Songwriters in the Round at The Octopus Literary Salon March 16, 2016 with Annie Bacon, Maurice Tani, Matt Langlois and Deborah Crooks

The second of a new series featuring Bay Area and touring music artists. This month features:
Annie Bacon
www.anniebacon.me/
Matt Langlois
http://welcomemattsf.com/
Maurice Tani
www.mauricetani.com/
host Deborah Crooks
www.deborahcrooks.com

The Octopus is a literary salon,* re-interpreted in the 21st Century to engage and entertain readers, writers, musicians, artists of all ages in Uptown Oakland, California. The Octopus Literary Salon includes a most excellent café with delicious food, beer & wine, a small-scale specialty used and new bookstore (we sell used records too!), and a space for public readings and discussions as well as other literary spontaneity and, of course music performance.

TONIGHT! Songwriters-in-the-Round @ High Street Station Cafe, in Alameda

Enjoy an intimate evening of music with Bay Area Folk-Rock, Americana singer-songwriters: Amber Snider, Ari Fellows-Mannion (of Loretta Lynch) & Deborah Crooks. $10 door.

We'll play the first half in-the-round, followed by mini-sets by each artist featuring their bandmates and accompanists.

High Street Station Cafe has a full dinner and drink menu. Located in a historic building, High Street Station Cafe is a cafe by day and a lounge by night. A comfortable atmosphere, High Street Station is packed with many cozy couches and chairs, a stage, great food, and friendly staff. Make a reservation for dinner by calling High St. at (510) 995-8049; http://www.1303highstreet.com/

Mission Arts & Performance Project, aka MAPP, is Tonight, June 1, in SF

MAPP will be sprawling over 20 venues as well as public spaces, street corners, BART stations, cafes, bars, taquerias, and homes all over La Mission. The event features taking common spaces and for one chaotic evening transforming them into whatever we want including free live music, spoken word, performance art, film screenings, BBQ's, garage sales, unorthodox conversations and happenings.

• Join us at Cafe La Boheme for June 1st's MAPP, for an evening of music, food, drink, and good times! 6:00 – Jonny Mac (Host) 6:40 – Mokai 7:20 – David Colón 8:00 – Deborah Crooks 8:40 – Dane Ohri 9:20 – Bill Fried Hosted by Jonny Mac Co-hosted by Alex Jimenez Website: http://www.sfmapp.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/MAPPmission For Cafe La Boheme info and menu: http://www.cafelabohemesanfrancisco.com/ Jonny Mac http://www.sanelunaticproductions.com/ Mokai http://www.mokaimusic.com/ David Colón http://www.davidcolonacoustic.com/ Deborah Crooks http://deborahcrooks.com/ Dane Ohri http://www.daneohri.com/ Bill Fried http://www.billfried.net/

Cafe la boheme San Francisco

3318 24 th Street, San Francisco, California 94110

Portland: Go west, near east

It's no secret that one of the many great things about Mysore-Style Ashtanga Yoga is the global tribe of Ashtanga practitioners. Visit nearly any place in the world and you can likely scare up at least a couple Ashtangis with whom to share practice. I've found practice groups everywhere from living rooms in Santa Cruz found by word-of-mouth to the most bustling urban capitals. Portland is no different, with at least two established Mysore groups. When I visit Portland, I call up a local I met in India in 2008 to set me in the right direction. This go Karen graciously shepherded me to Near East Yoga, a Northeast Portland studio led by Casey Palmer, which has been going strong for a good number of years. On-point instruction, good vibe, friendly community...what else does an Ashtangi need?

Well... food. We found post practice eats at Bijou Cafe which knows how to make a kick-ass, authentically French omelet. Plus they'll serve with a salad.  Très bon. (Yogis know better than to enter the Voodoo Donuts outpost up the street from Bijou, but I can't tell you how many Portland residents told me about Voodo so I'd be remiss not to mention it. Voodoo is renowned both for wacky flavor combinations as well as anatomically correct donuts. The actual Voodo donut features a pretzel stick stake through it's doughy heart.) Back to Bijou, the cafe not only serves great food but hosts a weekly Supper Jazz series on Friday's. Next time...Visiting on the front end of a week, we missed a whole slew of Portland's musical scene (other than the visiting guitar in the hotel room). Fortunately, Jimmy Mak's Jazz Club, in the Pearl District, hosts an interesting program of resident and touring artists nearly every night of the week. We enjoyed an early show by a young Portland ensemble on Tuesday in its cozy dinner club listening room. Yes, life is good in Portland.

Our Americana: Aireene Espiritu & Deborah Crooks at Bazaar Cafe 12/15

Saturday, 12/15, I return to the Bazaar Cafe in San Francisco to share an evening of music with the wonderful Aireene Espiritu. Please join us!

Listen in Sunday Morning, KALX 90.7FM

photo by Matthew Washburn

I'm playing a few songs live in the studio and chatting with DJ Mark "Deep Mission" Langan about this month's shows, Sunday morning, April 1, at 10am. Tune in 90.7FM!

"...a more diverse take on Americana with a distinctly female tone, and quite charming." — East Bay Express review of "It's All Up to You"

Middles of the Road, Silk & Paved

 Welcome to America. While shopping at Whole Foods Oakland Saturday, I was momentarily distracted by the site of a man doing yoga in the middle of the crosswalk at the intersection outside the store. Wearing black shorts, a black tank top and headphones, he had his mat sprawled out on a meridian. A few sun salutations, child's pose, sideways planks.  He wasn't really flowing and I wondered what was the point. Maybe someone dared him? Or he was making a statement ('yoga instead of shopping?') or trying to sell classes ('take my classes'). But he didnt' look particularly yogic. He looked cold and uncomfortable. I stopped watching and he was gone before I finished shopping.
A night earlier, I couldn't take my eyes off Abigail Washburn who was opening the show for The Jayhawks at the Fillmore in San Francisco. Wielding three different banjos of varying sizes and backed by Kai Welch on guitar, keys and trumpet, she had a commanding confident voice and a style that transcended folk. Both she and her band mate looked like they'd just woken up (mid-set they copped to driving through the night to get to San Francisco), but were in full command of their instruments, playing a rich, varied set of a brand of music that was alternately jazzy, folk-based, bluesy or simply raw. Washburn has spent years in China studying the language and building ties that have led her to tour the country's farthest reaches.  She and Welch along with several other band mates very recently completed a tour along China's old Silk Road on a music and cultural exchange and the experience seems to have burnished them to a that-much-higher gloss of entertaining excellence. She brought the not-yet-formed or focused crowd together on an off-mic version of Keys to the Kingdom in which she and Welch went off-mic, tip-toed to the edge of the very stage to lead us in a sing along. I was thoroughly impressed.

The Jayhawks were equally tight if more rocking and nonchalant (and maybe slightly bored) by their own high level of competence. They burned through a set of old favorites and tunes from their latest 'Mockingbird Time' with an almost been-there done-that air about them. After Abigail's small bonfire of a performance, I was both impressed and a bit underwhelmed.

Music @ Aroma Roasters Cafe, Santa Rosa 8/20/11

Back in the Hood: Hayes Valley & Its Living Alley

While I not longer call Hayes Valley home, I went back to the neighborhood yesterday to help celebrate the opening of the Linden Living Alley, the brainchild of architect David Winslow and heartbeat of the 'hood. More than 5 years after Winslow received a Community Challenge Grant to complete the renovation of the once-downtrodden alley into a, if you will, urban gathering place, the completion of the project was a real testament to commitment, tenacity and vision. It was sweet to play a bunch of tunes I'd written while living in the area as locals — including District Supervisors, Open Space Dept. heads & others— applauded Winslow and his team. Treats from Suppenkuche & Blue Bottle added to the festivities.

Live Music Sundays with the Bay Area Songwriter Collective

There's a wealth of songwriting talent in the San Francisco Bay Area, many of which was well-represented at the West Coast Songwriters Conference this weekend. I've been fortunate to meet, many, many wonderful musicians through both WCS and the less-formal 'Bay Area Songwriting Collective' which also gathered this weekend. The latter is a loosely knit group of several dozen of the Bay Area's committed songwriters who've been coming together for years to share and critique their newest songs. Think peer-review over a good meal. While most members actively perform and record, we're starting a performance residency, second Sundays at The Actual Cafe in Oakland next month. Each turn, 3 or so members will be featured performers.
The Songwriter Sundays at Actual Cafe kicks off October 10, at 4pm. Come, come...and expect new and great material in a community friendly venue.

6334 San Pablo Avenue (@ Alcatraz Avenue)
Oakland, CA 94608
Tel: 510.653.8386
Fax: 510.595.1124