The ghost behind the Bakersfield music scene - By N.L. Belardes
I had walked into Azul’s, a downtown Bakersfield bar once known for raging six-pack tacos when it was Paco’s Tacos. I was just passing through really to show a friend how blue the place had really gotten with lights and its name. “…and this is Danielle Belton’s hangout. She’s a local journalist-celebrity who loves to write about the goings on in local entertainment. Her blog is kind of freaky though; but then so is mine…” Ok, I didn’t really say that, but as I turned to leave, two gentlemen almost simultaneously said, “Hey, N.L.”
I had no idea who they were at first. They introduced themselves as Jon Coley and Zill DeVille. I’d heard of Zill. He’s the promoter who probably stood up and cheered, boogied and high-fived anyone in sight when hearing Nate Berg had been shoved out of town on his outdated DeNiro horse. Zill had written, “I win” on an online bulletin when the big Pizza-a-go-go end-of-Nate post went down; and the next day I saw a huge poster promoting shows near the corner of Eye and 19th Street, likely Zill’s doing in celebration of not getting his posters ripped down in the poster war anymore.
I had Zill’s link up on my site and had been writing to a friend of his who thought she had to straighten me out about some recent goings-on regarding some kid passing out another promoter’s flyers in front of Jerry’s Pizza. I had inquired about the incident in an email and used the word, “Crony”, which the mysterious letter writer took in a negative context. I informed her that crony wasn’t a negative word at all but meant longtime companion and friend, and that I had not posted any of the supposed flyer incident… Jon and Zill both knew all about it. This was a strange coincidence to say the least. They offered to buy me a drink. Why not? I only drink the sissy stuff and they were soon to find out. “One raspberry cider please,” I grumbled. The bartender poured it. I took a drink. It was smooth raspberry, a very light pear beer… I felt like a complete wimp; but I wasn’t there to look tough...
Jon began to tell me his story. He has self-confidence and a swagger in his voice as he began to tell me just how much he has been a ghost behind the music scene. He indicated that he agreed with my articles against the baseball bat of poor consciousness and downtown balkanization of the Bakersfield music scene. Then he told me that he was the funder behind the old pizza-a-go-go promoter, that he was the mover and shaker behind Nate Berg, Zill DeVille and possibly some others. He’d been a part of much bigger music scenes but had come back to Bakersfield. He was now all about unity in Buck City. And to top it off, Nate Berg is his friend. But you have to love your friends and help pick them up, even when they’ve gone the way of the black cowboy hat. “I’m the guy who bought his bus ticket out of town,” he said. “But now he’s doing the same thing again. He’s in jail in New Orleans.”
Not too hard to believe. Jon spoke about unity in the scene and how Jerry’s Pizza has to start somewhere. I told him I wouldn’t go there, that it’s just too much of a dirty place. But then he straightened me out further about this underground cavern of the Bakersfield rock and roll farm by defending it as a place for unity.
Musicians defend its sanctity because they think they have no other downtown Mecca to uplift or to invest in. And so I think promoters uplift its sanctity as a bastion of rock, never to be torn down or pissed on, though maybe it is vomited in from time to time. That’s beside the point. Jon talked about giving Jerry’s chance, that he wasn’t out to get rich. He wants to make the Bakersfield music scene work right.
Jon told me that unity has to start somewhere. He’s right. And in the meantime I just have to play the eternal skeptic. It’s the Descartian approach I have in me as a novelist/historian. Be a skeptic, cast doubt, and hope that Jerry’s Pizza will clean up the downstairs. There’s talk. We’ll see what happens. “It will pick up during school,” Jon said. “We’re going to do some good things with Jerry’s.”
We then talked about Kerouac, newspapers and writing. We both share a vision of Kerouac as a strange mentor of sorts in our lives. We shared some stories about that and parted ways on friendly terms.
I have to add that unity will be difficult as there is a bit of a promoter war going on. I got a hint of it in our discussion at Azul’s regarding the flyer incident. Then there was more on the Internet recently in a bulletin released by Zill DeVille who clearly doesn’t like Montgomery World Plaza, which I think is a really nice venue compared to Jerry’s Pizza. They both have their advantages in the music scene. I was on the bulletins last night when I read the Zill post:
Someone find out why they(The Warriors) are playing mwp (Montgomery World Plaza)
I’m bummed man ever since I started doing shows I wanted to book The Warriors and now they play for some dumb asses at some shitty food court.
I’d get those guys in the gate or something at least. If they dont want to play Jerry’s.
Unity is going to take the promoters all getting along. Let’s hope they all find a way to make amends…
In the meantime. I’m going to pick the brain of that ghost, Jon Coley, and find out if he’s seen Kerouac pass through town, a ghost on the back of a flatbed truck, or on a train headed through cotton country…
I had no idea who they were at first. They introduced themselves as Jon Coley and Zill DeVille. I’d heard of Zill. He’s the promoter who probably stood up and cheered, boogied and high-fived anyone in sight when hearing Nate Berg had been shoved out of town on his outdated DeNiro horse. Zill had written, “I win” on an online bulletin when the big Pizza-a-go-go end-of-Nate post went down; and the next day I saw a huge poster promoting shows near the corner of Eye and 19th Street, likely Zill’s doing in celebration of not getting his posters ripped down in the poster war anymore.
I had Zill’s link up on my site and had been writing to a friend of his who thought she had to straighten me out about some recent goings-on regarding some kid passing out another promoter’s flyers in front of Jerry’s Pizza. I had inquired about the incident in an email and used the word, “Crony”, which the mysterious letter writer took in a negative context. I informed her that crony wasn’t a negative word at all but meant longtime companion and friend, and that I had not posted any of the supposed flyer incident… Jon and Zill both knew all about it. This was a strange coincidence to say the least. They offered to buy me a drink. Why not? I only drink the sissy stuff and they were soon to find out. “One raspberry cider please,” I grumbled. The bartender poured it. I took a drink. It was smooth raspberry, a very light pear beer… I felt like a complete wimp; but I wasn’t there to look tough...
Jon began to tell me his story. He has self-confidence and a swagger in his voice as he began to tell me just how much he has been a ghost behind the music scene. He indicated that he agreed with my articles against the baseball bat of poor consciousness and downtown balkanization of the Bakersfield music scene. Then he told me that he was the funder behind the old pizza-a-go-go promoter, that he was the mover and shaker behind Nate Berg, Zill DeVille and possibly some others. He’d been a part of much bigger music scenes but had come back to Bakersfield. He was now all about unity in Buck City. And to top it off, Nate Berg is his friend. But you have to love your friends and help pick them up, even when they’ve gone the way of the black cowboy hat. “I’m the guy who bought his bus ticket out of town,” he said. “But now he’s doing the same thing again. He’s in jail in New Orleans.”
Not too hard to believe. Jon spoke about unity in the scene and how Jerry’s Pizza has to start somewhere. I told him I wouldn’t go there, that it’s just too much of a dirty place. But then he straightened me out further about this underground cavern of the Bakersfield rock and roll farm by defending it as a place for unity.
Musicians defend its sanctity because they think they have no other downtown Mecca to uplift or to invest in. And so I think promoters uplift its sanctity as a bastion of rock, never to be torn down or pissed on, though maybe it is vomited in from time to time. That’s beside the point. Jon talked about giving Jerry’s chance, that he wasn’t out to get rich. He wants to make the Bakersfield music scene work right.
Jon told me that unity has to start somewhere. He’s right. And in the meantime I just have to play the eternal skeptic. It’s the Descartian approach I have in me as a novelist/historian. Be a skeptic, cast doubt, and hope that Jerry’s Pizza will clean up the downstairs. There’s talk. We’ll see what happens. “It will pick up during school,” Jon said. “We’re going to do some good things with Jerry’s.”
We then talked about Kerouac, newspapers and writing. We both share a vision of Kerouac as a strange mentor of sorts in our lives. We shared some stories about that and parted ways on friendly terms.
I have to add that unity will be difficult as there is a bit of a promoter war going on. I got a hint of it in our discussion at Azul’s regarding the flyer incident. Then there was more on the Internet recently in a bulletin released by Zill DeVille who clearly doesn’t like Montgomery World Plaza, which I think is a really nice venue compared to Jerry’s Pizza. They both have their advantages in the music scene. I was on the bulletins last night when I read the Zill post:
Someone find out why they(The Warriors) are playing mwp (Montgomery World Plaza)
I’m bummed man ever since I started doing shows I wanted to book The Warriors and now they play for some dumb asses at some shitty food court.
I’d get those guys in the gate or something at least. If they dont want to play Jerry’s.
Unity is going to take the promoters all getting along. Let’s hope they all find a way to make amends…
In the meantime. I’m going to pick the brain of that ghost, Jon Coley, and find out if he’s seen Kerouac pass through town, a ghost on the back of a flatbed truck, or on a train headed through cotton country…
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Wednesday, August 03, 2005.
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