Jerry Strull Live At It's A Grind

Last Friday I attended the performance of singer-songwriter and part time Tooner, Jerry Strull, at It's A Grind in Castaic. It's A Grind is a chain of coffee shops and the one in the town of Castaic is located in a shopping center.

The room itself is very nice and a good place for an intimate acoustic music performance. I had seen Jerry Strull's old friend's Jazz band play there a few weeks earlier in an afternoon show but Jerry's show was at night. The shop has a big fireplace in front of which the performer sets up and along with the typical wooden tables and chairs found in any coffee shop it also has large plush armchairs lining the back wall so the place has the look and vibe of someones living room, if their living room had a coffee shop in the back.

I'm not a coffee drinker having developed an allergy to caffeine that means if I drink coffee, some soft drinks like Dr. Pepper or eat chocolate (!) I get terrible day-long migraine headaches. So I ordered a decaf caramel latte blended with ice. Yum!

This gig of Jerry's reminded me of when I was in junior high school and had a girlfriend whose parents thought was too young to date (she was) so we'd meet on Friday nights at "The Coffee House". The Coffee House was actually called The Broken Wall and was in an auxiliary room of the Presbyterian Church right across the street from the junior high school and down the street from my girlfriend's house. We'd sit in the candle light (very romantic), sip hot chocolate (which I miss a lot more than I do the girlfriend) and listen to live folk singers. Most of the performers were local artists including my old friends Paul Keller (from the Bay Area Pro Rock band Hush) and Randy McKay (the future singer of my Acid Rock band and now with The Free Radicals in Sacramento) as well as guest professional artists such as Kusudo & Worth.

It's nice to see the tradition of "coffee house" live acoustic music continue. Back in the old days I'd go to the coffee house to hear music but didn't drink coffee because I was too young and now I go and still don't drink coffee but it's nice to know young people have a place to go to hear FREE live music in their neighborhood. I wonder if today's junior high school and high school kids realize they have this opportunity? It's a great place for young Romeos and Juliets to meet for a romantic evening.

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