By DONNA BALANCIA
Saturday night at the Cinema Bar was the setting for some swinging country-punk and rock that packed the small Culver City room with friends, family and longtime fans. And it’s still the holidays so the locals were in a good mood at the Cinema Bar, which over the years has become a sort of underground place for great music in a fun setting.
The Dime Box Band, which has enjoyed a faithful following through the years, performed a snappy set at Cinema Bar with Danny and The Doorknobs supporting. No offense to some of today’s new alternative musicians, but they could take a lesson from these musicians.
The Dime Box Band is basically a family affair, featuring lead vocalist and guitarist Kristi Callan with husband David Nolte filling in on bass, James Nolte on guitar and mandolin-violin player Lyn Bertles, with her husband Nick Vincent on drums.
What better way could a family spend the holidays than playing music together?
Callan is a charismatic frontgal, connecting with the audience and her fellow musicians, particularly the stellar violinist Bertles whose vocals compliment the lead. Her strings are out of this world.
Guitarist James Nolte may be young but he’s got years of guitar work under his belt and apparently has learned the notes from his bassist dad and guitarist mother.
A great aspect of the night was the friendship, as the band enjoys hanging together and with the audience, many of whom are also family members and friends.
One notable moment of the night was when Callan called up Ames Flames, who may be the roadie to the stars but certainly proved his own musical prowess when joining the band with his 12-string on “5 and Dime Waltz.”
The Dime Box Band has a fun new album, Happy. Check it out here:
Opener Danny and The Doorknobs have years of experience and it shows. This is a great group, worthy of following around to their gigs, which is what music fans used to do in the old days, rather than merely downloading and listening.
Danny and The Doorknobs have got a great groove, playing an indescribably excellent genre of music that blends the best of styles similar to The Cure and The Grateful Dead with psychedelic sounds.
Check out Danny and the Doorknobs’ album Jukebox in the LA River:
