Brews 'N' (Americana) Blues: Jeffrey Halford "Unplugged" at Lagunitas Brewing Company

Brews and Americana-style blues collide when classic Americana troubadour Jeffrey Halford performs in concert "unplugged" at Lagunitas Brewing Company, 1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, Friday, December 30. 4-7 p.m. Entrance is free.     

Halford recently gave a rare solo performance as direct support for renowned blues man Robert Cray at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Auburn. The Bay Area-based singer-songwriter-guitar player has been hailed by respected music magazine Dirty Linen magazine as "Hemingway armed with a bluesy guitar."     

It doesn't seem like there could be a straight line between Dallas and San Francisco any more than there could be a direct connection between being an architectural student and learning to play guitar and sing on the mean streets of Chinatown and Union Square - until you hear Jeffrey Halford and it all makes sense.

Halford delivers a uniquely American melting pot sound of roots, blues, rock, and pop - take some Southern soul, add a heap of Texas storytelling, a dash of Bay Area's freewheeling liberal spirit/literary leanings/seedier side, throw in some desert sunshine and dirt, then stir together with an architect's eye for detail and durability and you've got yourself an idea why Paste magazine recently named him to their "Ten Most Influential Artists of the Decade." 

 A guy who doesn't play favorites when it comes to words and music, Jeffrey Halford knows how to get his point across subtly, and he also knows when to hammer it home.

But most of all, he knows how to craft music that grabs your attentionand keeps it - on record, but particularly on stage, where he and the band make you want to jump out of your seat..Jeffrey has shared the stage with Los Lobos, Taj Mahal, Guy Clark, Robert Earl Keen, and George Thorogoodto name a few. Turns out the streets of San Franciscomight have been the best teacher of all.

Jeffrey Halford has been called "An Americana heavyweight" (MERCURY NEWS) for his heartfelt songs about the conditions of the everyday man and woman in America. Among his most memorable: "Cry of Hope," about Americans' need to keep faith in America; and "Louisiana Man," about the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster and our government's slow response to it.

As validation of Halford's writing prowess, he won "2009 Songwriter of the Year" at the 5th Annual South Bay Music Awards. BROKEN CHORD went as high as #8 on the Americana radio charts. 

 Based in San Francisco over the last 15 years, Halford's original roots rock 'n roll songs etch a uniquely American, and specifically California, landscape. Look for a new Jeffrey Halford and the Healers album to be released in 2012.