Once the local Costanoan Indians were driven away by the Spanish missionaries,the peaceful Canada de Guadalupe was as innocence lost.Used as a refuge by the fabled Joaquin Murieta and Three-Finger Jack during the Gold Rush era,the remote gorge south of San Francisco earned a reputation as a haven for lawlessness.By the time the gritty little burg of Visitacion City had sprung up, Prohibition-era moonshiners were dumping so much sour mash into the local creek,that crowds from The City were bottling the water.
Still unincorporated and without a police force,by 1941 or so, the town now known as Brisbane saw the opening of the 23 Club,and by the 50’s the main drag through town was a row of rowdy, crowded, blue collar bars that had, for years already, been blasting the music of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Webb Pierce, Bob Wills, Hank Snow, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and many,many more - all live and in person.
In the early 60’s, in a definitive example of the musical caliber typical of the 23 Club,the house band, Jimmy Rivers & The Cherokees, recorded their ’Brisbane Bop’ album on stage over a few nights and showcased their effortless mastery of western swing.
Hundreds of bands,some famous,some not, came and went through the ensuing decades,and though now many of the greats are dead and gone, enshrined on the walls of the club and the corridors of our minds,the spirit lives and the beat goes on.
We were recently working with a mostly western/honky tonk musical pallette,to include: Country,Rockabilly,Bop,Western Swing,Rock n Roll,Blues n Jazz, Cajun/Zydeco,and any variation or combination thereof,but,as of April 1st will feature,because of management issues,cash flow, and artistic differences, a Latino mix of Salsa,Meringue,etc with an occasional all day Sunday Western/Honky Tonk reprise.
Watch the calendar !!!!!
A lot of bourbon and blood has spilled on the stage of the 23 in the good and bad times since the wild, old days, but the rough wood structure still echoes the melodies of a time before the Telecaster was a ’vintage’ guitar and the term ’retro’ had been coined. History haunts the shadows of the house that John DeMarco built into a touchstone of Western American musical culture.
23 Visitacion Ave,Brisbane Ca, 94005. 415-467-7717
The 23 Club is available for special events,call for more info.
Support Your Local Honky Tonk !!
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