Dirty blues duo Little Hurricane in Crystal Bay, stay in Zephyr Cove for winter to record their next album

Little Hurricane debuts at the Crystal Bay Casino on Friday, Dec. 11.
Little Hurricane debuts at the Crystal Bay Casino on Friday, Dec. 11.

Little Hurricane is roaring into town, and won’t be blowing over any time soon.

Comprised of Anthony “Tone” Catalano and Celeste “C.C.” Spina, this (formerly) San Diego rock and dirty blues duo is playing Friday, Dec. 11, in Crystal Bay Casino’s Red Room. Unlike the majority of bands that come through, however, Little Hurricane is here to stay, at least for a little while.

“We’re actually living in Tahoe to finish our record right now,” Spina said. “That Tahoe show is the last show that we have for the remainder of the year and then we’ll be spending the rest of the winter there.”

Little Hurricane 1In August the two found a Zephyr Cove cabin, where they built a music studio to record the project, an idea they hit upon after visiting the area briefly while playing a show in Reno. Catalano had spent considerable time in the basin snowboarding, but that day was Spina’s first visit.

“Even coming from San Diego, spending that time in Tahoe, just for that day off that we had, I was just blown away; to me it’s like the most beautiful place in the world,” she said. “We needed to find another place to live, decided Tahoe would be that spot, and decided to finish the new record there.

“This is our third album, our third full length. Tone does all of our engineering, mixing and mastering, so it’s very much a DIY project.”

The duo hopes to have the record out in late spring or early summer, and is pleased with the growth that it displays since 2014’s “Gold Fever.”

“I think it’s our most honest record to date, we’ve developed the sound,” Spina said.  “It’s going to be a little bit more upbeat than the last record.”

Little Hurricane has been working on its sound since 2010, when Spina posted a Craigslist ad seeking a musical collaboration.

“I had never been in a band before, and I was looking for someone who had,” she said. “I was looking for someone to do a duo with, because I was a little intimidated to be in a four- or five-piece band.”

She quickly received the ideal response from Catalano. A longtime guitar player with a wealth of experience in recording and sound production, he also happened to live just down the street from her. With Catalano at the helm, the act wasted little time in getting onstage.

“I was just planning on playing in the garage, (but) he booked our first show within a few months,” Spina said.

The two were touring shortly thereafter, and Spina quit her day job before a year was out. This year saw the duo in Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, France, and other locales.

“We’ve been in 11 countries this year, that’s like the all-time record for us,” Spina said.

With Catalano on slide-heavy, blues-based electric guitar, Spina on drums, and both contributing vocals, Little Hurricane is primarily focused on putting out a lot of sound.

“There are just two of us, so the most promising response we get from people is ‘wow, you make a whole lot of noise,’ ” Spina said.

With a self-described dirty blues rock vibe, the group maintains an up-tempo presence onstage.

“A lot of high-energy, I would definitely describe it as a rock and roll show,” Spina said. “Hopefully some sort of connection that we had in our hearts when we were writing these songs — all our songs are based on emotions — so we hope people can relate to that.”

While the focus is on finishing and releasing the record over the next few months, Little Hurricane is looking forward to performing Feb. 15-19 on the Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea II. The cruise from Miami to Cozumel, Mexico, will feature Joe Bonamassa, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Blues Traveler, Beth Hart and Shemekia Copeland.

The duo also has an appearance at South by Southwest in March. Of course, first on the forecast is rocking out the Red Room for the Crystal Bay crowd.

“I’m excited for this first show to maybe make an impression, see how people here react to our music,” Spina said.

The two are also looking forward to adjusting to life in Tahoe after their time in San Diego. While they are just stopping in for now, Tahoe’s tendency to tether one down is well-established.

“We’re going to see where it takes us,” Spina said. “I wouldn’t mind living here my whole life.”

  • Little Hurricane
    When: 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 11
    Where: Crystal Bay Casino Red Room
    Tickets: Free

ABOUT Tahoe Onstage

Tahoe Onstage
Tahoe Onstage is an online entertainment and sports magazine covering Lake Tahoe, Truckee, Reno, the Carson Valley and June Lake.

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