Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Till We're Old and Gray

The “Americana”-tagged Blackout Party also plays face-melters about mummies smokin’ weed.
The “Americana”-tagged Blackout Party also plays face-melters about mummies smokin’ weed.

Blackout Party singer/songwriter Brian Holwerda chats with me between waiting tables at Café Japengo and finishing BP’s second album, Closed Mouth Don’t Get Fed.

“In my late teens I played in a band called Fine White China. All the eyeliner and stuff was a little silly — we were young. We got signed to a European metal label. The band fizzled right after the record was finished. I couldn’t see myself making that music when I was old. With Blackout Party we could play these tunes till we’re old and gray!”

Sponsored
Sponsored

This is the second year BP’s been nominated for a San Diego Music Award. Does the “Best Americana” category fit?

“It’s nice to be recognized. I don’t know that any of the nominees are true ‘Americana.’ Blackout Party lost the same category in 2010. I play guitar for John Meeks, and his record won last year. I made a drunken acceptance speech, since he didn’t show.”

La Mesa native and pedal steel guitarist Daniel Crawford weighs in.

“It’s funny that we always get put in ‘Americana’ — the category is so broad. I think we get very far from that bush, so to speak. A lot of our tunes melt faces, whether they’re about mummies smokin’ weed or pirate rockers.”

“Brian started Blackout Party with Tim Lowman. I was doing a recording session for someone else. During lunch the producer played a song by Brian. I loved it, so for fun I laid down a lap steel part. Next day, Brian heard it. Tim, Brian, and I met for beers — that’s how I joined. It definitely was in a more traditional country vein then.”

Brian, how did Blackout Party get from that point to receiving the SDMA nominations?

“The biggest change has been solidifying our rhythm section. Some great players came and went. We really lucked out, getting Jeff Hawthorne on drums and Jesse Bowen on bass. And doing a weekly residency at the Riviera Supper Club for over a year helped us figure out what works live. We got tight enough to record 15 songs live last month.”

“The new record is way more upbeat than Bottom of the Sea. I’ve incorporated a bit more storyteller, narrative vibe, with less confessional, heartbreak, tear-in-my-beer... That record was a cluster of songs I wrote after a breakup. I’m in a totally different place now.”

The Blackout Party performs at the Riviera Supper Club in La Mesa on July 30.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
The “Americana”-tagged Blackout Party also plays face-melters about mummies smokin’ weed.
The “Americana”-tagged Blackout Party also plays face-melters about mummies smokin’ weed.

Blackout Party singer/songwriter Brian Holwerda chats with me between waiting tables at Café Japengo and finishing BP’s second album, Closed Mouth Don’t Get Fed.

“In my late teens I played in a band called Fine White China. All the eyeliner and stuff was a little silly — we were young. We got signed to a European metal label. The band fizzled right after the record was finished. I couldn’t see myself making that music when I was old. With Blackout Party we could play these tunes till we’re old and gray!”

Sponsored
Sponsored

This is the second year BP’s been nominated for a San Diego Music Award. Does the “Best Americana” category fit?

“It’s nice to be recognized. I don’t know that any of the nominees are true ‘Americana.’ Blackout Party lost the same category in 2010. I play guitar for John Meeks, and his record won last year. I made a drunken acceptance speech, since he didn’t show.”

La Mesa native and pedal steel guitarist Daniel Crawford weighs in.

“It’s funny that we always get put in ‘Americana’ — the category is so broad. I think we get very far from that bush, so to speak. A lot of our tunes melt faces, whether they’re about mummies smokin’ weed or pirate rockers.”

“Brian started Blackout Party with Tim Lowman. I was doing a recording session for someone else. During lunch the producer played a song by Brian. I loved it, so for fun I laid down a lap steel part. Next day, Brian heard it. Tim, Brian, and I met for beers — that’s how I joined. It definitely was in a more traditional country vein then.”

Brian, how did Blackout Party get from that point to receiving the SDMA nominations?

“The biggest change has been solidifying our rhythm section. Some great players came and went. We really lucked out, getting Jeff Hawthorne on drums and Jesse Bowen on bass. And doing a weekly residency at the Riviera Supper Club for over a year helped us figure out what works live. We got tight enough to record 15 songs live last month.”

“The new record is way more upbeat than Bottom of the Sea. I’ve incorporated a bit more storyteller, narrative vibe, with less confessional, heartbreak, tear-in-my-beer... That record was a cluster of songs I wrote after a breakup. I’m in a totally different place now.”

The Blackout Party performs at the Riviera Supper Club in La Mesa on July 30.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
Next Article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.