The California Sons

Take a heavy dose of Americana, add a shot or two of Whiskey, and you have the The California Sons, a fast-rising quartet from San Francisco, CA.

With two guitars, bass and drums, The California Sons began as an acoustic, bluegrass-influenced duet comprised of acclaimed singer/songwriter/recording artist Erik Olson, and a legend-in-his-own-mind Eric Schultz. Several years later, drummer Eric Getter and bassist Nate Pease came on board.

"We have a dynamic show. A lot of people like to dance", said singer and guitarist Erik Olson.

Dance and drink, apparently. Some of The California Sons 's more popular songs include "Tangled in Twilight," "Fay Dunaway" and their breakneck chart-buster of "Across the Great Divide." All that apparently leads to the performance culminating into what one fan called, "A Great Wagon Wreck."

"That's an instrumental, a fast song and a Jam tune," Eric Schultz said. "But it almost has these psychedelic riffs in it. It's a lot of fun to play."

Schultz says each person in the band comes from a different musical realm, which gives the group a unique mix. The group sings three and four part harmonies, and trades off lead vocals too.

"Nate has a heavy Jazz background. Eric G has more of a jam-rock (one)," Olson said. "Schultzy is bluegrass, I'm rock and folk. So, we've kind of taken all our influences and put them together. It's what we lovingly call bluegrass-folk-rock-americana with a shot of whiskey."

There they go with the whiskey, again. But the music is so brisk, lively and toe-tapping, it goes down easy. It's also made The California Sons a festival favorite.