Sheila Groves-Tracey, roadhouse talent magnet

Picture yourself driving down a two-lane road at night. You’re depending on your high beams to see the pavement in front of you. You come around a bend, and there, off to your left, you see the neon lights of an old school-looking roadhouse/tavern. The fully lit attached gravel parking lot is full to capacity with parked cars. What’s the attraction? Live music!

Although this scene is steadily fading from the typical American nightlife landscape, it still exists here in the form of The Twin Oaks Tavern, located on the left of Old Redwood Highway as you drive from Petaluma to Penngrove. As you step up to the front door, you can check out the giant event calendar, showing the buffet of bands scheduled to play over 24 nights a month. Sheila Groves-Tracey, 54, is the owner and also handles all the researching, booking and promoting the predominantly local bands showcased. I wanted to ask her about that process so I dropped by. We sat out on the expansive back porch/additional seating area, and Groves-Tracey allowed me to do my impersonation of Jack Webb in interrogation mode.

SB: It seems you have a distinct advantage over most local club owners, in that you have real booking agent experience. Can you tell me about that?

SG: “I’ve been booking bands professionally for 25 years. I started Notable Talent, an agency based out of San Rafael. From those offices, I booked New George’s, a well-known and long-standing North Bay venue. Then I moved my office to Petaluma when I was hired to do the booking for The Mystic Theatre. Also, The Sausalito Arts Festival has been a client of mine for 24 years. From 2009 to 2013 I handled the talent booking for Napa’s Uptown Theater. Those are the highlights.”

SB: How do you pick the bands to play here?

SG: “Bands usually reach out to me. I ask them to submit a link that allows me to sample their music. That way I can hear and see if they’re a good fit for my clientele. I already know a lot of the bands who play here on a regular basis.”

SB: Do you favor any particular genres?

SG: “We tend to book blues, rock, Americana, soul, country and bluegrass. For us, it’s not so much about the style. It’s their ability to draw and keep a crowd.”

SB: How far in advance do you have to book the bands to have a calendar that works for you?

SG: “I try to book two months in advance. Right now I’m booked all the way through October.”

SB: What’s your biggest challenge in booking for The Twin Oaks?

SG: “That’d be finding bands that have the whole package. What that means is finding a band that, aside from being experienced and professional entertainers, they can draw a steady crowd. I’m lucky in that Sonoma County has an amazing amount of talent to pick from.”

SB: Your new stage placement seems to serve double duty; it helps the volume stay in control and it allows the show to be seen from virtually anywhere in the bar. What’s the customer reaction to your band choices so far?

SG: “Excellent. This place went from literally no nighttime business to regularly packed houses. I attribute that directly to the live music we feature. Of all the genres, it’s the blues and classic rock that seems to really bring out the crowds.”

SB: How do you handle the trickiest part of any nightclub operation, the sound system. I’ve seen a lot of clubs spend way too much money on over-sized equipment they just don’t know how to operate.

SG: “We have our own PA system, and usually the bands set up and take care of the mix themselves. We bought a sound board that’s simple and easy to use. So far … so good.”

SB: If you could have any band you wanted perform here, who would you choose?

SG: “Knowing what I know about my clientele’s tastes, I think I’d pick Tower of Power, Boz Scaggs or John Hiatt.”

SB: Who knows? Once the word gets out about how cool this place is … that could happen.

To learn more about Twin Oaks Tavern, visit twinoakstavernpenngrove.com.

(Sheldon Bermont is a longtime Petaluma musician. He can be reached by email at smb@sbermontwriter.com)