Toubab Krewe launched in 2005 with a unique synthesis of African and Western musical textures. Drawing on tradition infused with a contemporary approach, the group debuted on record that same year with a self-titled album. Right out of the gate, Toubab Krewe connected with both lovers of so-called “world” music – the sort of listeners who thrilled to the music of Ali Farka Touré – as well as with aficionados of the jam band scene. Twenty -plus years later, they’re still expanding on that foundation. Toubab Krewe comes to Moe’s Alley on March 20.
Two more albums followed: 2008’s Live at the Orange Peel captured the group onstage in a hometown show in Asheville, N.C., and TK2 in 2010 found the band broadening its already wide-encompassing musical vision to incorporate surf and indie rock styles without losing the qualities that made the group special.
After nearly a decade of relentless touring, the band took a hiatus. The individual members remained as busy as ever; each would continue to be involved in multiple projects outside the framework of Toubab Krewe. But the break was never intended to be permanent, and by 2017 Toubab Krewe was back together for recording and live performances.
And even with Toubab Krewe’s busy schedule, each of the musicians finds time for myriad other musical pursuits. At the time of this interview, percussionist Luke Quaranta was at JFK for a layover on his way to play dates in London, Madrid and Paris with Weedie Braimah and The Hands of Time. “Drew [Heller, guitarist and keyboardist] plays with Floating Action,” he says. “Our drummer, Terrence Houston has also been playing with George Porter Jr. for a decade and a half.” Bassist Justin Kimmel is a veteran of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings; he’s also a member of Brooklyn-based Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas. Multi-instrumentalist Justin Perkins plays with other groups as well.
But none of those outside activities prevent Toubab Krewe from focusing on their core musical mission of bridging African musical styles with rock. Even if one of the members can’t make a gig, the group’s unique character endures. “This lineup has been together since January 2014,” Quaranta says. “Once in a while we do shows as a quartet. And we’ve gotten comfortable as a four-piece; the continuity remains intact.” That will be the case for some of the West Coast dates (including Santa Cruz), as Houston will be on the road with Porter’s band.
In between their other commitments, the five musicians of Toubab Krewe are gearing up to begin work on a new studio album, their first since 2018’s Stylo. “We’ve got a hard drive full of 30-plus ideas, seeds of songs,” Quaranta says. “The next step is to get the five of us together for a couple day of arranging, and then a studio session.” In his view, Toubab Krewe has even more source material to work with than they had for Stylo or TK2.
But first, there’s the band’s spring and summer touring schedule. Toubab Krewe launched its 20th anniversary tour in mid 2025, and it continues through a good portion of this year. A run of dates across the U.S. will keep the band busy into April; those are followed by a succession of festival engagements leading into early fall, including some additional bookings not yet announced at press time.
Keen listeners may spot some new, as-yet-unrecorded material in Toubab Krewe’s sets this year, but the group is also fond of reaching back into its catalog. “We’re looking to go a little deeper,” Quaranta says, “bringing in other stuff that hasn’t been in the touring repertoire.” And when they revisit those tunes, they’ll bring a fresh approach. “Maybe those tunes that we haven’t been playing in awhile will be re-arranged,” he says. “That’s fun, too.”
As a seasoned group of adventurous musicians, Toubab Krewe is always up for a challenge. Quaranta recalls a recent two-night engagement at the Green Parrot in Key West. Each night featured three 90-minute sets. “So we played nine hours of music inside of 30 hours,” he recalls with a laugh. And the band played each night’s set without repeating any songs.
Not only were those gigs a success, they helped prepare Toubab Krewe for this tour. “Before that gig,” Quaranta says, “there were some songs we hadn’t played in a long time, where we felt, ‘Oh, these aren’t ready for the stage.’” Now they are. “We felt super-tight coming out of there. But even more importantly, we stretched out on the tunes.” He says that in some songs, “little things happened” that he predicts may find their way into the band’s future.
Quaranta says that the Santa Cruz date will be special among the West coast engagements. “Santa Cruz is always such a great time, and this time Lespecial is joining us.” The prog-tronic power trio from Connecticut makes music that’s dark and heavy, a contrast that actually pairs well with Toubab Krewe’s style. “They’re technically supporting us,” Quaranta says, “but it’s more like a double bill.”
Toubab Krewe with Lespecial Moe’s Alley Friday, March 20, 9pm Tickets $25
Guitarist Dave Alvin, who brings his newest band, The Third Mind, to Moe’s Alley this week, says he doesn’t know what’s going to happen 83% of the time on stage with his ‘‘psychedelic-folk-jam-band.”
Yes, this is the same singer/songwriter who played with the LA roots-rock band, The Blasters, as well as the alternative band, X and the country-rock band, The Knitters. He’s written hits including “Marie Marie” (recorded by Shakin’ Stevens and Buckwheat Zydeco) and “Long White Cadillac”(recorded by Dwight Yoacham) and released albums and toured with The Guilty Women and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, with whom he still tours.
But his new efforts, inspired partly by jazz great Miles Davis, are a welcome relief for psychedelic music fans.
“You can’t go on autopilot, you know,” he says from his Southern California home. ‘In The Third Mind you have five people up there and you don’t know where they are going to take you. That keeps the band from going, ‘Oh, God, I don’t want to play this song again.”
The band is a throwback to the 1960s good old days of jamming and improvisation that stretches songs while stretching minds. If you miss the days of the early Grateful Dead–which, based on the number of Dead cover bands playing around town, many do–The Third Mind is a beautiful blast from the past soaring into a wild future.
Its last two appearances at Moe’s were this reviewer’s favorite shows of the year, like finding a lost treasure I never thought I’d see again. The songs, many covers from the 1960s, such as “Morning Dew”, were long, swirling trips played by rock musicians who improvise like jazz masters, uptempo, fun and freaky. Absolutely mind-blowing.
Alvin says he and bassist Victor Krummenacher talked for years about making an album outside of their comfort zone using the free-form techniques pioneered by Miles Davis on albums like ‘Bitches Brew” and ‘Jack Johnson” with no rehearsals and no written out parts,”just agree on the key, turn on the tape machine and see what happens.”
Compared to so many contemporary rock bands that program their shows around lights and staging, their live sets take you on an adventure, reminding audiences what it’s like not to know what’s coming next and hang on for the thrilling ride.
The band, which formed in 2020, includes bassist Krummenacher from Camper Van Beethoven, Monks of Doom, and Eyelids; singer Jesse Sykes from her Seattle-based group, Jesse Sykes and The Sweeter Hereafter; drummer Michael Jerome who has played with Richard Thompson, Better Than Ezra and John Cale; and touring guitarist Mark Karan, who has toured with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh and is beloved by Deadheads.
Guitarist David Immerglück from Counting Crows, Monks of Doom, Camper Van Beethoven and John Hiatt plays on the band’s studio recordings.
“Victor and I started discussing this idea around the year 2000,” says Alvin. “But it really kind of boils down to finding people who were into the idea of no rehearsal and going in without any
idea of what you’re going to play. A lot of guys aren’t into that. And so you’d ask people, and they would say, ‘No, that’s okay, man’. You know, or ‘Good luck,’ you know?’’
But he rounded up a crew of musicians ready to take chances on the tightrope.
“Then as far as the vocalist, I had known Jesse since the late 90s. I was a big fan of her approach to singing because it was so unique. Each word gets highlighted. Like each word’s under a microscope when she sings. If we would have had a more, let’s say, traditional kind of vocalist, it would have been a more traditional kind of band.”
And, he says, unlike so many singers, she doesn’t mind stepping back during long guitar solos.
Where’d the name come from?
“Well, it’s based on the William Burroughs thing of, when you have two separate minds, you have two different people with two separate minds and two different sets of experiences and they come together, and they create something that creates the third mind.”
Alvin says he was more of a fan of Quicksilver growing up,over the Dead. But he loved Dead jams like ‘Dark Star”.
“Jerry Garcia made mistakes happily,” he says. “You know, same thing with Neil Young, or early Mike Bloomfield. Mistakes to me are just the breeding ground of ideas. And they’re not things to be avoided.”
His strangest gig was opening for Queen in arenas during their heyday, when the Blasters didn’t really know Queen’s music. He got to see Jimi Hendrix when he was 13, which set a bar for wanting surprises during concerts.
“It’s something that’s been stamped out of pop and rock and roll music, the element of surprise and the element of discovery. You know, and it’s just like everything’s just a gig. It’s just the job. Punch your time clock stand in this spot. Play your eight-bar solo and if it’s honed right, it can work. It can be effective, but it bores me, you know. I don’t like acts where I know what’s going to happen.”
And that’s what makes The Third Mind a must-see.
The Third Mind performs at Moe’s Alley on Thursday March, 19. Doors: 7pm / Show: 8pm Tickets are $42.10 at moesalley.com and at the door Ages 21+ 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz 831.479.1854
On Sunday, March 22, the historic Coconut Grove Ballroom at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will fill with music, memory and gratitude as the Santa Cruz community gathers to celebrate the life and legacy of beloved vocalist Tammi Brown. The event, “Honoring Tammi Brown,”will benefit the American Cancer Society, and will bring together world-class musicians, longtime collaborators and friends for an afternoon of songs and stories dedicated to one of the most powerful and generous voices ever to grace Santa Cruz stages.
Doors open at 12:45 p.m., with the program running from 2 – 5 p.m. The afternoon will feature performances from musicians who shared stages with Brown over the years, along with video tributes and personal recollections that capture the depth of her impact on the local music community and far beyond.
I worked with Tammi dozens of times and no matter what kind of show it was, comedy, political, spiritual, or whoever was on it, you’d wait for her to sing. You’d know something special was happening before she took the microphone. Maybe the smile that invited you to smile. Maybe the eyes dancing with joy. Then she’d throw her head back and bring the house down. Every time. She was given a big, beautiful voice-box that enthralled us with its resonance, and when she would use those vocal chords to laugh, her open spirit would fill every corner of the room, the most joyful sound I’ve ever heard.
Yes, she was gifted with a powerful instrument, but her ascension to a higher level came from her immersion in the musical traditions of the Black church, where gospel music is a communal act of spirit. I once asked her where her deep musical training came from and she said, “Oh, it all comes from the church. I got a gig playing organ for my church when I was five years old.”
Over the decades, that spiritual intensity fused with jazz sophistication to create a voice unlike any other. Tammi Brown moved from church-shaking gospel to smoky jazz phrasing without losing the slightest emotional power. She sang with the warmth of gospel devotion and the improvisational boldness of jazz.
Her career took her far beyond Santa Cruz. Brown collaborated with legendary artists including Quincy Jones, Bobby McFerrin and Joan Baez. She performed at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, at the Monterey Jazz Festival and on stages throughout Europe and the United States. Her recording career included work with jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan, who will be performing at the celebration, and blues artist Eric Bibb, as well as original projects co-produced with Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra. Her vocals also appeared on the award-winning Lost American Jazz Book, which received Best Jazz with Vocals Album at the 18th Independent Music Awards.
For all those achievements, Brown remained deeply rooted in the Santa Cruz community. She founded the Santa Cruz Gospel Choir, mentored young singers and taught voice locally, helping nurture a generation of musicians.
In 2024, the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission honored Brown as Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year, not only for her artistic achievements but the generosity that defined her career.
The show’s musical direction will be handled by master bassist Dan Robbins, known for his expressive style and wide musical range. Robbins worked closely with Brown and says her power as a performer came from something deeper than technical skill. “I think people were moved by the clarity and tenderness and conviction in her delivery,” Robbins says. “Everyone knew that what came out of her mouth felt like absolute cosmic truth. Her instrument was beautiful, her actual voice, but it was also the energy that came through it.”
He recalls how Brown could silence even the most chaotic room. “You could be playing in a noisy bar where nobody is paying attention.” Dan pauses here; I could tell he was choking up. He takes a moment and speaks. “Then Tammi starts singing and suddenly the whole place gets quiet. She could captivate a room. And she never did it from a place of ‘Look at me,’” Robbins says. “It was always humble, and always powerful.”
Even when learning a song moments before performing it, Brown delivered standing-ovation performances. That extraordinary presence left a lasting imprint on the Santa Cruz music scene. Brown could sit in with virtually any band, jazz, gospel, blues, folk, and elevate the entire room with what Dan Robbins calls her “quiet power.” Her authenticity, he says, is what people remember most. “She’d say, ‘Oh dear, I don’t know what I’m doing,’” Robbins laughs. “Meanwhile she’s playing in keys like D-flat with five flats. She was a complete, and natural musician.”
Celebration producer Jay Saber, who has organized many benefit concerts, says Brown never hesitated when he asked to perform for a cause. “Every single show that I asked her to play, knowing that it was a benefit for something, she always said ‘Yes.’ It was never about the money for Tammi. It was about how she could help bring people in to support the nonprofit.”
Sunday’s event will reflect that spirit. All proceeds over production costs will go to the American Cancer Society. Saber promises an afternoon that blends music, storytelling and visual tributes. “We’re going to create a reverent and graceful afternoon,” he says. “We’ll have some wonderful videos and performances by amazing musicians who played with her over the years.” Among those expected to perform are internationally known jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan, keyboardist Melvin Seals, known for his work with the Jerry Garcia Band, as well as local favorites including Dylan Rose, Matt Hartle and others from the Santa Cruz music scene.
Brown’s musical instincts border on the supernatural. Saber remembers calling her for benefit shows, sometimes asking her to sing songs she barely knew. “She’d say, ‘It doesn’t matter what you want me to sing, I’ll be there,’” he recalls. “Sometimes she’d walk in, ask what the song was, pull it up on her iPad, and then knock it out of the park.”
On March 22, that natural brilliance will echo through the voices and instruments of the musicians she inspired. For this event, attendees will receive a commemorative color poster, and food and drinks will be available throughout the afternoon. Parking is available across the street with validation for a discount.
For those who never had the chance to hear Tammi Brown sing, the March 22 tribute may be the closest thing to experiencing it: a room full of musicians and friends carrying forward the spirit of a singer who lifted us all with Amazing Grace. On Sunday afternoon we will do what Tammi Brown spent decades doing for us. We will gather. We will sing.
Musicians Gather at the Coconut Grove to Honor the Life and Music of Tammi Brown Benefit for the American Cancer Society – March 22 at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Tickets at eventbrite.com
If you could dream into being your ideal world, what would it look like? Who would live there—and who would not? How would they work things out when they went awry?
In A Circle Outside, a novel just published by Eye Books, Linda Rosewood brings to life one such dream, one with deep roots in Santa Cruz County. Rosewood evokes an effort to create a lesbian feminist utopia in the redwoods. Set in the 1980s, Rosewood’s world will be ruefully familiar to anyone who remembers those dreams, those days, but her writing is so immersive that a reader does not need to be anchored in memory.
Rosewood’s book is in the tradition of feminist utopias that go back to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s 1915 book, Herland—books that, as Rosewood explains, allow readers to imagine “a different way of living, where the sexes are equal, where the planet is revered, and where women don’t need to be afraid to walk out the front door.” But in A Circle Outside, she wanted to explore not just what that world could be but how women could resolve the conflicts that arise within the community, the conflicts women bring with them.
She explains that “where the conflict in another utopia might be the men arriving in a big battle or something, I put a conflict resolution ritual.” The characters in conflict “are able to talk to each other about what happened and why, what they’ve learned, and eventually get to a moment of grace.”
Speaking from Ireland, where she now lives, Rosewood explains that she did not reread feminist utopias while she was writing. Nor, despite her 30 years in Santa Cruz, did she intend the book to be memoir or celebratory nostalgia?
“I intentionally wanted to leave all that in my deep memory,” she explains. Instead, she says, “I wanted to show women right now: Here’s some stuff you can try tomorrow. This is how they have meetings. This is how they do magic. This is a conflict resolution ritual. Here’s how we live.”
Inspired by Starhawk as well as Z Budapest—who now lives in Santa Cruz—Rosewood’s characters call themselves witches. “I like that word,” she says, “because it is a little transgressive. And it has a lot of meanings—my favorite meaning is ‘to bend.’” As witches, they invent detailed, compelling rituals and practices not just to resolve conflict but to create a life pervaded with meaning.
Through ritual, they come to understand that “the thing you hate about yourself is actually the source of your strength.” In the book, Rosewood says, and in many spiritual traditions, “this is called ‘the shadow.’” Wren, one of the main characters whose point of view shapes the book, has an overbearing mother who undermines her art and predicts the kind of women Wren is attracted to. Ritual allows her to free herself from her real and internalized mother and become present with her work and her people in a new way.
These references to ritual make the book sound solemn, but it is often quite funny. “Feminism has a reputation for being dour,” Rosewood says, and she wanted to undermine that perception. With the fractured wisdom of the present, it would have been tempting to parody the ’80s, but Rosewood’s satirical moments are loving rather than dismissive. She says she stripped the sarcasm from an early draft of the book and at the same time tried “to leave a little bit on every page that was delightful.”
Among the delightful moments are the descriptions—not only of the rituals but of the redwoods, of women learning to build structures, Wren’s art, the erotic birthday massages, really their whole invented lives. Rosewood’s training as a science writer shines through at these moments, in the precision and significance of the detail.
It is impossible to engage with these lives without wondering who they will become, what they will carry into their future. Fortunately, Rosewood is working on a second and third book: “The next book is about the responsibilities of mothers, both mothers who give birth and who don’t give birth. And then the last one will be about the legacy of crones, focusing on what they want to leave behind.”
Linda Rosewood will read from A Circle Outside at “Wonder and Awe in the Redwoods,” 2–4pm March 22 at 239 High St., Santa Cruz. Rosewood will also appear 3–4:30pm March 28 at Felton Public Library, 6121 Gushee St., Felton.
In 1960, Aries primatologist Jane Goodall arrived in Tanzania to study the social and family lives of chimpanzees. Her intention was to engage in patient, long‑term observation. In subsequent months, she saw the creatures using tools, a skill that scientists had previously believed only humans could do. She also found that “it isn’t only human beings who have personality, who are capable of rational thought and emotions like joy and sorrow.” Her discoveries revolutionized our understanding of animal intelligence. I recommend her approach to you in the coming weeks, Aries. Your diligent, tenacious attention can supplant outmoded assumptions. Let the details and rhythms of what you’re studying reveal their deeper truths. Your affectionate watchfulness will change the story.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
Ancient Romans had a household deity called Cardea, goddess of hinges and thresholds. She protected the pivot points, like the places where the inside meets the outside and where one state transforms into another. In the coming weeks, you Tauruses will benefit from befriending a similar deity. I hope you will pay eager attention to the metaphorical hinges in your world: the thresholds, portals, transitions and in-between times. They may sometimes feel awkward because they lack the certainty you crave. But I guarantee that they are where the best magic congregates.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
You are fluent in the art of fruitful contradiction. While others pursue one-dimensional consistency, you thrive on the fact that the truth is too wild and multifaceted to be captured in a single, simple story. You make spirited use of paradox and enjoy being enchanted by riddles. You can be both serious and playful, committed and curious, strong and receptive. In the coming weeks, Gemini, I hope you will express these superpowers to the max. The world doesn’t need another person who separates everything into neat little categories. Your nimble intelligence and charming multiplicity are the gifts your allies need most.
CANCER June 21-July 22
In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi celebrates imperfection, impermanence and the soulfulness that comes with age. A weathered wooden gate may be considered more beautiful than a new one. Its surface has a silvery grain from years of exposure to rain and sun. Its hinges creak from long use by countless passersby. Let’s invoke this lovely concept as we ruminate on your life, Cancerian. In my astrological estimation, it’s important that in the coming months you don’t treat your incompleteness as a deficit requiring correction. Consider the possibility that your supposed blemishes may be among your most interesting features. The idiosyncratic aspects of your character are precisely what make you a source of vitality.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
In medieval Japan, swordsmiths would undertake spiritual purifications before beginning work on a new blade: abstinence, ritual bathing, prayer and fasting. They believed that the quality of their consciousness influenced the quality of their creation—that the blade would absorb the maker’s mental and spiritual state. I bring this to your attention because you’re in a phase when your inner condition will have extra potent effects on everything you build, develop or initiate. My advice: Prepare yourself with impeccable care before launching new projects. Purify your motivations. Clarify your vision. The creations you will be generating could serve you well for a long time.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Master chess players don’t necessarily calculate more moves ahead than amateurs. Their years of study enable them to perceive the developing trends in a single glance, bypassing complex analysis. What appears to be stellar intuition is actually compressed expertise. You’re in a phase when you can make abundant use of this capacity, Virgo. Again and again, your accumulated experience will crystallize into immediate knowing. So don’t second-guess your first assessments, OK? Trust the pattern recognition that you have cultivated through the years.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
The cosmic powers have granted you a triple-strength, extra-long, time-release dose of sweet, fresh certainty. During the grace period that’s beginning, you will be less tempted to indulge in doubt and indecision. A fountain of resolve will rise up in you whenever you need it. Though at first the lucid serenity you feel may seem odd, you could grow accustomed to it—so much so that you could permanently lose up to 20% of your chronic tendency to vacillate.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Crows can hold grudges against individual humans for years. But they also remember acts of kindness and bring gifts like shiny objects and buttons to those who’ve helped them. They’re capable of both revenge and gratitude, and they never forget either. I suspect you’re entering a period when you’ll need to decide which of your crow-like qualities to emphasize, Scorpio. You have legitimate grievances worth remembering. You have also received gifts worth honoring. My counsel: Spend 20% of your emotional energy on remembering wrongs (enough to protect yourself) and 80% on remembering what has helped you thrive. Make gratitude your primary teacher, even as you stay wisely wary.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
More than any other zodiac sign, you Sagittarians can be both a discontented rebel and a sunny celebrant of life. You can see clearly what’s out of alignment and needs adjustment without surrendering your wry, amused tolerance. This double capacity will be especially useful to you in the coming days. You may not find many allies who share this aptitude, though, so you should lean on your own instincts and heed the following suggestions: Be joyfully defiant. Be a generous agitator and an open-hearted critic. Blessings will find their way to you as you subvert the stale status quo with creativity and kindness.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
Your persistence and endurance are among your greatest gifts to the world. You’re committed to building useful structures that outlast transitory moods and trends. On behalf of all the other signs, I say THANK YOU!, dear Capricorn. You understand that real power comes from showing up consistently and doing unglamorous work, refraining from the temptation to score quick and superficial victories. May you always recognize that your pragmatism is a form of loving faith. Your cautionary care is rooted in generosity. Now here’s my plea: More than ever before, the rest of us need you to express these talents with full vigor.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
One of your power symbols right now is the place where two tributaries blend into a single river. A second is where your favorite tree enters the earth. Here are other images to excite your imagination and stimulate your creativity: the boundary between cloud and sky, the darkness where your friend’s shadow overlaps yours, and the time between when the sun sets and night falls. To sum up, Aquarius, I hope you will access extra inspiration in liminal areas. Seek the vibrant revelations that arise where one mystery coalesces with another.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Poet Mark Doty wrote, “The sea doesn’t reward those who are too anxious, too greedy or too impatient. We should lie as empty, open and choiceless as a beach—waiting for gifts from the sea.” This quote captures your Piscean genius when it’s working at its best. Others may exhaust themselves trying to force results, but you know that the best gifts often come to those who are patient, open and relaxed. This is true right now more than ever before. I hope you will practice intense receptivity. Protect your permeability like the superpower it is. Be as supple and responsive as you dare.
Nestled up amongst the regal clusters of old-growth Coast Redwoods, and infused by the sweet fragrance of the Douglas Fir of the Santa Cruz Mountains, there have always been pods of musicians, and aggregates of musical excellence. Young and not-so-young instrumentalists trying to find the universal tone and the perfect song. In recent years, the soaring thrust of the Cosmic Mountain Music of Wolf Jett (who have a new album coming out on April 2) has led the way. In close pursuit, hot on their heels and finally reaching bigger audiences, are The Coffis Brothers.
Led by Ben Lomond’s Kellen and Jamie Coffis, The Coffis Brothers are poised to level up and break through the vast ranks of bands. Their annual party at Moe’s Alley, Coffis Space 4, takes place on March 21st.
The Coffis Brothers have honed a high-flying, tempered confidence and musical assuredness over the years, sharpening their edge. That dynamic plays out onstage when, in the midst of a scorching jam, everything gels into pure upbeat rock and roll with each of the five members contributing their particular skillset and the telepathic communication that comes with familiarity. The Coffis Brothers have primed the pump for 16 years with over one thousand performances and are ready for takeoff.
Mountain Time
In the 1990s, up in Ben Lomond, Kellen and Jamie’s mom, Vicki, raised her boys to love music. A musician herself, with a background in early childhood education, she imbued her children with fun core memories of communal musical creativity and the upside of live performance.
Note: While The Coffis Brothers tour together, these interviews were conducted at different times along their tour.
Kellen Coffis — vocals, guitar
”When I showed interest in playing guitar, she (Vicki) got me connected with Steve Palazzo (whose bluegrass band Homefire played for 25 years in Santa Cruz). He’s still teaching out of his home on the Westside. She had us doing it early, so it didn’t feel like a weird thing, you know? Our mom used to perform under the name Vicki Neville. Which also happens to be Jamie’s and my middle name,” says Kellen, who was having a rare zero day away from touring and recording, and providing a deep cut Coffis Brother’s factoid.
Both Jamie and Kellen came up through the San Lorenzo Valley public school system: elementary through high school.
Jamie Coffis — vocals, keyboards.
“We always got along pretty much well,” says Jamie during a break on their winter tour. “There were brother moments, I’m sure. And you should probably ask him because I’m the older one. So from my perspective, it was peachy. We’re three years apart, but we were into the same things. We played sports and we liked the same cartoons. We were simpatico. Not a ton of dust-ups.
“Kellen was a little more involved in music. We took lessons. It was required that we were doing some kind of music thing. I was taking piano lessons and I wasn’t a great student. I took to it, but I never got super disciplined. Kellen, on the other hand, was more obsessed with it. He expanded his abilities faster than I did. He was in talent shows. And I know that he did put a little group together. They recorded something to send to the radio. But we were not in a high school band together. The Coffis Brothers did not form until I moved back home from college in my 20s,” Jamie explains.
Kellen Coffis
“In high school, that’s where Kyle (Poppen) and I started playing music. We were friends in elementary school. But in high school, we would get together on the weekends. And we had a few other guys who were musicians, and we would just play music. It grew to the point where we needed a bass player and a drum set. So it was that kind of thing. We would get together regularly throughout the high school years and jam. Funny thing is how Jamie and I took a break. We didn’t play music together until years later. Our musical journey started when we would sing with our mom. We’d sing together, but then his piano kind of took him in a different direction. And my guitar took me in my direction. It took a while for us to reconnect musically,” Kellen remembers.
Kyle Poppen — lead guitar
For those keeping score, the band has two brothers out of five members. But Kyle Poppen is a close third.
“Kellen and I actually went to preschool together, believe it or not. When I played underage soccer, their dad was my coach, and Jamie was the assistant coach. I was on the team with Kellen and played soccer with Kellen all the way through high school. We used to play music together in high school. We never had a band or anything. But yeah, I’ve been hanging out with Kellen for practically 28 years or something,” says Kyle, having just driven into Salt Lake City for another gig.
Kellen Coffis
“Our high school group never felt like a band to me. We listened to KFOX in high school. A classic rock radio station. They did a cover band contest and we entered that one time. So you had to come up with a name. For that, we called ourselves Highway 9, which is not a good name,” Kellen laughs.
Cory Graves — drums
Drummer Cory Graves, grew up in Albany, California. Always musically inclined, Graves was the kind of musician who always felt driven by the beat. His parents had met in Santa Cruz in the 1970’s and when college choices came around he was drawn to UCSC.
“Probably starting in middle school through high school, I joined the jazz band. Post-graduation too. I still do some freelance jazz stuff, but definitely not as much as I used to. Drums have always been my main instrument. I play some piano and guitar. And I have written songs, but never really done anything like professionally except for drums,” Cory relates.
“The band right before this band, was like a jump blues outfit out of the Bay Area called the Alpha Rhythm Kings. It was a midpoint between swing and rock and roll. There’s a lot of heavy backbeat, but with jazz chords and jazz instrumentation. I was in that for a couple of years in San Francisco. But it’s the kind of band where everyone drives to the gig themselves, and everyone splits the money equally. It’s not like a long-term project for the rest of the musicians. It’s like one guy’s project that he just hires people for,” Grave recollects, pit stopping at Blackwell’s Corner.
“We’re going to Mammoth, but they’ve had, nine feet of snow and all the roads in Tahoe are closed. So we’re doing the south route through Bakersfield,” Graves adds.
Kellen Coffis
“We had plans to make a record with Tim Bluhm back in 2018. And just kind of coincidentally, right around that time, we had signed with Blue Rose Music. So we made two records with Blue Rose. So I’ve done three with Tim and we just spent a week at his house working on another one with him, which should be our seventh record. And this new project’s fun because we were just at his house for five days, doing it all there. Usually we’ve gone to a bigger studio and that has some benefits too. We just knew we wanted to be in a smaller room, and a smaller space. His house he’s turned it into a great studio and we could all be there together. And, it was a really good week,” says Kellen, who also does a public river trip with Bluhm in Idaho each year (August 15–20, 2026).
Tim Bluhm — producer
Known primarily as the lead singer in the beloved Bay Area band, The Mother Hips, Bluhm is also a producer who has helped bands like Jackie Greene, Hot Buttered Rum, Dave Brogan, and Little Wings. Bluhm is currently finishing up his latest collaboration with The Coffis Brothers, which was recorded in his home.
“I use my ears and I listen, and I watch and I get to know the band, and sort of make a determination of what they’re doing. I judge if it could be better and how it could be better. I also think how I can possibly empower them to be better. And it’s tricky to do.
All of us musicians, any artist, even at 24 years old, has already put a bunch of time into refining their craft and finding their voice as a singer and as a songwriter and as a guitar player. And so it requires some discretion and delicacy to try to get the best out of somebody without irritating them, or pissing them off too much. I mean, I’m bound to do it. Making records has a lot of things about it that are irritating. And the key is to work through those things. And hopefully, as a producer, I can get a little more out of somebody without them really realizing it or without them turning on me, thinking I’m a control freak. It’s so subjective. You have to be careful,” says Bluhm.
Aidan Collins — bass
Growing up in Sonoma County, in the Santa Rosa to Sebastopol area, where the morning fog rolls in low and evaporates by noon, Aidan seemed destined to find The Coffis Brothers.
“I went to a rehearsal at their house in Ben Lomond and I met their parents for the first time and that kind of sealed the deal for me, because their parents were so sweet and kind and they reminded me a lot of my parents. As well as other people’s parents that I grew up with. There’s a lot of crossover between the Santa Cruz Boomer generation and the Sonoma County one,” says Collins, just about to unload for another show.
When one steps back and takes a look at The Coffis Brothers, it becomes apparent that some members have a better idea of fashion. Collins stands out with his iconic laid-back look, looking like he stepped out of a photo shoot from the 1960s.
“It’s changed over the years, but I like clothes. I know what I like and I like dressing a certain way. I think it’s a really important part of when you walk on stage. At least for me, it’s a part of the deal to put on something that makes you feel confident and comfortable and makes you feel like you belong on that stage. So I try to think about that. Honestly, Kyle and I feed off of each other because he’ll get a jacket or a shirt, and I’ll think like, that’s a cool shirt. If I ever see one of those in the wild, I’m going to pick one up too,” Collins admits.
The Mountain Men
ON THE BENCH Equal parts band and family, The Coffis Brothers, are bringing their mountain music to playing bigger stages. PHOTO :Bethany Johanna
Mountain ranges have always been considered holy. From the Himalayas to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Colombia, to the Sierra Nevada mountains of the great Northwest of California, mountains are known as the heart of the world. The axis mundi. What the world revolves around.
The Coffis Brothers world, all five members, in increasing and varying degrees, have revolved around similar ethos and tastes in music. Their trove of songs are cut from the same bolt of fabric as the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
With six albums under their collective belt, a new one in the wings, and reaching bigger stages by touring with (UCSC’s) troubadour John Craigie, The Coffis Brothers are scaling the heights one step at a time and are ready for their next opportunity.
Coffis Space 4 happens on Saturday, March 21st at 8:00pm at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. Tickets are $30 and available at moesalley.com More info at coffisbrothers.com
Any Santa Cruz musician will tell you, there’s no higher mountain to climb than the one that leads to success, preferably out of town and across the world.
And in many ways, that kind of success is harder here, where there is so much competition. We’ve got so many players, so many songwriters, so many cover bands. On any night of the week, you can hear something great, or more than one thing.
On one hand, that’s a plus: there are places to play, compared to, say, San Jose, where people prefer DJ music. ( I speak from experience. When I lived over the hill, I spent all my free time commuting here or to San Francisco to hear live performances.)
But Santa Cruz is a musical heaven, almost on a level with Austin, TX, for original musicians. (Austin is so amazing that when you fly in, there are great bands welcoming you with sets at the airport.)
So reading our cover story about the mountain-bred Coffis Brothers and their slow rise up the ranks, is a pleasure. They are touring; they are making a national name for themselves And now they are playing a mini-festival of two nights at Moe’s Alley, which has become a tradition.
It’s taken a lot of discipline and a lot of shows (some 1,000, according to the article by writer DNA).
He says they: “have honed a high-flying, tempered confidence and musical assuredness over the years, sharpening their edge.”
What listeners hear are delightful harmonies, assured playing and songs that stick in your head. What more can you want?
You’ll thank us if you check out their two Moe’s gigs.
Speaking of Moe’s…one of my favorite new bands is playing there also this week, The Third Mind. They blew my mind the first time I saw them there, with a mix of psychedelic jam folk music, akin to the way bands like the Dead and Quicksilver started out with in the 1960s. I didn’t think anyone made music like this anymore, with long soaring jams that make the singer take long breaks, but they are a real treat, always up for a surprise. In my interview, guitarist Dave Alvin says they are so spontaneous that they don’t know what they are going to do 85% of the time.
That keeps the music fresh for the band and, of course, for their fans.
And, like I said…we have too much music. Also, this week there’s also a tribute to one of our best singers ever, Tammi Brown. We cover that inside.
Thanks for reading and have a great week.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
AIR BIKE Spectacular view: flyin’ high on Capitola dirt jumps. Photograph by Ali Eppy
GOOD IDEA
Opportunity Grant Scholarships are awarded annually to students whose families cannot afford private music lessons. Applications for the 2026-2027 school year are due April 21, 2026. Applications are available on the Santa Cruz County Music Teachers’ Association website: sccmtac.org.
Students can study piano, voice, string (violin, viola), and wind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, and trumpet) with distinguished teachers. Lessons for other string and wind instruments are subject to the availability of qualified teachers, so students should apply if interested.
Students must be enrolled in a Santa Cruz County school or be home-schooled residents in grades 2 through 12 during the coming school year. Students should have access to a practice instrument and transportation to weekly lessons.
Since 1995, over $160,000 in scholarships have been awarded to students, with participating teachers donating approximately the same amount as reduced tuition.
GOOD WORK
U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, condemned President Trump and Republicans’ un-American efforts to end the constitutional right to birthright citizenship. As the son of Mexican immigrants himself, Padilla underscored that the 14th Amendment clearly grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”
In his remarks, Padilla also slammed the Administration’s treatment of Narciso Barranco — a father of three U.S. citizen Marine veterans — who was violently detained by masked Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Orange County last summer. His case was finally dismissed by an immigration judge last month after the Administration tried to deport him.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” —George Bernard Shaw
Democracy, the very fiber on which our nation was built, is a fragile experiment, and it requires us all to participate in it to make it flourish and thrive. The upcoming District 4 supervisor race also reminds us that public confidence and trust are necessary and important for our democracy to flourish. Each institution has a role in protecting it, and we take that responsibility at Community Bridges seriously.
Following the announcement that Tony Nunez, our Marketing & Communications Director, would run for supervisor, we worked internally to establish clear guardrails to ensure we continue to honor our longstanding commitment to neutrality among candidates and that no agency assets, materials, time, or support are used in ways that could compromise that trust.
We believe it is important to be transparent about this step because public-serving and public-facing organizations must hold themselves to a high standard, especially when an employee seeks elected office. These safeguards are designed not only to protect our organization, but also to protect the integrity of the community’s electoral process and the confidence residents place in community institutions such as Community Bridges.
We admire all candidates willing to serve, including Elias Gonzales and incumbent Supervisor Felipe Hernandez with his decades of public service, and we wish each of them well. Our mission, however, extends beyond any election cycle or political party. People who rely on our services need ongoing support, commitment to collaboration, consistency, fairness, and stability every day, regardless of any election outcomes. As a non-profit institution, we are legally required to remain separate from all campaign activities related to individual candidates. We will continue to work with all of our elected officials across the political and social spectrum to help ensure that we fulfill our mission and continue working on the shared goals of supporting all residents across the Central Coast.
Raymon Cancino | Chief Executive Officer, Community Bridges
ENDLESS WAR
Trump says it’s “more fun to sink ships” than to capture them. Hegseth referred to the sinking of an Iranian warship as a “quiet death”. The President of the United States says it’s “fun” to sink ships and let people have a “quiet death”.
What kind of people are these? These are words of madmen, war criminals, who are killing people in the name of America.
Sam Earnshaw | Watsonville
ONLINE COMMENTS
REMEMBERING THE BILL RANEY AND THE NICKELODEON
In many ways the Nick was the soul of downtown, along with the bookstores.I have many fond memories of a rainy matinee in an uncrowded theater…
Dave McClellan | GoodTimes.sc
MORE ON THE NICKELODEON
May Bill rest in peace knowing he had an amazing impact on the city he loved, Santa Cruz. I missed the first ten years of the Nick while living in another college town called Ann Arbor or A Squared. The Nick helped bridge the gap. I knew Bill and Nancy as members of the local , over-thirty coed soccer team in Happy Valley. They also helped significantly documenting the history of of the neighboring Happy Valley School for the 150 Sesquicentennial Celebration in 2014 that brought more than 400 alumni, parents, teachers and students together. Bill will be missed.
Make it a double: Downtown Santa Cruz has added two top-shelf bars in the last few weeks. When’s the last time that happened?
Last Thursday, March 12, The Hotel (1003 Cedar St., Santa Cruz) opened its doors ever so quietly, to the loud and surprised shouts of joy from locals passing by, then jaunting up the stairs and marveling at the reincarnation of a storied space.
The spot above The Red Room has enjoyed a number of legendary lives, and originally was Surf City’s first hotel, circa 1877.
Now it benefits from new floors, reappointed—and spacious—lounge areas, a pool table, a gorgeous L-shaped bar, and eight signature cocktails ($14).
COCKTAIL CRAFT Signature drinks at The Hotel showcase bold flavors and refined presentation in a historic downtown setting. Photo: Mark C. Anderson
The two I tried, the Do Not Disturb (with Huxal Mezcal, Cocchi Rosa, Campari and orange) and Madonna Inn (gin, dill!, vermouth, citrus herb oil), impressed with depth and identity.
They appear on a menu also dotted with botanical/spirit-free possibilities ($6-$12) and a bunch of craft beer on tap ($8-$12).
The forthcoming food menu (arriving as soon as this weekend) throws down $4 stylish empanadas; a bunch of $5 snacks like micro baked potatoes and bacon-wrapped dates; swanky—and rotating—charcuterie boards ($23); and a signature French dip ($18 with fries) plus a double patty double cheeseburger ($16 with papas).
“We’re finding different ways to honor its history with the menus and the way we’re emphasizing the space as one for community and uplift,” manager Sloan Cipa says.
That triumphant opening was preceded by breathlessly anticipated Alley Oop! in the former Poet & Patriot (320 Cedar St., Suite E, Santa Cruz).
More on my visit there next week. The teasers there: A friend of mine was so moved by the experience he wrote a pop song demo inspired by it, one that’s already getting a lot of attention from known producers.
And this: I never thought I’d be saying two of the most adored bars in Santa Cruz history are quite possibly better than ever.
GETTING RIPPED
Bay Area Brewers Guild Association Executive Director Sayre Piotrkowski called me out the other day. Well, to be fair, he banged all food media.
His beef: Why do we fawn over top-ranked restaurants—versus breweries—even when they demand a lot more $$$ to enjoy, and are accessible for a lot fewer people?
If Monterey Bay had two of the country’s top eight restaurants, we’d hear all about them, he continued. Meanwhile, it does have the #4 and #8 small brew ops, per the rigorous folks at Craft Beer & Brewing, yet not much buzz.
Maybe he hasn’t been reading this column, because I bring up #8 Humble Sea Brewing a lot, and will now because 1) Its outdoor beer garden on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf is now open (and will be through October), with tasty-making Shock Waves Food Truck on deck; and 2) its ninth anniversary celebration is happening all month, leading up to the climactic party March 21, humblesea.com.
Meanwhile #4, Alvarado Street Brewery (asb.beer)—which is based across the bay but flows from a lot of taps up here—has made a game-changing move.
Out in the fields of Castroville, work on a huge new “legacy brewery” complete with expansive production space—for experimental beers as well as popular kegs and cans—plus a beer garden, food truck zone and tasting room represents some of the biggest local brew news in a while.
The square feet of the facility, coming online this year, will probably double, or triple, or quadruple, the number of Castroville residents (7,000).
Featuring pizza in a blended style of homemade Italian meets Mexican, The Originals Pizza is led by head chef and co-owner Israel Arroyo. His path to pizza prominence began at 16, baking at home with his mom, his hobby evolving to passion as he fell in love with combining his Mexican food skillset with Italian-style pizza.
After owning two pizzerias in Mexico, he wanted a pizza joint here and made that dream a reality by opening The Originals in May 2025. Offering indoor/outdoor dining and take-out, Arroyo says his restaurant’s ambiance mixes Italian and Mexican vibes just like his pizzas, adding a modern touch and welcoming home-like feel.
The signature pie offering is the Mexican Style with a refried bean base instead of traditional tomato sauce, then topped with chorizo, red onion, jalapeño and cilantro. The Maui Munch is also mack-worthy, combining ham, pineapple, cherries and cream cheese and the Pacific Prawns is another outside-the-box offering. They also have more traditional pizzas, all utilizing a made-in-house daily Mexican-spiced dough that is thin and crisp. Non-pizza picks abound too, like pasta options of buffalo chicken alfredo, veggie primavera and spaghetti with meatballs, as well as calzones and salads.
Describe your inspo for opening The Originals.
ISRAEL ARROYO: Having tried pizza both in Mexico and here in America, I felt the need to introduce Mexican customers to Italian-style pizza, and that is why I opened pizzerias in Mexico. Down there, I felt like I was offering pizzas that no one else was, like pesto and spinach/artichoke. I got really good feedback from guests, and became inspired to then offer Mexican-style pizzas but in American instead, coming full circle. The experience I gained in Mexico really inspired me to come up with and offer unique pizzas here in America that blend Italian and Mexican styles and ingredients.
What has been the reaction to your food?
I have gotten really good feedback from our guests since we opened, with many customers raving, especially about the unique Mexican approach I have. They often comment on how much they enjoy our unique style pizzas that they can’t find anywhere else. And we are always open-minded, I love to listen to our customers and become inspired by their requests, and really love to try new things and push the boundaries of pizza.
Dave Alvin returns with The Third Mind, a fearless psychedelic jam band channeling the spirit of the ’60s into something wild, loose and completely unpredictable. Thursday at Moe’s Alley, 8pm.
ARIES March 21-April 19
In 1960, Aries primatologist Jane Goodall arrived in Tanzania to study the social and family lives of chimpanzees. Her intention was to engage in patient, long‑term observation. In subsequent months, she saw the creatures using tools, a skill that scientists had previously believed only humans could do. She also found that “it isn’t only human beings...
Nestled up amongst the regal clusters of old-growth Coast Redwoods, and infused by the sweet fragrance of the Douglas Fir of the Santa Cruz Mountains, there have always been pods of musicians, and aggregates of musical excellence. Young and not-so-young instrumentalists trying to find the universal tone and the perfect song. In recent years, the soaring thrust of the...
Santa Cruz’s music scene is overflowing with talent—from rising acts like the Coffis Brothers to Dave Alvin's boundary pushing The Third Mind lighting up Moe’s Alley on Thursday night.
