Town! 

Orq, Tommy, & Matt
The Mighty Orq
www.mightyorq.com -- NEW WEBSITE IS COMING SOON!  STAY TUNED!

Related Links:
www.tourwork.net  -- German booking agent
www.skyblue72.com -- Friends
www.facebook.com -- Come see us on Facebook

PS:  Tito Puente rules

Hey Everyone,

There's been a bunch of happenings in the world of The Mighty Orq and we just wanted to give you a heads up as to what it all is. 

 

 

First off, we have a new bass player.  We are no longer playing with Westside.  We are all still friends, it was just something that needed to happen.  If you get the chance, go see Westside's band Pot Roast(www.myspace.com/potroast) at Last Concert Café on Wednesdays in Houston.  A ton of fun for everyone.

 

 

The new bass player in The Mighty Orq is Mr. Mark White(www.myspace.com/bassboy007).  He is in the band the Spin Doctors(www.spindoctors.com).  We have been having a lot of fun playing w/ Mark and we hope that y'all can experience a live show soon.  We are all excited about how the songs have been sounding and the crazy directions that we're heading in.

 

We couldn't write this without thanking the great folks that have been helping us out on bass when Mark has prior commitments.  Tommy Luna(you rule), Larry Evans(you rule), and the gulf coast legend—Little Screamin' Kenny(you rule).  MUCHO thanks to these guys for doing amazing jobs.  They are ALL killer players. 

 

The Houston Press Music Awards are here again.  PLEASE take a few minutes and go vote for us.  Orq is nominated for "Best Male Vocalist", but feel free to write us in for whatever category you deem necessary.  Go here to vote: http://houstonpress.com/extras/promotional/music-awards 

We will be heading on a Southeast/East Coast tour in September.  Dates around TX, LA in October, and heading to Europe from Nov. 28th - Dec. 28th.  Keep your eyes peeled to our schedule for dates close to you. 

 

That's it...for now. 

 

HUGE thanks to all of YOU for helping us do what we love. 

 

 

See ya soon,

Orq, Mark, & Matt

The Mighty Orq

www.mightyorq.com

 

 

PS:  TO THE BONE, our latest record, will be released EVERYWHERE on September 5^th, 2008.  You'll be able to get it at itunes, larger music stores, at shows, etc…

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know that Matt is featured right now at:   http://www.moderndrummer.com/modern-drummer-blogs/ 

Matt is a long-time reader of the magazine Modern Drummer and would like to thank Billy & Matty Amendola for the support.  

Thanks to all of YOU for reading this and checking it out. 

We'll see ya soon,

Orq, Westside, & Matt
THE MIGHTY ORQ
www.mightyorq.com  

The time for the 2008 Houston Press Music Awards are here.  Please feel free to nominate us in any of the following categories:

Best Guitarist/Best Male Vocalist:  Mighty Orq
Best Bass Player:  Westside Johnny
Best Drummer:  Matt R. Johnson
Album of the Year:  To The Bone
Best Roots Rock Band:  The Mighty Orq

Just go here:  http://houstonpress.com/polls/musicpoll/  be taken to the Houston Press website.  Register & nominate.  Easy as pie. 

Thanks to all of you for the support.  It is truly appreciated. 

We'll see ya soon,

Orq, Westside, & Matt
THE MIGHTY ORQ
www.mightyorq.com

Thanks to Chris Gray for listening and writing down his thoughts.  We truly appreciate it. 

See ya soon,

Orq, Westside, & Matt
THE MIGHTY ORQ
www.mightyorq.com

MUCHO thanks go out to Mr. Keith Howerton at Texas Music Times Magazine(www.texasmusictimes.com) for giving our record, "To The Bone", a very nice review. 

It will be available worldwide in September via ZYX Music.  Right now, we are selling through our first printing at shows. 

Thank you to everyone for all of the support.  We TRULY appreciate it. 

Orq, Westside, & Matt
THE MIGHTY ORQ
www.mightyorq.com


REVIEW
The Mighty Orq - To The Bone
by Keith Howerton

To be sure, The Mighty Orq's To The Bone is not a country or Americana record. It is, however, a great rock record from a band with a style that is long gone in rock and roll.

If there is a current form of music being made that can be called rock and roll The Mighty Orq is making it. It is sad that mainstream radio no longer has a contemporary "rock and roll" format like the music The Mighty Orq is putting out. If they did we might have more great bands like this one giving us great music without the struggles of what it takes to get it out there as independent artists.

The Mighty Orq rocks out as a three-piece band based out of Houston. They are not unlike another band of previous years, also from the Houston area, called ZZ Top. However, the Orq sound is more roots driven with a much stronger blues undercurrent. Their sound comes out at the listener like a freight train on a lonely track in the west Texas desert.

The energy and driving sound of To The Bone fits the reputation of the band's popular high-energy live performances. One of the best live bands in Texas in terms of raw energy and pure visual and audio entertainment, The Mighty Orq's guitar-driven beats and big punches will bring a smile to any 70s and 80s rocker. The top tracks on the record are "Hanging On," "Set Me Free," "If You Will," "4+1," "The Good Love," and the slower "Rainy Day."

The absolute best song on the CD is "HO." The tune is a raucous play on words that has to be heard to understand. It is most certainly a "dudes" song but cool "chicks" will get a kick out of it also. If you are "ate up" with political correctness you are going to hate it. But then again, it is doubtful that the Mighty Orq recorded the song for the hypersensitive crowd anyway. "HO" is one kick ass song that pumps with cool lyrics and driving guitars.

The thumping electric guitar work with great rhythms makes To The Bone a record for anyone who has a yearning for what rock and roll should be. A fantastic record.