Petaluma’s Highway Poets born on the road

Staying true to the name, members of The Highway Poets have taken their homegrown Petaluma sound on the road, traveling in a converted school bus to preach their eclectic sound across the country.

The band’s journey began seven years ago, when Petaluma native Sebastian Saint James teamed up with Travis James, a musician who’s spent most of his life in Petaluma. Both guitarists had performed at local venues, and they decided to form their own group, even though James liked the “shredding guitar” style of death metal, while Saint James preferred classic rock, pop, and blues guitar.

“I was raised by a Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones father, and a Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson radio hits mom,” Saint James said.

An early introduction to the music scene occurred while he accompanied his father, who worked for EMG Guitar Pickups, to shows. His dad would “schmooze the artists” and make sure they were happy with the equipment while Saint James would sit backstage listening to bands such as Aerosmith.

Soon after they met, the two guitarists were living together and writing songs. Saint James met “the third original member,” bassist Taylor James, when he woke up to find him “crashed out on our floor.”

“We hit it off and had a great time,” he said.

Saint James described the band’s maturation process as “a long, drawn-out identity crisis.” The band was originally called Hillside Fire, and played rock while building a community of fans and other musicians.

“For a long time we had two separate bands, with the same guys,” he said.

Four years ago, they decided to exclusively use the name Highway Poets, a title reflecting the fact that a lot of their songs were written on tour.

“We’re now more of a full-bodied band which can go from acoustic to electric,” he said.

Many bands have taken on a mixed-genre style in the past few years. Saint James refers to the Highway Poets as “new retro soul – an ever-evolving twist on newer rock and pop styles with R&B, country and folk.”

The band’s sound varies depending on factors like the venue, or the time of year, with performances that are “a little more funky in summer, more introverted in winter,” Saint James said.

“We feel like it’s a strength to be able to play to whatever feelings we have,” Saint James said.

The Highway Poets have appeared at the Petaluma Music Festival, Rivertown Revival, and the Kate Wolf Festival, and have headlined the Mystic Theatre, which was one of the band’s earliest goals. The group has a strong connection with Lagunitas Brewing Company, and have performed there numerous times. For three consecutive years, Lagunitas sponsored the group, along with other Petaluma bands, to show off local music at South by Southwest, a five-day event in Austin, Texas, where the Highway Poets played two sets a day.

“We all live to be on the road and play,” Saint James said.

The band also spent this summer traveling to California shows within several hours of Petaluma.

“Everybody gets real tight together, and without distractions, everything else evaporates from your mind,” he said.

However, one of their earlier trips didn’t go so well. While the band was traveling to Portland, their van broke down six hours from home, forcing them to scrap the tour and sell the van to a junkyard. They hired a U-Haul to return to Petaluma.

Now, thanks to their fans who donated money through a social media campaign and a fundraiser at the Big Easy, the group raised $4,000 for a school bus that the band converted to “a traveling hotel room,” said Saint James.

The band, which has continued to evolve, snagged the Bohemian’s NorBay award for the Best Indie/Punk Band for the fourth time this summer. Over the years, they’ve won a slew of similar awards, including four from Petaluma Magazine.

“We’ve worked out of the bar scene, doing more concerts around the county now,” he said, though they still do free or low-cost “fan nights” in Petaluma.

Currently, the band is launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise the necessary $10,000 to complete its second Highway Poets CD, which will contain about half of the group’s 23 new songs and is planned to be released within a year. The band has produced two albums under the Hillside Fire moniker as well.

“I write all the tunes, then the guys help me with arrangements and taking them to a band setting,” Saint James said.

The CD will include the latest seven-piece format for the first time, with Rhyne Erde, Nick Hasty, Nate Dittle and Adam Ehrenpfort, who’ve been added over the years, on drums, sax, keyboards, and trombone, respectively.

Saint James said the group has continued to build on its “old-school style” roots.

“We’re a band of guys who’re trying to find something that we’re proud to be behind,” he said. “We’re trying to find that real, pure place between yourself and who you are, and surviving in a modern world.”

Visit highwaypoetsmusic.com for performance schedule and more information.

(Contact Robert Feuer at argus@arguscourier.com.)