Doors at 7:30 pm; Sista Otis Performance at 8 pm; David Gans & the Broken Angels Performance at 9:30 pm
Tickets are $15 Day of Show / $12 Advance
Born in Detroit and raised in New Orleans, soul singer-emcee-songwriter and stage performer Sista Otis has attracted attention for her powerhouse performance solo and with her band. According to Rachel May in the Detroit News, "She has enough power to fuel a fire and enough soul to make James Brown proud." Sista Otis tells the story, "In a li’l jazz club in the French Quarter, Lady Blues was feeling the soul from Motown. So she hip-hopped up on Motown's lap to rock 'n’ roll and got the funk on. Meanwhile, folk wandered in off the streets with crazy hair and dark shades and wrote the story down." Growing from street musician to purveyor of songs that she says have been downloaded more than 100,000 times, Sista Otis and her band have opened for such acts as Blues Traveler, Wilco and R.E.M. Her recordings have been heard in a dozen countries. Tonight she features songs from her most recent CD, “Charmed,” and even newer compositions.
In an increasingly rare local appearance (he may be local but he’s mostly on the road these days), singer-guitarist-bandleader David Gans leads his rock band the Broken Angels in a mix of his original songs and old favorites, which could include Grateful Dead classics, Dylan, and hopefully his haunting new version of Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty.” In addition to Gans on guitar and vocals, the Broken Angels are keyboardist Jordan Feinstein, fiddler-saxophonist Jeff Hobbs, bassist Dave Jess and drummer Neil Hampton, plus special guest guitarist-singer Joe Burke.
David Gans is an Oakland-based singer-songwriter-guitarist-composer, a prolific solo performer in clubs and at festivals around the country, where he mixes his own compositions with favorites by an array of folk and rock artists, often with social and political underpinnings. As an author, Gans’s latest book (a collaboration with Blair Jackson) is titled: “This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead.” Website
