Sometime in the last decade or so, I started sitting in with Tom Overton on some of his open mic appearances. Then when Jammin' at Jessel's was going strong, we'd do a couple of tunes nearly every week, for the better part of two years.
During that time, Tom started calling me to accompany him on gigs. Also around that time we started playing every month or so at a cafe in downtown Napa, Kelley's No Bad Days Cafe.
Tom is quite a good guitar player, keyboard player, singer, and entertainer. He's particularly good at covering Elton John, Van Morrison, and John Prine songs. He knows almost as many tunes as I do, but different ones than the ones I know. He manages to surprise me with a few every time we play. I've learned a vast amount from playing with him the past few years. And we've gotten into what's probably a very bad habit--we don't take breaks. We often play two or three hours straight through, never repeating a song. People seem to be impressed.
Kelley herself is quite, hmm, eccentric, should we say? Unique? Let's say unique. Upon spying a Hummer driving by, she's been known to run outside and scream at them through her bullhorn. Her place is unique as well, and more than a bit wacky. Coincidentally, so are Tom and I. We seem to fit in there well. The above photo was taken of us playing there last fall (2007.) We now have a more-or-less regular gig there on the second Thursday of the month -- and in months where there are five Thursdays, Kelley gives us number five as well. Big fun is had by all!
Here's a YouTube Video of us playing at the Aqus Cafe in Petaluma in December of 2007.