Sofa Kings: The uncool-cool

These dad-dad-daddios are dropping the remote control and launching their new CD at Zebulon's Saturday night

March 1, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

The Sofa Kings joke that their kids call their music "Emo," a term the LA Weekly says originated as "emotional hardcore," but now generally means just about anything sung by a "white guy with sneakers," sort of a cross between Fugazi and Weezer's "Pinkerton."

OK, maybe it's not the coolest term. Like most dads, perhaps they're never quite as cool to their kids as they think they are. But kings they are, and their empire is the ottoman.

These four guys in their 40s and 50s, parents all, will bring their playful sense of humor to Zebulon's Lounge at 9 p.m. Saturday to launch their first CD, "Waltzing in Babylon."

The Sofa Kings have a sound that ranges from their own original progressive rock/jazz/pop to some very special cover tunes, and name among their influences Steely Dan, Vince Guaraldi, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles.

The band members include Barry Bisson, Peter Hale, and Toby Tyler of Petaluma, and Brad Hoffman of Santa Rosa.

Bisson, on keyboards, acoustic guitar and vocals, grew up in North Carolina and moved to Petaluma in 1987. He's got an MBA, works for a software company, and played with The Bones in the late '90s. His daughters are much cooler than he is -- one is a guitarist whose band has played the Phoenix a few times, and the other is one of the Superb Seven who lobbied for the new movie theater.

Peter Hale, guitar and vocals, grew up in Marin and London (only foggy places). As a student at Chico in the '80s, he played in a band called the Daily Planet (his memory of that, ironically, is a bit foggy). He's the owner of Hale's Hardwoods.

Toby Tyler, when he's not playing bass guitar and backup vocals, is a big shot at PG&E (but don't tell anyone -- because how cool can that be?). He grew up in Southern California, and is another over-educated (MBA) member of the band that has three graduate degrees between them. He's lived in Petaluma since 1994, and was a member of the Rock Dawgs, an electric-acoustic rock band, until they lost their bark.

Brad Hoffman has been drumming since he was 10. He lived the life during his days with the Twistin' Egyptians in the '80s, and but somehow managed an undergraduate degree along the way. He moved to Sonoma County in the '90s and later got a master's degree on counseling.

Hale came up with the Sofa Kings name.

"I wanted that have something that had sofa," he said, "because we're not your young 'hot and hunkies.' We're kind of relaxed middle-aged dads."

"We're the relaxed-fit rock band," added Bisson.

"With a skosh more room in the seat," said Hale.

But the Sofa Kings have played at Bricks, at Zebulon's, at a winery, and recently at the Moose Lodge (or Club M, as it is coming to be known).

They even played a gig at Bodyworks Yoga, where their Ravi Shankar-flavored "Musical Buddha (of Petaluma)," was favored. That song isn't part of the "Waltzing in Babylon" album, but is downloadable on from their Web site, petalumasofakings.com. The song is about their engineer, Stephen Hart. You may be able to hear it at Zebulon's Saturday.

Hale and Bisson originally got together when Hale organized a fund-raiser at the Mystic for McNear School, where musicians dressed and performed as dead rock stars. Tyler and Hoffman joined soon afterward.

"I think the four of us ended up together because we do have a body of things that we like," said Bisson. "They're diverse but we all like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Steely Dan. And those are very different styles, so we like high quality in each area, whether it's pop or jazz or whatever."

Hale and Bisson write all the songs, either individually or collaboratively. On the "Waltzing in Babylon" song, Bisson helped Hale finish off the lyrics when Hale hit up against writer's block.

"No Curtain," the first song on the CD, refers to a time when Bisson was living in Berkeley in a $90 apartment. The apartment had no curtains, so his life was exposed to the world.

Tyler the bass player is also the co-engineer, along with Hart.

As far as where the band hopes to go with their sound, Bisson jokes that he wants to play the AARP Rock-a-thon.

"Or the VFW circuit," said Hale. "And I really want to play for the Bacon Brothers, because they say I look like Kevin Bacon," which he does.

So drop the remote and check out the Sofa Kings this Saturday night.

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)

PETALUMA SOFA KINGS

Where: Zebulon's Lounge, 21 Fourth St.

When: 9 p.m. Saturday

Admission: $7. 21 and older only.

Information: 769-7948

Web site: www.petalumasofakings.com