The Soft White Sixties isn’t exactly a retro band, however, the San Francisco quartet is influenced by the music of the cultural decade and was named after an antiquated incandescent light source.
A young, ascending band with an impressive support group, the Soft White Sixties make its second Crystal Bay Casino appearance Saturday as one of two after-party bands for Tea Leaf Green and Moon Taxi.
Like the other bands on the bill, it plays rock and pop with some onstage improvisation.
“It was never meant to be a jam band; it was meant to be song focused,” said singer Octavio Genera, who mentioned Tom Petty as an example. “We’ll throw the ball around and see where it lands.”
The Soft White Sixties drew attention at Austin’s South-By-Southwest festival in 2013, a year in which it sold out The Independent in San Francisco for an EP release, appeared at Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park and had a concert webcast and recorded a video WATCH at Bob Weir’s TRI Studios in San Rafael.
Keyboard and guitar player Aaron Eisenburg was destined to be a musician. He is a native of Cool, Calif., and his father sold tie dye at Grateful Dead shows and his mother was a radio disc jockey. He attended Dead shows before he was old enough to walk.
But, again, members of the Soft White Sixties do not consider themselves part of a jam band.
“It’s never been a jam (planned) for the set,” he said. “It’s a lot better when it happens naturally. It’s always more enjoyable when we don’t plan for that to happen.”
While the players are not quite ready to quit their day jobs, the expectations are high. Its first Crystal Bay show was in the larger Crown Room and it is scheduled to headline the Feb. 28 Noise Pop 2014 in The Chapel in San Francisco.
The Soft White Sixties debut full-length album, “Get Right” comes out March 4.
The Soft White Sixties
When: Saturday, Jan. 18 in the Crystal Bay Casino’s free Red Room after-party with the Meat Packers; Crown Room headliners are Tea Leaf Green and Moon Taxi start at 9 p.m. with tickets $22 in advance or $25 at the door
Where else:
- Friday, Jan. 17 in St. James Infirmary, Reno, with the Meat Packers
- Friday, Jan. 31 in Powerhouse Pub, Folsom, with the Mother Hips
