Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "singer songwriter"

Boston Takes Over the Naked Lounge This Tuesday

2011-11-03T06:38:39Z

In the mood for a low-country Regina Spektor-meets-Jimmy Buffett-on-whiskey act followed by a Dave Matthews crossed with a beached-out Buddy Holly number? Well, you can... this coming Tuesday, November 8 at the Naked Lounge in downtown Sacramento (1111 H St.), starting at 8:30. This all ages show features two of California's up-and-coming, on-the-scene singer-songwriters, Jo Elless (www.joelless.com) and Mike Macchia & Tyler Canaday (Mike's Lost and Found, http://www.youtube.com/TheMikeMacchia). Midwest and northeastern roots, with a little dixie thrown in for good measure, Jo Elless is a Berklee-trained multi-instrumentalist who arranges her songs for wind orchestra (all of the instruments, of course, she performs herself-- ranging from flutes to tinier flutes to saxophones and various clarinets). Her songs feature musings of foggy, city, subway life and Decemberists-like folk tales of the deserted south. Her latest album, Copley Inbound, received national acclaim, including landing Elless a spot on the cover of the magazine Saxophone Journal. Coincidentally, Boston native Mike Macchia will also perform along with Tyler Canady, in the form of Mike's Lost and Found (it's also his birthday, so join in the party!) follow her with a blend of sultry, acoustic rock sure to get you kickin' back, tapping your toe, and reminding you of past summers in love. It's all this coming Tuesday, November 8 starting at 8:30 at Sacramento's downtown Naked Lounge, 1111 H St. Sacramento CA 95814.

Disclosure: Sacramento music scene columnist

Local musicians stage homecoming show

2011-06-13T23:05:23Z

Eleven weeks, 24 states and 53 shows after they pulled out of their Sacramento driveway, Adrian Bourgeois and Ricky Berger are home once again.

Bourgeois and Berger, close friends and self-described “musical co-conspirators,” spent the last two and a half months on tour, criss-crossing the nation from Oregon to Maryland and back again, taking their music to all points on the compass.

This weekend, they celebrate the end of their tour with a homecoming show at The Refuge, an all-ages club on L Street in Midtown.

“It was a wonderful experience,” Bourgeois, 23, said in a recent interview. “We are glad to be home, though.”

The two traveled in Berger’s Chrysler Town & Country minivan (affectionately called “Vanna White”), filling it with a variety of musical instruments “and lots of shoes,” according to Berger.

“Eighty percent of being a musician is hair and shoes,” Berger said with a laugh.

Planning for the tour began in late December and included arranging for accommodations across the country with a variety of family and friends – and the occasional benevolence of a acquaintance found on a website designed to put couch-surfers together with available couches.

“We really saw how generous people can be,” Bourgeois said. “We met a lot of people for the first time when we dropped in to sleep on their sofa.”

Both Bourgeois and Berger are talented and accomplished musicians in their own right (Bourgeois has two albums to his credit, and Berger is working on her second album this summer), and their musical styles are similar and strikingly different at the same time.

While they both have an acoustic, folk music undertone to their work, Bourgeois has a pop-music sound with a subtle Beatles influence. Berger, however (who plays no less than eight different musical instruments), has a style that evokes a smoky ’20s jazz club with a distinctly contemporary edge.

When they come together for a show, they each bring something different to the stage, making for an energetic and engaging performance.

“We haven’t written a single song together,” Bourgeois said. “(On the tour,) we played our own sets, and we also combined sets by switching off with each other every couple of songs.”

The mix worked, Berger said.

“The more time we spend together, the better we work together,” Berger said. “There’s a chemistry between us that helps when we get on stage.”

At some of the venues they were slated to play on the tour, they were met with a crowded house of appreciative fans; at other stops, they were lucky if the customers at the bar turned around to watch between sips of Miller Light.

No matter where they played, though, for Bourgeois and Berger it was always about the music, and it was easy to see when they struck the right chord with the audience.

“Once in a while, we’d play the same venue more than once and we’d get a good crowd both times,” Bourgeios said. “If people come out and see you play again, that’s how you measure progress toward success.”

Now that the tour is over and they’ve had a chance to reflect on the experience, Bourgeois and Berger said they are looking forward to putting on a great show for a hometown crowd in Sacramento.

“We want to (perform) at The Refuge because it’s an all-ages venue,” Bourgeois said. “Sacramento is really lacking in places that welcome everyone, so this is a logical choice for us.”

“We remember what it was to be under 21,” added Berger. “You can’t get in anywhere, but you still want to see a good show.”

Adrian Bourgeois and Ricky Berger will be on stage at The Refuge, 1723 L St., on Friday. The show starts at 7 p.m. and features the talents of Musical Charis and Autumn Sky. Tickets are $5 in advance, $7 at the door.

For more information, call 764-5598.

Francis House Dedicates 2011 Concert Fundraiser To Leader; Brings "Joyous Music" from Singer/Songwriter Ukulele Star Victoria Vox

2011-02-08T10:12:03Z

(Sacramento, CA) The sudden recent passing of the Francis House Executive Director and longtime homeless advocate Greg Bunker on December 28, 2010 has put a poignant and resolute exclamation point on the sustaining efforts of the forty year old poverty resource & counseling center. Francis House, holds a number of fundraising events yearly. The upcoming March 18 concert with singer/songwriter and ukulele star Victoria Vox & The Boulder Acoustic Society is the fifth show in their benefit concert series, but the first with a new title inspired by Bunker: "Give Them Hope.”

“Greg had just shared his new manta with us—“Give Them Hope”—captured in the ornament gift he first handed out to all of us at our holiday party” says Forrest Reed, Program Director of Francis House, “It is remarkable to realize just how many lives Greg touched and how huge a difference he had over his many years working to end poverty.” The center assists 30,000 local citizens every year. Bunker had been Executive Director for 21 years. “He was so excited about bringing Victoria Vox to Sacramento in this concert. His spirit and legacy lives on within us” says Reed.

Francis House Presents

Friday, March 18, 2011
“Give Them Hope” Benefit Concert
In Memory of Greg Bunker
with
Victoria Vox & The Boulder Acoustic Society
The Guild Theater
2828 35th St.Sacramento, CA 95817

Doors: 6 PM
Showtime: 7 PM

Tickets: Golden Circle: $50(includes post –concert reception)/Main floor; $30/Balcony: $20
Tickets available now on line at www.inticketing.com, and at The Beat (17th & J Sts.) and at Francis House (1422 C Street).

www.francishouse.info
916-443-2646
1422 C Street Sacramento, CA 95814

Victoria Vox, a rising young singer/songwriter of shimmering folk pop, is using her ukulele as a delicate front color in her musical palette. Vox's silky vocal lines, both haunting and hopeful, might remind a listener of singer Feist or Natalie Merchant. A Green Bay native now living in Baltimore, Vox has been a professional musician for eight years, and is known for her refreshingly modern and rhythmic ukulele technique. She began appearing in clubs as a ukulele musician four years after receiving a degree in songwriting from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. For this benefit concert, she will be joined by her Colorado musical colleagues, The Boulder Acoustic Society. They were her backing band on her 2010 album, Exact Change, and contribute a blend of traditional roots and blues to Vox's ultimately pop-rock sensibility. The album has a distinct worldly flair as tunes with French and Flamenco influences also feature accordion, upright bass, and banjo.

"This is one fun, funky album. Vox's songs are catchy and clever, backed by hook-laden melodies... the album's a jewel... indie recording at its best." - Michael Dregni, Vintage Guitar Magazine (Sept. 2010)

Even before the official release date of her debut ukulele album in 2006 -- Victoria Vox and Her Jumping Flea released on her own label, OBUS Music -- Vox was offered an endorsement deal with KoAloha Ukuleles (Honolulu, HI). The disc was featured on NPR’s “To The Best of Our Knowledge” and its songs were picked up for licensing in television and independent films. Vox has been awarded runner-up for “My Darlin’ Beau” (Jumping Flea) and First Place for “C’est Noyé” (Chameleon) in the International Acoustic Music Awards. She has been included in Relix Magazine’s list of artists to watch and won a WAMA (Washington D.C. Area Music Award) in 2009 for Folk-Contemporary Vocalist. Also, Vox appeared on the Jay Leno Show in December 2009 to demonstrate her perfected mouth trumpet!

Her new 2010 album, Exact Change, is truly a fan favorite. In September 2009, she was unsure how a new album would be possible. She humbly decided to ask her fans via the Internet for help to meet the $4,000 goal she set out to raise, knowing it still wouldn’t be enough. Their response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, passing her goal on the first day, and ultimately contributing more than $21,000 towards production costs for the new album.Vox averages 125+ live performances each year, playing at a mixed bag of venues across the United States, Europe, and Canada.

www.victoriavox.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sacramento News 10 honoring Greg Bunker:
http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=114527&provider=email

Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/29/3287193/greg-bunker-francis-house-leader.html.

Cincinnati Post: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20110107/NEWS0104/101080315

From one of Greg Bunker’s favorite books Be Still and Know:

"When St. Francis asked the almond tree to tell him about God, immediately the tree was covered with beautiful flowers.
It was winter.
There were no leaves, flowers or fruits, but he saw the flowers."
- -Thich Nhat Hanh

Ode To The Meter Maid

2010-09-30T23:34:06Z

Have you gotten a parking ticket lately? Feeling a little aggression? If so, Nate Weldon's new music video for his song "Ode To The Meter Maid" will help you laugh off a little steam. The music video follows Weldon through the streets of Sacramento encountering meter maids and their trusty ticket books. Take a peek and enjoy the satire.

Sea Serpent Records

Meter Maid album graphic by Ted Weldon

A portrait of Autumn Sky

2009-09-26T03:46:25Z

Most 20-year-olds don't play over 15 instruments or write three songs per week. Nor have they traveled and lived all over the United States. But Sacramento musician Autumn Sky didn't grow up in a so-called "normal" household.

Having played hundreds of shows, the ambitious Sky is on the rise.

Sky (she uses her middle name instead of her last name, Hall) was born in Paradise, Calif. She and her family lived out of a Volkswagen Beetle near Puget Sound in Washington and spent time in Oregon and Wisconson before settling in Sacramento.

She also recalled living in a log cabin in Mendocino as part of a nudist colony.

"There is a whole [photo] album that my parents have and it's all these babies and families just hanging around, only wearing tool belts," Sky said, with a hint of dry humor. "The sad thing is that people who live in nudist colonies are not the people you want to see nude."

Another thing that sets Sky's family apart is that they are high on the autism spectrum. Her father has Asperger's. She is the oldest of seven, with brothers and sisters who also have autism, Asperger's and dyslexia, she said.

"All of those disorders are blessings. There's so much of a stigma [but] I think it makes us all really cool," Sky said. "My autistic brothers are the sweetest people in the world."

It's hard to imagine Sky's colorful background when face-to-face with her. She wears girly dresses, reads poetry (e.e. cummings is her favorite poet) and once worked at Starbucks, she said.

Sky is currently on hiatus from jazz classes at American River College, works at Raley's during the day and admits a guilty pleasure: listening to pop musician/actress Mandy Moore.

Her hobbies include painting and writing and illustrating her own children's books. When she was younger, she had stage fright, and aspired to to be a journalist and author as a creative outlet.

Sky was introduced to music growing up around a grandmother who played piano and a mother who played both piano and violin and sang. She started taking piano lessons from her mother at age 6, then moved to violin at 11.

As a young teenager, Sky started doing open mic nights at her church, but she soon found her niche after moving on to the True Love Coffeehouse, as well as the Fox and Goose pub. "I used to do five open mics a week," Sky said, adding that she gained a sense of friendship among open mic performers.

"What else was I supposed to do?" she added. "Performing is so much fun for me, and it brings me so much joy to bring other people so much joy; it's extremely therapeutic."

"[Sacramento's music scene] is vastly underrated; there's so much potential," she said. "In L.A. I would be a folk singer among 500 others. It's very good for me to be in a place like this. I feel like [people] really cherish the music that comes out of here."

She released an EP, Diminutive Petite in 2008, and a friend from church helped Sky finance and produce her first album All Which Isn't Singing earlier this year. She made the album with most of the Sacramento band All on Seven backing her, creating an upbeat blend of pop, folk, and rock.

Sky is currently working on a follow-up album and is in talks with a label to have it released by next spring. "It has a '60s sound mixed with Tim Burton and Sunshine Pop," she said. If all goes according to plan, she will also be touring the Northwest in the upcoming months, she said.

Sky will be playing at Club Retro, 6521 Hazel Ave., Orangevale, on Saturday at 8 p.m. One can also see her play during her 11 Sacramento-area shows scheduled in October.

She will soon make her journalist aspiration a reality by previewing some of her own shows, here, at The Sacramento Press.

Photographs credit Caitlin Bellah/Autumn Sky