Leaving the Nest
Chico’s Bobolink music spreads its wings
2005-05-16
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In order to describe the latest with Bobolink Music, it may be best to first define
just what the hell a Bobolink is. According to Encyclopedia Britannica,
a Bobolink, or Dolichonyx oryzivorus, is “a songbird that breeds
in northern North America and winters chiefly in central South America.”
According to Azariah “Z” Reynolds and Larry Lemm, founders of Bobolink
Music, “The Bobolink goes from Ontario, Canada, down to Chile. It has one
of the longest migrations [of any bird] and the most dynamic song.”
A worthy namesake, perhaps made more relevant by the fact that legendary music
promoter Bill Graham was nicknamed Uncle Bobo.
Bobolink Music — a live music promotion and booking agency — is currently comprised of Z and Larry, along with sound guy Kyle Porter, everything-man Joe Reynolds and, as of late, Jared Avila on street promotions. (But really, as Larry states, “Bobolink’s the kind of thing where if you start putting time in, you’re kind of on the team. It’s an open project for whoever wants to take ownership into it.”) In the years before Bobolink Music’s 2003 formation, Z shifted between a noteworthy run as music coordinator for AS Presents, a road tour with Cake, and a slew of performances via Z’s Live Music, which included the likes of Keyser Soze, Imperial Spank and the String Cheese Incident. Meanwhile, Larry Lemm was part of Chico’s Interplanetary Church of Celestial Funk, working with Sound Tribe Sector 9 (among others), on the road for a lengthy stint with jazz great Carl Denson and eventually becoming the manager of Global Funk Council. As Z sees it, “Basically, Larry was out on the road making connections, while I was sitting in Chico and putting shows on for all these bands coming through.” After crossing paths and realizing their shared love of putting on concerts, Z and Larry eventually joined forces; hence, Bobolink Music.
On January 24th, 2004, two epic bluegrass sensations — The Hot Buttered Rum String Band and Mary and Mars — christened Bobolink’s first official show. It sold out. This became a fairly regular pattern for Bobolink events — mostly local — over the next nine months.
The majority of those who have witnessed a Bobolink Music event likely did so at The Bean Scene Coffee House & Gallery (God rest its soul). This coffee shop on steroids provided the space necessary to bring in arguably some of the best musicians in the world. Some with more mainstream tastes may scratch their heads upon hearing the names “Tim Reynolds,” “Bill Nershi” or “Charlie Hunter”; but for the right listener, and for Larry and Z, this arrangement was tits.
While the Bean Scene wasn’t the only appropriate venue for Bobolink acts, it was consistently the most dependable and low-stress channel. With such exceptional talent, many have since questioned just what, exactly, went wrong with the joint. As Larry points out, “It was gonna close before we started really doing stuff there. We just kind of did the shows to see if we could blow the place out.” They did. So they bought into the coffee house in an effort to keep the coffee flowing and the music going. “We packed the place as much as we were gonna pack it, and we sold a lot of coffee to a lot of people, but the numbers just weren’t there,” Z remembers. The result was a fantastic promotion company with all the right connections, and few attractive venue options.
But Bobolink Music prevailed, as evidenced by the impending Bobolink Music Festival. In fact, the festival is right in line with the reason the two started up in the first place. As Z states, “Bobolink Music Festival is basically an idea of the original purpose behind our creating the business. Basically, we wanted to do shows [in Chico], but we really wanted to throw a festival-style event and get ourselves into a broad spectrum of areas in the music industry.” He expands, “What we always wanted to do was put on an awesome festival. It was all about the spot. We couldn’t find a good one, until Larry started fishing around and found Belden.”
That’s right. Belden. A teeny town off Highway 70…somewhere in between Chico and Quincy. Located along the waters of the Feather River Canyon, the place consists of little more than a few homes, a general store, a bar and a restaurant. In other words, it’s absolutely perfect for a “fresh-air full-moon freak-out” (as stated on Bobolinkmusic.org). Belden has had its fair share of musical events, mostly centered around the Harley-Davidson culture. But no doubt, this will be a new experience for the people of Belden, for Bobolink Music, and for those in attendance.
The festival will feature a wide variety of local and national talent. Fans of the String Cheese Incident will have the opportunity to see drummer Michael Travis with his techno-based side project, Zilla. Those longing for funk jazz fusion jam-y stuff won’t be disappointed with the famed Garaj Mahal, as well as Global Funk. Delta Nove will bring in the Ozomatli / B Side Players-style Latin groove. For bluegrass buffs, present will be the Mad Cow String Band and the Donner Mountain Bluegrass Band. Also included are the Blue Turtle Seduction, Spindrift, and Mandeng Djeli & Jammin’ Shammin. And from our very own Chico, all-around rockers Chingus and Goldmind will be holding their own, as always.
Bobolink Music — a live music promotion and booking agency — is currently comprised of Z and Larry, along with sound guy Kyle Porter, everything-man Joe Reynolds and, as of late, Jared Avila on street promotions. (But really, as Larry states, “Bobolink’s the kind of thing where if you start putting time in, you’re kind of on the team. It’s an open project for whoever wants to take ownership into it.”) In the years before Bobolink Music’s 2003 formation, Z shifted between a noteworthy run as music coordinator for AS Presents, a road tour with Cake, and a slew of performances via Z’s Live Music, which included the likes of Keyser Soze, Imperial Spank and the String Cheese Incident. Meanwhile, Larry Lemm was part of Chico’s Interplanetary Church of Celestial Funk, working with Sound Tribe Sector 9 (among others), on the road for a lengthy stint with jazz great Carl Denson and eventually becoming the manager of Global Funk Council. As Z sees it, “Basically, Larry was out on the road making connections, while I was sitting in Chico and putting shows on for all these bands coming through.” After crossing paths and realizing their shared love of putting on concerts, Z and Larry eventually joined forces; hence, Bobolink Music.
On January 24th, 2004, two epic bluegrass sensations — The Hot Buttered Rum String Band and Mary and Mars — christened Bobolink’s first official show. It sold out. This became a fairly regular pattern for Bobolink events — mostly local — over the next nine months.
The majority of those who have witnessed a Bobolink Music event likely did so at The Bean Scene Coffee House & Gallery (God rest its soul). This coffee shop on steroids provided the space necessary to bring in arguably some of the best musicians in the world. Some with more mainstream tastes may scratch their heads upon hearing the names “Tim Reynolds,” “Bill Nershi” or “Charlie Hunter”; but for the right listener, and for Larry and Z, this arrangement was tits.
While the Bean Scene wasn’t the only appropriate venue for Bobolink acts, it was consistently the most dependable and low-stress channel. With such exceptional talent, many have since questioned just what, exactly, went wrong with the joint. As Larry points out, “It was gonna close before we started really doing stuff there. We just kind of did the shows to see if we could blow the place out.” They did. So they bought into the coffee house in an effort to keep the coffee flowing and the music going. “We packed the place as much as we were gonna pack it, and we sold a lot of coffee to a lot of people, but the numbers just weren’t there,” Z remembers. The result was a fantastic promotion company with all the right connections, and few attractive venue options.
But Bobolink Music prevailed, as evidenced by the impending Bobolink Music Festival. In fact, the festival is right in line with the reason the two started up in the first place. As Z states, “Bobolink Music Festival is basically an idea of the original purpose behind our creating the business. Basically, we wanted to do shows [in Chico], but we really wanted to throw a festival-style event and get ourselves into a broad spectrum of areas in the music industry.” He expands, “What we always wanted to do was put on an awesome festival. It was all about the spot. We couldn’t find a good one, until Larry started fishing around and found Belden.”
That’s right. Belden. A teeny town off Highway 70…somewhere in between Chico and Quincy. Located along the waters of the Feather River Canyon, the place consists of little more than a few homes, a general store, a bar and a restaurant. In other words, it’s absolutely perfect for a “fresh-air full-moon freak-out” (as stated on Bobolinkmusic.org). Belden has had its fair share of musical events, mostly centered around the Harley-Davidson culture. But no doubt, this will be a new experience for the people of Belden, for Bobolink Music, and for those in attendance.
The festival will feature a wide variety of local and national talent. Fans of the String Cheese Incident will have the opportunity to see drummer Michael Travis with his techno-based side project, Zilla. Those longing for funk jazz fusion jam-y stuff won’t be disappointed with the famed Garaj Mahal, as well as Global Funk. Delta Nove will bring in the Ozomatli / B Side Players-style Latin groove. For bluegrass buffs, present will be the Mad Cow String Band and the Donner Mountain Bluegrass Band. Also included are the Blue Turtle Seduction, Spindrift, and Mandeng Djeli & Jammin’ Shammin. And from our very own Chico, all-around rockers Chingus and Goldmind will be holding their own, as always.
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