Pat Travers was part of a wave of late-’70s guitar heroes—artists who, in the wake of Peter Frampton’s runaway success, seemed poised to break out in a major way. But just as things got rolling for Travers, a combination of changing fashions, the corporatization of rock radio and plain bad luck blunted his momentum.

Still, he soldiered on, building a deeper and more varied body of work that continues to hold up today. He remains active outside the studio as well, playing dozens of live dates yearly, all over the US and in his native Canada.

Travers first came on the scene with his self-titled 1976 debut album. Building a straightforward, blues-influenced sound around his guitar playing and a spare bass-and-drums rhythm section, he delivered a sturdy set of rockers; half the album tracks were original tunes, and the rest, such as Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene” and Little Walter’s “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights),” were well-chosen covers.

The latter would be a minor hit single for Travers when released in a rowdy live version on his fifth album, 1979’s Live! Go For What You Know. On the strength of that record’s success, he followed up with his most popular studio album, 1980’s Crash and Burn.

Unfortunately, today that record title seems more than a little prophetic. His next album fared poorly on the charts. When it’s suggested that the launch of MTV—with its favoring of visually and style-oriented groups over artists who played guitars—might have contributed to his commercial misfortune, Travers agrees, but he says there’s more to it than that.

“The kiss of death—the real bite—came before that,” Travers says.

He lays the blame for the end of creatively vital rock radio stations (like the ones that played Pat Travers records) at the feet of Lee Abrams. A pioneer of using research to build radio playlists, Abrams is credited with creating the AOR (album oriented radio) format. But Abrams’ approach usurped the role of radio station program directors, replacing their music choices with a rigid list of songs, carefully created through the use of focus groups. The result was a loss of character; a radio station in, say, San Francisco no longer sounded substantially different from one in Boston.

“Everything became homogenized across the nation,” Travers says. “There was no more something breaking out in the Northeast and something else happening in the Southwest.”

The days of regional hits were over, and the work that touring artists did to build regional audiences became less effective.

To be fair, Travers had other difficulties around that time. He split with his management and was locked for years in a legal battle with his record label. But Travers prefers to look forward.

“That was then,” he says, “and here we are now.”

Along the way, he’s never lost his creative spark. In the 40 years since Crash and Burn, Travers has released more than 30 albums. Leveraging the power of his onstage performances, nearly half of those releases are live recordings.

Despite his focus on the present and future, Pat Travers’ latest album finds him reaching into the distant past. Swing! collects big band, jump blues and swing tunes from the 1940s and updates them with a powerful rock & roll energy. He says he got the idea after his wife tuned into a ’40s classics channel on Sirius XM. (In a bit of irony, XM Radio was co-founded by Lee Abrams.) Travers found himself thinking, “Man, these are some hot players, and it just sounds like a lot of fun.”

Travers’ new versions of classics like Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” increase the wattage with electric guitar. He notes that the original arrangements didn’t need a lot of tinkering.

“All I had to do was try to figure out how to get my guitar in there,” he says with a chuckle.

Another chestnut, Benny Goodman’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” is now a part of the Pat Travers Band’s live sets. And that aggregation remains busy, with dates booked well into the spring. The group is nearly done recording an album of all-new music, with a hoped-for release date sometime in 2020.

“Hopefully,” Travers says, “I’ll have the best album I’ve ever made.”

Pat Travers Band
Jan 11, 8pm, Sold Out
Club Fox, Redwood City

It’s rumored that Redwood City earned its slogan, “Climate Best by Government Test,” after a joint survey conducted by the US and German governments. Whatever the case, this mid-Peninsula city is sure to be an epicenter of great beer this weekend. The first day of fall has officially fallen (even if it still feels like mid-July), and Redwood City is marking the changing of the season with its own take on the traditional German celebration of schnitzel and suds: Oktoberfest. For five days—Wednesday through Sunday—Courthouse Square will be the place to gather for authentic German fare, music, cultural demonstrations and plenty of brew.

Oktoberfest
Wed-Sun, $15+
Courthouse Square, Redwood City

Redwood City’s annual celebration of dance and picante sauce returns. Eleven blocks of downtown Redwood City transforms into a salsa-dancing playground on Saturday with three stages of live salsa, Latin jazz and reggae. And then of course there is the salsa. From mild to medium and hot to “what hath God wrought?!”—there’s a little something for everyone. Enjoy salsa tastings from top local chefs as they compete for bragging rights and the title of best salsa in the Bay Area. There’s also art projects, entertainment for kids and—praise be!—tequila tasting as well.

Redwood City Salsa Festival
Sat, Noon, Free
Courthouse Square, Redwood City

The West Coast blues tradition is built upon the styles and achievements of blues greats and is heavily seasoned with a liberal dose of good, old-fashioned rock & roll. Palo Alto-born guitarist Angelo J. Rossi—known to fans as AJ Crawdaddy—is a product of that tradition and has been a fixture of the local blues scene for decades.

Rossi, who plays Redwood City’s Club Fox this week, began his formal introduction to the blues at age 17, almost by accident. He bought a ticket to a Chambers Brothers show at Winterland. “They canceled, and a fellow by the name of Albert King came out on stage instead,” Rossi recalls. He was immediately impressed. “This big guy had a Flying V [guitar] that he played left-hand and upside down.” King launched into one of his signature tunes. “He played ‘Crosscut Saw,’” Rossi says, “and that was that.” The blues had officially won Rossi’s heart.

That same year, Rossi’s mother bought him his first serious guitar, a brand new Epiphone Riviera. Rossi had already proved to his parents that he was committed to playing, so after used a rented instrument for some time, he was thrilled to receive an instrument of his own. The gift took on special meaning, as his mother was suffering from cancer and died the next year. A half-century later, Rossi still owns and plays that treasured electric guitar.

“I fell in love with the ‘three Kings’ – Albert, Freddie and B.B. King,” Rossi says. “I saw B.B. King open for the Rolling Stones in 1968. He tore that stage up!” Growing up in the Bay Area,, Rossi took every opportunity to see his blues heroes when they came through town. He was especially inspired by bands that included a horn section; that approach would greatly influence the direction Rossi would follow in his own blues journey.

Along the way, Rossi’s musical path found him playing in musical idioms well beyond the blues. When rock band Pablo Cruise wanted to add more musical muscle to its sound, the group recruited Rossi on guitar and vocals. Working with the band in studios like Sausalito’s famed Record Plant, Rossi became friendly with a wide variety of artists. “It was basically a family unit,” Rossi says. “Everybody hung out together, got stoned together, and worked on each other’s records.” Rossi’s backing vocals can be heard on Jefferson Starship’s Freedom at Point Zero album.

Still, his commitment to the blues remained strong. Even when onstage playing breezy, soft rock hits like Pablo Cruise’s “Whatcha Gonna Do?” and “Love Will Find a Way,” Rossi provided bluesy texture to the music. “Whenever I play, I always ‘blues’ something up,” he says with a laugh. “I just get sneaky. I have that ability to be able to sneak the blues in, no matter what genre I’m playing.”

These days, Rossi maintains his own studio, The Cave. And it’s there where he has recorded two albums to date under the AJ Crawdaddy moniker. The records—2015’s Vaporized and Slow Cookin’ from 2017—display Rossi’s love of the blues as well as his skill at showcasing the genre’s various styles.

“I try to make well-rounded records,” he explains, “ones that aren’t just steeped in traditional blues, but that also touch on Chicago, Kansas City and even West Coast blues. Because I’m a West Coast guy!”

Rossi’s music also draws from the jump blues tradition, a late 1940s style that music historians describe as a missing link between big band swing, blues and rock & roll. Both in the studio and on live dates, Rossi uses a horn section—featuring select players from the region’s blues scene—whenever he can. But when he can’t, or when the music calls for something different, he calls old friend and harmonica player Jim Durrants. “Think of the harmonica as a poor man’s horn section,” Rossi says with a good-natured laugh. “It’s the ‘Mississippi saxophone.’”

Rossi has deep friendship with many in the Bay Area blues scene, and that’s a key to his popularity and success. Most of the musicians who play with him have been bandmates for more than two decades. “We’re playing blues, and that’s a simple language,” he says. “And it’s a very fun language.”

AJ Crawdaddy’s Holiday Party
Dec. 26, 7pm $7
Club Fox, Redwood City
clubfoxrwc.com

For those who prefer their circuses old-school, Zoppé family circus has one number for you: 1842. That’s when this traveling one-ring circus was established in Venice. Led by the multi-talented Nino the Clown—who happens to be part of the Zoppé family dynasty that goes back six generations—Zoppé: An Italian Family Circus features refreshingly low-tech feats of acrobatics, juggling, equestrian arts and more, complete with old-fashioned outfits and old-country folk music. There seven performances a week, Wed.-Sun., through Nov. 4.

Zoppé Family Circus
Wed, Various Times $17+
1455 Madison Ave., Redwood City

It’s rumored that Redwood City earned its slogan, “Climate Best by Government Test,” after a joint survey conducted by the U.S. and German governments. Whatever the case, this mid-Peninsula city is sure to be an epicenter of great beer this weekend. The first day of fall is this Friday, and Redwood City is marking the changing of the season with its own take on the traditional German celebration of schnitzel and suds: Oktoberfest. For four days—this Thursday through Sunday—Courthouse Square will be the place to gather for authentic German fare, music, cultural demonstrations and plenty of brew.

Oktoberfest
Thu, 5pm, $15+
Courthouse Square, Redwood City

Growing up in San Francisco with a “beatnik” for a sister, it didn’t take long for Rick Estrin to be introduced to the blues. “When I was 11 years old she started showing me some of her blues records,” Estrin recalls. “I was instantly fascinated.”

Champion Jack Dupree’s first album, Blues from the Gutter, especially impressed the young Estrin. For his twelfth birthday, he received a copy of Ray Charles’ The Genius Sings the Blues, a record that inspired him to learn how to play the harmonica.

Estrin formed the electric blues/swing revival combo Little Charlie and the Nightcats with Charles Baty in 1976. In the years since, the group has released nine albums and a live collection, and have toured the world. Baty retired from music in 2008, and Estrin has taken over as leader and will be fronting The Nightcats this Saturday when they headline Redwood City’s PAL Blues, Arts and BBQ Festival.

The Nightcats released a live record earlier this month called You Asked For It…Live!, recorded at the Biscuits and Blues nightclub in San Francisco. It’s the band’s first live record since Baty’s retirement.

The group still plays songs from Little Charlie and the Nightcats’ catalog, alongside newer songs from the band’s two newer studio albums. “Earlier on, Charlie and I would write songs together to compliment his swing-inspired playing style, but now everyone gets involved,” Estrin says, explaining that the different blues backgrounds of his bandmates help make a stronger, more democratic songwriting process.

Recently, Estrin’s harp playing earned him critical accolades. The Blues Foundation granted him a Blues Music Award for his harmonica playing in 2013, and he and the Nightcats share four other nominations for Blues Music Awards in the past four years.

The Blues, Arts and BBQ Festival is a free event benefiting the city’s Police Activity League. Estrin joins six other acts on Saturday, including Bay Area artists the Aki Kumar Blues Band and Danny Caron’s Good Hands Organ Trio.

Southern California set Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers play on Friday evening.
In addition to the music, Rack and Roll Barbecue will be serving food, and Matagrano Distributors will provide a lineup of craft beers. The Blues, Arts and BBQ Festival takes place Friday, July 25 from 6-8 pm, and resumes the following afternoon from 11am to 6pm. The event is part of Redwood City’s “Art on the Square” series of summertime events, which put a spotlight on Downtown Redwood City.

The Nightcats are looking forward to playing a show in the Bay Area, an opportunity they do not often have due to constant touring. “We only get to play in Northern California 3 or 4 times a year,” Estrin says. “The rest of the year, we’re touring.” Estrin also loves the festival’s lineup. “A lot of blues festivals feature bands that are really just hard rock. But all the bands playing here are blues. They’re the real deal.”
—Jonathan Davis

Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
July 26
5pm
Courthouse Square, Redwood City
redwoodcitypal.com/blues

In 1997, Latyrx’s debut Latyrx (The Album) changed the very idea of what Bay Area underground hip-hop could sound like. Fifteen years later, Lyrics Born is still changing minds and waking up ears as a solo artist, and still working with the other half of the Latyrx duo, Lateef the Truthspeaker, who guests on his new mixtape, Variety Show Season Five.

Set to drop at the end of this month, Season Five is unlike any of Lyrics Born’s previous Variety Show mixes. All of the remixes are two-step and boogie, mixed by DJ Icewater. The Japanese-born, Berkeley-raised rapper revisits songs like “Later That Day,” “As You Were,” “Overnight Encore,” and “The Bay.”

Besides his former partner in Latryx, Lyric Born’s guests on the new one include Far East Movement’s Proh, Sam Sparro (their collaboration “Coulda Woulda Shoulda” is mashed up here with Teena Marie’s “Square Biz”), Trackademicks, Francis & the Lights and more.

Lyrics Born plays Club Fox in Redwood City on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 9pm; $20.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I caught John Doe at his last South Bay show, at Streetlight Records last year. What struck me more than ever before was how much this guy embodies all the DIY, music-of-the-people ideals that punk rock was supposed to stand for.

Before the show, he hung out talking to the crowd, like he was one more fan waiting for the show to start. During his set, he took requests, played some X songs and some of his most popular solo songs, and interacted with the crowd as if, again, he was one of us. After the show, he seemed almost embarrassed that there was a line waiting for him to sign his records—he took time to have an actual conversation with everyone.

His democratic ideals are just as evident in his music, still. His newest album Keeper is a blast of emotional roots-rock chaos; one moment he’s looking at the world with funny but slightly bitter irony on the punky “Never Enough,” and the next he’s delivering the moving tenderness of “Little Tiger.” Even more important than the fact that he’s in fine form as a songwriter and a musician, is that after three decades, John Doe still stands for something.

I hear that Doe now lives in NorCal; it’s good to know we’ll be seeing him more. He plays Club Fox in Redwood City on Thursday at 8pm; tickets are $20 in advance, $22 at the door.