Monterey Rocks

The tagline “Support Local Music” is cringe-worthy! Why? Because it implies that we’re doing local musicians a favor and that without our support, they languish.  As if supporting local music is an act of charity.

The local music that can be found in Monterey County is as deep and diverse as the landscape the artists reside on.  But I wouldn’t expect anything less from the place that gave us the Monterey Pop Festival, the still-standing Blues Festival and one of the nation’s best Jazz Festivals, including its byproduct, the Next Gen Jazz Fest (the Superbowl of jazz festivals for school-aged musicians who compete for the privilege of playing in our backyard). 

“Music is the great uniter. An incredible force. Something that people who differ on everything and anything else can have in common.”
― Sarah Dessen

Speaking of life’s fragility, we felt the pride through the tears that he couldn’t show, as John Sherry kept playing while his son was reeling from the effects of a car wreck that left him paralyzed.  The accident happened on New Year’s Day of 2016. The local community showed up in a big way with donations to a GoFundMe account that funded an accessible vehicle. Jackson attacked his problem with tenacity and continues his inspiring journey, reminding the rest of us to appreciate what we have. 

The owners have hit on a formula that continues to fill their seats. Starting with being selective about products to creating a friendly vibe, as well as committing to support local artists in events such as open mic nights, it looks like the Beerded Bean hits the right spot.

And if a community doesn’t exist, start one. That’s exactly what Jacqueline Kabat did when she moved to Monterey and started Tribe in the Sky, which now has over 1,000 Facebook group members.  Jacqueline has been responsible for fun events such as the Lovers Point Concert series, which just completed its second season.

“Communities that create music, laughs, tranquility, peace, soul, deepness, connection, acceptance and empathy can change the world.”
― Jacqueline Kabat, Director of Tribe in the Sky

This is an introductory post meant as a teaser!  We’ll be blogging about Jacqueline Kabat, the Beerded Bean, John Turri and many more artists and community builders very soon! Our hope is to encourage Monterey Bay residents to go out and support our many talented musicians and join or even start a community! So follow us, share the links and get excited about Monterey Live Music!

 #MontereyRocks