Bay Area folk/rock band, Blame Sally will perform Saturday evening at Abounding Grace Sanctuary.
The show runs 7-9 p.m. at the sanctuary, 2450 S. Kolb Road. Doors open at 6:30.
Blame Sally is a powerful success story of four top San Francisco Bay-area singer-songwriters who put their careers aside and joined forces to start a band in their late 30s and early 40s, a time of life when many bands begin to break up and musicians start solo careers or just "settle down."
Blame Sally is a collaboration of four women, Monica Pasqual, Renee Harcourt, Jeri Jones and Pam Delgado, along with five-string bass player Rob Strom. The women began meeting several times a week in 2000 to share dinner and trade songs.
With their beautiful harmonies, smart lyrics, gentle yet passionate energy and intricate instrumentals, they began to carve out a sound that was rooted in folk, Americana and country. Before long they had a local following, and they recorded their first live album in 2001.
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Things snowballed from there. They made several self-released recordings and then signed on with a Berkeley-based indie label in 2009. Blame Sally made its official debut for the label in 2011 with its fifth album, "Speeding Ticket and a Valentine" and recently completed a successful promotional tour of Europe.
I've been curious how the band got the name "Blame Sally," since there is no Sally in the band. According to Monica Pasqual, "Yeah, we had a bunch of stupid names and we were totally not into trying to find a name but knew we had to. On the day we were naming the band, Jeri (usually the most punctual and conscientious of us) did not show up. She had been hanging out with our friend Sally who was visiting from England.
"When she came in a couple of hours late, she started to give us a bunch of excuses and we said, yeah right, Jeri - blame Sally. Then we had the name. Not the most exciting story, but it's true."
The concert is presented by the nonprofit Live Acoustic Venue Association, or LAVA, which hosts a Saturday evening series at Abounding Grace Sanctuary in the spring and fall.
If you go
• What: Blame Sally in concert
• When: 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday
• Where: Abounding Grace Sanctuary, 2450 S. Kolb Road
• Tickets: $15 in advance at www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/98302 online or $20 cash at the door
• Info: Email bonnie@lavamusic.org, call 647-3234 or go to www.lavamusic.org
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