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5th Annual April Foolery

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This year’s live music extravaganza, Sunday, March 31, 2019, at Redwood Café in Cotati. features two master musicians and their popular bands: Levi Lloyd and Friends and Kevin Russell’s Rhythm Rangers. April Foolery celebrates live, local music and funds the free, comprehensive, online calendar that helps locals and visitors find that music at nearly 100 venues in the county. 

The Rhythm Rangers cover the range of American roots music. Fronted by Kevin Russell, this Americana band draws from the great American traditions of blues, rock, country and western swing. Its six talented Bay Area music veterans have played in many bands and logged thousands of hours in the studio, performing locally and touring. 

“Audiences respond to the band because we’re having fun,” says Russell. The band, voted Best Americana Band in the NorBay Music Awards in 2016, is famous for its infectious energy.

 “Not Out of the Woods Yet” (July 2008) featuring the Rhythm Rangers’ versions of songs by Johnny Cash, Bob Wills, Jon Randall, Tim O’Brien and others earned the Rhythm Rangers a Grammy  nomination that year. 

Levi Lloyd on Guitar and Vocals is a blues veteran who’s played with B.B. King, John Lee Hooker and toured worldwide as the longtime guitarist for the legendary Joe Louis Walker. Lloyd, with his well-worn ’68 Les Paul guitar and lowdown vocals, delivers solid, authentic blues with the joy and ease of a master. 

Lloyd’s “Friends” are many and talented and nearly always include Mark Chole on bass and Bob McBain, whom Lloyd says is the hardest working musician in the county, on keys. Lloyd is a magnet for gifted musicians and knows how to bring out the best in them all. Lloyd hosts a “workshop” on second and fourth Thursdays, which is an invitation only all star jam band that is never the same but always on point and fun. See this The Press Democrat articleto learn more about this local blues legend. 

Free swing dance lesson with Sonoma County Dance Beat Kevin and Ann Hutchinson, included in the admission price. Door prizes, too!

Tickets on Eventbrite

$12 before March 31, $15 Day of Show

Doors at 5, music begins at 5:30. Event ends at 9 pm.

Sonoma County Dance Beat is very grateful to its 2019 Sponsors. Please thank them with your business.

Stanroy Music Center, Oliver’s Market, Redwood Café, Red Brick Restaurant, and Montgomery Village

NextLevel Conference Feb 10

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Brought to you by the great folks at Creative Sonoma:

Next Level is back!  This year’s music industry conference is scheduled for Sunday, February 10th, at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts.  The day-long event will feature music industry pros from around the country discussing how to maximize your social media presence, increase your revenues and get the most from your recordings.  Join your music peers for networking, workshops and roundtable resource tables. Plus, NextLevel 2019 will feature a live-remote recording session between a Sonoma County songwriter at LBC and professional session players linked in from a Nashville studio.  And cap it off by learning how to apply for a $2500 grant to advance your career to the Next Level. Register now.

WHAT WE DO

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Kevin and Ann Hutchinson
Photo: Deanna Thompson Calm Wave Productions

Kevin and Ann Hutchinson, Sonoma County Dance Beat founders, LOVE to dance to live music. This passion is behind the creation of Sonoma County Dance Beat, which started with an online calendar they wished existed and has grown to be so much more.

FOR MUSIC LOVERS AND DANCERS

Sonoma County Dance Beat calendar lists live music at venues ranging from dancehalls, music festivals, restaurants, breweries, hole-in-the-wall taverns to farmers markets, all in one place. Know before you go. Find out who’s playing, what they play, what they cost and what kind of floor is available for dancing. The only things routinely excluded are singer/songwriter gigs and seated shows.

Kevin and Ann teach group dance lessons at events, before select shows and private lessons in its Railroad Square studio.

Sonoma County Dance Beat throws at least one great dance party a year, April Foolery (near April 1), which is also an opportunity to help support the calendar. At least two bands and often costume prizes and other mayhem.

FOR MUSICIANS

The calendar helps bands with publicity, helps booking agents and bandleaders know who they’ll be up against on a given night when booking a gig and may also learn about venues they didn’t know existed. And it’s free.

Sonoma County Dance Beat provides talent buying services for a number of local venues. SCDB selects local bands based on musicianship, reputation, reliability, longevity, stage presence, genre and following. And it has to be a good fit for the venue and crowd. This ensures a positive experience for everyone concerned. Ann Hutchinson, who does the booking, generally does not book bands she and Kevin haven’t seen play in a similar venue. One YouTube video isn’t absolute proof. Nor is a good recording. That’s how the band is in the studio.

Ann writes marketing copy by day and is excellent at tag lines, bios, campaigns and differentiators (gimmicks) that will help get more people excited about checking out the band’s unique sound.