Anthology, San Diego CA

My ever supportive sister Janet and Chads childhood friend, Frankie.
My local band, Road Dog's was the opening act. Terry P on the left and Rick S on the right. Below is Road Dog's bass player Fred L(steady Freddy) after the show.See that smile... Love it. I miss my Dogs when i am out with SJK.

Fred L and Bnois King
My daughter Dalen and her friend Angel. Dalen is so excited every time she sees us play. I love that about her.

I have been looking forward to playing in San Diego since the gig was booked. I had about 50 of my friends and family in this very classy club. I ton of my AA buddies showed and stayed all night. Thanks so much to all of them. Dianna and Bill W brought a big crowd also. I can not thank everyone but you know who you are. The Road Dogs women where there, Kelly, Nadja, and Elaine. The Blues Lovers United San Diego (BLUSD) was a big help promoting the show and have allways been supportive. Steve Burns wrote an article about me for their newsletter and mentioned the show. Joan Hunt was there taking pictures as always. See her Flicker acount at http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingrhino/sets/72157604913368949/.....The Road Dogs portion of the show went excellent. The crowd was very warm and made of feel at home. We did have a chance to run through our set right after sound check. It was sort of weird playing in front of Joe and Bnois i must say. Then the Smokin Joe Traveling Blues Extravaganza featuring Bnois King. It was a blast to share the music i have been making around the world with MY peeps. It was over all too soon. Thanks again to all the people that have facilitated my doing this part of my life. Again it was great to sleep in my own bed and wake up next to my wife. I got up early and went to my regular Sunday morning AA meeting. I was really tired but it was awesome to connect with my home group. After the meeting i went to visit my mom and dad with Ruby, Alan and Kim. Ruby and i went to Outback for dinner and we all went in the Jacuzzi later in the evening. I got up, packed and left with the band the next morning... I missed being at home. 2 days at home was not enough. 10,000 miles in 4 weeks is a bit much, even for me.

Bolder Station Casino, Las Vegas NV

Marquee inside the Bolder Station Casino In Las Vegas.
Me on stage signing an autograph on Blood Brothers after the show.

Our head of security, Scottie. He co-wrote 2 of the songs on Blood Brothers
My set list, pocket watch and my picture of Ruby. Her picture gets displayed on every gig.

Well we drove from Dallas to Las Vegas in 2 long days. We had a water pump go out on the morning of day 2. We limped to Bills Radiator in Gallup NM. Nice guys and they managed to get us back on the road by 6:30 PM. I drove us to Las Vegas over the Hoover Dam and arrived at 2:00AM. I slept good. The next day we loaded in to the Casino and had a great dinner in the Buffet. Joe's friend Scottie and his mom Terry met us at the club (they live there) and helped us out a bunch. I have never played in Las Vegas and it was exciting for me. The stage was big and well equipped with great sound guys to help. The room was large and filled up fast. Bolder Station has a national blues act every Thursday night for free. I had a great time and met some cool people. I feel funny sometimes when i meet people that have been following the band for years and tell me about the other drummers. I feel lie a newcomer (i am). We went to Burger King inside the casino after the show and had lots of laughs. I did loose $15 in the casino... Surprise, huh? The next morning i enjoyed the comped buffet again and we hit the road for LA.

Tallahasee and Jacksonville Beach

Dirlie from Jacksonville. Our friend from the Blues Cruise. Her and Ray took me out for coffee.
Jacksonville Beach festival site

Zoot Suit digs Blood Brothers... a bunch.
Doing our thing in Jacksonville Beach Festival

After Boca Raton on Friday night we drove up to Tallahassee and did our gig at the Bradfordville Blues Club. Gary and Kim, the owners are the sweetest people and made us feel right at home. Our show went well. One of the songs on Blood Brothers, Out On A Limb, got modified during sound check last time we were there. It got recorded that way (trivia). It was fun to me back there. (No photos..sorry)

The next day we drove to Jacksonville beach for the "Springing In The Blues Festival". We went to the hotel and got cleaned up. Dirlie and Ray picked me up and we went to Starbucks for a cup of coffee. It was nice to catch up and get to know them better. We met them on the January 08 Legendary Rythm and Blues Cruise. Dirlie was at every show I did, in the front row with that great, infectious smile. Thanks Dirlie.

We rolled to the gig and found our way to the stage. Bruce Iglauer was there as the 3 day festival was a tribute to him and most of the acts where on his label, Alligator Records. He told us they gave him the key to the city. The stage was a huge permanent concrete structure adjacent to the beach. It had been raining on and off during the 3 days of the fest. We were scheduled to go on last on the last day. We drove thru poring rain on the way from Tallahassee so we were concerned the fans would hang in the rain. They did and the rain held off till we were on our last song. I know i say this a bunch but we kicked some serious ass. The crowd ate it up. We did most of the songs off the new album. It was a little intimidating for me to play with the owner of the label and co producer sitting front row center. I did not let it rattle me and i did fine. The drum kit they provided was fine and i used my cymbals and snare. WE hung around for a while after so Joe and Bnois could sign some CD's and then we chatted with Bruce for a while.All in all a great day...and in bed early for a change.

The next day we drove to Gastonia NC to lounge around for a few days. I caught up on some sleep, did my laundry and made it to 2 AA meetings. Our gig tomorrow is a few hours away at Hillsbourogh NC at the Blue Bayou Club.

Gonna be a busy 5 weeks... just like i like it.

Dave K

CD Release and party in Texas

Borders Books, 3/4/08. I had the new experiance of walking into a record store and buying a CD that I drummed on. My daughter Dalen and I went and she bought a copy. I am looking forward to hearing it on the radio.

Dallas/Ft Worth CD release Party March 7-8-2008

My stepson Chad, Dallas friend Lori and me.

We had 2 CD release partys in Dallas and Ft Worth. My wife Ruby, Stepson Chad and daughter Dalen came in from San Diego for the show. The first was at Pearl in Dallas. I picked them up at DFW then we ate in Deep Ellum and went right to the show. The place was packed and we had a blast. Chad and Dalen drank and danced. Ruby doesn't drink so there was no dancing for her. It was fun to play with them there. The next day we went to Dealy Plaza to see where JFK got shot. Above is Dalen on the Grassy Knowl. We took a quick nap and off to the Ft Worth show at J&J's. Again it was packed and we all had a blast. My new best friend Sherman came also with his bandmate David. I met Sherman at a jam in Dalls and we have been hangin around together while i am there. We have a ton in common. After the gig we went to What-A-Burger around 2:00 AM. after we ate we decided this lifestyle was unhealthy. HAHA. We agreed to all try to loose 10 LBS in 2 months. We call it the What-A-Burger Diet. I am so grateful for this experiance i am having and such a cool family that facilitates it. Thanks

Blood Brother's released next week.

SJK overdubbing acoustic guitar in the studio.

The album cover art.

Bruce Iglauer and myself at the console during the Blood Brothers sessions.

Blood Brothers, the new album from The Smokin Joe Kubek Band featuring Bnois King will be released Tuesday March 4th. This is our first album on Alligator Records. I suggested the title "Used Pizza" but it did not stick. The album can be pre-purchased at www.alligator.com/. I am very excited as this is the first real album i have ever drummed on. The album was produced by SJK and co-produced by Bruce Iglauer, Alligator Records owner.I dug working with Bruce and it was cool to get to know this Blues Icon (photo above at console). It was recorded at Audio Dallas by Paul Osborn. Paul is a drummer and he helped me feel comfortable and he knew how to get the sounds we wanted on the drums. I am looking forward to hearing it played on the radio. A friend Nadja called me yesterday to tell me she was listening to it on the radio. I was surprised because i was told it would not be played till the release date. This is another dream come true for me. I need some new dreams....fast. We will have a CD release party in Dallas on March 7th and in Ft Worth on March 8th. We will have a busy April and may touring to support the album. Check our site for a date near you. Big thanks to Joe and Bnois for including me in this project. We will see you all at the Blues foundation Awards and the Grammies..... Hey, new dreams already.