Chi McClean

Taking a breather at Montara State Beach just north of Half Moon Bay, CA before my gig. This place can produce some of the meanest surf in the winter season. On this day, however, it was just serenely beautiful.

Crab Landing in Half Moon Bay, CA is one of those spots that I was lucky enough to perform at three times on this visit to California. This was the last of ‘em, sadly, but it was a wonderful way to wrap things up before continuing south out of the San Francisco Bay Area to continue my road show. A number of friends and fans came out of the woodwork and cycled through during my 4+ hours of playing. Just to give you an idea for how much fun this set was, I played straight through without ever realizing that I hadn’t taken a break! Hilarious…

As Crab Landing is a pretty cozy little spot, or at least the area where I typically set up is, and seeing as how it was the last performance there for a while, I turned this into what I jokingly called, “Totally Request Live”… or something. I surrendered my set list to my friends and fans and just played whatever they called out from my catalog of original music along with a few covers that folks had heard me perform over the last year or so. It was a great time with some funny back and forth between me and the audience along the way. At the end of my set, I couldn’t believe that so much time had passed. I guess the old saying about time flying when you’re having fun really rang true on this day.

I can’t thank the crew at Crab Landing enough for their support during my SF Bay Area visit. I had a great time playing each and every time at this venue while I was in town and I really can’t wait to get back there the next time I visit. Definitely check them out if you plan to cruise down the coast from San Francisco sometime. It’s a great restaurant with terrific views and, upon occasion, some great acoustic music, too. See ya again soon, Half Moon Bay!

Mexico or the local taqueria in Sonoma, CA where I spent the night before my gig in Kenwood, CA? I wasn't so sure when I woke up!

I had an awesome time performing in Sacramento, CA on Friday evening and, with all the adrenalin from performing and then listening to a ton of great music after my set, I took advantage of all that energy and made the drive down and west to Sonoma, CA in advance of my gig just north of town in Kenwood at Landmark Vineyards. I thought I’d miss a lot of wine country traffic by making the trek late-night and was in the mood to treat myself to a nice hotel and catch up on some much needed sleep, so why not put the road behind me? I should have known everything would have been booked on a Friday in the summer months in wine country, however. Alas, a friendly front desk clerk suggested I hide out in the lot outside this local taqueria (pictured above) across the street. With a ton of gear in the bed of my truck and guitars in the cab, they only option was to tilt the driver’s seat back a tad and make the best of it for the night.

The vineyards at, well... Landmark Vineyards.

Well, there was only one thing to do upon waking up in the truck: find a massive breakfast. And that, I did! A huge egg scramble and chai latte set me up for the rest of the day and geared me up with plenty of energy to play for 3+ hours at Landmark Vineyards from 1:00pm until well past 4:00pm. There was a wonderful, rotating crowd throughout the afternoon of folks from the Bay Area to well across the globe. It was a hoot to meet everyone, perform my original music for them, and catch up with the staff at Landmark Vineyards who have been tremendously good to me over the years.

Huge thanks to the crew at the winery for making me feel at home, as always, and to my friends and fans who made the trek out to the winery. Thanks, too, to all the visitors that purchased CDs, pint glasses, and offered their support and compliments along the way. It was a great afternoon and I can’t wait to do it all again soon…

En route to Sacramento, CA to perform at Naked Lounge on Friday, August 3rd, 2012. Lovin' this open country, hatin' this traffic...

After an amazing time the night before performing in the round during Heather Combs’ night at The Hotel Utah Saloon in San Francisco, CA, I drove up and east to the state capitol of Sacramento to perform at one of my favorite listening rooms in California – Naked Lounge. Terrific sound, a really mellow vibe, a nice stage, awesome artwork, and a really knowledgeable and caring staff make this venue a great spot for live music. It always feels and sounds so good in this room!

I had been meaning to re-string my guitars for a while and, finally, this parking lot seemed to end up being the spot. At least it was quiet and clean(ish).

When I arrived at the venue after battling what seemed to be interminable traffic from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento, I fortunately had just enough time to put some new strings on my guitars. The night before, I finally started to notice that, indeed, it was time to make the change. The thing is… these Elixir Strings last FOREVER. And, they sound REALLY good for a LONG time… but, when they’re done, they’re done. It was time… and I have to say, new sets of Phosphor Bronze Elixir Strings (.012′s) on my Taylors sound insane. I was psyched.

After a brief sound check, I took care of a few final details and then got busy with the show. I had a terrific time performing for a really attentive audience and really enjoyed a little back and forth with them in between songs. It was such a cozy environment and such a joy to be there. Afterwards, I was lucky to be able to hear two awesome, local, and very different acts do their thing. First up was The Sutter Junkies who called to mind The Black Keys with their old-style blues renditions of classic tunes with just a guitar, harmonica, and vocals, and a stomp box. Raw, real, gritty, and pretty much perfect for the night. Do check these guys out, if you dig old-style, lo-fi blues jams. They rock.

The Sutter Junkies absolutely ripping up the stage... I really enjoyed listening to these guys after my set.

After the dynamic blues duo wrapped things up, a wonderful, jazzy quartet, led by singer Lakeisha Mondy, took the stage and wrapped up the night with some really tasty, mellow jams.  Loved that Rhodes keyboard in their act… smooth.

BIG thanks to my friends at Naked Lounge including Jeff and AJ and thanks to The Sutter Junkies and Lakeisha Mondy for so graciously sharing the stage with me on a Friday night in their home town. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the good folks out in the audience from Sacramento and the surrounding area, so THANK YOU for your continued support. It was awesome to see some old friends and to make some new ones! Thanks for everything and see you all again soon!

The Hotel Utah Saloon in San Francisco, CA. Site of many a wild, musical night... including last night.

Yesterday was an absolutely terrific day… Seriously. The night before, I stayed with a friend in Los Osos, California after doing a radio interview on 92.5 FM The Krush and was pretty whipped after catching up with the studio staff, driving a bunch, performing, getting up to speed with my friend, etc. Consequently, I got off to a slow start over a few cups of chai latte yesterday morning (did you really think I’d drink anything else?!) at the local Starbucks to jump start the system. After wrapping up some outstanding booking inquiries and web updates that I had been meaning to tidy up along with a little busy work, my stomach started grumbling and, having caught wind of a killer taqueria up the street in the surfy town of Morro Bay, I made a break for some carnitas and carne asada tacos at, perhaps, the best little gem I’ve found in some time – Tacos de México.

Honestly, these three tacos were Heaven sent... Amazing. If you find youself in Morro Bay, CA, definitely look 'em up!

After downing the tacos and topping off my to-go cup with another round of horchata, I climbed back into my pickup and started to make my way up to San Francisco, CA to join my friend and and an absolutely TERRIFIC singer/songwriter, Heather Combs, for her monthly writers round at The Hotel Utah Saloon. This venue has undergone a serious transformation in some important areas (for instance, the sound system is totally revamped and sounds great, both on and off stage), but the old-style saloon feel remains the same – just pure awesomeness. Feeling somewhat frazzled, yet victorious, after conquering the Bay Area rush hour traffic and arriving a mere minute or two before show time, I set up, tuned up the Taylor’s and went ahead and gave ‘er. Other than Heather Combs, I was joined by singer/songwriters Garrin Benfield and Katie Colpitts – both local San Francisco artists. We traded songs for a few hours and just had a blast. It was a totally packed house filled with a great vibe, happy people, and smiles all around. For my one stop in San Francisco this tour, I couldn’t have asked for a better night.

Katie Colpitts digging deep for a packed house last night at The Hotel Utah Saloon in San Francisco, CA.

Big thanks to Heather and the crew at The Hotel Utah Saloon for their continued support and the great music. Definitely check both of ‘em out when you can and like ‘em on Facebook, etc. Thanks, too, to all my friends and fans that made the effort to come out on a cold, foggy, Thursday night. I loved seeing you all! Now, it’s off to Sacramento, California to perform this evening at The Naked Lounge. Check out the details here and meet me there! Until next time, SF! I will miss you…

Tune in locally at 92.5 FM on the Central Coast of California or stream live online at www.krush925.com

I made the beautiful drive down from San Francisco, CA to San Luis Obispo, CA yesterday to meet with radio host, Pepper Daniels, of 92.5 FM The Krush to help promote my upcoming performances in the area net week on August 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th (check my Shows Page for details, locations, etc.). Pepper and I have known each other for a few years, now, and it was terrific to catch up after my move to Nashville, TN back in March 2012. We had a couple laughs, traded info’ on what music we’ve been listening to lately (Who knew Pepper was a die hard Phish fan?! Awesome!), and then got down to the nitty gritty with the interview and performance. I performed a couple tunes including “Hole In My Heart”, and two newer songs entitled “Heading South” and “Am I Wrong”. It was a great time and so much fun to hear what’s been going in the local radio scene here along the Central Coast.

The segment we recorded is called “Krush Lounge” and it will air today, Thursday, August 2nd at 6:00pm PST. If you’re local to the Central Coast of California, be sure to tune in to check it out or just stream it online from anywhere in the world by clicking on www.krush925.com and hitting the “Listen Live” button at the top left corner of the station home page. Easy, right? Then, be sure to mark your calendars for my area shows next week on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 11th for the real deal.

Big thanks to Pepper and the crew at 92.5 FM The Krush for their continued support, enthusiasm, and encouragement. It’s awesome to have folks like this on my side and I honestly couldn’t be happier or more grateful. Tune in and enjoy! In the mean time, I’ll be driving up to San Francisco, CA to perform in the round tonight with Heather Combs at The Hotel Utah Saloon. If you’re near, come on out… it’s going to be a blast.

Getting back to some real Mexican food at El Gran Amigo in Montara, CA before my gig. ¡Olé!

Waking up to your friends’ kids delivering a smoothie to you in bed (nevermind, waking up in a bed!) was an awesome start to this Sunday morning. After crushing that thing (in a ChiMcClean.com pint glass, no less), I cleaned up, picked up my surfboards from my storage facility in San Francisco, then headed down to my favorite spot in Half Moon Bay, CA (Crab Landing) to set up and perform for a few hours.

I was running just a bit behind, so when I got there with hardly any time to spare and saw another musician performing, I totally thought I blew it: did they get impatient, drop me, and hire another guy within 30 minutes of my previously scheduled start time? Impossible! As it turned out, there was a scheduling glitch and I wasn’t set to go on until 4:00pm. Well, that meant time for a little visit to my favorite taqueria just up the street in Montara, CA: El Gran Amigo. Tres tacos de carne asada, una quesadilla, una botella de Coke, y una copa de horchata… ¡Que rico!

After mowing down some of the best Mexican food I’d had since moving to Tennessee, I packed it up and drove back down to Crab Landing for what ended up being just over four hours straight of live music (if you don’t count the brief pause to repair a broken string). As usual at this joint, it was a really fun time and all sorts of locals and tourists swung on in to check out the scene, sip some drinks, sample some local seafood, and just wind down the weekend with a smile. We had a blast and my good friend and killer singer/songwriter, Dan Littlefield, swung by and sat in for a song, too. It was a hoot and I couldn’t believe that I had been playing for 4 hours when I finally decided to call it quits. I guess time does really fly when you’re having fun… Take note: I will be performing one more time at Crab Landing in Half Moon Bay, CA this coming Sunday, August 5th from 1:00pm until 4:00pm before continuing on down the road, so mark your calendars now and come on down for some food, drink and live music.

Big thanks to the gang at Crab Landing and my friends and fans, both new and old. Sunday was, indeed, a FUN day.

Did I enter a worm hole and end up back in the south for an NHRA event?! Nope, it's just Sonoma, CA on a weekend at Hopmonk Tavern.

After spending a relatively sleepless night in the driver’s seat of my pickup the night before, I can’t say that I felt all that great when I arrived in Sonoma, CA at Hopmonk Tavern for my gig on Saturday afternoon. My best laid plans to find a YMCA for a shower were thwarted by an out of date Google Maps address/bad info on my phone and, well… it was a deodorant shower short of day. But body odor be damned, I loaded in for my set in a really cool little outdoor bier garden and got ready to rock. I honestly wasn’t sure about what kind of voice I’d have after singing for 3.5 hours the night before followed by shoddy night’s “sleep”, but Throat Coat, Halls Vitamin-C Drops, and water saved me along with a little enthusiasm and a “show must go on” attitude. It turns out that I got what I needed from my vocal folds. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that things sounded pretty darned good…

My mobile set up outside at Hopmonk Tavern in Sonoma, CA. It was a compact stage, but man... it did sound pretty good in that space!

It was a full house, the sun was shining (thankfully, I was under the cover of a few good umbrellas), and there was a gentle breeze to keep things comfy during the performance. It’s always a good sign when you see people chewing to the beat and bobbing their heads while humming and singing along. After two hours or so, I wrapped it up, ate a ridiculously good burger from the kitchen, packed up my gear and battled the NHRA race traffic near Sears Point en route to meet my buddy John for a mountain bike ride on Mount Tam in Mill Valley, CA.

On the descent from the top of Mt. Tam on the loose, rocky Eldridge Trail looking to the north and east. Beautiful...

When I finally made it to Mill Valley to suit up for the ride, I was mentally and physically toast. No sleep the night before, a hot day gigging, and the road were starting to take their toll. Never mind all that, it was time to ride, and my buddy just got a new rig, so I had to go. We busted out from his house on the road to the base of Mt. Tam, did a head fake on the trail head for Railroad Grade, then decided on the more technical climb up Tenderfoot. I was hurting from the night before and my general lack of inactivity since moving to Tennessee in March, but it felt great to breath hard and work the legs a bit. We climbed some near perfect trail conditions to the top of Mt. Tam, then dropped off the back side where I snapped the photo above. When we finally made it back to John’s house, I was crushed and only a shower and some food stood in between me and the sand man. All in all, it was a solid day. Big thanks to my friends at Hopmonk Tavern, my fans and friends that made it to the gig, and my buddy John for kickin’ my butt up and down Mt. Tam afterwards. Huge day.

The latest and greatest spot in Half Moon Bay, CA for live tunes... Crab Landing.

After playing a fun couple of gigs in Northern California, just south of Redding, I hauled it down the I-5 to make a date at Crab Landing on Friday, July 27th. This is sort of an unassuming spot for musicians as, frankly, it’s a pretty nice restaurant. At a glance, it doesn’t seem like much of a music venue (more like a fine dining spot), but with 40′+ high ceilings and a really live sounding bar area where the stage area is, it sounds like a dream and, well… sort of cathartic. Add some killer food and a talented mixologist behind the bar to the picture and you’ve got the makings of a pretty solid Friday night. I got to hang with some old friends from the coast side, which was terrific, and meet some new ones during my performance. I played through my favorite originals, tested the waters with some new songs on an audience that was pretty familiar with me and my music (nobody threw any tomatoes, so I guess that was a good sign), and added in a few covers that rounded out about 3.5 hours of tunes, non-stop (someday, I’ll learn to take a break, really…). Anyway, it was a great time and fun to be back at my favorite spot in Half Moon Bay, CA.

Big thanks to Rob and the staff at the venue as well as my good friends Tim, Jenn, Jon, Chuck, Christine, and the rest of the crew that rallied and made it a wonderful evening. NOTE: I will be performing there again on Sunday, July 29th from 4:00pm-7:00pm and Sunday, August 5th from 1:00pm-4:00pm, so don’t miss out! Come on down and let’s do it up…

The man, the myth, the legend... Chef Greg from The Woodside Grill.

This dude is what it’s all about: amazing food and good music. I’ve known Chef Greg for a little over a year, now, and the guy is super focused on creating the best experience for his guests, period. Chef offers up a killer menu and always books just the right talent (Ahem… ME) for his special dinner shows. On Thursday, July 26th, I played for a few hours in his venue and had an awesome time entertaining his guests and some new fans and friends. We had a few sing-alongs, more than a few laughs, and just an all around good time. Next time you find yourself in Anderson, CA off of the I-5, be sure to stop in, say hi to Chef Greg, and order something up off the menu. You’ll be psyched.

Live and in the flesh at the coolest venue in Red Bluff, CA.

Man… Red Bluff, CA is pretty darned cool. Never have I played anywhere before where dancing ladies were grinding to my floor wedge monitor during a solo acoustic performance. Sound awesome?! It was!! We had a ton of fun at The Round Up Saloon… Plus, with an “eat & greet” hosted by my friend and chef extraordinaire, Chef Greg, before the show, it was definitely a night to remember. Throughout the night, a few local, notable players stepped up and sat in for a song or two including “Downtown” Ric Brown who ripped up his guitar something fierce. That man is a force to be reckoned with, I say… All in all, I met some terrific folks at The Round Up Saloon and felt good up there on stage. Can’t wait to get back there on my next NorCal trip and do it up, one more time. Until then, keep on rockin’, ladies!