Lucky Dragons

There is simply no way to describe, in words, a Lucky Dragons performance. Not in the way that the feeling will infiltrate your soul. Not in the way that the sonic journey will be more than any one sense could synthesize.

Lucky Dragons is Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara -- they emanate abstract perfectionism.

What is Lucky Dragons?

Mike Ballan

Mike Ballan, a 22-year-old musician from San Francisco, CA, brings his unique style of folk back to One Night Music as our first artist to record two sessions (check out his first session). First impressions are deceiving: despite his bashful demeanor Mike is a closet really-amazing-artist. Possessing a style all his own consisting of saturated guitar riffs supporting intricate and sometimes dizzying lyrics, he elaborates specific moments and observations into vast journeys. Songwriting isn't just a hobby or a fleeting endeavor for Mike, it's a life-long yearning, demonstrated by a prolificacy that produces many songs that may never be heard. Mike has been refining his sound since I first met him 8 years ago and he now never fails to capture the imaginations of audiences at open mics, where he performs his songs with an ease and calm generally reserved for musicians seasoned with decades of performance experience.

The Finches

"I'm sorry if it's a little rough tonight," Carolyn tells me. It's the end of May in Santa Barbara and I've met The Finches at The Biko Garage in Isla Vista to record their show for One Night Music. Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs--who is in actuality as cute and well-formed as her name sounds--is best described as pure sweetness, as dicentra spectabilis, lemondrops, or CPR. She has been travelling a lot recently, and subsequently the band has had little time to practice. Still, there's no need for her to apologize. The Finches are awesome. Their songs have been strangely lodged in my head for the past month, looping between three of their catchier tracks to make a sort of Finches shuffle in my head.

Marc B

It was a lazy springtime Friday afternoon in Santa Barbara when we recorded Marc B. The sun was low in the perfect sky as friends gathered in the living room of my home nestled between the southern California ocean and the chaparral mountains. Marc and I chatted casually while I arranged the microphones and set input levels. Similar easy conversations were had amongst the visitors while beer and wine sips bid the ending week goodbye and welcomed the ensuing weekend's respite. One would be hard pressed to find a care in the room - not even Marc seemed to have a nerve in his soul as he sat poised at the center of the room surrounded by audio and video recording equipment. The entire setting was idyllically Santa Barbara and created a fitting venue to capture Marc B's mellow acoustic surf rock sounds.

Omnivore (Glenna Kay Van Nostrand)

Goodbye Providence, Rhode Island! A week or two before we met in Isla Vista for her One Night Music session, Omnivore's Glenna Kay Van Nostrand packed her car with musician/friend Liz Isenberg and headed south, then west. In a stormy accident in Asheville, North Carolina, Glenna lost her rear window to a wayward something and picked up some duct tape. Around Texas, the two New Englanders hoped to catch sight of some tumbleweed. No luck there; they'd wait until somewhere between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, of all places, when a tumbleweed would surprise them on Highway 101.

Forest Sun with Ingrid Serban

Forest Sun performed for One Night Music with his lovely wife Ingrid Serban on a beautiful fall afternoon in the Castro District of San Francisco. The vibe of the session was simple and easy going, a feeling carried throughout Forests Sun's music and personality and reinforced by the lazy Sunday afternoon setting. As he smiled and laughed with Ingrid, Forest Sun jumped right into the first song of the session called “Loveseat,” a tune packed with promiscuous innuendos about furniture. “Loveseat” was recorded with the Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) as the opener to his most recent album So Nice.

Thomas James Lemieux

His band, Next Of Kin, played a set at Pirate Cat Radio, then I stuffed my bike into the U-Haul trailer they had rented (they were in fact amidst a short California tour), and we drove to one of the bandmate's sister's apartment.

I had just moved to San Francisco, and I hadn't seen TJ in probably 5 months. It was 2 PM, and before the One Night Music session we stopped at a bar. That's how traveling goes with those boys. Later we arrived at the apartment in Twin Peaks overlooking much of the city, and while most everyone else passed out on the couches or the floor, TJ brought his homegrown Americana/country that makes you think he's been around the block a few more times than his twenty-three years would suggest.

Alex and Janel

As a beautiful San Francisco October day was coming to an end, Alex and Janel, an Americana/folk duo based out of New York, turned a quaint garden backyard into their latest performance venue for an upbeat session with One Night Music. With flowers, vines and colorful apartments as their backdrop, Alex and Janel commanded the ears of anyone within listening distance: A group of young kids peered over fences and shrubs from their back porch a few houses down; a neighbor hung out of his third story window; and anyone within a block likely caught at least a few chords of their tunes. To everyone present at the session Alex and Janel left a lasting impression, without a doubt due to their undeniably catchy choruses (try to not get one of their songs stuck in your head), but also because of the humble and appreciating air with which they carried themselves. They are truly enjoyable to be around, and this only enhances the live experience of their music.

Liz Isenberg

Biko Co-op in Isla Vista, CA is a meeting point of artists, a melting pot of east and west, and a haven for creative expression. It is an all-purpose community space for radical meetings, music, art exhibitions and dance, run by house members and the community. On April 15th, 2009 the northwest upstairs bedroom of the Co-op, too, became a venue of creativity. It was here that Liz Isenberg found herself performing a session for One Night Music during a tour across the country with fellow musician Omnivore, who performed a session shortly after. Liz sat atop the bed in the colorful room of my dear friend Kate. "We're all in bed in Santa Barbara," she said, and then her intimate rhythms of neighbor's morning coos cooled the space like lemonade and strawberries.

Ricky Rodriguez: Ukulele & Kazoo Music

If you find yourself in downtown Santa Barbara on a Tuesday evening or a Saturday morning, be sure to make your way to the Santa Barbara Farmer's Market. You'll not only find an abundance of local and organic food, but you'll also find the market to attract a surprisingly diverse pool of local musical talent, ranging from one-man-band gypsy rock music to anarchist jug bands; slide guitar masters to mariachi music; afro-roots a cappella to classical violin duets; and old blues to eastern drumming. If you're lucky, you might also hear some ukulele/kazoo/singing/storytelling by Ricky Rodriguez who performs as Ricky Ooh Laa Laa Cha Cha Cha.