Down Home Cooking from Sacramento Chefs

It’s not always sunny in Sacramento. In fact, lately it’s been bone-chillingly cold. A drop in temperature in this city not only means more layers of clothing, but also ignites a craving for some warm, home-cooked meals. So, when the weather outside is frightful, or it’s just too cold to give a damn, skip dining out and show your kitchen some attention. Submerge asks head chefs from various restaurants in the area to share some family recipes they’ll be serving around the dinner table this holiday season. And even this writer plucks a page from her own recipe book for a meat-free tortilla soup, a perfect, spicy solution for any rainy day.

Arroz con Pollo

Matt Brown | Head chef at the Golden Bear
2326 K Street, Sacramento
Goldenbear916.com

Chef Brown’s ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock
Chicken
1 pasilla pepper
1 Jalapeño
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cups of rice
Achiote paste
Salt and pepper to taste

Former 58 Degrees and Holding sous chef Matt Brown just started as the head chef at the Golden Bear four months ago. Brown says anyone can whip up his mother’s recipe for Arroz con Pollo, or chicken with rice.

“I love cooking dishes at home that take a good amount of the day and end up heating the house for you. Sear some chicken legs off in a pan, just browning the outsides. Meanwhile, in a blender, blend the peppers into a paste. In the same pan you cooked the chicken, sauté a chopped yellow onion with two cups of rice and brown the rice slightly. At that point, add your chicken stock and your chili paste. Mix in some Achiote paste into the liquid and add your chicken back into the sautéing rice. Bring it to a light simmer, put the lid on your pot and let it cook for 35 minutes, [then] turn off heat and let it sit for five minutes.”

Gingersnap Gravy

Ed Roehr | Owner and head chef at Magpie Café
1409 R Street, Sacramento
Magpiecaterers.com

Chef Roehr’s ingredients:
4 cups of chicken stock
20 gingersnap cookies
Half an onion, chopped
1 oz butter
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

In Roehr’s own words: “If someone finds the need to make a turkey or roast a chicken, this gravy will go really well. This is something that was a family recipe my grandma would make. This is cool and kind of a twist on chicken and turkey gravy for the holidays.”

Put the cookies in the blender until they’re a powdery consistency. Brown the onion with some butter in a pan until soft. Once the onion cooks in the pan, add the powdered cookies with one ounce of butter. When the butter melts, add the stock and two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Last, add some chopped thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Roehr says any gingersnap cookies will do, whether they’re from a box or a natural food store.

“My grandma made it every holiday. We always had this ginger gravy on the table for everything. It’s good on potatoes, it’s good on the turkey, it’s good on chicken [and] it’s good on rice. It’s a very distinctive flavor. Actually, it’s been a while since I’ve had it. I’d like to have some now.”

Winter Chicory Salad With Crystallized Cranberries and Blue Cheese

Patrick Mulvaney | Owner and head chef at Mulvaney’s B & L
1215 19th Street, Sacramento
Mulvaneysbl.com

Chef Mulvaney’s ingredients:
Mixed chicory from Riverdog Farms
Shaft’s bleu cheese of Nevada City found at the Sacramento Co-op
Toasted walnuts
Cranberries
Sugar
Egg whites
Mandarin vinaigrette

Patrick Mulvaney grew up on the East coast, so he’s accustomed to fresh, Dungeness crab season, but there’s one tart berry that brings sweet memories of his mother, and ultimately inspired this eye-appeasing salad.

“This is a dish that my mother used to make around Thanksgiving and Christmas. My mother would leave a bowl [of extra cranberries] in the kitchen that everyone would eat. This works with romaine lettuce, arugula or chicory. The stars of the show are really the cranberries that go on top. If you do it with arugula, it kind of looks like a Christmas tree, right? You have the green, the little red balls and the white chunks of blue cheese throughout.”

For a bowl of encapsulated, sugary cranberries, use one cup cranberries, one cup granulated sugar, two egg whites and two tablespoons water. Whisk water and egg whites together until blended, but not frothy. Dip cranberries into the egg white mixture and then roll them into a bowl of sugar until fully coated. Set the cranberries on a plate or wax paper and allow to air dry for up to two hours.

If you’re feelin’ extra saucy, make the mandarin vinaigrette from scratch. Mulvaney’s tips include one part acid, three parts olive oil, one shallot, two garlic cloves, one spoonful of Dijon mustard, one mandarin, salt and pepper to taste. Vinegar is optional.

“Drizzle in the oil slowly. I usually use regular olive oil. If the mandarin’s are tart enough, you don’t need any vinegar. If they are sweet, you just use a little champagne or white vinegar to bring that acid level back up.”

Tortilla Soup with Cilantro-Lime Tofu

Steph Rodriguez | Amateur chef by day, writer by night

Steph’s ingredients:
1 cup chopped cilantro
1 white onion
1 can black beans
1 cup corn
1 package extra firm tofu
1 jalapeño
2 green peppers
14 oz veggie broth
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne

I love soup; especially tortilla soup. But, as a vegetarian, it’s hard to find non-chicken tortilla soup anywhere around this town. So, I forgo the restaurants and make my own with cilantro-lime baked tofu bits. It’s a hearty take on a classic recipe that can also be labeled vegan if you leave out the cheese and corn tortilla toppings. But this writer loves cheese. Sorry vegans.

Soup:
Start by roasting your onion, jalapeño and green peppers in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Once done, throw the jalapeño and peppers into a plastic bag for five minutes so it’s easier for the skin to be peeled. Throw the onion and roasted peppers into a blender and blend until smooth. In a large pot, add your liquids over medium heat, blended chili paste and spices. Stir everything well and let the soup simmer for half an hour, watching closely. When it’s done simmering, add in the black beans, corn, half-cup cilantro, tofu bits and let the soup simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes. Lastly, fry up some corn tortilla strips, sprinkle cheese and cilantro for garnish and enjoy.

Tofu:
The trick to a well-marinated tofu is pressing all the water out of your block. Squeeze the liquids out by pressing with your hands and then finish it off by squeezing the block between paper towels. Slice long, thick rectangles and marinate for up to two hours. The marinade calls for one tablespoon olive oil; a quarter-cup lime juice; two cloves garlic, minced; two tablespoons chopped cilantro; two teaspoons chili powder; a pinch of cayenne pepper and of course; salt and pepper to taste.

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.

Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Company

1630 S Street – Sacramento

In 2003 Kimio Bazett and Jon Modrow bought the Golden Bear, settled in Sacramento and committed to making this town a better place. Now they’ve embarked upon a new enterprise: Hook and Ladder Manufacturing Company, a restaurant and bar focused on highly refined eats and attentively detailed drinks, occupying the arched tin hull of what used to be Hangar 17. Yet, while the exterior might be the same, the interior is anything but.

What used to be a dark-ceilinged, neon blue clash of grays and polished, metallic tables, has become a warm, light, playful take on the current repurposed industrial loft aesthetic. The entrance strikes one with votive candles placed neatly around a detailed yet happenstance slat wood wall display behind the host stand. The bar is stocked to the ceiling with liquor, and at its center sits the yeti draft, an upside down tap system that cools the brewed beverages as they travel down the line, gathering a layer of condensed ice on the exterior of the mount.

Bar manager Chris Tucker took a few minutes to explain a few of the finer points of their intriguing bar setup, which includes the yeti system, the keg wine pressurized with nitrogen and the cocktails on tap. Wait, what?

Yes.

Draft wine and cocktails.

Tucker, who cut his teeth in this industry at America Live back in the day, detailed how they craft these specialty cocktails, mix them in huge batches, have them pressurized and then pour them over ice to quickly chill before they’re served to thirsty customers. It’s an intriguing process that we had to try. The four options included a Jameson Stinger, a Negroni with a nice anise finish, a Norse by Northwest with Aquavit from Portland and a Jerry Thomas Manhattan.

Of the four, the first and the last impressed us the most. Like much of the décor of Hook and Ladder, these cocktails are both old and new. The Jameson Stinger is a play on a classic libation with a nice balance of mint and Jameson that came off both refreshingly simple and flavorful in texture. The Jerry Thomas Manhattan differs from the traditional Manhattan. It’s crafted with Rye whiskey and Luxardo, an Italian maraschino cherry liquor, vermouth and bitters, garnished with a lemon peel that has the Hook and Ladder logo branded upon it. I also really enjoyed the Templeton rye and house made ginger beer, which had a sweet, light kick.

Oh yeah, and there are eats.

We had two meals at Hook and Ladder: one lunch, one dinner. Between the two meals we sampled multiple starters, a salad, a pizza, a sandwich, a cheese plate and an entrée. The starters were impressive by themselves, revealing an attention to quality ingredients and presentation. The three-cheese plate consisted of an Italian Tallegio, a brie-like texture that spread smoothly on the toasted bread it was served with; a Dutch Beemster with mustard seeds; and a Californian Carmody. Each paired well with the almonds, olives, persimmons and house dried fruit plated alongside it. The smoked eggplant baba ganoush topped with goat cheese had a rich texture that complimented the garlic-roasted flatbread. The seasoning of this pairing had a peppery kick that made me come back for more. The trio of sausages, which included a spicy chicken chorizo and a lamb link, served with mustard and two different chutneys, surprised with their quality. The sausages are all made in house, ground and stuffed, and then they’re cooked in beer before being oven-finished for service.

However, despite all these smaller plates, the highlights of our lunch experience were the two large plates: the sweet potato pappardelle with mixed mushroom ragù, shaved sheep’s milk cheese; and the barbecue chicken sandwich served with potato chips inside–Liz Lemon style–and a side of fries or salad. We opted for the fries and were happy about the decision. We split the sandwich and it disappeared immediately. The house barbecue and slaw were nicely chosen for this dish. The barbecue sauce had a sweet taste that was aided by the salty potato chips and the moist fried breast and thigh meat. The Bella Bru steak roll finished the entire piece.

All of Hook and Ladder’s pastas are made in house, and the sweet potato pappardelle did not disappoint. There are two types of pasta noodle dishes that I tend to find within our local cuisine. The first is a noodle type dish with a light oil toss and varied seasonal flavors, and the second focuses on the pasta as a base for a rich, hearty sauce with a depth of taste. The sweet potato papparadelle walked a nice line between the two. The mushroom ragù and sheep’s milk cheese brought a soft and thick baseline, but each bite felt light on the tongue. Over the course of our meal, as I sampled other items, this was the dish I kept repeatedly coming back to.

During lunch the clientele was relaxed, small groups, with others grabbing a quick bite at the bar. But dinner seemed like a livelier group. Larger parties laughed aloud in the warm yellow light, and the room felt like it was alive with the murmur of multiple conversations. It was, after all, Friday night, and Hook and Ladder was apparently doing well; we had to sit outside because by 6 p.m. table service inside was booked up for the night.

Like the interior, the outside impressed. Repurposed tabletops fit together–with heat lamps for the winter months–under a high awning, and warehouse flats lined the previous fencing, supporting sheet-metal gutters with freshly planted succulents and ferns inside.

We started with the Yukon gold potato, crimini mushroom, rosemary and crescenza pizza, based on the waiter’s recommendation. Hook and Ladder’s head chef is Brian Mizner, who held down Hot Italian when it first opened, and this made sense when the pizza arrived. The dough is similar to Hot Italian’s, but the pizza’s ingredients make it unique to Hook and Ladder. The potatoes were seasoned and soft to go along with the light dusting of crescenza cheese. The mushrooms and rosemary rounded out the taste, and we were quite happy with two slices each as an appetizer of sorts and saving leftovers for the next day.

The pancetta and poached duck egg salad had a variety of texture and balance. The mix of frisée, radicchio and greens allowed a hint of bitter and woody to mix with the salty punch of the small pieces of pancetta. The duck egg and vinaigrette dressing gave more depth, and even a hint of sweetness, to this salad.

Lastly, we ordered the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin medium rare to finish our meal. This entrée is served on a base of braised nettles, cut into medallions, and topped with Gorgonzola gnocchi. The tenderloin itself was moist and had a light flavor supplemented by the bacon. There was a bit of sweetness from a bit of sauté, and when followed with the Gorgonzola gnocchi, this plate was quite satisfying. The braised nettles provided a mild contrast to these rich flavors with a crunchy, slight bitter bite.

Ultimately, Hook and Ladder is a fine dining establishment that I’m sure will find success. While it’s only been open for seven weeks, it’s obvious that this restaurant and bar will only get better with time. During the summer, it’s going to be hard to find a seat most nights of the week. For those interested in just a drink or two, there’s ample seating at the long bar covering the west side of the building, a waiting area with tables made from old school board games such as Sorry where couples can enjoy a cocktail, perhaps before dinner.

It’s clear that Bazett and Modrow have put a lot of thought into this enterprise. They’re looking to make Sacramento a better place, and it is, after all, worthy. Anyone visiting the Golden Bear over the last nine years and watching it change should see the logic in Hook and Ladder. Bazett and Modrow want to move from bar-restaurant to restaurant-bar. For those ready to shift gears a bit from those late night Bear experiences to a quality meal and the nuance of a consistent bar, Bazett and Modrow have one option to add to Sacramento’s restaurant list: Hook and Ladder Manufacturing Company.

After tossing the idea around for years, the guys in local jam-based reggae/rock band ZuhG have finally decided to act upon their urge to throw a Dr. Dre Tribute Show on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 at Harlow’s! “We’re excited it’s finally happening,” Bryan Nichols, frontman of ZuhG, told Submerge. “The Chronic 2001 is probably the most listened to album in the ZuhG van when we tour. Everyone loves The Chronic.”

Nichols and crew have assembled a sweet backing band for the show including himself and fellow ZuhG-er JR Halliday along with drummer Katayo Moore (aka Lady Rhythm) and keyboardist Chez Gonzales. Will Robinson from The Old Screen Door will be singing some of Nate Dogg’s parts, and plenty of guest MCs will take the stage throughout the night, including Task1ne, RIZ, Century Got Bars, Kevin (from The Hooliganz), Charleee (from ZuhG) and Ernie (from Who Cares).

Will Robinson

“Hip-hop is a lot of fun to play with a band. It’s different in a lot of ways compared to rock,” said Nichols, who has had plenty of experience backing up hip-hop artists (Random Abiladeze and RIZ just to name a couple). “You have to stay in the pocket and not be too flashy. You can’t be afraid to play the same riff over and over again. The Chronic has some of the most catchy bass lines and guitar riffs, I love it.”

Look forward to hearing classic songs like “The Next Episode,” “Forgot About Dre,” “Fuck You,” “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” and plenty of others. The show starts at 9 p.m., is 21-and-over and the cover will be $10–a small price to pay for what will surely be a super fun and memorable night. And of course, this blurb wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory Nate Dogg line, “Smoke weed everyday!”

Century Got Bars

Sacramento’s longest running reggae night, Get Down to the Champion Sound, has officially moved venues! After a healthy eight-year run on Friday nights at Capitol Garage, DJ ESEF and crew are moving their party to Midtown BarFly, located at 1119 21st Street (where Club 21 used to be), Sacramento.

“Champion Sound had a beautiful eight-year run at Capitol Garage,” said ESEF. “We DJ’d and worked with many internationally known reggae artists including King Yellowman, Ranking Joe, Lutan Fyah, Afrika Bambaataa, Admiral Tibet, Junior Demus, DJ Shortkut and more.”

ESEF said they simply outgrew their old venue and in order to keep booking national and international talent and keep ticket prices low, they needed a bigger room.

“The option to move Champion Sound to BarFly came up, and we jumped on it because they really are the best venue for us at this point in our reggae careers,” said ESEF. “It’s a super dope venue. It is large enough to be comfortable, but not gigantic, and definitely offers superb prices on their drinks and brews. They just had a brand new sound system installed, and the location is super easy to get to from any downtown area or suburb. Very Central.”

ESEF also said the venue has professional lighting and video DJing capabilities that they did not have before. Friday, Dec. 14, 2012 was the first night of Champion Sound at Midtown BarFly, and the crew will take Dec. 21, 2012 off due to a previously booked event. But starting on Dec. 28, 2012 and continuing every Friday night after that, you can expect ESEF and his crew–which includes Juan Love (aka skate legend John Cardiel), Selector KDK (Kevin Kinnard), Ras Matthew (Matt Pailes), Kris Ward (of Squarefield Massive) as well as others–to drop nothing but the dopest reggae sounds.

“I’m most looking forward in this new era of Champion Sound to having a bigger venue with better sound and the ability to continue to bring some of the world’s greatest reggae DJs, selectors, bands and singers to our beautiful city of Sacramento,” said ESEF. Get Down to the Champion Sound is free before 10 p.m. and $5 after.

Morris Terry’s clothing has adorned the pages of national magazines and even The Hunger Games’ Jennifer Lawrence…now it comes back home to Sacramento

Words by Natalie Basurto

If you walk down the hall past the hookah smoke of Kasbah Lounge and the smell of Mediterranean food from Tapa the World, you will find it upstairs, tucked in the far left corner. A small room that used to house a tiny church now holds the high-end athletic clothes of Morris Terry (2115 J Street, Suite 212). The two owners, Marisa Minasian, or “Morris,” and Terry Buccat have lent their names to their first clothing line, Morris Terry Athletic, or MTX, which is dedicated to the kind of woman who enjoys a healthy but luxurious lifestyle. Tie-dyed yoga pants, multi-colored sports bras and graphic tees and tanks fill the boutique. White walls and rustic chic decor accent the small space, making it feel rich.

The fact that their initial idea to create a successful clothing line and open a boutique was a high school dream–something Buccat says they joked about–shows that you can’t doubt in their abilities to make things happen. Spoiler alert: It worked out.

“I guess when you put an idea out there, it really does come to life,” Buccat said.

When the girls finished college and reunited, they realized they still wanted to pursue their fashion dreams. They started the company in 2010 and up until now their clothing has mostly been purchased through their website and the 24 nationwide locations that carry their line.

Their first namesake boutique is their answer to the local following they’ve accrued.

“We’ve been really lucky…because we’ve had such a great local following and it’s not something we both necessarily expected… We were just a website, we could be from anywhere but we had a really great local response,” Minasian said.

Their fans started to beg to come into their Sacramento office to try on the clothes.

“There was nowhere for you to change… It was just kind of awkward, [but] people did it and it was fine. They were happy. They knew what fit. And that kind of thing just kept happening… It was time… There was that local need,” Minasian said.

The boutique has two dressing rooms to fill the void, a major step up from their office bathroom.

The 300-square-foot store was a strategic move on their part: “We looked at a lot of different spaces, and, honestly, they were mostly too big for us. We’re still pretty small. We didn’t start very long ago. We wanted to be able to fill our store comfortably,” Minasian said.

Minasian and Buccat met when they attended Mira Loma High School together and their dreams of being successful in the fashion industry bonded them for life. Now the 28-year-olds oversee everything: from the signature graphics they’ve drawn themselves to the Bay Area and Sacramento factories that assemble their clothes.

Some of the graphics include inspirational messages in beautiful script and antlers encasing the number 84, the girls’ birth year. The boutique itself has many organic elements like branches and natural wood. The whole line feels down to earth while maintaining the richness of well-made clothing.

“American history really interests us. We make everything here in California. Keeping it local and domestic is really important to us,” Minasian said.

If employing Californian workers by staying local wasn’t enough, Buccat and Minasian are also quite generous when it comes to donating to charity. Every season, they come out with special items that gives back 100 percent. When you purchase the Weekender Bag, the Give Back Antler Tank or the MTX Give Back Tank, all of the proceeds go to HELPS, a Sacramento-based foster agency that funds extracurricular activities for children including sports and arts and theater programs.

Minasian was adopted from Korea at age 3 and Buccat’s family fosters children, so it’s not difficult to see why this charity is so close to their hearts.

The grand opening celebration for the boutique is happening on Dec. 8, as part of Second Saturday. There will be a live band and food provided by local food trucks and bakeries and everything in the store will be 10 percent off. Best of all, with every purchase, the girls will be giving away their Weekender Bag, a large cotton canvas bag adorned with gorgeous script writing, with every purchase, but you have to make it between 5 and 9 p.m. to snag these deals.

Although the girls are very fond of yoga, Minasian said they like a variety of workouts. The clothes are multi-functional for most any kind of workout you desire.

“I really like doing pilates at home… We both do random cardio. I used to surf a lot more when I was close to the ocean…all kinds of stuff. I like to mix it up,” Minasian said.

MTX is their sport line from which they plan to expand.

“We do plan on branching out into different aspects of a woman’s lifestyle and so there will be other branches that we will call other things,” Minasian said.

They someday plan to create ready-to-wear clothing and even shoes. The latter is something the girls are very excited about pursuing.

Minasian said they would probably start off with workout shoes “to make the flow more natural. But we love shoes of all sorts.”

Most every designer finds inspiration and is driven by their customers. Like a muse, she illustrates a lifestyle that is drawn in clothing. Minasian and Buccat are no different.

“We’re inspired by American luxury lifestyle and this whole idea of the woman who wears these clothes. We’re trying to expand into her entire life… She likes to take care of herself, she has a healthy lifestyle, she likes the luxuries of life and she’s passionate about fashion,” Minasian said.

Be on the lookout for their Spring 2013 line, coming soon. Minasian gave me a teaser of what’s next: “Some new charity items for sure, some very cozy longer sleeve kinds of things, and some fancy pants… Other than that I can’t really say.”

Although the boutique may be hard to find, tucked far back into a building that is mostly known for tapas and hookah, it is worth the mini-adventure. When you leave the store with your new workout wear, you may not only encourage yourself to hit the gym more often, but you have also become the opulent woman that Morris Terry Athletic represents; and that in itself is inspiring.

Come out for the grand opening of the Morris Terry Boutique at 2112 J Street in Sacramento. From 5—9 p.m., enjoy hors d’oeuvres, drinks, live music and 10 percent off everything in the store. Shoppers will receive a free Weekender bag. For more info, go to http://morristerry.com/.

Comedian Iliza Shlesinger moves from reality show fame to rise the stand-up ranks

Talent, hard work and confidence–and a dash of luck–are needed to nurture any career in entertainment, and Iliza Shlesinger has been fortunate enough to have all these ingredients in abundance.

The winner of Last Comic Standing 6 back in 2008, Shlesinger is the only female comic to take the title, though even that wasn’t an easy road. She staved off elimination multiple times in order to take the prize. It’s an accomplishment to be sure, but it’s not something she has ever hung her hat on.

“It’s a cool thing for sure, but I think other people are more impressed with it than I am,” she says. “I would be a real tool if I rested on those laurels and still talked about it.”

While it’s not her sole accomplishment, it certainly gave her a quicker start than others in the field. Still, it’s what she’s done since that’s entrenched her as a force in stand-up.

“I know comics who have been doing it longer than I have,” Shlesinger says. “I know comics who have been doing it for 10 years, and they’re still featuring, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s the way it is. I’ve had the luxury of skipping a lot of the BS that stands between opening and being a headliner. I’m very fortunate to have been able to do that, but there’s also lot of hard work that I’ve put into it.

“I don’t brag about it, because I know what I did. As we get farther and farther away from it, I don’t want to be the guy who’s like, ‘Remember how good I was at football in high school?’”

Her journey in comedy began before Last Comic Standing. She says her first loves were sketch comedy and improv. She wrote for a troupe while she was in college, but then one day, she wrote a one-woman show, which, probably more so than her victory in the popular TV show, laid the roadmap for her current career.

“I was the only girl in my troupe who wrote stuff, and then it hit me, why am I writing stuff for other girls who aren’t writing for themselves?” she explains. “Why don’t I throw my thoughts in linear form on to paper and write them for myself? I just started writing paragraphs. It’s a weird answer, but I moved to Los Angeles, and it didn’t seem like a stretch to start doing stand-up comedy. Someone gave me some stage time, and they asked me to come back the next week. I just kept coming back and getting asked to do other shows, and it just became something I was obsessed with, I guess.”

Shlesinger says that she always knew she would be “funny for a living.” She was so single-minded about that inevitability that she “just didn’t think about anything else.” For years, she hosted The Weakly News, a news satire show for Thestream.tv in addition to touring as a stand-up comic. Armed with striking good looks and an even sharper tongue, she has recently made the jump to more traditional airwaves, hosting the syndicated dating show Excused, which has recently been picked up for a second season. Shlesinger discussed her latest endeavor, how success as a stand-up comic hasn’t necessarily translated to success in auditioning for acting roles and fetishist Google searches in the following interview.

When I Googled your name, the second thing that popped up was “Iliza Shlesinger feet.” I wasn’t sure if you were aware of that.
I don’t know why. It’s very odd. Everyone mentions it to me. I don’t have a foot fetish, I don’t know people who have feet fetishes. People are just creepy.

It’s because of that one video you did, right? For The Weakly News where you showed your feet because you injured one of them.
I guess, but it’s not like billions of people watch it, but I’ve done plenty of videos where my arms are showing, and people forget about that.

That’s just the one that happened to catch on.
Yeah, people are sick.

How did you get hooked up with Excused and how has the experience been so far for you?
I wish I got hooked up with it. I auditioned for it. Do little girls dream of hosting a dating show when they grow up? No. [Loud car horn] Sorry. [To another driver] For real?! Oh my God! I’m sorry, this one person is ruining my life single-handedly. Give me one second. Is it bad that I believe she should be put in jail for being that bad of a driver? My whole thing is like, if you’re driving and this is a simple turn that you can’t complete, what poor decisions are you making in everyday life that are affecting the rest of us. You’re an animal. You shouldn’t be allowed out if you can’t make a left hand turn.

Anyway… It’s a late night dating show, and I got the gig, and I was like, I either do it my way or I don’t do it at all. I make up all my own jokes on the spot. There are no writers, there’s nothing like that. I’m fortunate, because most stand-up comedians get a gig, and they have to read lines…but for me, they really let me say what I wanted to say.

I’ve seen a few clips from the show, and you really don’t pull any punches with the contestants.
There are things that I want to say that they won’t let me say. Then you watch it, and because of standards and practices, they edit out a lot of things. Even though it’s a late night show, in some places it’s syndicated at 4 in the afternoon, and it’s like, really? It’s weird what will fly and what won’t. Last night, I made a gay joke on the show, and they kept that in, but I’m not allowed to say, “douche bag.” It’s like, OK, let’s offend the gay community, but not douche bags.

Were you into dating shows when you were younger?
No. I loved Blind Date when I was in middle school or high school. I don’t remember, but this is the same producer who did Blind Date. Everyone liked Blind Date. I remember, of course, watching Singled Out. I really liked Jenny McCarthy, and I always thought she was great on that show. It’s kind of ironic that I looked up to this blonde woman with big boobs who was funny and crazy, and now I do that for a living. I don’t think I look like Jenny McCarthy at all, but it’s funny how things come full circle.

Has the show affected your views of the dating pool or the dating scene?
No. It’s such a microcosm. You’re going to get creepy guys and gold diggers and douche bags no matter where you go or what you do, so the fact that we condense that world down to 19 minutes and put it on display, I’m not disheartened or anything like that. It’s a TV show, so everything’s exacerbated. I look for very specific things in mates, and I don’t think I’ve found it on my show, so I don’t like to judge them because different people like different things. I’m trying to be as political about this statement as possible [laughs].

Is writing something you’d like to get more into?
For TV shows? No. The people who love writing, all they want to do is be writers, just like teachers or nurses or whatever. I find a lot of times for stand-up comics, you write because it’s a gig that you can get that you’re good at, but if you had your druthers, you’d write for yourself or do your own thing. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve never had to take any sort of job in comedy that I didn’t want because of these small successes that I’ve had. Writing for my own show would be one thing, but I don’t really have an interest, other than for a friend or a really cool project, in sitting in a writers’ room and writing for someone else. It’s hard to do once you’ve done stand-up. It spoils you for a lot of things.

Is it the singular control you have over it?
Kind of. I could imagine any writer would be like that. When you write a joke, you want to have it said a certain way, and depending upon your director or your producer with his two cents, the actor may say it differently. For me, I don’t think I would want to have the challenge of writing for someone else’s voice. I’m always impressed when writers can do that. Being a stand-up comic is a weird thing, because when you’re on stage, everyone loves you and you’re a star. And then the next day, when you go out on an audition for like girlfriend No. 3, you walk in the room and no one knows who you are. Someone will be like, “Oh, have you tried stand-up?” and you’re like, “Yeah, I’ve tried, and I’ve bought a house with that money.” One art form doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be good in another art form or recognized in one, so it’s a real mindfuck for lack of a better term.

Sometimes I’ll see stand-up comics who I really like, and they’re in a commercial for like two seconds, but I know them by name.
Right, right. It’s weird. Even just from an appreciation standpoint, you go to a club, you’re there for the weekend, they pick you up in a car, your fans come. You want to go to these casting directors and say, “I have fans.” People ask me for my autograph, and you want me to show me your profile so I can read this horribly written thing about being a sexually frustrated neighbor. Give me a break. It’s the weirdest thing ever.

Is it tough to find good roles for women in comedy?
I think it’s getting easier and easier. I think people are starting to realize that women are just as funny. It’s not about the fact that you have a vagina. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of unfunny women, but there’s also plenty of unfunny guys. In fact, there are probably more unfunny guys. Pretty much everything I read is, “You’re the quirky neighbor who just wants to have sex and doesn’t understand relationships.” I’m like, I don’t really know a ton of women like that, but OK. A lot of them are written in a very similar voice. One network will get a show that’s a hit so every network will copy it. I think women are gaining more and more. You look around at movies and TV shows, and women are getting more of a chance to give their opinions, and I think that’s great.

Iliza Shlesinger will play Punch Line in Sacramento Nov. 15—17, 2012. You can buy tickets for the show through Punchlinesac.com. To keep up to date on Iliza, you can follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/Iliza, where, amongst other things, you can view daily pictures of her freakishly adorable dog Blanche.

Chuuwee bridges the old and new on his latest mixtape

Words by Andrew Bell

As far as rap goes there are two schools: the old and the new. There is still a dedicated cross section of die-hard boom bappers who will forever hold their Kangols over their hearts and pledge allegiance to the four elements while the new school swags out. In a sea of rappers who are either one or the other, Sacramento’s Chuuwee finds his balance centered directly in the middle of the two. His latest release, Wildstyle, a ‘90s tribute album, is a voyage back to the future as the fresh-faced lyricist takes fans on a brand new trip down memory lane. 

Wildstyle is refreshing when you consider the fact Chuuwee is only 22. This isn’t another old rapper on some “glory days” hype. This is an unrequited love affair with the music and culture of a generation. It’s sort of how Led Zeppelin went back and borrowed from great blues players. The obvious influences of everyone from Wu-Tang, Black Sheep, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, 3X Crazy and Nas come across purely as tribute throughout Wildstyle as Chuuwee manages to pay homage to his influences without doing any cheap impersonations or getting tritely nostalgic. 

Although it is 20 tracks of all original production (and we’re just talking about side A), Wildstyle still had to be considered a mixtape due to label restrictions regarding sample clearance, thus bumping it into the category of mixtapes, making it free for listeners and placing even more pressure on the upcoming release of his first official album, 3rd Coastin. 

In March of 2012 Chuuwee inked a deal with indie label Amalgam Digital who also represents powerhouse group Slaughterhouse and up-and-comer Curren$y who have both been making waves with their latest releases. With his first album, 3rd Coastin, stylistically falling smack dab in the middle of trap and boom bap, we caught up with Chuuwee to talk about the old school, the new school, “taking it back” and the birth of boom trap. 

You just opened for T.I. What was that like? Any good T.I. Stories?
It was incredible. It was me, T.I. and Big Country King for FSU’s Homecoming. It was epic. The only good T.I. story I have is that he stayed in his tour bus the whole time, so when they showed me his dressing room I took the Sun Chips out of it. Everyone confirmed he wasn’t going to eat them so I snatched them bad boys up.

What are the best and worst parts of life on the road?
The best parts of being on the road are that exactly. Being on your way to somewhere you haven’t been before to perform. Being around label mates. Actually having label mates. Just being able to even travel at all solely off the fact you make music is a very good feeling. The worst parts are being cramped in whatever vehicle you’re in for long ass periods of time but the good outweighs the bad.

Folks are saying you’ve made it. Do you feel like you’ve made it?
I feel like I’m definitely in shoes other people can’t tie up, but I don’t think I’ve overall made it.
I still have a lot of work to do and I’m not satisfied with where I’m at. You’ve made it when you don’t have to hustle on the side even though elsewhere people think you’re a baller. I still don’t have a car.

How did rocking shows in Sacramento prepare you for life on the road?
It honestly got me in the “No one gives a fuck who you are, just do your thing and get off stage” mentality. A lot of cats in Sac think because half of their high school friends are “yes” men that they’re killing the game. You have to remember there are cities and towns that have never heard of you before regardless of what you think you did or done.

Do you feel like you get more love or hate out here in your hometown?
I definitely get more hate here… And don’t get me wrong it’s turning around. People show way more support now than they did before whether it’s genuine or not, but the point is that it is turning around. See, here in Sac doing well for yourself makes you a target. If someone feels like they did you a favor then they’re definitely going to ask for something in return whether you even needed their help in the first place. Then when you refuse to buy in or when you’re not loaning your connections to someone it’s an issue. Then they don’t want to support you anymore. As far as the fans, it’s just really hard to grasp a Sacramentan’s attention. It’s always been that way. Sac doesn’t really support much of anything I’ve come to find. 

What’s more fun to write/record/perform, trap or boom bap?
It’s all fun. It’s my craft. I take pride in being able to do both, and all styles of music. It’s not really about what’s more fun to me, it’s more so when people understand and accept both styles in one sitting. That’s what makes it fun because it’s like, “Yo! He can spit some hip-hop shit and he can still make a point on some fun party shit.” I feel like I’ve mastered the art of songwriting.  

What’s the difference between Wildstyle and every other rapper “takin’ it back?”
Wildstyle was the ‘90s era. No question about it. It sounds exactly like 1990 to ‘96, and if it didn’t, please let me know, but the project is my authentic attempt at ‘90s music. A lot of people feel like rapping over a 90’s style beat or saying that you’re reminiscent of the ‘90s makes your music such, but it doesn’t. I spent 5 years studying and trying my hardest to find production that sounded like my favorite classic songs revamped for my day and age. Anyone can call a chicken a duck, but if it doesn’t swim it’s not a duck.

When can we expect the B-side to Wildstyle?
The B-side is dropping around December. It’s partially completed. It’s just that ever-so wonderful feature game I have to play.

Has the release of Wildstyle been everything you thought it would be after five years?
It isn’t what I thought it would be only because I don’t set expectations. I set general goals or achievements to reach and then try to reach them. There is definitely an improvement in the amount of fans, the support, the [number of] downloads and the overall acceptance of my sound and style but I still need more. I’m capable of way more.

Is 3rd Coastin more trap or boom bap?
3rd Coastin is “Boom Trap,” which is actually a style of music I created with the homie Swoots out of Wisconsin. It focuses on teaching you something while using that more popular sound of southern hip-hop and beats that people love today. It’s a message through the bullshit we love to support and endorse.

Wildstyle (side A), released Oct. 9, 2012 is now available for download at Chuuweeoftus.bandcamp.com. Stay tuned for side B, due out in December. See Chuuwee perform live at Undwrld Fest 2 at Sol Collective (2574 21st Street, Sacramento) on Nov. 9 with Abstract Ninjaa, Keno, J.Good, Konkwest and others. The show starts at 8 p.m. and costs $10.

Sneeze Attack is a cool new-ish female fronted garage-y/lo-fi pop-punk band from Sacramento that we’ve been keeping an eye on. Made up of seasoned local musicians Dino the Girl (Little Medusas) on guitar/vocals, Hans White (The Croissants) on bass and drummer Christine Shelley (Knock Knock, The Pizzas), Sneeze Attack’s debut Aurora EP is being released at a killer show at Midtown Village Cafe on Friday, Nov. 9, 2012, that will see them playing with La Sera (Katy Goodman from The Vivian Girls’ fantastic new project) as well as San Francisco’s Dreamdate. Show is all-ages and starts at 8 p.m. For more information or to sample some tunes, visit http://Facebook.com/sneezeattack and start with the catchy, fuzzy goodness of “Big Shadow.”

Faith is a powerful thing. It drives people to do all kinds of things–both positive and negative. For Sacramento Christian hard rockers The Seeking, faith has been a nourishing force in the band members’ lives. The band stands to release its full-length debut, Yours Forever, on Nov. 6, 2012. Before that, they will launch on a mammoth cross-country excursion, touring in support of Woe, Is Me.

The tour begins in Atlanta on Nov. 2, 2012 and circumnavigates the United States before culminating in Greensboro, N.C. The trip will keep The Seeking busy, playing shows almost every day, and it’s so extensive that some of the band members (which include Taylor Green, vocals/screaming; Dylan Housewright, clean vocals/guitar; Grayson Smith, guitar; Shane Tiller, bass; and Ben Wood, drums) had quit their day jobs, taking a leap of faith in their music, so to speak.

It would be a nerve-wracking experience for anyone, diving headlong into a career in music, but considering the members of The Seeking range just 18 to 21 in age, it may even be more so.

“We’re probably going to cry,” Taylor Green joked in the first of two phone conversations about the band spending such an extended time away from family.

Green started the band with Housewright in 2010, the two still in high school. Green wasn’t sure what his role would be in the band they wanted to get together. He considered bass and guitar, but didn’t want to buy the gear. He even thought about drumming, but the physical coordination proved difficult.

“I was going to try to do drums, but the only thing I really needed to try to get down was the feet,” he said. “It’s the hardest freaking thing. I don’t know how Ben does it.”

Green had done more traditional singing in his church’s youth group, however, and settled on becoming Housewright’s vocal counterpoint in The Seeking. Though Green also provides traditional clean vocals, his guttural screams shake up Housewright’s soaringly melodic voice.

“Screaming showed up out of nowhere,” Green said. “I figured I’d just try it. I just went for it.”

It would seem Green made the right decision. The band signed to a label (Razor and Tie) in September, and when Submerge talked to Green, he and the band were in Los Angeles, recording with well-known producer John Feldmann, who’s worked with a litany of well known artists (The Used and Papa Roach this year alone) and is also the frontman for pop-punk stalwarts Goldfinger.

Listening to The Seeking’s Yours Forever reveals a barrage of heavy rock sounds–crushing guitars, pummeling breakdowns and snarling vocals–but the album’s most striking feature is its melodicism. It’s the band’s pop tendencies that The Seeking is working to bring out under Feldmann’s keen, catchy songwriting sensibilities. Green reported that the band was re-recording “Alone,” perhaps the most hook-laden track on Yours Forever, reworking it to make it even more radio-friendly as well as working on a new as-yet untitled song the band co-wrote with the producer that should be released in 2013. In the following interview, Green described what it was like working with Feldmann, offered clues into the band’s first music video and discussed matters of faith.

How has it been working with John Feldmann? What have you done in the studio so far?
Oh, it’s amazing. It’s an awesome experience working with him. The bands he’s recorded are legendary bands, and he’s done some solo artists as well. So far, it’s been awesome. We’ve done a lot of demoing the past couple days, and today we started doing the final product and it turned out really good. We’re laying down some drums, we got the bass track laid down in there. It’s turning out really well.

You mentioned a couple days ago that you were going to be working on “Alone.” Is that the track you’re going with for the radio?
We’re actually working on two songs. We’re releasing “Alone” on the album, the original one, but this one is redone a little bit. It’s going to have some new parts to it. It’s going to be released separately for something for radio–hopefully it will get there. We’ve got another song that we started completely from scratch, and it’s all ready to go. It’s all demoed out. That one sounds amazing as well.

You said you were working on rewriting the chorus for “Alone” with John Feldmann. How was it writing with him?
His writing is pretty cool. His studio is separate from his house–he works on his property–but he’ll go play his piano in his house. Dylan met up with him at the house and they worked something out. It’s definitely hot, and it’s definitely catchy, and it’s definitely awesome. It’s going to fit so well.

Tell me about this new song you guys started from scratch. Was it based on any ideas you and the band had kicking around?
We had some ideas, but we came in and we didn’t really get a chance to show them. He [Feldmann] started off asking us some questions when we first got there and took off and started writing. We came together and figured everything out. It’s all from scratch. We started writing it when we got here. It’s turning out awesome.

What kind of stuff did John ask you guys to get you going?
He just wanted to get to know us a little bit, to see what kind of band we were. We covered the fact that we were a Christian band. He asked us about how we grew up and what type of music we started playing and how were we before we got signed, and how we’re evolving. He went off and started recording stuff. The chorus is definitely the catchiest part, but it’s a really pop-y side to us. We think people are going to dig it.

You guys seem to be exploring the pop-ier side of things. You were saying that you came from a heavier music background. Is it fun for you to do something outside of your comfort zone?
It’s really fun. We’ve been playing a style for so long, and we definitely see ourselves staying in that style for a while, but this is something that’s different from the album. It’s way pop-ier than the album, but it’s fun to go in there and throw down some singing–no screaming at all.

You’re going to be filming your first music video on Sunday. What song are you shooting the video for?
It’s going to be for the title track, “Yours Forever.” I’m not sure where it’s going to be yet, but it’s somewhere in SoCal. It’s going to be fun.

Did you have a hand in the concept of the video?
Yeah, we picked the concept a couple weeks ago. We had about three concepts to choose from, and this one fit the meaning of the lyrics more. The other two didn’t fit the lyrics too well, but this one definitely did.

Can you talk about the concept more?
I don’t think so [laughs]. I’m not too sure what I’m allowed to talk about. The lyrics are about God talking to us… I’ll get into a little bit. I believe it’s about a girl, and something happens where she could lose her life. Right at the last minute, or right after she dies, her life flashes before her eyes, and then the music video kicks in, like everything kicks in, to what she sees in her future. It flashes to her at the end, to her before her dying, and then the video changes from there, and there’s a twist to it. I’m really excited about it. It’s a cool concept.

A lot of your music deals with your faith. Is that the band’s first goal when it comes to making music? Are you concerned with expressing that?
Definitely. We want people to know that we express our faith through our music. We’re not like those preaching bands, like For Today, but when we play, we want to show people that we’re there to love on them, and God is there to love on them. We’re here for a reason, not just to play music, but we’re here to be a shoulder to cry on or a friend to them. We’re trying to show God’s love through the band to them. It’s just an opportunity to show people that they’re not alone in struggle, that if they want to try God out, we definitely encourage that. Just, not make them feel uncomfortable when they come to watch us, that we’re there to simply hang out with them and talk with them about anything. If they want to have faith in the Lord, then we’re there to encourage them. Faith is a huge thing with the band. It’s something we want people to recognize.

Was music one of the things that helped you discover your own faith?
Yeah. I became a Christian when I was young, but nothing really hit me until I started high school, and even then, I wasn’t in any bands or anything. I grew up in a Christian home. My parents didn’t, but when I was born, they became Christian and their faiths grew as well. They didn’t pressure me like a lot of parents would. It was more of a choice for myself. I was always a clean-cut kid. In high school, I thought for a long time I’ve been faking it, but let me see what it is to really put myself [into faith]. It was an awesome experience. I grew to love the Lord. Music is one thing I want to do with the band, because I knew it would get me out of my comfort zone of just staying in my hometown and going to church and being on the worship team. I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and see where God could take me. I trust Him to take me out on the road…and see what He could do with me. It’s an awesome opportunity, and it’s going to change my life.

The Sacramento area will get a few chances to see The Seeking live. First, they play with Jonny Craig for a two-night stint at Luigi’s Fungarden on Oct. 26 and 27, 2012. The band returns on Nov. 19, 2012 with Woe, Is Me at Ace of Spades. The Seeking has also set up a donation page to raise money for gas during their long arduous trek across America. Help keep the fuel tank full by going to http://www.indiegogo.com/theseeking. For more show info, go to http://www.facebook.com/theseeking.