Jamming Every Week on a Local Stage

The San Fernando Valley is famous for many things, one of them being the hordes of talented musicians teeming within its sprawling strip malls and freeway-dissected streets.

And tucked away in a corner of Calabasas is an open-air stage that welcomes performers of all levels to plug in, turn up and drop some noise.

For those aspiring to form a band, Wednesday nights at the Sagebrush Cantina are more than weekly open jam sessions—they’re a chance to connect with other musicians. That’s what has been drawing Woodland Hills resident Melinda Morton to the cantina nearly every week for the past year.

“It’s a place where people come to share dreams,” Morton said. “It’s where you go to get a couple people to believe in you enough to put their own time into you.”

As Morton prepared to take the stage again last Wednesday, an audience made up largely of other musicians looked on intently, many of them holding guitars themselves as they waited not only for their chance to play, but to hear what sounds Morton would bring to the table.

Towering above the stage where Morton, two guitarists and a drummer were all swathed in crimson lights, the outstretched glowing branches of a giant oak tree framing the open black sky provided a fitting backdrop for the opening chords of Led Zeppelin’s Ramble On.     

“Leaves are falling all around. ...” Morton’s melodic crooning quieted the crowd’s murmurs and gave no warning of the euphonious boom her voice was about to break into during the song’s popular chorus.

Reminiscent of the bluesy-ness of Janis Joplin or even the hard rock growl of Axl Rose, Morton’s complexity of intonations imbued the classic lyrics with her own heart and soul.  Heartaches, troubles, break-ups and the loss of loved ones—it’s all laid gritty bare when she sings, as well as the ecstasy of love and life in equal measures, a velvety smoothness balancing the roughness.     

“By the time I was 15, I was playing with guys who had already graduated,” she said.

The crew she now jams with at the weekly sessions at Sagebrush, all of whom are good friends from the Chatsworth scene, include Cesar Mateus, a music teacher at Ventura College playing guitar and Adrian Thor Pascqual, on lead guitar.

Morton met the tight-knit group of long-time musicians at the Cantina after a friend in Topanga Canyon turned her on to the jam sessions last October. Pascqual, 46, started off on an accordion at age 8 and at age 12, he switched to guitar.

“My whole family are musicians, I’ve been playing for 25 years,” said Pascqual. “We played Beatles, Beach Boys, Elvis harmonies—I was raised in the ‘70s in the valley so that right there tells you something.”

In spite of his extensive experience, Pascqual plans on attending Pierce College in the fall to study music theory. “There’s always more to learn,” he said.

Morton agrees—her latest instrumental acquisition is a mandolin. Trained in violin since the age of 10, Morton hopes to infuse a bit of orchestral maneuvering reverb into her hard rock sound.

Her current priority is forming a band and to begin recording her recent work. No stranger to bands, Morton said she’s been in nearly a dozen since she began playing guitar at age 12. Her first band was a thrash metal group, she said, flashing a devilish grin.

“I’m working on original songs but playing covers,” she said.

Due to the scope and sound of her vocal capabilities, Morton said she’s been approached to do a Janis Joplin cover band, something she has declined to pursue. Citing her major influences as Smashing Pumpkins, Tool and of course, Led Zeppelin, she said her real passion is creating original compositions crafted in the ilk of hard alternative rock.

“I’ve gotta move people, surprise people,” Morton said. “It’s like a high. I have an addictive personality so I gotta keep singing.”

Check her out most Wednesdays at the Sagebrush Cantina’s open jam from 8:30-11:30 p.m. Morton also performs at the end of every month at Dave’s Bar in Glendale.

Check out the accompanying video for a performance by Morton and her band.

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