http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/15/22908/
Charlie Imes has been producing and booking shows for the past three and a half years for the Oasis House Concerts series in Sorrento Valley, in an intimate setting with space for less than a hundred patrons.
"The venue has become pretty popular despite our lack of standard advertising," he tells the Reader. "In addition to the best of the local artists, we've also been approached by some surprisingly well-known artists about wanting to play our place. We've had Steve Poltz, Peter Case, Candye Kane, Laurence Juber, Maia Sharp, Jack Tempchin, AJ Croce, Keith Sykes, Sarah Lee Guthrie with Johnny Irion, Gregory Page, Berkley Hart, Cindy Lee Berryhill, and a boatload more."
Unfortunately, however, "We recently got a thirty day notice to terminate tenancy, and we'll be out by May 1st, but not before we host one more show with a big name. Michelle Shocked is coming to play two shows next Sunday, April 22nd."
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/15/22910/
"Our place only holds sixty people, so it'll be intimate and awesome. And since it's the last show, we're going to pull out the stops and do something memorable. Not sure what, yet, but we'll come up with something."
Michelle Shocked is playing a 5pm and an 8pm show on the 22nd. Tickets are only $25 and info can be found at http://www.OasisHouseConcerts.com. The venue address is sent via e-mail with confirmation of purchase.
Oasis House is co-operated by Martha Sullivan, the proprietor of Apply Liberally Enterprises, an on-line store of art & collectibles, which is where the concerts are held. According to Imes, "The owner of the building had always been intrusive, but when Martha stood up to the owner, she retaliated by serving her notice. Martha always handled the food and hospitality, and I handled the booking, advertising, producing and sound."
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/15/22909/
Imes is a singer-songwriter who started playing concerts back in the 1980s. He went on hiatus before returning in 2004 as a member of classic rock bands Signs of Life and Against the Grain.
His rock-and-roll roots date back long before he first tried his singer/songwriter act at local coffeehouses. “It wasn’t always a foregone conclusion that music would be my career. I did twelve years of Catholic school, four years as an altar boy, two years as a lector, I spent four summers at a seminary camp, and I seriously considered studying for the priesthood.
“Then I met Randy Rhoads and the original Quiet Riot guys, a couple of years before they all became famous. One night, Randy let me play his ivory Les Paul backstage and then offered to give me a spot in his guitar-lesson schedule. I was so stoked, but my parents wouldn’t let me travel that far [to L.A.] for guitar lessons. Six weeks later, he got the gig with Ozzy Osbourne, and the rest is just another historic rock ’n’ roll tragedy. He was a great guy.”
However, he says he found himself sidetracked away from music again. “My biggest regret [is] abandoning my music career for many years for a ‘real job,’ running a legal-support business. After my parents passed and I survived cancer, I realized that life’s too short and returned to music. I don’t make as much money now, but I’m much happier.”
“When I first had my legal-service business, I used to take the occasional stakeout. I had to follow a cheating husband once, and that sucked.”
Did the job ever place him in danger? “I had to stake out a guy who was breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s condo in the middle of the night. I stayed on her couch with a Taser and waited to serve him a restraining order and hand him over to the sheriff. I was going to move into the kitchen when I saw his shadow coming over the balcony, and he slid the door open. I froze. He sensed me but couldn’t see me and bolted out the door and over the balcony railing like a gazelle. He got away, but I called the cops and they picked him up about a half mile away.”
In 2007, he returned to his singer-songwriter roots and began recording his first CD. On an Island was released in May 2008. Guests include Laurence Juber from Paul McCartney and Wings, as well as guitarist David Beldock, Mike Spurgat and Bill Coomes of Deadline Friday, banjo and mandolin player Dennis Caplinger, bassist Rob Thorsen, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, and vocals from Cindy Lee Berryhill, Barbara Nesbitt, and Cathryn Beeks.
The album includes the song “Worst Presnadent Ever,” featuring the George W. Bush impersonator from Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. “James Adomian is also the guy always playing Bush on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” says Imes.
The Oasis House eviction is only his latest bout with hard luck. In Autumn 2011, he broke a finger on his right hand. “I gotta wear a splint for about six weeks," he said at the time, "but I can play around that.”
Here's Candye Kane performing "Superhero" at Oasis House on February 26, 2012:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwskX49Qxf8
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/15/22908/
Charlie Imes has been producing and booking shows for the past three and a half years for the Oasis House Concerts series in Sorrento Valley, in an intimate setting with space for less than a hundred patrons.
"The venue has become pretty popular despite our lack of standard advertising," he tells the Reader. "In addition to the best of the local artists, we've also been approached by some surprisingly well-known artists about wanting to play our place. We've had Steve Poltz, Peter Case, Candye Kane, Laurence Juber, Maia Sharp, Jack Tempchin, AJ Croce, Keith Sykes, Sarah Lee Guthrie with Johnny Irion, Gregory Page, Berkley Hart, Cindy Lee Berryhill, and a boatload more."
Unfortunately, however, "We recently got a thirty day notice to terminate tenancy, and we'll be out by May 1st, but not before we host one more show with a big name. Michelle Shocked is coming to play two shows next Sunday, April 22nd."
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/15/22910/
"Our place only holds sixty people, so it'll be intimate and awesome. And since it's the last show, we're going to pull out the stops and do something memorable. Not sure what, yet, but we'll come up with something."
Michelle Shocked is playing a 5pm and an 8pm show on the 22nd. Tickets are only $25 and info can be found at http://www.OasisHouseConcerts.com. The venue address is sent via e-mail with confirmation of purchase.
Oasis House is co-operated by Martha Sullivan, the proprietor of Apply Liberally Enterprises, an on-line store of art & collectibles, which is where the concerts are held. According to Imes, "The owner of the building had always been intrusive, but when Martha stood up to the owner, she retaliated by serving her notice. Martha always handled the food and hospitality, and I handled the booking, advertising, producing and sound."
http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2012/apr/15/22909/
Imes is a singer-songwriter who started playing concerts back in the 1980s. He went on hiatus before returning in 2004 as a member of classic rock bands Signs of Life and Against the Grain.
His rock-and-roll roots date back long before he first tried his singer/songwriter act at local coffeehouses. “It wasn’t always a foregone conclusion that music would be my career. I did twelve years of Catholic school, four years as an altar boy, two years as a lector, I spent four summers at a seminary camp, and I seriously considered studying for the priesthood.
“Then I met Randy Rhoads and the original Quiet Riot guys, a couple of years before they all became famous. One night, Randy let me play his ivory Les Paul backstage and then offered to give me a spot in his guitar-lesson schedule. I was so stoked, but my parents wouldn’t let me travel that far [to L.A.] for guitar lessons. Six weeks later, he got the gig with Ozzy Osbourne, and the rest is just another historic rock ’n’ roll tragedy. He was a great guy.”
However, he says he found himself sidetracked away from music again. “My biggest regret [is] abandoning my music career for many years for a ‘real job,’ running a legal-support business. After my parents passed and I survived cancer, I realized that life’s too short and returned to music. I don’t make as much money now, but I’m much happier.”
“When I first had my legal-service business, I used to take the occasional stakeout. I had to follow a cheating husband once, and that sucked.”
Did the job ever place him in danger? “I had to stake out a guy who was breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s condo in the middle of the night. I stayed on her couch with a Taser and waited to serve him a restraining order and hand him over to the sheriff. I was going to move into the kitchen when I saw his shadow coming over the balcony, and he slid the door open. I froze. He sensed me but couldn’t see me and bolted out the door and over the balcony railing like a gazelle. He got away, but I called the cops and they picked him up about a half mile away.”
In 2007, he returned to his singer-songwriter roots and began recording his first CD. On an Island was released in May 2008. Guests include Laurence Juber from Paul McCartney and Wings, as well as guitarist David Beldock, Mike Spurgat and Bill Coomes of Deadline Friday, banjo and mandolin player Dennis Caplinger, bassist Rob Thorsen, trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos, and vocals from Cindy Lee Berryhill, Barbara Nesbitt, and Cathryn Beeks.
The album includes the song “Worst Presnadent Ever,” featuring the George W. Bush impersonator from Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. “James Adomian is also the guy always playing Bush on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” says Imes.
The Oasis House eviction is only his latest bout with hard luck. In Autumn 2011, he broke a finger on his right hand. “I gotta wear a splint for about six weeks," he said at the time, "but I can play around that.”
Here's Candye Kane performing "Superhero" at Oasis House on February 26, 2012:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwskX49Qxf8