Third time is the charm as Enter the Blue Sky band will finally join the lineup of the Adams Avenue Street Fair.<\/p>\n
The 36th annual Adams Avenue Street Fair \u2014 sponsored by the Adams Avenue Business Association \u2014 will run on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.<\/p>\n The local band was rejected the past two years, before getting the good news that they would get to perform on Oct. 1 at the popular street fair.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is special,\u201d said Sand\u00e9 Lollis, Enter the Blue Sky\u2019s vocalist, guitarist and songwriter who founded the band several years ago. \u201cWe submitted two years in a row previously and were not chosen.<\/p>\n Enter the Blue Sky \u2014 which has a sound best described as \u201call original Americana\u201d \u2014 has been playing the San Diego music circuit since 2014. The majority of the band\u2019s gigs have been in East County, including Julian and La Mesa. However, the group\u2019s debut at the upcoming street fair isn\u2019t its first Uptown appearance.<\/p>\n Uptown gigs have included Adams Avenue Unplugged, University Heights\u2019 Summer in the Park Concert Series, DiMille\u2019s Italian Restaurant in Normal Heights, and Rebecca\u2019s Coffee Shop in South Park. Their next show at Rebecca\u2019s is on Saturday, Sept. 30 and they will also be featured at Art Around Adams in 2018.<\/p>\n Enter Lollis, who formed the band three years ago. Although there have been a few personnel changes since, three other musicians currently share the stage: Karen Childress-Evans on viola, John Seever on harmonica and Alberto Gonz\u00e1lez on bass.<\/p>\n Although the band is usually considered Americana, the label often morphs depending on who you talk to.<\/p>\n \u201cAmericana [is the] big umbrella \u2026 we\u2019re very organic,\u201d Lollis said. \u201c[There\u2019s] storytelling in it. Some call it 100 percent country\u00a0\u2014 but they compare it to old country, such as Johnny Cash.\u201d<\/p>\n Seever adds that they have been referred to as \u201cnew country,\u201d and Childress-Evans describes the sound as \u201cfun, eclectic, original, [with] something for everyone.\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez simply noted, \u201cIt\u2019s got soul.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur sound is kind of weird actually,\u201d Gonz\u00e1lez continued. \u201cWeird in a good way. We all have such different musical backgrounds but somehow everything fits and flows.\u201d<\/p>\n With distinct influences and a wide range of histories, Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s statement rings true \u2014 all four band members contribute something different.<\/p>\n In addition to being a gifted songwriter, Lollis is also an award-winning performer. She recently won the Best Female Vocalist of the Year and Best Female Entertainer of the Year at the West Coast Country Music Association competition.<\/p>\n Lollis also works freelance as a graphic artist, photographer and webmaster. Much of her work is with historical preservation groups such as Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO), because \u201cthey know I\u2019m sensitive to their issues.\u201d<\/p>\n Childress-Evans, who comes from a classical training background, plays viola for the band in a way Lollis describes as \u201cso fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy previous musical experience has been orchestral, chamber and small ensemble plus a bit of solo work,\u201d Childress-Evans said. \u201cBack in the \u201970s, I did a bit of bluegrass.\u201d<\/p>\n Harmonica player Seever said his sound is a \u201cjazzier, country blues thing\u201d and often draws on his past experiences playing music in other cities he\u2019s lived in.<\/p>\n \u201cI play more of a \u2018jam\u2019 background [and] almost never play anything twice the same way,\u201d Seever said. \u201cI was influenced by the unusual music scene in North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n With a rockabilly background, bass player Gonz\u00e1lez provides a solid foundation for the band\u2019s sound. He lists Simon Gallup, Vic Yamasaki and Julia Whelpton as influencers of his personal style and technique.<\/p>\n All of the band members have day jobs as well as perform solo or with other music acts. Yet when the four musicians come together as Enter the Blue Sky, their separate sounds merge into something magical.<\/p>\n Despite their differences, there is no band drama. \u201c[The group is] surprisingly loving and amicable,\u201d Seever said. \u201cEverybody cares about each other as people. As far as music, there\u2019s no conflict there.\u201d<\/p>\n The diverse foursome has even formed a makeshift family. \u201cWe\u2019re close \u2014 kind of like siblings,\u201d Lollis said with a laugh. \u201cWe each have our quirks.\u201d<\/p>\n In that quirky family, Lollis \u2014 the only parent among the four \u2014 often takes on a mothering role.<\/p>\n While the group has a very collaborative dynamic, the others agree that the frontwoman always has the final say.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery member gets a chance to show off during our performances, but for the most part we prefer to blend and support the music that Sand\u00e9 writes,\u201d Childress-Evans said.<\/p>\n Lollis is looking forward to the Adams Avenue Street Fair as an opportunity to give the band\u2019s music more exposure and expand their reach. \u201cI would like to see it as a gathering lasso around the whole county [to have] a presence everywhere,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Although the band is relatively new to the neighborhood, it seems that the Uptown community has welcomed Enter the Blue Sky with open arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI find the [Uptown] audiences to be enthusiastically receptive and so delightfully Americana like our band: lots of families, people who love and support the arts, and lovely people who greet you as if you are part of the neighborhood,\u201d Childress-Evans said.<\/p>\n![\"Enter](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/web-MAIN-Karen-IMG_20170218_0001.jpg\")
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You can see Enter the Blue Sky perform at the Adams Avenue Street Fair on Sunday, Oct. 1 from 12:30\u20131:30 p.m. at the Roots and Rock Stage. While there is no confirmed set list as of yet, audience members can expect music from their November 2016 debut album, \u201cRe-Entry,\u201d which includes the crowd favorite \u201cI Really Want You.\u201d<\/p>\n