California Tour Stop #5 Zoey’s Café in Sunny Ventura, CA
On the drive down to Ventura, CA yesterday amidst a break in the rain, a beautiful view of the Southern California coast.
After doing some promo work and web updates at the local Starbucks in Los Osos, CA yesterday morning and randomly bumping into an old friend on my way out, I hit the road in the middle of what seemed to be an endless curtain of rain along the coast in an effort to get down to Zoey’s Café in Ventura, CA for my gig with Lee Koch and Jamie Drake. As I got about 3/4 of the way down, the rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the sun came out in a brilliant display of color lighting up the coast in just a really cool way. Somewhere along the 101 South, I pulled over and snapped this pic above. Beautiful! With Zoey’s Café just an hour away from this point, and plenty of time to kill, I just soaked in the sunset and watched the world go by from the highway. I love this stretch of coast!
Local Ventura, CA songwriter Lee Koch opening up the evening at Zoey's Café.
After some shuffling of the order on the bill last night, Lee Koch opened up the evening with some sweet, folky tunes showcasing an incredible voice, competent guitar playing, and really nice harmonica work. I gotta say, I really enjoyed his set. He’s been spending some time down in LA recently doing some songwriting, becoming famous… you know, the usual stuff people do in LA. He had a great following, a terrific stage presence, and just a really nice way about his performance. I look forward to seeing and hearing him on the road again soon.
Jamie Drake on the stage at Zoey's Café singing her hit, "Plumbline". Such a great tune...
After Lee wrapped up his set, Los Angeles-based songwriter Jamie Drake hit the stage and captivated the audience with her mellow, folky songwriting and soothing voice. She almost has a classic, retro, vintage vibe to her whole deal that carries you back in time, just a bit. Take an old acoustic guitar, run it through a vintage Gibson amplifier, and add really special voice and you get Jamie Drake. Definitely check out her music when you get a chance and be sure to catch her around the greater Los Angeles, CA area where she calls home. You won’t be disappointed.
After Jamie wrapped up her set, I took the stage to close out the night for what ended up being an extended solo acoustic set. The sound on stage through the monitors at Zoey’s Café is so special: it’s just… well… its perfect. Really. It was such a joy to play this venue where you can hear every little nuance of your guitar, each syllable and inflection in your voice, and connect with the audience in such a special way. It’s truly one of the greatest listening rooms that I’ve found anywhere in the United States. Out front… forget about it: it’s a treat. I played most of my material from my latest release, “A Thing Or Three”, along with a few of my favorites from my first release, “Something Out There” and my favorite new cover tune for this tour. Lots of smiles, lots of great memories, and lots of new friends and fans for the evening to keep me smiling for a while. After my set, I got out front to the lobby, chatted it up with a few new friends, sold some CDs, worked the mailing list a bit, and then enjoyed some long awaited food and a special, hand-made ginger ale from Doc, the house bartender. Dee-lish!!
The one and only Zoey's Café in Ventura, CA.
Big thanks to the crew at Zoey’s Café for making it such a special night and to the musicians, Lee Koch and Jamie Drake, for sharing their talent and making an otherwise sleepy Monday, incredible.
TONIGHT, January 24th, it’s off to The Hotel Café in Los Angeles, CA to join Brett Young, The Jason Adamo Band, and others for a terrific fundraiser/performance kicking off at 9:00pm. It’s going to be a really special evening of music with all ticket proceeds to support The A 21 Campaign. I’ll be performing a few songs as a guest artist for the evening along with a few others and, I’ve got to tell ya, I can’t wait… Find details and get your tickets here and meet us out tonight for this amazing night. 21+ Only and just $10.00 for a killer night of music for a great cause. See you soon, LA!