A little magic at The Big Easy (with Redwood Chrome & The Pretty Flowers)

Some nights you just don’t want to get up off the couch. 

It was a cold and rainy Friday night on April 10th in Sonoma County. 

I’ve hit that age where I feel the weather in my bones. I felt exhausted and lethargic, even if I hadn’t done a damned thing all day long. Much of my day off had been spent napping off and on with our cat curdled up next to me. 

Leaving the house was the last thing I wanted to do. 

But in my 44+ years of life, I’ve come to learn that sometimes the most magical nights have the most challenging starts. I had a feeling that something special was out there in the dark waiting to welcome me. 

Prior to moving to Santa Rosa in October of 2025, my life-partner Claire and I had been living and working in Napa. We’ve been to a handful of concert events in Sonoma County, but most of those were larger scale events that didn’t quite give us the flavor of the local scene. 

Since moving to the area, we have not made it out as much as we’d like. I have been spending much of my time working in SF and Vallejo and traveling the fury roads in between, with little energy to go out exploring afterwards. 

My new pal and fellow music writer Don Lewis had put together a concert event for a favorite touring band from LA, The Pretty Flowers. He surrounded them with local bands Redwood Chrome & Ian Hinkley to help build a great night of musical discovery. 

Earlier that week, I had gotten a job offer to bartend at Crooked Goat Brewing at both their Petaluma and Sebastopol locations. I have been craving more friends and community since moving to the area. I knew I should go out and explore the area where I’d be working. I knew that if I made the smallest effort in leaving my house I had a good chance of finding both. 

Hell, on one of my training shifts I met Matt, the drummer for Redwood Chrome. I was immediately charmed with his relaxed vibes and cool attitude. He instantly felt like a long lost friend. Plus, his band kept popping up on my radar, so I decided to take a chance.

I sucked it up and sucked down another cup of black coffee. I kissed my girlfriend goodbye and went out into the dark rainy night in search of musical adventures, and I’ll be damned… I found it in the dark, dimly lit basement bar in Petaluma called The Big Easy. 

It wasn’t the most epic night of my life, but it will be a night that I will carry with me for some time. It was a night that signaled the beginning of something special. That night this new life snuck up beside me and whispered in my ear, “Welcome to Sonoma County.” 

Parking was easy enough, even if Google Maps didn’t understand how to exactly get to the Big Easy. I fumbled around in the dark alleys that surround the bar and found myself at the door. 

Inside I could hear my ALL-time favorite band Descendents with their classic song “Bikeage,” playing over the PA. Hearing that song as I made my way into the room, I knew I had made the right decision to leave the house that night.

I walked in and was immediately warmly greeted by Ian Hinkley aka Bumbling Bones. I’m embarrassed to say that my dinner date with the lady ran late and I missed his set by just a few minutes. 

However, I’ve already been well acquainted with Mr. Hinkley and his antics. I once booked him in Napa at the venue I was running, The Hollywood Room. Hinkley was opening for a beloved local Napa act, Jealous Zelig, who had brought a large crowd of Napa Valley grey hairs to the event. 

I thought the offbeat antics of Hinkley would pair well with Jealous Zelig, but the crowd that Zelig brings in did not appreciate his brand of performance art and Hinkley upset the audience and drove much of that crowd away. It was awesome. Seriously. I had a blast that night in Napa watching as the grey hairs looking for a night of “live music” were subjected to the performance art and anti-live music stylings of Bumbling Bones.

I was genuinely sad to miss him on his home turf in Sonoma County, but his handshake and warm welcome helped calm my nerves.

As I walked further into the bar, I immediately fell in love with the basement bar speakeasy vibes. Uneven concrete floors with booths lining the walls. A collection of low top tables and chairs There was just enough space to make a makeshift dancefloor near where the bands would be performing.

There was no formal stage. Just an opening into a backstage room and a curtain to give it the right kind of ambience. The bands played on the floor with the audience, putting them on the same level as the crowd. This isn’t a place for rock star antics. It’s a place for discovery and growth.

This was exactly the kind of space I wanted to build when we started the concert series at Napa Valley Distillery’s Hollywood Room back in 2023.

I ordered a local IPA from the bar and it tasted like they had not cleared the beer lines in years. It’s a taste that brought me back to the many dive bar music venues where I spent so much of my 20’s and 30’s. It was delicious in a special kind of way. I loved it.

The Pretty Flowers from LA took the stage. Their singer grew up in the area and thanked the crowd of locals for helping make his dream come true of performing with his band in Sonoma County, something that seemed to have eluded them in the past. 

The band had a kind of throwback sound that mixes indie and punk that would have been called “Alternative Rock” in the early 90’s. They reminded me of The Lemonheads meets the Gin Blossoms meets The Replacements. But really they just made me think about 90’s Alternative - punk rock stalwarts The Smoking Popes.

I kicked back and really enjoyed The Pretty Flowers set. It’s solid radio friendly rock n roll that would have fit right at home on late night MTV’s 120 Minutes or Alternative Nation. 

As their set ended, I found a spot at the bar and ordered another IPA to kill the time. I was sitting at the bar trying to be anti-social but the universe had other plans for me. 

There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned to find two women excited to say hello, “Excuse me, Are you Damian?” 

It was a confusing moment. I was clueless as to who they might be and my face must have shown my confusion.

“We work at Crooked Goat! You just got hired there right?” 

The women were at the Big Easy with a handful of regulars who recognized me from my training shifts. The two of them had already heard about me and were excited to have me on the team. They filled me in and spilled hot gossip about my future employer. 

It was the kind of surreal moment that only occurs on a night when you have to fight yourself off the couch. 

Here I was in a new town, at a bar I’ve never been to before and standing in front of me were two strangers welcoming me not just to Crooked Goat, but to Sonoma County. It’s been a few months, but already this place is starting to feel like HOME.

Eventually, I excused myself and moved to a closer position to watch Redwood Chrome take the stage. The singer, James, was wearing a t-shirt for one of my favorite John Carpenter films, They Live. I was wearing a shirt featuring John Carpenter’s The Thing. I knew I was in good company. 

The band took the stage and I was immediately surprised and delighted. Like a number of Northern California rock bands, there’s no easy way to catalog Redwood Chrome. They’ve got blues, surf, heavy metal, punk and psychedelic rock all thrown into a blender. It shouldn’t work, but it creates something that constantly feels familiar, while maintaining originality throughout. 

James sits down and plays rip roaring blues guitar riffs, while singing through a small amp that makes his voice sound robotic. Even if he’s sitting, his performance contains so much movement and energy that you forget he's sitting in a chair. 

The band felt much like a one man band, backed up by an eclectic and great rhythm section. It kept thinking of one man band artists such as Scott H. Biram and Bob Log III meet the energy of The Reverend Horton Heat, with a heavy amount of psychedelic rock influence. 

As their set progressed, I found their vocals reminded me a lot of emo-pop-punkers Joyce Manor and when they blasted into a surf rock song I thought lovingly of Mike Watt and his legendary band The Minutemen. 

Redwood Chrome joins the likes of such groups as Primus or Victim’s Family, those Sonoma County acts that just defy classification. 

As the band finished up their rip roaring set, I paid my tab and headed out the door. I said my goodbyes to my new friends and headed out into the night. 

I wasn’t done hunting for adventure and I walked around the block to the Phoenix Theatre. It felt closed, but I could hear something going on inside. I tugged at the door and found it unlocked. There was no one there to welcome me, but the music beconned me inside. 

I got there with just enough time to discover about ten young kids watching a band play their last song. To some this might have been a sad sight to see, such a small crowd in such a gigantic room, but my heart swelled as I smiled ear to ear. 

These young kids have their whole lives ahead of them. They’re discovering the world of indie/punk rock n roll. They’re supporting and building a community and along with it, they are supporting themselves.

Hopefully in the many years to come, they’ll find themselves in a strange new town.. They’ll find themselves seeking that feeling they got when they were 16 years old watching and dancing with their friends at the Phoenix. Maybe they’ll meet their new co-workers who will hug them goodbye with well wishes and warm regards. 

The air that night vibrated with the potential of the future. 

This wasn’t the greatest night of my life, but it was an important one. I went out seeking community and I found it. It’s been here all along waiting for me in a basement dive bar in Petaluma. I can’t wait to discover the many other places where communities like this one exist. I hope I can help others discover it for themselves. 

I got back in my car and headed north to Santa Rosa. I turned the stereo up and drove home. As the Descendents blasted on my stereo, I thought to myself: “Welcome to Sonoma County. Welcome home.”

I look forward to returning to the Big Easy. More information can be found on The Big Easy at their website or instagram page.

Redwood Chrome have a number of shows coming up including Friday May 29th at WonderStump! in Petaluma with UltraBomb, which features Greg Norton from the absolutely legendary band Husker Du along with Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum) and Derek O'Brien (Social Distortion). Follow Redwood Chrome on Instagram for the most up to date show information.

The Pretty Flowers tour has finished, but you can find out more information on their band or listen to music at their official website or instagram.

Ian Hinkley and his antics can be discovered at his website or instagram.