4 Days of Northern California Dreamin’

Thank you to all who came out to see Iris Dement and I in Northern California this past weekend. We had a blast. The people and the venues were wonderful. I always enjoy visiting this part of the country. There is such a diverse variety (is that redundant?) of flowers and trees, and they grow so well here. It really makes for some fantastic scenery and landscaping.

We started our 4 date run at The Miners Foundry in Nevada City. What a cool old place. The staff and volunteers were awesome. I want to say a big thank you to the great folks at KVMR, the local community radio station as well. The sound at Miner’s Foundry was really good and we had a great show. The wonderful audience made us feel very welcome. Our dressing room was the size of a tennis court, with rows of tall windows on 3 sides. The stone walls and high wood beamed ceilings made it feel like a medieval castle.

I got a surprise at the end of the show when Iris asked me to sit out on the next song. I started to take off my guitar and she said, “No, no. Stay up here”. So I was a little confused for a moment, but I said OK. She then proceeded to lead the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to me, and our tour manager Mitchell brought a birthday cake up on stage for me to blow out the candles. I didn’t see that one coming and was completely surprised! A very nice birthday surprise.

The next day we were off to the famous Freight and Salvage in Berkley. I’ve heard of this place for years (actually this is the new place, I never played the original location) and it was fun to finally perform for this crowd. The new venue is really cool, with recycled rough wood paneling on the walls and comfy seats. The rough wood surface on the walls gives the room a nice warm tone. We had a fun show and met a lot of nice people.

Saturday night found us in Petaluma at the super cool Mystic Theater. Another wonderful sounding venue. I love the little theaters, and this is one of the best. Great food and great draught beer too! On the dressing room wall I saw a Leon Redbone poster I hadn’t seen before. It was called “The Geneology of Leon”, and it traced Leon’s “family tree” back to a hilarious list of historical figures like Groucho Marx, Paganini, and Napoleon. I’ve got to track down a copy of this. It’s a riot! This is the kind of thing only Leon can think of. We’ve played a few shows with him over the years. He is a truly unique and funny guy.

We spent the last evening of our 4 day tour in the little beach town of Capitola. The folks at the wonderful Monarch Cove Inn spoiled us with their hospitality. What a beautiful inn. It’s set on high cliffs with amazing views of the surrounding beaches and ocean. We played that night at the Kuumbwa, a nice little venue in Santa Cruz. It was a great way to end the weekend. Very nice people in the audience and working at the venue.

This morning I had some amazing luck. When I went to the security line at the airport in San Francisco there was literally no one else waiting in line! I walked right up to the ID checking guy and was through security in less than a minute. THAT my friends is good luck! Amazing, SFO is not a small airport. Now I’m sitting at the San Francisco airport getting ready to board my plane (OK it’s Delta’s plane) back to Indiana. Sorry to say goodbye to cool and misty Northern California, but always happy to be heading home.

On a funny last note, the guy sitting next to me asked me about my Martin guitar. He said he had a D-18, and used to play music and write songs back in the ‘60’s. I asked him what he did now and he said, “Oh, I’m an actor”. We talked a little more about music and at some point we shook hands and I introduced ourselves. Turns out it was Louis Gossett, Jr., who I didn’t recognize but have seen in many movies and TV shows (Officer and a Gentleman, The Deep, Roots). He was in town to do a book signing for his autobiography that just came out. Very nice guy. Makes me want to read his book. I have been on a biography kick this year anyway…

Tags: Berkley, California, Capitola, folk, Freight and Salvage, Iris Dement, jason wilber, Kuumbwa, Louis Gossett, Miner's Foundry, Monarch Cove Inn, music, Mystic Theater, Nevand City, Petaluma, Santa Cruz, singer-songwriter, Tour