Vintage Blues, Rock, and Original Music

         

Crosscut, based in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, plays a unique mix of vintage blues and rock, along with 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, 50's Rock & Roll, 60's and 70's Rock, and Jazz.

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. 

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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, Deep Purple, and other heavy 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                         * (original material)    

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Video

Recorded December 18, 2007 at Expression College for Digital Arts

Friendly Fire.wmv  *

Walkin Blues.wmv

Messin with the Kid.wmv


Crosscut Vintage Video

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Performances

Upcoming Performances

Friday, April 4
9:00 p.m. till midnight

The Bistro - Hayward

The Bistro • 1001 B Street •
Hayward, CA 94541 • (510) 886-8525




Tuesday, April 14
Albany High School
Albany High logo
Albany High School
Albany CA

Wednesday, April 15
Live Webcast from
Expression College for Digital Arts

Expression Logo

Watch the webcast at http://mediasource.expression.edu/liveCast.htm



Wednesday June 4
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Union Square Park - Jewels in the Square
Union Square San Francisco CA




    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

You can now purchase Crosscut merchandise from CafePress at http://www.cafepress.com/crosscutband   T-Shirts, Coffee Mugs, and Posters are currently available.   Additional items are coming!

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 William "Junebug" Jefferson Band.

          

 

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Contact Us

Mike Hoffman - phone: (925) 917-8793  email: mike163@pacbell.net

Joe Howell - phone (510) 910-1759  email: joe@crosscutband.net

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

Gary Allsebrook - email: ga4blues@comcast.net



Booking

Call Mike Hoffman (925) 917-8793

or  email  mike163@pacpell.net

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