Tag Archives: Shine café

Prolific Songwriter Anton Barbeau Returns With New Album

Magic Man

When your uncle is a professional magician and bestows upon you his magic kit after hanging up his top hat, it’s only natural that your first gig as a performer involves magic. For the quintessential Sacramento musician, Anton Barbeau, this is exactly how he first landed on the stage and caught the performance bug.

“My first performance, my first gig, was doing magic in school—I was 10 or something like that. As a magician I was probably reasonably mediocre but I loved performing, so that was my beginning as a performer was doing magic,” he chuckles.

While Barbeau didn’t take his magic act to Las Vegas, his need to create magic never abated. Instead, the artist plunged headfirst into the local musical pond and has been swimming there ever since. To say that the singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist’s work is prolific would be a gross understatement. Come on, the guy has put out more than 20 recordings in the last 20 years—some years putting out as many as three albums during a single trip around the sun. But his latest musical effort might just prove to the world that his work is truly magical.

Collaborating via the Internet and email, artists from across the globe contributed to the musical process of creating Magic Act without setting foot into the studio with Barbeau. The process was one in which Barbeau himself didn’t necessarily think would pan out into musical gold, but the end results even surprised him.

“Tracks were coming in from Italy and Spain and all over the world. It’s kind of exciting because it all fit together—it does work, which surprises me,” he explains. “I always like the feeling of having a band or people that you’re in the same room with and there’s the chemistry but in this case some of the chemistry seemed to happen from around the globe, electronically and it still fits.”

As a born-and-bred Sacramento artist, Barbeau’s local roots are deep—as the prodigal son of the local music scene his artistic presence still resonates. And while he calls Berlin home now, he makes a concerted effort to return to those roots, often finding himself back in his room at his father’s house toying around with new ideas on his old drum kit and other instruments laying around before heading out to reconnect with friends, family and old bandmates.

“It’s funny because I’ve been back recently, and so I’m hoping the prodigal son shtick still works. I’ve got a really good band in Sacramento and it’s really fun playing with these guys,” he says. “To be playing songs off of the new record will be good—I do feel appreciated when I’m back, in California in general, it’s nice to come home. There are people who know my catalog, there are people who know songs of mine from 10,000 years ago. There’s something gratifying in that.”

Currently, the magician-turned-musician is gearing up to make his way back home with his bag of tricks in tow to play once again for the hometown crowd with a smattering of performances throughout the area with gigs at Luna’s Café and Fox and Goose, but it’s the record release party at Shine on March 12 to celebrate Magic Act that Barbeau is really looking forward to.

“I think the songs are sort of a typical range from me, there’s a handful of the three-minute pop songs with catchy choruses but there’s also sort of a murky, psychedelic middle [section] and I feel it’s a very genuine record for me,” he explains.

The record—much like the artists who collaborated on it from all over the globe—is a collection of songs and ideas that coalesced magically. Some of the pieces of music that landed on the album started out as tracks for other records and some were just sitting on the shelf, collecting dust in Barbeau’s seemingly infinite catalogue of music.

“I’ve made a lot of records and it’s easy, it’s what I do. So with this one, it feels like the songs picked themselves, they chose to be together,” he explains. “It feels like they belong with the rest of the songs. It’s not often that I make albums where I feel like the album itself tells me what to do. When that happens there’s something magical about that which is nice considering it’s called Magic Act.”

Certainly Barbeau’s long-spanning career is proof of his incredible drive and devotion to making music. He’s been making music longer than most of the hottest local bands have been jamming. His music is a powerful mix of pop and psychedelic but it also takes cues from The Beatles and David Bowie. Sure, he’s been bestowed with considerable praise from establishments like the BBC and Spin magazine, and is pretty much beloved by everyone when he comes home to play shows. But even a celebrated artist can appreciate those special moments where the process of making music is truly transcendent.

“Most of the people on this album are people who I’ve worked with before … but a few people [aren’t], like Colin Moulding from XTC. You know, XTC are huge, huge heroes of mine,” he gushes. “To work with Colin was a really thrilling moment—and again that’s a kind of magic, to work with one’s heroes.”

For Barbeau it really is all about the work. From his sanctuary in Berlin, where he spends the majority of his time dreaming up new material, to the frenetic and inspiring energy of the streets and canals that litter the cultural and artistic center of Germany, the mercurial musician is always at work. It’s the only thing he knows how to do, he admits.

“When it really works on another level for me is when things sort of spring out of nowhere or somewhere where you can’t see,” Barbeau says. “I think with this record it feels like that happens a lot, everything feels really inspired even when tracks were sent across the globe through email everything fit. One musician is responding to another musician’s performance, even if they aren’t playing in the same room at the same time—and that’s magic.”

Celebrate the release of Anton Barbeau’s latest album Magic Act March 12, 2016 at Shine, located at 1400 E Street in Sacramento. Barbeau and his band will be joined by Corner Laughers for this all-ages show. $7 cover, 8 p.m. show. If you can’t wait that long, you can catch Barbeau Feb. 27, 2016 at the Fox and Goose (1001 R Street) with Blame the Bishop and The Bobbleheads at 9 p.m. Cover for this 21-and-over show is $5. For more info, check out AntonBarbeau.com

Anton Barbeau | Submerge Magazine

Privileges band

Local Instrumental Funk/Rock Band Privileges Celebrates Release of Debut EP Aug. 21, 2015 at Shine Cafe

I stumbled across the new-ish local band Privileges in a rather unlikely place: Craigslist. While perusing the musicians board looking for like-minded people to get together to jam with, I noticed a post about a group looking for a vocalist. Intrigued (although I’m no vocalist), I clicked on it, followed another link to hear some of their tunes and was immediately hooked on their funky, spaced-out instrumental jams. Right away I recognized their drummer Omar Gonzalez-Barajas, as I’ve been a fan of his for years (he’s played with some of my other local faves like Sister Crayon, DLRN, and Cove). The group is currently rounded out with the uber talented guitarist Tyler Simmons and keyboard wizard Zach Hake. “Privileges inhabits the space between Tyler’s psychedelic and progressive guitars, Zach’s classically borne key riffs, and Omar’s funk and hip-hop influenced drums,” the band writes in their brief bio. They go on to self describe their sound as “smooth, danceable, impactful” and I couldn’t agree more. The group reminds me one of my all-time favorite instrumental groups (that you’ve likely never heard of but should listed to right away) called The Redneck Manifesto. Despite their post to Craigslist looking for a singer, it appears for the moment at least that Privileges is continuing on as an instrumental group (and I secretly hope they stay that way), having already released their five-track debut EP Common Language online at Privilegesband.bandcamp.com (start with the seven-plus-minute jazzy tune “We Two Time / Into the Fire,” it’s so good). Privileges have a release show lined up at Shine Cafe on Friday, Aug. 21 and they’ll be joined by Doctor Now, a new group fronted by Garrett Wildgust of The Old Screen Door and Ideateam, as well as the local psychedelic indie rock band Lucid Popsicle. The show starts at 8 p.m., cover is just $6 and all ages are welcome. Shine is located at 1400 E Street in downtown Sacramento. Learn more about the band at Facebook.com/privilegesband

Sacramento Singer/Songwriter Andrew Castro Releases New EP Inside/Out at Shine Feb. 28, 2015

Andrew Castro

Local singer/songwriter Andrew Castro only started playing live shows in the summer of 2013 and has already logged nearly 300 performances. He plays a lot here in town at coffee shops, open mics and things of that sort, but he’s also gigged in San Francisco, Los Angeles and even New York. His acoustic-based sound is pop-y and upbeat with heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics about falling in and out of love.

“Most of my songs are about relationships,” Castro recently told Submerge. “Not necessarily all love songs, but just analyzing certain aspects of failed relationships and long-distance relationships.”

His newest six-track EP out now on iTunes titled Inside/Out follows this subject matter.

“‘Fall’ is my favorite song,” he said of the new EP. “It’s about seeing the person you are in love with fall in love with someone else and you know the relationship is finally over and can never be anything romantic ever again.”

Castro recorded the songs on the new EP with Casey Groat of Groatesque Studios in Sacramento over a period of three months from October to early January, where they created all their own beats from scratch and worked on a full production including strings, piano, harmonies, the whole nine. Castro is celebrating with fellow Sacramento singer/songwriter Xochitl (featured in our last issue of Submerge) at a dual EP release show at Shine on Saturday, Feb. 28. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m., is only $5 and will also feature openings sets by Ruby J and Meghan Bone. Shine is located at 1400 E Street. Learn more about Castro at Andrewcastromusic.com and for more on the venue, visit Shinesac.com.

Never a Dull Moment

Xochitl Charms Fans from the East Coast to the West

After finishing the night’s performance, 21-year-old singer/songwriter Xochitl (pronounced “so-chee”) Hermosillo and the other performers had nowhere to stay. It was a cold night in Rhode Island, and the native California girl was in the midst of her first real winter. Then, a stranger from the audience asked: would they like to stay in her basement for the night? The group agreed that it was an awful idea—so awful, in fact, that they couldn’t turn it down.

They woke up to fresh crepes with strawberries. The stranger, whose name was Michelle, turned out to be a kindergarten teacher who, like so many of the strangers Xochitl met during her travels, was happy to help. And it’s easy to see why: her voice is sweet and earnest, angelic but strong, perfectly suited to her catchy riffs and emotion-driven lyrics. With just an acoustic guitar and a microphone, she can easily captivate an audience.

Xochitl will be the first to admit, she never plans. So when a friend floated a spontaneous idea of traveling around the East Coast, couch surfing and playing music, the answer was, “Why not?” Xochitl, who had spent her entire life in Sacramento, ended up making the trip solo. She connected with an aunt in New Hampshire who had a spare room, and the rest of the adventure unfolded day by day.

Xochitl left for the East Coast in fall 2013 with a one-way ticket. “I was silly. I went from October to March. The weather was negative 18 degrees. I’d never even really seen or been in the snow,” she laughs. “I had to go shopping, and learn to wear the tights under the jeans and to wear three pairs of socks.”

Dropping everything to live with an aunt on the other side of the country, in the middle of an East Coast winter, hoping to fund her trip by CD sales and the sheer generosity of other humans…not every 20-something would have the guts to leave with so little planned out. But once Xochitl decided that music was going to be her career, she had few reservations about taking risks to make her passions happen. She had started her career as a musician when she was about 19, after realizing that college wasn’t the right path—music was. “This is my passion. Why am I waiting anymore?” she said.

She found herself almost completely alone on the East Coast, where she learned to drive in the snow for the first time in her aunt’s tiny Honda Civic, bouncing around to different venues and playing open mics whenever she could—New York, Rhode Island and her favorite spot, Boston. She had a little money saved up from her last job, but says her trip was funded almost entirely by CD sales and the generosity of strangers. “People were just so nice and so supportive.

It was unbelievable. I could cry just thinking about it,” she says, smiling. “People would say, here’s a $20 bill, we really want to support you and you’re really talented. I hope this fills your gas tank.”

The hard work paid off, and soon, Xochitl wasn’t so alone. “There was this wonderful creative energy,” she says, remembering the people she met. Nights were spent performing, meeting fans and fellow musicians and “jamming in kitchens until 5 a.m.” Days were just as busy, always looking for that next show, that next opportunity. “Everyone in show business knows that emails in the afternoon is where it happens,” she explains. In time, she went from open mics to playing fully booked shows. “Never a dull moment,” Xochitl says.

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She remembers the first month being really amazing, when everything was new and different, and then, “you lose your peak and kind of get homesick.” Around Christmas, the family back home begged and pleaded (“it’s OK, you can just come home”), but she fought the homesickness and plowed through. “I fell in love with it,” she says with a wistful sigh.

Xochitl’s last night on the East Coast was the inspiration for the song “Bring Me to You,” which she wrote while sitting on her cousin’s bed, staring out the window. “I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life,” she says, remembering the sight of the sunrise on fresh snow and the very surreal, bittersweet experience of knowing she was about to leave the East Coast for good. The guitar part was actually written back in that basement where she stayed in Rhode Island.

Returning home was a little difficult, mostly because Xochitl was worried that she would get too comfortable and slow down. Because if there’s one thing she hates, it’s being bored. She’s kept herself busy, using Sacramento as a home base and making trips out to play shows along the West Coast—Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, San Diego and points in Oregon. Xochitl thinks eventually she’ll move to San Diego, where she’ll never have to shovel snow again, explaining that deep down she is “a big beach Cali girl.”

Another new development has been working with a full band—friends and fellow Sacramento musicians Justin Carson and Casey Groat, who also produced her upcoming EP. Xochitl loves the new creative energy that comes from working with a full band and is curious to see what sound will come out of their trio. “It might get a little more jazzy, a little more funky,” she says, looking excited.

So, how about that full-length album? Xochitl says that she’s usually “too antsy” and when she writes music, she wants to release it as soon as it is done. At the moment she can’t imagine releasing 10 tracks at once and then not sharing anything for the next two years. Similarly, she doesn’t revise anything she writes. “I’m not a polished singer/songwriter. I just sing and write exactly what I’m thinking and exactly what I’m feeling,” she says. “I want it to stay genuine.” Revising means she’s overthinking the song, and will make it less pure.

Given her distaste for perfection, it shouldn’t be surprising that she cringes when asked if she has any interest in producing. “I hate recording!” she says. “Too perfectionist. I get antsy, like, I want to get out of this box! I need more lenient and open space.”

For now, she’s 100 percent focused on the release party for her new EP, Lion Heart, coming up on Feb. 28, 2015, at the Shine Cafe. “I’ll be running around like a crazy lady until then,” she laughs. She’s also playing 20 shows in the Sacramento area over the next couple months beforehand—a testament to her love of being busy.

Once the current songs have been released, it will be back to traveling and writing, being inspired and exploring new sounds. “I’ll have a whole new clean slate and start fresh.”

It’s an EP release party! Xochitl and Sacramento artist Andrew Castro will both release their respective EPs on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 at Shine Cafe. This all-ages show will also include Meghan Bone and Ruby Jaye Fradkin. Doors at 7:30, $5. For more info, visit Facebook.com/xochitlofficial.

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Local All-Girl Band Cave Women to Release New EP, Second Chances

If you read our December 2012 cover story on local all-girl jazz/folk/pop group Cave Women, then you already know that this talented group of young women holds a special place in our hearts. “These musicians have an almost magical connection with one another,” wrote James Barone on the group, talking about their 2012 self-titled full-length album. Thankfully Cave Women are back again with a new EP called Second Chances that they are releasing on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014. The following night, they’ll play a release show at Shine Cafe, located at 1400 E Street in Downtown Sacramento. It’s just $5 for the cover and the show gets going at 8 p.m. If you’re not familiar with this talented crew of multi-instrumentalists, you really should be; and not just because they are an all-girl group (as if it was some sort of attraction or something), but because they are really incredible musicians pulling from a wide range of influences including jazz, world and folk, with pop songwriting structures. Casey Lipka plays the stand-up bass and mbira (a small instrument with origins in Zimbabwe that consists of metal keys that are plucked by hand), Alicyn Yaffee plays guitar, Emily Messick does a little bit of everything (melodica/accordion/guitar/piano), and Kim Davis plays flute and saxophone. Maybe the best part is that they all sing beautifully too, whether separately or together in perfect four-part harmonies. Submerge was lucky enough to get a preview of Second Chances, and we can confirm that it is wonderful listening material and it shows the group meshing together even more than on their previous releases. Second Chances is five lush, dreamy tunes that will leave you wondering why the heck these girls aren’t more popular than they are. In time, we’re sure they will be. Until then, we’re happy that Sacramento can keep them as our little secret! Head to Cavewomen.bandcamp.com now to pre-order the EP for only $5 or check out Cavewomenmusic.com for more information

SHINE CAFE IS UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP, WILL CONTINUE TO HOST ALL-AGES SHOWS

shine new owners

More than just a coffee shop and café, Shine (located in the Mansion Flats neighborhood at 1400 E Street) has steadily been carving out its own niche in the local music and arts scenes for the last couple years, consistently hosting a variety of all-ages shows featuring both local and touring bands as well as hanging local artists’ work on their walls. They also host comedy shows, poetry readings, the list goes on. It’s the type of place that helps drive the city’s thriving arts and entertainment scenes forward, so you can imagine our concern when we heard from someone on the street recently that Shine had been sold to new owners. “We hope they keep up the love for local art and music,” we told ourselves. Turns out, after a little research and connecting with one of the new owners, 35-year-old Amanda Lawrence, we’ve got nothing to worry about. “Shine remains committed to supporting local art and music,” Lawrence recently told Submerge. “Each month we feature a new visual artist, each Tuesday is Jazz Jam Night, the second and fourth Wednesdays are Poetry Night and Fridays and Saturdays still feature bands.” She even went on to explain that they hope to further expand the genres that they bring in. “We are looking forward to drawing in more culturally diverse music and performances, such as bossa nova and Latin jazz, as well as African dance troops.” Lawrence, who moved to Sacramento from Portland in October, co-owns Shine with her older brother Lance (43) and their friend Tyson Wells (38). “This is our first venture into business ownership, but we each bring varying skills and knowledge from experience working in the coffee and restaurant world,” she said. “We bought Shine because it was overflowing with potential to be a part of the burgeoning ‘eat and drink local’ movement, as well as to serve the Mansion Flats neighborhood as its anchor coffee shop by day and a nice little place to get a drink and catch a show at night.” Since taking over in late November, the crew has added some nice personal touches to the space, including building and installing an awesome new stage for performers that features a background constructed with reclaimed barn wood and funky lighting features. They also upgraded the menu and are now serving Temple Coffee. Their official “grand opening” party will be on Friday, Jan. 10 and will feature live music from As Yet Untitled, Sicfus and POG. That show will be just $5 and will kick off at 8 p.m. As always, all ages are welcome. To learn more about the new Shine and to view their calendar of upcoming events, visit Shinesac.com. To Shine’s old owner, Rena Davonne, we’ll miss seeing you and your awesome, cheery daughter every time we drop off a stack of mags! To the new owners, welcome to the neighborhood and thanks for keeping up the local music and art love!