Country rocker David Serby returns to regular haunt the Cinema Bar this weekend, so he told the News about everything he has in store for Culver City…
When did you start playing and performing?
I started playing music in high school with some friends who played music. I wasn’t much of a guitar player, but I loved writing and I was pretty good at making stuff up and creating rhymes, so I became the lyricist and the singer. I continued to do that into my early 20’s, but then quit playing music. I was a film major at CSUF and LMU, and for the next 10 years I focused on writing screenplays. Sometime in my early 30’s I picked up a guitar again and started writing songs and hanging out at open mics. That’s where I met guitarist/producer Ed Tree.
Ed and I started working on demos, the demos became a record, the record necessitated a band to promote it, and here we are 20+ years and six records deep into it, and with a great friendship to boot. The band has always been Ed and me, and I’ve been lucky to have a core group of great bass players and drummers. For this show, we’ve got the fantastic Kevin Jarvis on drums. Kevin is a fantastic musician and producer who has played with Brian Wilson, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Iggy Pop, Grant Lee Phillips. On bass, we’ve got Greg Boaz. Greg is currently in Mavis Staples’ band, and was also the long time bass player for Dave Alvin in his band The Guilty Men, as well as in Los Angeles punk rock legends Tex and The Horseheads. These fellas are all great pals, and together they’re a high speed honky tonk freight train. I love making music with them.
Describe your sound…
I write and play music that is basically traditional country with a huge dose of 50’ rock-n-roll, ‘60s pop, and late ‘70s early ‘80s cowpunk. Largely influenced by country and rock musicians who made music in Bakersfield and Los Angeles (Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Wynn Stewart, Dwight Yoakam, Dave Alvin), I’m calling it Western rock from the Hillbilly Fringe.
What have you been up to since we spoke two years ago?
In 2024, I put out my record Low Hanging Stars. I promoted it through 2025 and into 2025, and by about mid-2025 I had written enough new material to start working on a new record. I got into the studio with my producer/guitar player, Ed Tree, my bass player David J. Carpenter, and my drummer Kevin Jarvis (collectively The Hillbilly Fringe) and we started recording what would become my 2026 release Broken Heart in a Honky Tonk.
Do you have any new recorded music available?
Broken Heart in a Honky Tonk was released at the end of May 2026, and in addition to my band, we also brought in Chris Lawrence and JayDee Maness on pedal steel, and Carl Byron on keys and accordion, as well as Darice Bailey on some background vocals to play on it. Everyone played magnificently on the record, it’s gotten some really great reviews, it’s currently being played by independent country and roots rock radio programs across the country.
What do you remember about your last show at the Cinema Bar?
Honestly, every performance at The Cinema Bar is memorable. I’ve been playing there for 20+ years at this point and the place feels like home. We got a great relationship with Rod Castillo, the owner, and his daughter Melania, as well as Omar and the rest of the bar staff. We got a great group of friends and fans who come to the shows, and we always meet new interesting and fun people.
What can we expect from the set this time?
We’re going to include a bunch of songs off the last two records, as well as a few older nuggets – I’ve been playing record release shows at The Cinema Bar since my 2007 release, Another Sleepless Night – and a handful of tunes that have been written since the release of Broken Heart in a Honky Tonk that may show up on the new record.
What else do you have coming up?
I’m playing a Hear Us Now Music Festival show in Santa Monica on September 2, a songwriter night at Campus Jax in Newport Beach on September 15, and a Coyote Moon SoCal Songwriter Showcase at The Harp Inn in Costa Mesa on October 10.
David Serby performs at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 9 at the Cinema Bar. Go to thecinemabar.com for more information about the show.
Elsewhere this week
The Culver Hotel will be hosting the likes of Sylvia & the Rhythm Boys, and Scotty Bramer. Go to culverhotel.com for more info.
The next show at Boulevard Music is San Lyon, at 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 15. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more info.