surfeza!

If no one ever heard Alan Vogan and Jeff Cannon play a song together, the duo would still approach their music with the same everything-we-got attitude that has long made them synonymous with the Central Coast lifestyle. There is a purity in this approach that always makes room for one more, and whether they're inviting friends to join them onstage or on the dance floor, their warmth reflects what our community can be on the sunniest of days. Their music doesn't try to hide, it doesn't try to dress up in someone else's clothes, it simply stands up and celebrates the highs and lows of a real and complex life. At its core, Surfeza is simply two friends making music to extend a hand to anyone who happens to pass within its grasp. Whether you've lived here for decades or have just pulled in, there's a sense that yes, this is what life here is supposed to be.

Like many who've put down roots in these parts, Surfeza draws its strength from the big blue pond lapping at our shores. The ocean provides a constant that is always changing, and whether the songs delve into tales of coping with cancer or walking hand in hand before a sinking sun, they resonate intimately with each individual they touch. They utter the words, "Love, death, pain, addiction, regret, disbelief, laughter," in the same breath, devoting equal weight to each so as not to miss an ounce of what life has to offer. Humility and understanding run boldly through their work, and one only needs to wander out into the open and join their caravan of surf, beer, and music to get wrapped up in their expansive embrace.

In a letter to his father Kurt, Dr. Mark Vonnegut once wrote, "We're here to get each other through this thing, whatever it is." Surfeza taps into the same vein by embracing that which is difficult and turning it into something worthy of struggle and celebration. When's all said and done, you always leave a Surfeza show feeling better than you did when you arrived, and that's why music exists in the first place.