I sure heard & saw some good music in February

February is a short month, but somehow a lot of great music was squeezed in.   (Note: Highlighted text below contains links to info, videos, etc.)

The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival was a treat as usual.  Opening night was Casey Driessen, with Jimbo Trout; and it was fun!!    I tooted Casey's horn last month, and he did not disappoint.  Jimbo was excellent with two hotshot fiddlers, Leif Karlstrom and Annie Staninec (how do they get so good?!), a fine steel man, David Phillips, and Steve Neil solidly on the standup bass.  The Crooked Jades closed the festival eleven days later, and there were so many good shows in between.   Check out the website, and put next year's festival on your calendars now: Feb 6th through Feb 15th.

The Teresa Tudury concert at Stevie Coyle's Mighty Fine Guitars shop was excellent.  Here is a fun video to give you a sense of Teresa, but she is so much more in person.   She has a background in musical theater, including many years with Beach Blanket Babylon; and she can be a riot one moment and so poignant the next.

One more concert: I was lucky to get a seat at Maurice Tani's house concert last weekend before it sold out.   It was an all acoustic evening, and he was downsized from his full band,  and what a fine songwriter and performer he is!  A beautiful home in the Oakland hills with a view of the city lights and the bridges, great food and fine music -- thank you to Cindy and Eric at SYLA Presents for such an enjoyable evening.   If you haven't heard music at a house concert, you need to.   Here is another linkto help you find some.

Pretty quiet month for JRZ and Friends, just the Kensington Farmers Market gig (one of our favorites!)    I'll be back there with Patty Hammond and Dorcas Moulton on March 10th  -- looking forward to that.    I'll also be down in San Luis Obispo at the SLO Down Pub on March 28th at one of Steve Key's excellent Songwriters At Play showcases.

Speaking of songwriters, I went to a songwriting master class with Pat Pattison last Thursday.    Not only is Pat deeply knowledgeable about the craft, he is an excellent teacher.   If you songwriters out there don't yet know about him, check him out here.   I have signed up for his more in depth songwriting class through Coursera -- a good resource for quality online classes on lots of topics.   With a Bob Baker marketing class, and performance work with Vicki Ambinder,  I am staying out of trouble.

Did I say trouble?   I am thinking about getting a van so that I can be a real musician, and I spell trouble "Westfalia."   It pains me to let go of my fun convertible, but I need something that is better for highway trips, hauling gear and big enough for an occasional sleep over.   A challenge figuring in utility, reliability, gas mileage, repair cost, and purchase price.   I am thinking Ford or Chevy, or ?   Any opinions?

Always good to hear from you.   Let me know what you are up to and listening to.

All the best,  

John

Roy Zat

Croizat

Whatever

Heard Any Good Music Lately ?

I sure have !  January was packed with it and what a start to 2013 !!

If you live in the East Bay, check out Sauce Piquante and/or Les Amis Zydeco the next time they play.   (Just try to sit still listening to them.)   Blair Kilpatrick and Steve Tabak are the core of the Sauce, and they play regularly at the Kensington Circus Pub.   BTW, their New Year's Day open house was a blast -- with the food and music, I thought I was in Big Mamou, that or died and gone to heaven.   Dwight Shackelford leads Les Amis Z and his birthday party this last month was quite an assemblage of players and dancers -- including Dorcas Moulton and me.

Speaking of dancing, there are zydeco dances at Ashkenaz every Tuesday night and at the Eagles Hall in Alameda every Friday.   Here is the SF cajun/zydeco website where you can find out what is going on.   If you want to learn zydeco dancing, take one of Lisa Lee's classes.   (Dorcas and I have been enjoying them for over a year.)  There is so much great cajun/zydeco music in the SF Bay Area, we really must be part of Louisiana. 

One more for you:  Andre Thierry is playing in Berkeley at Cloud 9 this Saturday, February 2nd.   Andre is one of the best zydeco accordionists around and the place will be jumping!! 

Ordinarily, I would miss a show on the first Saturday of the month because since November of 2011, I have played that night at Chester's Bayview Cafe.    We've known that a change of ownership was in the works for several months, and it is now finalized.  A lot of good music has been made at Chester's and I will miss hanging, listening and playing there.  Thank you, Fred Aryan, for being such a good host to so many local musicians.

And I have still more good music to tell you about.   Aireene Espiritu is a songwriter worth checking out.  I had the pleasure of hearing her at a house concert in Berkeley last Saturday, with Clyde Leland.  Here is one of her songs performed a couple of years ago.  Dorcas and I sat in with her on that one and on a couple of others at the concert.  Clyde is a good writer too, check out his OccuPie video.

Many of you know I am spending more time down in LA helping care for my mom  (95 this April).  I was down at the beginning of the month and my friend Peggy Glenn invited me to drop in on her songwriter "hang".   Seriously accomplished writers there and an honor to participate.  Also, went out to the Firefly in South Pasadena for the Wine & Song series run by Brad Colerick.   Dulcie Taylor was the featured performer and it was a treat to hear her again.   I met Dulcie at the Folk Alliance conference in Irvine last October, and she has quite a resume.   Here is one of her well crafted songs.  Good food, good music and a very nice evening at the Firefly, and I am going back tonight to hear Fur Dixon and Brantley Kearns -- and see if I can get a guest set there one of these days.  

I want to broaden my performing horizons as part of my trips south, and I am very pleased to have hooked up with Steve Key recently.  Steve is a talented writer and performer "in the business" for quite awhile.  Kathy Mattea picked up one of his songs and he has a lot of good ones worth listening to.   He lives near San Luis Obispo now and runs the Songwriters At Play series, with music three nights a week at venues in the Central Coast area.   I had a guest set with him last Sunday, at the Sculpterra Winery in Paso Robles.   It was cool and a bit windy in the sculpture garden, but what a line up of talent !   Steve opened the afternoon, accompanied by guitarist Dorian Michaels.   I followed Steve, and then had the pleasure of more listening.  The featured artist was a duo out from Nashville, Burns & Kristy.   They are both pro writers and it showed.   Terry has a gorgeous voice, and Ron sings well also and sure can play that guitar.  Check out some of the videos and music on their website.

A whole lot of great music in January indeed.   But, I do have one regret.  I missed Claire Lynch at the Freight & Salvage.   She is one of my all time favorite artists, and I had a rehearsal.   Darn !!   I hope you come back soon, Claire.

Coming up in February is the 14th annual San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival.   I am not performing (I'm neither bluegrass nor old time :-), but I'll be MCing several shows, including the Casey Dreissen show on opening night,  February 7th.    Casey is a fiddler of the highest and most unique order.   I couldn't get the videos to work on his website, but listen to "Country Blues" on his 3D CD here.  Wow !!    There are too many other good shows at the SFBOT Festival to mention, so check out the schedule.

My only gig in February will be playing with Dorcas Moulton and Patty Hammond at one of my most favorite venues, the Kensington Farmers Market, on Sunday the 10th.    There is seating and good food, and it is such a pleasure to play for families and slip in a few kids songs.   Remember "The Wheels On The Bus" ?

Having only one performing date in February gives me more time for getting out to see other folks.   Certainly I'll be catching some cajun/zydeco, and I am planning on going to check out Stevie Coyle's new shop, Mighty Fine Guitars in Lafayette and the Teresa Tudury concert there on February 16th.    I am also hoping to catch Patty Hammond playing with one of her bands,  Kickin The Mule, or The Praline Trio, to mention just two.

That is a bit of who I have been listening to.  Your turn.  Who do you like to listen to and where you go to hear good music ?  (I need to know what my competition is doing :-)

Have a great and very musical February  -- 

John

Roy Zat

Croizat

Whatever

Almost 2013 !!!

Where did December go?   Into a whirl of warm gatherings with friends and family for me, and I hope, for you.  I was up in Portland over the Christmas week.  Drove up from the SF Bay Area and saw a lot of snow over the passes.  Beautiful, and brrrrr!!

And here comes January and a new year; and if you are like me, lots of thinking about resolutions, checking back on goals, recalibrating, dreaming and scheming the big plans.

Major priority is transitioning from being a capable musician to a truly engaging performer.  Not that I want to stop being a capable musician :-), but when you take the trouble to come see me play, I want it to be a good time and well worth your while.   I continue to get so much out of my performance coaching sessions with Vicki Ambinder.   I was able to squeeze in a two hour session with her in person during my visit to Portland last week.   A real treat since we usually work on Skype.  

I have signed up for a music marketing class with Bob Baker starting in mid-January.  Bob Baker has written several excellent books on music marketing, and I am looking forward to his class – even though marketing is the last thing a sensitive, creative, and very modest person (who me?) wants to do.   But to get better at playing and performing, I’ve got to expand my list of places I play and let people know about my music making. So promo, here we go!

I am particularly looking for new places to play in SF, Marin and Sonoma counties these days.  I am also going to be spending more time in Los Angeles, helping take care of my 94 year old Mom.  So, if you have any favorite places where you hear live music, thereabouts or in between, I would appreciate your ideas and suggestions.

Speaking of venues, I have been working with the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley as a board member for awhile now.  The Freight is a long established venue and does a first rate job of encouraging and supporting acoustic music.  If you haven’t come to a show since the Freight moved into their new venue, you need to!!  It is one of the best listening rooms I have been in anywhere; and one of my favorite performers, Clair Lynch will be there on January 24^th – fine, fine song writing and truly superior musicianship.

In terms of my own shows: Chester’s in Berkeley is changing owners, and we don’t know how that will affect their commitment to live music; but at least for January, Dorcas Moulton and I will be playing with Sonic Boomerang on Saturday, January 5^th, and we’ll be back with Randy Rood, Patty Hammond and some other talented folks on Thursday, January 17^th.   I’ll be at the Kensington Farmers Market on Sunday, January 13^th  with Dorcas and Patty.   And I have a children’s music gig with Michael Hanna on the 19^th.  So fun!!   That’s a private party, but if you have young kids, we play a lot of kid’s songs at the Farmers Market too, so drop by.

Hope your January is full of good things and big plans too.   Happy New Year, and all best wishes for a great year ahead!!

John

Roy Zat

Croizat

Whatever

Hello December

Well Here comes Santa Claus and Christmas music again.  (And, every songwriter’s dream is to write the next Christmas standard.)  ‘Tis the season of holiday parties, lots of music making and calorie counting.  

But let me savor November first:  three shows of   “A Celebration of the American Song”  with Chappell & Dave Holt, Bob Loomis and Dorcas Moulton (thanks to all of you who came out!!);   a great night at Chester’s with the Quake City Jug Band,  bluegrass at the Taco Jam,  singing at the Kensington Farmers Market (lot’s of kids songs and so much fun!!);  and a couple of music parties.  I was down in Santa Monica with family over Thanksgiving also – a small gathering and very nice and relaxing.   I have so much I am thankful for.   I hope the same for you.

Saw a great band at the Freight & Salvage recently,  “Le Vent du Nord”  from Quebec.  I have mentioned them before, and here is another Youtube link.   Such fun music!!  Olivier, the fiddle player, keeps a driving rhythm going with his feet as he plays.  My legs are tired after just one full-tilt fiddle tune, and he went for over an hour.  I jokingly asked him how many shoes he wears out during the year.  He said his shoes last, but he goes through five stomp boards a year.  I can believe it.

Big thing in my musical endeavors these days is that I have started working with Vicki Ambinder, a performance coach.  She is in Oregon, and we work on skype once a week, going deeply into a song, digging into the story, the point of view, the emotional trajectory, pacing, how best to present it, etc. etc.  I was skeptical that working on skype would be very productive, but it works well and Vicki has been immensely helpful.  I have been playing and performing music for forty years, and I still have so much to learn!!   One more thing that I am thankful for.

Coming up in December,  I am playing at Chester’s in Berkeley this Saturday, December 1^st, with my long time music pals, “Don’t Look Back” and with Zoe Carter, Maria Kersey and Dorcas Moulton.  Music starts at 7:30 and there is no cover.  This will be a good show with glorious harmonies and some very hot picking!!  Dorcas and I will be at the Kensington Farmers Market on Sunday, December 9^th from 10am to 2pm, with Patty Hammond on bass.  And back at Chester’s with Quake City Jug Band on December 20^th.

Otherwise, I’ll be wrapping presents and being good.   Merry & Happy Everything to you: Bodhi Day, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yalda.   Hope the holidays are filled with good things for you, family and friends.  

John

Roy Zat

Croizat

Whatever

Hello November

Boo!!!   Here comes November -- the leaves are turning and falling, and we have some of our best weather of the year in the SF Bay Area.

I was down in Los Angeles two weeks ago for the annual FAR-West Folk Alliance conference.  It was more than wonderful, and finally I learned what  the difference is between folk music and Americana music -- drums!!   Seriously though, the workshops were excellent; and I am glad I did not finish my CD before the conference because I got some very good information about planning and production -- I have some re-thinking to do. Chris Strachwitz, the founder of Arhoolie Records, and Barry McGuire, the singer of Eve of Destruction,  were honored; and it was interesting hearing a bit of their history.   And, I heard so many inspiring performances at the conference!!  I could not possibly list all of them, but I'll give you two to check out:  a new band,  Salty Suites and a veteran  Johnsmith.   

I hosted my own showcase room at the FAR-West conference for the first time.   It was a bit of work, but it was great hearing so many talented artists up close.   Got to sit in with several and that made it even more fun.

Back home, I am working with Dorcas Moulton, and Chappell and Dave Holt on our "Celebration of the American Song".   We are doing two shows in Berkeley, at Chester's on November 3 and 4; and in Occidental at the Occidental Center for the Arts on November 11.    It is no small challenge telling the story of American song in two hours but we will cover a good part of it, and we have an eight page program booklet to fill in more details.   It will be interesting and a whole lot of fun.   Hope you can make it to one of those dates. 

Other doings:   I'll be playing the bluegrass Taco Jam at the Baja Taqueria on November 5th, with wild man Stacy Samuels and other excellent players.    Dorcas and I are playing the Kensington Farmers Market  on November 11th in the morning, before heading up to Occidental.   And we will be at Chester 's on November 15th with the Quake City Jug Band.

I am volunteering with the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival again this year.  The festival is not until the second week of February, but we are planning and lining up bands for it now.   The SFBOT (as we say) is an urban festival taking place in the folk clubs and listening venues of San Francisco and neighboring cities.  It is more strictly than Hardly Strictly, if you know what I mean.

There's a wee bit of my news and I would love to hear some of yours.   Hope you are doing well and got lots of treats.

all the best,   John

Hello October

October!!   Halloween stuff in the stores already, starting to make plans for Thanksgiving and even year end holidays.   Oh my!!

September has whizzed by with my ears mostly in my headphones --  working away on CD number three.   I had hoped to have it ready by mid-October, but that deadline was long ago abandoned.   I have some good songs, and I am putting the time in to make them sound right.  I am broadening the format from my "Solo" CD and  including multiple instruments on the songs and the talents of other musicians.   Actually, I am thinking seriously of abandoning the CD concept and sending out songs as I get them done.  Remember the days when bands put out singles?  Well, it seems to have come round again, with 45s being replaced by web downloads.   

Had some fun performances this last month (Chester's, Kensington Farmer's Market, Cole Valley Street Fair, and Bella Winery among others),  and I saw some good music too.  Ray Bonneville with Nina Gerber at Studio E were excellent as expected.   (Do check him out.)   And, I went to a house concert performance by Evie Ladin and Keith Terry.   They do old time and folk mixed with body percussion of all kinds.  Lively stuff and a lot of fun!!    Evie teaches, and I got one of her DVDs to expand on my repertoire of foot "tappage."    Quite a work out!!

I am heading down to Los Angeles in the middle of October for the annual FAR-West (Folk Alliance western region) conference -- a business gathering for folk musicians.   It was excellent last year, and I am sure I will get a lot out of it again this year.   I have filled my showcase room and have a nice variety of artists performing in it.  I will be doing some performing myself at several showcases there as well.  

But not so much performing in the Bay Area in October.  I'll be at Chester's in Berkeley this Saturday, October 6th with Dorcas Moulton.  Sonic Boomerang will open, which is always fun; and we hope to see you if you are out and about.  At the end of the month,  I am doing a fundraiser in Rohnert Park with the "Spare Me The Details" Band.  And, I'll be back at Chester's on November 3rd, most likely sharing the bill with Don't Look Back.

Looking further out, Dorcas and I will be doing a concert at the Occidental Center for the Arts on November 11th with Chappell and Dave Holt -- A Celebration of American Song: Old Time to Jazz, Traditional to Original.     We are putting together a show to touch on the huge variety of American music, which is no small challenge.   The "OCA" is a first rate venue, and it is very exciting to be working on this production with such talented folks.   Already planning and practicing to make this a real stand out event.  Save the date!!

That is a bit of my good news.   Hope you are making some good news of your own.  Let me hear from you.

All the best,   John

Hello September

Last day of August and where did the summer go?!    Sun and fun, I hope.   

I had some in August.   My daughter was visiting from Monrovia where she works for the UN.  (Monrovia?)  Did a little geo-caching with my friend Bill Spence.  (geo-caching?)  An oyster barbeque at Point Reyes (yum!), and a visit to the Gold Country (didn't find any).

And I even played a little music.   Had some good nights at Chester's as usual, and my house concert with Dorcas Moulton and Sonic Boomerang was sure a treat.   Last Sunday at the Kensington Farmers Market the weather was gorgeous, and it was a pleasure playing with Patty Hammond on bass and with Dorcas on accordion.   We had a lot of families and a wonderful time with "Down By The Bay," "Wheels On The Bus" and other kids songs.   And we always come away with some great food in addition to some change in our pockets.   I am eating well!!

I read a very interesting book by Tom Jackson about performing and getting folks excited at your live shows.   Smoke!! Strobe lights!!  Just kidding, but Tom has some good ideas and you've been warned.    And seriously, something that really gets me excited these days is flat foot dancing and I am starting to learn some of those steps.    Check out this video.  It's a workout!!

I am working hard getting ready for the FAR West (Folk Alliance Region West) conference in October.   I would like to have a new CD ready for it and am scrambling to complete the recording now.   (Randy Rood who did such nice work on my Solo CD will be doing the mixing.)    I am volunteering at the conference, playing some, and also hosting a showcase room; and it has been fun getting my showcase slots filled up and interacting with folks who will be at the conference.

Coming up in September, I'll be playing on the 1st (why, that's tomorrow night!)  at Chester's in Berkeley with Laura Lind, Dorcas Moulton and Searle Whitney.  We'll be doing old time, folk and originals.  The Kookie Uke Lady will open.   On Sunday, September 9th, I'll be at the Kensington Farmers Market;  on Thursday, the 20th,  I'll be back at Chester's;  and on Sunday the 23rd, I'll be at the Cole Valley Street Fair with Don't Look Back.    You can always see where I am playing at my website www.royzat.com.

Next Friday I am going to see Ray Bonneville perform.   I saw him a couple of years ago at the Kate Wolf Festival and he got me started on the foot accompaniment.   A fine guitar player and songwriter too.  Here is an example.   He has such a great sound!!

Hope you are all doing well and looking forward to a good Fall season.       All the best,   John