Chasing The Moon

This isn’t Sonny Smith’s first trip to the rodeo. For years, many locals have loved his clever song writing and goofy stage persona.

Somehow, after completing his ambitious “100 Records ” project, Sonny still had the creative stamina to form his awesome new band: The Sunsets . They have been taking their sweet, sweet California-style jams around the world ever since.

The songs featured today are from their new album “Hit After Hit ”, and the record title could‘t be more spot on.

In the summer of 2010, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Jeremy Robert Harris nestled into a cabin on Orcas Island and spent their time creating the debut Ever Isles record, “Cacoon”. They’ve since relocated to the bay area where they’ve been impressing audiences with their consistently oneiric performances. Were so excited to show them here with an expanded line-up that features Nick Aives and Jessi Campbell of Range Of Light Wilderness .

Sea Of Bees created one of our favorite records in 2010, so we’re really proud to feature them as them as our first episode of 2011. Jules is joined here by an all star cast of musicians from the Sacramento recording scene, including guitarist John Baccigaluppi (who runs the Hangar ). You’ll especially enjoy the stripped down version of “Won’t Be Long” with it’s mellow pump organ.

Magic Leaves had been making dreamy home recordings at a house in the Marin Headlands for years when Josh Bruner found a beat up guitar left in the basement. Lured by it’s charm, he decided not to toss it, but instead take it apart, sand the body, clean its bits and put it back together. When an accidental rewiring mistake caused the volume knob to be left out the circuit, Josh fell in love with its ratty scratchy tone. This inspired a whole new rocking sound for Magic Leaves.

Tyson Vogel may be best known as the exciting drummer in local duo Two Gallants , but the secret is getting out: he is an incredibly gifted guitar player. The Devotionals started when Tyson teamed up with Anton Patzner to entered the studio and record their self titled debut. Expanding the band for live shows allowed them to blossom to the current line-up, featuring members of Judgement Day , Honeycomb , and Passenger & Pilot .

This year’s Noise Pop festival featured a collaborative performance from two of our favorite artists: Thao and Mirah . That show happened to fall on a full moon, so it’s no surprise that it went over so well! Not long after, the duo decided to pull together members of their respective bands for a summer tour as Thao and Mirah with The Most Of All . What a treat it was, to host them in Studio C for their final day of rehearsal before the big tour. We edited together our favorite parts of that magical afternoon for to present in this episode. We hope you enjoy.

We’re so excited to feature Ramon & Jessica . This power duo is comprised of two incredibly eclectic bay area natives. Ramon performs with so many great local bands it’s hard to keep straight, while the über talented Jessica can be harder to spot than a mountain lion. Fortunately these two come together quite often to create music and we were there to capture one of wonderful these occasions.

Emily Ritz and Honeycomb are one of our favorite new bands in the San Francisco music scene. Miss Ritz, a self taught musician, brings a unique finger style and odd meters to her ukulele playing. In less than a year, Honeycomb has become a true collaboration, now living together in their outer mission hive.
Look out for performances from several familiar Chasing The Moon alumni: including Andrew Maguire’s fierce percussion playing, and Kacey Johansing’s sweet vocals tempering Emily’s feral lead.

The Nice Guy Trio is Darren Johnston on trumpet, Rob Reich on accordion, and Daniel Fabricant on bass; three of the finest improvisational ensemble players in the San Francisco area. Fusing elements of blues, calypso, country and much more, the trio play out brilliant arrangements of both original compositions and modern classics. The result: music that is simultaneously accessible, fun and beautiful, yet undoubtedly virtuosic.

Although she was raised in Atlanta, Kelly McFarling seems right at home here in San Francisco. Her voice is powerful enough to fill a concert hall, but her music seems equally suited to porches and living rooms. After teaching herself to play banjo, Kelly began writing songs and formed a band with bass player Jonathan Kirchner and guitarist Jon Moldover . We hope you enjoy listening to this performance as much as we do.

We couldn’t believe our luck when Chris Seibert first proposed the idea of bringing in Lavay Smith & her Red Hot Skillet Lickers . It’s only once in a blue moon that you get to have one of the top voices in jazz & blues come record at your studio! Lavay brought in a all star cast of bay area musicians including some serious horn players (listen to Mike Olmos’ fantastic trumpet solos).

We’re excited wrap up our first season with this great band of bay area legends, and we look forward to what’s in store for the new year!

John Vanderslice hardly needs an introduction. For the past ten years he’s been more influential in building the San Francisco music community than perhaps anybody else. His music is loved around the world, and his recording studio, Tiny Telephone , continues to be the spot for independent bands to record some of the best records of the past decade. We’re so honored to feature him, along with Jamie Riotto on bass, for the latest episode of Chasing The Moon.

There’s the kind of music that moves you: to stand up, drum your fingers, tap your feet, respond in some physical way to the notes being laid down. That’s what Quinn Deveaux and his band, The Blue Beat Review, have managed to create. Pay particular attention to how much life Chris Seibert breathes into our piano! You may find yourself wanting to get up and dance around the room while watching this episode, and that’s ok.