Tomorrow, we'll be playing as the "house band" at the annual Watermelon Festival at Last Concert Cafe. We play short sets between all the other bands, so come by early (we start around 4) and stay late (we go until close to 1am).

Today's live archive track is a recording of Melody-Melody from last year's watermelon festival. Enjoy! (And don't forget to get the podcast.) 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:13 PM -

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  From the bottom of our hearts, we'd like to thank all of our friends & listeners for all of your votes. Last night at the Houston Press Music Awards, we took home the awards in all 3 categories we were nominated for: Best Funk/R&B/Reggae, Best Keyboardist, and Best Jazz. We're totally honored. Here are a couple shots from Sunday's awards showcase:











Many thanks to Bryan Anderson, one of Houston's hottest up and coming photographers, for taking such great pics (and sharing them with us!)

We also did a show later in the evening with Studemont Project and Dizzy Pilot, which was also rad. Thanks to our good friend Jeff Balke for coming and getting some great shots of us then:









The awards ceremony was a lot of fun (we even got to play a song!) and it was great seeing such a wide cross-section of Houston's music scene in one room. Thanks again everybody! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 10:11 PM -

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  In this week's Houston Press:

Drop Trio

Best Keyboardist (Ian Varley); Best Jazz; Best Funk/R&B/Reggae

Among instrumental "improv spaceship prog rock" band Drop Trio's recent feats -- South By Southwest gigs the last two years, landing a cut on The Johnson Family Vacation soundtrack, opening for a who's who of nationally prominent groove/jam bands -- keyboardist Ian Varley seems proudest of surviving riding in a van together to such exotic locales as Tulsa, New Orleans and Abilene with the other members of his trio. He's also pleased with the telepathy he says his band has developed: "We love playing together, communicating on stage. We've been doing it long enough now to where we can really read each other's minds sometimes, go in crazy wild directions that we've never been in before." Muzak John and Two Star Symphony get cheery shout-outs, but Houston's sprawl factor gets the gas face: "Maybe it's because Houston is such a vast sprawl, but it takes a lot of effort to get something to build and roll on its own," Varley says. -- John Nova Lomax

Thanks guys! See you tomorrow at the Hard Rock at 7pm! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 11:37 AM -

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  This week's Live Archive track is an improv named "Two Star." It is from our show last weekend at Helios and was inspired by our opener, the rad Houston band Two Star Symphony.

We will see all of you guys this Sunday at the Houston Press Music Awards showcase. We'll be down there all day hopping from venue to venue checking out all the great Houston bands. 7pm. Hard Rock Cafe. Be there and be square.

Go here for our latest email. 

¶ posted by nuje at 2:48 PM -

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  It may be common knowledge by now, but in case you haven't heard ... Ian is now living in Austin, TX! Not much chance of keeping it low-key when it's published in a the Houston Chronicle's music blog.

So, Ian's living in Austin, and Nuje & Patrick are living in Houston. Don't worry, though ... Drop Trio is full steam ahead. On overdrive, actually. Look for a little bit better spreading out of our shows around TX now, and some jaunts a little further afield, too.

In fact, just today we set up some CD Release shows for late October.

A new CD? Yup. "Live At Cezanne", which we're in the midst of post production work on now. 10/20 @ Luna in San Antonio, 10/22 @ Cezanne in Houston ... and other dates TBA soon. Exciting, no?

If you're an Austin fan, drop a line and ask Ian when we can get some Austin dates for crying out loud ... :) 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 10:26 PM -

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  We would like to thank everyone who came out and made Saturday night at Helios fantastic. Our pals Two Star Symphony brought a great music loving crowd and deserved the standing ovation they received at the end of their set. We'll be playing with them again for sure.

This Sunday is the big Houston Press Music Awards showcase. We're playing Hard Rock Cafe at 7pm.

Don't forget to vote. 

¶ posted by nuje at 11:35 AM -

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  OK, those of you who have seen us at Helios know it's one of our favorite rooms in town - intimate, laid back, and full of creative vibes. Hope you can join us there tomorrow night:



Our friends Two Star Symphony will open up the show at 9, and we'll play from 10:30 until the cows arrive home. $5 gets you in. Hope to see you there.

Also, FYI, there's a memorial concert / benefit brewing for Tim McGlashen. Stay tuned for more info. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:42 PM -

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  Our condolences go to our good friends in The Buddhacrush, who have lost a friend & family member.



Tim passed away on July 12th after an illness. We will miss you, Tim. Safe journeys. 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 12:43 PM -

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  The Chronicle has unveiled the 2005 Ultimate Houston Reader Picks ballot - and Drop Trio made the cut for favorite original band. If your carpal tunnel hasn't flared up too much from voting in the Houston Press Music Awards, we'd enjoy your vote over at the Houston Chronicle too!

It's a pretty long ballot (150 categories!) and the music categories are very near the top (see item number 6). There are some other indie faves in there too - (e.g. Inversion by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck (former Art League houses on Montrose) for Work of Public Art). Oh, and don't forget to vote for your favorite Mall and favorite Socialite over 40. 

¶ posted by Patrick at 7:51 PM -

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  Friday night's geek party was a big success. Check out the pics. For the occasion Ian brought his Arp 2600. 

¶ posted by nuje at 2:21 PM -

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  Tonight, come join us at Kaveh Kanes (a cool little coffee show downtown, across the street from Cabo) as we play for the Technology Bytes 10-year anniversary party. We'll be geeking out in all the usual ways - odd time signatures, weird vintage electronics, etc. Come joint the fun! 

¶ posted by Ian Varley at 11:58 AM -

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  We just added a show to our Live Archive. It is a sound board recording by Jason Priesman of our set at Jake's in Lubbock, TX from April 1, 2005. Thanks to John Griffin at Sugarhill for tranferring the DAT to CD. 

¶ posted by nuje at 2:25 PM -

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  Thanks to your votes, we have been nominated for three awards in this year's Houston Press Music Awards. Please take a minute and vote:

Best Jazz - (Drop Trio)
Best Funk / R&B / Reggae - (Drop Trio)
Best Keyboardist - (Ian Varley)

Thanks again. 

¶ posted by nuje at 10:30 AM -

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  Thanks to our friends and family, especially Scott, Lori, Karl, Daniel and Jon for doing what you do.

 

¶ posted by nuje at 10:20 AM -

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  This week's live archive track is an improv titled "This is My Funny Voice." The song was recorded during the final practice in our rehearsal space at Magik Studios. Thanks to Karim and Joel for everything.

By the way. We've been nominated in the 2005 Houston Press Music Awards. Thanks everyone. 

¶ posted by nuje at 12:01 AM -

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