Montara Music Spanish Guitar Blog

Wedding Number 2 - Mike McCall, Spanish Guitarist

2011-04-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Venue - San Ramon Senior Center (could not find an image),but a nice elevated outdoor grassy area. Beautiful day, 70 degrees...

Song Selections - "Time after Time" for the bridal party, "In My Life" for the bride.

Interesting moments - The bride (microphone in hand, in front of 90 or so people) thanked me for playing as I was attempting to do my fast exit. Very sweet and yes I was embarrassed!

Mike Mccall, Spanish Guitar - June is over

2010-06-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

Wow... What a busy month that was.. I played wedding gigs at Mountain Terrace (Woodside), Solage in Calistoga, Half Moon Bay Methodist Church, The Ampitheatre at Crissy Field (under the Golden Gate Bridge), Deer Ridge Winery in Livermore and Garre Winery in Livermore. All the weddings went really well other than a brief late-May hailstorm at the Solage gig.

Now it's time for a little break.. Other than a very fun winery gig (Byington Winery, Los Gatos, July 1), I don't have another gig scheduled for one solid month. As much as I love playing at weddings, I did need a little bit of a break. So I hope to see you at Byington gig or at the Wine Bar in HMB, July 23rd!

Why I play at weddings

2010-04-14T20:41:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I even think about it, so don't feel bad if you have. He's 46, has a wonderful wife, crazy dog and a full-time job. Why does he play guitar at weddings on weekends?. It's a fair question. It's stressful, includes some travel and the money is not going to allow us to retire any sooner.

It's really a two-part answer. First, it's a challenge and I like challenges... To play music for people, when everyone else is silent, on the day that they'll remember for the rest of their lives, is very stressful. Not many people would do it. But personally, I'm convinced that the only way to beat stress is to meet it head on. And this is my way to take a bite out of it.

The second part I just discovered tonight. Elizabeth (I'm playing at her wedding), who is getting married in less than two weeks told me on the phone tonight told me something that really hit me. She said that in the midst of all the chaos of wedding planning, she visits my site, listens to my more mellow pieces and the stress just sort of melts away.. at least for the time being. It was very sweet and brought me back to the late nights writing some of these songs while picturing Montara Mountain, the fields below the mountain and the ocean just across the way. How could I not write peaceful music living in such a place?

Lastly.. music is definitely something to share.. and when someone appreciates your gift, it's really magical. My wife likes what my kindergarten teacher (or was it 1st grade?) wrote on my report card. "Mike likes to share with others". Maybe the years don't change us as much as we might think?

Mike

In Memory of Bart

2010-02-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

Some gigs fly by and don't leave much impression. Others are incredibly rewarding and I will look back on them from time to time. But I don't think I will ever forget playing at Bart's Memorial last week. Bart was a 26 year old llama tasked with guarding the goats at theHarley Farm's Goat Ranch in Pescadero. Bart had died peacefully in his sleep and was found by a worker on the farm.

My wife and I only met Bart one time... A few years back we were hanging with goats and Bart stuck his face (his face, albeit sweet, looked sort of like Austin Powers) right next to mine. We were later told by Harley Farm's owner Dee Harley that "Bart doesn't like to have you in his personal space, but he loves to be in yours".

The memorial was attended by 50-75 people, with many small kids who knew Bart in attendance. It was festive, but somber. Bart had a personality that most Llamas don't possess and loved the baby goats. It was definitely a sad loss.

But Bart's departure brought home for many of us some things we don't often think about. Such as how valuable life is and that the "circle of life" is always in play (especially on a farm). My hands were trembling as I played "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" during Bart's slide-show. As we left, my wife and I both felt that Bart had restored in us those basics that we forget sometimes. We're glad to be alive, glad to live in such a beautiful place and we feel blessed to have such an incredible array of friends and family....Everything else is just noise. :) Thanks, Bart.

Cheers,
Mike

Dogs and Spanish Guitar

2010-01-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

Okay.. To be honest, I just included "Spanish Guitar" in the subject line to improve my rankings in the search engine. This is just about dogs. For those of you who don't know, we have a slightly-insane, but very sweet cattle dog named Monty. He only has one eye (ill-advised handshake with a moving car), is very gassy, but is our son and makes us very happy.

A couple of weekends ago, Monty got together with his next-door neighbor and girlfriend, Peller.

It seemed like their typical play-day. Lots of growling, hugging, kissing, biting.... But as you can see from this photo, Peller took certain "liberties" with Monty... No, no.. Not that kind. Get your head out of the gutter and look at the picture.

You can clearly see the cheap-shot I am talking about. Charlotte and I are not in total agreement as to now we will seek "satisfaction", but let's just say some very talented $500/hr lawyers are ready to hop on a plane at a moment's notice.

Okay, there is one more picture that some stupid people have said shows that Monty provoked the vicious blow. B.S. In this picture, Monty is smiling at his girlfriend, not growling and moving in for a face-bite as one might assume

Well, that's it. just wanted to share that with you. Sometimes it's tough having a perfect dog. Others want to bring him down off his throne. Luckily, the camera doesn't lie.

It's a sunny day in Montara and we're going to go and enjoy it.

Cheers, Mike

New Drinking Establishment in Town!

2010-01-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

Well, not in Montara. But in the Harbor (Half Moon Bay), there is a little shopping center called Oceano. And in the shopping center is a nice little wine bar appropriately named The Wine Bar. With great flights or red and white, as well as an incredible beer selection (all bottle, very fairly priced) and a good selection of sparking wine, this will be a popular place in the harbor. They also have small sandwich plates, cheese plates and olive plates.

They also have music and.... You guessed it! I will be playing there on Jan 30th as well as the night before Valentine's Day, Saturday Feb 13th.

Check out the Wine Shop and tell them Mike sent you (but don't put the wine on my tab)

Mike

Ho, Ho, Ho...Santa brought Mike 2 new gigs!

2009-12-14T18:45:00.000-08:00

Okay… It wasn’t REALLY Santa? How do I know? Well, I had to slash this year’s marketing budget and unfortunately Santa hadn’t been dishing out the gigs over the last few years, so we let him go some time ago. But… Through hard work, perseverance (this means incessant hounding) Mark and I secured gigs at both It’s Italia in Half Moon Bay and La Costanera in Montara. We are very happy to be playing at these two fine establishments who believe in serving quality food while providing opportunities to local musicians:

So here is our upcoming schedule (pronounced she-duel for Neil , Cecily and Andy):

Friday, December 18^th – It’s Italia, Half Moon Bay, 6:30-9:30

Tuesday, December 22^nd – La Costanera, Montara, Ca 6:00 – 8ish

We hope you come out to both venues and support us, but the La Costanera gig is turning into a pretty decent size party and probably the last chance we’ll get to see all of you until after the holidays. La Costanera is extending Happy Hour just for this occasion, so please come out and celebrate with us!

What’s your favorite holiday show or movie? Mine is still “Charlie Brown Christmas”. It doesn’t get any better…

Lastly.. Mark and I enlisted Kevin Stokes (www.montarabeach.com) to do some "glam" shots of Mark and I. We think this one came out pretty good! Thanks, Kevin!

Happy Holidays!

We're Moving to Guerneville

2009-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, actually that's a lie. But we should. Charlotte, Monty and I. I have performed at 3 weddings in Guerneville this year, played at two wineries in Santa Rosa and have yet another Guerneville wedding this weekend. What do you do in Guerneville? Well, if like to eat, drink and enjoy nature there are few places better than the Sonoma Coastline.

After playing at www.thedawnranch.com we had a beer at a great German Restaurant and had a very nice dinner at the Village Inn, both in Monte Rio, along the Russian River. On Sunday, we hung out in the beautiful riverside/seaside (it's where the Russian River meets the Ocean) town of Jenner. We stayed at the Jenner Inn, where you can relax in your little shack, eat and drink at the Inn's main house. Ah.......Okay, here is a picture of Charlotte and Monty on the beach.

Hint..don't say "beach" in front of Monty or he will flip out. Also, a picture of huge waves hitting the rocks. All in all, a great weekend that will be repeated in about 4 days...

Tarabella Winery Gig - Santa Rosa

2009-10-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

Off of River Road in Santa Rosa (very close to Guerneville,) is a great are full of small wineries. I was fortunate enough to play at one named Tarabella Winery. The owners (Tara and Rich) were celebrating their 10-year anniversary making great cabernets.

I was fortunate enough to play for a great crowd of people, eat some incredible food and drink some wonderful wine. The winery is open by appointment. Please call them if you are in the area. I have three bottles from my gig, but you can not have any.

As you can see from the picture, I make a lot of ridiculous faces when I play. I'm working on it, but it's definitely still a work in progress.

Mike

When will the nail fall?

2009-10-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

Okay.. .It's been about 6 weeks since I whacked my index finger on my picking hand (arguably the most important digit to a guitar player) and it's starting to look a bit like... well, I just won't go there. Needless to say, it's on its way to where good nails go after they, uh, get damaged, turn black and start to fall apart.

The question is when? I've already started modifying my playing to accommodate several weeks without a fingernail, but it would be nice to have the old nail say "adios". Maybe I should help it along, or have a doctor help it along?

Sam's Chowder House - Played there with Mark Kostrzewa and had a wonderful time. Sam's is having music every Tuesday night and we'll be back there Friday the 6th of Nov and Tuesday the 17th of November. Met Bruce Jenkins, a great sports writer for the Chronicle whose columns I have read for many years.

talk to you soon, Mike.

Playing guitar in 105 degree heat

2009-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

I played at a wedding in Calistoga this weekend and learned two thnings:

1. My fingers are about as nimble as two uncooked hotdogs at 105 degrees.
2. If you have to trust someone to give you an accurate weather forecast, trust the
server at Ruth McCowans click here for review vs the national weather service.

We stayed at the English Tea Garden , a nice place in the Sonoma Wine Country. Unfortunately, the town's Octoberfest was at the same time as my wedding performance. So much for good timing.

Charlotte I both thought the town of Calistoga was a bit on the lame side. Definitely not much to do there. We did have a great time at the Raymond Burr Winery where they had a nice little Portugese party. Raymond Burr's partner of many years is still alive and was there. I told them that instead of serving Portugese Food they should serve Hamilton Burgers. (Hint: if you didn't watch Perry Mason, you missed that one.

Until next time....

Mike

What to do when playing a wedding in Guerneville

2009-09-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

Had a great time playing at a wedding at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville. Congrats, Tim and Laurie! Of course, I had some time to kill so I thought I would chronicle my "adventures".

Saturday, 11 a.m. - Arrive at beautiful campground, snag best spot:
http//www.schoolhousecanyon.com/

Saturday, 1 p.m. Visit local brewpub:

http://www.stumptown.com/

Saturday, 4 p.m. - Play at wedding for Tim and Laurie
http://www.dawnranch.com/

Saturday, 7:30 p.m. - Wind down with sausage platter and Spaten Oktoberfest on Tap!

http://www.highlanddell.com/

Sunday morning - Return home, beautiful scene on the GG Bridge!

All and all, a pretty cool 24 hours!

Regards,
Mike

Mike Plays Deerfield Ranch

2009-09-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

Just performed at a corporate party at Deerfield Ranch in Sonoma County. A really beautiful winery with exceptional organic wines. I really enjoyed one of their cuvees and the food (Brought in by their caterer) was incredible!

www.deerfieldranch.com

Check it out if you're in the area. Great wine, great people. Their cave is actually designed to look like a wine glass.

Luckily, my travels to the winery took me past Moylan's Brewery in Novato. Yes, I had to stop for a pint...One of the last great breweries. Big beers with many in the 9-10 percent range.

click here to visit their website

Mike McCall Plays Crab Landing!

2009-09-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

I played with Mark Kostrzewa last Friday at Crab Landing.. We had a blast. Pretty neat concept.. You get to do what you love, you get some cash for doing it and oh... You also get a couple of drinks and you get fed! I also had a couple who have already hired me for their wedding as well as a couple who are considering hiring me for their wedding. What pressure!

Seriously.. .The music sounded good, but the acoustics were a little tricky as the area is like a huge can going up about a hundred feet. We're looking forward to playing at Sam's on the 19th.

Spanish Guitar for Weddings and Events

2009-08-14T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well... The gigs are starting to come in pretty regularly now. What a fun time in my life! Actually getting paid to play guitar? What a concept....I think people just seem to like spanish guitar as it is a little more lively than having a classical guitarist play at your event. September is going to be a bit busy with 4 weddings, two performances at local restaurants (Sams in Half Moon Bay and Crab Landing in Half Moon Bay) along with a performance at Byington, a fantastic winery in Los Gatos. That is all for now.

Mike