Music

Henfling’s to Reopen in Ben Lomond – A Neighborhood Hub Embraced

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New owners, Erin Maye Zimmer and Josh Miller invite you to the new Henflings of Ben Lomond

The local scoop from Josh – word on the street with Julie Horner

We’re working through the final stages of the liquor license with the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and making sure our neighbors are comfortable. It’s our goal to distinguish ourselves from previous owners and really run it with some integrity and make sure that it serves the community. We feel it’s a really important hub for Ben Lomond. This is where everybody comes together and supports each other. It’s the life of the town, and one of the big reasons why we love Ben Lomond as much as we do. To have it dead…it’s eerie. Everyone’s kind of on edge. “When are you going to open?”

We’re definitely anxious to give that date but we also need to tread lightly. It’s not set by us, it’s set by the ABC and the State. We’ve done all the health inspections – we haven’t gotten the final word – and we’re waiting for some new equipment to finalize behind the bar – but we want to make sure we have everything dialed in for the inspector. There were a couple of things he wanted to see get done, but he was very excited with what he saw so far.

It’s good to see things get a little TLC. And little by little it’s coming along.

It’s still Henflings – we did not want to take that away. We’ve repaired or replaced everything but the kitchen sink. Everything has gotten a thorough scrub-down. More than one. It was playing 99 layers of filth on the wall – we were takin’ em down and passing ‘em around – I tell ya, it was nasty. We have all new equipment behind the bar: Ice machine, dishwasher, commercial freezer. We’re actually waiting on another new sink. We’re re-doing all the lines, got all new taps coming in. We’ll still have the eight beers on tap that we had before, but we’ll also have IPA and ciders – Erin’s more knowledgeable about what’s popular at the moment.

We’re likely going to do a soft opening to get all the kinks worked out. We have a new point of sale system, and we’ll want to make sure everything’s functional there. We’ve got employees coming back and some who are new.

The kitchen has all new equipment. It will surpass the old taco stand reputation in a big way. If anyone asks, I’m a chemist…I’m just pitching in. Everything that doesn’t have to be done by a contractor, we’ve done by hand. The floors are all new. We’re waiting for new lighting, especially around the bar area and the stage. It’s all been dialed in by Mountain Service Company, making sure that the venue doesn’t bleed energy.

The bathrooms are nice and sturdy now, both men’s and women’s got a complete overhaul with doors that actually close and a sleek vintage appeal. The fire department did some work on the electrical – they had to replace breakers for safety reasons. The ceilings are scrubbed and stained, and we saved many of the dollar bills that were stuck up on the ceiling…we wanted to retain part of the history. The lucky few – the ones that popped – got their dollars photocopied into new framed art in the bathrooms. You can’t actually use the copies of the bucks to buy beer, but the art is a nod to the old days at Henflings.

We’ll have live music, mostly on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we’ll have big acts then. We’re trying to cut back on the during-the-week stuff to make it more inviting and less a burden on the local community. Barry Tanner is helping set the standard. We want people to feel invited when they’re coming here, and a lot of that has to do with the atmosphere and the environment and the respect people pay to the environment.

We are starting a brand new business. Erin has been behind the bar for years. I made up a 30-page business plan and the community stood up and said, “These are the right people.” Henflings is owned by the Ben Lomond fire station and we’re looking to remedy the lack of information about the history of Henflings. According to legend, the building was originally located up Love Creek and was relocated in 1949 to its current location in Ben Lomond. It’s a legendary venue with a storied past.

And we have amazing plans for the back deck area.

We’re hoping to open by the end of November, once the neighborhood and the County are satisfied. We’ve weatherproofed the windows and we’ll be dropping some sound-dampening curtains that go down after 10:00 pm. We’ll have a good solution for any local noise concerns. The marquis is being relocated out of the western window, and the liquor licence is pending – we’re just about ready. We’re using every hot second that we’ve got while we’re closed to make sure we do as much as we can to the place, because it’s not going to close again if we have anything to say about it.

Every day, every hour we have – we have a 4-year old – everything we’ve got is going into this place right now. This is the one chance we’ve got. We want to make a strong impression when this place opens.

Love Henfling’s again on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HenflingsBarNGrill

Copyright November 18, 2018, Julie Horner for The Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin. Originally printed in The Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin, November 2018 edition.

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/SantaCruzMountainBulletin

More about Henfling’s of Ben Lomond

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Music has always been a part of the roadhouse culture, personifying the spirit of freedom and independence. Our very own Santa Cruz Mountains provide a glimpse into the classic roadhouse culture at Henflings Roadhouse Tavern in Ben Lomond. For many, Henflings epitomizes the history and tradition of Ben Lomond. In the 1950s Henflings Tavern moved from its original location on Love Creek Road to its current site off Highway 9 next to the Ben Lomond fire station. The name is the family name of the original owner. The land is still owned by the Henfling family, but the tavern is not run by them.
For more than six decades, locals and visitors alike have frequented this favorite watering hole. Henflings plays host to everyone from the Ghost Mountain Riders to the saltiest of locals, and is a historic notch on any band’s live music belt.
“For anyone who hasn’t experienced Henfling’s, it’s an unusual recipe in itself. Imagine a lively roadhouse setting, with a rough-hewn bar and rough-hewn bar patrons. Add a nice little seating/dance area and a perfectly presentable stage. Top this all off with an astounding mix of Americana music, legendary blues and slack-key guitar, jumping jazz and sweet acoustic ballads. Now stir in a spicy medley of top-line acts from all over the world. Not only is there not a bad seat in the house, there’s hardly a bad inch in the house. The unusual setting makes for musical events that are uniquely intimate.” – Ann Parker

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Divining the Creative Ripple

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Local music artist explores the many moods of nature, synthesized

By Julie Horner

Waves of vividly evolving earth impressions dance inside closed eyelids. At times, fluidly womb-like, the tonally suggestive near-silence of floating in space or being submerged in amniotic suppleness gives way to the rumble of thunder, a taste of nourishing rain, ebulliently flowing streams, and the pulse of the ocean’s tide. In the mind’s eye and in the heart, there is a very real feeling of resting one’s head upon the bosom of the earth. All is released, unclenched, and the spirit is at ease.

Sapphire Oceans is a single one-hour track representing a complete hydrological cycle with music and sounds of nature. Composed by Felton musician and Mountain Spirit co-owner, Josh Kunkel, this original composition washes away the relentless press of the day’s needs.

“The music begins with a storm-burst, then focuses in on a single drop of rain. The raindrops pool together, forming a stream, which flows down to the ocean shore. After playing in the waves, the music plunges below the surface, descending deeper and deeper, past the reach of the sun’s rays, until a place of profound mystery and silence is reached. Rising to the surface again, the journey ends as we hear the sound of waves crashing and birds chirping on the shore. The sounds of rain and thunder make themselves present in the background, reminding us that the cycle will renew itself again and again.”

The sounds began in nature. “We have recorded stream, ocean, and water sounds at dozens of different locations from Malibu to Mendocino,” Kunkel says.

After he produced the field recordings, he wrote several instrumental sections, performed over multiple sessions, to develop layers of expression and to add color to the track. “Techniques drawn from Impressionist and classical music have been used to render the natural sounds of water on acoustic instruments. Tempo devices such as ritardando, accelerando, and tempo rubato convey the rising and falling movements of the waves, and instrumental portamento effects like harp glissandos and timpani roll pedal glissandos evoke the shimmer of sunlight on the water and the rumbling crash of the ocean breaking up on the shoreline.”

The album is produced, arranged, composed, and performed by Kunkel at West Park Avenue Studios. The recording intertwines the sounds of nature with adept use of advanced technical know-how. Kunkel describes the process: “Never-before-heard new timbres have been created by fusing the sound of acoustic orchestra instruments with cutting-edge, avant-garde, forward-looking sound synthesis, resulting in clean, clear, sparkling tessellated electronic textures utilizing the Elka Synthex, EMS VCS3 and Synthi AKS, Oberheim OB-X, and Roland Juno 60.”

An extra set of ears on a project can be revealing. “At a certain point in the project, David Streit, who has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash and Dave Brubeck to GZA and Cliff Richard, had come on board to help me engineer and mix. That is an invaluable contribution that I’ll always appreciate,” says Kunkel.

Like a natural mountain spring, Kunkel’s project trickled and transformed over time. “Sapphire Oceans had just spontaneously grown; it had just taken on a life of its own. Like it had needed to be born, to well up and burst through into existence, and I had just been the channel for it. It is like the quote from the Hindu holy book, the Chandogya Upanishad, about a drop of water flowing into the river, and then into the infinite vastness of the sea, losing its sense of separateness in the process. That is literally how the project has grown, from one tiny little droplet of an idea, to this sprawling, long, complex track with many moods and emotions.”

“There are things that happened during the recording of this album that are so spooky, I’ll never tell. But you can hear them happen on the record. Things that are just from beyond this plane of existence, unknowable things that are from outside of our realm of understanding. But after many months, the project finally coalesced, and all the different tributaries ultimately came together to form a work greater than the sum of all its parts.”

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Music Artist Josh Kunkel – Sapphire Oceans

When not divining the creative ripple, Josh enjoys the bounty of living in the Santa Cruz Mountains. “I get pleasure from cooking international cuisine, going on long hikes in nature, and relaxing with family and friends. I am also a movie connoisseur and news junkie. I enjoy art, fashion, photography, and collecting historical armaments.”

A compelling voyage among elements and imaginings, Sapphire Oceans is available at Mountain Spirit 6299 Highway 9, Felton or everywhere online including: itunes.apple.com/Sapphire Oceans | www.youtube.com/SapphireOceans

Copyright Julie Horner 2017. Originally published in the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin July/August edition. http://www.santacruzmountainbulletin.net | www.facebook.com/SantaCruzMountainBulletin

 

Boulder Creek’s Barry Tanner – The Gift of Go-To

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By Julie Horner

It’s all happened here, at the corner of Forest Street and Pine just behind the Odd Fellows Hall in downtown Boulder Creek, in the building that formerly housed the town’s post office and is now often referred to simply as “Barry Tanner’s studio.” Whether for fundraisers, remembrances, band practice, or recording, the studio is as no-nonsense on the outside as its owner. Inside is where the magic happens and the place has become a community hub through the generosity of a man who has energy to burn and an innate talent to make things happen. “I grew up in Davis. My mom was campaign manager for the first socialist mayor in the United States. I was born to organize people.”

Once on the coast, he jumped deep into the Santa Cruz music and theater scene. He lived off-grid in Last Chance for a while and then bought a place in Boulder Creek in 2003 when, he says, “places were boarded up…it was dead.” He had choices…and a little inheritance…so he spent some time traveling, most notably to New Orleans and France, where he spent years playing music in a 7-piece jazz/blues band. “I never saved any money doing it but got paid well and treated well.” He bought a tiny apartment overlooking the Mediterranean and was inspired by vibrant festivals, painters, jugglers, and dancers. He brought that joie de vivre back to Boulder Creek: “I either had to move or create some kind of scene here.”

In 2004 he was instrumental in organizing live dinner music on Friday and Saturday nights at Blue Sun (now Los Amigos), “and from there to Joe’s,” he says. Then he landed the old post office. It was a “serendipitous horsehead in the bed” moment: He could either “keep running around Europe eating French food” or make an offer.

“This building has led to Joe’s Bar and Boulder Creek Music Works. From the minute I took possession of the building people started showing up…Tim Welch (Funkranomicon) was waiting outside with his drums in his pickup truck.” Barry’s studio filled a need, and word-of-mouth the news got out. “There’s so many phenomenal musicians up here; the studio provides a pivot point, a hub, to rehearse and record, all those kinds of things.”

“It’s what I love doing…I’d be doing it anywhere…that’s my curse.” But he’s doing it here.

He and Todd Reed started regular music at Joe’s in 2008. “There’s a long list of musicians who played benefits there, but we were the first to start regular music on Thursdays for the Camp Krem kids. All money from the tip jar went to Doctors Without Borders – this was right after Haiti.” Every Thursday is the pro-jam now, where top talent comes together to form ad hoc bands for a night. Dozens of local bands got their start playing together at Joe’s, he says. Barry himself plays bass in Badenov (“as in Boris and Natasha”), an example of what he calls “putting a band together at short notice.”

“I book and do sound for over 200 bands a year at Joe’s, plug-and-play.” And this doesn’t count local festivals. He gets calls from three or four bands a week from around the world, he says. And he’s just completed a series of seven First Friday concerts at the Odd Fellows Hall; he often finds himself running back and forth across the street between Joe’s and the I.O.O.F.

Countless bands have recorded albums and shot video in Barry’s studio, and he just got his 16-channel system up and running. “Everyone and their brother has a home setup. I have the perfect room for recording a large group.” Funkranomicon, Take One, Live Concert Series with Carolyn Sills, Vito and Friends, Research and Development, all have recorded at Barry’s. Agents for some of them, like High on Fire and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, “sneak their people here to get them out of the cities to help them get focused.” The recording space is more like being in a living room than being in a high-pressure studio. “I measure my success by how busy the studio is, how much is getting done.”

Barry’s studio also boasts fully operational live-broadcast radio capability. The equipment was initially set up for KBCZ 90.1 Boulder Creek Community Radio before the station moved to the Visitor Center. “I started with the radio before there was even a station. It was just a dream.” Barry lay the groundwork to broadcast from his place, produced the morning show from there, and trained volunteers. “I love teaching. I was having a ball teaching people how to be on the radio.”

“Go-to people pop up, they’re going to make it happen. There are people in this community who have that gift.” But, he says, everybody should step in and lend a hand. “You gotta get your shovel out to keep the go-to people from burning out.”

Three years ago, Barry was told he would only be alive for another year. Now he doesn’t waste his time. “I’m going to go to festivals…I’ve got to get my tickets to Kate Wolfe…I’ve got an air mattress that fits perfectly in the back of my van, my folding chairs…”

Contact Barry: BCMusicWorks@gmail.com

Copyright 2017 Julie Horner. Originally published in the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin May 2017 issue. www.santacruzmountainbulletin.net

Camp Krem – Camping Unlimited – Anticipates the Arrival of Summer Revelers with Fifth Annual Do-It-Ourselves Festival April 28-30, 2017

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By Julie Horner

As antidote to the dark and wet, rustic Jon Lucchese Center stands on a sandy plateau in full sun biding over a sweeping panorama of forest and blue sky. The air, soft and moistly fragrant with oak and bay, is gratefully languid after an eternity of torrential rain, mud, and cabin fever. It is peacefully still, the only sounds being the rush of nearby Peavine Creek and the roaring press of silence. Founded in 1957 by special needs educator, Alex Krem, Sr., Boulder Creek’s family run campground created especially for “giving exceptional people the opportunity to be themselves,” welcomes the coming of spring and “new worlds of discovery, adventure, and friendship.” Summer, says camp manager Christina Krem, “is rowdy” with campers of all ages eager to embark on outdoor educational experiences that will help them build lifelong relationships with nature.

In addition to sprucing things up for the anticipated 500 or so adults and young people with disabilities who will revel on this mountaintop over the course of the spring and summer, the staff at Camp Krem is also about to do it up for Do-It-Ourselves, the fifth annual DIO Festival, a reliably sold-out weekend music experience which brings world-class up-and-coming talent to Boulder Creek for three days in late April. DIO Fest is one of the groups outside of regular summer camp programs who responsibly rent the facility; the intention is to present an intimate festival vibe while giving back to the community.

The connection between Camp Krem and the DIO Fest goes back to when DIO Fest co-founder, Jon Labeaud and his wife, Andrea, worked as camp counselors. And in part because of that relationship, Christina says, the team that puts on DIO Fest has given back to the Camping Unlimited community by donating a portion of festival proceeds to the camp’s musicology program, with monies going directly to the salary of the on-staff music therapist. And the team of volunteers who set up and tear down lend their energy every year to improving existing infrastructure; Christina noted specifically the addition of a permanent roof on the amphitheater and new and reinforced structural stage elements inside Jon Lucchese Center. These are performance areas that campers use during the rest of the season for the talent show, a highlight of the camping experience, which helps develop a sense of individual self-worth, while being built-in fun.

Part of the ethic of giving back includes the opportunity for musicians, dancers, and artists of all kinds to volunteer their time at Camp Krem to help inspire and delight. Several musicians who have performed at DIO Fest have returned at later dates to share their music, Christina said, including Kendra McKinley, Big Bear, McCoy Tyler Band, and Marty O’Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra. Local talent is very much invited to come share what they do best. Whether by volunteering time or by making a monetary gift, “donations are hugely appreciated.”

Come explore Camp Krem, meet the staff, and tour the facilities at their open house, Saturday, May 13, 2017 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm | 102 Brook Lane, Boulder Creek | 831- 338 – 3210 | http://www.campingunlimited.org

Fully Fledged – KBCZ 90.1 Boulder Creek Community Radio

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The only thing missing is the moose…
By Julie Horner
From the window overlooking the bustling intersection of this one-stop small mountain town, a constant stream of people and cars kaleidoscope past in a blur of sound and color. Afternoon sun brightens newly painted walls, the space clean, comfortably spare, and cozy yet with plenty of wiggle room to work the imagination. Sheltered within the KBCZ’s freshly functional broadcast digs, music mingles with the muted sounds of life at full speed.
For a moment it feels like “Chris in the Morning,” the fictional DJ from the make-believe Alaska radio station KBHR (“K-Bear”) from Northern Exposure, the TV series that aired in the early 90s. At some point that ubiquitous moose will wobble past the window.
KBCZ is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-commercial educational (NCE) live broadcast and cloud streaming radio station committed to serving the local community. Programming pulls from local expertise, boasting a team of 25 DJs producing original content that includes music, local history, art, agriculture, lifestyle, weather, emergency information, safety issues, community events, and the local economy. KBCZ is operated by the Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District, which holds the FCC license and pays music industry fees. The station is sustained financially through donations, fundraising, and local business underwriting.
Program Manager, Tina Davey, has been with the project since the beginning, about three years. Well known on the Central Coast as a professional voiceover artist, when the opportunity arose to help start a community radio station, she jumped on it. She went to the initial meetings when Tim Welch was spearheading the early effort and together with a growing team of local talent, has been instrumental in bringing the station “out of the closet” and fully fledged to the well-intentioned but underused Boulder Creek Visitor Center located in the Burl Business Center at 13200 Highway 9, Suite A, adjacent to Boulder Creek Pizza & Pub.
Initially the station shared space with the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin above Jenna Sue’s. They eventually moved to a converted closet in the BC Rec building, all the while growing the station’s music archives, building the on-air team, and gaining support throughout the community with periodic fundraisers like Flicks in the Sticks (an outdoor family movie night held at Junction Park), themed dances, and outdoor festivals.
The station went online late in 2016 with their first regular live broadcast – the KBCZ Morning Show – at Barry Tanner’s Boulder Creek Music Works in the former post office building. Then the Visitor Center became available and in January, 2017, station devotees, Leslie and Matt Buchanan began remodeling the interior from the ground up, completely transforming the space into a fully functional DJ booth and reception area. Tina Davey said of their first officially dedicated public broadcasting space, “We were in the closet for over a year. We’re just thrilled to be here…like we’re in the Taj Mahal!”
Tina says KBCZ is actively looking for community members who would like to program their own shows. Prior DJ experience is always welcome but is not a prerequisite, and training on the computer-based broadcast program is provided. “We are also looking for grant writers and members to be on an advisory board; we already have two people from KSCO who are helping.”
The goal, Tina says, is to fill all the empty DJ slots with NCE content…cars, cooking, kids sports (they’re planning to approach student talent at SLVHS), and other ideas from community members. “The radio station is going to explode this year. We need people who want to be engineers, work the software, talk, and interview. We need more people – just everybody!”
As KBCZ gears up for their April 22 fundraiser – a 60s inspired time machine dance and silent auction at BC Rec’s newly acquired Bear Creek Country Club – Tina and her team are soaking in the excitement of the new broadcast space at the Visitor Center. “We’ve wanted this space for a long time…we finally got it. Now we’re going to be visible.”
Listener supported radio for the San Lorenzo Valley, local original programming at 90.1 FM and streaming online. http://kbcz.org/ | www.facebook.com/BCRadioNow
Copyright 2017 Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin. Originally published in the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin, March 2017. www.santacruzmountainbulletin.net | www.facebook.com/SantaCruzMountainBulletin/
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Community the Do-It-Ourselves Way

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Co-founders of popular local music gathering ruminate on what makes DIO Fest so awesome.

By Julie Horner with Stevee Stubblefield and Jon LaBeaud

Do-It-Ourselves Festival is a 3-­day grassroots live music event in benefit of Camp Krem’s Music Enrichment Program for people with special needs. Boulder Creek’s relatively unheralded annual festival seems to stay low on the local radar, though tickets always sell out. Each year in late April the only clues that hundreds of revelers are in town are the inexplicably full parking lots at Mountain Mechanics, Schwarzbach Realty, and HeartMath Institute and the sounds of live music on the wind.

Stevee: Basically, DIO grew from a seed, a group of young musicians in the SC/Bay Area who all wanted to make something rad together and make a difference. We take a lot of inspiration from the older generation of festivals and vibes (Redwood Mountain Faire, Strawberry, High Sierra, even Burning Man) but we do it in our own disaffected-millennial sort of fashion. We’re tired of feeling disconnected and fragmented by social media, we love making things and being creative together, and we love good causes. We also love being down-to-earth, authentic, and not over-baking anything…simply letting the expression flow in the way that feels best. I think that’s why we retain and attract hip up-and-coming talent is because our vibe is open and raw.

We love BC and have a real investment in the community. It’s a beautiful place, and people really go out of their way to listen and to appreciate what is worthwhile in the world. Our relationship with Camp Krem was sort of serendipitous. Jon worked there for a long time, and it was a no brainer when we started drawing the connection between music and kids with special needs.

Jon: I worked at Camp Krem starting in 2008. I was still working for Camp as the Year-round Program Director before moving to Florida in 2013, when a group of us friends had the idea to make this happen. Camp Krem seemed like the ideal place to have DIO, and since it was (and is) central to my life, I was happy to bridge the two things together and broker the deal between DIO and Krem. Now that the relationship is solid, we’ve been able to assist with Summer Camp staffing, bring awareness to the program, and also with fundraising efforts for the Music Enrichment Program as a result.

We try and focus on the meaningfulness of the space that we are sharing during the weekend, and stress how important the space is for many within the special needs community. Personally, Camp is so near and dear to me that I can’t stress enough ways that Camping Unlimited has benefited me. We get to work with their staff (many of whom I consider family). We get to see the facilities improve and grow due to the wonderful tenure of its dedicated staff and volunteers.

Camping Unlimited Board Members also attend DIO Fest, along with campers and parents/guardians. That has been really special, and I feel like when our event-goers see all of these families enjoying camp (for many their second home), it adds to the meaning and value of what the DIO culture represents. That all adds to their understanding and contribution to the DIO vibe and hopefully resonates for a bit longer than the three days that they attend.

DIO is far more than an event, it’s a movement…it’s a group of young people who want to do something that matters, for people who matter, and make rad art and positive impacts at the same time. We are excited to grow our community outreach and connections.

To get involved: stevee@doitourselvespresents.com | www.doitourselvespresents.com | www.facebook.com/DoItOurselves

Copyright Julie Horner 2017. Originally published in the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin: www.santacruzmountainbulletin.net | www.facebook.com/SantaCruzMountainBulletin/

Tending Toward the Bluesy – Damdave and the Left-Hand Band

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By Julie Horner

Looking out from the “fishbowl” at the Boulder Creek Brewery Outpost, heads close together in comfortable familiarity in the late afternoon light, Dave Gillett and I sipped our “usual” and went to town reminiscing about spirited times in old haunts around the San Lorenzo Valley. Known affectionately as “Damdave,” he is front-man singer-songwriter and guitar player for the Boulder Creek-based Americana group, Damdave and the Left-Hand Band.

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Asked how he got the name “Damdave,” he explained how he had arrived in Brookdale – some 20 or more years ago – and started a folk jam at the Brookdale Lodge. He was just up from Santa Monica. “I was working for a health club in LA – had short hair and looked straight – one of my supervisors said, ‘You know, Dave, you seem like someone who might enjoy the Santa Cruz area.’” So he moved up and found a 1906 cabin in the mountains within walking distance of the Lodge.

One night he put his kids in bed and went over to check it out. “I didn’t drink at the time,” but he wound up earning his PhD hanging out in the bar. He remembers one of the bartenders, “Jenny Gilbert – Penthouse pretty – the owner’s daughter.” At one point someone asked his name. When he said, “David,” someone else at the bar shouted, “Not another damn Dave!”

Tuesday nights at the Brookdale Lodge were the slowest. “You had a couple of guys from the bar and we formed Damdave’s Odd-Ass Instrument Jam on Tuesday nights from ‘98-ish to 2008 or so,” Dave said. The Tuesday night jam was the forerunner of the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival. Eric Burman came to Dave’s jams and they decided after a time, “’Hey this would be a great place for a festival’…and it took off.” March 2000 was first year of the festival, he recalls, and featured a precursor to a band called the Waybacks, Faux Renwah, and the late yodeling lady, Lolita. “She was a great yodeler – played at the Lodge in its heyday – give her a couple of drinks and “Oh, goddam!”

Now Dave’s a Boulder Creek townie. “It’s a nice little town. I’ve written five songs about this town, I Love These Mountains, Bear Creek Road…there are more.” He’s also written three Brookdale songs, among them, Brookdale’s Burning and Highway 9, a takeoff on the old song Highway 55 co-written with Eric Burman. “She always walks alone, neither flesh and neither bone, ooooo!! There’s some really good lyrics. Eric always made it a 20-minute long instrumental thing with audience participation.”

For a while he was Damdave and the Hot Damn Band. The name change reflects the distinction that Dave plays left-handed. Along with Graham MacFarlane (standup bass), “Mando” Mike Reynolds (vocals, mandolin), and occasionally “Joebro” Adams (any of whom may or may not also play left-handed), the guys will entertain you with “a mix of dysfunctional bluegrass, country, blues, soul, and a healthy dose of Damdave originals.”

“I’m not bluegrass, I don’t want a bluegrass band,” he says. His sound is Americana tending toward the bluesy. “I’ve always been a blues kind of guy.” He was raised in Ann Arbor, between Detroit and Chicago. “My voice is kind of gravelly, I grew up with Bob Seger. I like Gregg Allman…I like all kinds of music. I was thinking about this not too long ago. When I listen to people singing, when I listen to blues or Motown, the way they sing a song, the emphasis is on the words and music together. I want to develop my voice and my songs to be able to express the parts of the music I want to express…with an honesty in my voice.”

Damdave and the Left-Hand Band play every Tuesday at the Boulder Creek Brewery Outpost and every few weeks at Casa Nostra in Ben Lomond. Watch for a GoFundMe campaign for Dave’s upcoming CD. Online: damdave.brookdalebluegrass.com | www.facebook.com/damdave.gillett

Copyright 2017 Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin. Originally published in the January/February issue of the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin: www.santacruzmountainbulletin.net/

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