#26. Rhythms of Resilience: Paul DeMark Percussive Paths Through Humboldt’s Musical Heartbeat

Scott Hammond: Welcome everybody, and welcome to my special guest,

Paul DeMark: Hi. How you doing, Scott?

Scott Hammond: I'm doing good. You have a great, great face for radio.

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Well, I guess we're gonna be on YouTube too,

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so we're-

Paul DeMark: … I'm glad I wore my favorite black sweater.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I, I dressed in manum gray black as well.

Paul DeMark: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so I, I came over wondering what,

So let's just talk to Paul about Paul. What… Tell me the Paul story. How did you wind up in, in Humboldt?

Paul DeMark: Okay, um,

well, it was through music. Um, I came out on tour to San Francisco when I was 21 with a Chicago blues piano player named Sunnyland Slim-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … who was part of creating the Chicago blues

sound. Uh, he was 65. He's someone that, uh, went back to the early '40s-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … had given Muddy Waters his recording

Played with all the primary Chicago blues people. Toured with Howlin' Wolf,

um-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Paul DeMark: … everybody that was back there. Had his own bands,

Anyhow, a good friend of mine, Harry Duncan, from, uh… Well, we met in Madison, Wisconsin, and then he asked me if I wanted to go out on tour with Sunnyland-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … in, uh, 1972.

Scott Hammond: And you're 21.

Paul DeMark: I was 21.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: I was very inexperienced. I'd just…

I didn't start playing till I was 19, and I dropped out of University of Wisconsin-Madison after my junior year because I

was so, uh,

uh… I'd gotten so much into the drums that I figured I needed to drop out to

learn-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … to find a teacher and devote myself to it for a few years to

really had the talent. So I dropped out, and I'd probably played a handful of gigs and… but he, uh, he was booking Sunnyland. He was helping various blues musicians to get gigs, and he was especially trying to help Sunnyland.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: So he ran into Mike Bloomfield, the great Mike Bloomfield-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … of Paul Butterfield, Electric Flag, and Bob Dylan fame.

Scott Hammond: And they're all New York people, right?

Paul DeMark: No, they're Chicago.

Scott Hammond: Bloomfield as well?

Paul DeMark: Yeah. He grew up in Chicago, and when he was a teenager,

South Side and playing with people like Sunnyland.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: So my friend Harry asked him, uh, b- this

is 1972, so he was very famous at the time. He'd moved out, and he asked him if he would play guitar with Sunnyland and his band to help him get gigs around the Bay

Area-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … for, for a month.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: The month of 1972, uh, November 1972, excuse me.

And so that's how I got out here. He said, uh, "Let's, let's go," and we drove 2,000 miles and-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … arrived in, uh,

the Bay Area and started, played with Mike probably four shows a week.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, um, and then,

so now it's December, and we're still playing around the Bay Well, Sunnyland went back to Chicago in the winter, and I decided I was gonna stay. My friend Harry and I would stay in California. So I lived in the Bay Area for the next two and a half years. Um, was playing with blues people like Luther Alexander and put together a-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … a, a band with people, uh, that I met, a rhythm and blues

band. The bass player in the band, Jerry Cooper, um, he, uh, he met a woman there, Karen. Th- they came up to Fortuna, got married.

Scott Hammond: Fortuna?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Paul DeMark: He was from there. He grew up there.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. And so I came up to the, for the wedding, and then about two

months later, he called me and said, uh, "Karen and I are putting together a country band."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: "And we have six months of guaranteed gigs every Friday

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: "… at the Rendezvous Lounge in Rio Dell."

Scott Hammond: In Ri- [laughs]

Paul DeMark: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: I've never heard of that. I've been here a long time.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It burned to the ground.

Scott Hammond: Downtown Rio Dell.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Right on Wildwood Avenue.

Scott Hammond: How about that? [laughs]

Paul DeMark: And so, uh, you know, it was guaranteed, uh, money,

$50 a night, and I could get unemployment. And I thought, "Well-"

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: "… I'm kind of struggling in San Francisco.

I might just give it a try," you know? I've… And if I don't like it, I can always move back.

Scott Hammond: Move to the country.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Paul DeMark: So, uh, that's how I got here.

Scott Hammond: Huh. Did you live in Fortuna?

Paul DeMark: I lived in Rio Dell for about nine months-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … and then moved to Arcata.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so you got into music then carried that career over into Arcata and-

Paul DeMark: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … Arcata, Eureka.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. I had, uh-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … I had about seven months.

The, the band that I played with was called The Coopers, and then, um, then I looked for another band.

And I, um, had been playing on, uh, jam nights at, uh, Harvey's Club, which was the corner of 36 and 101. It's no longer there 'cause the freeway overpass-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul DeMark: … but it was a very happening, wild,

Scott Hammond: I remember that.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It was a little bar, kind of a set, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Right on the corner, right on 101.

Scott Hammond: Harvey's.

Paul DeMark: Harvey's Club, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: And it was a, it was a, uh, a really wild, true Humboldt

County honky-tonk. I played with guys quite a bit older. They were called The Sons of Redwood Country.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And I played there Friday, Saturday, and Sundays, and did that

for about seven months. By then I was living in Arcata. And after that, um, then I was in Northern Humboldt, uh, mostly for the rest of my career.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You live here in Eureka.

Paul DeMark: Yes. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Let me just point out t- for our listeners and watchers,

Humboldt County. That, that's where… It's vaguely funny when I do this, and I point out the, geographic… So I don't… I, I'm not sure if I've met anybody that's as I perceive as many bands as you have. So if there was a number, what would you, what would your dart throw be? Have you done over 100 bands?

Paul DeMark: Not quite. Uh, that's an [laughs] interesting question.

I, I wondered if you'd ask me that. No. A, a few weeks ago, someone asked me how many bands I'd been

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: So I thought for a couple weeks,

I have a pretty good memory of my own personal [chuckles] timeline.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Uh, and, uh,

I came up with, uh, 81.

Scott Hammond: 81, that's a lot.

Paul DeMark: That is a lot.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, I first thought, "Well, it's probably 40 or 50,"

a, uh, playing with a band that played a public performance, not just a jam session.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, you know, I had some longevity with bands like

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: We played for seven years. The Delta Nationals played for 18,

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … being asked to do, you know-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … one-night things, and sometimes I would be asked to play

and have three bands in one night that I'd never met before, a benefit at the Bayside Grange.

Scott Hammond: Just sit in and-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … go for it.

Paul DeMark: In fact, last night we were, uh,

um… The Appliances, one of the bands I was in '89 to '92 with, uh, Fred Neighbor and Joy Sal-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … Gary Davidson, Jeff Lynn, and

Brian Hurliman. And so we're reuniting to do a benefit for Del Arte on Saturday, February 10th, at the Carlo Theater.

Scott Hammond: Coming up.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, so we were just talking about

things, and, uh, Fred said, "Do you remember the Rockabilly Mimes?" And I said-

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Paul DeMark: … "Wow." And he said it was a trio that Fred and I and Gary

Davidson played in. And I said, "How many shows did we do?" He said, "Two." I said, "We'll have to add that to the list."

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's 80-

Paul DeMark: I went from, I went from 80 to 81 right there.

Scott Hammond: You bumped that one. [laughs]

Paul DeMark: [laughs] But I wrote them all down, and, uh-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … it was, uh, it was fun just to realize, uh…

And I counted, like, when I, uh, 'cause in my 20s I was… My friend Harry Duncan was asking me to, um, go on the road and play mini tours with Chicago and Texas blues

musicians-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … while I was living here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh,

so I would, um, either six weeks to maybe even just a Like, I went to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Played with Sunny Land there and had-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … uh, Charles Neville on sax from The Neville

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and did five gigs in three days.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: Played a six-week tour on the West Coast with, uh,

uh, Hubert Sumlin.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And Paul DeLay, a harmonica player from Portland.

Uh, I played at the Monterey Jazz Festival

a great Texas, uh, guitarist named, uh, Albert Collins.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: The Master of the Telecaster they called him.

Scott Hammond: He's great.

Paul DeMark: So I had all these opportunities, and I did that, you know,

while I was playing in local bands like Caledonia.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: So those were bands that I also counted if there

bands.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: You know? Uh, so it's been a really, uh, rich musical

life, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … for me here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So let's talk about Humboldt

So I'm gonna ask kind of a three-part question, and we'll cycle back. But, so what do you see… And this is the j- the, the question Joni fed me.

Thanks. My wife's way smarter than me. M- married up like some of us.

Paul DeMark: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Uh, so early in the music scene here

'70s, '80s, what was that about? What, what's it been in the middle and, and what's happening now in terms of things that strike your fancy you'd wanna comment on? So how, how is the music scene in Humboldt County say, uh, 40 years ago, or upon your arrival? It was, it, it seemed like there's a lot of musicians

quality now.

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: Uh, not that… I, I mean, I think of Caledonia, they were

still legendary.

Paul DeMark: Well, I, the, the biggest change, a- as soon as I

started branching off and I started going to College of the Redwoods and taking jazz improv classes, and then I started going to Arcata and meeting with Fred and Joyce and doing jam sessions at the

Jambalaya-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … I quickly realized this was a c-

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Paul DeMark: There are so many really high quality musicians-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … from jazz to country to soul, blues,

and there were so many clubs here. That's the big difference.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Paul DeMark: There still are a, a fair amount of venues here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: But back then, it was, uh, exploding with venues.

There were, you know, a dozen places in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: How many bars in Arcata [laughs] back in the day?

Paul DeMark: Arcata had, you know, obviously more music venues than now.

Um, and there were places, uh, that, uh, The Den and places that I didn't play, but people could play five or six nights in a row.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: And, uh,

so it was more… Because you didn't have the internet, streaming, and people would go out. That was their entertainment.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul DeMark: And so when I was in Caledonia, right now, like, when I

do sh- shows, it's almost always a one-night stand.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: You know, I'll play a Saturday at the Speakeasy in

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Or, um, you know, we played last Friday at The Basement in

Big Eight, and… So it's pretty much just one-night things, then there was such a demand where people would go out even during the week.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: The Basement was called Brett Hart's.

We'd play s-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul DeMark: … Caledonia would play Wednesday through

The Jambalaya, we'd play Friday and Saturday. Mad River Rose in Blue Lake, Friday, Saturday. Brett, um, uh, the Old Town Bar & Grill-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Scott Hammond: I was gonna bring that up. That's a big venue.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That was a huge venue.

Paul DeMark: So, you know, we were playing three or four times a week,

like that. It's all one-night stands, so-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … you, you could, like, uh, well,

I mean, I wasn't married-

Scott Hammond: Yep

Paul DeMark: … and, um, could actually pay my bills.

And I'd have part-time jobs, like working at The Works record store.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: Things like that. But, um, I think that's the biggest change is that

people don't go out as much, um, and there's not as many music venues. But there's still, um, the s- the same, to me, same amount of really high quality musicians here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And they're always looking for places to play.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, it's just back then there were, there

But-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … there's still… This is a place…

You know, some places are theater places like Ashland. Um, this is a music town.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, has been.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So something occurs to me. You know what's different between an old

old musician?

Paul DeMark: No

Scott Hammond: It's like it's set up, this is set up for a really funny joke,

I, I see old musicians that still got it.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know? A 40-year-old, you know, Tom Brady

isn't that great anymore in football.

Paul DeMark: Right. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But a lot of musicians season with-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … their art.

Paul DeMark: Absolutely. There's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … many musicians, they're, they're playing into their 90s.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: But, you know, there's not much…

[laughs] Obviously, it's not as physically demanding, it's physically demanding.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um, but, you know, it's… For, and for

someone like me, it's, it's more in my, my fingers and my wrists and arms and-

Scott Hammond: So joints?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … and my f- my feet. So, um,

you know, it's… I, I, you know, there's so many musicians that last a long time. Uh, I played with this great, uh… And there's a joy to it that I think helps people to, um, have a sustained career. Like, uh, Hubert Sumlin was one of the most joyful musicians that I played with, and he was Howlin' Wolf's guitarist, a incredibly influential blues guitarist. People like Eric Clapton looked at him as

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: And so I had a chance to play with him for six weeks,

with him 'cause he was very funny and very affectionate.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: And one time, uh, he, uh, looked at me after a gig and he said,

"You know, Paul, you keep playing music, it'll make you beautiful."

Scott Hammond: Wow. [laughs]

Paul DeMark: And 'cause he was beautiful when he played.

Scott Hammond: And he meant, he meant it.

Paul DeMark: He meant it. Oh, yeah. He'd be on stage, and he was, like,

and he looked so happy on stage. I would look at him and think, "This guy has become someone that's about 25."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: So it's… You know, I think anybody that does something and,

has tremendous joy, I, I think it helps keep you young if, if that joy kind of permeates your-

Scott Hammond: I like it

Paul DeMark: … your whole body and being.

Scott Hammond: Never connected that. I love it.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So there's a preservative effect.

Paul DeMark: I think so, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no, I like that.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Unless, of course, you die in a hotel room at 28-

Paul DeMark: Yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: … in Florida or wherever.

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: Wherever all the 28-

Paul DeMark: Or the 27-year-olds.

Scott Hammond: 27-year-olds died.

Paul DeMark: 27 was the year that-

Scott Hammond: Gosh

Paul DeMark: … Janis and, uh, Jimi-

Scott Hammond: Hendrix

Paul DeMark: … Hendrix, uh, um, Jim Morrison, and there's others.

Scott Hammond: I think Tommy Bolin, the guitarist, died pretty young too-

Paul DeMark: Yeah, he did. Uh

Scott Hammond: … from the James Gang and Deep Purple.

Paul DeMark: Oh, okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He was quite, he was quite a guy.

Wish he-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … could've stuck around, but-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … So, uh, so one, one, kind of one-night stands now, so

the, the, the, the audience and the, the participation, their consumption's different.

Paul DeMark: I think so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: For sure.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And obviously, COVID has affected things.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

Paul DeMark: Um, uh, you know, even now it seems to be there's a kind of

resurgence right now in COVID. Um, so there's many people that just won't go out to a really crowded small club, for sure.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: Um, what was an, uh, a benefit of COVID is that

more venues, obviously during COVID, uh, went outside.

Scott Hammond: Yes.

Paul DeMark: So many more outside music venues, and that's continued to this-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … to this day. It's a little [laughs] tough in the

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: But there still are some that are outdoor venues.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: We really like that, eat, eat out- eat outside.

Uh, you know, just wherever you travel, there's, like, some sort of outdoor-

Paul DeMark: Right

Scott Hammond: … something now, which is-

Paul DeMark: Yeah. More, more than ever, and there's… You know,

That's an outdoor thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: They created a, um, um,

a, a deck with a, a roof on that is an outdoor area that people play.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: So, um-

Scott Hammond: How about the winery in Philbrook?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's a nice, nice stage up there.

Paul DeMark: Yes. It's fantastic.

Scott Hammond: We became members this year.

Paul DeMark: Oh, did you?

Scott Hammond: On account of Pam, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: She-

Paul DeMark: Pam's my wife-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … Pam Long. She, uh, she was the general manager.

Scott Hammond: Oh, she did a great job. And you, you were in charge of musical-

Paul DeMark: I, uh, yes

Scott Hammond: … all that shit.

Paul DeMark: Judy Hodgson hired me to book all the bands-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … every Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 to 4:00, and we did 10

Thursday evening shows from 5:30 to 8:00, and had a wide

mixture of-

Scott Hammond: You did. It was pretty eclectic

Paul DeMark: … early jazz to citizen funk, funk, and,

um, uh, even s- a couple, um, Grateful Dead-oriented bands, so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: So, you know, people love the outdoor venues around here

Scott Hammond: Wait, Grateful Dead in Humboldt County?

Paul DeMark: [laughs] A lot of them.

Scott Hammond: Let, let me just point out Philbrook, uh, to,

Here's Arcata. Here's Philbrook. It's actually on the map.

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: Right there, Nick. See it?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Philbrook.

Paul DeMark: It's, uh, it-

Scott Hammond: It could be nice out there. It could be in the 80s

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Once, once July hit… June last year we had a

June gloom for the entire month.

Scott Hammond: It was weird.

Paul DeMark: All the way, all the way out to Willow Creek.

But then July hit, and so it was hard to get people to come out 'cause

cold.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: But then July hit, and everything warmed up, and crowds loved

coming out there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Um, even, uh, Philbrook Market has an outdoor-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul DeMark: … venue. Uh, they're kind of…

see what they're gonna do.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul DeMark: They're not sure they're gonna continue.

Scott Hammond: Just read that, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. So, um, yeah, there's a…

There's a lot of-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … outdoor venues now.

Scott Hammond: Let's talk about festivals for a sec.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So bigger things that have happened over the years between

jazz festival, uh, other things that come to your mind. What, um… Paul, what, to you, what's been the success stories there that have ma- maybe made their mark or, or, or

can one day?

Paul DeMark: Well,

obviously the, uh, Blues by the Bay had a great run.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: I don't know the years. I would say

probably all through the, you know, early '90s probably to 2005.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: 10 to 15-year run. That was a great venue down at Halverson Park-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … by the Bay, and, uh,

that was a, that was a great festival.

Scott Hammond: That's where Sarah Bareilles played with-

Paul DeMark: Right

Scott Hammond: … Huckleberry Flint and everybody.

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Right. So that's, that's been great.

The Redwood Coast Music Festival, uh, we just celebrated, uh-Our 31st or 2nd year. We took two years off from COVID. I think it was the 32nd year.

Scott Hammond: Are you a board member? Is that what-

Paul DeMark: I'm, I'm a board member

Scott Hammond: … say, we-

Paul DeMark: I help publicize the-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Paul DeMark: … festival.

Scott Hammond: Super successful, right?

Paul DeMark: Yeah, very much so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And it's changed over the years. It was the…

When it started, um, so I think it started in 1990, it was the Dixieland-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … Jazz Fest, and then it became the Redwood Coast Jazz

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And now it's known as the Redwood Coast Music Festival because,

you know, the, um, the crowd was getting older-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and it's still a com- very much a dance-oriented festival.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: But now it's expanded to be a Eureka's American Roots

Festival, so there's everything from early jazz,

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … um, through rockabilly, zydeco, Cajun,

um, you know, Western swing-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Paul DeMark: … um, you know, Chicago blues, Texas blues.

So it's, it's expanded to include all those kinds

Scott Hammond: Mm

Paul DeMark: … roots American music.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, it's going strong. We had, uh, seven stages.

It's all, all based in Eureka.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, turnout's great. People come from all over the West Coast.

Some people come from around the country because it's, uh, it's kinda unique right now. A lot of musicians say there's nothing

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay.

Paul DeMark: 'Cause they come here and meet other musicians, and they form

bands here, just do one rehearsal and play with them.

Scott Hammond: Perfect.

Paul DeMark: Um, but it's, you know, it's still a very strong, uh,

dance-oriented festival.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: But there's really, truly great music.

Scott Hammond: What about, um, uh, Reggae on the River?

I mean, that's not happening at the moment, right?

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: But that, that has its own southern Humboldt…

By the way, that's down in here, Reggae on the River.

Paul DeMark: You're showing our list- our-

Scott Hammond: Yeah. [laughs] You can't see anything

Paul DeMark: … our viewers.

Scott Hammond: But it's way off the map over here. [laughs]

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It's about… Well, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Garberville.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, Garberville's about 40 minutes south of,

Scott Hammond: Here's Garberville

Paul DeMark: … Arcata.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I can see it.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's down here.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Um-

Scott Hammond: Well, that a great, a big deal

Paul DeMark: … that had a great run. I think they're trying to

restart it. It, yeah, it started in, I believe, '85 or

'86, and, uh, had about a 30-year run and-

Scott Hammond: That brought in a lot of people, right?

Paul DeMark: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Peop- all, uh, all over the West Coast and-

Scott Hammond: It was a premier reggae-

Paul DeMark: … around the country

Scott Hammond: … show, right?

Paul DeMark: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It became one… The top reggae performers, you know-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Paul DeMark: … were playing there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um, and, uh, I think another festival,

uh, the, uh, Humboldt Folklife Festival.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Glad you-

Paul DeMark: And that-

Scott Hammond: … brought that up, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. And that's, now it's, it's based, uh, in,

uh, Blue Lake at the Dell'Arte, um,

uh, School-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … of Physical Theater, and they have a really cool outdoor stage,

Scott Hammond: Very nice, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Really beautiful. Great stage. And then they have a stage on the

street. And that thing's been going on… Wow, when I first got here, there was a, uh, a ranch up on Fickle Hill. Lazy J, I think.

Scott Hammond: Yep. Yep.

Paul DeMark: Right? Do you know that place?

Scott Hammond: I absolutely do.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And, and they used to have cowboys up there,

Scott Hammond: They had a western town.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, it was a western town-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul DeMark: … and-

Scott Hammond: And rodeo grounds.

Paul DeMark: Right. Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And then they had v- acoustic bands, uh, bluegrass and

things like that. I'm not even sure they had any

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Paul DeMark: But that's how it started. And then,

um, then the Humboldt Folklife Society worked with Dell'Arte and moved it there, so it's been there for, uh, probably 30 years now.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Are you in that board as well?

Paul DeMark: No. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: That's mostly… Uh, Patrick's been part of that a long time.

Paul DeMark: Patrick Cleary's been the president for-

Scott Hammond: For a while

Paul DeMark: … pa- yeah, quite a few years.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: They have a solid base of people that, um,

on the board, and they have volunteers, and they work really hard and-

Scott Hammond: They do a great job.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, they do.

Scott Hammond: So th- there's that venue, then Perigo Park in Blue Lake and-

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do they expand out from there much? I mean, there's…

It seems like that's-

Paul DeMark: Well, they do a, uh,

uh-

Scott Hammond: There's other-

Paul DeMark: … square dance.

Scott Hammond: Oh, there's-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … little things, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Old-timey square dance at the Arcata Event Center,

of the festival. It's, it's a week long.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul DeMark: It's always… Well, it changed.

It's al- it had always been the second week of

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: It moved to the third week in July.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: But that's a great festival. Um,

you know, they have the, the music,

um, uh, on the Bay there at the foot of C Street.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Those concerts they do Thursday nights.

Uh-

Scott Hammond: Great point, yeah. Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, that ha- that's happening, and-

Scott Hammond: The radio stations p- sponsor that for-

Paul DeMark: Right

Scott Hammond: … what, 15-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … plus years.

Paul DeMark: Bi-Coastal Media does that.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Paul DeMark: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Then Friday night is now a, a venue.

Paul DeMark: Right. The Friday night market's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … going real strong. That's been around about four years now.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And then McKinleyville at, uh, Pearson Park, every

Thursday in the summer they have-

Scott Hammond: We love it

Paul DeMark: … Thursday night concerts. So, you know, that's-

Scott Hammond: Shout out to McKinleyville

Paul DeMark: … you know, just talking about it, it, it,

County-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … audiences love live music.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Which is great for, you know, a musician like me 'cause there's, uh,

that really likes to come out and see live bands, so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: You know?

Scott Hammond: Azalea Park's fun. We've, we do that. It's…

We live in McKinleyville, so it's kind of on the way home and-

Paul DeMark: Right

Scott Hammond: … we've sat in 40-degree fog

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: We love live music. [laughs]

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, so we'll-

Paul DeMark: You have to wear your layers.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, you got- [laughs]

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: It's Humboldt, man. We wear layers here.

Paul DeMark: [laughs] That's right.

Scott Hammond: So tell me about the venues that you like to play in, uh, in

terms of sound or just the vibe or locally where you, um, where you feel, uh, it's fun.

Paul DeMark: Well, you know, for me, and many musicians,

um, if the acoustics are good-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … then you love playing there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: 'Cause when they're difficult, you know, the bouncing, like

live surfaces and everything's bouncing and it's very

hard to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … control the sound, and it's a stra- it, it, it's hard to

play music when, uh, the acoustics are very difficult.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: But when they're good, you know,

Scott Hammond: Then, then it flows.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um, like, I like the Eagle House.

Scott Hammond: I've seen it.

Paul DeMark: Has a balcony, that ballroom there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I love it.

Paul DeMark: Uh, it's, you know, and it's, uh-

Scott Hammond: How's the Arkley Theater? Is it-

Paul DeMark: Um-

Scott Hammond: … sound-wise good?

Paul DeMark: I… Let's see.Well, I've never played there.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: But, uh, I've heard sound in there, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … Chris Pereira-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … is their sound technician at Lights-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … and he does a great job. So I think that's a good venue.

I think, um, Wrangletown Cider-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … in Arcata. Do you know about that venue?

Scott Hammond: Absolutely. Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: They actually have great acoustics there.

Scott Hammond: Saw Gary Davidson play there just recently.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Um-

Scott Hammond: You're the second person this week that's said those very words. The,

'Cause it's a, it's a cider house that's kind of a

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It's, it's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … uh, it's where the machine works, uh,

across from Hensel's Hardware, and it's a, it's, um, a winery production and storage facility for Septentrio-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and, uh, North Story Wines and Wrangletown Cider.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: But what was fortunate is that, um,

Robert Goodman owned that building for many years.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And he sprayed, uh, insulation over the metal

roof.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Paul DeMark: And that made it into a really good acoustic room.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Paul DeMark: You know?

Scott Hammond: Is he still around?

Paul DeMark: I think so. He doesn't own it anymore.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: But, so-

Scott Hammond: But you got Salt, uh, Restaurant, and then-

Paul DeMark: Right

Scott Hammond: … the, what's it, the, called the Carriage House now?

Paul DeMark: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Like the other one, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Right. But the acoustics in that room are great,

of North Story Wines and, and Wrangletown. So she started doing music there, and I said,

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: So the musicians, if, if you have a room that sounds good,

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um, the, the current ba- well, I mean, I'm in several different groups,

but I'm in this showcase group called the, the New Pelicans.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And it's, uh, four of the five people who

It's an Americana band. And we did our first show there, stage, and, and Chris Pereira did sound.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: And we love the acoustics in there.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: So that'll keep bringing musicians and audience members.

Maybe they don't quite know why they like it, but-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … often it's because it's a good-sounding

Scott Hammond: Heard it was a good show.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Who's in the band, by the way?

Paul DeMark: It's, uh,

uh, Michael Walker on, uh, guitar and vocals and songwriting. Mike Bynum, who's, uh, plays guitar and sings and writes songs. They're both from the state of Georgia. They came here independent of each other.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: Gary Davidson on bass.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Um, [lip smacks] Dar- Darren Weiss on

mandolin.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And myself-

Scott Hammond: Is he the, is he the young guy?

Paul DeMark: Darren? No.

No. Um-

Scott Hammond: Who was the, who was the young-

Paul DeMark: You're thinking of the pedal steel player, Alistar.

Scott Hammond: Maybe.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, Alistar Page.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: He, but he's, he's not doing this. Um,

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Paul DeMark: But then every, every … We're only doing one once a season, and

we have a special local guest that we highlight, and we play with

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Paul DeMark: … and they play with us. The first one we did,

um, was, uh, Turtle from, um-

Scott Hammond: Is it Bard Fire?

Paul DeMark: Bard Fire, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And the next one's gonna be Beverly Twist.

It's gonna be Saturday, February 24th, at the Eagle House, and we're excited because she's, uh, she's in Canary and the Vamp.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul DeMark: And she was in Belles of the Levy. She's specializes in '20s

Scott Hammond: Saw her, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, and Django Reinhardt. So with us, uh, so far we've,

we've learned, like, four more Western swing-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Paul DeMark: … uh, songs. And so that'll push us in a different

know, we'll have, we'll be backing her up.

Um, but the Eagle House is great. Uh, I've just played The Basement last Friday.

Scott Hammond: How was that?

Paul DeMark: And, uh, that's pretty good. Uh, the acoustics used to be, uh,

really dead back in the early '80s.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: But they've changed the carpet on the stage, so it's, there's more life.

So it's a-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … it's a much better sounding room.

Scott Hammond: I love you talking about Brent Hart, Brent Hart's.

Paul DeMark: Brent Hart's. [laughs] Remember that?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, then it was Abruzzi.

Paul DeMark: Right. Exactly.

Scott Hammond: And then, yeah, and what was upstairs? Young, Young Bullet?

Paul DeMark: Youngberg's was.

Scott Hammond: Youngberg's.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Gosh, that's all history.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. [laughs] We've both been along here long

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Paul DeMark: … have lived it. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: There'll be like 10 people that'll go, "Yeah, I remember that."

Paul DeMark: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Was it Steve Young? Was that the guy's name-

Paul DeMark: Yes

Scott Hammond: … that founded it all?

Paul DeMark: Youngberg's, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And, uh,

of course, uh, Bill Chino and-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … uh, Chris Smith-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and Gary Gebhardt.

Scott Hammond: Great guys.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Funny, funny guys.

Paul DeMark: Yes, they are.

Scott Hammond: I, I walked in their office once

It was, they were so funny.

Paul DeMark: They're very, very quick. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: So

t- today, The Speakeasy is a big venue it seems like.

Paul DeMark: It's a small, it's a small room-

Scott Hammond: It's a small-

Paul DeMark: [laughs] but a popular venue.

Scott Hammond: They said the Tuesday night jazz is outstanding.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: They do, uh, it's the, uh, alley, the Jazz, uh, Alley Cats.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And they play Tuesdays and Fridays, and,

The Basement. They're excellent, uh, bebop musicians.

Scott Hammond: Who's the guy that's the tall piano player that plays with them?

He-

Paul DeMark: Oh, Tim Randalls.

Scott Hammond: Tim, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He's, he's pretty-

Paul DeMark: Yeah, they're, they're the, uh, RLAD, uh, quartet.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And we d- you know, I don't wanna leave S- SoHum out of this,

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … uh, the … What was the, the, the venue down there that everybody,

Paul DeMark: The Matil? Matil Center.

Scott Hammond: Matil Center.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: They're still doing music.

Scott Hammond: Are they?

Paul DeMark: That's a great venue.

Um, and there's, uh, oh, what's-

Scott Hammond: [laughs]

Paul DeMark: … there's one on the main drag,

And then, uh, Stone Junction. Stone Junction, that's what it is.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: I haven't been there, but they're doing a lot of music there.

Scott Hammond: Matil had a big history of, like, a lot of big names-

Paul DeMark: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … that, that came through.

Paul DeMark: Ab- absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Um-

Scott Hammond: Where's the Eu-

Paul DeMark: … Mary Reggae.

Scott Hammond: Mary Reggae. The Vets Hall in Eureka was known, or the,

kind of a deco chamber, right?

Paul DeMark: Yes. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That, that was what you're, you were talking about?

Paul DeMark: The Municipal Auditorium.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. And that's-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Paul DeMark: … it's, it can't save that. It's, it's just-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … metal and hard surfaces everywhere, and I-

Scott Hammond: It's just too hard

Paul DeMark: … I played there and it was just, uh, that's a nightmare venue.

Scott Hammond: How about the Eureka Theatre?

Paul DeMark: Eureka Th- it has, it has challenges.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: It does. They're, they're, uh, the Redwood Coast Music Festival

working hard with their, um, the board there to do what they can to um, acoustics. But-

Scott Hammond: It needs money to do that.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And it has the overhang of the balcony.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: So there's a lot of challenges. Um, there's potential.

I mean, it's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … the Redwood Coast Music Festival uses it

becauseIt's, uh, the biggest venue-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … you know, they have.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: They use the Adorni, which actually is pretty good.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: And then the Eagle House is the best, and, uh, the Red Lion.

Scott Hammond: What, what about Wharf Finger building?

Is that-

Paul DeMark: Um-

Scott Hammond: Does anybody play music out there?

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: I would, I think so.

Paul DeMark: I've played there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: I played some,

you know, parties, private parties.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: It's not like a place

… I mean, they do mostly private events, but there's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … you know, it's, I don't know. They've,

they installed a lot of acoustic baffling in there-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … to improve it.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: So it's, it's pretty good.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: You know? Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, kind of open air, too. You could see around.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, it's a great looking venue, and they,

improving the, uh, acoustics, so it's really pretty good room. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So if you were to go out tomorrow night and they were playing,

see? If, if, if any band that you're not in, [laughs] who would, w- couple of bands that you'd like to see without offending, you know, friends in the industry, you, who would you like to see as a, a five-band lineup or a three-band lineup somewhere?

Paul DeMark: Well, one band I wanna see, I'm, I'm hoping,

uh, let's see, they're gonna be the night before New that's Saturday, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: 30th. Um, Digging Dirt, they're at the, uh,

Arcata Theatre Lounge.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: And, and they're, they're a band that's mostly local people-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … that played here, you know,

around 10 years ago, five to 10 years ago. And I have never seen them, but I'm, I'm well aware of them. And they, they're playing festivals all over the

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, but this is their home.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And so they just come back and do, like, two shows a year.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: So they're gonna be at the Theatre Lounge, uh, uh, uh,

Saturday and then New Year's Eve.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Uh, so I'd, I'd like to, I'm thinking about seeing them.

Um, let's see. I like, uh, you know, um, Object Heavy is a, a good band to

see. Um,

um, you know, I, I always like to see, uh, uh, Home Cookin' with Fred and

Joyce.

Scott Hammond: They're just-

Paul DeMark: Um, there's some other really-

Scott Hammond: They're just great, yeah

Paul DeMark: … cool young, you know, new bands that are on the scene,

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, um,

uh, they're, they're doing like … I saw them at the Fourth of July fest, and they were doing, like, ska and

reggae-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … and soul and funk and-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul DeMark: … a re- a really exciting band.

Scott Hammond: Checkered Past.

Paul DeMark: Checkered Past, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Paul DeMark: Is a new … And I liked, uh, um, Magnificent

Sanctuary band, which does-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … uh, Grateful Dead covers.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Paul DeMark: Uh, no, they, no, excuse me, they do Jerry Garcia band covers-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … primarily. And they're a really good band.

Um, you know, I don't wanna leave other people out. There's, there's a, a wi- I like everything from, you know, acoustic stuff and Americana to, you know, uh, funk, like Object Heavy and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … um, you know, those bands.

Uh, but that's all I can think of at the top.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Paul DeMark: There's, uh, many others.

Scott Hammond: Great. Yeah, you, you c- can't, you're gonna leave somebody out.

[laughs]

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So-

Paul DeMark: There's many out.

Scott Hammond: So who have you, um, we for …

small things, like, there's the Fourth of Julys, both Arcata, Eureka. There's the Azalea Park thing in There's, there's, it, it's, you start talking about this, you go, "Oh, heavy, heavy music." Um, how about, uh, Ferndale? You got the, uh, the Steeple.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The Old Steeple.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. What a great music venue that's become.

Scott Hammond: Oh, man.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's fun.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh-

Paul DeMark: That's a great room. I played there a couple times-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … with shows with my brother Jeff, and wow,

Scott Hammond: So is it John Hammond, the guy, the producer?

Paul DeMark: Yeah. He's a producer's son.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: John Hammond Jr.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. John Hammond Sr. was a producer.

He, he discovered Bessie Smith-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … um, uh, Bob Dylan-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul DeMark: … uh, Springsteen.

Scott Hammond: He's my great uncle.

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: I'm sorry. That's wrong. I, I lied.

We actually do own the Hammond Trail, though.

Als-

Paul DeMark: A distant relative.

Scott Hammond: Also, also a huge lie. [laughs] See, my nose, it's-

Paul DeMark: Very,

a very distant relative.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. [laughs] Hammond Lumber.

Paul DeMark: It … [laughs]

Scott Hammond: That was the biggest redwood lumber company in the world until GP

Paul DeMark: Was it?

Scott Hammond: And they divested it immediately.

Paul DeMark: Oh, wow.

Scott Hammond: They, they, it was an i- antitrust. They would've had a monopoly.

Paul DeMark: Oh.

Scott Hammond: So right on the bay was the, the most giant redwood monster that

ever, ever grew. But, um, no relation. It just disgusts my teenagers "Yeah, hey, Scott Hammond, Hammond Lumber."

Paul DeMark: Another band I thought I like, uh, Cadillac Ranch.

They're a-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … great country rock band.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: That's a good one.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And then, you know, Mad River had that venue for, still does,

but not as much music, but it was-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … so regular.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, they used, they used to have,

wow, I don't know, at least three days a week.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Thursday, Friday, Saturday. I think it's now just one day a week.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it-

Paul DeMark: Fridays.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's still nice to go to Blue Lake if you're freezing in McKinleyville-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and it's 70 out there and-

Paul DeMark: You know, a, a cr- uh, a fun venue, the acoustics are kind of,

uh, crazy 'cause it's small, and it get, and people get, you know, loud in there, is, uh, the Logger.

Scott Hammond: The Logger.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, I'm playing there tomorrow with a group

at, uh, I played with my brother Jeff and, uh, a couple other people recently and-

Scott Hammond: Logger Bar's famous, right?

Paul DeMark: Yeah, it's fun too.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: It's, there's, the crowd's really, really into it.

Scott Hammond: Isn't that funny? We've been to Blue Lake a thousand times,

foot in the Logger Bar. I just-

Paul DeMark: Oh, really?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Our, our pastor friends-

Paul DeMark: Oh

Scott Hammond: … last week said, "Hey, we- we'll go."

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, we got sidetracked, but we're gonna go.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, it's-

Scott Hammond: It's not too late.

Paul DeMark: No. Come out tomorrow. We're playing-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … The Big A. We have, uh, Justin Brown from, bass player-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Paul DeMark: … who I love, from Justin, from, uh, Jenny and David & the

Sweet Soul Band, and-

Scott Hammond: Yep

Paul DeMark: … Jeff Landon on-

Scott Hammond: Yep

Paul DeMark: … guitar, and Robert Franklin.

Scott Hammond: He's, he's Ho- Hobart's son, right?

Paul DeMark: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Hobart Brent's son.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, he is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. He's a really fun, excellent bass player, very versatile.

Scott Hammond: And, you know, shout out to Gary Davidson for, you know,

interview, but yeah, what a, what a great guy and a great player.

Paul DeMark: Yes, he is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And very versatile and very much in demand.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So who have you seen in Humboldt-And then

down the road in the future. Who have you seen over the years that, uh, town, say, at the Old Town Bar & Grill, who, who just blew your socks off? That, that-

Paul DeMark: Traveling bands? Like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah

Paul DeMark: … national bands?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I mean, Robert Cray or whomever. I mean, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Well, the Robert Cray was fantastic, and then they, they

in the mid-'70s to the early '80s.

Scott Hammond: Just a great show.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, and they, they would come through about every six

They were always fantastic. Um, you know, I, Etta James was great there, Sam & Dave. I saw Junior Walker & The All Stars.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: Um, the, uh… I worked for, I, the first two years when Deborah

Lazjo ran, ran it starting in 1980-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … I, I was her assistant. I did-

Scott Hammond: Oh, is that right?

Paul DeMark: … the publicity, marketing, and I booked the local acts,

her to my friend Harry Duncan, who was in the music business, who I mentioned

earlier.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: And I connected her with him, and he had all

connections with all the booking agents.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: At the time, he was managing The Neville Brothers.

Scott Hammond: Very nice.

Paul DeMark: So he was-

Scott Hammond: Did they come here?

Paul DeMark: … extremely well-connected, yeah.

So she started getting, uh, talking to him, and he was her consultant and-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Paul DeMark: … opened doors for her to have the national

Los Lobos came the first year we were, we were doing

shows.

Scott Hammond: They're great.

Paul DeMark: They were like, it was their first tour of the West Coast.

Scott Hammond: And now they're, like, their 40th year.

Paul DeMark: 50th.

Scott Hammond: 50th.

Paul DeMark: They're doing-

Scott Hammond: Playing at Blue Lake, right?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: At the…

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Um, so, you know, obviously the Nevilles were always great there. Uh, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: Um,

yeah.

Scott Hammond: Saw Bruce Cockburn there.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, Bruce Cockburn, I saw him there.

Scott Hammond: He's something.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Funny, you know, funny story, so here we go.

It occurs to me, it's come to me that we didn't talk about Center Arts yet Humboldt State. I'm sorry. And the, the running joke here is, it's not Humboldt State, is it, Nick? It's Cal Poly Humboldt.

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: So and it's right over here in Arcata.

Anyway, how old will that joke get? Um…

Paul DeMark: Well, I graduated from Humboldt State

Scott Hammond: Me too, in '82, dang it.

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: With a degree in Liberal Arts, Recreation Administration.

Paul DeMark: Journalism for me.

Scott Hammond: Journalist.

Paul DeMark: Public Relations and News, and I, I was fortunate.

I used it for 30 years in my fields.

Scott Hammond: Well, with-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Deborah Lazjo and promotion and all.

Paul DeMark: Well, that was before. I, I did that before I went to Humboldt,

there, I thought, "Well, I know how to get press releases in media, so I might as well-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … get a journalism degree."

but I did the news thing. So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … when I graduated, '85, I st- started working in newspapers.

I was down in Garberville at the Redwood Record.

Scott Hammond: That's right. You were at-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … you were, you were f- at Arcata

Paul DeMark: And I was at the Arcata Union for-

Scott Hammond: The Arcata Union, yeah

Paul DeMark: … managing editor for about four years.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause I worked for the Tri-City Weekly.

We were kinda-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … s- sold at… Were you, you were, uh, editorial.

Paul DeMark: I was, yeah, I was the managing editor.

Scott Hammond: That's right, yeah. Did you ever manage the paper?

Paul DeMark: No.

Scott Hammond: That was Judy, right? Or-

Paul DeMark: Uh, no, n- no, Judy was never the-

Scott Hammond: Mr. Hadley.

Paul DeMark: Uh, yeah, the Hadleys, when she was the editor.

The Hadleys and then, uh, Patrick O'Dell from Fortuna.

Scott Hammond: Took it over, yeah.

Paul DeMark: He, he, uh, bought it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Um, he owned the Satellite TV Week in Fortuna

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And the Humboldt Beacon Weekly.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul DeMark: And-

Scott Hammond: And the Redwood Record.

Paul DeMark: And the Redwood Record, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yep.

Paul DeMark: So.

Scott Hammond: Used to call him Citizen O'Dell from Citizen Kane.

Paul DeMark: [laughs] Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So real quick, b- back to the Bar & Grill-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and you connecting Deborah. How did you,

a guy from I-5 to come over three hours out of the way to go to the Old Town, Old, Old Town Bar & Grill? Or how did, how did, how did you persuade bands to kind of z- you know, so they're over here on the 5, I'm… It's not-

Paul DeMark: I think it was more people coming up or down the 101.

Scott Hammond: Okay. From Oregon?

Paul DeMark: And then it, and then it got, you know, because it, uh, Deborah was a,

really was a great businesswoman, and it w- you know, to me, it was still the coolest music venue this area's ever seen-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … because of the way it was looked.

You know, it had the balcony, big dance floor.

Scott Hammond: Brick everywhere.

Paul DeMark: You c- and you could go all the way to the back

Um, it was all the, had these kind of mini environments. You could walk up the stairs and be looking down at the band that away. It just, and it had, uh-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul DeMark: … we always had a sound person,

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And then, then Russ Cole started helping him,

Scott Hammond: Russ is-

Paul DeMark: By the way, he travels with Bruce Cockburn now.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's right, yeah.

Paul DeMark: He's his sound man.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: But I think it, you know, it had a great sound in there.

She put a, a thick velvet blue curtain over the windows, and that did wonders.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Paul DeMark: And then having everything mic'd was tremendous.

Just the, the viewpoints from the balcony,

um-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Paul DeMark: … it was a great, great venue that had a really good run up

until probably the mid to late '90s-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … when Deborah was running it.

Scott Hammond: With real names, I mean, just hardcore.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, big, big names.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And, and local bands.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: There was always local bands too. It was always, always a mixture

of… You know, because the, the local bands, you know, would get paid a decent wage, but, you know, you'd have to– You couldn't do national acts all the time because then you-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … have to guarantee them money.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: But, you know, Deborah did really well.

We tried to make it so, um, she didn't go too far out on a limb-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and just built up the club.

"This is a great place to play."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: You know, and es- you're, if you're driving from Sa- LA

you're going up to Portland-

Scott Hammond: It's kind of on the way

Paul DeMark: … well, this is the place to stop.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You wanna see Humboldt. It's great.

Paul DeMark: Right, and this is a great venue.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: They loved it.

Scott Hammond: That's great.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Center Arts, so let's talk about Humboldt,

people over the years.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And Roy, Roy did a, did a great job.

Paul DeMark: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Um, what do you… Comments there?

I, that, that's, that's been a k- a killer venue.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Oh.

Scott Hammond: Van Duzen must be a good theater to play in.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, it is.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. I played there a couple times.

Um, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And they re- are they still remodeling it?I thought

somehow I thought they finished, but they're still doing a lot of their

Arkley.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. I'm s- I'm gonna see The Wood Brothers at the

uh, March. Uh, I don't know. I was at… I saw, um, [lip smacks] Margo Price not too long ago Van Duzer, and looked like everything was in place. Yeah, it'd be hard to start just they've had so

Scott Hammond: Gosh. James Brown and-

Paul DeMark: Uh, [chuckles] yeah, I did see him. Ray Charles.

Um-

Scott Hammond: Really? Okay. Bonnie Raitt's played there a couple

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Yeah. It's, uh,

you know, it's limitless. Uh, I, I saw one of the… I th- probably the greatest show I think I've sure, was the Old Crow Medicine Show.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I bet.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, love them.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: I was on one… I was in the first row.

Scott Hammond: Dig it.

Paul DeMark: My brother Jeff was in the first row. We're, uh…

And it's a curved thing, so he was on the right side, I was on the left. We could see each other.

Scott Hammond: See, see him.

Paul DeMark: But it, it was just a, a performance where these, you know…

And with the sound was fantastic where we were.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: And it was, uh… They just gave their whole soul to it,

But I've seen a lot of great shows there.

Scott Hammond: We saw Gil-

Paul DeMark: Gillian Welch, uh, and-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Paul DeMark: … Dave Rawlings. I, I love them.

Scott Hammond: Saw them there, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Saw Bruce Coburn there and-

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Beach Boys.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It's been tremendous. I mean, it…

Well, it wasn't… It didn't exist when I first got here in '75. I think it started around '77 or '78.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they started doing shows

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Okay.

Scott Hammond: '78, '79.

Paul DeMark: Right. Yeah. That's my memory of it.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul DeMark: So that's, that's a fantastic-

Scott Hammond: Saw Ro- Robert Cray there. He's-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … quite-

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … the gentleman and good show.

Paul DeMark: Right.

Scott Hammond: We saw a guy named, uh, Durand Jones & The Indications.

Paul DeMark: Oh, I don't know that one.

Scott Hammond: Oh, he… That was-

Paul DeMark: Huh

Scott Hammond: … just soul, just hardcore.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, newer band, but really good.

And so Joni and I are older, and we got good seats fifth, fifth

row, and-

Paul DeMark: Mm

Scott Hammond: … we, we looked around, and it became a dance party.

Paul DeMark: Oh. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: All the Humboldt State students-

Paul DeMark: Oh

Scott Hammond: … are going nuts. It's like, "Oh, this is great."

Paul DeMark: Huh.

Scott Hammond: "Let's do this. We're not, we're not that old."

Paul DeMark: Yeah, they don't let them do that much anymore.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, no. It's probably-

Paul DeMark: People pay a lot of money for seats to see the bands.

Scott Hammond: That's true.

Paul DeMark: Uh-

Scott Hammond: We saw Paul Reiser there, the, the actor.

Paul DeMark: Oh, did you? Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he did a… He does a standup that's pretty kind of

a- autobiographical and funny, and-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … he's a great guy.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, what are you s- what are you seeing down the road for

Humboldt? What do you, what do you envision, um, the next permeation, the next… What's the next step?

Paul DeMark: Um, hmm. That's a good question.

Scott Hammond: Next l- the, as the kids say, next level.

Paul DeMark: [laughs] Next level.

Well, you know, someone that I admire and that is really thinks on that level of what, what's gonna be the next

level, um, in Humboldt and is, uh, Brian Swizlo, uh, from Object Heavy. And, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Paul DeMark: … he's always talking about trying to

scene.

And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … there's, uh,

you know, he… They tour. You know, they, they tour around the country.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: So they're on, they're in a different,

uh, s- space than other people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: You know, they're, they have a record deal with a company,

Scott Hammond: Mm

Paul DeMark: … they're, you know, they're trying to make it.

But he's always promoting shows in, you know, independently-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … trying his things. I think for some bands that can

draw, it's trying to promote your own shows,

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … like I'm doing with the New Pelicans-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: …

is, is, um, trying to approach, like a, a dance concert, uh, or sit-down concert where you go into promote it, and let's charge admission." For a while, admission, and now it's starting to come back where to get in because-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … you know, it's a way to pay not only musicians,

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and some of the overhead at clubs, so-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … they feel like, "Okay, the, the band's paid for out of the door.

We're not taking it out of our money."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul DeMark: Um, I think that's gonna continue,

and, uh, you know, I, I do think that outdoor venues are gonna be really strong.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: A lot of bands, they work mostly-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … from late spring into October.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: But, uh,

you know, I think it's always just kinda instr-

Um-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … there's a lot of musicians that

record and put things out to promote themselves. Um, that's… Obviously, there's m- much more of that because it's so People can have their own studios.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: The technology's come-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … to where you can do your own YouTube

Paul DeMark: Right

Scott Hammond: … stream all day long.

Paul DeMark: Right. Like I was talking to Michael Walker and Mike

Bynum from the New Pelicans, and I said, "You know, as a promotional vehicle, we should record one song and just put it out on-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul DeMark: … uh, streaming services, Spotify-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … um, and, uh, other things like that, YouTube-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … Apple Music." Because,

you know, I've involved in a fair amount of, um, uh, album projects, but now it's like people often just, "Well, here's our lat- latest two songs."

Scott Hammond: Have a song, yeah.

Paul DeMark: Because they're not… You know, especially on a local level,

make any money that way. It's used to interest people in your

music.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And that's a trend that I s- I see that I think more

are gonna do, just record their music, get it out there quickly.

Scott Hammond: Here it is.

Paul DeMark: Here's where we're at right now.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And I think that's what I would like to move to.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: Um, like The Handshakers, we did a 10-song-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … CD,

but it doesn't seem necessary.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, maybe you don't have to do a full record.

Paul DeMark: You don't.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Just do a few songs here and there-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … and get them out there, and I think that's exciting.

I think Object Heavy has a record label, some-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … independent label, and that's great if you can get to

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um-

Scott Hammond: Who's the guy also touring? Buddy, um, the blues-

Paul DeMark: Buddy Reed?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Buddy Reed.

Paul DeMark: He goes down… He goes-

Scott Hammond: He's fun to watch.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. He's very good. He's extr- you know, when he goes back,

playing with, uh, Little Richard.

Scott Hammond: Oh, is that right? [laughs]

Paul DeMark: Yeah, in a group called Baconfat that

LA area in the'70s. Uh, but yeah, he played with, uh, Little Richard, toured with him.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So Richard's still alive?

Paul DeMark: Little Richard?

Scott Hammond: Obviously.

Paul DeMark: No, no, no, no. This was way back. Buddy-

Scott Hammond: Oh, way back. So-

Paul DeMark: Yeah, no, but-

Scott Hammond: Little Richard perished, right?

Paul DeMark: Yeah, yeah, yeah. But Buddy was playing with him,

I don't know, oh, it's probably the '70s, early '80s.

Scott Hammond: Back in the day.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, way back.

Um, but I, you know, I think everything, it's always in a state of flux. There's always clubs like, something else comes up.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Uh, like Septentrio was doing a lot of outdoor shows-

Scott Hammond: Great ones, yeah

Paul DeMark: … a year ago.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And that, that was cool. So-

Scott Hammond: The future has to do with venues too, so-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Wrang- Wrangletown is an unlikely-

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … beautiful discovery, and then-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Arcata Playhouse, they do it in-

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm. They do a lot of shows, yeah

Scott Hammond: … both, both in the creamery and in the tent,

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: So there's indoor, outdoor-ish.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, yeah. Mostly indoors. I played there a number of times.

That's a really great venue.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul DeMark: So, you know, it's like I'm always, you know,

you know, uh, in, in my own way, trying to do shows at these venues just to keep it going, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … you know, and to find venues that's,

sound man that you always do it.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul DeMark: At, you know, uh, the Playhouse and, and, uh, down in

Ferndale at the, the Old Steeple, you always have a sound man there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um-

Scott Hammond: Paul, is it, his name Paul?

Paul DeMark: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, he's, he's a nice guy.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I really like that guy.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: The, these guys, speaking of sound men, these guys,

Huckleberry Flint claim that Russ is their fifth band member.

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: And they, they love Russell Cole. I mean, he's-

Paul DeMark: Yeah, yeah. He's excellent

Scott Hammond: … he just makes them, uh-

Paul DeMark: Uh-huh

Scott Hammond: … sharp, right?

Paul DeMark: Oh, yeah. Oh, it's a, a good sound man is just

gold.

Scott Hammond: And another-

Paul DeMark: Just golden

Scott Hammond: … and another nice guy.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Not, you know-

Paul DeMark: Yeah, yeah

Scott Hammond: … the arrogant, uh, artist or anything.

Paul DeMark: No. No. You gotta work with the…

Scott Hammond: It's a small town. [laughs]

Paul DeMark: Yeah. And Jeff-

Scott Hammond: You're not gonna get away

Paul DeMark: … Jeff Kelly, uh, does sound, as well as playing in three

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … he's very good. Obviously Chris Pereira and, um, uh,

Tofu, uh, Mike-

Scott Hammond: Mike, Mike

Paul DeMark: … Michael Schwartz, he does-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … a good job. And like I said-

Scott Hammond: He does, he is

Paul DeMark: … Chris Pereira. So there's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … there's a number of guys

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … be- and that's, that's a testament to the music scene.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: There's enough concert venues-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … that you will hire a sound man, you know?

Scott Hammond: So is, is Sam Saphir in that category?

He's a local-

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Oh, yes

Scott Hammond: … guy who does a lot of sound, right?

Paul DeMark: He does.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: He owns a lot of… He ki- he's kind of acquired a lot of sound.

Scott Hammond: He's a PA guy too, right? He's got the-

Paul DeMark: Absolutely. PA and lights.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Um-

Scott Hammond: And-

Paul DeMark: And Russ does a lot of work. Like he'll, they'll hire his,

Sam's company-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and then Russ will work for him.

Scott Hammond: Got it. Okay.

Paul DeMark: Yeah, so Russ is like a independent contractor type

Scott Hammond: So Russ doesn't have to own a $10 million-

Paul DeMark: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … equipment.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that makes sense.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, I'd, I'd, it, o- I'd be remiss to not mention the Britt

is-

Paul DeMark: Mm

Scott Hammond: … not here. It's not even in this state, but-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … it's, uh-

Paul DeMark: Jacksonville

Scott Hammond: … can I, can I show you on the map?

Paul DeMark: Sure.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's way up underneath the curve.

Paul DeMark: Uh-huh, yeah. [laughs]

Scott Hammond: It's, uh, so it's three hours away, but, uh,

venues.

Paul DeMark: Oh, it's-

Scott Hammond: Outdoor and-

Paul DeMark: Yeah, I know

Scott Hammond: … um-

Paul DeMark: It's a spectacular venue

Scott Hammond: … last we see Jackson Browne,

We see Judy Collins and Steve Stills together and-

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … you know, mind-blowing. Um, the Hollywood Vampires,

them?

Paul DeMark: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Alice Cooper and Joe Perry from Aerosmith.

Johnny Depp, the actor, is a grungy metal guitar player, and the guy from, uh, Guns N' Roses was the drummer.

It was just-

Paul DeMark: Uh-huh

Scott Hammond: … really just a fun-

Paul DeMark: Up there at that venue?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, like several years ago pre-COVID-

Paul DeMark: Oh

Scott Hammond: … but, uh, I think a lot of really, you know,

Paul DeMark: Yeah, it's really, it's-

Scott Hammond: … Steve Martin

Paul DeMark: … it's a whole spectrum of stuff.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: It's like the Bar & Grill-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … uh, or even like Center Arts. I mean,

artists.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: I was there. I saw, I think I've, I've been there twice,

one I saw was, uh, John Prine.

Scott Hammond: Very nice. Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Uh, and, and that's a music town too.

It's a really small town, but they have, uh, three different bars-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … that have live bands-

Scott Hammond: Jville

Paul DeMark: … in that area.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Um, so, uh,

yeah, I like, I like Jacksonville.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's, it's fun going up there. The, um…

Who did we see that we really liked? Uh, of course, um, they have a lot of younger bands too. We s- we saw a, Australian Pink Floyd. Not too shabby.

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You know?

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's like, uh, it was-

Paul DeMark: There at, at the Britt Fest?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I've never… And there's Britt Floyd,

Festival. It's their, their British Pink Floyd, and they I never really go to cover kind of bands, but they were, uh, pretty darn good.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so you're right, and they have a history of a lot of really

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … really good shows, and it-

Paul DeMark: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … it's, and as you know, probably not easy to do outdoors.

Paul DeMark: Well, you know, they, they have enough money.

Um, uh, they have a overhang. I… They probably have fantastic acoustics on the stage-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … and great sound equipment and people.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: So that's why it sounds so good there.

Scott Hammond: John Prine, that's something.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. It was really nice.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul DeMark: That's a great venue, just sitting there on the lawn.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: I th- and we were kind of high up, but,

you know, they, they had it together. The sound was really good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah. It's just fun. We love to go to Southern Oregon.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, anything else that you'd like to talk about before we

musically or otherwise?

Paul DeMark: Um, hmm.

Well,

I think, uh, I'm always impressed and appreciate the fact that,

that

people will go out and see live music here.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: It's, I think it's a small enough community

musicians. There's other places… You know, I'm glad that I wound up here, because I've been able to put together bands and join bands-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and play consistently for 50 years,

of… Well, almost. You know, I got here in '75. But, um, because it's a smaller community. It's not like-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … you're in San Francisco having to compete

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: You know? It's-Things are close. You can, you

can pull things together quickly.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul DeMark: And, uh, you know, I see so many people, you know, when I

with Caledonia with Fred and Joyce, I still see people

that-

Scott Hammond: Wow!

Paul DeMark: … they have a very l-long audience.

I see people that have-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … been coming out since for 40 years, and,

Scott Hammond: To see them specifically.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: To see-

Paul DeMark: But they'll come out and see bands that I'm into, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … we put together a, a band. It was a vintage country band

'90s, and we did a– We played the Folklife Festival. We did two or three gigs called The Pretenders. And in the audience, it's like-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … people that I saw at the Jambalaya in 1979.

So that's what I really appreciate, and I think people here are, uh, music goers. They, they love to go out and see live music-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … and, and that's impressive. And whether they–

clubs, they'll w- they'll wait till the weather's nice But people come out.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: And it's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … it's, uh, it's still amazing to me, and it, it's–

For me, it's been great because I've been able to

and-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul DeMark: … doing some recordings and just having a rich artistic life.

And I f- I think a lot of musicians around here that it's, it's-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul DeMark: … it's a true music county-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … in my, in my opinion.

Scott Hammond: I rediscovered that in the last hour.

Paul DeMark: No.

Scott Hammond: Years old?

Paul DeMark: No, I'm not.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I d-

Paul DeMark: No.

Scott Hammond: How old are you?

Paul DeMark: I said I moved here in '75.

Scott Hammond: You, you were here in '75 'cause I only have

Paul DeMark: [laughs] Well, that wouldn't be possible, would it?

Scott Hammond: Would it? [laughs] Yeah, that, that would be weird.

Paul DeMark: I'm past 70, I'll say that.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay. So you were kind enough,

turn me on to yoga about-

Paul DeMark: Oh

Scott Hammond: … six, eight months ago, so.

Paul DeMark: Oh, yeah. Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Every morning, man, I, uh, stretch this,

this old carcass.

Paul DeMark: Are you using the, the, the online?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Well, I go, I go on YouTube, Adriene and-

Paul DeMark: Adriene, yeah. She's really good.

Scott Hammond: And there's Mandy. She's the German and-

Paul DeMark: Oh

Scott Hammond: … so she's great. She has a whole stretching routine, so…

And then-

Paul DeMark: Well, I'm glad you're, you're doing it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Then there's the chair workout guy now,

Paul DeMark: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … chair deal if you're-

Paul DeMark: Oh, God, I can't-

Scott Hammond: If you're-

Paul DeMark: I can't even look at that guy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, advanced with ch… Yeah. [laughs]

Paul DeMark: [laughs]

Scott Hammond: He's, he's like 75, and he's, like, ripped-

Paul DeMark: Oh, no

Scott Hammond: … and he's like-

Paul DeMark: That's too much

Scott Hammond: … oh, man, I don't know how to do that, but-

Paul DeMark: I, uh-

Scott Hammond: So, uh, one question I ask everybody-

Paul DeMark: I like to go to a live class over at HealthSport, uh,

Scott Hammond: Oh, there you go

Paul DeMark: … I'm gonna give her a plug, Christine Fiorentino.

Scott Hammond: Is that Pilates?

Paul DeMark: No, it's yoga.

Scott Hammond: It's a yoga class.

Paul DeMark: Yeah. Uh…

Scott Hammond: Yeah. She's a legend down there.

Paul DeMark: Vinyasa.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: Well-

Scott Hammond: Been around for a while

Paul DeMark: … she, yeah, very popular, and she does, you know, like,

two evening classes-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Paul DeMark: … at HealthSport here on Myrtle Avenue.

Scott Hammond: Right over around the corner.

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm. Right. And, uh, I love her classes,

teachers there. Um, you know, there's good teachers all over Humboldt County. Yoga's huge, and there's private places,

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: She's, she's just someone I've been going to

So-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul DeMark: … you know, people find their, their teacher,

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Pilates down in HealthSport on the Bay in,

surgery.

Paul DeMark: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Just-

Paul DeMark: Did you have hip surgery?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, bilateral, uh, 10 years ago this last summer.

Stanford, uh, University-

Paul DeMark: Wow

Scott Hammond: … Medical.

Paul DeMark: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Pretty darn good. Be- one of the best things I ever did.

Paul DeMark: When you say bi- is it both hips?

Scott Hammond: Two in the same day.

Paul DeMark: Wow!

Scott Hammond: Went to sleep at 1:00 PM and woke up at 10:00 PM

going-

Paul DeMark: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … "Let's, let's dance. Let's get some music going."

Paul DeMark: You know, I, it's somewhat– I think I might've told you, like,

years ago, I was, you know, I, as Arts Alive, and I, someone introduced me to this guy who was about 10 years older than me, and he got talking about yoga. And I said, "Yeah, I've been doing yoga since I was 19." think it's the, it's the number one thing you can do to slow the aging process."

Scott Hammond: Besides music.

Paul DeMark: [laughs] Well-

Scott Hammond: Preservative

Paul DeMark: … but you need to do yoga, too.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul DeMark: You need to do some kind of physical activity.

Scott Hammond: Maybe that explains it then.

Paul DeMark: You need to stretch.

Scott Hammond: It's-

Paul DeMark: You need to do something-

Scott Hammond: It's two things

Paul DeMark: … especially with drumming. You, you know,

and, you know, you can't have a bad back

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Hey, thanks for being here.

Paul DeMark: All right. Thanks, Scott.

Scott Hammond: All right. Take care.

Paul DeMark: You too.