Surf and Saddle

The first leg of our California tour brought me down to San Diego where I holed up with Greg Peters for two weeks. The day after I arrived we threw a party in Peters' backyard where four bands played from sunset until around midnight. Peters is the head brewer at the Solana Beach Port Brewing Company so we had the tastiest beers this side of the Rockies on tap that night. Plenty of people came out to the party. We like to think it was because of the music but the reality is that there are a lot of tasty beers this side of the Rockies and when the best among them are on tap for no charge people are bound to show up.

We spent the next week rehearsing in a garage in Carlsbad, getting ready for our Thursday night show at the Surf and Saddle, a sweet dive bar in Solana Beach. For John, Greg and Kyle (three of the four members of the band Guns of Avalon) the rehearsals were double since all three were playing in my band as well. The bill at the Surf and Saddle had The Minor Keys kicking off the show (a group of youngsters from Ocean Beach who wore neck ties and colorful rimmed sunglasses) followed by the Guns of Avalon with my band, the Doghouse Brewer, finishing out the night.

By the time the Guns of Avalon took the stage the room was packed. Our good friend Gabe took the mic to introduce the band and they eased into their rocking opening number, Quite One Universe. Peters laid into the introductory riff and John built it up with heavy distortion on his Epiphone. It was a dramatic and haunting opener to a killer set. Listen to the song below.

The next day Peters and I drove up to Hollywood to play a set at Room 5, a slick little club with a great sound system and some of the best Italian food I've had in a while.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE GUNS OF AVALON PLAYING "QUITE ONE UNIVERSE"