Chi McClean

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks with Thanksgiving holiday travel, gigs back in California, and a little touring down here in the southeastern United States with country singer/songwriter Erica Sunshine Lee. We’ve been doing a lot of writing together and have been playing a number of shows here in Georgia in and around a few hours of the Atlanta area. Heck… we even had a nice little surprise along the way and won a songwriters contest at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, GA last week for a new co-write we finished called “Free And Easy”. The short of it is that it’s been a ton of fun traveling and playing music with a lot of good, down-home, southern cooking along the way (Ok, a few visits to Chick-fil-A, too!). Next up, we head down to Nashville, TN on Monday, December 5th to play at Hotel Indigo (West End) from 7:00pm until 8:00pm. If you’re in town, or if you know folks in Nashville, TN, please help spread the word and let’s have us a great night! New dates are being added daily in and around the Nashville area, so stay tuned to my Shows Page right here on ChiMcClean.com and keep yourself apprised of all the goings-on in the next few weeks. As always, thanks for your support and see ya out there on the road soon!

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I hope you all have a wonderful day with lots of great food, friends, and family. I’m down here in Florida with my folks cooking up a storm (right now, I’m working on my signature “McClean Mashers”), so just a few minutes to write and say “hey” and let you all know that I’m tremendously thankful to have your support and friendship out there on the road. Hope to see you all real soon and, if not this year, early next for sure! Stay tuned, eat lots, smile more, and be well.

I have the privilege of opening up for the wonderful singer/songwriter Yael Naim at Bimbo's 365 Club in scenic San Francisco, CA this Wednesday, November 2nd.

I was absolutely thrilled when I got the call a little while ago to open up for Yael Naim this coming Wednesday, November 2nd at one of the coolest (and oldest) clubs in San Francisco, CA: Bimbo’s 365 Club. While I’ve seen a few shows here, I’ve had my eye on performing here for a while and I can say that I couldn’t be happier to be performing on this particular evening with Yael. If you haven’t yet heard her music, it’s just… well, it’s just plain amazing. Do yourself a favor, check out her tunes, and learn a little more about Yael Naim on her website, then buy your tickets here for the show this Wednesday!

Doors open up at 7:00pm, I’ll be hitting the stage from 8:00pm until about 8:45pm or so, then Yael Naim & David Donatien will perform from 9:oopm until close. It’s going to be a wonderful night and a really unique, seated show at one of San Francisco’s historic clubs. I hope you’ll join me.

PLUS, I’ve just received copies of my latest, solo acoustic release, “A Thing Or Three”, and will have copies available ONLY at this performance. It is not available anywhere else, so be one of the cool kids on the block, sport the latest acoustic release from moi, and let’s make it a date, ok?

[Wednesday 11/2/11, 7:00pm Doors, 8:00pm Show, Seated Performance, 21+ Only, $28.00 in Advance. Bimbo’s 365 Club is located at 1025 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133. Advance tickets available here, while they last.]

A cool little venue with great beers, terrific food, and a cozy vibe right in the heart of downtown Sonoma, CA.

So, I gotta admit that I didn’t plan this stop all that well, today! I was in San Luis Obispo, CA last night (oh, about six hours or so south of here), wrapped up a little after 9:00pm, then got to chatting with people, then packing up, then eating, then hanging out with an old room mate now living nearby in Los Osos, CA, then… Next thing I knew, it was 12:30am and I was STILL about six hours away from Sonoma with a plan to start setting up and sound-checking at noon that same day! (Ack!) So, I did the only thing I could do and sucked it up, grabbed a Coke, turned up some tunes, rolled the windows down, and began the long, lonely drive in the wee hours of the morning up 1 from San Luis Obispo to the 41 in Los Osos to the 101 in Atascadero towards the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, I know my mom is not going to like this (she freaks out when I tell her about how late I drive around after gigs while nodding off… ESPECIALLY after she watched “Crazy Heart” where Bad Blake falls asleep at the wheel and ends up in a ditch!), but I probably almost drove off the road no less than 25 times this morning on my way north while struggling to stay awake and make forward progress. While I’m not proud of that, I am happy to say that I made it within 1.5 hours of Sonoma before finally giving into the sleep deprivation and pulling over to an area Motel 6 for a few hours (4 hours to be exact) of sleep in a bed with a hot shower waiting for me when I woke. It was a brutal, brutal drive rolling solo like that on very little sleep to begin with, but I haven’t missed a gig yet, and I don’t plan on starting now. So, after waking myself up, showering up, and filling up my tank, I embarked on the final leg of my journey north to wine country to play Hopmonk Tavern from 1:00pm until 3:00pm.

A cool outdoor stage at Hopmonk Tavern in Sonoma, CA. This spot sounds good for an outdoor beer garden!Â

While it was debatable as to whether or not I’d actually have a voice at this point, I set up, warmed up, and upon sound check, was delighted to realize that, yes… I could still sing after my epic road saga earlier in the morning! I played straight for two plus hours with only a short break to replace a broken string (you know you’re jamming when that happens, right?). I covered off on my favorite originals and a few choice covers to spice things up for what was to be my last show on this little run of California and Oregon over the last two (and then some) weeks. Some good friends swung by, I met a ton of great folks who stopped in to check out the music, sold a number of CDs, ate an amazing burger, drank a delicious glass of wine, smiled lots, played my heart out, and enjoyed soaking in the warm sun and a cool, light breeze for a few hours in this little oasis of a venue. To be honest, after all the running around, all the shows, and the crazy drive the night before with a couple close calls, I couldn’t think of a better way to end my musical travels this time. BIG thanks to the gang at Hopmonk Tavern along with KC Turner for providing the opportunity to perform on such a wonderful day. HUGE thank you to everyone who came to listen and hang out, too… you made my day!

NEXT UP: two days/nights off before a big, BIG show back home here in San Francisco, CA at the one and only Bimbo’s 365 Club opening for Yael Naim this Wednesday, November 2nd. I’m so pumped for this performance, and I can’t urge you to check it out enough… so, do yourself a favor, listen to Yael Naim’s music, then go buy your tickets for this one of a kind, seated performance at one of the oldest standing clubs in San Franciso here. [21+ Only, Seated Show, $28.00.] See ya soon, everybody! Be well, be safe, and take care… Thanks to all of your along the way these past few weeks for you support. It means more than you can ever know.

Vintage 1255 in San Luis Obispo, CA. My new favorite wine bar along the central coast!

Next on the tour stop was Vintage 1255 in San Luis Obispo, CA for Saturday evening, October 29th! I really love this joint… it’s a wonderful room with tons of cool wines, a neat vibe, great acoustics for small acts, and just truly, genuinely nice people working the bar. It was just what I needed after a noisy (but tremendously fun) night the evening prior in Capitola, CA. A number of friends, fans, and the illustrious local songwriter/promoter Steve Key from SongwritersAtPlay.com were in attendance that night and we all had a terrific time sipping wine and playing/listening to music. I played from 7:00pm until a little after 9:00pm with a short break to offer up my Taylor 814ce to Mr. Key to serenade us with some of his great songs. (While he’s not officially a “Taylor Guy”, I’m going to make one out of him, yet! His immediate comment after finishing his first tune was, “This thing plays itself! I love it!”) He made instant fans out of everyone there with a cool, seasonal (read: Halloween’ish) cover from Peter Mayer about two pumpkins debating over whether it was better to remain a pumpkin or be carved up for one night’s worth of glory to be a jack-o-lantern with eyes to see, a nose to smell, and a mouth to smile at the moon and the stars. Really cool tune. (Awesome job, Steve!)

Friend, songwriter, and local promoter Steve Key playing a couple songs during a break in my set last night!

Later on that night as I was packing up my rig, we had an interesting visitor (see photo below). I STRONGLY urged the staff at Vintage 1255 to NOT let this character in under any circumstances… fortunately for all of us, I believe, they listened to me! (Enter shrill violin sound effects from 80′s horror flicks!)

Uh... please don't let Michael Meyers in, ok? Please?

All in all, it was a tremendous night of good music, food and wine with good friends, both old and new, and some new fans from all over the place who stopped by to see what all the commotion was about at this cozy spot. The new acoustic release “A Thing Or Three” was gobbled up, I’m happy to say, and I really enjoyed being able to hand deliver a copy of the record to Steve Key and the folks from Vintage 1255 (I included their names in my “thank you” section for their continued support of my career). I suppose that I really just a had a nice, relaxing time playing my music in one of the better sounding rooms I’ve heard as of late and it was just what I needed to press the reset button after a long couple of weeks on the road. The only problem? At the end of it all, I had the sickening realization that I had to be in Sonoma, CA (about 6 hours away) by 12:00pm the next day and it was about 10:30pm or so before I ended up finally finishing loading my truck! Ack! Who’s my booking manager?! Fire that guy! (Oh, wait… it’s ME! Oops… )

Loved playing this free show as part of my friend's Haiti Medical Clinic fundraiser.

I always love spending time in Santa Cruz (Capitola), CA. It feels like summer every single day: warm weather, sunny skies, peeling waves, tan people with smiles on their faces… pretty perfect, if you ask me. On October 28th, I teetered down the coast from Half Moon Bay, CA after a relatively sleepless night and, after napping for a looooong time when I finally arrived at my hotel, I walked the beaches and reefs at low tide for a while to chill and get my bearings. This was day #15 of the mini tour and performance #24 and, to be honest, I was starting to feel some of the late-night drives and early morning check-in’s at the seedy roadside no-tell motels along the way. I needed some chill time, and I found it along the shore while tide pooling and walking with my bare feet in the sand and on the smooth rock reef for a while during sunset down in Capitola.

On a really, really low tide, you can walk from Pleasure Point all the way down to Capitola proper. Great tide pool exploration abounds and cool cliffside caves.

After walking for a long while, it was again that time of the night when I needed to clean up, get my gear together, and set up to play. On this evening, I was playing for a fundraiser that my friend Amy Herold was putting on to help raise money for a medical clinic in Haiti that she visits and donates her time and expertise to each year. Seeing as it was a Friday night and Halloween weekend, AND a fundraiser, I knew it was going to be nuts. And crazy loud it was! I had my gear cranked WAY up and, while it worked out a.o.k., I felt like I blasted myself right out of the water that night. In any case, I had a ton of fun, met lots of great folks, helped raise some money for my friend, and even donated myself (well, a house concert by me, actually) to the cause. I went for a nice price, I’m proud to say, and am excited to head back down to Capitola in the next few months when the winner decides to redeem the prize. Should be a fun time! After the evening was through, I packed everything up, relaxed to a glass of wine in the post-party empty bar, and prepared myself for a deep, deep sleep… When I finally made it back to my hotel, as I closed my eyes, I kept seeing visions of this cool pier photographed below before it was finally lights out until the hotel manager banged on my door in an effort kick me out an hour past the check-out time the next morning (Oops! Sorry, bud! Thanks for not charging me extra!).

The Capitola, CA pier at sunset. Cool.

My portable rig at The Wine Bay in Half Moon Bay, CA just after sound check. Man... the sound is SO good here!

So, I have to admit… pretty much the last thing I felt like doing when I started unloading my truck this afternoon was, well… unloading my truck and playing for two hours. But, the show must go on and I have a new release to promote, so giddyup! As soon as I set everything up, plugged in and sound checked, I immediately remembered why I love playing at The Wine Bar in Half Moon Bay, CA so much… the room acoustics are KILLER! Seriously, I think this night was one of my all-time favorite nights on stage. As small as this place is, for some reason, whenever I play there, I get chills. To me, it sounds just THAT good… Brrr!

The main entrance to The Wine Bar in Half Moon Bay, CA. Won'tcha come on in?

I played from 7:00pm until a little after 9:00pm straight to a super attentive audience who listened to every single note and every single word. It was almost unsettling how quiet it was after each song until the last note had rung out on my guitar… Amazing. My new friend Lydia behind the bar took good care of us all, made everyone feel at home, and just made for a killer evening before, during, and after my set. (Thank you!) Later, in the evening, my good friends Jon and Nica showed up to hear a few songs and, following my set, convinced me to join them at a nearby spot to shoot a few games of pool, eat some late-night, greasy food, etc. Pretty much the usual… We had a little too much fun and I found myself sleeping on the back bench of the cab of my truck in a down jacket (it was 36 degrees that night!) since I forgot to pick up my sleeping bag from the cleaner earlier that day. (BIG oops…) Just a few short hours later, shivering, exhausted, bleary-eyed, and hungry (again?!), I fired up the engine and started making my way down Highway 1 towards Santa Cruz, CA in search of some cold surf and my gig later that night in Capitola, CA. While I didn’t find any waves that morning, I did get to enjoy some beautiful, early morning light (see below) along the way.

If you can see through the dead bugs on the windshield, you'll see the warm, morning glow along CA-1 and the craggy, generally surf-rich, coastline. Stunning!

Marilyn's on K Street: an awesome sounding stage that seems just a bit like The Bitter End in New York, NY. Lovin' it!

After a wonderful evening up in Cottonwood, CA, I slept in, took care of some e-mails, then got back in the truck and started my drive south to the California State Capitol – Sacramento, CA. It occurred to me that, while I’ve played here before, I hadn’t really spent much time in or around the area. On the way in, there were tons of great, sweeping views of open space, farmland, and just the most gorgeous sunset you could imagine. When I rolled into town, I made a quick pass by the capitol building (Actually, I got lost and found it by mistake, but I’m glad I did!) before parking and finding my way to sound check.

The capitol building in all its glory.

When I finally found my way to the load-in entrance for the club, I was met by a life-long veteran drummer and sound man who seemed a little less than enthusiastic about a solo acoustic act playing his rock club. We got to sound checking and things took a turn for the worse when the floor wedge sounded like crud and, exercising as much diplomacy as I could, I suggested that he change the EQ or get a new floor wedge. We had a little back and forth and I’m sure he was thinking I was a bit of pain in the arse until he finally realized that the horn was blown! (And my night was saved!) We switched out the floor wedge and, man… things starting sounding pretty darned sweet.

Tour posters up? Check! Front and center on the marquis at Marilyn's on K Street in Sacramento, CA.

Just before I started, some good friends from nearby Elk Grove, CA showed up and we had a great time catching up, shootin’ the breeze, and talking about my new acoustic release. These guys had been working/raging in New York, NY for the last few days and were a little haggard, so it was a treat and a privilege to have them there in attendance along with the rest of the crew that night. After catching up, I hit the stage and played my heart out for about an hour and, to my great satisfaction, noticed the sound man, booking manager, bartender, door man, and the rest of the venue staff nodding along and applauding loudly; it was settled, then – the liked me! After my set, a great jazz/fusion trio (Glimpse Trio) followed up and absolutely blew my mind. I wish I took a photo of the lead guitarist so you could see it for yourself. The guy absolutely burned that guitar down… he was so fast! Even the fastest exposure setting on a great camera couldn’t have captured a still frame without a little blurriness. Fast or not, the guy had feeling and played with his heart. It’s rare to hear that combo these days. Man… that dude could PLAY!

Oops... I did it again! Denny's on I-80 West from Sacramento, CA.

After those guys wrapped up and broke down their gear, I stuck around and traded stories with the club staff and got to know those guys a little better. We had a great time and, suddenly, I realized that it was about 1:00am, and with a long drive towards Half Moon Bay, CA for my show the next day, I figured it was time to go. So, I packed up my gear, said my goodbyes, and hit the road headed west. About 40 minutes outside of Sacramento, I felt my eyelids closing and my energy level draining when I realized that I had eaten only one meal earlier in the day (a late breakfast), so I found a Denny’s somewhere past Davis, CA, saddled up to the bar, ordered up an American Grand Slam breakfast pictured above. Yep… my body hates me!

Uh, there's nothing to see here, folks. Move along... Yeah. Let's pretend this never happened.

That meal didn’t have a chance. If I ate it any faster, I would have inhaled the poor thing. So, fueled by grease, eggs, hash browns, melted cheese, sausages, bacon, and several Cokes, I climbed back into my rig and set off toward the Bay Area. I’m glad I stopped as the night turned into a marathon drive and hotel search that didn’t get me checked in and into bed until about 5:00am. (Oops) Wearily, I crawled into bed somewhere in Marin County, CA having put some miles behind me with just a few more to go the following day, and then closed my eyes for a few hours before check-out. Zzzz….

BIG THANKS to the crew at Marilyn’s on K Street for hosting me that night. I had a ton of fun, you treated me like royalty, and made the show sound really smooth. RAWK! Hope to hang with you guys again soon!

Cody's OK Corral... a real gem hidden in plain sight in the little town of Cottonwood, CA.

Has anyone seen The Blues Brothers movie? Yah? Well, this place (Cody’s OK Corral in Cottonwood, CA) took a page right out of the scene where those guys played that country western bar. QUESTION: “What kind of music do you guys generally have here?” ANSWER: “Two kinds: country and western.” Haha… Seriously, the only thing this place was missing was a chicken wire fence to protect me in the event that one of the patrons didn’t agree with my choice in material for the night. While it never came to that (on the contrary, I sold over 25 copies of my new acoustic release during the show), I was a little leery at first when I set up, even though the bartender, Brittany, had seen me on the way up the week before and approached me directly about a booking there. Over three hours, I played my rear off with the occasional southern rocker to make sure everything stayed copacetic. It turns out that it did and we had one heck of night.

Yeah... it's got an animal on the main sign. Love this joint!

Man… great folks in Cottonwood, CA! Big thanks to the staff at Cody’s OK Corral for inviting me to perform on a Tuesday night and for helping to get a big crowd in for my show! Brittany… YOU ARE A ROCKSTAR! See ya’ll again real soon!

Lest I forget the stunning beauty of Mount Shasta on the way down earlier that day, I’ll post one of several photos I just couldn’t stop taking of this awe inspiring mountain from my rearview mirror. Boy, I can’t wait to get back there someday soon!

Talk about a distraction that might drive ya right off the road... I mean, LOOK at this mountain! Holy crow...

The. Best. Bar. In. Mount. Shasta. California. PERIOD.

Again… another surprise on the way up turned into another great gig on the way back down the I-5 from Eugene, OR. Gold Room Saloon in Mount Shasta, CA is one of the more unlikely live music venues I’ve played, but then again, what joint is complete without a little live acoustic music? Christina and the crew invited me back down after we had a fun time the week prior on my way up north and this time didn’t disappoint. Just like the repeat show in Ashland, OR the night before, the same folks came back and, this time, with friends! We had an outstanding time, rocked out some anthems from time to time in between my original material, celebrated a few birthdays, and just had a rowdy time for an otherwise cold, wintery, Tuesday night in Northern California. BIG THANKS to the folks of Mount Shasta and, especially, Christina at Gold Room Saloon for giving me a home away from home in the town of Mount Shasta, CA. Can’t wait to get back up there (next time with my climbing gear and ski gear) and do it all over again.