Local Musician Spotlight –Danny Click
“Man, being a musician is tough these days” said Danny Click, as he swapped his smartphone from speaker to headset as we called him this week. “You gotta know all this technology and PR stuff and websites, all I want to do is play my guitar. I’m about ready to just dump this damn thing and get a land line again.” Click, born in Indiana in 1960, the youngest of nine children, lost his father and one of his brothers in a car crash when he was just ten years old. He could have discovered the blues right then and there but it took him a couple more years for that. After beginning his career as a player in his sisters country act, he soon had his own band and moved down to Austin, TX. in 1989 and became one of the best kept secrets in the music scene. A chance encounter with an 18-wheeler into the back of his car put his career on hold for two years while he rehabbed to get back on the stage.
Landing in Marin County in 2006, he quickly put together a band of top notch locals, including Bonnie Hayes and formed the “Hell Yeahs!” in 20011. Click has played all the big rooms in the area, including being a regular at Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Station in San Rafael and this Saturday, April 9, you can catch him and the Hell Yeahs! at Rossi’s 1906 Roadhouse, kicking off at 8:30 p.m. Lets find out a little more about him with the usual six questions.
1) Many musicians in our generation cite the Beatles on Ed Sullivan as that moment when they knew music was what they wanted to do. When and what was it that made you realize you wanted to be a musician?
DC> My first recollection of music was my family always playing in the background as I was growing up when I was just 5 or 6. My momma used to put a guitar on her lap and play it flat and used a butter knife for a slide. I thought that was cool. She tried to teach me but she was left handed and I wasn’t so things were a little different. Then when I was seven I bought the Beatles Help album and thought those guys were the best thing I’d ever heard.
2) That first instrument you owned. What was it and do you still have it?
DC> Was a Checkmate acoustic. Some Japanese copy of some sort of American acoustic that I got when I was 12 and paid about ten bucks for it. I don’t have that any more. My first electric was an Electra Omega that I still have. I’m thinking about priming that thing up again soon.
3) Who are you’re primary influences in your music?
DC> Man, a whole bunch. As far as songwriting, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, that whole crew. As far as guitar playing I’d say Hendrix, Duane Allman, Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Mark Knopfler, hell, the first time I heard “Sultans of Swing” I made my buddy pull his Camaro over right then and there so I could hear that song. I had never heard a Strat played like that. Then it was Jeff Beck, then Muddy Waters and I knew then I had to go all the way back to the beginning and I found some old Robert Johnson albums and listened to those songs and was amazed at what one man with one mic and one guitar in a hotel room in the ‘20s was laying down.
4) What CD or playlist is in your car or your iPod?
DC> Classic rock stations mainly I guess. I like older rock and roll. Not really a fan of a lot of new stuff. Web Wilder, the Hollies, the Guess Who’s greatest hits. Those are all in the car.
5) Tell us about your current acts.
DC> Mainly just the Hell Yeahs! the last few years. I did a solo acoustic thing at a house concert last weekend. I’m starting to produce some folks now but that’s about it.
6) If you could have written one song, which one would it be and why?
DC> Wow, that’s a hard one. Can I pick three? No? Well then I’d have to say Love Minus Zero/No Limit by Bob Dylan, no, wait. We Can Work it Out by the Beatles. The counterpoints being laid down in that song by Lennon and McCartney are just amazing. If you don’t love that song then you’re just not alive man.
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Soundbytes – Bits and Pieces
Spring is in the air and so is the voice of Cynthia Tarr, as she presents her annual spring concert on the Rotary Stage in Andrews Hall inside the Sonoma Community Center on Saturday, April 9, kicking off at 7:30 p.m. Tarr is the Music Director for the center and teaches vocals to many throughout the week. Tarr and her band will be laying down funk, groove and soul throughout the evening, playing music from her latest CD, titled “Here’s to Life” along with some new numbers as well.
Members of her band include Ken Cook on keyboards, Jen Micheal Hure on guitar, Kendrick Freeman on drums and Cliff Hugo on bass. In addition, she will have Jennie Nourse, Kim Hughes and Micaelia Randolph providing backup vocals.
Tickets will be available at the door or in advance by calling the Community Center box office during business hours at 938-4626, ext. 1. For more info, point your browser to sonomacommunitycenter.org
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Set List – The Rundown
Annex Wine Bar, 865 W. Napa St. Sonoma, 938-7779
Tonight, April 8: Wildflower Weed. 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 9: Tsunami. 7:30 p.m.
Barking Dog Roasters, 18133 Sonoma Hwy. Sonoma, 939-1905
Saturday, April 9: Hugh Gallagher. 3 p.m.
Sunday, April 10: Dale Henry Geist. 3 p.m.
B&V Whiskey Bar and Grille, 400 First St. E. Sonoma, 938-7110
Tonight, April 8: DJ Hi – Cal. 9 p.m.
Friday Farmers Market, Depot Park, 270 First St W. Sonoma
Today, April 8: Stewart Degner. 9:30 a.m.
HopMonk Tavern, 691 Broadway Sonoma, 935-9100
Tonight, April 8: Vintage Grass. 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 9: The Cherry Pickers. 8 p.m.
Murphy’s Irish Pub, 464 First St. E. Sonoma, 935-0660
Tonight, April 8: Deluxe. 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 9: Mostly Simply Bluegrass. 8 p.m.
Olde Sonoma Public House, 18615 Sonoma Hwy. Boyes Hot Springs, 938-7587
Saturday, April 9: Karaoke. 7:30 p.m.
Plaza Bistro, 420 First St E. Sonoma, 996-4466
Tonight, April 8: John Kalleen Quintet. 7 p.m.
Rossi’s 1906 Dancehall, 401 Grove St. El Verano, 343-0044
Tonight, April 8: The Gravel Spreaders. 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 9: Danny Click and the Hell Yeahs. 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 10: Blues Jam. 9:30 p.m.
Schellville Grill, 22900 Broadway, Sonoma, 996-5151
Saturday, April 9: Butch Engle and Styx. 12:30 p.m.
Sebastiani Winery and Vineyards, 389 Fourth St. E. Sonoma, 933-3230
Tonight, April 8: Tilted Halos, 6 p.m.
Sonoma Community Center, 276 E. Napa St., Sonoma, 938-4626
Saturday, April 9: Spring Concert with Cynthia Tarr. 7:30 p.m.
Sonoma Speakeasy and American Music Hall, 452 First St. E. ste. G. Sonoma, 996-1364
Tonight, April 8: Sean Carscadden, Cliff Hugo and Mikey Lee Cannon. 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 9: Full Circle. 5 p.m. The New Copasetics. 8 p.m.
If your gig isn’t in my column, you didn’t tell me about it.