Barry Tanner Memorial Festival at Junction Park

A celebration of life and two-day music festival is taking place at Junction Park in Boulder Creek on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22 to honor local musician and musician’s advocate, Barry Tanner. Tanner passed away in January of 2021 after a long battle with cancer. This is the time to remember his talent and his commitment to the Santa Cruz Mountains music scene.

Family members Kyli Tanner and Terra Ann Barsanti and the team of organizers including Greg Oropeza, Bruce Bellochio, Chas Crowder, Julie Horner, Amelia Nicole Attlesey, and Naomi Wells-Sokumbi welcome all who knew Barry or who were touched by his contributions to local music. Charlie Brown provides the BBQ, and there will be beer and wine available.

Here is the planned schedule of performances.

Saturday, May 21

12:00 to 12:45 — Joy of Jazz
1:00 to 1:45 — Jewels and Johnny Nation
1:50 to 2:05 — Chas
2:10 to 2:55 — The Mojo Navigators
3:00 to 3:15 — David Cameron
3:20 to 4:05 — Dr. Mad Trio
4:10 to 4:25 — Wildsang
4:30 to 5:15 — Badenov
5:20 to 5:35 — Emily
5:40 to close — WredHorse

Sunday, May 22

12:00 to 12:45 — Medicine Road
1:00 to 1:45 — Dirt Rakers
1:50 to 2:00 — Jeanette Cooper
2:05 to 2:50 — Tsunami
3:00 to 3:45 — Kevin Hamm Band
3:50 to 4:00 — Gary Blackburn
4:05 to 4:50 — Dusty Boots
5:00 to 5:45 — Them Slacked Jawed Sons of Bitches
6:00 to 7:00 — Vito & Friends

Remembering Barry

Friend and bandmate Greg Oropeza writes:

“When I first moved to Boulder Creek in 2008 I was playing in several bands over the hill. I was hoping I could connect with some local musicians and play some gigs closer to home, but when I was asked to play a gathering in Ben Lomond I tried in vain to assemble my usual suspects.

A friend introduced me to Barry at his studio, the old post office on Pine Street, which, coincidently, my mother had worked at 30+ years ago. We immediately hit it off and exchanged ideas. We came from very different backgrounds musically, I had played mostly originals, hardcore punk, alternative post punk and later jazz standards done in jump blues style. Barry had played a lot of rock, blues, jazz, bluegrass etc. Together we agreed on a set list and along with George Galt, Vito Dettmore, Mike Belardes, and Tim Welch we rocked that back yard party!

Barry called our style “punk swing” and we continued to play for the next ten years until covid hit. Over the years we utilized four different drummers, three lead guitarists, three saxophonists, and three keyboard players, with Barry and me being the only constants. George Galt played harmonica on most of the gigs. Mike Belardes played sax and since 2012, Tom Bonner on lead guitar.

Early on, Barry had us booked for The Spilly Chilli Bowl of Rocks Show on CTV Santa Cruz but we did not have a name for the project yet. I suggested Der Swinegerschnitzel, but Barry thought that was too silly (he was probably right).

He had a concept of a music collective where different musicians would contribute, he called it “Bullwinkle’s Hat.” I liked the concept but since he had already used that name suggested if we were going to go the Bullwinkle route that maybe we could use something with Boris and Natasha Badenov. We couldn’t think of a clever way to use the theme, and I didn’t know what we were called until we were live on TV and looked into the monitor and saw the credits rolling. We were BADENOV, apparently.

Under that name we played Joe’s, Henflings, Don Quixote’s (now Felton Music Hall), Bocci’s Cellar, The Blank Club, The Caravan, and private events including weddings and house parties. After our last gig together at Henflings, Barry left me a message saying, “Greg, I think we’re hot, we got 105 likes from one picture on Facebook!” I knew I was really in a small town band when 105 likes was considered “hot!”

We had to pull out of gigs when covid hit, but the last time I saw him just a couple months before he passed. He wanted to get together one last time and make a video of the band, but he became too frail to hold a guitar and we could not make it happen.

I loved playing with Barry. He was always open to tackling special requests, learning new songs and pushing each other musically. We switched between rhythm guitar and bass seamlessly, and we harmonized beautifully together. Barry was my bandmate, my mentor and my friend, I miss him terribly.”

Read more about Barry Tanner:
slvpost.com/the-door-is-always-open
slvpost.com/barry-tanner
slvpost.com/barry-tanner-the-gift-of-go-to