'Tis the Season!

Merry Christmas to all!

Having just inhaled quite a large Thanksgiving dinner, we are reminded of how much we have to be thankful for in the great United States. As much time as we spend sailing from port to port to entertain the fine people we have come to know, and the comradeship of the crew, has made this a great year for your favorite Pirates!

And now, as we enter this season of celebration for the birth of the Savior of mankind, it is important to put aside those things that hamper our fellowship and make a serious effort towards "Peace on Earth," at least inasmuch as we can control our own behavior! Personally, I have secured my cannons, and pledge not to blast anyone amidships, if it can be at all avoided!

Wishing for you scalawags to control yourselves aside, the band has been very busy of late, and will be for the remainder of the year. The ship made port at a frigid Pearland Town Center. The wet, cool weather kept many a land-lubber indoors, but a few brave souls did venture out, and several actually watched from the porches of their apartments facing the pavilion. No matter, though... Pearland Town Center is a great place to go and we always look forward to visiting! And then, continuing the cold pattern, 31 degree temperatures and snow did in a private (and outdoor) pool party in Lake Jackson, but the very next night found the boys spending time with many fine folk in Freeport, supporting the Boys and Girls Club annual gala. We had a great time, wonderfully maintained in food and drink by On The River/River Point catering. The event drew much support, with many generous patrons taking home auction items, providing even more funding for this worthy cause.

We have several Christmas parties coming up, and then will open 2010 at the Brimmage Ranch in Jones Creek. We spent last New Years Eve with Troy, family, and friends and anticipate this will be another great time!

Keep up with us here, on the www.intercoastalpirates.com site, or www.myspace.com/intercoastalpirates and come on out wherever you see us turning the ole' pirate ship to shore. We look forward to seeing you!

All the good news!!!

Ahoy there, mates! As you have been reading, it has been a busy time under sail and I can hardly make time to get here and post the happenings! So, while the Captain is busy and no one is looking, methinks I will update the Powder Monkeys on the happenings of late... I have posted my Evil Wizard to watch my back...

Most recently, the band touched land at the Brazoria County Fair to entertain the crowd on a nice cool Fall evening. After rain has kept the fair to it's perennial mud-hole status, the clouds left just in time for the big ship to roll ashore. A good crowd spent the evening with us, and it was another good year for beer sales. We just love when that happens!

As of today, October 21, Staff Sergeant Dana Butt, daughter of Rick Park, is back on American soil! After a second trip with the US Army to the Persian Gulf she has returned to Texas. The band, and particularly our head guitar-slinger, is incredibly proud of her service to the country and thankful to God for her safe return. She did indeed make it "Home In Time!"

The band has been adding some new music, both original and cover tunes. In the mix are a few songs off the newest Eagles CD "Long Road Out of Eden" and a new Chris Faulk composition called "Backyard." We're also adding a few new country tunes, and will probably be surprising you with a dance tune or two. Stay... uh... tuned. And with the Christmas season coming back, the ever-popular "Please Come Home For Christmas" will be back in rotation.

New fans and friends are joining the band every outing, and we are loving it. One of the biggest joys of coming ashore and making some noise is having our friends, old and new, join in the fun. We are, first and foremost, in this to have a good time and most enjoy life onstage when YOU are having a good time with us. Thanks for all your support!!!

Mosquitos and the Class of '79

Avast ye friends of the Pirates! Time for an update on the landfalls and pillages of the big ship!

Once again, the boys made a visit to the Great Texas Mosquito Festival. It was a warm Saturday night when the Intercoastal Pirates rolled into the grounds of Willie Manchew, mascot of the festival. The Josh Ward Band did a great set, extended to keep the crowd happy and ready for the music to come. The Pirates took the stage to a welcoming crowd, and did not disappoint. Even a seriously over-voltaged extension cord attempt to fry the vaunted Road King (a pet in the First Mate's arsenal) could not keep the band from having a great time with the crowd. An hour and a half of sweat drenched and high decibel fun later, the boys bid the crowd farewell, and yeilded the stage to the Randy Rogers Band. The party went on well into the wee hours...

Next on the agenda for the band was a reunion. Not a reunion of the family sort, mind ye, but a reunion of classmates. Nigh on 30 long years ago, these folks spent every weekday (and surely a lot of week nights and weekends) together learning all the things they would need to know later in life. Well, ok... maybe not everything they learned was necessary... but it did form the bonds of friendship that the years do not erode. Every five years since their departure from Brazoswood High School, they have reconvened to catch up and regale each other with the tales of days gone by. You have to love a school with a Pirate as a mascot. A Buccaneer, to be exact. Now thirty years on, they still come by the hundreds to enjoy a night of fun and memories. The band played, entertained a sit-in from former B'Wood band mates, watched some entertaining JibJab videos with the class, and had a great time. Good food, a great crowd, a margarita machine, and lots of beer, made for a really good time for all. We hope to see them again in 2014!

The big ship will roll up the San Bernard River to Dido's again next week, so come on out to join us for a night of fun, food, and friendship near the water's edge. As always, you can keep up with us here or on the band page at www.intercoastalpirates.com or at www.myspace.com/intercoastalpirates for band schedules, updates, and other band happenings. There are some new t-shirt colors available at shows now, and more Pirate gear soon to come.

Join in and enjoy the fun with us!

And we're off...

Ahoy there ye mateys and friends of the Intercoastal Pirates! I finally got a moment away from ship and sail to chronicle the happenings of late, and to announce a few ports we mean to pillage shortly!

Summer is certainly upon us, and with it come all of the summer parties, festivals, and wild weekends. Of course, we partake of such gatherings as often as we can manage. We've been making the stops about town and at private parties the county over, helping folks welcome summer, birthdays, or just welcome the weekend. Making lots of new friends and introducing quite a few folks to the pirating way of having fun. We've been enjoying the good times as well, and are looking forward to a great summer run.

Next up on the agenda is a stop in with our old mates at Dido's. Always a good place to get the finest of meals and kick up your heels once you're full. We'll provide the music, you can show us your most outrageous dance moves!

A private party or two come next, then we'll be returning to the Great Texas Mosquito Festival in Clute, sharing the stage with the Josh Ward Band and Randy Rogers. It will be a great night of music, so don't miss it.

There are lots of other dates on tap, so check back here or take a look at our other web sites:

www.intercoastalpirates.com
www.myspace.com/intercoastalpirates

You can keep up with all of the band's activities... at least those we can make public! Come on out and join us next time the big ship rolls in near your town. Or do we have to roll out the cannons again?????

Hard to find the time, isn't it?

Well, the spring winds have been blowing and filling the sails of the old ship to bursting. This is the time of the year when we start covering lots of water, seeing many ports of call, and making lots of new Pirating friends. That's the best part of what we do... New places, great friends, lots of music, and good times for all.

There are plenty of those good times already on the horizon. The mighty musical ship has been making regular stops around the area, including visits to old friends at Dido's, Angleton Ice House, Castaways, a stop at the Riverfest in Freeport, and quite a few private affairs with the best of people. Coming up, the ship will be rolling into Freeport for the Fishin' Fiesta (sharing a night with our old friends Dog Town Blues), then into Clute for the annual Great Texas Mosquito Festival (with the Josh Ward Band and Randy Rogers), regular stops to see all of our local friends including the Freeport Ice House and plenty of private parties. There is talk of making a return to Moody Gardens in Galveston this year; a reprise of the great time we had last year with the Beach Boys. The show is not a sure thing yet, and bands/dates have yet to be locked down, but we are certainly hopeful of working with those fun folks at Moody again this year. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

On the band front, the song list is expanding and we are looking to add more original tunes to the song list. A very strong support for the song "Home in Time" has made it a regular in the set list. It is our thank you and prayer for the safe return of our US Military personnel following their service to us all. Pirates aren't known to be the most respectful folk, but we tip our hats and bow fully to those who have kept the greatest nation in the history of the world safe and free. We support you all, each and every one!

Busy times have made it a bit hard to break away from the ship's deck and sneak below decks to add to this blog. My apologies for the sparse updates... I'll try to update more often, before I find myself walking a plank with a sharp cutlass point at me back...

Just a shameless plug...

Ahoy ship mates!

The band rolls on, merry as ever and playing at a busy clip. A pirate's life for me, indeed!

The boys have been working on a few more ways to get their smiling faces in front of folks these days, and came upon the idea of adding a band photo to help everyone remember what they look like... for those times when a mug shot just won't do.

Photo credit goes to several folks, so forgive me for not knowing from whence Stu's photo may have originated... but the remainder of them are the handy work of Paul Ladd of the fine firm Ladd Company Photography. Paul met up with the band in Galveston at the Beach Boys show last November, and took a few photos while the Pirates were wooing the crowd. We liked them so much we decided to use them for some shameless advertising! You've seen Paul's work in these pages before, and he is the man to see if you have some lens work that needs doing!

The arrangement of the photo was compliments of the Captain's wife and friends. We think they did a whale of a job.

Let us know what you think of the new photo. We like it, but you might say we're a tad biased on the subject.

And where could I find a Pirate in the next few months???

So, let's say you happened to be looking to have a good time with a band of Pirates through the spring of 2009... where should you go? Well, you're in luck... the boys are going to be making landfall quite a few times in the next 6 or 8 weeks. Of course, you can always find out where the next planned pillage-fest will be by returning to these very pages...

The Intercoastal Pirates have regular stops planned with old friends at the Angleton Ice House and Castaways several times throughout the spring and summer. Lots of partying folks at both places, so jump in with both feet. Then, April 4th brings the long-awaited return to Dido's... this is a beautiful place with great food, run by great folks. It's always a good time there. Also, the band is returning to Columbia Lakes after many years absence, and they're looking forward to that.

One special night the crew wants everyone to mark on the calendar is April 24th, which will mark the return of the Pirates to the Lake Jackson Spring Concert Series on the Plaza. This takes place outside on the beautiful plaza area of the Lake Jackson Civic Center, and is free to the public. Bring your lawn chairs and drinks (no glass containers, please!)and have a good time with us! Time will be from about 6-9 pm, or thereabouts.

Another event to look forward to in Brazoria County is Clute's Great Texas Mosquito Festival. This is actually an internationally known festival that is always a fun event with lots of entertainment. We are in the process of locking down the details, but expect to see the Intercoastal Pirates rockin' the stage sometime Saturday night... details will be forthcoming! There is everything from games to food to music at this festival, and the whole family can find something fun to do. It's an annual must-attend for us. Clute will have some other events going on earlier in May, including the Go-Clute Car and Bike Show, which will also feature the music of the Intercoastal Pirates.

There are many more things to come, and this looks to be the year of the Pirate! Brush up on your Pirate lingo, grab the lad or wench of your choice, and come out to meet the boys as they weave their musical magic. We do love good company!

(Photo Credit: Ladd Company Photography 2008)

New happenings, and we continue sailing along

A hearty yo ho to ye, mateys. Things have been busy as ever aboard the Intercoastal Pirates ship as we prepare to sail into the busy warmer months of the year. Be sure you keep up with the schedule here for upcoming dates, or check out the MySpace page at www.myspace.com/intercoastalpirates for the whole year at a glance. This is especially good for you folks who might want to schedule a Pirate visit to your own event!

We've played a few places around the county recently, added a new song or three, and have been relishing the odd weekend of leisure here and there. We've enjoyed getting to spend a bit of time visiting with old friends who have been so good as to regularly come out to see us, and have been making new friends wherever we have gone. That's one advantage of sailing around like Pirates are known to do... new faces in every port!

Stay tuned at this very location for new posts. There are several higher profile Pirate visits on deck, and we'll let you know just as soon as we have everyone tied up... I mean as soon as the loose ends are tied up. The band is booking at a very steady rate, and already are going to be pointing the ship to shore nigh on weekly to share song, drink, and copious amounts of fun with those stalwart party types who are wild enough to invite a bunch of sea dogs into their lives for a night (or day, on occasion).

We look forward to seeing your face in the crowd at an ICP date soon. Or would ye rather walk the plank???

So, what exactly is a Powder Monkey?

Recently, the fine folks at Blogspot added something we thought might be of some use to those wanting to keep up with the Pirates and their pillaging. So, the band assigned the duty of blog follower helper to the loving wench of the first mate... oh... that would be me!

So, the quest began. We want to know who you are and see your smiling mug on our web page. And now we can! If you look on the left side of this page, you'll see a place you can click to become a Powder Monkey!

What is a Powder Monkey, you ask?

Well, on a Pirate ship, there are many things. One of the handiest, when you're wanting to relieve someone of their hard-earned goods, is a cannon. The Powder Monkey is a gunner's assistant, or the one that keeps the cannon firing! What better way to describe the Intercoastal Pirates fans? You keep us fired up!

So climb abourd, dive in, or do whatever you do... just join!

Kim Shelton Benefit on deck!

The Intercoastal Pirates aren't able to do a lot of benefits, with Pirating being such a hard thing to schedule around. Occasionally, we'll find something we really believe in or a certain situation where we just have to turn rudder and haul the ship to shore to help out in our own decibel-heavy way!

Such a case is the Kim Shelton Benefit for One Vision that will be held at Clute Park on March 7th, 2009. As we have all grown older, it is a fact of life that we will see hard times and illness take its toll on friends and family. When difficulty comes to call, he often brings a heavy financial burden with him. Kim and her family have been struggling through these burdens, and could use some friendly support. This benefit will provide some of that financial support, as well as the kind of reinforcement only the hand of a friend can provide.

We hope you'll come out and join us in supporting Kim, her family, and all those who are standing with her throughout this long battle. We know that each one of them will be encouraged to see you there. Bring your wallet, spend freely, and be a Pirate for a day!