Keeping The Beat Going
Creative Concord - Interview With Dave Hughes
We caught up with Dave Hughes - a mainstay of the hyper-local music scene in and around Concord, co-founder of the beloved Concord Couch Concerts music community, and music curator for Creative Concord - to ask him a few questions and get a peek into what makes Concord such a vibrant city that is eagerly embracing arts and music.
Let’s start out with a look back and your connection to music, live performances, and what brought you to Concord.
I grew up in Santa Maria Valley on the Central Coast and moved to the Bay Area in my early 20s” Dave shared. “After building up a small savings while renting in San Francisco and Castro Valley, my wife talked me into the seemingly ludicrous idea of purchasing our first home. Of the towns and cities we could actually afford around here, Concord checked all of the boxes for us. We bought at the right time, there’s no way we could today.
As for music, I’ve been a musician since I was in middle school, but I’ve never been much of a performer. I had a jazzy rock band in high school called the Tommy Guns, and an instrumental post-rock band in college called Pope. After leaving the Central Coast, I focused less on my own music until I released a solo EP in 2018 and spent the next year or so trying to figure out what to do with it, which led to confronting my re-found sense of stage-fright! So I started playing my solo stuff at local open mics and that’s how I got acquainted with the musicians at Vinnie’s Open Mic, where I found myself performing original music with other musicians for the first time since Pope. It awoke something in me, and by 2020, I was ready to embrace my own vulnerabilities as a musician, performer, and collaborator – but then everything shut down. After the lockdown I’ve performed my solo stuff a handful of times, but for the most part, you’ll only catch me on stage when I’m playing bass and dancing to the care-free sounds of traditional ska. My band, The Concordians, only plays once a year but we make sure it’s worth the wait every time – and you can catch us this year at Vinnie’s Bar and Grill on September 28th.
The Concordians
“I was ready to embrace my own vulnerabilities as a musician, performer, and collaborator – but then everything shut down”
Concord Couch Concerts was undeniably epic and continues to this day – albeit in a different format than during the pandemic – what was the inspiration behind this movement and what made it not only possible, but very successful?
Yeah man, from May of 2020 until June of 2021 we had a great thing going with our virtual concerts! Over 30 productions featuring over 100 local acts, raising thousands for local charities…we’re all very proud of what we accomplished with that, and we’re stoked to be able to keep it going with our Singer Songwriter Showcase in Todos Santos Plaza. The CCC crew is like family, and the community that we’ve built around it is very special.
Concord Couch Concert image courtesy of Dave Hughes
The idea was born a few weeks into the lockdown. I met with Vince Lay and Joey Nuñez, whom I got to know from Vinnie’s Open Mic, and we thought of different ways we could make an online Open Mic using Zoom or whatever. Every live thing we thought up or attempted was crap. We ultimately decided that we were overvaluing the live concept, and we should instead just make a show that would “air” on Facebook Live at a specific time so everyone we knew could tune in and interact in the live comments. With promotional help from some connections at the City of Concord and Visit Concord, our first episode had over 5,000 people watching live. A strong launch was surely a key component to its success, and the fact that there wasn’t a really good alternative for virtual hangs that were genuinely entertaining – that helped too. The show itself grew and improved over time, and the talent and quality of submissions improved with it – all that was essential to its success for sure. Oh, and the couch! Smart branding. Who knew such a simple sketch like that and a G11 chord would have such staying power?
Let’s talk about the role of CCC in regard to forging community and bringing people and musicians together.
The fact that the whole thing was so community-driven is a major reason the show was a success. Something like this could easily become cliquey, repeating the same acts over and over. We made sure not to repeat a single act for the first few months. Every other week we had 12 new acts, which in turn expanded our reach into their fanbases and followers. Growth through cross-promotion felt somewhat exponential. The livestream audience may have dwindled over time, but the community of artists and local music enthusiasts contributing to what we were doing – that all continued to grow with each episode.
“I mean, this is the freakin’ Bay Area - the home of the ‘Summer of Love!’ And we’re in Concord, home of Dave Brubeck! He’d just be another pianist if he only ever played Gershwin, ya know?”
You are the force behind The Beat of Diablo on 90.5 KVHS – can you share what led to this, what was the inspiration behind it and what has been the effect on the local music community?
The idea started when CCC’s virtual series concluded and we were left with all this amazing content that we didn’t know what do with. It seemed wasteful to consider it spent because some of those later submissions were top shelf! I got to thinking about the audio alone, and how it would be cool to keep CCC going as an online radio station or something. It didn’t take long to conclude that online radio was not the way forward, so I began to think of good old-fashioned FM radio. I thought we could maybe reach out to some local stations to consider some of the content. I brought this up in the CCC Slack workspace, which now included some new team members as we pivoted from virtual concerts to our songwriter showcases. Brian Vandemark shared that Concord’s own KVHS had recently reformatted, and Phil Moore, the new station manager, was looking for community input. So I called Phil and explained that I was happy to construct a local music show utilizing much of this content, and he was definitely warm to the idea! I pitched a pilot episode, and after some constructive feedback, we launched the first episode in October of 2021. I’ve been churning out new episodes since then without missing a single week.
While it is quite time-consuming for volunteer work, the radio show is ultimately very rewarding. There’s nothing like seeing a clip of a young musician on social media sitting in their car – because that’s where the FM is – and holding back tears because their music is being played on the radio. That’s everything!
The KVHS show has also allowed me to continue with some of the best aspects of what we were doing with CCC: coalescing the music community; massively building out my own music network; introducing new artists to the public; and creating something entertaining on a weekly basis that showcases local musicians, all of which I get to enjoy with the public when it airs. And yeah, it’s pre-recorded, just like CCC. Cat’s out of the bag!
We always hear a lot about how bad contemporary music is, but without a doubt local and original music is alive and well. What is it that makes it so durable and how and what can people do to support it to make sure it continues to thrive?
I see it differently. Personally, I think we could all do a hell of a lot more to support local original music. It’s absurd to me that our local stages are dominated by cover bands and tribute acts, especially when you consider the incredible original stuff coming out of our region. I mean, this is the freakin’ Bay Area - the home of the ‘Summer of Love!’ And we’re in Concord, home of Dave Brubeck! He’d just be another pianist if he only ever played Gershwin, ya know? We should listen to what the artists of today have to offer right here in our own community, instead of this perpetual trend of lionizing the greats of yesteryear.
Locally, we do have some great cheerleaders for original music, and some venues and platforms that prefer it over more cover tunes. The Beat of Diablo, for example, will very seldom feature a cover song. Celebrating original music is the entire crux of CCC’s Singer Songwriter Sundays. In Martinez at Luigi’s Deli, Scotty O’Neill is frequently seeking out great original acts for his Wednesday Night Listening Room. At Vinnie’s Open Mic, host Vince Lay is always encouraging participating artists to share their original music if they’ve got any. I’d say one way to support original music is to show up to these places and cheer on these brave artists.
And while it might sound like a shameless plug, I honestly think listening to my radio show routinely is one of the best ways to discover local original music that you might connect with and then go on to support. I play all styles for that reason, hoping that no matter who listens in, something will resonate with them. I inform listeners of what these artists have been up to, recent releases, upcoming shows, how to follow them online… I try to make it as easy as possible for listeners to connect with the artists and their original music. As to when and where? New episodes air every Sunday night at 7PM on 90.5 FM and KVHS.com, with rebroadcasts every Thursday night at the same time and channel.
Let’s talk about community and Concord in particular – what is it about this town that makes it so different than other cities in the Bay Area?
Diversity, no doubt! Both cultural and economic. I mean, the Bay Area is undoubtedly one of the more diverse regions in the country, but Concord’s a bit unique given its size, location, and relative affordability.
At 130,000 people and two BART stations, Concord is a good size city! But unlike SF or Oakland, it’s also a sprawling suburb with a “small town” feel. For that reason – before living here – I had wrongly assumed this area was a homogenous white flight community, with some of those less desirable “small town” elements that work against community-mindedness. I’m glad I was wrong about that because Concord is a diverse, inclusive, working-class community. These are essential elements that – I think – naturally foster a communal sense of empathy and compassion, which in turn makes for pleasant, well-rounded people. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions, but most people I’ve grown to know well in Concord are some of the best folks I’ve met in my life.
“I really don’t know what the future holds, but I think it’s safe to say that it’ll be more of the same, with an emphasis on ‘more’.”
Where do you see yourself in the future in regard to music and supporting artists and the music community in general?
If we could time-travel back just half a decade, there’s no way I could’ve predicted that today I’d have an FM radio show and a newspaper column dedicated to local music. Because I enjoy it and have become pretty good at it, I know I’ll keep doing it. Having said that, I don’t know what doors might open along the way, or what unforeseen things might happen that may hinder my ability to continue at this level of dedication.
I know I want to grow The Beat of Diablo beyond a weekly FM radio show and newspaper column in The Pioneer, but I don’t know what that will look like right now. I do enjoy the emcee/DJ work I do with Creative Concord, playing only local music at these live events and helping to curate live performances, and I may explore doing more of that with different community partners. I’m also exploring how to incorporate public access television as a vehicle for local music, but still haven’t fleshed it out. I really don’t know what the future holds, but I think it’s safe to say that it’ll be more of the same, with an emphasis on ‘more’.