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| Coastside names take Little Fox stage By Stacy Trevenon [ stacy@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 1:10 PM PDT Robin Campbell says it’ll be a “Half Moon Bay night” at the old-style, funky Little Fox Theatre in Redwood City on Saturday. She’s right: the Robin Campbell Band will open an evening of blues, rock and funk played by Coastside bands. They’ll be followed by the bluesy rock of Brother Buzz and then Blue. It all begins at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Little Fox at 2204 Broadway in Redwood City, with admission $12 in advance and $14 at the door. But for the Campbell band, which for seven years has made its name on such local stages as the San Benito House, Half Moon Bay Brewing Company and local festivals, it’s more than another gig. It’s the beginning of a new era. “We are growing,” announced Campbell by phone from the Half Moon Bay home she shares with husband Thomas Bates — whom she describes as not a musician but “a music lover” — and baby son Ollin cooing in the background. “We’re looking to expand the sound. Plus, I’m not Robin Campbell anymore. I’m married, I have a kid. I’m not the same person I used to be.” The band — Campbell on vocals, Chris Cotruvo on lead guitar, Peter Amour on drums and Jeremy Foster on bass — is not abandoning its trademark driving sassy, bluesy rock or the rich instrumental sound linked by Campbell’s soaring, gutsy voice. It’s just fleshing it out. They’ve been experimenting with additional percussion from a Santa Cruz musician on congas, hand drums and “a mean triangle.” And Saturday will mark the debut of backup singer and Coastsider Amanda Mollison, whom Campbell describes as a vocalist of a similar range and near-identical musical tastes as herself. In repertoire, the band is also at a crossroads. The Little Fox gig will showcase their bag of blues and rock classics from the 1970s and early ‘80s on to more contemporary hits, longtime Campbell band favorites and a few originals. They plan to play a few numbers by well-known rockers, that Campbell had been eyeing. Those include Led Zeppelin numbers like “What Is and What Should Never Be” which she says she is “really excited about” and lesser-known, challenging Janis Joplin numbers like “I Need a Man to Love Me” or “Try” which Campbell calls “very range-y. I refused to do it for a long time but finally got up the courage.” She says the band wants to explore deepening and enriching its sound the way Led Zeppelin did: by injecting levels of hard-hitting rock to sweeter softness into each song. “We’re beginning to grow up,” she said. “We like to explore more creatively. We’re maturing; we’d like to offer more. More per song, more dynamic, more emotion, more than being a pop singer. More excitement.” She credits son Ollin with this new phase. Born Oct. 27, 2007, he’s “already singing,” his mother says, and he triggered the changes in her now felt by the band. “When I became a mother, I was a different person,” she said. “A bigger person than I used to be. More emotional, (and) I feel strong. A different person emerged.” It emerged at once, too. She said she was initially concerned that she might stop performing after Ollin’s birth, but things turned out “just the opposite.” Despite sleepless nights, she had her first postpartum gig a month after Ollin arrived. She said music and motherhood just harmonize. “They feed into one another beautifully,” she said. “Being a mother doubled my heart so I have more to offer as a singer. What rock is about, is about heart. I’ve become a more solid, honest singer.” The Little Fox is an ideal place to present the newest manifestation of the band, she said, because the intimate, old-fashioned venue has tables and tends to tune audiences into listening instead of dancing. “People actually listen,” she said. “We’re ready to move into more dimensions, (and) it’s very exciting just to be heard. I’ve always wanted to sing there.” The Little Fox can be reached at (650) 369-4119. |