Showtime:
Saturday
September 25

Doors Open
7:00 PM

Show Starts
8:00 PM

Tickets
$15.00

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The THUGZ
(Tribal Hippie UnderGround Zone)

The THUGZ (aka -tribal hippie underground zone) is a Sonoma County with a repertoire ranging from inventive originals to psychedelic classics and “Grateful” jams, mixed with songs by Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Coburn, Donovan Leitch and other artists.

Founder Mike Campbell says he and the band members like the Dead because "their music encompasses so many styles and has an element of improvisation." The band members are Mike Campbell on guitar, Sylvia Murphy on keyboard, Chris Lushington on a headless, 5-string bass(for an extended lower range), Andre de Channes on guitar and Ian Favell on Drums. Mike and Sylvia do most of the singing from a repertoire of over 150 songs.

Campbell grew up Fremont and his family had a cabin in Cazadero where they took frequent holidays. When Campbell left Fremont in the 1960s to "escape the asphalt," the river area seemed a natural connection to his past, as well as a place with many live music venues.

"All the San Francisco bands like the Grateful Dead came from the city to play here," Campbell noted. He recalls long-gone venues like the old Rio Nido dance hall and the roller rink behind the Rio Theater.

Campbell’s first instrument was a bugle his father brought back from World War II. When the Beatles hit the scene, he immediately wanted a guitar, like everyone else. His parents told him only "riff-raff" play the guitar and bought him a ukulele instead. After listening to him try to play rock music on a ukulele, they finally gave in and bought him a guitar and he hasn't looked back since.

Andre de Channes on guitar is also a DJ at The Krush in Santa Rosaand played in such bands as "East Of Eden", and Los Angeles based band, "Velvet Chain".

The other stellar addition to The THUGZ is drummer Ian Favell, a talented multi-instrumentalist. Ian has also played bass with the Bob Lucas Trio (jazz), The Heavies, Soulvine, and The Crazy.

Tickets for the concert are $15.00, available online at www.arenatheater.org and at local ticket vendors; $12.00 for members with card at local vendors only.

Arena Theater’s local ticket vendors are Sea Trader and Four-Eyed Frog in Gualala; Arena Market and The Pier Chowder House and Tap Room in Point Arena; Tangents in Fort Bragg.

The show starts at 8:00 PM and doors open at 7:00 PM. The Arena Theater Bar and the snack stand will be open.

Showtime:
Saturdays

Doors Open
7:00 PM

Show Starts
8:00 PM

See listings below for ticket prices.

Series Overview

Two remaining upcoming concerts of this five-concert series are:

August 28, 2010 Tom Rigney and Flambeau
October 9, 2010 Curtis Salgado

Arena Theater will present Tom Rigney, August 28 in Blues on the Coast series sponsored by Gualala Chevron and the Pier Chowder House and Tap Room. Blues on the Coast 2010 continues with Curtis Salgado, October 9.

Tom Rigney and Flambeau, a hot roots music band playing Cajun, zydeco, blues, and New Orleans music perform on Saturday August 28.

Curtis Salgado, one of America's finest blues and soul singers, will close the 2010 Blues on the Coast series on Saturday October 9.

All shows are at 8:00 PM. Doors open at 7:00 PM and Arena Theater Bar and snack stand will be open.

Showtime:
Saturday
October 9

Doors Open
7:00 PM

Show Starts
8:00 PM

Tickets
$20.00

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Curtis Salgado

Curtis Salgado's musical journey began with his birth in Everett, Washington, in 1954. His family moved to Eugene, Oregon when he was one and he grew up there listening to jazz, and to his father, an aspiring singer of classical music. His ambitions coalesced when, at age 12, he saw Count Basie's band perform in Eugene. Curtis became a part of the burgeoning Northwest blues scene starting in 1972 with a band called Three-Fingered Jack. Eventually he hooked up with up-and-coming guitarist/vocalist Robert Cray, and recorded the album Who's Been Talking. In six years with Robert, the higher level of visibility enabled Salgado to sit in with the likes of Muddy Waters, Bobby "Blue" Bland, Albert Collins and Bonnie Raitt. Aside from being a tremendous vocalist, Curtis is one of the finest blues harmonica players in the country. In 1979, when John Belushi was in Eugene filming Animal House, he caught Curtis' act and liked what he heard and saw. Curtis took the actor under his wing and schooled him on blues and R & B history, which Belushi soaked up like a sponge, and used a good portion of Curtis' show as the basis for the Blues Brothers act he and Dan Akroyd put together. The first Blues Brothers album was dedicated to Curtis.

Curtis left the Cray band before it broke through nationally and from 1984 - 1986 he fronted Boston's Grammy-Winning Roomful Of Blues before returning to Portland where he formed The Stilettos, touring nationally with such acts as Steve Miller and The Doobie Brothers. He even did a stint as lead vocalist with Santana in the 1990's. Curtis released three albums (the first with The Stilettos, followed by one with his own band and the third, an acoustic gem, featuring guitarist Terry Robb). After three critically-acclaimed solo albums with Shanachie Entertainment, he released Clean Getaway in 2008, only two years after he had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer.

Clean Getaway, produced by Marlon McClain & Tony Braunagel, is a seamless mix of blues, soul and rock 'n' roll all held together by the organic grooves of world class musicians and Curtis' superlative singing. He has a gift of digging into the essence of a song without histrionics or gratuitous displays of vocal chops--though he certainly has more than enough of those. It is also a celebration of having overcome his illness and a new lease on life.