Hard to Make a Living (HTML) drifted together in the late fall of 1996, after John Hood, Mike Montgomery, and Shawn Spiars discovered common musical interests ranging from bluegrass to classical. We began working on tunes featuring Mike’s lyric fiddle and Shawn’s driving banjo as the primary lead instruments, with John’s bass providing the rhythmic roots. With a growing repertoire of early swing and jazz tunes, master jazz guitarist Jim Brauer joined the group to play straight-on bluegrass and the more complex swing and jazz progressions.
Over the years and in various configurations, HTML played regular gigs at Artz Rib House, the 38th Street Waterloo Ice House, the Broken Spoke, Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, the Luling Bluegrass Show, and produced the popular monthly live radio show Fredericksburg Saturday Night and the Georgetown Fiddle Fever Festivals. As a popular performing group, HTML was booked for many bluegrass festivals, reunions, parties, dances, and weddings around Central Texas. After three well-received CDs (It’s Hard to Make a Living, 1999; HTML: Again!, 2002; Blame It On Jethro, 2003) the 2005 configuration of the band (Mike Bush, guitar; John Hood, bass; Jon Kempainen, fiddle; Jon Ricketts, banjo) retired when Mike moved to LA at the end of that year.
With the founding members now back in the Austin area, we’ve decided to pull the original group back together with Chris Teague, a second generation HTMLer, on guitar.
The name Hard to Make a Living began as a premise about the livelihood of musicians around Austin, Texas. Although our initials—HTML—are widely used by internet programmers, we categorically deny being hyper- or marked-up. The band returns to much of it's original repertoire of bluegrass, western swing, traditional country, and jazz tunes that pay homage to the many original creators of our kinds of folk, jazz, and Americana music.
Who knows?—maybe we’ll pull together another CD with more of our favorite bluegrass, swing, and country tunes before the end of this millennium.
Whew! What a relief! I kept checking your website and I was afraid ya'll had broke up. I'm glad to see you here on myspace. I'm out in California for now, but I plan on makin' my way back to Austin in the next few years or so. Until then you have a fan in California.
I just wanted to be the first to post on the wall, glad you guys are playing again wish I were in Austin to hear it. Have fun and I will catch you next time I am in town.
