Vintage Blues, Rock, and Original Music

 Crosscut - image1


Crosscut, based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, plays a unique mix of vintage blues and rock, and original music to create a sound that is all its own. Their musical influences include early Delta Blues, Memphis and Chicago Electric Blues, Soul from STAX and Motown, R&B, Rock, and a little bit of everything else.

Crosscut at Union Square SF

Crosscut is part of a growing musical community from  Soundwave Studios  in Oakland.  Soundwave Studios has spawned some of the area's most talented and diverse musical acts over the past several years.  Crosscut is proud to be associated with the staff and the all of the bands that rehearse there. 


Crosscut is a member of the Golden Gate Blues Society.  
All Bay Area Blues fans should join, either as individuals, or sign up your band.

The purpose of non-profit The Golden Gate Blues Society is to enhance the appreciation and understanding of the Blues in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area through:

  • sponsorship and promotion of Blues performances;
  • education programs and publications on the performance, interpretation, preservation and growth of the Blues as an American art form;
  • the financial as well as moral support of the San Francisco Bay Area Blues music community.
The Golden Gate Blues Society is the only Bay Area affiliate of the Blues Foundation. With 165 affiliated Blues societies and a membership that spans the globe, the Blues Foundation’s signature honors and events—the Blues Music Awards, Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, International Blues Challenge and Keeping the Blues Alive Awards—make it the international center of Blues music.

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The Band

Mike Hoffman -  Guitar, Vocals Mike Hoffman

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Mike was immersed in the musical heritage of his hometown from birth. The Blues that migrated from the Delta and into Memphis are as permanent a fixture as Beale Street and the Mississippi River rolling past its bluffs. The birth of Rock and Roll at Sun Records, and the unique blend of Soul and R&B from STAX and American Studios also left an impression. Later, after hearing Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Led Zeppelin, and other rock icons of the 60's and 70's, Mike's musical influences took on a new dimension. He also grew up living in the "shadow of the King." The back fence of his childhood home was literally the back fence of Graceland. Mike was a frequent visitor at the home of Vernon Presley and family, who lived three doors down.  Picking up a guitar and trying to sing for the first time at age 23, Mike was a late bloomer as a musician. He paid his dues playing for tough audiences in the bars and clubs of his hometown before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Joe HowellJoe HowellDrums

Joe is a San Francisco Bay Area native who has absorbed the rich musical diversity of the region. Joe's father, a heavy metal musician, exposed him to different musical genres from an early age. Joe loves all kinds of music, from Acoustic Blues to raw Modern Rock and Metal.  His enthusiasm lends itself to the hard driving beat that is part of the Crosscut signature sound. When he's not pounding the drums for Crosscut, you might hear him playing blues riffs on the harmonica.


Bryan McCue - Guitar, Vocals  

Bryan, a native San Franciscan, grew up experiencing first hand the “San Francisco Sound” that revolutionized the music of the late ‘60’s and early‘70’s. Practically born under his father’s piano, a well known musician and professor of music himself, Bryan studied trumpet as a youngster leading him into the Orchestra and Dance Band at Lowell High School. Graduating in ’67 “The Summer of Love” he fell under the spell of the guitar sounds of the times. Bryan’s passion for the blues was ignited by seeing the original Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s last performance at the original Winterland in SF, which was the onset of his insatiable appetite for the Blues Greats, such as the 3 Kings, Albert Collins, T-Bone Walker along with the arrival of young guitarists like Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac) and Eric Clapton, Johnny Winter, early Allman Brothers, Santana, etc beginning the onslaught of many of the young rock/blues guitarists to burst into local venues as the Fillmore, Avalon Ballroom, Winterland, various Haight Street clubs, park concerts, etc. That set the scene for Bryan to start playing Blues/Rock music with various local musicians. Rich times were had living with Francis Clay (Blues Hall of Fame) in early 70s experiencing the life and learning the music of the blues. Surviving an extended adolescence, he took a hiatus from the blues lifestyle, in order to develop a career that actually pays the bills and find that elusive love we were all singing about. Bryan (now happily married) is back doing what he always enjoyed and could not be denied – writing and playing the blues… When Bryan isn't playing with Crosscut, he's busy fronting his other group, the Nitecaps Blues Band. 

Gary Allsebrook - Bass  
Gary Allsebrook

Gary is a native San Franciscan, now living in the East Bay. Gary's music career started in woodwinds while in the music program at Serra High School, playing clarinet, flute, alto, tenor, and baritone saxes.  He later switched to electric bass and fell in love with the instrument.  Gary has been involved continuously in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene since the 60's. Although he can play almost all music styles, his passion is for Blues and R&B.  Gary's early influences include Paul McCartney, Jack Bruce, Noel Redding, John Entwistle, anything Motown, Tower of Power, Cold Blood, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Joe Louis Walker, Michael Hills Blues Mob, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Sting.  He has played with musicians such as Neal Schon (Journey), Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Eddie Money, Michael Shreive (Santana), Jimmy Greenspoon (Three Dog Night), Barry Melton (Country Joe & the Fish), Lydia Pense (Cold Blood), John Cippolina (Quicksilver Messenger Service), The Isley Brothers, Bobby Day, etc. and have played on stage with the Turtles, Bob Kuban & the In Men, The Charlatans, Captain Zoom, The Byrds, Sly & The Family Stone, etc.

 

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Audio 

Recorded June, 2009 at Expression College for Digital Arts  

Walkin' Blues

Get Out of my Life Woman

Someday After a While

Turning Your Love

Messin' With the Kid

Original Songs -
Recorded September, 2007 at Expression College for Digital Arts


The Oil Company 

Blues Brews and Barbeque 

Friendly Fire 

Jerry's Song 

The Last Time You'll Two Time Me 

My Mojo Left Me 

 

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Video

Recorded at Expression College for Digital Arts
  


Use the mousewheel or click the dots to scroll the playlist.
Play/Pause buttons are "in sync" between player and playlist.

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Calendar

Upcoming Performances

Saturday, February 6
9:30 p.m.
Whiskey Lane
629 Ferry St
Martinez, CA 94553


Whiskey Lane
Directions
Friday, February 12
9:00 p.m.
Pioneer Saloon
2925 Woodside Road
Woodside, CA
(650) 851-8487
Pioneer Saloon
Friday, March 5
9:00 p.m.
Toots Tavern
627 2nd Avenue
Crockett, CA 94525
(510) 787-9860
Toots Tavern
Friday, April 23
9:00 p.m.

The Bistro
1001 B St

(between Foothill Blvd & Main St)
Hayward, California 94541
(510) 886-8525
The Bistro
The Bistro • 1001 B Street • Hayward, CA 94541 • (510) 886-8525
Live Music • Outdoor Seating • Soup • Salads & Sandwiches
Espresso • Fine Wines • 12 Microbrews on Tap • 30 Belgian Beers

Saturday, June 5
1:00-4:00 p.m.

Lafayette Public Library
Summer Reading Festival
3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd
Lafayette, CA 94549
(925) 385-2280  
Lafayette Library and Learning Center
Sunday, July 18
Time TBD
Crockett CA
Sugartown Festival and Street Faire
Crockett, CA
Thursday, July 22
12 noon - 1:30 p.m
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
San Francisco CA
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

    Past Performances 

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    Band Flyers

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News

Crosscut has a page on myspace.com Stop by for a visit, join our friends, or leave a comment.  
The address is
http://www.myspace.com/crosscutband

Check back for information about Crosscut's live webcasts from Expression College for Digital Arts  in their Meyer Hall Soundstage.  Crosscut performs several live webcasts every year.  The webcasts are one hour in length.  Dates will be posted as they are confirmed.

                      Watch Videos

In September 2006, on a trip home to Memphis to visit family, Mike arranged a side trip, and made a pilgrimage to Clarksdale Mississippi, the cradle of the blues.  Highlights of the trip included the Delta Blues Museum, the world famous crossroads of Highways 61 and 49 (where Robert Johnson is rumored to have sold his soul to Satan in exchange for his guitar skills), and visits to Madidi restaurant and Ground Zero Blues Club, both owned by Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman. An unexpected pleasure was sighting Mr. Freeman at the restaurant.  Ground Zero was jumping with the sounds of the Wesley "Junebug" Jefferson Band.

          

 

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Contact Us

Mike Hoffman - phone: (925) 917-8793  email: hoffman163@gmail.com

Joe Howell - phone (510) 910-1759  email: josephhowell605@comcast.net

Bryan McCue - email: bryan@polyure.pacbell.net

Gary Allsebrook - email:  ga4blues@comcast.net


Booking

Call Mike Hoffman (925) 917-8793

or  email  hoffman163@gmail.com

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