In late 2021 while at a Two Rivers open mic event I remember seeing Triton Taylor performing. I decided to follow him on Instagram, and since then he’s been sharing about the various parties, weddings, and other special events that he plays for. When he shared something about a “Sacramento artist mixer” event, I was curious enough to note it on my calendar.

The event’s host was the Sacramento Artist Coalition. A recent upstart, their website describes their mission for supporting the music community. Essentially, they are trying to mediate the relation between venues and performers in order to suit each other’s needs. I know as a performer that venues will typically desire at around 2-4 hours of entertainment. That is quite a lot of time, especially for most of us musicians who are doing this as a side gig. Not included in that time is the setup and break down of equipment, travel, and rehearsals. So, it seems like the Artist Coalition recognizes this as well and wants to connect musicians in order to share a playbill and resources at venues. They propose that this allows performers to focus on a tighter and higher quality set, and a better overall show, which is in everyone’s interest for the night. They are oriented towards musicians performing original material, as we typically lack a catalog to fill the hours of time without back filling with plenty of covers.

The venue for the event was Rock & Brews restaurant on the Cal Expo property in the Arden area of Sacramento. It occupies an old amusement park (they even preserved the mini-golf and batting cages), updating everything with a classic rock and roll theme. There is a large selection of beer taps and a full menu of meals. There is a prominent stage for live acts, and a soundtrack of rock and roll.

The place was bustling on this Saturday night. Nearly every table of the large space was occupied by families out to enjoy the weekend. It was unclear who was there for the event and not, as there wasn’t a reserved area for the mixer. The hostess was unaware that it was even happening, despite the flyers, posters, and merch table that was prominent in the entryway (to be fair, it was very busy in there). I arrived promptly on time, which is to say way too early, so I took a bar seat and had a Hotel California Cobb Salad and a Sudwerk Marzen while taking in the atmosphere.

Near the end of my meal, the host for the event took to the stage with a mic to start the event. Michael John Stanley described the Coalition and what to expect for the evening’s entertainment. He plays in the band that would be the closing act, Big Red Rabbit. He also started the coalition with the bassist in the group. Triton Taylor then took the stage for his performance.

Through no fault of Michael or Triton, the night had a rough start. The sound was absolutely buzzing, like it sounded broken during Michael’s opening speech and for the first few minutes of Triton’s performance. It was later revealed that a sound check hadn’t really happened, and it remains unclear to me whether the sound was owned by the venue, or someone else. Once the issue was resolved, Triton sounded great with this acoustic guitar and singing his soulful pop style. It is clear why he is popular for weddings! However, technical issues returned during the final performance as Michael’s vocals and guitar would continually cut-out. I have to credit Michael for keeping the show going and staying positive because I’m not sure that I could have!

An impressive photography setup by Drone Casts was documenting the event. Looking at the results, they have a talent for developing expressive images. Brandon and Roxanne are the duo behind the lens, and they travel around the world for sports, travel, and other things while based out of Sacramento.

As the night progressed, I made it a point to introduce myself to everyone I identified as there for the mixer, give them a card, and learn a bit about them. I expanded my network a bit and am sharing what I learned with other musicians who may want to meet this nascent part of the Sacramento musician community.