California Tour Stop #10 at J.C. Hyke’s “Songwriter Serenade”
What a wonderful surprise to find so many terrific songwriters on the outskirts of town here in Arcadia, CA! Last night, I had the pleasure of joining some great players and writers as part of J.C. Hyke’s “Songwriter Serenade”, which is a weekly songwriter showcase night at Matt Denny’s Ale House & Restaurant in Arcadia, CA. I’d previously never been to Arcadia, and was happy to have the opportunity to check it out! Great folks, awesome food at the pub, and nice sound made for a pretty fun evening.
Host, J.C. Hyke, kicking things off for the evening with his down-home, country style.
J.C. took the stage first and played a really nice collection of country music that he had penned over the years. He’s spent a fair bit of time in Nashville, TN and all over the south and you can tell this guy has a solid feel for that part of the country and that style of music. Solid, foot-stompin’ tunes… nice!
Van Nuys, CA songwriter and studio engineer John M. playing some of his favorite tunes.
Next up, my buddy John M. (and, incidentally, the guy who put me up for the evening in his guest room) played a short, but high-energy set of his folk-rock tunes. He’s got this cool vibe, especially when he picks up his Taylor 12-string, that is somewhat reminiscent of The Byrds, back in the day. Really cool, really classic, and really fun…
Later in the evening, we heard from Michael McEwan who had some amazing stories to tell and the guitar chops to go with ‘em, as well as some beautifully crafted songs from Lisa Turner who called to mind something around the period of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Really cool stuff… towards the end of her set, she brought up her two sons and husband and sang an a-cappella song they had written together. Ya just don’t see too many families doing that, nowadays… So fun!
Performing one of my new, favorite tunes ("Hole In My Heart") from my new solo, acoustic release, "A Thing Or Three".
In between all of this, I got up there for a set and played through requests from my fans and friends that drove from all over to see me play that night. I mean, some of these gals drove for over two hours in LA/Southern California traffic to get there for my set! The least I could do was play a few songs of their choosing, right? So, that’s what I did… lots of fun, lots of laughs, plenty of smiles, and a killer burger afterwards with fans and friends. All in all, I can say that it was a terrific evening and a great way to wrap up my time in the greater Los Angeles area for this go around.
NEXT UP: I will be performing at House of Blues in San Diego, CA TONIGHT, February 1st. My good buddy, Josh Damigo, is hosting a residency there for a few weeks and was kind enough to invite me to join him this evening. I can’t wait to play this killer stage and I can’t wait to eat some barbeque! (Mm…) The show this evening is FREE and open to all ages, so scratch your plans for tonight and c’mon out, San Diego! We’d love to see ya…Plus, I’ll have my newest release, “A Thing Or Three“, on hand and available for sale at the show, so if you missed my set at Lestat’s West last Thursday, now’s your chance to pick up your copy and hear some of the tunes live at a great venue. Get show details and directions here and swing on by… See ya soon, San Diego!