Community Guide 2017
School Multipurpose Room to provide a performance showcase for both talented up-and-coming Valley musi- cians and veterans, including Tim Cain, Kira Thelin, and Howie Cort. One of those outdoor
music and release albums independently. Saxophone and flute master Shawkie Roth has released solo albums as well as recording with several artists, most notably Stephen Halpern. Roth is well known as one of the originators of New Age Music. His inspiration comes from the practice of meditation combined with a relaxed lifestyle and a spiri- tual consciousness. He is a frequent performer at Valley venues. Cooper and Bounds with their “original songs for the whole family” won the John Lennon songwriting con- test in 2007 with “Jack Rabbit” from The Oh Oh Moon . Tim Cain had dropped out of the Sons of Champlin in 1970, unable to reconcile “the beauty of my new agrar- ian life, and simultaneously leading the life of a rock star,” moved to a tree house at the end of Creamery Road, and then a commune in Northern California. In 1985, Cain “came back to the Valley with my terrific new wife Gay Cain and our son Bing, and have been living here ever since, glad to be back, and happy to be with you in one of the most lovely spots on Earth.” Tim began a new career as a children’s music artist with his “sing-along concerts for kids.” As anyone who’s attended any of his Valley perfor- mances can testify, Tim combines spontaneity with humor that entertains parents almost as much as their ecstatic chil- dren. Some of those children have gone on to musical careers. Coot Wyman and Shayne Tolchin, childhood friends in San Geronimo, formed Mystic Roots while attending Chico State in 1996. Now based in Southern California, Mystic Roots continues building its ever-expanding follow- ing due to its live shows, international touring schedule, and the hit single “Summer Festival.” “Wyman and Mystic Roots returned to the Valley in August 2010 to play a rous- ing benefit performance at the Community Center. “I love the Valley with all of my bleeding heart,” says Wyman, “I can’t live there now with my touring but I plan on coming back to retire.” Using the open area between the Center building and school classrooms for the stage, numerous performers, along with Mys-
benefit performers was New Monsoon, whose incendiary live shows established their inter- national reputation. Aside from their two officially released live
New Monsoon
albums, one can download their performances on Nugs. net. The band came together during the El Niño winter of 1997-98, when “Every day was a New Monsoon” accord- ing to co-founder Bo Carter. “That’d make a great band name,” replied guitarist Jeff Miller. Miller moved to the Valley in 2003, followed in 2005 by keyboardist Phil Fer- lino. “While New Monsoon has been part of the jam band scene,” says Ferlino, their music synthesizes genres, “every- thing from bluegrass to reggae, and funk, with stylistic comparisons to world music, blues, bluegrass, and rock and roll.” In 2014, New Monsoon released Diamonds and Clay , which writer Dennis Cook said “affirms New Monsoon as torchbearers for rock & roll with something substantive to say about the human condition.” Recently, Ferlino and Miller joined the Kate Gaffney Band, which also features former New Monsoon drummer Marty Ylitalo, Valley bass- ist David Russ, and singer-songwriter Gaffney, for whom music “is all about the songs and the players.” Saying something “about the human condition” inspired Miller and Ferlino’s other project, the Contribu- tion, a “jamband supergroup.” They released Which Way World in 2011 and followed it in 2017 with Wilderness and Space . Ferlino says, “One single will be released each month starting in February, each for a different charity as our ‘Contribution.’ The entire collection of songs will then be released as a full length (ten song) album near the end of 2017.” Singer-guitarist Jeremy D’antonio recalls how he came to the Valley. “My girlfriend and I went camping at Samuel P. Taylor Park. There was one of those crazy, torrential rain- storms and we fell in love with it. So we found a place to live in Woodacre. It’s magical to me.” While playing a fes- tival with his band Tiny Television, he met singer-guitarist Darren Nelson. “We started talking and Darren said, ‘I live back in the redwoods.’ I said, ‘Oh, yeah, me, too.’” “As we kept talking, I finally said, ‘I think we’re neigh- bors,’ recalls Nelson. “It turns out we live within 150 yards of each other.” They became good friends and also discov- ered a special musical chemistry. Tiny Television’s sound evolved into a new band they patriotically and poetically dubbed San Geronimo. Described by the San Francisco
tic Roots, have performed benefits for the Community Center. From the Summer of Love Festival hosted by Wavy Gravy, jamband masters Zero and Tea Leaf Green, and many others have given their talent and created memorable moments to the Center’s music-friendly set- ting and audience. In recent years, Valley keyboardist Michael McQuilkin has been hosting his “Family Music Hour,” using the Lagunitas
Michael McQuilkin
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SGVCC
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