East Sacramento’s Best Hole in the Wall

With great food, tasty drinks and a big city feel, the new restaurants and bars that are popping up in Sacramento have just about everything you can ask for. With that being said, all of the new establishments—many of which I frequent and enjoy—lack a couple of things that can surely be acquired over time: history and tradition. I’m not talking about the history of the building itself, or the tradition of a classic cocktail, but the history of a worn countertop and the tradition of bringing your child to a restaurant where your father once brought you. This is something you’ll find in East Sacramento’s hot dog staple, The Wienery.

The warm feeling you get when walking into The Wienery can only be earned with decades of hard work and a willingness to curate what has already been established. Owners Hector Meza and Carolyn Canas kept this in mind when purchasing the business more than five years ago.

Canas explained, “When we bought The Wienery we just gave it a little facelift. This place has been here for at least 45 years. We wanted to update it a little bit without making our loyal customers feel uncomfortable. We didn’t want them to think it was too different or too new. At the same time, we wanted to make it someplace that will be inviting for new customers, too. When people come here they’re looking for an experience that makes them feel cozy and like they are home away from home.”

This is evident in the framed photographs that hang above the tables. “We wanted to add a tribute to East Sacramento on our wall,” said Canas. “The wall was filled with photos of our customers, but over time many of the photos faded away so we had to take those down, but we enlarged and framed some of the best pictures and put them back up.”

Once inside I grabbed a stool and bellied up to the counter. One of the first things I noticed when looking around was the diversity of the patrons. I sat next to a gentleman in his 80s finishing up a mustard dog, and next to him sat a couple in their 20s who ordered two veggie dogs.

Taking a look at the menu I realized that the tradition in The Wienery’s atmosphere seamlessly carries over to their menu which offers timeless hot dogs, sausages and soups. I wanted to try the whole menu after seeing all of the enticing ways the links can be prepared. But obviously that would be absurd, so I made the rational decision to only order a mere half of what they offered.

I started the first phase of my epic lunch with the B.L.T. Dog, Italian Summer Dog and a root beer float. I quickly learned that when the hot dog’s description starts with “open face,” you are in store for an overly generous mound of toppings, which you’ll never hear me complain about. This was the case for the B.L.T. Dog. The ends of the hot dog peaked out of the bun while liberal amounts of lettuce, cheese and tomatoes made a mound for the huge meaty chunks of crumbled bacon to cascade down. The hot dog was cooked perfectly and had that snap that any traditional hot dog should.

After enjoying the balanced and flavorful B.L.T. Dog, I turned to the ice cold, frothy root beer float as a palate cleanser before I focused my attention on the Italian Summer Dog. The butterflied Italian sausage was served grilled on a sesame seed bun with mayonnaise, mustard and a house-made roasted red pepper relish. The Italian Summer Dog is a great option if you’re craving something a little different. And after taking my first bite, which was filled with relish, it was clear that The Wienery’s attention to the little things is what sets them apart from other hot dog joints.

After a bit of a breather—and more consumption of my root beer float—I decided to order round two. This consisted of a Chili Dog, a Bacon Wrapped Dog and a cup of their Famous Navy Bean Soup. The Chili Dog was served open faced with a heaping amount of homemade chili, cheese and onions. I opted for the traditional chili, which is vegetarian, but they also offer it “Con Carne” style with ground beef. Their hearty, bean-filled chili is comfort food at its finest; I’m sure you will find me at The Wienery many times this winter snuggled up to a large bowl.

The last dog to arrive at the counter was the Bacon Wrapped Dog. This hot dog was grilled to order and topped with ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, tomatoes, sautéed onions and house-made jalapeño relish. Bacon wrapped hot dogs are by far my favorite, and I am very particular about how they are made. A good bacon wrapped dog has to pack a wallop of heat, and this one did not disappoint thanks to the jalapeño which flawlessly complemented the dog. Biting into this link instantly reminded me of the bacon wrapped dogs found on the streets of the Mission District in San Francisco.

At this point I was overly stuffed and extremely satisfied. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the Famous Navy Bean Soup. Even though I’d already eaten a Kobayashi-amount of hot dogs, I pulled the soup over and took my first bite. It was thick and creamy, yet the beans still held up. I have never been one to order soup at a restaurant, but the Famous Navy Bean Soup at The Wienery has changed my mind.

When talking to Canas about The Wienery, you can tell that she and her husband Hector care about every single person who walks into their restaurant, “Our customers are friends with us and friends with each other,” she said. “We’re just an old school hole-in-the-wall but we keep the food good.”

Many restaurants overlook the art of a well-prepared hot dog or simple bowl of soup. Clearly The Wienery takes pride in their food and it shows. The hot dogs are cooked to perfection and their made-from-scratch soups and relishes are full of flavors that will bring you back again and again.

The Wienery is located at 715 56th Street, Sacramento, in the Elvas Plaza. Check out Thewienerysacramento.com or call (916) 455-0497 for more information.

Bicycles Deliver

When John Boyer was an 8-year-old latchkey kid in Saginaw, Michigan, he pulled a three-legged bullfrog from an oil-ridden pond and became instantly upset. The natural habitats of where he grew up had been devastated by General Motors and industrial-grade chemicals. “I became really withdrawn, introverted and worried. All I did was play outside, and seeing everything being destroyed really affected me,” Boyer said. From then on, John was doing everything he could to protect the nature he loved so much. He even recalls sending his tiny $10 savings to the Jacques Cousteau Society.

When he was 19, he worked as a night watchman at a halfway house for recovering heroin addicts to put himself through college and to ditch his hometown. “My goal was to go west. I saved all my money, bought a touring bike and loaded it with a sleeping bag and a few belongings,” Boyer recalled. “I headed west and never turned back.”

He now owns Edible Pedal, the quaint and multi-faceted bike shop located in the Old Soul alley. From here he spreads his passion for sustainability that he acquired at such a young age. Edible Pedal first started as a small food delivery service in the downtown/Midtown area back in 2009, but quickly grew into the dynamic facility for everything anti-vehicle, pro-local and sustainable. For years, Boyer worked as a seasoned server at several local restaurants. His jobs in the service-industry left him dried out and distracted him from his humble roots as an active environmentalist. One of two of his kids lived in Spain, so he took an extensive trip to see her, only packing a light foldable bike and some essentials. For weeks, he traveled along the Spanish coast via bicycle and train, not once opening a car door.

“The experience of being self-reliant on transportation, and the freedom of a bicycle during this trip was one that really offered me a defining moment in my life,” Boyer said. “I felt like it breathed new life into me. I finally felt that I had something to contribute, and that was my passion for bicycles and sustainability.”

When he returned to the States, Boyer had the idea of replacing cars used for food delivery with bicycles. He started with Steamers in Old Sac, delivering dozens of sandwiches for the cafe, to local office buildings using his cargo bike. Eventually, he was biking orders all over town for restaurants like Magpie, Hot Italian and Thai Basil.

“I offered my services to those restaurants, because I felt like they were already reputable places that were going the extra mile to be a bit more sustainable than others,” he explained. “Hot Italian has especially always been above the curve and quite revolutionary with the way they do things. Its almost like I wanted to help add on to their already admirable business models from an environmental sustainability standpoint.”

In 2010, a spot opened up in the Old Soul alley, and Boyer immediately jumped on it. He had a vision of having a solid headquarters for Edible Pedal, as well as becoming more proactive with trying to keep more people out of their cars and onto bikes. Along that cozy, brick-paved alley, Edible Pedal began not only selling and repairing bikes, but becoming a resourceful and creative hub of the anti-car culture.

Five years later, and Edible Pedal is running stronger than ever. The company’s main objective remains to assist the slow food and farm-to-table movements in transporting quality food to the Sacramento area, encouraging the consumption of food from the local ecosystem, and to avoid eating fast or big-business food. Edible Pedal has won the Snail of Approval award from Slow Food Sacramento for going above and beyond. According to Slow Food Sacramento, “The Snail of Approval program is designed to recognize local businesses that contribute to the quality, authenticity and sustainability of food in the Sacramento community. The Snail of Approval is granted based on the three basic principles of the Slow Food movement: good (authentic flavor), clean (grown and produced so it does not harm the environment) and fair (food producers receive fair compensation).”

In addition to the bike operations and delivering food for restaurants, Edible Pedal has also become a food distribution spot. Anyone can order affordable, seasonal, locally-grown produce boxes for weekly pickup in the bike shop from Say Hay farms and Good Humus. You can even opt to include flowers and bread.

Recently, John saw a need in the West Sacramento area for a legitimate bicycle resource and the other services his shop provides. In a combined effort with Brian Asch, they duplicated their Midtown shop at 328 3rd Street in West Sacramento. “I didn’t want to go where there was another bike shop. I don’t believe in putting a bike shop directly in the area of another bike shop,” said Boyer. “That part of the city now has a resource to hopefully help inspire people to get on their bike a little more.”

So as to not leave anyone out, food deliveries have grown to include pet feed. “I do it especially because I think of all the animals who are therapeutic for people who might not be able to leave their homes. I make it easy and allow it so the pet food can be delivered to your door along with your own food,” said Boyer. Pet food can be ordered through Western Feed via the link on the Edible Pedal website.

With bike month in full throttle, Boyer’s tips are simple. “It really is the small things that make a big difference,” he said, “just get some nice big baskets and hop on your bike to pick up groceries instead of jumping in your car. Even once a week. We spend thousands a year on keeping a car. Think of the vacation you can take with that money if you are saving it and biking instead.”

Essentially, getting on your bike, period, whether it be to lessen your reliance on automobiles or for leisure, is a great way to embody bike month in May and beyond.

Why don’t more people bike? Boyer thinks it is because we live in a culture where people don’t think they have the time or energy for it, or they feel like it is unsafe. “A lot of parents don’t push their kids outdoors anymore,” he said. “Everything is so reliant and cars and being indoors. This obviously only gets stronger as they grow older. They become addicted to their car and the quickness of life.

“Riding a bike takes time,” Boyer went on to say. “Time has become so valuable, so people just shoo biking off as something only people with a lot of leisure time do. In reality, bikes can be much quicker, plus you get a workout. Man’s inability to move really plagues us. Half the battle is actually getting up and doing it.”

Go to Ediblepedal.com to see the list of Edible Pedal’s participating restaurants. Edible Pedal is located at 328 West 3rd Street in West Sacramento, and in Midtown at 1712 Liestal Row (in the alley). Check website for hours.

Gluten Free Specialty Market

2612 J Street • Sacramento

With the fast-paced foot and vehicle traffic constantly buzzing down J Street and an estimated 5,000 Sacramentans with Celiac disease, it’s no surprise that the Gluten Free Specialty Market just celebrated their five-year anniversary. But the store caters not only to those seeking gluten-free foods, according to co-owner Melanie Weir.

“Our goal is to help provide you with the things that make you thrive,” says Weir. “We cater to all kinds of allergens, all kinds of specialty diets, modifications—anything that people need, we look at.”

The store began as a Web-only idea, operating out of a small rented room in a neurology clinic. According to Weir, many who were seeking gluten-free nourishment out of desperation would stop by, inquiring if she was in fact a fully operating grocery store. At the time, she was not. But in five years, Gluten Free Specialty grew from carrying fewer than 60 items to packing over 9,000 options into the 1700-square-foot space at their current location (2612 J Street).

Prior to opening Gluten Free, Weir, who is severely allergic to gluten and has followed a gluten-free diet for the last 12 years, noticed that gluten-free items in everyday grocery stores were scarce to nonexistent; either expired and dusty, or buried and forgotten about under the more mainstream foods. But what made her situation even worse was when hunger struck, gluten-free choices were stored next to foods and areas containing gluten, ultimately making her already limited options contaminated and inedible.

“There wasn’t access to quality foods. Foods weren’t being taken care of properly,” says Weir. “You’d have to dust off the gluten-free products to actually see how long it had been sitting on the shelf. Everything was stale or crushed up and you were lucky if you even got it.”

Weir now enjoys operating a store where people who seek quality and safe food options can turn.

“It only takes one bread crumb with someone with celiac disease to go into an auto-immune reaction for up to six months,” says Weir. “It’s a really serious thing. It’s not like, ‘I’m not going to eat gluten because it’s a fad.’ With celiac disease, you have two pairs of sympathetic nervous systems that turn on; and the systems, as they activate, can create all kinds of things like cancer and inflammation. Basically, all things that eventually lead to death and degeneration of the body.”

Knowing the logistics of gluten and the potential harm it can cause to those allergic is something naturopathic doctor Dennis Godby specializes in. Godby’s practice operates out of Sacramento Naturopathic Medical Center, which happens to be neighbor to the market, only a few doors down. The goal of his establishment is to care for all patients with natural remedies including herbal, vitamin and mineral treatments.

“Wheat has 50 percent more gluten than it did 30 years ago. Gluten is a very serious thing,” says Godby. “[Eating a gluten-free diet] is a trend, but it’s not a fad. It’s a trend because people are finding out the truth. Most people aren’t doing it for fashion; people are doing it to see if they feel better if they take gluten out of their diet. Part of the reason Gluten Free Specialty Market has gotten so popular is because people want to have options. Because for some people, [gluten] is like a toxin, literally like a poison.”

Gluten is found in the protein of wheat, rye and barley and is also cross-contaminated in most oats. According to Weir, the safety of oats is still a questionable thing for those with celiac disease. She adds that just about any packaged food on the market from 10 years ago to date contains gluten.

“Basically, not just pasta, bread and rice, but if it’s made in a factory and that flour dust is in the air, anything that’s made in that factory has gluten in it,” says Weir. “It could be in green beans, it could be in your peanut butter. There are so many elements.”

Registered dietitian Jo Miller explains there are close to 5,000 people in Sacramento with celiac disease, a condition where the body attacks gluten as a foreign invader. For those living with the disease, a gluten-free diet is the only way to ensure good health.

“Having a resource like the Gluten Free Specialty Market is an asset for the daily challenge of meal planning,” she says.

Eventually, Weir’s goal is to incorporate a gluten-free kitchen, which she projects will happen over the next several years. In addition, she’d like to expand the store’s square footage for more storage, office space and room for extra gluten-free goodies. And don’t fret, if the store doesn’t carry an item, just ask Weir or one of the staff on shift. Not only will they will take note, but also look into ordering it.

“Basically we started with a notebook and 60 products. When people walked into the store we wrote down what they asked for. To this day, we keep track of what people want,” she says. “This really is the heart of the community store,” she continues. “The products here are the icing on the cake and allow for a little more excitement. It’s fun to bring in something new, like a blood orange olive oil or a lemon butter; because when you have multiple allergies, a lot of times you lose that creativity in the kitchen. This store is really designed to maintain creativity for people who have food allergies.”

NOFX

Ace of Spades, Sacramento – Monday, Dec. 10, 2012

I haven’t witnessed a local venue more packed full of music fanatics than at last Monday’s NOFX concert.

Ace of Spades on R Street hosted an endless sea of punk rock music lovers when NOFX came to town Dec. 10. Other performances were courtesy of Teenage Bottlerocket, who tipped their hats to a Groovy Ghoulies song, and the guys of Elway all the way from Fort Collins, Colo. Many attending the show huddled shoulder to shoulder, corralled into the 21-and-over smoking section, others stood trying to get the busy bartenders’ attentions, but the majority were planting themselves near the stage, finding the perfect spot to watch NOFX’s performance.

When I first found NOFX, I was about 15 years old. I lived in Bakersfield, Calif., and I was immediately drawn to their Neapolitan-colored album, So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes. I’m not sure if it was the fast-paced percussion or the nasally sound of vocalist and bass player Fat Mike that I loved, but as I continued to listen, I appreciated the fact that the guys could actually harmonize.

Flash-forward 12 years, I’m in a different city and my CD resides somewhere in my overstuffed closet in downtown Sacramento. Still, after more than a decade, I have a soft spot for all of NOFX’s music, especially songs like, “Lori Meyers,” with those raunchy female guest vocals, or the epic, 18-minute classic, “The Decline.” Even though neither tune was performed live last Monday, El Hefe, Fat Mike (who isn’t so fat anymore, by the way), Eric Melvin and their longtime drummer, Erik Sandin killed every hit they chose to perform. If I was 15 again, and not able to legally purchase shots of Jameson and pricey beers, I would’ve been found front-row center having my ribs crushed by the safety bar. However, I do like beer. So, my boyfriend and I decided to stand on these cushioned, black seats and sing along while sipping along. Songs like “Stickin’ in My Eye,” “Eat the Meek” and “Dinosaurs Will Die” were of the most memorable of the evening for us and our ribs felt A-OK.

Their latest album, Self Entitled, just released September 2012, has yet to find its way into my heart, and I don’t know if I chalk it up to being a NOFX snob, sticking to all things classic, or if I’ve become a lazy listener. But I still think the boys have their routine down to a T, and that can be heard throughout their 2009 album Coaster, and heavily in their song, “Orphan Year.” During the song, the widely known four-four drum beats pep up the story of a man who’s lost both his parents, a mother to cancer and an absentee father who had dementia. If you, like me, stick to the old albums like Pump Up the Valuum or Punk in Drublic, stop and give Coaster a good listen.

For a band that has performed together for almost 30 years now, and not getting much younger, the men of NOFX still put on a kick-ass show filled with raunchy jokes, stage banter and Hefe still wails on his trumpet, which I know will always be sweet music to my ears.

Bacon & Butter
1119 21st Street – Sacramento

Our parents were always quick to emphasize taking our time when they were nurturing us. Chew your food. Walk don’t run. But the age old axiom to stop and smell the roses seems lost in our modern culture of efficiency and impatience with download speeds, commuter traffic and restaurant ticket times. Local chef Billy Zoellin’s new breakfast and lunch restaurant Bacon & Butter is a friendly reminder to take our time, because even slowing down is valuable.

At 28, Zoellin has climbed the ranks of local artisan cooks at an impressive speed. He began as a busser at BIBA and Andiamo, while still in high school. When he wasn’t keeping the tabletops orderly, he helped with prep work out of a natural curiosity with the kitchen, which he claims is in his blood.

“My grandma used me as a kid for catering,” Zoellin said. “It went from being a busser and enjoying cooking to having a kid and needing a full-time job. So, I quit baseball and started cooking.”

His fast rise in status continued with his education at the American River Culinary School. After enrolling as a student, he quickly became a TA. From there it was prep cook at Mulvaney’s. It was only his third job in a kitchen. When he took over the head chef job at Golden Bear last year, his menu caught the attention of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. “Everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve never been satisfied,” he said. “It’s part of my personality, I’m very meticulous with how I like things. If I see something I like, I will follow until I can go off on my own path with it.”

With 18-and-over nightclub Bar Fly, formerly and ironically called Club 21, in need of a liquor license, Zoellin was asked if he was interested in opening his own restaurant in the front of the building.

“This place is a club at night,” he said. “For liquor licenses you typically need food. Instead of working for other people and signing off on my menus that I create, the items I put my heart and soul into, I decided to do it for myself. It was time to roll the dice a little bit.”

On such a fast track with his career, Bacon & Butter appeals to a need for Zoellin to slow down in order to adapt to the learning curve of running his own business. Early criticisms of Bacon & Butter (located on 21st Street between K and L streets) mostly leaned on an annoyance with the wait, either for a table or the ticket time. It was an issue not lost on Zoellin and his staff.

“Our biggest issue has been time,” he said. “But I challenge any one of those critics to open a restaurant and serve top quality food in a timely fashion to 500 people on a weekend and see how it goes. See how many weeks it takes to get that ticket time down and have everyone feel good about their meal.”

It was said not out of frustration, but as a matter of fact. It’s the sort of challenge that would make for a great new Food Network competition show. Zoellin hopes his patrons will come to Bacon & Butter to enjoy the simple pleasures of a well-prepared meal with many appealing environmental guarantees. At Bacon & Butter the meat is all grass-fed; the bacon is nitrate-free; the vegetables are sustainable, seasonal and local fare; the bread comes in daily; and the coffee is from Old Soul.

“We’re not a greasy spoon. We have a commitment to local and seasonal fare,” Zoellin said. “Breakfast places will cut corners because prep time is at a minimum. Here you won’t find a lot of boxes and bags in the back. You won’t find a freezer. We want to make things from scratch like grandma would or mom would.”

Was it not always worth it to wait for grandma’s made-from-scratch cooking?

The morning I visited Bacon & Butter, I cleared my schedule and allotted myself a rare chance on a weekday to eat breakfast–a ritual usually limited to a pot of coffee or Cheerios. Mayor Kevin Johnson held a business brunch of 30 that same morning. The meeting was scheduled to begin at 8 and end at 9 a.m. I arrived at 9:10 a.m. to two empty tables littered with discarded napkins, used utensils and plates with only sauce stains remaining. It’s unwise and unfair to criticize a new restaurant’s ticket times, especially when it’s an owner not named Paragary, but given the efficiency apparent from that morning’s remains, Bacon & Butter have worked out the kinks.

My mountain range of country potatoes, hash and eggs over easy, topped with corn salsa was well worth the wait and a larger portion than I expected for the price. The hash needed no salt, while the corn salsa had just enough jalapeños to give it a subtle kick in spice. The server ribbed me that I barely put a dent in it, but it felt as though even if it was only a rolling hill spread, I’d eaten my fill. The menu at Bacon & Butter is crafted for the adventurous or even the average Joe or Jane. If biscuits and gravy or flapjacks are all you need, your desires will not be compromised.

“I’ve cooked a lot of dinner in my career,” Zoellin said. “It became a challenge of how do I apply what I know to breakfast and make it acceptable. You put fried sage on things and have your whimsical takes on fare, while staying within the guidelines of local, sustainable and always seasonal.”

As I sat post-meal near the bay window alternating sips of Old Soul coffee, a mason jar of water, and a mason jar of Greyhound, I took in my surroundings. Chef Zoellin told me for their refurbished interior, they had a picture in mind. It was of a sharply dressed man in the Depression era going out for a job interview. The idea was to create a place that man might have stopped into for coffee. The interior is of simpler times, when items were handcrafted and plastic was barely existent. Above the community table is an old wash bin, hung upside down from the ceiling, with a clock that never quite ticks on time attached to the bottom. Small light bulbs hang from the bin to light the table. It is both a piece of history and a piece of modern art. Along the outer walls are plywood-framed photos of cowboys (frames built by Zoellin), and shelves hosting trinkets that Zoellin found in antique stores.

“It fits my personality,” he said. “It fits what we do, putting a sustainable practice to recycled and refurbished products. We are modern post-Depression era, that’s where we are.”

As Zoellin and I sat with the community table within an arm’s length, I had to know, “Why do you think people fear the community table?” After a good laugh and a shared confusion, he offered, “Don’t be afraid to sit next to a neighbor.”

“Start a conversation with someone,” he went on. “Ask them ‘how’s the hash?’ Maybe their review will help you decide what to have next time.” He’s not giving up on his experiment to get his customers to relax and say hello to their fellow neighbors. He hopes that someday the community table will be the place to sit, rather than a compromise. For now, his regular, Dave, sits there most mornings, reading the paper and making small talk with the service staff. Strike up a conversation with Dave sometime.

Yelp is an outlet for blowing off steam. If you want to read a review of Bacon & Butter, flip through the encyclopedia pages in your check booklet that’s dropped off at the end of the meal, an idea Zoellin stole from Mulvaney’s. In it, you’ll read short and sweet thank you signatures of people who hope their favorite items never leave the menu and who can’t get enough of those pancake shots (a treat I intend to try on my next visit). These are the messages from people who took the time to hand-write their appreciation in ink, rather than blog bullet points in haste.

Organizers hope the second Sacramento Comedy Festival will make California’s capital a destination for comics nationwide

There is only one place where you can see 120 comedians in nine days. And we aren’t asking you to travel to San Francisco, Las Vegas or New York for this epic week. All of the comics are going to make their way to the Capital City to try and make your stomach hurt from laughing. The Sacramento Comedy Festival is ready to make its second appearance in September but this time with a lot more laughs to go around. You can catch local and out-of-town stand-up comedians, improv groups and sketch comics at Luna’s Café (in cooperation with comic Keith Lowell Jensen) and the Sacramento Comedy Spot from Sept. 7 through 15, 2012. The mastermind behind the giant laugh fest is Brian Crall, a veteran comic and owner of the Sacramento Comedy Spot, whose goal is to make Sacramento the next destination for great comedy.

In 2005, Crall created a comedy club that was easily available and affordable for comics in training and audience members. “We decided from early on that we are going to be different from any other club and we are going to be accessible for people,” Crall said over the phone. “They don’t have to spend a lot of money and they are going to get a good quality product.”

The Comedy Spot, located in Midtown, is a hot spot for stand-up comedy, sketch comedy and improv, drawing in big crowds. The club is home of the Anti-Cooperation League Comedy Troupe, In Your Facebook (where comics poke fun at your profile), The Syndicate (a sketch comedy team), Lady Business (an all-women improv team) and a Top 10 podcast who will all be performing at the festival.

“People come from out of town and they love our stage,” Crall explained. “They always compliment us on our professionalism and the quality of the local comedy groups, especially ones that the Comedy Spot produces.”

After more than seven years of running the Comedy Spot, Crall decided to create a comedy festival that can call Sacramento home. One way that Crall is spreading the comedy love is by inviting comics from all across the country to see what Sacramento has to offer.

“If we are going to make Sacramento a destination, we have to have a reason for people to come here in the first place, and people love performing in festivals,” Crall said. “We have people coming to Sacramento to see what we do, then they will start spreading the word and let people know that we have a great scene and that this is the place to do good comedy.”

Nick Pettigrew

Not only does the Festival draw comics and audience members to the Capital City for comedy but it’s a great way to put a spotlight on talented local comedians. A few of the performing local acts include Keith Lowell Jensen, Ngaio Bealum, Michael O’Connell, John Ross, Queenie TT, Carlos Rodriguez, Chazz Hawkins, Kristen Frisk and the improv group Mayhem from ComedySportz.

One of the local talents to be featured in the festival is Nick Pettigrew, the co-producer of Critical Hit, a geek-centric comedy variety show that was created at the Comedy Spot.

“I’ve been a geek my whole life and I love doing comedy, but it was hard doing geek-orientated stand-up but not finding an audience for it,” said Pettigrew over the phone. “So I wanted to create a show where I can make my own audience.”

Another great local to be showcased is Cheryl the Soccer Mom, whose style of comedy does not seem to match her innocent name. A few years ago, Cheryl was a legitimate soccer mom who would drop off the kids at practice and lived in the suburbs. But at a comedy club Cheryl has a hilarious and sometimes dirty stand-up routine.

Cheryl the Soccer Mom

“It depends on the audience. If it’s that kind of show, I can totally go there,” she said. “Not always but pretty often.”

Even though her soccer mom days are nearly over because her oldest child is leaving for college soon, her comedy career is quickly taking off. She has recently filmed a show for Nickelodeon and has been invited to participate in the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas. Without the support of local Sacramento comics, getting started in the comedy world would have been tough, she said.

“When I started out all of the Sacramento comics were so helpful and so welcoming. I can’t imagine getting a better start in any other city,” she said. “There’s the typical [comedy] politics that you find anywhere but overall the support for new comics is really strong and support for each other, we’re happy for each other’s success.”

The Sacramento Comedy Festival is not holding back support for the out-of-town comedians. Multiple comedians have been invited to perform in the 25-show festival by Crall himself. A few of the traveling comics (improv and stand-up) include Joe Klocek from the Bay Area; Matt Gubser and Priya Prasad from Oakland; Andrew Holmgren from San Francisco; 70-year-old comedian Sandra Risser from Concord, Calif.; and Brent Gill from Denver. Former Comedy Spot cast member Jeff Sloniker will also be performing at the festivities.

Leeman Parker, Sacramento native and member of improv group Bro Squad 5 from Hollywood, Calif., performed at the comedy festival last year and anticipates the upcoming shows. “The place was packed, and it was a really cool atmosphere to do a show,” said Parker about the Comedy Festival last year.

Kurt Weitzmann

A first time performer in the festival but veteran stand-up comic, Kurt Weitzmann, who has been seen on Comedy Central, MTV and multiple comedy stages in San Francisco is also scheduled to perform for this year’s fest.

“I’ve always loved the Sacramento comedy scene. I’ve always thought it was really good people that came out of there,” said Weitzmann. “I’m just glad they’re doing it. I think it’s a great idea. I think every city should have a comedy festival. It’s not hard to do, everybody loves comedy.”

Everyone does love comedy, but I’m not sure if putting on a comedy festival is as easy as it sounds. Brian Crall along with the help from Mignon Foster, who is in charge of the logistics of the show, has been planning this festival for over a year. They have been working on making the festival bigger and decided to extend the festival to eight days.

“We just started off very simple last year. We did four days, and we tried to pack in as many things as possible but it was a lot of fun,” Crall explained. “We didn’t do a lot of publicity last year, it was just more of a trial run year…but this year we are going all out.” As soon as the 2011 laughs were over, Crall and Foster got straight to work on an encore. They have created an original logo for the festival, a website and have been screening tapes from comics across the country who wanted to participate. After all of this work, Crall is hoping for a big turnout.

“We want as many people to come out and get a good sampling of what we do, and we have put a festival pass together that allows you to see every show at the comedy festival for $55, when we have 20-plus shows that’s a pretty good deal,” he added.

The Sacramento Comedy Festival will kick off opening night with a ribbon cutting ceremony and music from the local rock group Dog Party. After that for eight days, you watch stand-up comics and improv groups from across the country brave the stage, you can geek out with Nick Pettigrew and listen to Cheryl the Soccer Mom’s MILF joke. With every laugh that comes out of the festival, Brian Crall will be one step closer to making his goal a reality in making Sacramento a destination for comedy.

We don’t have the space to list all the acts who will be performing at the Sacramento Comedy Festival. Good thing for you, ticket prices are affordable enough that we won’t have to. You can go see them for yourselves. The fest runs from Sept. 7 through 15, 2012 and for just $55, you can see every show. Go to http://www.saccomedyfest.com/ for more info and to purchase tickets.

Rocklin Band Wife and Son Release Their Debut Album

Rocklin-based indie pop band Wife and Son is a shining example of why you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously. Formed in 2009, the now five-piece group was originally the brainchild of guitarist/vocalists Richie Smith and Robert Brundage. They had been making music together for a while in a series of what they refer to as “joke bands,” until they started taking music more seriously under the moniker of Wife and Son. This That and the Other, the band’s debut album was released digitally in April but it is now ready for its official physical release.

Smith and Brundage have been friends for about eight years, Smith says, and were introduced through his little sister Alexis. Smith, a Grass Valley native, and Brundage, born in Monterey, Calif., but raised in Folsom, played in a variety of bands before entering into Wife and Son. These early bands included The Outrights and Polar Bear Filth. These outfits garnered some coffee house gigs, but Smith says that they were strictly just for fun. However, though they say that none of the songs on This That and the Other find their origins in the Polar Bear Filth catalog, those formative years of goofing around with music have played some part in where they’re at today.

“I feel like the joking around allowed me to not take anything seriously,” Brundage says. “That way, you’re not afraid to try some crazy harmony that’s kind of flashy or too pop-y–just being willing to try anything, even if it might sound like something that you told yourself you’d never write.”

Funny enough, Wife and Son also started out as a joke but quickly morphed into something much more. With Smith’s wife Mars Wheeler (synthesizer/vocals) rounding out the original lineup, the group immediately started demoing songs.

“We started writing songs, and we really liked them, so we decided to actually try and do it,” Brundage explains.

“The goal was to be as original as possible,” Smith says of the band’s early writing sessions. “We all are big fans of pop music and good pop songwriting, like the Beatles as one of the best examples, but we also wanted to forego the classic pop song formula. We wanted to write freely and not necessarily go with the typical verse-chorus-verse format. Those are the things we would talk about a little bit, and we just wrote these song poems, almost, and put them together.”

Those demos stuck, however. Brundage says that all but one of the songs from the band’s original demo have found their way to This That and the Other, though they have evolved considerably since thanks to playing and gigging them a lot. The additions of bass player Josh Quimby and drummer Luke Arredondo also had a huge role in the songs’ maturation process.

“How we wrote the album was we wrote all the parts,” Smith says. “We composed the bass lines and we composed the drum parts as well. We’re not drummers. We can play a little bit, but we composed in our minds what kind of beat patterns we wanted to go with the songs. We presented them to Luke, and he would make it make sense.”

“He’d make them actual drum parts,” Brundage adds.

This That and the Other was produced and recorded almost entirely by the band. Other than the drums, which were tracked at One Eleven Recording and Music Studio in Roseville with the help of Kevin Prince, the album was recorded in Smith’s apartment using Logic and Brundage’s Macbook. It was an arduous task, but the band is happy with the result.

“We worked on the record over the course of a year, off and on,” Smith says. “It was a long process. There was a lot of stuff we had tracked that we ended up retracking. Honestly, we’re glad to be done with that process. We learned a ton on this first record.”

This being their first album, a lot of trial and error went into the process. Brundage says that some of the songs were recorded up to eight times.

“I was basically learning how to record while we were recording, and we were all learning about production too,” Brundage says. “It was like this huge music school on how to make a record.”

You’d probably never realize the meticulous nature of its recording by listening to This That and the Other. Opening track “Sea Salt” sets the tone with its carefree structure and generous use of reverb. The song feels loose, but in a good way–in a way that speaks of a band just having fun with the music and not coming off as guarded.

“Sea Salt,” one of the first songs the band demoed, was written in a very free-wheeling manner.

“We just hit record and Mars and I started singing,” Brundage says. “We just started freestyling, and we liked what we had to say.”

“Rob and I were just jamming on guitar parts,” Smith says of the song. “We wrote the guitar, bass line and drum part all in one sitting, in about an hour, then Mars woke up from a nap to lay down the vocal.”

Other songs came from a more structured writing process. The Brundage-penned “Little Baby Hurricane” had more intent behind it.

“I just sat down one day, and I just wanted to make a tribute to ‘50s doo-wop,” he says. “I sat down and pretty much wrote the whole thing and brought it to Richie and Mars, and they put in their two cents. Richie added this great guitar solo at the end.”

In this way, Wife and Son mix up their approach to writing. Smith, Brundage and Wheeler all split songwriting duties (as they do with vocals), sometimes writing separately and presenting the songs to the rest of the group, and other times writing together in the same room. The different approaches may have been a reason why This That and the Other, aptly titled, has such a fresh and varied sound.

Though the album is only just recently completed, Smith, Brundage and company have their sights set on the future of the band. Smith says that the band already has enough material on tap for a second album, which they also hope to produce themselves.

“We like the creative control,” Smith says. “The fact that we learned so much on the first record, we’re actually excited to work on the songs for the second record.”

Smith says that the lessons learned will make Wife and Son’s recording process faster next time around. He says the band will set deadlines for itself and work on being more efficient. It almost sounds like they’re taking themselves seriously. If Wife and Son’s exciting debut is any indication, that’s definitely not a bad thing.

This That and The Other’s release show will take place at The Press Club in Sacramento on June 28, 2012. In addition to Wife and Son, The Tambo Rays and Sicfus will also perform. If you’d like to listen to the album before you buy it, go to Wifeandson.bandcamp.com and of course, you can keep up with their latest happenings by liking them on Facebook (Facebook.com/wifeandson).

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Sparks the Rescue, Namesake, Self Proclaimed, Mercedes Ave
The Boardwalk, Orangevale – Saturday, May 19, 2012

Words by Ashley Hassinger Photos by Mike Ibe

From pop-punk to alternative, many types of rock filled the Boardwalk in Orangevale on Saturday.

With four bands lined up to open for Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, the audience got a taste of both local and touring bands from across the States.

First up was local Sacramento band, Mercedes Ave. Recently formed, the band’s vocals were a bit shaky throughout the performance. The vocals of Kris Loewen and backup vocalist and bassist Nick Lunetta, didn’t quite complement each other; while the melodies from the lead guitarist Nathan Furey and the drumming of Jon Medley were decent.

It is evident that the band as a whole had a great love for music, but perhaps with more time with each other, they’ll perfect their sound and blend their vocals and their melodies more seamlessly. As they write in their biography on Facebook, “We aren’t perfect. We still have a long ways to go as a band, as musicians and even as friends.” With their own self-criticism, it won’t be long before their sound is more polished.

Self Proclaimed, a four piece band also from Sacramento comprised of vocalist Ethan Blankensop, lead guitarist Matt Miramontes, bass guitarist Blake Harris and drummer Jeffery Willams, gave the audience a good show.

Mercedes Ave.

Full of energy and projecting a good stage presence, Self Proclaimed had the crowd engaged and played high-energy songs. With fast tempo songs in their set like “Half Past Sunday,” full of catchy hooks, they made it easy for new listeners to jump on board with their sound.

Blankensop had a raspy voice, which set the band apart from the previous local talent. They had fun at the end of their set covering Blink-182’s “All The Small Things,” which pumped up the entire crowd.

Self-Proclaimed

Up next was the first touring band, Namsake from Atlanta, Ga. Signed to Imagen Records, Namesake was a refined pop-rock band. From the vocals of Will Crafton to harmonies from guitarists Brad Wagner and Troy Harmon, bassist Seth Van Dusen and drummer Kevin Nordeste, it was evident that these guys have been performing for a while.

Their melodies had the entire crowd clapping and bobbing their heads. Conversing with the audience, Crafton spoke to them saying, “I don’t say this very often, but this may be the best crowd of the tour.”

The crowd really took to their sound and their chemistry as a band. Namesake ended with their song “Movement,” a tune about getting through a hard time.

Sparks The Rescue

Sparks the Rescue, from Maine, followed Namesake and kept the energy level high. Around for the past three years, Sparks the Rescue showed that with time, harmony and lyrics are perfected and the interaction amongst the band members was solid.

The band changed it up by covering country group Lady Antebellum’s song, “Need You Now.” It was a great cover that gave the song a rock makeover.

Sparks the Rescue was a great band to open up for Florida-based rock band The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Around since 2004, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has used its time together wisely, perfecting their lyrics and refining their rock sound. With the recent release of the newest album Am I the Enemy, the band played a mix of both old and new material.

Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Opening up with the song “False Pretense,” Red Jumpsuit started the crowd off with vigor, and did an amazing job keeping the crowd engaged and up dancing on their feet.

Lead vocalist Ronnie Winter slowed down the tempo twice, playing songs “Cat and Mouse” and “Your Guardian Angel” off Red Jumpsuit’s album Don’t You Fake It, acoustically.

With one song left in the set, the audience starting shouting “‘Face Down,’ ‘Face Down,’ ‘Face Down.’” Red Jumpsuit obliged by closing out its set with that song.

All the bands had a great show, and although some could use improvement in lyrics or chemistry on stage, all had their hearts out on the stage, showing their love for live music.

Four months and four beers strong, American River Brewing Company settles in for the long haul

The English brewed the India pale ale so that it could withstand a sea voyage to South Asia, taking into consideration choppy waters and uncontrolled temperature to create a beer still drinkable.

Brewers today make the English pale ale with these standards in mind, the result being a mellower, more balanced drink than the hoppier American version of the IPA. Head brewers David Mathis and Andy Armstrong, owners of the American River Brewing Company (ARBC) went the traditional English route with their Sunrise IPA, one of their flagship beers at the fledgling brewery out of Rancho Cordova.

“[Back then] it was supposed to be just hoppy enough and alcoholic enough to get to Bombay without bacteria forming in it,” says Mathis, leaning near four taps fastened behind a bar in the ARBC tasting room on Trade Center Drive. “We also use French oak to give the impression that it’s been sitting in a barrel for nine months.”

Though it’s 6.8 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), Sunrise is a sweeter, easier drink than its American younger brother. The floral hop bitterness equally matches the creamy malt middle, and the finish is smooth and clean.

“A beer should have a front, a middle and a back in the palate,” says Mathis, a 15-year veteran brewer, same as Armstrong. “A lot of beers I’ve had recently get rid of that middle. I want our end users to get the full pleasure out of drinking our beer.”

So far, ARBC has two other staple beers–Coloma Brown and Golden Ale–and a limited strong IPA, SSB 120, with plans to add a red ale as its fourth staple this week.

Mathis and Armstrong decided to work together on the brewery venture because they have similar tastes in beer, similar ideas on what beer should be and its future. Their compatibility and balance shows through in their creations. The Coloma Brown, named after the first gold discovery site in California, is a big beer, but at 5.5 percent ABV, not overly alcoholic. It’s like a rich chocolate malt, yet has a smooth, slightly hopped finish.

The Golden Ale is 5 percent ABV, the every-beer-drinker’s ale. It’s light, crisp and can be picked at carefully to discover the yeast and malt flavors. Just don’t drink it after having American River’s other beers, especially the SSB, or it might be hard to hit at subtleties. The SSB is a competitor for the hardiest of California IPAs, but its uniqueness is in its hops. Mathis and Armstrong stayed away from the more common American hops like Cascade and went with varieties that are comparable to European styles.

“Why would we copy what someone else was doing?” Mathis starts, “We want to find our own distinct flavor.”

More than 15 years ago, Mathis brewed at home and loved it so much he worked for free at his local brewery until Pyramid Brewery, and later BJ’s Brewhouse, hired him. He admits to almost opening his own brewery back then, but then looks at his 15-year-old business plan and realizes it’s useless compared to what he can do now.

Armstrong and Mathis met at BJ’s, honing their craft and learning the business before deciding to see their ambitious dreams of owning a brewery come to fruition this January.

“BJ’s is good at what they do, especially with their restaurants, but they moved away from their onsite breweries,” Mathis says on why he left the corporate world. “Brewing beer is in our blood, it’s what we’re meant to do.”

Armstrong adds that he learned much of his craft at BJ’s, as well as the smaller brewery Beerman’s and U.S. sake brewer Gekkeikan.

“It was like going to beer school for nine years,” he says of BJ’s.

But he and Mathis wanted to branch out with their own creativity.

The two have a symbiotic relationship. Mathis’ marketing education is apparent, and he’s optimizing on a “grain to glass” approach to business where he and Armstrong create the recipes, choose the ingredients, do the cleaning and meet the “end user” to ensure the best possible experience.

“Sitting down and talking to guests–that’s what I’ve been doing by going to events, festivals, restaurants, bars, educating the sales staff, engaging guests about beer one person at a time,” he says.

Mathis knew Armstrong possessed the right skills and attention to detail when he chose him as his right-hand man to run the actual facility.

“One thing I learned is you have to change the light bulb if it’s out–if a guy working at a brewery is too lazy to change the light bulb, he’s too lazy to clean the fermenters properly,” Mathis says on one reason he knew Armstrong was the right guy.

Timing helps too. Mathis says what Sacramento area is seeing now is a resurgence after many breweries shut down four years ago, creating a void.

“Sacramento is one of the ripest craft brewery destinations in the nation,” he says, confident the city will join Portland, Seattle, Denver and others as a microbrewery hotspot.

ARBC Tasting Room Manager Lisa Agoitia came on board not long after the brewery opened. She is known in the local beer community, has judged past beer competitions and is studying for the Beer Judge Certification Program exam.

“I’ve known these guys for years and Andy is one of the most creative brewers I know,” she says. She and Armstrong are working together on an upcoming Incinerator Pale Ale, a blend of the brewery’s current IPA with hot peppers and jerk spices, Armstrong says.

Getting the small team started on a beer topic like this is simple when visiting the tasting room, where the three like to spend a few hours getting to know customers and talking about what’s to come.

“You don’t throw in the full pepper because you get the flavor from the skin,” says Mathis, sitting relaxed behind a barrel that’s been transformed to a tall table. “What we’re doing is figuring out how to extract only the heat… but that’s proprietary,” he laughs, refusing to give out his trade secrets.

Along with the upcoming spiced blend, Armstrong is experimenting with honey, chamomile and rosemary in future specialty beers, as well as trying barrel aging. He and Mathis filled three wine barrels with their beer to see what they can produce in limited quantity over the next year.

There is still much more room to grow. American River sits in a 6,500-square-foot industrial facility that could potentially put out 10,000 barrels per year if Mathis adds more equipment. With the current barrels, the company is capable of approximately 1,000 barrels this year, but Mathis says they’re going to take it slow.

“The market demands,” he says. “We’re getting good feedback but my focus is don’t grow so rapidly that we lose quality control or lose the connection with our end user.”

However, the long-term goal, he adds, is to make ARBC a major player like Lagunitas or Drake’s Brewing. Armstrong says he already has a few things in mind, including bottling by the end of summer and introducing new yeast strains.

They’re in it for the long haul with Rancho Cordova as headquarters. Mathis says the city council warmly welcomed the small business and is excited about ARBC’s future prospects as much as the company.

“We’re next to the highway, we have a big parking lot for trucks to turn around and the corridor connects us to the entire country,” he says.

For now, the tasting room is open Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 8 p.m., but more than a dozen bars serve American River on rotation, including de Vere’s Irish Pub, Alley Katz, River Rock Tap House, Pangaea Two Brews Cafe, Firestone Public House and the Bottle Shop in Davis.

ARBC also plans to attend the Raley Field Beer Festival May 18 and the West Coast Beer Festival at Miller Park May 19, 2012.

For more information, check out American River Brewing Company on Facebook or stop by the tasting room midweek at 11151 Trade Center Drive, Suite 104, in Rancho Cordova.

Mutemath, Canon Blue
Ace of Spades, Sacramento – Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

Words by Ashley Hassinger – Photos Mike Ibe

Mutemath returned to Sacramento for a stunning performance with musical guest Canon Blue. With distinctive musical styles, these two bands complemented each other flawlessly. A strong emphasis on an array of instruments and powerful lead vocals illustrated genuine musicianship.

Canon Blue, solo project of Daniel James, opened up the night, playing as a trio on this occasion. With the recent release of Canon Blue’s sophomore album Rumspringa, James spoke to the audience about Amish culture being a heavy influence on the album.

His six-song set lasted 30 minutes. James’s set list was a mixture of old and new tracks, allowing the audience to get a full taste of the rich and funky Canon Blue.

An essential feature you can hear with Canon Blue’s recent music is a string quartet. This element gives Canon Blue a unique quality and James is able to recreate this sound with samplers during his live show. Layering a combination of string instruments and James’ vocals generates a refreshed sound. Canon Blue gives listener’s unpredictable sounds and lyrics and has a euphonic substance.

In addition to the layering, the tracks have a variety of tones varying from light and jazz style to an alternative and fast tempo. Canon Blue’s unorthodox sound is what draws in new listeners.

Canon Blue wrapped up their set with a funky and upbeat jam titled “Chicago.” This track is a perfect example of the sound you’ll hear on Rumspringa: a string quartet introduction ultimately bringing in James’ voice.

Standing in the crowd, I overheard a few audience members mumbling, “Who is this band?” Canon Blue made a substantial impression on both fans and new listeners. Their opening made a great introduction to the headlining Mutemath that was to follow.

Writing and performing for almost a decade, Mutemath have polished and perfected their art of music. With three full-length studio albums including their most recent release in October, Odd Soul, Mutemath had a great deal of material to work with for the show.

For those unfamiliar with the sound of Mutemath, imagine a fusion of funk, jazz and rock. Lead vocalist Paul Meany adds an undertone of soul to complete their colorful and distinguished sound.

Known for their exceptional live performances, Mutemath didn’t delay to impress the crowd with a non-traditional entrance. Drummer Darren King led the band in a drum-line formation from the audience onto the stage, with a string of lights hanging above them.

As they took to the stage, there was no hesitation in energy and excitement from the band members as the first song “Odd Soul,” off their third studio album, started up. Bassist Roy Mitchell-Cardenas and newest member Todd Gummerman on the guitar joined in with King and Meany with an immense amount of liveliness on the stage.

The excitement wasn’t limited to one area with Meany interacting with the crowd, and singing in the middle of the audience for the performance of “Equals.”

A favorable characteristic of Mutemath’s performances is their ability to have quick transitions. There is little downtime between songs, allowing for the audience to get the most out of the show.

Along with their swift changeovers, there was a great light show throughout the performance, which took the concert to the next level.

With high energy and dedication, Mutemath gave an exceptional arrangement of their songs over the years, and their animation was contagious to the crowd. Mutemath is one of the few bands left that performs solely for the joy of their audience.

The songs they performed included “Blood Pressure,” “Spotlight” and “Walking Paranoia,” to name a few. The band played a total of 26 songs, giving the audience a passion-filled show.