Steve is a Pismo Beach resident, a singer-songwriter whose music is posted at Steve Key.com. He is also host of Songwriters At Play, held at several Central Coast venues.
 Coming Soon to Windows on the Water: Jade Jackson
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Morro Bay Free Live Music
by Steve Key
Miss Lola's Southside Diner opened last month in Morro Bay, in place of the Pelican Grill at 560 Embarcadero. Free live music is out on the patio, Saturday and Sunday noon to 3pm. Burgers, meatloaf, mac & cheese—yep, sounds like a southside diner. And yes, that's the same Miss Lola—as in Frankie & Lola's Front Street Café—their other restaurant on the other end of The Embarcadero.
Lenny Blue (right) and Phil Enns Play the Dockside Patio
I arrive on a perfect sun-drenched Saturday afternoon, finding shade under a Samuel Adams Beer umbrella, sharing a table with a young couple from Lompoc. Despite the beer theme, I order a glass of Pomar Junction Brooster Red and settle in to enjoy some tunes.
Baywood resident Lenny Blue is holding forth on electric guitar and vocal, sitting beside bandmate Phil Enns, who add subtle percussion, although he's got a full drum kit ready. The stage area is partially shaded—some kind of netting that barely blocks the sun. Beer signs dominate the backdrop, with a single strand of Christmas lights adding some fringe.
Lenny is in jovial Vegas mode—he asks the Lompoc couple, "Where ya from?" and lets them know he's been there: "Jalama Beach," he drawls. "Jalama burgers!" The duo's set list is heavy on lounge standards: Elvis' "I Can't Help Falling in Love" and Engelbert's "Release Me" (Lenny calls the latter an Eddy Arnold song, but Engelbert Humperdinck had the chart-topping hit with it).
Lenny correctly names Fred Neil as the writer of "Everybody's Talkin'" ("not that Neelson Schmeelson guy," he retorts), and adds an impressive yodel to the coda. They turn the Beatles ballad "Let It Be" into a reggae-ish romp, and even the Elvis number goes tropical midway through. After three hours in the sun, Lenny and Phil close with a wacky medley of "Sunny" and "Honky Tonk Women," keeping the jazzy guitar phrases and vocal melody of Bobby Hebb's smooth ballad as Lenny segues into the swaggering lyric of the Rolling Stones rocker. Hilarious!
You might call Lenny Blue the hardest working musician in Morro Bay—later that same Saturday, Lenny and Phil go into full band mode to rock the Fuel Dock. Wednesday afternoons you can often find Lenny at Tognazzini's Dockside restaurant patio (next to the Coast Guard Station). He's also a regular at the Otter Rock Café. Find his gig schedule at
Roots Stew.
More Morro Bay Free Live Music
Windows on the Water has added Saturday nights to its summer weekly music offerings. Teen phenom Jade Jackson is slated for July 9; longtime local favorite Jody Mulgrew plays July 16, as well as some Monday and Thursday shows. The schedule is posted at Windows Events.
Stax Wine Bar is one of the newest venues for free live music on the Embarcadero. Vance Fahie (pronounced "Foy") of the reggae band "Resination" is in residence on Thursdays July 7 and 21. More shows are listed at Stax Wine Events.
Elephant Seal on Banner by Mike Baird |
