A syncopated rhythm blends with the smell of barbecue and other kinds of smoke under the eaves of the oak trees. A wailing harmonic melody flies like a bird over the earthy guitar/bass combo and shuffling beat.
It's a familiar scene at the Cold Spring Tavern near the top of the San Marcos Pass, where blues duo Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan enjoy regular Sunday gigs with their band. The pair have been performing at the historic stagecoach stop for nearly 40 years, Ball said, around when they first started collaborating as young musicians in Santa Barbara.
They've enjoyed a partnership as bluesmen ever since.
"Neither one of us saw that coming," Ball laughed. "We just started playing music together and it clicked, and before we knew it it was a career."
The duo play at Cold Spring pretty much any Sunday they're not out of town from 1:15 to 4 p.m. with rotating bandmates. There's always a crowd there, whether they show up or not, Ball explained, but there's a solid core of longtime regulars who make it out often to hear them perform. Their next show is Sept. 30.
Ball and Sultan are celebrated blues artists, with credits from movies, television, and several albums over the years. Ball is known for his technically brilliant and soulful harp style, reminiscent of artists like Little Walter and Sonny Terry (Ball and Terry actually share the same birthday). Sultan is hailed far and wide for his fingerstyle guitar playing, which has allowed him to publish instructional books and even earn a signature Martin guitar.
Like Ball, Sultan said their partnership "clicked" early on, and it's always been easy for the two to work together.
"Longer than any marriage," Sultan said. "Tom's a great guy, same guy every day, and steady as a rock."
The Cold Spring shows are some of the few local gigs they perform anymore, Sultan explained, because the location "has so much soul." They perform at bigger venues in Santa Barbara or SLO when touring blues artists want an opener, of course, but they usually perform in bigger cities across the U.S. or tour Europe when not in the area.
They play right out in front of the log cabin-style tavern that has sat there since the 1860s. They're the "house band" before the amplified music begins inside the bar. Visitors can sit on tree-trunk benches and picnic tables sipping beers while listening, or enjoy the famous tri-tip sandwiches and beer-battered onion rings available during the afternoon.
"It's kind of like home," Sultan said. "They like us up there, they don't want things to change. They want people to come up with their kids and have it the way it was."
Ball and Sultan perform standard blues repertoire with their signature style. Songs like "Key to the Highway" are beloved tunes, but others like "Fishin' Blues" illustrate Sultan's focus on the standards of fingerstyle guitar. Artists like Lightnin' Hopkins or Mississippi John Hurt exemplify that kind of sound, but Sultan also has the more intricate ragtime chops of Rev. Gary Davis or Stefan Grossman down pat.
Sultan's style is known so well that Martin Guitars released a signature model in his name, a sunburst 000-18, after a 1937 he already owned. For those unaware, a Martin signature is the guitarist's equivalent of a marble statue in the town square.
Sultan and Ball pull from the entire blues/folk tradition when penning their original songs. They call their overall style "goodtime blues," which melds blues and ragtime together with tongue-in-cheek lyrics like in their song, "Perfect Woman," a crowd favorite at Cold Spring.
"Well I found the perfect woman boys, who could ask for more?/She's smart and pretty and young and witty and owns a liquor store," with a bridge that follows up with, "She cooks like Betty Crocker, drinks like old Dean Martin/She's got more dough than Ross Perot, she's built like Dolly Parton."
Ball is the singer of the duo, with a lovable baritone that gives a great contrast to his harmonica's soprano voice. He never missed a beat switching between singing and his harp when I visited Cold Spring on Sept. 16.
The pair are often joined by one or two bandmates, longtime collaborators Jody Eulitz, a drummer, and bassist Tom Lee. Lee provides a bouncy bluegrass/jazz/blues feel with his upright bass, and believe it or not, Eulitz brings jazz brushes and a cardboard box to drum on. They were both there for my visit and are a stellar rhythm section, enjoying their own solo breaks during most songs.
Cold Spring really is a place unto itself that pairs perfectly with their music. Sultan said it used to have a reputation as a biker bar, but that's changed over the years. You'll still see the bikers, but you'll also meet families, vacationers, or local music lovers munching on some tri-tip and taking in the tunes.
Everybody's welcome, Ball said, to come enjoy the food and the "goodtime blues."
"It's great for people-watching here because you get students, you get Hell's Angels, you get Japanese tourists, you get winery people, you get old people, young people, dogs, babies–it's terrific for hanging out." Ball said. "We love playing here; come on down and have some fun."
Managing Editor Joe Payne has been to the mountaintop. Contact him at [email protected].
