Event

Houston Jones with Special Guest Stevie Coyle

Houston Jones is a San Francisco Bay Area based high-octane Americana quintet. Formed in 2001, the band performs a strong original repertoire that ranges from bluegrass and folk to blues and gospel. Houston Jones features Travis Jones (lead vocal, rhythm guitar), Glenn Houston (lead acoustic and electric guitar), Henry Salvia (keyboard and accordion), Chris Kee (standup bass and acoustic guitar), and Peter Tucker (drums and percussion).

They incorporate so many different influences and make it seem so easy. The songs are powered along by the high-energy drumming of Tucker and supportive, full-bodied arrangements. Jones' lead vocals are one of the group's strong features, with everyone else chipping in backing vocals. What separates Houston Jones from similar bands, though, is the high quality of the songwriting, with great hooks, melodies, and compelling lyrics.

These guys are stone pros, pushing every boundary possible, and creating something that is wholly unique, with layers upon layers of subtleties. You can hear bluegrass, delta blues, western, gypsy, swamp, spanish, rock, jazz, celtic, and God knows what other influences. They are surpassingly good and fun to watch live.

Former Waybacks frontman Stevie Coyle opens the show. Coyle spent his early years surrounded by music, thanks to a radio station-running dad, mandolinist mom, string-meister David Lindley as his first guitar teacher, and a bluegrass band as nextdoor neighbors. Stevie himself has led a somewhat checkered past, including stints as a university theology major, as a traveling sword swallower with The Royal Lichtenstein Circus, and as an animal show announcer at Marine World/Africa USA. All this and more provides grist for his quirky, tuneful, and insightful songs.