The San Antonio Edition of Smokehouse Guitar Army debuted on a Hill Country Sunday afternoon, May 6, 2012 at The Shade Tree Saloon & Grill in Spring Branch, Texas. The performance was a huge success and after that, things moved fast. While our gigs are mostly in San Antonio, we have travelled the state: Gruene, Austin, Houston, Lake Buchanan, Corpus Christi, Del Rio, and South Padre. Our shows are three- and four-hour performances at top notch recognized venues: headlining shows, opening for national blues acts, hosting blues jams, and playing private events.

After our first gig at The Shade Tree Saloon, they had us back 3 times in the next 5 months. Then more bookings came in. SGA has enjoyed the opportunity to host jams and perform at events for The San Antonio Blues Society, The New Braunfels Blues Society, and The Houston Blues Society. To date, SGA has performed in the San Antonio area at such great venues as Sam's Burger Joint, The Cove, The Pigpen, La Villita, La Tuna Ice House, Conroy's Irish Pub, and Barriba Cantina on the famed Riverwalk. Smokehouse also performed outside of San Antonio at The Buchanan Dam Beach Club and Reverend Jim's Dam Pub in Lake Buchanan, The Place Downtown in Kingsland, and Forno's Lake LBJ Yacht Club & Marina in Horseshoe Bay. Smokehouse Guitar Army has performed in Houston at The Big Easy, Shakespeare Pub, Emmit's Place, and The Truckyard, as well as in nearby Baclif at Katy's Bar & Grill. SGA stays busy with private and corporate events, as well as city events like the San Antonio Folklife Festival at the South Texas Culture Center and River Walk Bud Lite “Battle of The Bands” at the historic Arneson Theatre. The performances were appreciated enough that Smokehouse was voted the #1 Best Blues Artist/Band in the 2015 San Antonio Music Awards.

Smokehouse Guitar Army is proud to have opened for Omar and the Howlers at their San Antonio "Howlin' With The Wolf" CD Release Party. Smokehouse Guitar Army has also shared the stage with Eric Tessmer and his band. And the band opened for John Nemeth at the 2016 San Antonio Blues Society Fiesta Blues Heritage Series. These shows were at San Antonio's famous Sam's Burger Joint and Music Hall.

Smokehouse Guitar Army is a proud member of the San Antonio Blues Society, the Houston Blues Society, and the Austin Blues Society.

Seven friends grew up on the border in West Texas, musical talents all with a rich heritage of border boogie and blues. Everybody knew everybody back then and had been in a variety of bands since school days. After feasting on red wine and green chile following a surf trip to Cabo, I asked my long time musical partner and friend, Robin Vinikoff, “how ‘bout making one more killer band?” Sitting across the table from me, Robin replied “why the hell not!” and I got on the phone! And that’s how Smokehouse was born.

First call went to Ray Volmer. We’d been working with Ray for the last couple of years with Long John Hunter and before that with Frankie Danger’s group Lost Dog. Ray of course had been with other groups, including the QID Band. Ray was among the best in the region. Next up was Ben Zudda, First Chair Violinist with The El Paso Symphony. Ben was also a keyboardist and vocalist, playing with everybody great - a real standout with Tangled Bank Theory – who needs to say more? Following Ben was Louie Lobo, whose guitar work and vocals were well established in the region. His pedigree went way back with Rod Crosby and the Intruders and Louie was always in demand. Now, it gets funny – the next call went to long time friend and musician Leon Akerson. in my opinion, one of the most accomplished bass players in the entire region. Now, Leon had been non-stop for about 20 years and had promised his family that he was going to take a year off. Much to my sorrow - and respect - Leon kept his word to his family. Even though I was a guitarist, to get things off the ground, I decided to play bass. So the next day I bought a vintage Tele-Bass and that night Smokehouse started rehearsals. At the same time, Robin was putting a sound system together that would rival that of sound companies with worldwide presence and acclaim. Equipment wise, we lacked nothing, able to accommodate ANY venue. When I arrived in El Paso, Randy Russ was already a legend, having learned guitar at the knees of his father. This guy has played with so many standout groups – two noteworthy ones being Big Sonny and The Mesilla Valley Low Boys and Gorilla (ask Steve Miller about Gorilla!). I had the pleasure of playing with Randy in Long John Hunter’s band. So, you can imagine when he offered his talents to Smokehouse, the band became a force to be reckoned with.

We rehearsed for six months and we hit the street with enough material in the can that we could play two full nights and not repeat a song. Smokehouse kicked butt in a big way and played non-stop hard boogie. One of our favorite venues was The Texas Steakout down on old Alameda Street next to the Rio Grande River in El Paso’s Lower Valley. This place was huge, always filled with the wildest collection of Border Outlaws and beautiful women you could imagine. We would rock and party till the sun-come-up more than once. This CD was cut from one of our tightest performances at “The Steakout” (CD art is what you see above). We showed up early to set up and do our sound check. So up walks another great musician friend of the band’s, Russ Kalman, with another old friend - drummer extraordinaire John Brock. John had been touring the country for several years with a number of national acts. We all looked at each other and in unison told John to unload his set and get ready cause he was now the final link for Smokehouse and one of our trademarks: double drummers.

So now that you got the history, get yourself a cold beer and a hot smoke. Below are songs from the great night at The Texas Steakout. Put some Smokehouse on your player and fall into your favorite chair … 

Choose a song from the list above ... TURN IT UP and enjoy as we rock the house. Now you know why they call it Border Style!!                                                                 

Live the Dream ... Scott