Soda Crackers celebrate debut single, local honor

It's a good week to be a Soda Crackers fan. The band with local ties, which recently released its debut single, will perform its last Bakersfield show of the summer on Saturday. And band leader Zane Adamo is also up for a Beautiful Bakersfield Award for his efforts to preserve the Bakersfield Sound.

Adamo said the nomination for the 34th annual local awards ceremony being held Saturday is an honor. (He's nominated in the Arts and Entertainment category, defined as efforts "to improve and/or enhance the arts and culture within our community.")

"I really appreciate everyone's support and encouragement. This nomination means so much to me personally and I see it as a nomination for The Soda Crackers, our loved ones, and everyone who's come out and danced at one of our shows."

Although he won't be able to attend the event since the band has a gig in Visalia that night, he's excited to see a groundswell of support for the Bakersfield Sound, which both pays tribute to beloved musicians like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard while also widening the net to include lesser-known but equally talented performers.

"By my definition of the Bakersfield Sound, I think the interest in the Bakersfield Sound from the younger generations is building. Most people, young and old, in Bakersfield have their favorite Merle tune or know the chorus to, 'Streets of Bakersfield,' but many more amazing artists also played an important role in the Bakersfield Sound that people aren't as aware of.

"Bakersfield's never had/never will have a problem finding a band that plays the big Merle and Buck hits but there is much more to the 'Sound.' You could argue that Billy Mize is arguably the third-biggest name to ever come out of the Bakersfield Sound era but I don't know of a band besides us who plays his songs.

"Merle and Buck brought The Bakersfield Sound to a worldwide stage but we should be celebrating the other amazing artists who were writing/playing songs in the height of 'The Bakersfield Sound' as well."

The Soda Crackers love playing to fans of all ages, traveling this year as far north as Sacramento and as far south as San Diego.

"I love telling people we're a band from Bakersfield," Adamo wrote.

The band took its inspiration from Bakersfield for its debut single, which was recorded at the Fairfax Grange dance hall that has hosted its two "Rancho Round-Up" shows.

"You can't recreate over 80 years of history," Adamo said in the press release for the single. "It is one of the best-sounding rooms we've ever played in and you can feel the history when you perform on stage. I can't think of a better place for us to have recorded at."

Adamo said it was a 5-month-long process to record his "Two-Step Solution" and steel guitarist Nick Green's "Grapevine Rag" that serve as side A and side B, respectively, on the 45 RPM 7-inch vinyl.

"This project was a Bakersfield-inspired endeavor, start to finish," Adamo said in the single's press release. "This vinyl record was inspired by all the legendary Bakersfield Sound artists that came before us."

"Two-Step" is described as a blend of that "classic Bakersfield twangin' sound with a nod to the Western Swing that you can't help but get out of your seat and shuffle in your cowboy boots" while Green's "Grapevine" is an instrumental ode to the well-traveled stretch of road with "a drivin' beat pays homage to our town's king of the truckin' songs, Red Simpson."

Along with being out on vinyl, the tracks are streaming now on all music platforms.

Fans will be able to hear the original tunes on Friday when the band plays the Rustic Rail in Oildale. Filling in for bassist Chuy Holguin will be Dakota Collins, the nephew of rockabilly legend Larry Collins and bass player for Kyle Eldridge.

After the show, the band will hit the road, traveling all over California this summer. The "Sun-Fun-Stay-Playboys" are set to return some time in late September for the third installment of the "Rancho Round-Up" at the Grange.

"It'll also be our single release party/show," Adamo wrote. "We had to wait until after summer because of the heat!"