Chi McClean

The home of the famous "fries inside" sandwiches... Insane!

After more than a week of no voice and canceled gigs due to a crazy cold / laryngitis that absolutely crushed me, I made my comeback at Giordano Bros. on Thursday evening, January 19th as part test, part kick-off gig for my current California run of shows. The voice felt pretty good and, despite the rain and less than desirable weather conditions outside, I had a fun audience for the night.

I played through my usual set of original material with a few classic covers sprinkled in for kicks and, after a while, this girl sat down in front of the performance area, smiled, and started singing along… She looked awfully familiar, but the person I thought she looked like lives in Ventura, CA was scheduled to perform with me this coming Monday, January 23rd at Zoey’s Café, so it couldn’t possibly be her. Then, just as I was about to ask if she had a twin living in Ventura, she smiled and I knew right then that it was Lainey Taylor. Lainey is a terrific singer/songwriter and has been making waves with her original music down in Southern California. I invited her up to sing a few of her songs and we were all blown away. Keep your eyes on this one… she’s gonna go far.

Ventura, CA artist Lainey Taylor stopped in for a surprise visit during my set and played a few a songs from her upcoming release.

As if that wasn’t enough, right after her songs, I looked to my left and discovered local singer/songwriter Mike Gibbons sitting right next to me! Heck, I’d been playing for two hours straight at that point anyway, had one of those crazy Giordano Bros. sandwiches in front of me, and to tell ya the truth, I really wanted to hear what Mike had been up to, so I offered him the stage for a few tunes. With a smile and an “Uh, I don’t know, man…”, Mike took the stage and proceeded to crush it… Awesome. If you don’t know Mike, ya should. He has been a featured KFOG 104.5 FM artist as part of their Local Scene program and has played all over the States. He’s got a couple really great songs that have been receiving some airplay and has carved out a really nice foothold for himself in the songwriter scene.

SF singer/songwriter Mike Gibbons taking the stage for a few tunes and doin' it right!

So, if you don’t know about Giordano Bros., you’ve probably been wondering this whole time, “What the heck are these sandwiches all about?!” Well, I’ll tell ya… straight out of Pittsburgh, PA, these guys make these ridiculously awesome sando’s on Italian bread with your choice of Italian meat (ham, seasoned turkery, coppa, etc.), cole slaw, fries, salt, pepper, oil, and vinegar. They are a perfect little slice of heaven. Be careful, though… you might get addicted (see below).

See what I mean? These sando's at Giordano Bros. in San Francisco, CA's North Beach District are AWESOME!

All in all, it was a terrific start to my coastal run of shows to wrap up January 2012. The voice felt strong and like it was nearly 100% after that terrible bout with that cold / laryngitis, and I had a ton of fun… Be sure to keep tabs on my Shows Page for upcoming dates in California this month. I’ll be hitting Half Moon Bay, Palo Alto, Paso Robles, Ventura, Los Angeles, South Pasadena, San Diego, Los Angeles again, then Arcadia with a few interesting stops in between. Hope to see you all out on the road soon!