Val Esway + El Mirage: News

A very happy 2013 to one and all!

Hope yours is off to a great start.

I'm excited to perform a somewhat rare acoustic duo performance at the Bazaar Cafe towards the end of this month.  It's a free show, all ages welcome.  More details on the calendar page.

Meanwhile, back on the Loretta Lynch ranch, things are relatively quiet as we work behind the scenes to polish off the songs that will be on our next album, which we hope to begin recording later this year.  We're excited to have the time to devote to tweaking the harmonies & arrangements for our new songs, and we can't wait for you to hear them!

Till we meet again, best wishes to you and yours, friends!

Please come help Loretta Lynch celebrate ten years of tears in our beers with a super fun shindig at the Starry Plough on Saturday August 4th.  It won't be a party without YOU!  Check the calendar page for all the details.

Cheers, friends!

Howdy friends,

Thanks to all who came out the Knockout on that cold & rainy night at the end of March - it was a fabulous show, the band sounded great, and we are excited to do it again soon!

In fact, we'll be doing just that on June 29th at the Starry Plough, and that's just one of a handful of very exciting shows that I'm looking forward to playing this summer, all of them unique.  I hope you'll mark your calendars, cause I look forward to providing you with an assortment of musical treats before the summer is over!

On the menu, we have:

The debut of Vegan Butcher at Berkeley Arts, Wednesday June 20th

VE + El Mirage at the Starry Plough, Fri. June 29th, with Ultralash and Danny Allen & the Pretty Monsters

Joe Rut at the Great American Music Hall, Sat. July 14th

Loretta Lynch Ten Year Anniversary Show at the Starry Plough, Saturday August 4th

Please have a look at the calendar page for further details, and happy summer to you and yours!

 

Spring Greetings!

Hope to see your sweet smiles at the Knockout next Saturday, March 31st for a stellar night of music!!

El Mirage will be up first, doing our best to get you all warmed up for Laura Jean and the Shoo Flies, and the Verms.

We hope you'll come early and stay to the bittersweet end!

 

Warmest wishes for a Happy New Year to you, friends!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Freight & Salvage to help Loretta Lynch celebrate our new album, Home Fires.  It was such a delight to play to a full house packed with so many beloved friends.  Home Fires continues to receive good reviews and hearty amounts of radio airplay both locally and abroad, and we couldn't be more pleased!

Last year, our friends Kyle Parker and Robert James spent some time filming a video for one of the songs from the new album.  We had planned a video release show for March 9th at the Starry Plough, but we're sorry to say we've postponed this show for now.  Just as soon as we have it solidly scheduled again, we'll let you know!

In other news, El Mirage comes out of hibernation once again to play the Knockout on Saturday March 31st, along with our pals Laura Jean Band and the Verms.  Hope you'll join us!

Cheers for the New Year!

 

Howdy friends, It's been awhile.  Hope you're all enjoying life - how 'bout those earthquakes, huh?

 Guess what?  It's time for Murder Ballads once again!  It's the 10th (sort of) annual event, and the last one that I will be organizing.  But not to fear - the torch (or dagger, or noose, as it were) is being passed to artist/musician extraordinaire Paul Pot, who promises to keep it going and continue delivering an annual night of murderous musical mayhem! This year's musical bloodbath takes place on Saturday October 29th at the Starry Plough.  Loretta Lynch will be playing a set, as well as many, many fine others, like Karry Walker, She Mob, the Happy Clams, Joel Murach, Laura Jean and Minutemaids, just to name a few. Click here to get the whole lowdown!

In other news, please also mark your calendars for Loretta Lynch's CD release celebration at the Freight & Salvage on Friday, November 4th.  This album has been a long time in the making, and we're so excited to unleash it into the world! The show is all ages and starts at 8 pm sharp, with an opening set by our pal and co-conspirator Joe Rut.  Joe will sit in for a few songs with us, and we with him, and like he said recently, we'll probably all hug each other and cry.  You don't want to miss that!  Admission includes a copy of the CD, and the Freight & Salvage is now serving adult beverages, woo hoo!  Click here for the whole scoop.

And lastly... Dorothy Brown over at the Albany Patch did a nice photo essay featuring Loretta Lynch, click here to have a look.

Hope to see you out there soon, friends.  Happy Fall!

My how the time flies.  You may not be able to tell from the rain as of late, but it's looking like summer might finally be arriving here in the Bay area.

Loretta Lynch has been busy putting the finishing touches on our new album which we'll be releasing with a big bash at the Freight & Salvage on Friday November 4th.  Please mark your calendars and come help us celebrate! We'll be sharing this bill with our dear pal and one of our fave musical compatriots, Joe Rut, a great night of music guaranteed for one and all!

Meanwhile, El Mirage is excited to come out of hibernation to play the Rite Spot on Saturday August 20th with some more of our local favorites, Ted & Ashley of Octomutt.  It would be great to share the evening with you, friends.

It'd be nice to be able to send Spring greetings, but it looks like Winter is not done with us quite yet!  Regardless of the weather, there is much good music to look forward to.

El Mirage is still on a bit of a hiatus, working on getting some musical beauty sleep, or something along those lines ;)  But that's all fine because Loretta Lynch is keeping plenty busy over the next couple of months.

Loretta Lynch will be back at West Coast Live on Saturday March 5th, broadcasting live from Revival restaurant in downtown Berkeley.  Join us live, or listen in online at KALW.

Next up, LL is thrilled to finally get to play at the Freight & Salvage as part of Dr. K's Home Grown Roots Revue, in the fine company of Los Trainwreck and Swinging Doors.

Right after that, we're going to start shooting a video, followed by more recording in April, and hence not many live shows for a little while, so we do hope you'll join us at the Freight & Salvage or at West Coast Live.

Hope to be serenading you soon, friends!

Happy New Year!

Hope you've all recovered from holiday mayhem and had a wonderful end of the year, and hope to see your lovely faces at a couple of Loretta Lynch shows coming up - first, at the Starry Plough on Saturday January 22nd, and then again on March 10th at the new Freight & Salvage.  We're very much looking forward to both of these shows, and in between, we're working up a few new songs and plotting out plans for a video that we're soon to be making.

Wishing you a healthy and inspiring 2011, and hope to see you soon!

 

Dang, how did it get to be the holiday season again?  Time flies when you're having fun!

If you feel like doing a little holiday shopping while listening to great music and supporting your local Oakland artist, then come out this Friday, December 3rd to Oakland Under 100 at the Temescal Arts Center. Enjoy local art & music and fine company! Music starts at 7 pm w/ Andy Mason, followed by  El Mirage Trio (yours truly plus John Shiurba & Berge Thomasian) at 8, and the  Ukaladies' Strumming Club at 9.  Free fun for the whole family! Temescal Arts Center is at 511 48th St. in Oakland.

If you feel like getting your party going a little early, why not head over to El Rio on Thursday Dec. 2nd?   I'm going to be there enjoying Laura Jean's CD release show.  Laura Jean features the enormous talents of Laura and Danny Allen (with a little help from some other talented friends!).  I've been absolutely loving their new album, Filthy Bird - it's packed with super catchy songs, expertly played.  It's the kind of music I like to turn up real loud and sing along to!  And that's exactly what I'm going to do this Thursday!

Lastly, if you're one of those people that likes to plan far ahead, why not mark your calendars now for two fun Loretta Lynch shows in 2011?  We'll be at the Starry Plough on Saturday January 22nd, and at the Freight & Salvage on Thursday, March 10th.  More details coming!

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season, and hope to see your smiling face somewhere soon!

Fall is upon us and although it's a little bittersweet to see the last slivers of summer slipping away, it's also nice to look forward to roasting vegetables, baking bread and making homemade pumpkin ice cream! And guess what? There are some great musical treats to feast upon as well!  We've got El Mirage at the Rite Spot on October 16th, and the 9th annual Murder Ballads Bash at the Starry Plough on October 30th will feature lots of wonderful performances by a slew of bands and solo artists, with yours truly among them, so please mark your calendars. Stay tuned for a couple of Loretta Lynch shows in November, including an LL trio appearance at the Starry Plough on Sunday Nov. 7th at a benefit for local musician Lenny Gil.  Show details can be found on the calendar page.  Thanks for stopping by, and a very happy Fall to you and yours!

Somewhere it's summer time, and some days it's even summer time right here in the Bay area.   But other days it's the typical Bay area summer with grey skies & fog.  Hopefully before summer is over, we'll get more of those bright sunny days, and hopefully they'll get here right in time for the upcoming festivals where I'll be showing up to sing a few songs.  Loretta Lynch will be at the Downtown Berkeley Music Festival on Saturday, August 28th, and at the Solano Stroll on Sunday September 12th.  And on Saturday September 11th, I'll be playing with El Mirage at the Webster Street Jam in Alameda.  All shows are family friendly with all ages welcome. Check the calendar page for more details.  Hope to see you out there, with sunshine!

Howdy all,

June has been relatively quiet, but July has plenty in store, including a couple of fun and star-studded events, including Val playing solo at a benefit for the East Bay Humane Society at the Starry Plough on Sunday afternoon, July 11th, and the ladies of Loretta Lynch singing a few tunes at the Farewell to Jimmy Sweetwater event at the Great American Music Hall on Thursday, July 22nd.   Sandwiched in between, El Mirage will pop out of hiding to play at the Rite Spot.  Hooray for July!  Click on the calendar page for all the details.  Hope to see you soon!

April was quite the whirlwind, flying right by just like all the months do.  Besides enjoying a wonderful birthday and two glorious, relaxing trips to the ocean, I had a lot of fun sorting through old demos and posting them here.  And if all that wasn't enough, the month ended with an incredible show at the Great American Music Hall as I sang w/ Joe Rut and his most excellent band.  I can hardly find the words to describe what a truly special night of music that was.  What a joy to share the stage with such a vast array of talented musicians, playing Joe's excellent songs on that gorgeous stage.  It was very dreamy. Fortunately it was both recorded and filmed, so if you weren't one of the nearly 500 people there in the audience, fear not - you'll eventually have your chance to see the show!

Speaking of Joe Rut, Loretta Lynch is looking forward to playing a show with him and our pal Danny Allen and his High Diving Horses on May 22nd at the Starry Plough - it's going to be a great night of music and we hope you'll join us!

Howdy friends!

Could it be that Spring has finally sprung?  It sure feels that way to me.  I'm feeling like there's lots to look forward to in April, like Loretta Lynch at the Starry Plough on April 1st, and heading back to the Great American Music Hall to sing harmony w/ Joe Rut at his CD release on April 30th... and planting my garden... and getting out of town on no less than two vacations!  I'm not sure how I'll find time for anything else, but somehow I'm going to find a way, because I am working on a new-ish project that has me kind of excited!

I hope you'll join me for A Song A Day in April, wherein I sift through and dust off old songs, new songs, and demos that have never seen the light of day (and perhaps, a few that never were *meant* to see the light of day!). 

I'll mostly be posting previously unreleased demos, most of them largely unedited, many recorded moments after I wrote them, or even AS I was writing them, thanks to my participation in the Immersion Composition Society.

In some of my previous years of living, I've begun each year by writing one song each day for as long as I could manage to keep it going. But at this particular point in my life, I'm doing a lot of looking back. 

April is the month of my birth, and possibly it’s purely coincidental that I'm turning 41 this month and so, perhaps, you could call this a part of my mid-life crisis, who knows? I've been feeling pretty creatively blocked over the last couple of years, and this project began in part because I was revisiting some of my orphaned songs in an attempt to get myself unstuck. In the process I realized that maybe I wasn’t stuck after all – maybe I was just working on finding my way. 

Anyway, I discovered a few gems – and a few turds too – but mostly just had a great time revisiting the orphans! Some of them I may never want to revisit again, others may find their way into my live performances. For now, I'm just having fun digging through the old stuff, taking stock and working on finding a place from which to spring forward. I'm hoping that perhaps there are a few people out there who might appreciate this process and want to listen in. 

Not sure where we're going to end up, but am looking forward to the journey, and would be delighted to have you riding shotgun with me.

Hello friends,

There's a lot of harmony in store for the next couple of months.

First up, Loretta Lynch will play an hour-long set starting around 7 pm this Friday, March 5th for the First Friday Art Murmur at the Actual Cafe in Oakland.  It's an all ages, free show and they serve yummy food, great coffee and beer & wine.   What more could we ask?  Only to see your smiling faces!

Next up, Loretta Lynch is excited to share the stage with Yard Sale and Joe Rut for a very special early show at the Starry Plough on Thursday April 1st as part of our pals Dana and Amy's wedding celebration!  Yes, it's a wedding reception but all are welcome to come on out and enjoy the music, and we hope you will!  Loretta Lynch will kick off the evening's festivities promptly at 8 pm, followed by Joe Rut and then Yard Sale.

Last, but certainly not least, I'll be singing some harmony w/ Joe Rut at his CD release show at the Great American Music Hall on Friday, April 30th.  This is gonna be a blast, and you won't want to miss it so please mark your calendars.  Details coming soon!

Hope you're all staying warm and dry and happy and healthy, and hope to see you soon!

Hello friends,

Not a ton of news to report here, but there are a few very worthy shows coming up.  First up, I'll be singing with Joe Rut at a benefit for Haiti on Saturday Feb. 20th.   Check the calendar page for all the details.   The event itself starts at 2 pm, and we'll be taking the stage around 10 pm.  Come early, stay all night, and help raise money for the Haiti relief effort.

Next up, Loretta Lynch is excited to share the stage with Yard Sale and Joe Rut for a very special early show at the Starry Plough on Thursday April 1st as part of our pals Dana and Amy's wedding celebration!  Yes, it's a wedding reception but all are welcome to come on out and enjoy the music, and we hope you will!  More details coming about that one soon.  Loretta Lynch will kick off the evening's festivities promptly at 8 pm.

Hope you're all staying warm and dry and happy and healthy, and hope to see you soon!

Greetings friends,

It sure  has been awhile.   The winter months so far have found me  in the studio with Loretta Lynch working on a new album, and  planting the seeds for new songs for both LL and El Mirage.  That, and doing a whole lot of hunkering down and hibernating, which feels just perfect for these rainy, stormy days and nights!

Loretta Lynch will be venturing out on Friday, January 29th to play an early evening set at the Makeout Room with our pals Misisipi Rider, and we'd love to see you there!  The show is from 7:30- 9:30 pm. Get there right on time, both to enjoy the fine sounds of Misisipi Rider and to enjoy your cocktails at happy hour price up until 8 pm.  LL will be up around 8:30 pm, so for those of you who  need your beauty sleep, you can be home and in bed by 10 pm!

We hope to see you there!

Greetings friends,

Lots of fun musical events coming up, some of which won't even require you to leave your home, but of course, it's always a treat to see your lovely faces!

First up, Loretta Lynch will help you come down from your Thanksgiving hangover this Sunday November 29th at the Makeout Room.   We'll be opening for the talented Chris Jones, who's celebrating the release of his brand new album Interstellar Lounge Music".  Following Chris, we'll all be treated to the 60's girl group sound of The Bang.   You know the drill - come early and stay late!  Loretta Lynch is on at 8 pm.

3225 22nd St. San Francisco, CA. $7 cover.

Next up, John Shiurba and I will be playing a short acoustic mini-El Mirage set at the upcoming art event "Oakland Under 100" on Friday, December 4th at the Temescal Arts Center. 

511 48th St. @ Telegraph, Oakland, CA. 7 to 10 pm.  Free!

Oakland Under $100 is a show featuring affordable art made by local artists, and it will be a pleasure to be in such fine, fine company. 

Featuring Local Artists
Emily Coker • mixed media
Rachel Coker • jewelery
Casey Fay • painting
Ross Kennedy • sculpture
Cassie Leone • painting
Daniel McChesney-Young • photography
Anne Pinkowski • sculpture
Roxy Rogalski • photography
Paul Solis • drawing
Heidi Struble • photography
Mike Woolson • photography

Featuring Musicians
Hugh Fox • Val Esway • Chris Larson

And then, there will be two chances in December to enjoy Loretta Lynch over the airwaves, and we're quite excited for both.

On Sunday December 13th at 3 pm, we'll be playing live at the KPFA Crafts & Music Fair at the Concourse Exhibition Center in San Francisco.  This event is the largest weekend holiday craft fair of its kind in Northern California, and we're honored to be featured.  Besides a variety of fine musical guests, there will be hundreds of artists displaying and selling their work. If you can't make it out to the show, be sure to visit  KPFA.org to listen online, or tune your good old fashioned radio to 94.1 fm.

And then on Saturday December 19th, wake up and have coffee w/ Loretta Lynch!  We'll be performing live on the nationally broadcasted West Coast Live - "San Francisco's Live Radio Show to the World".  The show airs from 10 a.m. to noon, and we're thrilled to be one of the featured entertainers that day.  More details will be coming about this one, so stay tuned!

In other news, thanks to everyone who supported me in the Arizona Breast Cancer 3-Day.  I'm happy to report that I walked 50 miles over the course of 3 days, and that the event as a whole raised a whopping 4.2 million towards breast cancer research and treatment.   I couldn't have done it without your support and encouragement!  It was such an incredible experience that I've already signed up to do it again next year!

Thanks, as always, for your kind support.  Hope to see you at an upcoming show, and here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season.

Cheers!

It's that time again - time for the 8th Annual Murder Ballads Bash at the Starry Plough! Throw on that costume, grab a friend or loved one or not-so-loved one, and stagger on over to the Starry Plough's 8th Annual Murder Ballads Bash. Come get serenaded and screamed at, scared and scarred, by a diverse lineup of talented and tormented souls, as they inflict upon you their musical offerings of Murder, Misery and Despair, for the 8th year in a row. It's an Eastbaynian tradition!

Loretta Lynch is excited to be debuting a couple of songs at this show that we've never performed before, and as always, there is a wide variety music on the bill, so come early and stay late. Check out the calendar page for all the gory details!

In other news, Loretta Lynch had a false start w/ recording a month or two ago, but we're getting back in the saddle and heading over to Wally Sound, for real this time, a little later this month.

Things are relatively quiet in the land of El Mirage for now -  doing a bit of hibernating for the winter and planting the seeds for new material for the new year, which will surely be here in the blink of an eye.

For now, stay warm & enjoy that torrential rain.

Hello friends,

Hope this finds you well and enjoying these last long, luxurious days of summer.

El Mirage will be playing this Sunday, Sept. 13th at 2 pm sharp at the 8th annual Webster Street Jam. We'll be just one of 18 local bands scheduled to play continuously from two stages. There will also be local Alameda-based food vendors and artisans selling their wares. R&B Cellars wine (made in Alameda) and Drake's Beer (hand-crafted in their San Leandro microbrewery) will be on sale at several beverage booths. The music is free and all ages are welcome, so bring the family and come enjoy a great day of music & sunshine!

Next up, on Saturday Sept. 19th, your long lost pals of Loretta Lynch will be coming out of hiding to play some songs at the Hotel Utah, along w/ Yard Sale and The Hollyhocks. Join us for a night of sweet, sweet harmonies and probably some wicked, wicked tales. We love the Hotel Utah, and we love both Yard Sale and the Hollyhocks, and we'd love to see you there!

On another note entirely, I've been spending a lot of time walking lately!  I'm training for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk that I'll be traveling to Arizona to partake in, come November.  I'll be doing my best to walk 20 miles per day, 3 days in a row, to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research.  And on the fundraising end of things, I'm currently holding a bake sale!  For a limited time only, if you care to make a donation and can donate $20 or more, your thank you gift will be a bag of my delicious cranberry-orange-coconut granola.  You can donate by clicking here, and I thank you in advance!

Until next time, thank you, as always, for all your kind support!

 

 

 

Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who came to the Bottom of the Hill recently, what a great show!If you missed it, there's still another chance to catch some El Mirage music before the summer is over.

We'll be playing a show w/ the lovely Vanessa Lowe this coming Saturday, August 8th at 33 Revolutions Cafe in El Cerrito.

Vanessa and I will be alternating sets from 7:30 to 9:30.  I'll be joined by John Shiurba on the bass and Berge Thomasian on guitar.

This is an all ages show, and it's free!  But do feel free to feed the tip jar. 33 Revolutions is at 10086 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito.  Hope to see you there!

 

Sometimes you have to play to 5 people on a Sunday night and split $20 5 ways in order to get something that's sure to gain you a *little* more exposure, if nothing else. That's exactly what happened recently when El Mirage played a wonderful show to a few brave souls who managed to leave the house that Sunday night. Our beloved Nathan was out of town and we'd planned to play the show without drums, but at the last minute, convinced our pal, drummer extraordinaire Jason Slota to sit in for the night, and it was a joy to play with him.

Shortly after, Jason was kind enough to hook us up w/ a show opening for Magnolia Electric Company, and as such, he'll be rocking the drum set w/ us for this show as well. We're looking forward to playing w/ Jason again, and very much looking forward to playing at Bottom of the Hill again. Our set is promptly at 9 pm on Wednesday July 29th, and we hope you'll join us!

In the meantime, don't forget to enjoy Loretta Lynch at Alameda's Towne Center on Thursday June 18th at 6 pm, and another afternoon BBQ show at Thee Parkside on Sunday July 19th with El Mirage and Joe Rut. More details on the calendar page.

Howdy friends,

There are a couple of shows coming up in the next week or two, and a few that are further down the pike that we hope will make you want to mark your calendars and join us in the festivities! Check the calendar page for all the details.

First up, we've got El Mirage at the Hemlock Tavern this Sunday, May 31st. We'll be sharing the bill w/ our pal Joel Murach & his band the Low Rollers, along w/ Sonja van Hammel, who's come all the way from Amsterdam!

Then, for something completely different, we've got another performance by the Treasure Mouth Ensemble, happening next Thursday, June 4th, at the Luggage Store Gallery. Us ladies of Loretta Lynch will be joining the ensemble on vocals for a night of music to honor the late, great, Matthew Sperry. If you missed the last performance of Treasure Mouth back in December, here's another chance to enjoy this all-star cast of characters playing improvised musical karaoke like you've never heard it before!

Next up, mark your calendars for an evening time, outdoor concert by Loretta Lynch at Alameda Towne Center on Thursday, June 18th. More details coming about that one.

Howdy from the land of... Forty! It feels good to be here, and I must thank my amazingly talented, generous friends for throwing me the most unforgettable celebration a person could EVER have, no matter what age they are reaching! Among the birthday festivities was a set of music from the "Val-Fest 4.0" band, featuring some my pals and co-conspirators covering my songs! They pulled out some old Ramona the Pest songs from the vault, dusted them off and breathed new life into them... so much life, in fact, that now I'm *itching* to start working on that Pest reunion that Lucio and I have been talking about for so long now. I figured if I announce it to you all, that might just inspire my 40 year old ass to get to work!

In the meantime, El Mirage has a few free shows coming right up, and we do hope you'll join us!

This Sunday, April 19th, we've got a few special guests at my Bazaar Cafe songwriter series. Well, all the performers are special to me, but Danielle French is on tour from Canada, and Conception Vessel One is heading down from the North Bay, so you won't want to miss this one! Both of these ladies have gorgeously unique voices and song writing styles, and it will be a pleasure to share the evening with them.

And next Saturday, 4/25 from 3 to 5 pm, El Mirage Trio w/ Berge, John and I will be playing at Trish Tunney's Photography studio as part of the Mission Artists Spring Studio Stroll. Come support your local artists while we serenade you!

Beyond that, mark your calendars for Loretta Lynch in Los Angeles on May 2nd and 3rd, another Bazaar Cafe show on May 17th and another El Mirage show at the Hemlock on May 31st.

Hope to see you soon, and until we meet again, enjoy the sunshine!