Americana-roots-jazz group the Sun Canyon Band performs at the Cinema Bar just after Christmas, so they told the News about what they have in store for Culver City…
When did you start playing and performing? When did the band form?
I’ve been playing music since I was a child. In college (in Western Maryland,) I was singing and playing guitar, doing the folk / rock songs that were popular in the 70’s. Then I was exposed to jazz music, and after graduating from college moved to Washington DC and then NY to study and perform straight-ahead jazz singing and guitar. I recorded three jazz LPs there, and then moved to LA in 2004 and recorded three more. Then in 2017 I got a calling to return to my “folk roots”. I realized how strongly influenced I had been, even living in Maryland, by the sounds coming from the Laurel Canyon scene, and now I was living a mile away from there! I began playing regularly by myself at Tanner’s Coffee, and occasionally my friend, guitarist, Rick Mayock would join me. A few years later the pandemic happened, and Rick and I started playing “live stream shows” every week, sometimes joined by our friend, percussionist & auto harpist Wendy Sue Rosloff.
In July 2021, tired of playing to a computer screen (LOL), but while things still had not opened back up, we decided to buy battery-powered amps and move to the beautiful bluffs in Palisades Park in Santa Monica (just north of Montana Ave,) to play on Sunday Afternoons. Our bass player, Joe Caccavo lives in the neighborhood and heard us one day, so we asked him to join, and then soon after my friend & neighbor, Irv Gershenz joined us on drums to form “The Sun Canyon Band”. Our Sunday afternoon “concerts”, have continued every week now for 4 1/2 years! I bring chairs for the audience and people bring their own, and it’s really become a great “hang”.
Describe your sound…
We play acoustic oriented folk, Americana, rock, country, blues and, of course, with my jazz background, everything has a bit of swing to it. We do a combination of originals and a lot of what people call “covers”, but I like to think I bring my own “voice” and style to the songs. My voice is on the softer side – more similar to Emmy Lou Harris than Linda Ronstadt, (but I love them both!) We do songs by groups I loved in the 70’s – Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Neil Young, We do quite a few originals, mostly by Rick Mayock, who is also a great singer – actually we all sing. And our bass player is also an excellent guitarist, and I’ll switch with him to play bass on a few songs. So it’s a nice variety, I think.
What are your career highlights so far?
Having Bob Stain like our music enough to ask us to play the Coffee Gallery in Altadena was a nice highlight, with his historic ties to the music. In addition to the park, we’ve played a few other clubs around LA. And we’ve enjoyed some good airplay of our two LPs.
What recorded music is available?
Our newest LP came out in October 2025! “Moon Over Larrabee” is available on CD AND Vinyl! (Make America Vinyl Again…) It’s gotten some great reviews!
“Moon Over Larrabee is more than just a collection of songs….The resulting tapestry of folk, Americana, and vintage rock & roll taps into an authenticity that’s truly their own, and seldom seen. ”
The new LP includes a few cuts that were unreleased from our debut recording “You Never Can Tell”, (2023) featuring legendary guitarist Albert Lee guesting on several cuts. Both recordings provide a good sample of our musical style and include many originals.
Have you performed at Cinema Bar before?
Yes, we’ve played there several times this year and it’s always really fun. It has such a storied history of being a “Westside Institution for nearly 75 years”, with long-time “regulars” and lots of young people too! It’s a great neighborhood vibe, and the staff is very friendly.
Our band will start at 9:00 PM for the first 1 1/2 hour set, and then East of Lincoln Band rocks the house down from 11:00 PM to “closing”. Two of our member, Rick and Joe are in that band also, with John Zeigler on bass and Dustin Ebsen on drums. They also play a variety of acoustic rock and originals.
What can we expect from the set this time?
We’ll have some holiday songs and some surprises!
What else do you have coming up?
We play concerts every Sunday Afternoon in Santa Monica’s Palisades Park ( 3 hours before sunset, so currently that’s from 1 – 4 PM.) Off Ocean Ave. between Montana & Palisades Aves.
We also have a live stream Christmas Party coming up on Friday, December 19th at 7 PM. That will be live on Facebook and Youtube, and the video will be available for viewing afterwards on those sites.
Elsewhere this week
The next concert at Boulevard Music is on January 17, with The String Revolution. Go to boulevardmusic.com for more info.