Sac Town Blues

Just this last December my guitarist Gabe Searles and I began hosting an weekly open mic. The venue is right in the heart of Old Folsom on Sutter Street, a place named Lock Down Brewery. We open the floor for to all musicians who are willing to share their music with us. We also welcome musicians and singer who may just want to jam with other players. Sign ups begin at 7pm and the fun goes until 10pm or as long as you want to play.

Here is how it all started:
We got connected with the owner one evening while playing music out on Sutter Street for tips. “Busking” as we call it. A man with a woman on his arm stopped for a minute to listen as they were casually passing by. When the song was over he kindly tossed a couple dollars in the open box we had laid out and he said “You know, we can hear you guys from the upstairs bar across the street. Your really good! You should bring your gear up there and play for us for a couple hours.” Needless to say, we went.
When we got up to the brewery the scene was live and happy. People were cheering as we set up for the music that would keep the party going indefinitely. They put a pint of “the common” in our hands as we fired up that amps and took to what we do best.
A couple months later we were asked back to play for an evening, and that’s when the owner talked with us about his open mic idea. We loved the idea of a steady gig and this would give us a chance to promote something concrete while meeting a good number of musicians. So that’s it, all I have to say for now. See you on Wednesday!

Guitarist – Gabriel Searles

Last Saturday afternoon Gabriel Searles and I took to Sutter street at 5pm with strict orders. Our mission was to fill Old Town Folsom with the sound of 1930′s-50″s blues music. The temperature was 100 degrees, the spot we had was directly in the sun, and the listeners were few and far between. Still we played.

Interestingly enough for the first hour and a half the only people that threw us any money were people we new from church. Kinda demoralizing, but we were still thankful. We wiped the sweat from our brows after every song and sometimes during. Every now and again we would get a family or two to stop, but they were just as hot as we were, so they would quickly move along to the comfort of an air-conditioned shop. We were baking!

Once 7:30 hit, the sun had moved out of site. Sweet relief! We continued to play until just before 9pm and we were certainly happy to do so now that we were more comfortable. We realized that most of the town had waited to come out until heat had subsided. They were all coming out to Second Saturdays and ready to listen to music and share cocktails, but it was too late. We had been frying for three and a half hours and we had nothing left to give.

One of the pictures taken from the gig is Gabe’s son holding our tips sign. It reads “Friend Killed by Ninjas, Need Money for Karate Lessons”. The sign gets us a couple comedy dollars, and hey, we’ll take em!
All in all it was a decent gig where we learned one important lesson. Folsom’s Second Saturday is better worked after 7:30pm. Write that down!

Check out my new street amp!

On Wednesday July 20th, I will be playing at the Owl Club in Roseville as the featured artist of the evening. Hosted by Angela Davise (a wonderful guitarist and singer) I will be playing a collection of blues, folk, and classic rock music with a hand full of talented musicians. Also, I will be playing about a 45 minute set on my own. You may be asking yourself “How is that possible with just a harmonica?” Well over the past year I have been honing my skills in the area of beat boxing and using a loop station. Once I lay down the beat, I begin to layer harmonica licks over one at time until the room is filled with the presence of an entire band. After that………well you’ll have to come and see for yourself.