Shakadown Street plays an eclectic mix of improvisational jam band americana music. Our performances meld our musical influences to take you on a trip through rock, blues, bluegrass, hawaiian, african, and world music styles. We might start in San Francisco with the Grateful Dead, hop over to New Orleans to funk out in a Radiators style, head over to South Africa to give you our take on Paul Simon's Graceland, and bring it back home to Hawaii with an original all our own. Be prepared to dance!
Stephen Bazo (Electric Upright and Fender Bass) has been playing bass since the late 1970s.
He played extensively in the Washington D.C. and California Central
Coast areas and backed up many blues greats including Dean Rosenthal,
Guitar Ron, Lee Durley, Eric Clapton (the skinny one from Kentucky, not the old one from England) and a host of others.
Jennifer Eisenberger (Vocals), a love child of the early sixties, spent her youth
wandering the countryside with her family…a nomadic band of
gypsies, circus performers, and musicians. Her father was a trapeze
artist & her mother, the bearded lady. While they were busy
performing, Jennifer would sneak away and get private ukulele lessons
from the organ grinder’s monkey. The ukulele led to the guitar, which led to the pipe organ, which led to the kazoo, which led to the sitar, which led to the spoons, which led to singing. Previous (brief) appearances with The Swimmers (Columbus, OH) and The Travel Agents (San Diego, CA) paved the road to Shakadown Street.
Philip Johnson (Guitar, Vocals) started playing music on the streets of
Ann Arbor, Michigan in the late 1970s. The first song he learned to play
on guitar was the Grateful Dead’s Wharf Rat, chosen because the first
part of the song required only two chords and two fingers. His first
Dead show was 11-01-77, in which the Dead inexplicably started 20
minutes early, resulting in him listening to the Tennessee Jed solo
while running frantically around the outside perimeter of Cobo Hall.
Prior to joining Shakadown Street, Philip played in
Mabanzi, an African marimba band.
Justin Murata (Guitar, Vocals) has been playing music from the tender age of six. After becoming disillusioned with the music business and tired of having to practice piano, he took a hiatus at the age of seven to pursue other interests. Somewhere along the line, he discovered Ledward Kaapana and Leo Kottke, ended his hiatus and took up the guitar. His professional music career exploded with performances all around the Hawaiian island of Oahu, during which time he became very proficient at hauling around and setting up PA systems. A move to the East Bay brought him to his first Grateful Dead concert and the realization that he could never haul around a system so large. He decided to focus on playing the guitar and has done so ever since.
Paul Perrone (Drums, Vocals) moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Hawaii in
early 1992, after a long stint with internationally-renowned acoustic guitarist Willy Porter and various local/regional acts. Paul started playing drums in the second
grade after his parents “relieved him of his duties” as a fledgling classical violinist. (Thirty-plus years later, Paul admits to having deviously orchestrated this change of plans.) Like so many others, Paul was turned on to the Grateful Dead in college, and attended (and taped) a slew of shows during the 80s and early 90s. Over the years, he has played in bands representing a wide cross-section of American and world music, and currently also gigs around Hawaii with his oldies rock & roll band “Johnny
Blastoff & The Afterburners” and plays congas in the traditional Hawaiian group, “The Pahoehoe Band.” Paul lists Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, John Bonham, Stewart Copeland, and Charlie Watts among his major drumming influences.
Sample Video Clips from Earth Day 2007
Shakadown Street performs "Brown Eyed Women" on the NightTime with Andy Bumatai show
I have presale tickets!!! $9 is a great deal! message me with your wants and a phone number or email and i will get right back to you as soon as I can.
and yes i check back here early and often so you can look forward to a rather siwft response from me!! You can message me here on myspace or email me at: phoenixentertainmenthawaii@hotmail.com
lets party!!
THIS THURSDAY! BULKY BOY TAKES OVER SOCIAL CLUB!
giveaways all night long..... including tickets on go! airlines!!!
as always, FREE DRINKS for the first hour!!! plus, $3 primo beer all night long...
WHO: Bulky Boy Clothing
WHAT: showing off their fresh new gear!
WHERE: Social Club @ Nextdoor in Chinatown
WHEN: this Thursday night!
WHY: PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alright alright...can't wait for the 20th show. Gonna be my first time...and boy do I need a fix. Hope everyone is ready to dance like the good ol' days. Peace
Aloha! Thanks for making the blog about the Andy Bumatai TV show with a link so we can add it to the calendar. That was cool. The new pictures are great too.
ALOHA, mahalo plenty for the invite and add. The outtakes are great.....hope to hear the real thing sometime soon. Aloha and Peace, Rick (South Point, Big Island)