A Drunkard’s Dream! A Festival to Celebrate Art and Music

Jack Tempchin. Photo by Dennis Andersen.

On April 9, A Drunkard’s Dream Art and Music festival in Barrio Logan will feature a very special and unique performance by one of San Diego’s most decorated musicians. Local legend and 2019 Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Jack Tempchin will be debuting a new collaboration with up-and-coming rockers Mrs. Henry.
Known largely by his writing partnership with Glenn Frey and the penning of Eagles classics such as “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” and co-writing “Already Gone,” “The Girl from Yesterday,” and “It’s Your World Now,” Tempchin has had mythical career to say the least. As a songwriter and performer Tempchin has had iconic collaborations with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Tom Waits, George Jones, Glen Campbell, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. From his early days playing at San Diego’s popular coffeehouse, the Heritage in Mission Beach, Tempchin was nurtured by the host of folk talents that performed there. From Tom Waits to Ray Bierl, Larry Hanks, Martin Henry, Pam Ostergren Brown, Brian Steeger, and Lou Curtiss. All were contemporaries and alumni of San Diego’s vibrant Folk Scene during the ’60s.
After cutting his teeth performing in San Diego coffee shops and graduating from Crawford High School, the starry-eyed teen headed to Los Angeles. There, he found himself at the epicenter of the southern California music scene, regularly playing the Troubadour with Glenn Frey and J.D. Souther in a band called the Longbranch Pennywhistle. Here, he caught such acts as Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Gram Parsons, and Jackson Browne, who later recognized Tempchin’s songwriting talents and introduced him David Geffen. The rest is musical history.
Alongside his long list of writing credits Jack has also performed with three members of the Eagles: Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, and Timothy B. Schmit. He’s played with Poco, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Chicago, Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, Jimmy Webb, Al Kooper, Kenny Loggins, Karla Bonoff, Christopher Cross, and Dolly Parton. In the mid-’90s, Jack toured as the opening act for Ringo Starr and His All Star Band at major venues like Radio City Music Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
In the 1980s, Tempchin co-wrote a dozen radio hits for Glenn Frey’s solo career, including “True Love,” “The One You Love,” “Sexy Girl,” “Party Town,” “I Found Somebody,” “Soul Searchin,” and “Livin’ Right.” Other Tempchin/Frey co-writes include Top 40 hits “Smuggler’s Blues” and “You Belong to The City” for the original Miami Vice TV show soundtrack. These two songs were later sampled in the ’90s by platinum rappers Coolio (“Nature of the Business”) and Jay-Z (“City Is Mine”).

After a musical career spanning four decades and countless hits, there’s no end in sight for Tempchin. His last album, One More Time with Feeling, was released on Jimmy Buffet’s Mailboat Records. When asked why he continues to have such a passion for the craft of songwriting, he explains, “It’s impossible to overrate the importance of songs. Songs change people. Songs enlighten and delight. Songs bring lives together. Songs can nourish and build communities in a billion ways. I’m so proud that I’ve made songwriting my life’s work.”

Mrs. Henry: Jody Bagley, Daniel Cervantes, Blake Dean, Chad Lee. Photo by Joey Cultice.

Tempchin was introduced to Mrs. Henry by participating in their annual Belly Up tribute to the Band’s The Last Waltz. While rehearsing with Mrs. Henry, a magical musical moment spawned an enduring camaraderie and collaboration between both parties. “Jack Tempchin is our Obi-Wan,” says Blake Dean (vocals and bass for Mrs. Henry). “Before meeting Jack, our band, Mrs. Henry, was battling away through their plot, making big plans and deals to support a massive recording effort, a three-record rock opera called Hope Keep on Rising. We were in the middle of making music videos and scheduling international tours. We were also in the middle of doing a second guest-riddled three-hour Last Waltz concert. It was there we were fortunate enough to have Jack sit in and jam with us. During a rehearsal, we ran a couple of Waltz songs and during a break he just started quietly strumming and singing one of his originals. One by one we all gradually started joining in and picking up on his chorus and filling our own ranges to harmonize. It clicked. It was awesome. Jack said something like, ‘Well… I ain’t Bob Dylan and you ain’t the Band… but I think we’ve got something here.’” From that point onward the band and Tempchin have been arranging new material and old classics to debut at the Festival on April 9th.

Blind Owl Records and Bad Vibes Good Friends have partnered to put on A Drunkard’s Dream, an all-ages art and music festival at Rebru Distillery in the heart of Barrio Logan. The event will feature the collaboration between Jack Tempchin and Mrs. Henry as well as Mrs. Henry’s tribute to the music of the Band. The opening acts are a melting pot of new San Diego talent with performances from slick defiant surf-rock duo Puerto, the frenetic brass wildings of Fresh Veggies Micro Brass, scuzzy garage/shoegaze outfit Feliz, and the solo musings of Zack Oakley of the Southern California psych giants JOY. And if that wasn’t enough A Drunkard’s Dream will also feature hand-crafted leather pieces from Hard To Kill Leather; the elegant and rustic jewelry of Errant Gem; and the multidisciplinary illustration, graffiti, hand block and screen printing of Por La Mano Press.
$25 general admission/early bird tickets March 11-27; $40 day of general admission; $50 VIP seated admission. A percentage of the proceeds goes to the good people and work being done at Rollin from the Heart, an organization providing disadvantaged and at-risk youth the opportunity to participate in skateboarding, surfing, and camping in an effort to promote a more active lifestyle and encourage positive choices.