Sean Hayes with opener Cole Panther
Bay Area singer-songwriter with a unique style of R&B-inflected folk, who has toured with Ani DiFranco and the Cold War Kids and more.
Date and time
Location
Almost Famous Wine Lounge
2271 S. Vasco Suite D Livermore, CA 94550Refund Policy
About this event
- 3 hours 30 minutes
Rescheduled from March 16th
21+ Doors open one hour before showtime. Cole Panther starts at 5:30 pm. Sean Hayes starts at 7 pm.
Sean Hayes is an acclaimed Bay Area singer-songwriter with a unique style of deeply felt, R&B-inflected folk. His voice layers wonder and heartache upon grit and gravel, sex and soul. His lyrics carry an unpretentious wisdom. In his twenty-year career, he’s dueted with Aimee Mann, toured with Ani DiFranco and the Cold War Kids, been covered by the Be Good Tanyas, and toured with Anais Mitchell performing songs from Hadestown. His songs have appeared on NPR, NBC, HBO, Sundance TV and more. Raised in North Carolina and honed as an artist in Northern California, Hayes crafts music that, as the SF Weekly puts it, “succeeds on the tension between warm, resonant soul and dirt-road folk, all laced with a wandering troubadour’s coo.”
See him and his band live at Almost Famous Wine Lounge, an award-winning, new tasting room and venue located on Vasco Road in the heart of Livermore's wine, spirits and brewery district. Almost Famous Wine makes fifteen wines in diverse styles, and earned over 50 top industry awards since our debut in 2021.
ABOUT SEAN HAYES
Sean Hayes is a Bay Area singer-songwriter who makes music to dance to or cry to, or maybe both at the same time. He was born in New York City, raised in North Carolina, and honed his earliest musical chops in a band playing Irish and old-time tunes — but his unique style of deeply felt, R&B-inflected folk really matured during his two decades singing and playing in cafes, bars, and night clubs of San Francisco.
His voice layers wonder and heartache upon grit and gravel, sex and soul. His lyrics carry an unpretentious wisdom. He’s dueted with Aimee Mann; been covered by the Be Good Tanyas; and toured with Anais Mitchell (performing songs from Hadestown, before it was an award-winning Broadway show). His songs have appeared on NPR, NBC and HBO.
Be Like Water, is Hayes’ ninth full-length, and his first record in five years — a time period in which, after nearly 20 years in San Francisco, Hayes moved north with his family to Sonoma County. The resulting songs are warm and enveloping, bluesy and lived-in, and have the feel of someone stretching out their legs on a back porch, perhaps a little unused to having the space to do so.
Album opener “Shine” sets the tone — exuberant yet unhurried, it serves as a get-well note and rally cry for his friend Charley Crockett, the acclaimed country-blues singer who underwent heart surgery in 2019. On tour together in 2016, the musicians bonded over their shared history of busking — of singing for the joy of it in the humblest of settings.
“Tell me how you keep believing, is it just a feeling?” asks Hayes over layered, effervescent guitar, before landing on the song’s hymn-like refrain: “You shine when you’re singing; keep shining, keep singing.”
Other inspirations run the gamut: sly, funky jams like “Bell” and “Gold Tooth” revolve quite literally around a celebration of the bell shape and Hayes’ gold tooth, respectively; while “Joy” is a seductive, slow-burning afternoon love song, and “Invisible Weight” sings the praises of a simple apology, no matter how long overdue. Taken together, these tracks comprise a meditation on balance and acceptance — on learning to see life’s bruises and heartaches as necessary parts of the ride.
“To me, the phrase Be Like Water is about being patient,” says Hayes, of the record he made during a year when such a mantra felt perhaps more necessary than ever. “Rolling with your nature, and trying to stay present. I think of it as James Brown meets the I Ching: You have to get up to get down.”
ABOUT COLE PANTHER
"Cole Panther is a talented guitarist with a velvet voice and compelling stage presence. Cole leaves an impression as an honest, unpretentious troubadour whose only goal is to sincerely touch heart and soul with song." -Robert Joseph
"Cole is the real deal." -John Cuniberti / Platinum Record Producer
"A pretty amazing singer songwriter." Jim Douglas / Prime Time Entertainment
Cole opened for Steve Miller and Marty Stuart at the Oxbow River Stage in 2019, Danny Click and David Luning at Almost Famous in 2022, and has been playing the local clubs throughout the bay area with his new Americana sound since 2016.
An award-winning singer / songwriter: His current influences are Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Kris Kristofferson, Mickey Newbury, Lucinda Williams, Shawn Mullins, Jeff Tweedy, Jackson C. Frank, Johnny Cash, Kim Richey, Steve Goodman, Tom T. Hall, Gary Nicholson and John Prine.
Prior to 2004 Cole was known as Robert Seidler, a singer with a couple of commercial radio hits: “Christian Boy” in 1985 and “I Can’t Believe” in 1987. Both songs were in heavy rotation on San Francisco’s KQAK, Live 105, and 48 other radio stations across the country. Robert and his band opened for Oingo Boingo at the Warfield in 1987 and also played shows with Billy Idol, Primus, Chris Isaak, John Hiatt, The Plimsouls and A Flock of Sea Gulls. After two EP releases on Hill Ave records, Robert shifted his focus to acting. From 1988 – 1991 he studied method acting at the Jean Shelton Acting School, did a few plays, a lot of local films and in 2009 got his SAG card and moved to Los Angeles. After a year in LA and a lot of background work at all the major studios, including an elevator scene on Mad Men, he returned to San Francisco to continue his acting career. Cole was cast in a handful of indie feature films, usually as a detective.
In 2015 Cole got back into his songwriting and performing using what he’d learned as an actor to bring life to the characters in his story songs. The two featured songs, "She Will Someday" and "Sparklin' Down" were produced, mixed and mastered by John Cuniberti of Joe Satriani fame, engineered by Adam Munoz, featuring Don Bassey on bass, Dave Zirbel on pedal steel and Danny Luehring on drums. Cole currently has his eye on Austin and Nashville.
VENUE INFORMATION
There is a two drink minimum for each guest. With a menu of 15 wines in diverse styles and sophisticated non-alcoholic options, there's something for everyone.
Set times and ticket prices are subject to change, and sales are final.
Dancing is encouraged at Almost Famous, and usually takes place in front of and to the side of the stage. If a dance party breaks out, we cannot guarantee a completely unobstructed view to those sitting in the bistro table seats.
Please visit www.almostfamous.wine for our other venue policies.
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PLEASE NOTE - Bar opens one hour before showtime, and doors open a half hour before showtime, unless otherwise stated. Shows typically begin at 7:30 pm with an opening act at 5:30 pm, unless different times are reflected above.
Ticket sales are final; no refunds.
Non-reserved seating is first come, first served, so please arrive early unless you don’t mind standing. Outside food welcome, but only AFW wine can be consumed on premise. All shows are 21+ and there is a two drink minimum.