21Q

Caitlin Gutenberger had never been in a band, hadn't really sang - certainly never in front of anyone - had never written a song.

She didn't have the experience but she did, however, find she had a musical connection with husband, bassist Johnny Gutenberger and his Jackpot bandmate Rusty Miller.

"Johnny and Rusty had some downtime and I wanted to learn to play drums so we'd just goof off and we had this real chemistry," she says of the collaboration that eventually became Two Sheds.

"So I wrote a few songs and then switched over to guitar and Rusty started playing drums."

Yes, it really was that simple.

"I was freaked out at first - I never thought I could write songs - I was an English major, used to writing things that were longer," says the 27-year-old singer.

"But then I got over the hump and wrote a handful of songs really fast.

That was 2004 and in the years since, Two Sheds, also featuring James Finch Jr. on guitar, has released a album (2006's "Strange Ammunition") and this year's digital-only, self-titled EP.

The music, grounded by Gutenberger's soft yet decidedly assured voice, is a mix of ghostly folk-pop and bouncier indie rock.

With Two Sheds geographically divided - the Gutenbergers live in Sacramento, Miller and Finch live in San Francisco - it's sometimes difficult to get the band in the same room for anything other than a show.

Still, the members of Two Shed are planning on spending some quality time together in 2009 with plans for a tour, a South By Southwest appearance and a new album on the calendar.

The new record, Gutenberger says, is still little more than a hazy notion.

"Second records are weird because the first one is just a big solo barf," she says with laugh.

"I have a lot of ideas that are all over the place but I really don't have a clue what it will sound like - we'll see what happens in the studio. I just want it to be (recorded) in a cozy environment with no pressure."

Two Sheds

Song: "WTF"

Style: Upbeat yet moody, wistful pop

Behind the song: The track's sunny sound belies its dark take on a particularly bad spell and a chorus which, yes, is acronym for "What the #$• !."

"Have you ever had one of those days or weeks or months where a bunch of bad things happen?" Gutenberger asks.

It's just, perhaps, a rhetorical question but the her viewpoint is disarmingly straightforward.

"Honestly, it's just one of those stupid choruses because I couldn't think of anything else to sing," Gutenberger says.

"I wanted to think of a more lyrical, nuanced way to say that but this is what came out instead."

Initially, "WTF" was a slow, meditative song but, over time, evolved into something faster and brighter.

"We just started playing it fast at practice because we wanted it to have this Tommy James & the Shondells sound - very 'la la la' with a quiet little heartbeat," she says.

"It just ended up being very fun."

See them: Tuesday, December 9th at Luigi's Fun Garden,

1050 20th Street, Sacramento. The 8 p.m. show is all-ages and $5 at the door. Chelsea Wolf and the Parson Redheads are also on the bill.

On the Web: http://www.myspace.com/twosheds

Listen to "WTF" here

The collaboration started a decade ago in a Sacramento High School classroom.

Lee Bob Watson was a musician but he was also a substitute teacher and, sometimes between classes, he found himself talking music with one of his students.

That student, Derek Taylor, had a band called Bucho and he invited Watson to come check them out sometime.

Watson did and, now 10 years later, the teacher and the student are bandmates in Happy Mayfield, which releases its debut CD Friday at Old Ironsides.

The four-piece, based in Sacramento and San Francisco, connects its members' electric influences to craft an oddly compelling hybrid of folk, soul, hip-hop, world beat and rock.

For Watson, who's played with the likes of Jackpot and recently released a solo album, it's an affirmation of how music can define your life. The birth of Happy Mayfield, he says, came at a point when he'd started to question the very act of making music.

It was 2004 and, back home after a stint teaching English abroad, Watson reconsidered his path: Playing endless bar gigs, touring on the cheap and subbing to make ends meet.

"It'd been 10 years of the grind of doing music and so I took a hiatus and stepped away for a minute - I just had to take it all in and ask myself, 'is this what I want to do?'" It's a crazy life."

Finally, he decided yes - but with a catch.

"I wanted it to be fun and positive, I wanted to find something that was uplifting."

That meant sifting through the sounds that got him interested in music in the first place - old funk, soul and jazz.

Watson, already writing and recording music for his 2007 solo CD "Aficionado," set aside songs that didn't quite fit that album's Americana vibe.

"Sometimes I'd write something that was more upbeat and dance-oriented, so I put them aside and waited until the time came when I would have the proper band."

The time arrived when Watson approached his old friend and student.

Watson had jammed with the members of Bucho before and now he wanted them to give his songs new life.

"The first batch I wrote came out pretty realized but I'm an old school cat and I knew that ... they would bring in some more contemporary influences."

By this point Bucho had disbanded and Taylor was living in San Francisco, playing drums with his old Bucho bandmate Josh Lippi and pal Ben Schwier in The Park, an ensemble that combines funk and jazz with hip-hop and R&B.

Taylor was ready to play.

"Lee used to burn us mix CDs and really opened my eyes to old (music)," says Taylor, whose Bay Area band now backs up neo-soul and pop acts such as Alice Russell and Nino Moschella.

"I loved his songwriting - when he had this Happy Mayfield idea, it just seemed totally natural."

And, although Watson already had the songs, Taylor says, Happy Mayfield has transcended the sum of its parts to create not just a sound but a sense of place,

"We're all from California and we all have this genuine love for soul and dance and that kind of cross-cultural sound."

Bassist Josh Lippi sees Happy Mayfield as unmistakably "authentic" but also something larger-than-life.

It's like we all are (playing) as these alter-egos," he says.

"Lee Bob's coming from this folk singer-songwriter background but in his heart of hearts he's this real James Brown kind of soul singer."

Dana Gumbiner was also struck by the band's dramatic flair - both on stage and in song.

"Lee Bob has this real cinematic way of looking at music, it's almost theatrical," says Gumbiner, who produced the Happy Mayfield record at his Grass Valley-based Station to Station studio.

And with songs that touch on everything from love and religion to outlaws and inspiration, it's Watson's viewpoint that keeps it fresh.

"It's like Happy Mayfield became this character with a sub-narrative on subjects" Gumbiner says,

"That's what makes it click."

Still, although Happy Mayfield may be Watson's creation, the singer-songwriter says the rest of the band is force that makes it breathe.

"This is all happening because the band is hitting its stride," he says.

"They've played with tons of different people and they bring a playfulness to the music that pretty much goes beyond any boundaries."

Happy Mayfield

Song: "Happy"

Style: Jazzed out, Booty-shaking funk

Behind the song: The track, which references everything from street poet/ R&B singer Gil Scott-Heron to the El Camino High School-run station KYDS 91.5, chronicles Watson's lifelong musical journey - and sets the mood for the rest of the record.

"I wanted to write a bio for the band so I started writing down things and it occurred to me that it was a song - a declaration of principles," he says.

"This song became a genealogy of Happy as a character - why I feel the way I do, why I feel I have the right to say this."

See them: Friday at Old Ironsides(1901 10th St, Sacramento); the 21-and-over show starts at 9 p.m. and is $7 at the door. Friendly Creatures and Casual Fog are also on the bill.

On the Web: myspace.com/happymayfield

Listen to "Happy" here:

Autumn Sky had 150 songs from which to choose so when it came time to narrow the selection down for an EP she wanted to pick songs that represented her range of musical loves and influences.

"A lot of pop, a lot of toy pianos and little bell sounds," Sky says. "(But) then there also my angry songs and things that are serious."

Just six songs long, "Diminutive Petite" packs a Goliath-sized wallop and is an aural history of Sky's musical progression. The Orangevale resident started playing piano as a child and, by the age of six, already had already written a several dozen tunes.

She eventually moved on to the cello and then the guitar. Now, a voice major at American River College, Sky is studying voice and jazz, Recently, she and a group of classmates formed a jazz combo which, she says, has had a major impact on her songwriting approach.

"It's difficult (because) I don't really know jazz chords so it makes me respect my limits - it's made me more creative and more respectful of all the people who came before."

Sky, who grew up performing in worship groups, also credits church as an important, if subtle, influence.

"I don't write Christian music, per se, but spiritually definitely influences what I choose to write and how I write about," she says.

Simply put, she says, her faith helps her set a personal songwriting standard.

"I would never write a song that I wouldn't my little brother to hear."

Sky will release a full-length album in April. Her EP will be available Thursday at a Luigi's Fun Garden CD release show or online at iTunes or CDBaby.com.

In the meantime, listen to "Our Little Boy" at www.sacbee.com/sacramentosingle.

Song: "Our Little Boy"

Style: Slow, melancholy torch song

Behind the song: "It's a very sad song about a woman who is regretting a decision she made to not follow a romantic interest."

But, by the end of the story, Sky says, the woman's decides to live with her choice - and any lingering sense of remorse.

"I wanted it to have this wistful, melancholy feel," Sky says.

Recorded at Sacramento's Hangar Studios, Sky recorded the song in just one take with piano player Evan Palmer and drummer Kayla Schureman, both from the local band All on Seven. It was record

"We've played it live so many times we were able to just go in there and capture it," she says. "I think that gives it a really cool, organic feel."

See her: Thursday at Luigi Fun Garden (1050 20th St, Sacramento) with Lynus and A Happy Medium. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. and is $5 at the door.

On the Web: www.myspace.com/autumnskymyspace

Listen to "Our Little Boy" here:

Sometimes, Jeanette Faith admits, it gets a little confusing. She and husband Wes Steed had a band called Park Avenue Music and then that evolved into the side project Hearts+Horses. But now Park Avenue music has an album out that's called - you guessed it -"by hearts+horses".

The differences, Faith explains, aren't just about words.

"Park Avenue Music was very structured: Song, song, song," she says. "But then we started Hearts+Horses, it was just improvising, even when we were recording.

"I don't really like writing songs or lyrics - they usually sound forced," she says. "I wanted to break away from that and create a soundscape, a mood."

Now, Faith says, the focus is on of-the-moment sound and emotion.

And, yes, that spontaneity also happens on stage.

"The shows can be really great - or sometimes just a lot of noise," Faith says. "It's kind of scary but it's also kind of exciting."

Faith taught herself to play piano as a child and is also an accomplished cellist and singer. Now, as she plays the keyboard or piano and Steed turns the dials on a modular synthesizer, their music reflects a deep love for everything from jazz and classical to pop and new wave.

"I'd like it to have more of a modern, classical sound but it doesn't always turn out that way," she says. "It usually ends up sounding like a soundtrack."

But that's OK, too.

"I always wanted to be a score composer - that's where my songs come from, I'm always seeing movies in my head and just telling that story."

Park Avenue Music

Song: "Tufts"

Style: Dreamy, delicate and exquisite

Behind the song: "I just sat down at the piano and started playing and the mics were there and Wes just happened to record it," Faith says. "(Later), I added melodica and Wes added drums and effects on the vocals."

The piece grew out of an image playing in Faith's head.

"It's a story about this girl, driving around the block. She's dropped this guy off and the (relationship) that isn't turning out the way she wants it to and she's thinking it's going to change, that's it's going to get better," Faith says.

"Finally, she realizes, 'this is stupid - I'm just driving around in circles'."

Musically, that translates to something ethereal and sad but also uplifting.

And, Faith says, because it was recorded live on a whim it's also imperfect - but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"It's not the ideal recording but I'd rather keep the (song's) original feeling. When you try to rerecord it never turns out as good as the demo," she says.

"There are some mistakes in it but I don't care. It gives it a freer sound, It's real, it's raw."

On the Web: www.heartshorses.com or www.myspace.com/parkavenuemusic

Park Avenue Music will release another record later this year. Until then, listen to"Tufts" here:

Matt Sertich and Kirk Janowiak have been playing together for more than 15 years so when the pair's latest band, The Generals, was suddenly whittled down from three to two, the old friends took it in stride and decided to remain a duo.

"The idea just seemed kind of fresh," says Sertich, who previously played with Janowiak in Pocket Change and Zero to Heaven.

"We just have a really good chemistry - we write really well together," Sertich says.

With a shared love of 80s rock and British pop, Sertich (guitar, keyboard, vocals) and Janowiak (drums, keyboards) started writing songs after Zero to Heaven disbanded in 2005. They played its first show, with bassist Blane Barker, in 2006.

Now, Sertich says, no bassist is no problem - even on stage.

"We just program the bass into an iPod - the strings and other stuff, too," he says.

"It's awesome and it doesn't take away from the spontaneity when we're playing live."

The Generals released its debut album "Save Me" earlier this year and plan to enter the studio this month to record another. In the meantime, check out "Trains" at www.sacbee.com/sacramentosingle

The Generals

Song: "Trains"

Style: Spacey, reflective rock

Behind the song: "I'd just made a lot of changes in my life at the point when I wrote this song," Sertich says. "I lived ... near the train tracks and every night I'd hear the train go by. It shook the house but it was really very comforting."

That song, he says, is about a past relationship and changes he's made in his life since it ended.

With a swooping melody, "Trains" hits its rhythmic stride mid-way through the song - just like a locomotive gaining speed..

"It starts off pretty soft but once that pre-chorus hits it sounds really big."

On the Web: myspace.com/thegeneralsmusic.

Listen to "Trains" here

With a pedigree that includes Papa's Culture, Seventy and the Original Heads, Harley White Jr.'s been making music in Sacramento for years now, playing everything from jazz and hip-hop to rock.

These days, White's concentrating on jazz but still wearing many musical hats as the songwriter, arranger, stand-up bassist and leader for his big band-styled Harley White Jr. Orchestra.

"Doing the big band - it really covers everything I want to do," White says. "It allows me to do all those things that I'm interested in doing."

And what interests him, White says, is incorporating all of his musical loves - pop, jazz, hip-hop, rock, swing, etc - into one cohesive sound.

White finds inspiration in two music greats.

"Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones are my ideal musicians," he says. "They have hubris - they see the whole picture."

As such, White says he has no plans to release a CD version of his big band work.

"To release a big band record that sounds like a big band record? I wouldn't do it when Duke Ellington's already done it so perfectly," he says. "Those guys were on the road 200 nights out of the year and the music they play sounds like it - it was done so perfectly."

Fans can, however, find the Harley White Jr. Orchestra online as White turns to the Web to release experimental versions of his music. Check out one of those tracks, "Autumn Returns" at www.sacbee.com/ sacramentosingle.

Harley White Jr. Orchestra

Song: "Autumn Returns"

Style: Ethereal, dubbed-out jazz

Behind the song: "This a Harley White Jr. Orchestra song remixed by the Original Heads," White says. "I went into the studio with producer William Prince and we started with a regular square mix - like what you'd hear the band do at a show - and then dubbed it out.

"Dub (music) is what happens when you strip things out - it's about the (concept of) less is more."

Here, less is more means taking out some sounds while giving new life to others.

"You start with a bare bones skeletal mix and then add reverb and delays," he says. "It's about making the music more spooky and ethereal. "For example, there's a horn sound that, in the original version of the song goes "pow!"

Then, White says, lowering his voice to a whisper, "when you dub it out for the remix, it sounds like 'pow, pow, pow."

"It's about finding the subconsciousness of the song."

See them: Friday at the Distillery (2107 L St, Sacramento ) with the C.U.F. and Red Tape; the 21-and-over show starts at 10 p.m. and is $7 at the door.

Or, Nov. 11 the HWJO plays World War II-era music at a Veteran's Day party at Club 21 (1119 21st St, Sacramento). Patrons are encouraged to dress up in their best '40s finery. Admission is $10 and the music start at 9 p.m.

On the Web: www.myspace.com/hwjo

Listen to "Autumn Returns" here:

It took Jay Shaner a year to record his solo album, "Best Laid Plans." The process, says the Sacramento musician, taught him a lot about what it means to be a songwriter.

"I was working with (other artists) but ultimately I realized that I've come to a point where I have to have the artistic vision for where the music is going."

That recognition of responsibility was freeing says Shaner who also sings and plays guitar in the Cowboy Killers.

"You take music seriously but ultimately you've got to let it go - leave the guitar part alone," Shaner says. "It doesn't need to be pristine it's fine the way it is. I ended up making the album that felt right to me."

Shaner's been playing music nearly his entire life but only started writing his own about a dozen years ago.

It was the Cure's "A Letter to Elise" that inspired him to try his hand.

The sweet, sad pop song moved him, Shaner says, for the way it layered its emotions.

"To be able to say something deep that struck you on more than just a superficial level t the best songwriters write songs that can hit you both a visceral and a cerebral level."

Jay Shaner

"The Astronaut Song"

Style: Quiet, reflective folk-pop

Behind the song: "The song is about regret and coming to the point where you realize you're not going to be the person who, in your grandest dreams, you set out to be - but ultimately, you can still be happy with yourself."

Reconciling the music with the lyrics proved challenging, Shaner says.

"Early in my songwriting life I erred on the side of making things too catchy," he says. "I wanted this to be more melancholy - less dramatic."

To achieve that, Shaner experimented with a less traditional structure.

"I wanted to keep the middle (of the song) more ethereal and textural instead of (sounding like) a melodic break," he says. "So we brought in more drums at the end to make it more intense instead of adding another melody line.

Listen to "The Astronaut Song" here:

The members of Sacramento's Must.Not.Die are both deejays and musicians. Yes, Miguel Francis and Quinten Larsen, both 24, play records and remix songs but they also create their own music.

"We DJ really fun stuff - a lot of indie, electric dance music," says Francis of the tunes he Larsen spin at clubs such as R15, Old Ironsides and the Blue Lamp. "But the stuff we make is really different - we're going for that whole shoegazer, wall of sound, sample-based sound."

Francis and Larsen, who attended different area high schools, met through their school's theater programs and quickly bonded over a shared love for "nerdy music."

"We geeked out on stuff like Edit and Glitch Mob and then we just decided to start producing stuff on our own," Francis says.

Now the two tap into their other, disparate tastes - Larsen likes groove-oriented hip-hop, Francis prefers indie and math rock - to fashion new sounds.

"We'll work out something from a synthesizer and then create our own melody," he says.
"Quinten's good at laying down tracks and (creating) the rhythm section - I'm more involved in the melody so we'll just throw something out there to see what direction we go in."

They also use music samples in their songs -but with limits.

"We'll use samples as a pop element but when we do they have to be short and unrecognizable by the time we're finished," he says. "We don't want you to be able to tell what song it's from."

The two are currently at work on an EP, which Francis describes as "edgy and rough."

"It has a caustic energy - I'm just trying to represent my world view which is very imperfect, brooding and anxious."

The EP will be released by the end of the year, until then listen to the single "Attachment Interlude" at www.sacbee.com/ sacramentosingle.

Must.Not.Die

Song: "Attachment Interlude"

Style: Surreal, dreamy electro-pop

Behind the song: "This song came out of a break-up," Francis says. "I was really in love but we weren't talking and I was listening to this one Pete Yorn song over and over. There was a small loop (in the song) that asked this question about not talking."

Francis took a three-second sample of the loop and then deconstructed, distorted and sequenced it into a brief, tense melody.

"It builds into this energy and madness that I was trying to convey," he says.

"I just wanted to personify that question of (not knowing) and have it build and build until it finally releases to the point where you let go."

See them: Must. Not.Die deejays Wednesday at Barcode Nightclub & Lounge, 1890 Arden Way, Sacramento. The 18-and-over dance club opens at 9 p.m and is $12 at the door.

On the Web: myspace.com/mustnotdie

Listen to "Attachment Interlude" here:

Earl Brooks only moved to Sacramento five months ago but he's had one toe-tapping foot in the River City for much longer.

Brooks' band, Ghosts of Wyoming, was born in Seattle - his home for 26 years. But, after meeting Sacramento guitarist Jerry Lewis at a gig, the band slowly shifted to include more parts Sac than Seattle.

"I just woke up one day and decided it was time for a chance so I made my girlfriend mad and told her I was moving," he says

The pair still talk on the phone twice daily and her influence is notable in the lyrics Brooks writes for his rollicking country-rock tunes.

Drawing from true life inspiration, he says, is the only way he can write.

"I can't write from anyone else's perspective but my own," he says.

"I can't sit down and say 'I'm going to write about a truck driver -it just comes out sounding like a 17-year-old's essay."

Ghosts of Wyoming

Song: "I Have a Brain"

Style: Bar room brawlin' Americana

Behind the song: "I really like this song because it's got a great opening line, 'I was born in a one stripper town," Brooks says.

"That's a running joke with me and my sweetheart - her dad was an oil executive in Los Angeles ... and I grew up in eastern Idaho and Wyoming so the song is about the dynamics of two very different people coming together."

In addition to Brooks and Lewis the band also includes bassist Brad Moore,singer Mary Louise Picerno and keyboardist / lap steel player Brett Lemke.CQ

Much of GOW's music reflects influences such as the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Neil Young but "I Have a Brain" also taps into his love for the Flaming Lips.

"There are these two lap steel parts buried in the mix and they just come in and out of the song," he says. "The Flaming Lips have really tweaked my head as far as emotional content and general weirdness. There's a certain joy to their music that's really powerful."

See them: Saturday at the Ryan Seng Collective, (1301 I St.) The artists' reception starts at 6 p.m., the music starts at 10 p.m. Free.

On the Web: www.myspace.com/ghostsofwyoming

Listen to "I Have a Brain" here:

Local musician Martin Birke looked far beyond Sacramento to bring an international flair and depth to his latest project.

Birke founded Genre Peak as a electronic pop trio in 2004 but after a band mate moved to New York, he turned to the Internet to add to the core that includes guitarist Christopher Scott Cooper.

The result? Collaboration with influential British bassist Mick Karn (Japan, Kate Bush) and the Spanish electro-pop group Stereoskop as well as a new Canadian vocalist, Tara C. Taylor, found via MySpace.

Now Birke says, Genre Peak reflects its players exhilarating take on collaboration.

"I gave up my rock star dreams a long time ago," says Birke, whose past projects include Casualty Park, a synth pop duo that composed work for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the 1998 Joe Carnahan film, "Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane."

"Now there's a real joy in getting to work with people who have the same ideas I do - I think that's the success of the album."

"Preternatural" is available online at CDBaby.com and locally at The Beat and R5 Records.

Listen to the single "Wear it Well" at www.sacbee.com/ sacramentosingle.

Genre Peak

Song: "Wear it Well"

Style: Densely layered, soaring electro-pop

Behind the song: "This song (originated) from a drum program I created several years ago," Birke says. "I went back to it with the idea of getting a new lead vocalist.

"I was tired of hearing my own voice (because) I always get compared to Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, so I sent the rough demo to Tara," he says.

When Taylor sent him back her vocal demos, Birke knew he'd hit on the right sound.

"I told her, 'this is good - we need to get you down in the studio," Birke says.

"Wear it Well," he adds, served as the album's launching point.

"I hadn't consciously been thinking about doing an whole record but after that song, but that's the track that the album grew from - the rest of it just came so easy."

On the Web: www.myspace.com/genrepeak

Listen to "Wear it Well" here:

Waltzing melody lines and two-step beat changes - it's easy to imagine swinging through a
ballroom to one of Keith Gray's quirky pop songs. Recording and playing under the Bicycle Rider moniker, Gray crafts indie pop that reflects his love for the baroque and theatrical.

"I'm really into classical music and musicals," he says. "I love Julie Andrews kind of stuff - 'The Sound of Music' and 'Mary Poppins.' "

Although the Bicycle Rider is, essentially, Gray's solo project, the 25-year-old musician has nonetheless enlisted some stage and studio help from drummer Matt Spahn and bassist Todd Coleman.

"They both bring such style and a real presence to what we do," Gray says. "They bring a really warm vibe to the music."

Gray and friends are working on a new album with local producer Matt McCord. The CD won't be out until February; until then, check out the single "Only This Time, This Year."

The Bicycle Rider

Song: "Only This Time, This Year"

Style: Quirky ballroom pop

Behind the song: "This is one of the first ones written, and it helped put me in the direction that I'm going now," Gray says.

While the song's lyrical focus is simple - "It's about family and relationships and hardships and trying to get through them all" - its makeup is more complex.

Gray initially crafted the tune, also featuring Harley White Jr. (bass) and An Angle's Kris Anaya (piano), with a particular sound in mind. The finished song, however, ended up in an entirely different direction.

"I began it with a classical guitar pattern, and then it just started developing into something else - this nursery rhyme just came out." Such evolutions are becoming a familiar part of Gray's songwriting process.

"I find that a lot of the music I listened to as a kid (is) now coming out in my writing," he says.

"I think it works, and I think people (relate to it) because the sound is not completely outrageous - but it's not completely normal, either."

On the Web:

www.myspace.com/thebicyclerider

Listen to "Only This Time, This Year"

It's homecoming week for Brian Buckley. The Bella Vista High School graduate is back in town for his 10-year reunion and, to celebrate, brought his band with him.

It'll be Buckley's first time in front of a Sacramento audience.

"I've been playing music all my life but just started playing in front of others a few years ago," he says.

The Brian Buckley Band, featuring Mike McGraw (guitar), Albert Estiamba (drums) and Dan BodemanQ (bass) is finishing up work on a new CD.

"We're done recording and we were very blessed to work with Mark Howard who produced Bob Dylan, the Red Hot Chili Peppers - everyone," Buckley says.

"We recorded at the Mack Sennett Stage - the oldest sound stage in LA; it has 100 foot ceilings and is the size of a football field - the whole thing was pretty unreal."

The album won't be in stores until February, until then you can preview the sound with "My World," a cut off Buckley's self-titled 2007 debut.

Brian Buckley

Song: "My World"

Style: Epic, orchestral rock

Behind the song: "I'm a real fan of using separate time signatures - speeding things up and then slowing them down," Buckley says.

"I had the idea of starting the song in a particular way and it just ended up having all these parts - (there's a) an acoustic bit and then the chorus and a B-section bridge followed by a hard rock piece and then a quiet, almost ballad-like ending."

For Buckley, much of the song's success is owed to an appearance from noted session drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell).

"Vinnie really made all those parts stand out," Buckley says. "He makes all those motions with tempo and time changes feel seamless - that's a tough thing to do and he just makes it all seem like a wheel that's just rolling along."

See them: Wednesday at Marilyn's (908 K St, Sacramento). The 21-and-over show starts at 8 p.m. and is $8 at the door.On the Web: www.myspace.com/brianbuckley

Listen to "My World" here:

]t's nearly impossible to write about politics without being political.

Christian Kiefer admits that much is true.

But still, the Rocklin-based musician says, he and friends Jefferson Pitcher and Matthew Gerken aimed to "minimize the rants and raves" on their new project, the three-CD, all original set "Of Great and Mortal Men: 43 Songs For 43 Presidencies." (Standard Recordings, $30).

"We tried to present songs that would have longer legs than our current political concerns," Kiefer says of the all-original tunes.
"We didn't want this to be politically offensive - it's too easy to take cheap shots."

The project was conceived in 2006 when Pitcher, a former Davis resident now living in New York, decided to take the February Album Writing Month challenge. The annual event was launched in 2004 by a musician who was inspired by November's better-known National Novel Writing Month exercise.

The Rocklin-based Kiefer jokingly said he'd join in, too - by writing sequels to Pitcher's songs. That was before he even knew the subject matter but once he did, Kiefer says, he was amused and intrigued.

The idea blossomed further after the two invited Sacramento bassist Gerken to join them. The three split up songwriting duties, each taking on 14 former chiefs-of-state and then collaborating together on the 43rd song, George W. Bush's "Through the Night."

Throughout, the task proved daunting, Kiefer says, as they tried to layer their songs with political, historical and cultural context.

"Some of the lesser-known presidents were difficult to write about (and) I found myself thinking I should say something concrete about them," Kiefer says.

"Everyone knows George Washington so you can be quirky with his story - you can't do that with Millard Fillmore," he says. "I wanted to teach people something."

While the songs were written in a month, it took the next year-and-a-half to polish the lyrics and fill in the musical gaps.

To help complete the songs, Kiefer, Pitcher and Gerken called on friends such as Sacramento musicians Vince DiFiore, Matt McCord and John Gutenberger. They also corralled a who's who of nationally known indie musicians, including Rosie Thomas, Bill Callahan and Low's Alan Sparhawk.

The Mortal Men project will continue, past the Nov. 4 election, with a song for the 44th president, either John McCain or Barack Obama. And, yes, again, the songwriters will strive to write something that straddles the party line.

For Gerken, it's the only way to ensure their songs will endure.
"(These songs) have to place the presidencies in historical context," he says. "They have to make interesting commentaries that could be challenging and maybe critical - but not whining."

Of Great and Mortal Men

Song: "Washington Dreams of the Hippopotamus"CQ

Style: Brooding, surreal political pop

Behind the song: "This was the first song I wrote and it came together very quickly," Kiefer says of the album's inaugural track about George Washington.
"The song is basically about George having teeth that are not made of wood but actually carved from hippopotamus teeth - which is actually the truth. I learned that in my research.
"It's about how (Washington) basically lived a lie (about his teeth) his entire life and, at the end of his life, he had these nightmares about the hippopotamus (coming) back for the teeth."
It was fun to play around with the Washington mythology, Kiefer says.
"For some reason it really came together effortlessly," he says, laughing. "If it hadn't been so easy to write, I might not have gone on with the rest of the project."

See them: Saturday9/13 at the Fox & Goose (1001 R St, Sacramento).CQ The 21-and-over show starts at 9 p.m. and is $3 at the door.
On the Web: www.43presidencies.com.CQ

Listen to "Washington Dreams of the Hipp