They call their music Ameri-kinda, as their tunes repeatedly stray over the Americana border, blending country, pop, blues, beatnik jazz, swing, and old hippie influences. Songwriters Henry (piano, accordion, vocals) and Kathleen Salvia (vocals, acoustic guitar) can be seen around the SF Bay Area as a duo, or  frequently as a full troupe of  talent including David Phillips on pedal steel, John Pearson on percussion, Dave Golia on bass,  and Ken Owen on drums. 

Tickets now available for June 4 Concert! 

Hello SageHeads! 

We’ve got a couple really great Coastside events coming up in May and June. 

In addition to Sunday May 15, 3-6 pm at the San Gregorio Country Store we are especially excited to announce that tickets are now on sale for a concert experience we'd like to share with you:

Pacifica Performances Presents 

The Flying Salvias 

Saturday, June 4, 2022 
7:30 PM 

Mildred Owen Concert Hall 

1220 Linda Mar Blvd, Pacifica 

This will be a fun, wide-ranging show with romance, humor, sadness, joy, and a lot of fun. With Kathleen Salvia on vocals and Henry Salvia on piano, accompanied by a stellar line-up with experience to match The Flying Salvias’ material: David Phillips on pedal steel, David Golia on bass, Philbillie and Travis Jones on guitars, percussionist John Pearson and drummer Ken Owen

In case you didn't know, songwriters Kathleen and Henry Salvia founded the band in 2013, producing 2 CDs with a third in progress. 

Over the years, Houston Jones, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Emmylou Harris, Big Lou's Dance Party, Peter Rowan, Joe Cocker, Barbara Morrison, Tom Waits, Denny Laine, and Metallica have all had the pleasure of working with one or more of The Flying Salvias. 

Doors open 7:00 PM, shows start promptly at 7:30, please arrive on time. 
Limited number of in-person seating available. 

Tickets are available online through the Pacifica Performances website: 

https://pacificaperformances.org/the-flying-salvias/ 

$23.00 general; $18.00 Pacifica Performances members 

With best wishes and hopes to see you all very soon,

Henry and Kathleen

 

April Showers? 

Hey Sage Heads - Remember the saying, "April showers bring May flowers"?  In view of the major drought we're going through, I feel a revision is in order:  "No showers from above? Make flowers out of love!".  

Lordy, how trite does that sound? How naive. How dumb. Love? Yes, love.  Something in short supply these days, it seems.  I could create an endless list of how bad off the world is today, and I frequently do in my darkest moments.   But anyone who is awake and walking around already knows how bad things are going all over the world.  You don't need to hear that from me.

However, let's not give up yet!  I know love is real. A somewhat intangible emotion perhaps, but with very tangible effects from healing a battered soul to creating a safe haven for people to live. Love is infectious and catching in a good way.

I could go on and on about love. Platitudes abound. As a matter of fact, I just did, but I erased it all.... I'm going to narrow things down to one goal for April with respect to love:

Act kinder than I feel in those frustrating situations where I know it's no one's fault the situation sucks.

On to MUSIC!  Last month I think all who were there will agree that the one-time-only Orkestra was a complete blast.  It was so great to be with our Brisbane friends, our Houston Jones Family, our Jones Gang Family and the fine folks at San Gregorio Store... it truly was a one time good time!  This month, we don't have the full Orkestra, but close, with Henry, Kathleen, Dave Golia, Jerry Kuhel, Ken Owen, John Pearson and David Phillips.  Come on down!  

Sunday, April 10, 2022

3 to 6 pm

San Gregorio Store

 

Orkestra d'Flying Salvias - one time only! 

Hello SageHeads! 

I’m so excited I can hardly type this!  The extremely unusual and exceptionally fun and talented Orkestra d’Flying Salvias will make a one-time special appearance: 

SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 2-5 PM

SAN GREGORIO GENERAL STORE

Hwy 84 & Stage Road, 1 mile east of Hwy 1

In addition to Kathleen and Henry, we will have Jerry Kuhel on mandolin and acoustic guitar; David Phillips on pedal steel; Dave Golia on electric bass; and John Pearson on percussion; plus, we will be joined by very special friends Glenn Pomianek on electric guitar; Chris Key on acoustic bass; and Ken Owen on drums.  You may recall Glenn and Chris from the Houston Jones group. David Phillips has also played with Houston Jones as well as Springhouse. Ken Owen is famous for playing with Maurice Tani, Big Lou, Jinx Jones, and even Emmylou Harris & Buddy Miller.  This will be a rare opportunity!  Don’t miss it! 

Outdoors. All ages. Full bar. Food. Great eclectic shopping. No cover. Tips appreciated (this is a BIG band!)

JANUARY 2022 

Welcome to the new year!  We made it.  Kind of.  I can’t wait until it is February 22 2022 – that will be 2/22/22.  These are the kinds of ideas I entertain myself with these days.  However, if you’d like to be entertained, and sooner than 2/22/22 (fun to type!), please join us this Sunday, at the safest place we know to play these days: 

Sunday January 9 – 1:30 to 4:30 pm 

San Gregorio Store 

Hwy 84 & Stage Road 

Outdoors 

Full bar, snacks, shopping for eclectic stuff, and the full Flying Salvias Troupe (Kathlen & Henry, Jerry Kuhel, David Phillips, David Golia, John Pearson and special guests!) 

Masks required inside the Store.

SEPTEMBER 2021 

Wow. A month went by. Really fast. How come time dragged so slowly when I was waiting to be 21?   

Anyway, the full band, The Flying Salvias Troupe, is back at our clubhouse, San Gregorio Store, this Sunday, September 12 from 2 to 5 pm. Outdoors.  Divine weather, sublime cocktails, interesting shopping, oh yes, and us!!!  No cover as usual. Also as usual, we love the tips. Most people our age don’t go out and get a mortgage but there ya have it.  Only one way they will pry me (Kathleen) out of the dream house in Petaluma… and it’s a cliché I am loathe to write.   

Come and see us on Sunday! 

Peace and love and health to all! 

K

AUGUST 2021 

Dear Sage Heads: 

Henry and I are now officially Petaluma residents. There are beat up old upright pianos all over downtown Petaluma. We fit right in. 

However, we would never, ever, give up playing at San Gregorio Store, and that’s where we’ll be next Friday the 13th from 5 pm to 7 pm.  We’ll have quite a lineup playing our signature Ameri-kinda music: special guests David Phillips on pedal steel and Big Lou on accordion, plus Jerry Kuhel on guitar and cello, Dave Golia on bass, and John Pearson on percussion.   

Come on down!  It’ll be fun. 

Peace out, 

Henry and Kathleen

JULY 2021 

We're not sure we'll ever get back to, or even ever be normal, but we're definitely getting out of the house more often, and we hope you are, too. Here’s what we're up to in July.   

SUN, JULY 11, 11 AM – 1 PM    SAN GREGORIO STORE   Hwy 84 & Stage Road, 1 mile east of Hwy 1 The entire Flying Salvias Troupe – Henry, Kathleen, Jerry Kuhel on guitar, Diana Greenberg on fiddle, David Golia on bass, and John Pearson on percussion – will be playing. The bar is open, snacks abound, and the shopping is divinely wacky. No cover. Tips gratefully received. http://www.sangregoriostore.com 

FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY  - JULY 9-11, 16-18, 23-25 – 8 PM    WOODMINSTER AMPHITHEATRE ALWAYS, PATSY                                                                                  Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland 

Henry and Kathleen are pleased to join the musicians and singers supporting Margaret Belton as Patsy Cline, and Julia Etzel as Patsy’s friend Louise Seger. I, Kathleen, admit this is the first ever actual musical I have ever been in, having shied away from such shenanigans ever since I got rejected in high school. Click on the link for tickets and a synopsis of Always, Patsy, an inspired-by-real-life story. https://www.woodminster.com/2021-season 

In closing, because so many of you are our personal friends, we’re taking this opportunity to let you know that we are moving to Petaluma in a few weeks.  Our phone numbers and emails will remain the same, so we’re not disappearing completely; we may even be closer to some of you.   We don’t plan on ever leaving the San Gregorio Store behind, or Byrd & Beckett or the Ocean Ave Ale House. But maybe, we’ll find some new places to play in the North Bay… we shall see! 

Peace and love forever, 

Henry and Kathleen

We're BAAAAACK!!! 

April 2021

Hello Sage Heads! 

How the heck are you all?  The Flying Salvias played their last full band gig on March 8, 2020 at the San Gregorio Store and we’ve been pretty much flying under the radar ever since our last post in October.  Rather than going through a chatty little newsletter about how we now have a regular pre-dinner cocktail hour featuring Nash Bridges or Bay Watch accompanied by appetizers that don’t involve cooking, let’s cut to the chase: 

The Flying Salvias Band will be playing outdoors at San Gregorio Store on Sunday, May 9 from Noon to 2 pm.  Please join us.  Bring your mom because it’s Mother’s Day! 

Hope to see you soon! 

Love and Peace, 

Kathleen and Henry

October 2020 

October 2020 

Hey Sageheads! 

We have something new for you!!! Us performing Maurice Tani's gorgeous song, "Take Me With You When You Go Too Far."  Enjoy, then come back and read on!

We hope you are all well and as happy as you can be.  What a year.  So many changes!  Some of them may not be so bad, like learning we actually need to be around other people and finding new ways to do that.  I mean, drive-ins are back! 

Other developments have been very painful to endure even as a mere bystander.  They remind us how the amount of continuing sacrifice, heartbreak, and loss incurred over the years by our brothers and sisters of color is staggering. The one comfort I find is that the outrage against the years of brutality, inequality, and pernicious systemic racism is at last being expressed by millions of people of all colors, including white.   

Still, I feel a great heartbreaking sadness when I think about how much hate and fear abound in this country.  And no matter who is President, that hate and fear will remain. But it is not all darkness and evil. Right now, I feel surrounded, and protected, by heroes. They are fighting inequality, injustice, and fires. They are wearing a mask while they serve us food, sell us groceries, or deliver packages. Some of them are even running for office. 

Frankly, I see little hope in any kind of law convincing a hater to become a lover, unless it can prevent someone from becoming a hater in the first place.  One way to encourage that process is to VOTE!  We need people in office who will fight to provide quality education to our children, encourage concepts of social justice in our judicial system and everyday lives, work toward creating jobs that won’t wreck the environment, and view healthcare as a right, not a privilege.  I know there is a price tag to all of this.  It always comes down to money.  I’m in the solid center of the shrinking middle class, but I’m willing to accept the responsibility of paying more taxes if it will give me the reach to lend a hand to the ones coming up from the ranks; the same ranks my grandparents came from… but that’s another story. 

So, please VOTE!  And celebrate your vote with us on Thursday, October 15---  Here's the link:Click here at showtime to view!

 

Peace and Love,

Kathleen (and Henry, too!)

Shelter in Place Month 5 

Are you discovering that total strangers like to chat (through their masks of course!) outside Safeway, or when they walk past your house?  Are we all getting a little lonely?  Discovering we might actually be more of a social animal than we thought we were?  For us, the answer is: Yes! 

Recently Henry was preparing to do his first gig since this whole thing started.  It was outdoors in San Leandro at Harry’s Hof Brau. As he read the news that morning, he saw that San Leandro, as part of Alameda County, had just been put back into lockdown stage. A second later, he received a text:  Gig Cancelled.   I asked him whether he was disappointed or relieved.  His answer:  Yes! 

The front porch song-a-day sing-alongs lasted 49 days before we pooped out.   Kathleen has now also pooped out on facebook, though it was a great way to keep company with people. Eventually, though, it kind of got in the way of getting out of bed or ever getting dressed.  

Now we’ve moved on to outdoor backyard dinners with one or two couples all sitting far apart from each other and wearing masks until we are seated.  Then Henry got bitten by the outdoor movie bug.  We now have a 10 foot screen we hang, hook it up with a couple PA speakers, and a new digital projector and off we go.  First movie was Busby Berkeley’s “Golddiggers of 1933” complete with cartoon.  Second movie was “What’s Up Doc?” with opening Wallace and Grommit cartoon. We are really very lucky compared to so many others.  Very lucky.

We have used more flour in the past few months than we have used in the past few years.  Likewise, butter. 

We’ve written a couple new tunes during this time, at least.  And we are planning to do some recording. We are also finally acknowledging what was previously described as a “lack of focus” is actually two separate identities masquerading as The Flying Salvias.  So, along those lines, The Flying Salvias will soon be presenting “The Return of K. N. Right” (Country) and “Pop Goes the Jazzle” (Not Country). 

We are so eager to perform again that we are actually practicing.  Ha ha.  

Now, to the purpose of this epistle: 

Bird & Beckett Books & Records has invited us to play as a duo for one of their Thursday night live stream concerts.  Thursday, August 20 at 7:30 p.m., we will be doing a couple sets and putting our 2 new projects out there for all to hear.  It’s a live stream thing, so everyone stays safe and healthy.   

What you will hear: 

A set focusing on K. N. Right material.  We’ll revisit a couple tunes from our original Kathy N. Right country CD from years ago, add in several new tunes, and remember our dear friend Kathi Kamen Goldmark by doing the song Kathleen wrote with her, “Older Than Him”  aka “The Slut Song.” 

Pop Goes the Jazzle starts off with “Henry’s Hideaway” which will set the tone and mood for the rest of the set; I’ve always thought of it as the introduction to a musical.  I don’t think we’ve ever performed it, so we will be debuting “Henry’s Hideaway” along with a couple other new tunes.  This will be the rhythmically and harmonically diverse set!  

We’ll send a reminder the day of the show, but for now, here’s a link to the Bird & Beckett You Tube Channel and you can check their other shows out: 

Click here!

In the meantime, please stay safe and healthy, and best of our love to all of you!

Henry and Kathleen

The Nature of Things
by The Flying Salvias
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