Introducing 4th St. Records and The Roost House.

Welcome

4th St. Records and Roost House

     This edition of my Featured Artist is a little different, and very near and dear to my heart. Today I am sharing with you all my very dear friend, Adam Zerbe and his labors of love, 4th St. Records and The Roost House.  I asked Adam to do an interview here for me not only because he is a friend and I want to support my friends in their ventures any way I can, but because what he is doing is truly important, and special to me.

     Recently, I had the privilege of visiting with my lovely friends Audrey, Adam and Nicole, and got to spend a wonderful, intimate afternoon with them. Watching them work, play, and enjoy each other. My favorite part was towards the end of our visit. My kids were reading in the corner, the rest of us were sitting at the big wooden table they use as their desk in front of the beautiful windows overlooking their back porch and yard. We all sat doing our own things. Me reading a magazine, Audrey reading a gardening book, Nicole working on her computer, Adam working on his. Conversation breezed back and forth occasionally between us. Adam and I talked about his website, Audrey and I chatted about the garden, and I was privileged to be part of some shop talk too about the Roost. What it showed me is the love this family has for each other and for what they are doing. Their environment is filled with peace and love, and it shows in everything that they do.

     Adam's Independent Record label, 4th St. Records, and live music venue The Roost House fill a void that has come to music. It seems to be ever increasingly difficult for talented musicians to find places to make their music, and as for live music venues, they are disappearing fast.

     The Roost House offers a not for profit, beautiful space to showcase these talented musicians, and for people to affordably come and enjoy them. This true labor of love is incredibly important to keeping music alive not only for ourselves, but for other generations.

     Join us on this journey to learn about what inspired such a leap of faith, and what 4th St. and The Roost House are all about.

4th St. Records

1. Who are you?

Adam Zerbe, 32, from Carmel,California. I am co-founder of 4th St. Records established in May of 2009. 4th St. Records is an independent record label based out of Carmel,CA. We provide independent artists with development, production assistance, and marketing. I am also co-founder and promoter for Roost House, established January 2010, a not for profit Carmel house concert venue which offers the experience of an intimate live sound experience between artist and listener. I also love to surf, hike, bike, ski and am a novice singer/songwriter.

2. Tell us a little about 4th St.

4th St. Records was established with co-founder Mike Dilks. We started the company in May of 2009 to provide a platform to launch the first album release from Carmel based singer/songwriter Walter Rose.
(You can find Walter Roses Featured Artists Interview on "Till death..." by clicking HERE)

3. Who is involved?

Independent artists and music fans

4. What are your goals for 4th St.?

To produce, engineer, and record music that we love; to achieve a recognized artist base; and to help artists grow and achieve their desired goals however big or small they may be.

5. Tell us about your artists. Who they are and what kind of music do they play?

Walter Rose is 4th St. Records’ first artist. He is an alt country singer/songwriter based in Carmel,CA. His roots spread from his birth place of Hawaii to the west coast of California. He has had two great reviews thus far for his first release (Italian rock magazine Buscadero; American Songwriter magazine https://www.americansongwriter.com/2010/04/under-the-radar-the-soft-anthem-re-visited/. ) Walter continues to write and will be working with 4th St. for his upcoming full length album.

Gabriel Gandzjuk is a folk crooner from Monterey,CA. We are currently working on his first full length album. His smooth vocal delivery adds to his great lyrical tales. We are looking forward to continued work with Gabriel and his future releases. His album will be released in the fall of 2010.

Mark Roth is a Carmel Valley,CA, singer/songwriter and guitarist. He has recently returned to Carmel Valley after being in the Los Angeles music scene. His bands Monterey and Freight Train included studio work with Chris Robinson and Mark Ford of the Black Crowes. We are looking forward to working with Mark, showcasing both his songwriting skills and his ability to collaborate with other artists.

Cave Country is a folk/americana/roots/country band based out of Los Angeles,CA. They have independently released their first full length album with producer Beau Raymond and recently completed a west coast tour. We are helping them promote this debut album and plan to collaborate on their second album release. The band members consist of Jim Reynolds (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Evan apRoberts (lead guitars/vocals), John Thompson(drums), and Jason Boles (bass/mandolin).

Our artist catalogue continues to grow and we are excited about the future!!

6. Do you have a preference for the kind of music you record at 4th St.?

Our intention is to capture the feeling associated with heartfelt song writing. We will not over produce artist’s work, but rather help them take the proper steps in order to create their desired sound. These artists will cover a range of genres.

7. What music is important to you? What has inspired you, changed your life, and what do you sing in the shower or while driving in the car?

Music that is important to me is music which evokes emotion, speaks of realities in one’s life, inspires action, makes me think, and creates mood. I love roots reggae of the 70’s, Mississippi Delta blues of the south, roots country of America, and many of today’s independent artists.

I have been inspired by people, nature, my family, friends and the actions brought forth from all that is. I have been inspired by my conscience, loves, perceptions, dreams and decisions. My life has truly changed when I was able to realize the individual I am, accept it and move forward. I have come to find that change occurs most from within.

I am a freestyle singer by nature. I will just take a melody that dwells within and set it free with some free form lyrics. Mostly my lyrical delivery consists of reference to nature, women, and self belief. I don’t find myself singing in the car but you’ll never drive with me and not hear some tunes. Recently I have been listening to Evan apRobert’s album “Under the Ghost”, Lucinda Williams’ album “West”, Vetiver’s album “To Find Me Gone”, and the band Sparrows Gate’s newest EP.

8. Is there someone with whom you would love to work?

I would love to work with sound engineer Chris Spilfogel. He is a close friend and inspiration. I also look forward to working with engineer/producer Beau Raymond. He has worked on projects ranging from Devendra Banhart, Mark Olson of the Jayhawks and Evan apRoberts.

9. Where can you be found?

I can be found in Carmel,CA working at my desk, strumming my guitar, catching waves, and making progress on building a recording studio here in Carmel!! Email me at adam@4thstrecords.com
Also on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/fourthstreet

Roost House

1. What is Roost House?

Roost House is a house concert venue located in Carmel,CA. All door donations go to artist and sound engineer. Roost House is a listening room for up to 70 seated folks where artist and audience share a sound experience free of distractions. We have our own house PA system suited to compliment the acoustical space which makes Roost House one of a kind!

2. Who is involved in Roost House?

Roost House has a variety of community members who have shown their support to help this vision become reality. Audrey Morris, I & Nicole Carlson make up the in house hosts. Local contractor and family friend Dan Malone donated time to lead the effort in building the performance stage. Local audio professional Anthony Nocita volunteered his advice to educate us on our acoustical space and the proper sound equipment to install. Local musician and live sound engineer Rick Chelew has become a mentor to Roost House and helped to spread the word to his community of friends. Then there is the ever growing fan base of Roost House.

Audrey's Story

**Before I go any further with the interview, I have to interject here with Audrey's Story.  I asked Audrey (Adam's Mom) specifically to answer this question for me:  "Audrey, you've got to be the coolest Mom in the world for letting Adam do this at your house! Tell us your side of how this all came to be."  She is wonderful, and she not only answered the question, but gave us the whole story!  My heart was very happy after I read this, so here for you, is Audrey's Story.**

This is the story of what inspired Roost House and Adam’s label, 4th St. Records.

     Roost House is a truly collaborative enterprise between Adam and myself. We work well together and have musical tastes in common. We have a good adult relationship, though of course the parent/offspring relationship is never gone.
     My late husband and Adam’s father, Carl Zerbe, and I discovered this property in 1975. It had a 650 sq. ft. shack and an acre of mostly flat, rich land. Before we moved here, we had hosted a Sunday afternoon volleyball game for 8 years in a secluded old dwelling deep in Hatton Canyon. When we had to move, one of our hopes was to find another place in which we could continue that tradition. We also wanted soil, a desire which stemmed from our farm country roots - Carl’s in Indiana and mine in New Jersey and Connecticut. By the way, the name Roost House comes from a family dairy farm in Connecticut. In 1933 my grandparents began using the farm’s hen house for summer guests. They named it “The Roost.”
     Adam and his brother Lindley lived here from their birth in 1978. When we began to outgrow the 650 sq. ft., Carl and I decided in 1980 to build an “addition”, all 2000 sq. ft. of it. Our friend and architect, Penny Goldcamp, created a plan which included full span trusses that allowed for an open floor plan. We didn’t know if we would expose the trusses or cover them with sheetrock, so we stepped up the lumber grade a bit in the manufacturing process to give us the option. As the crane set them in place, they looked beautiful, like bows against the blue sky. The decision was made. Little did we know that they would prove to be acoustically magnificent as well. The construction took us eight years and was a labor of love and hands on creativity.
I come from several generations of relatives who were involved with music. My mother was a singer, my sister played violin, I the piano (and clarinet and bassoon in school bands) and we all sang in church choir. My brother loved to listen to his transistor radio held up to his ear. Though my exposure to live music was mostly in the classical realm, my mother’s chorus performed once with Duke Ellington, and my father played the Kingston Trio and Harry Belafonte on our “hifi” stereo. Carl and I met in 1972 and had individually been fans of the music of the ‘60s, however we found a common passion for old blues music and that is what Adam and Lindley grew up with after we bought a box at the Monterey Bay Blues Festival the year it was founded in 1986 www.montereyblues.com.
In 1986 Carl met Phil Emerson, guitarist and vintage guitar expert, formerly of South Seas Guitars in downtown Monterey and now of Phil’s Guitars in Seattle. Phil and Carl formed a passion for collecting and trading in vintage guitars. After Carl was forced to retire in 1992, he became a serious student of the blues – the music, the history, the players, the guitars’ stories, and he created a website Kokomomusic.com. Through Phil we met many musicians who were invited to our home to play Carl’s collection. A comment we heard over and over from the musicians was “The sound in here is great! We should do a ‘Live at Zerbe’s’ recording!”
Carl passed suddenly in 2005. Though it took several years to recover, I was ready again in 2009 to consider sharing this space, originally built to accommodate groups of people. I was ready to fill the house with the music of players and those who appreciate music. I wouldn’t, and couldn’t, have ventured into this chapter without Adam’s encouragement, enthusiasm, people skills, vision and very fine musical ear.

Roost House Continued:

3. Is there a particular genre of music that you prefer to showcase?

In booking artists and bands we choose those we like and who are appropriate to the acoustics of our venue as well as the size of the room. Folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz , folk-rock, country, and a capella all suit Roost House well. Acoustical instruments including guitar, upright bass, and piano, along with vocal harmonies sound incredible in this space.

4. Who has played The Roost?

Hawaiian Slack key & slide guitarist Ken Emerson, Wyoming based duo Anne & Pete Sibley, singer/songwriter Chris Webster with guitarist Nina Gerber, Ryan Scott & Christina Courtin from NY, blues guitarist and harmonica player Stevie Gurr, alt country singer/songwriter Walter Rose, Los Angeles based country/folk-rock band Cave Country, singer/songwriter Zebedee Zaitz, Austin folk/blues artist Jarrod Dickenson with upright bassist Rick Chelew, singer/songwriter Sandy Greenfield with Adam Rothschild, singer/songwriter Mark Roth, Los Angeles based singer/songwriter pianist Mark Renk, Santa Barbara singer/songwriter Khasy Modisette, and the mixed genre band Honeymoon.

5. What are your goals with Roost House? Where would you like to see The Roost in a few years?

We intend to stay committed to our value of a sound experience and move forward with capturing these experiences with live recordings. We will collaborate with artists who would like to record their performance and help distribute the recordings to a worldwide audience. In two years we will have recorded and released some live performances and be known on a national level.

6. Who would be your dream performer to play at Roost House?

There are a few performers we would love to have here: Taj Mahal, Dave Alvin, Phil Emerson, `Tim Bluhm, Eric Bibb, Neal Casal, Jackie Greene, Nico Georis, Rushad Eggleston, Palo Colorado, JJ Cale…just to begin the list…

7. If I'm interested in playing at The Roost, what do I need to do?

To contact us for booking please take a look at http://www.roosthouse.com/ and then email roosthouse@gmail.com with your EPK.

8. How can I find out about up-coming shows and projects?

For upcoming shows please the concert calendar at www.roosthouse.com and find us on facebook.com/roosthouse.

9. Where can I find you?

You can find Roost House in Carmel, CA, on the worldwide web and on a variety of artist’s upcoming gigs list!

Official Website:  http://www.roosthouse.com
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/roosthouse

Thank you for stopping in!