Hobbs the Band

Local blues-rockers sport expanded lineup

Remember when Tiger Woods … wait, actually: Remember Tiger Woods? He was a great golfer — one of the best ever — who dominated his profession for a decade, from 1997 to 2008.

Along the way, he would occasionally tinker with his swing, defying the old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” At the top of his game, Woods regularly looked for ways to improve, knowing that even if the tinkering set him back temporarily, it would pay off in the long run.

For the past couple years, Hobbs the Band has been one of the more dynamic musical acts on the local scene, a swaggering collision of brash blues-rock and shimmering space jams headlined by the prodigious guitar skills of its namesake, Hobbs Magaret. The band played killer sets at the 2012 Sisters Folk Festival and the 2013 Bend Roots Revival, with plenty of vaunted gigs at places like Silver Moon at The Belfry sprinkled in between.

But Hobbs has been tinkering. The band has expanded from a trio — Magaret plus bassist Pat Pearsall and drummer Kaleb Kelleher — into a quintet, adding Aaron-Andre Miller on keyboards and Jim Goodwin on saxophone and synths. According to Miller, the result is a “much thicker sound” that gives Magaret more room to shred. Goodwin, who experienced some success with the ’80s rock band The Call, says Hobbs the Band is becoming “a serious prog powerhouse.”

Sounds promising! Hobbs the Band is playing The Belfry in Sisters Friday, and Miller says they’ll be covering a classic album in full. Belle & Sebastian’s “If You’re Feeling Sinister,” maybe? Probably not. Just go and see what it is for yourself.

Hobbs the Band, with Circus Luminescence ; 8:30 tonight; $7 plus fees in advance at www.bendticket.com, $10 at the door; The Belfry, 302 E. Main Ave., Sisters; www.belfryevents.com or 541-815-9122. - The Bulletin

Last December, Sisters guitarist and songwriter Hobbs Magaret modestly deflected credit for the songs that fuel his namesake blues-rock band.

“I just try to prepare myself to have as many tools as possible in terms of my technical ability,” he told The Bulletin in an interview. “The songs write themselves. I’m not the source of the creation. I’m just sort of the conduit.”

First of all, Magaret’s technical ability on the guitar is unassailable. The native Texan is a six-string wizard, able to rip through timeless bluesy solos, but with a pop sensibility that sounds plucked from the most sparkling corner of the cosmos.

As for the songs that, in his words, just pass through Magaret: There are eight of them on the new self-titled Hobbs The Band album, and they’re good. Really good. Magaret and his band — bassist Pat Pearsall and drummer Kaleb Kelleher — are brash and muscular when they want to be, tender and emotionally raw when called for.

The result is a bracing brand of blues that takes the genre’s traditional sound and updates it for the 21st century, injecting a healthy dose of smirk and sense of humor. The band calls it “post-industrial blues rock,” a play on their practice space in an industrial section of Sisters. That’s pretty good; I’d try to work the words “soaring,” “psychedelic” and “swagger” in there, too.

Tonight, Hobbs The Band will celebrate its new album with a show at The Belfry in Sisters. Be there or be square, as they say.

Hobbs The Band album-release show; 8:30 tonight; $10 (includes CD); The Belfry, 302 E. Main Ave., Sisters; www.belfryevents.com or 541-815-9122. - Go! Magazine

The power and sound of the band Hobbs hits your ears the moment you park and step out of your car in this small industrial park on the northwest edge of town. Somewhere in one of these blue buildings, the trio is already playing. It sounds good.

It sounds even better once you gain entry, after a quick cell phone call to alert their manager as to your presence outside. You walk into the “red room," what the blues-rock power trio calls their practice space. The inviting space is adorned with art, maps, posters, rugs, couches and, of course, sound equipment, all lighted by strands of overhead Christmas lights.

There's a pot of coffee on the coffee table, and ear plugs offered when the band — singer/guitarist Hobbs Magaret, bassist Patrick Pearsall and drummer Kaleb Kelleher — pick up their instruments, turn on the amps and launch into a brief set.

The song “Lazer Beam" makes a great introduction to the band, Magaret singing heartfelt lines like “There was a weakness in my perimeter defense" over a bluesy riff.

Another tune, the faster “World Inside," emphasizes the “power" in power trio, showcasing the band's more muscular side before breaking down into a deep groove, then picking up speed again. The effect on the listener is exhilarating. So is the volume.

“Being an industrial park, there's no other residential around, so it's not bothering anybody," says Kelleher of playing when they want, and as loud. He and Magaret live in the apartment above the red room, while Pearsall hangs his bass in Bend.

“When I first moved in here," Magaret says, “I was all worried about the sound." Then he walked outside one afternoon to the buzz of a saw cutting granite, and a nearby forge, and a cabinet shop.

“What a bunch of jerks," jokes Magaret. “I can't even sleep in till 3 on a Wednesday! I thought this was America."

Originally from the Texas panhandle, where he grew up in a family of musicians, Magaret moved to Sisters 1½ years ago after stints in Eugene and Portland. Sleeping in till 3 is not likely considering he works as the manager of the airport in Sisters.

He and Pearsall, a full-time musician who also teaches, met in March while playing at the Americana Song Academy for youth, a camp held at Caldera Arts Center west of Sisters.

“He played a couple of tunes at the song academy, and I thought, 'That guy's really cool.' He has a unique approach to the blues, and music in general, especially unique for this area," Pearsall recalls of first hearing Magaret play.

“I like playing straight blues as much as anybody else does, but he kind of makes things just a little more interesting," Pearsall says. “I had — had — some more free time in my schedule, so I was like, 'We should start a band.'"

Pearsall and drummer Kelleher, who worked on a nearby farm last summer and is unemployed at the moment, had played together often in the past, forming the rhythm section for several area artists, among them Mark Ransom and Brent Alan. By April, they were playing with Magaret under the moniker Hobbs.

By most reports, Hobbs was a hit at the Sisters Folk Festival this past fall. According to their manager, Jenny Taylor, “They rocked," which is not something one necessarily associates with the words “folk festival. “They had the cops called because Pat's bass was vibrating the town. You would have never known that they were a brand new group just starting off together."

Tonight, they'll be rocking the purported end of the world at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom in Bend (see “If you go," Page 3).

Hobbs primarily plays originals started by guitarist Magaret, which are then fully fleshed out with input from Kelleher and Pearsall. The band has plans to record some of its 20 songs in the next few months for a full-length release. “Hopefully, by this summer, it will be done and out," says Pearsall.

Magaret's approach to songwriting is to wait for the songs to approach him — and to be ready when they do.

“Ultimately, I just try to prepare myself to have has many tools as possible in terms of my technical ability," he says. “The songs write themselves. I'm not the source of the creation. I'm just sort of the conduit." - Bend Bulletin

Strings of patio lights and a blue moon lit the stage last Thursday night, as the band Hobbs played its first show at Angeline's Bakery.

"A gig was on the calendar even before we were a band," said bass player Patrick Pearsall.

If dancing fans and clapping hands are an indication of a fun time, it's a good thing they came together.

Pearsall describes the band's fresh but familiar sound.

"We came up with the term Kung Fu blues," he said. "But that doesn't mean anything."

They settled on "funky, blues, rock."

The band name comes from frontman Hobbs Magaret, 25.

"This is the band I've wanted since I was 15," he said.

Hobbs grew up on a cattle ranch in Amarillo, Texas. His grandfather kick-started him into the music world as soon as he could walk. Or grab.

"As soon as I could pick up a guitar my granddad had me playing," he said.

Drummer Kaleb Kelleher, 29, and bass player Patrick Pearsall, 33, are second-nature musicians as well.

Kelleher, a Sisters native, uncovered his talent on his brother's drum set.

"My parents bought a drum kit for my older brother, and I played it more than he did," said Kaleb.

Kelleher has been playing the drums ever since, keeping the heartbeats of three other bands around town alive and well.

"It's the best job in the world," he said.

Pearsall on bass seems to think so, too.

Besides a close second aspiration in kindergarten of becoming an astronaut, he always knew this is what he would do.

Patrick is a full-time professional musician who played a heavy hand in getting the band together.

"I met Hobbs at the Americana Song Academy," said Patrick. "I heard him play and said, "You're great, let's start a band.'"

And so it was.

"Now that the universe has presented me with such amazing musicians to work with," said Hobbs, "I have to step it up even more."

They'll get that chance this weekend at the 2012 Sisters Folk Festival. - The Nugget

A rocket ship shredding space on its way to the blazing sun; a charging bull free from confinement; or, the final scene in Fight Club where towering buildings all come tumbling down in fiery plumes—all good ways to visualize the massive rock sound of local blues group Hobbs the Band.

It also doesn’t hurt to imagine Stevie Ray Vaughan sitting in a corner riffing off the chaos with taut guitar solos. Yeah, that’s definitely a big part of what drives Hobbs the Band’s debut album, the release of which will be celebrated (a second time) Nov. 30 at Pakit Liquidators. According to front man Hobbs Magaret, the music is the result of a long-time love affair with Vaughan’s music.

“It’s a little embarrassing to admit,” shared Magaret. “If I hear a Stevie Ray tune in the morning I can’t help but get emotional. In fact, I’m getting a little worked up right now just thinking about it. I’ve played with Stevie Ray in dreams. He is never very far from my thoughts.”

The crescendo of the eight rip-roaring contemporary blues rock tracks on the band’s self-titled album is a song titled—not surprisingly—”Stevie Ray.” And it’s complete with a heartfelt “Lenny”-like guitar solo—played on a Stevie Ray edition Stratocaster—that bares Hobbs’ emotional connection to the legendary musician.

Recorded at a giant 5,000 square foot warehouse in Sisters that the band calls “The Blue Keep,” the album is aggressive and as raw as a slaughter house.

The band wore tank-tops and shorts during the production and though some samples of Magaret Hobbs as a child lend some tender moments to the album, Hobbs the Band has bloodied the blues to a pulp with blunt guitar and meat cleaver-esque drums; more messy than precise, just the way blues rock should be. - The Source Weekly

Hobbs the Band is the reason Sisters in Central Oregon has a noise ordinance.

In 2012, the band, fronted by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Hobbs Magaret, was invited to perform at the Sisters Folk Festival. Coordinators of the event had heard Magaret play solo but weren’t prepared for his more raucous trio with bassist and backing vocalist Patrick Pearsall and drummer Kaleb Kelleher.

“A week later, the City Council passed the noise ordinance,” Magaret says with a laugh.

Since then, the band has made its headquarters a 10,000-square-foot, retrofitted warehouse in part of Sisters’ industrial park. The warehouse serves not only as the band’s rehearsal space and recording studio but also is home to Magaret, Kelleher and a few others. Neighboring them, a giant mound of asphalt, extracted from the Hoodoo Ski Area parking lot, creates a jagged sound barrier between the band and the rest of the town.

The trio will present its original, improvisational, post-industrial blues and rock, as well as cover songs in complementary styles, at 9 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at Caldera Tap House, 31 Water St., Ashland. The cover is $5.

“We’re taking the tradition of Hendrix and Stevie Ray (Vaughan) and kicking the can down the road,” Magaret says. “Post-industrial is when less than 50 percent is from the manufacturing industry. Industrial music reflects the metallic, distorted sounds of larger presses. Post-industrial is a way to reflect that we are moving beyond the drone-worker mentality of the ’50s through the ’90s.

“It is a lifestyle that is more about personal and spiritual satisfaction rather than what you can produce for The Man. It’s a celebration of a new way of life with less emphasis on making money and more emphasis on making memories.”

Magaret describes his own songs as ambiguous and open to interpretation. In some cases, he closes his eyes and just lets the words come.

“One of my verses goes, ‘Light, chemistry and b———. They the engine in my heart,’ he says. “Light is about spiritual evolution. Chemistry is about the physical plane we live in, and b———, well, that’s women. I only use (the word) b——— because it’s way more edgy and fun to say than girls and women.”

When the band isn’t playing from Magaret’s trinity of topics, it plays loose interpretations of songs by Vaughn, Hendrix, Roy Buchanan, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder and Buddy Guy.

However, only original material is featured on its self-titled debut album, released Nov. 8. The Source magazine listed the album as one of the Top 10 albums produced in Central Oregon.

The album was recorded from the band’s warehouse, lending to a more “comfortable sound,” according to Magaret.

“We were able to make our own coffee in our own coffee pot and drink it beforehand,” he says. “We weren’t on someone else’s time, and we were totally relaxed.” - Ashland Daily Tidings

For the past two years, Hobbs the Band has delivered rock with blues and funk flavors with an IDGAF attitude, adding an electronic element and dosing music lovers with some Texas shred. Acoustic folk is pretty popular in the central Oregon bar scene but these guys are on a mission to wake up and shake up the crowd.


The band formed in the summer of 2012 in Sisters, Oregon, home to the Sisters Folk Festival, an unlikely debut venue that resulted in a reactionary noise ordinance one week later.


Currently working on their debut album for Label Records, the band has brought the recording studio to their practice and living quarters, a retrofitted warehouse tucked away in the Sisters Industrial Park.


If you love filthy electric guitar, give these guys a listen.


The thing that sets Hobbs apart is that he grew up in the Texas Panhandle’s cowboy culture where they pride themselves on two things: how good their horses are, and how well they can pick a guitar.


“I just try to prepare myself to have as many tools as possible in terms of my technical ability,” says Hobbs Magarét. “The songs write themselves. I’m not the source of the creation. I’m just sort of the conduit.”


Hobbs the Band’s upcoming shows for the month of July:


Sun. July 13th — Seattle, WA – High Dive
Mon. July 14th — Spokane, WA – Checkerboard Bar
Tues. July 15th — Missoula, MT – Stage 112
Thurs. July 17th — Bend, OR – Munch & Music Series
Mon. July 21st — Portland, OR – Duff’s Garage - Northwest Music Scene

Hobbs the Band will launch its progressive blues-rock into the fertile musical ether of Sisters Country with a potent show at The Belfry on Friday, January 9.

In addition to serving as the launch-pad for a new music powerhouse, the event, titled "Capricornucopia," will also feature an extraordinary psychedelic visual element provided by Circus Luminescence. Founded by Eli March, the innovative troupe creates an ultraviolet universe of infinite imagination, with award-winning juggling, theatre, flow arts, live music, and high times.

Each member of the newly configured Hobbs the Band has been an important fixture of the Central Oregon music scene for years. The band features Hobbs Magaret (guitar), Jim Goodwin (saxophone and synthesizer), Aaron-Andre Miller (keyboards), Patrick Pearsall (bass) and Kaleb Kelleher (drums). The band that will perform at Capricornucopia represents an evolution of style and content through the combination of the talents and personality of each member.

"These guys are really great musicians," said Goodwin. "It's a privilege, really to play with them... It's a joy. The music is rippin'... I think for me, the word is, it soars. It's just got this largeness to it."

The progressive aspect of the music - sophisticated chord voicings and jazz-inflected stylings, make the music challenging and engaging both to play and to hear.

"It requires a lot of work," Goodwin said, "a lot of rehearsal, a lot of study, a lot of practice."

That work gets done in a rehearsal space in the Sisters Industrial Park dubbed The Blue Keep. The facility was once a daycare center, and it continues to live up to its heritage: "Still a bunch of kids with toys," Goodwin said with a smile.

Hobbs notes that, though the musicians thrive on the challenging, progressive nature of their music, "we don't get far from a relatable root that people can get behind ... effectively, it's kind of a hard soul music."

Hobbs the Band, a blues-based power trio with Pearsall, Kelleher, and Hobbs, was known for playing loud - and a lot.

The new configuration is liberating for the guitarist, who can now play off other leads.

"I can say everything I need to say in a shorter amount of time and let other people say what they have to say," he reflected. "And the music is better."

The full configuration came together serendipitously, as these things often do, with invitations to musician friends to sit in on a set.

Hobbs invited Goodwin to bring his sax along and sit in with the power trio at the Bend Roots Festival. Goodwin wasn't sure his work would fit in, but he enjoyed it. Then he played with Hobbs at Silver Moon Brewing Co. in Bend and ripped into a sax solo on "Day Tripper."

"That was the moment that it was, "this is good,'" Hobbs recalled. Aaron-Andre Miller came in to fill out the sound with keyboards and Hobbs the Band was born.

Goodwin had a storied career as a member of the San Francisco-based band The Call. Though he's kept his hand in the business with recording, playing and operating a record label, Hobbs the Band was a big deal to him.

"For me, personally, it's the first time I've been officially a member of a band for a long time," he said. "I never thought I'd be back being a member of a band officially."

He figures it'll be the last time, too.

"Hopefully this will go on for a while - and then I'll be ancient," he said.

Hobbs and Goodwin spilled a secret plan for the Capricornucopia show: Their encore will be a performance of the entire Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" album.

"It should be a pretty interesting night," Goodwin said.

He noted that the band wants audience members to bring headlamps (and everybody in Sisters Country has one, right?).

"We'd like the audience headlamps to be the light effect for part of the show," he said.

The evening promises to be an extraordinary experience for audience and band alike. It was important to the musicians to launch the band in Sisters.

"We're happy to be debuting the band at The Belfry," Goodwin said. "We really think of ourselves as a Sisters band."

Both Hobbs and Goodwin spoke in glowing terms about the nurturing climate of the Sisters music community.

"It's a healthy environment to grow music," Goodwin said.

Hobbs is grateful for the opportunity to connect with other musicians on a profound level.

"I'm just glad to be playing music with these guys, at the end of the day, he said.

Showtime for Capricornucopia is 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door. - The Nugget