The air is full of sounds competing for your attention. While your Spotify plays your favorite songs from the 1980s, a call comes in; you touch your ear, and it’s your buddy telling you about a block party happening in San Jose.
On Aug. 30, outside and inside the Poor House Bistro in Little Italy, is Little Village’s Big Easy Block Party & Beer Fest. Nine hours of dancing to bands on two stages. Come celebrate with Rick Estrin and the Night Cats, Marina Crouse, Mighty Mike Schermer and much more.
This is all in celebration of the record label Little Village Foundation. Continually searching for undiscovered gems, like musical miners, Little Village gives opportunities to artists just under the radar. Always expanding the conversation of what exactly American music is, Little Village is cultivating the roots.
Maria Crouse is a San Jose singer extraordinaire, who recently performed at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest. “I had only recorded an EP demo before, which is not really available to the public anymore,” says Crouse from her home in San Jose.
Now with two albums on the Little Village imprint, Crouse is clear on the importance of Little Village’s work. “I honestly don’t think big labels would ever be interested in me. But that’s Little Village’s mission. To find musicians who would be overlooked, or might not be able to get a big record deal.”
Little Village also helps promote and develop artists to reach their potential. “They have a multicultural approach to record making. It’s one of the most diverse record labels there is,” Crouse says.
Crouse’s second album, Canto de mi corazón, is sung in Spanish. With more than 300,000 Hispanic citizens in San Jose, this is an album that celebrates roots. Crouse grew up listening to Spanish-language albums, like those put out by Eydie Gormé, who recorded several albums with renowned Mexican trio Los Panchos, at her grandmother’s house.
When you think of diversity, you might not think of somebody from Denmark (he moved to the US in 2001) who plays the blues. But Kid Anderson (who will be playing with Rick Estrin) is just that: a Scandinavian blues prodigy who found a family at Little Village. “Ten years ago I was recording with Willie Walker and that became the model for what we ended up doing at Little Village,” Anderson says.
Anderson moved to San Jose in 2005. “I was living with Bob Welsh, the great piano player and guitar player. He’s now with Elvin Bishop and with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. It was a studio but we had enough room for a drummer. We lived cheap and looked for opportunities,” Anderson says as he packs for the night’s gig.
If you get granular on what a musician is supposed to do to make a living, it’s daunting. Recording, producing, distributing, promoting, booking shows and tours—it’s relentless, never-ending and oftentimes takes up energy a musician would rather use to make music.
“Little Village has been hugely important to me. They believed in me and what my goals were. To be able to bring an idea to an audience, and have everyone get paid? For a musician, that’s a big deal. I’ve been doing this long enough that I want to have fun, or get paid. Or hopefully both. And because of Little Village, I’m in a lot more situations where that happens,” Anderson says.
Anderson takes the lessons he learned from the Little Village family and pays it forward. Always looking for new, unrepresented, talent, Anderson senses a movement afoot. “There’s been a real surge, a real movement, post-Kingfish, of young Black artists from the South who are getting into the blues. The old-school blues. The idea that white folks kept the blues alive is tired. And there is currently an explosion of young talents who are proud of their heritage,” Anderson concludes.
All proceeds from the beer garden will benefit Little Village Foundation, which is a nonprofit record company, so feel good about tipping those brews—you’re keeping the music of mariachi, folk, blues, gospel, roots, soul and more alive with each sip.
And it’s worth noting that LVF gives all proceeds from CD sales back to the artist. And the musician owns their music. This is the kind of American ingenuity that fuels creative expression.
And nothing says American ingenuity like a free block party. So put down the playlist and engage with the music of your city and world.
Little Village’s Big Easy Block Party & Beer Fest, takes place on Saturday, Aug. 30, 11am–8pm. The main location is Poor House Bistro, 317 W. Saint John St. Admission is free; reserve tickets on eventbrite.com.
