If there is a contender for hardest-working man in Ocean Beach, Gale Hopping is certainly at the top of the list. A local sound man for various venues, Hopping also produces concerts and is social media director for such events as The San Diego Music Awards and Art Around Adams, most recently adding a new, free, weekly event to the local calendar: Sunday Fundays at Mother’s Saloon.
“I was trying to do something a little different from the typical singer-songwriter events,” Hopping said. “Everyone’s nights are getting crowded with so many competing shows and I realized that most venues are a blank slate during the day. So at least on the weekends, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try something new.” Shows typically feature one spotlight artist performing acoustic from 2 to 4:30 p.m. “We’re saving bands for our Friday night music series at Mother’s,” he explained. “This is a more laid back experience, featuring some of the area’s best singer-songwriters as well as the occasional band folks expanding their boundaries a little by playing acoustic, kind of a perfect soundtrack for an afternoon near the beach.” Upcoming performers include Kayla Hope (May 28), Blaise Gould (June 4) and Lacy Younger with Marklyn Retzer (June 11) , The Moves Collective (June 18) and Skyler Lutes (June 25).
“We have a small budget for talent, so Sundays, it’s usually solo or duo, but I leave that up to the performers. Moves Collective for example will probably be a full-band gig.”
Other venues often put two to three artists in the same time amount of time, but Hopping sees the 2 1/2 hour slot as a great showcase. “It gives performers an opportunity to stretch out a little and audiences a chance to fully enjoy what an artist can do,” he said.
The shows have done well so far, with Hopping giving the staff at Mother’s a lot of the credit for their success. “Mother’s is already a great place to eat, drink and socialize,” Hopping said. “This just adds a little spice to the proceedings. Especially as we head in to summer, it gives people in the area something new to do during the day and hopefully they’ll hear some ‘new to them’ performers to enjoy.”
Ocean Beach seems to be going through a musical renaissance in recent years, with more shows than ever taking place. “I don’t know why exactly, but it seems like people are just drawn here for music like a magnet,” Hopping said. “It seems that music has been a part of Ocean Beach for a long time. Since I’ve lived here, more than 13 years at this point, I’ve met so many musicians that come specifically to Ocean Beach and San Diego to find themselves musically.” While promoting music can be a thankless task, Hopping considers himself to be on a personal mission for San Diego. “There’s just so much more live music in San Diego then people realize,” he said. “I hope that one day I can collectively put together a real list of live music each month in San Diego. I see a time in the near future that San Diegans can find almost any live show, when it is and where it’s at.” While most promoters stop at booking the shows and posting a few times on social media, Hopping is ready to take things to the next level. “I’m a firm believer that if you tell the people where to go and who is playing, they’ll want to go and if I need to help them get there by keeping drunk drivers off the road and using a party bus I’ll do that too,” he continued. “I really am on a mission and my mission statement is music to the people, people to the music.” Sundays Fundays Where: Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., When:?Sundays at 2 p.m. 21 and up. Free. Info:?www.motherssaloon.com.