Vanessa Gutierrez
MUS 322
Randy Griswold
14 December 2018
The Shout! House
I work at a bar in downtown San Diego called the Garage Kitchen + Bar and we have a sister bar right next door called, “The Shout! House.” It is a duel piano bar with extremely talented musicians that work all night long to entertain the audience. There is something about the environment that makes it impossible to have a bad time. Observing the staff and the musicians, you can tell it is their main goal to create a memorable night for everyone who walks through The Shout! House’s doors. They all work very hard to create this type of environment and their inspiration comes from Bob Walin, the owner of both The Shout! House and The Garage Kitchen + Bar. He has always believed that the reason why he has had so much success with these venues is because he runs his business like a family. When employees are treated like family, they treat their customers like family and that eventually creates success. Bob Walin once said, “At The Shout! House, our company culture is important to our success. If our employees are happy, they will create an amazing experience for our guests. We couldn’t have gotten this far without our dedicated piano players and staff and our loyal, enthusiastic fans.” The amount of talent and dedication these specific musicians have is why I chose to focus my research on the those who make The Shout! House so incredible.
There are nine pianist who all bring something different to the table. Two woman and seven men with all different types of musical backgrounds; all brilliant musicians nonetheless. There is a certain amount of talent needed to be able to receive all these different types of requests from audiences and perform on the spot. They get a simple yellow piece of paper with the name of the song and the reason you are out celebrating; birthdays, bachelorettes, work parties, etc. They read the request, and decide if it will be a good idea to sing that specific song. They decide this based on the crowd that is at the bar that night. If it is fairly early, like 6pm on a Friday night, there tends to be an older crowd at the bar. Typically business professionals who work in the area and are looking to let off some steam. At this time, the pianist believe it is in their best interest not to play a song by Cardi B and maybe play a song by Journey. Don’t get me wrong, Cardi B is a big hit, but her songs are usually saved for later in the night. Half of the fun of being at Shout! House is singing along to songs you know. Therefore, if the pianist want to get the crowd going, their best shot is to play a song that is typically known by the crowd at that hour. Not only do these musicians have to know how to sing and play the piano, they also have to know how to read the room. Even then that is not enough, they also have to improv and be quick witted.
The pianists are always going back and forth, cracking jokes and talking to the audience. When I was there observing on a Friday night, there was an older gentlemen sitting in the front row and the pianists do this bit where they shine a flashlight on an individual and sing about them. Jonathan Coyle, who has been playing the piano since he was five, has always been excellent at this bit. He shined the light on this gentlemen and started to sing, “Look at this guy over here in the black, he looks like he was a character on Cheers and also had one too many big ass beers.” A big ass beer is what they call their 32 ounce beer, which actually has a drawing of a butt on the cup. It was quite funny and the whole crowd laughed. Coyle has always been one to pick on the guests in a light hearted way. He also writes his own songs which explains why he is so good at performing and joking on the spot. Coyle stated, “I feel very lucky to have such a fun job where I get to share my love for music and bring other people together in song on a nightly basis.” Someone like that just enjoys their job so much that it makes their performance so much better. The piano is the only instrument he plays as of right now. He says the reason for that is mainly because Billy Joel has been his role model ever since he was a child. Seeing as though Billy Joel is known as the Piano Man, it all makes sense. It comes to no surprise that singing, “Piano Man,” is by far his favorite song to sing. Coyle said he gets so excited when someone requests that song, or any song by Billy Joel. “Piano Man” is one of the most requested songs at The Shout! House, which is a great thing for Jonathan Coyle.
Melissa Alcazar is one of the two pianists that is a woman. In my eyes this makes her stand out to me the most. I always wondered why there were more men than women, but believe me, this does not stop her from outshining anyone who is on stage with her. While performing she brings a certain amount of energy that makes you open your eyes wide and give all your attention to the stage. She takes more of a risk when it comes to choosing her song requests. Although she has a beautiful voice and is able to sing any type of genre of music, she is definitely the pianist to go to if you want to hear an edgier song. She is always the one rapping to a popular Cardi B song or singing Lady Gaga. One time I heard her sing, “Bad Romance,” and I was amazed by how well she can sing a song like that while playing the piano. She has a certain type of voice that can match any song style and for that specific song, her voice was raspy. The singing style she decided to go with went very well with, “Bad Romance.” Alcazar can also play the electric guitar and she even plays it at The Shout! House. It is a whole new experience when someone gets on the guitar and starts playing alongside the other piano players. She is so talented that she had to share her talents with people outside of Shout! House. She still works at Shout! House part time, but she went on her own and is now managing her own piano studio. Alcazar has performed in many events like the Gubaidulina Festival and The John Cage Festival at REDCAT, The 2012 Microfest, Levitt Pavillion’s 2nd Annual Wild Beast Concert Series and Jacaranda’s 100 Cage Festival. I have gotten the pleasure of knowing her personally and she is an all-around amazing musician and human being.
Speaking of amazing musicians and human beings, James Martinez is the next musician I interviewed. Martinez is the kindest person I have ever met and is someone who seems to never be upset and whose smile brightens a room. James Martinez definitely knows what he is doing when he is on stage performing. At the age of three, he was taught to play the piano by ear, by his grandmother. Which explains his ability to play almost any song you can think of and his ability to play it well. Martinez started taking lessons at the age of five and got a head start on his life long dream of playing music for a living. He also plays the drums and guitar at The Shout! House. When the drums are being played it makes you feel like you go from just a piano bar to a live rock concert. “All the Small Things,” by Blink 182 is a common song request by the audience and it is always a hit. That specific request is one song that always requires the piano, guitar and drums to get the full experience. So once, “All the Small Things,” is requested, the piano player will say it out loud, then invite James on stage to play the drums and Melissa to play the guitar. They all play together as one as if they have practiced that song a thousand times, but that is not the case. They basically throw it all together and it turns into an incredible performance by all four musicians. The crowd goes crazy and they all start singing along to the very well-known song. Martinez stated, “Playing at The Shout! House gives me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Watching a crowd unify through song… and beer, is a very powerful thing to be a part of,” and it is very clear that all the musicians feel the same way.
Another fan favorite is “Tiny Dancer,” by Elton John. Everyone knows the words to the song and that makes it extra special for the guests. If you have ever heard the song, which I am sure you have, you will notice the piano intro. That is why that is one of the most requested songs because that is the first song people think of when hearing the pianos. What makes The Shout! House extra fun is when songs are requested and the musicians play more than one instrument. Once “Tiny Dancer,” is requested for the seventh time that night, Dave Puszykwoski, a piano player/comedian, brings out his harmonica. The crowd never sees it coming and you can hear everyone scream with excitement. Two years ago, on my twenty first birthday, a friend of mine requested, “Tiny Dancer,” and wrote, “Vanessa’s Birthday,” on the yellow piece of paper. I remember Dave calling me up on stage and had the crowd sing Happy Birthday to me. He then continued to sing the requested song and had me sit next to him while holding the harmonica. I sat there while he sang, played the piano and played the harmonica (with me as his harmonica stand) all at the same time. In Puszykwoski’s statement he stated, “David brings wit and a vast repertoire of crowd pleasing songs to the stage. As a veteran comedy writer, David is proud to perform at The Shout! House and eager to stop writing about himself in the third person.” Judging by that statement alone, you can get a taste of his hilarious personality. His sense of humor brings a certain amount of diversity to the stage that makes it not only feel like a piano bar, or live concert, but also a comedy show.
Two years ago, when I had that experience with the piano players, it made me fall in love with the duel piano bar. Guests come from all over the world to see these musicians perform because they heard it is the place to go when visiting San Diego. I believe that says something about the type of environment the musicians create for their guests. Everyone leaves happy and musically satisfied. Bob Walin’s main focus to run his business like a family and treat the musicians so well that they treat their guests like family is working very well. Through talent and sincerity, all of the piano players create the most entertaining and enjoyable environment for their guests.