Half Moon Bay In Music: Part Two of The Coastside In The Arts

"You save my life with every word you say.

 You shine your light for me to find a way.

Just hold me tight and cross your heart to stay

Here with me, born to be,

Every part of you in Half Moon Bay."

—Train’s “Half Moon Bay”

Emily Whiting Becker was just out of high school when she met her future husband Jerry 17 years ago when they both worked at .  Jerry, a part-time employee, also gigged in bands. In 1997, he met the band Train just before they were signed and has been a touring musician with them since 2008.

Are the lyrics in the band’s song “Half Moon Bay” on their critically acclaimed album Save Me San Francisco about Jerry and Emily? Though the lyrics somewhat parallel their lives, “I doubt it has anything to do with us other than Half Moon Bay being a very pretty and nice lyric to sing and write about as a place to meet a girl,” Jerry said recently while on tour in Brazil. 

“Moving to California from the Midwest is something you think about as a musician growing up, constantly,” says Jerry, who is from Ohio and plays multiple instruments, including keyboards on Train’s current world tour. “You also think you’re going to move out there and meet a blonde California girl, and marry her.  This song is about that and it did actually happen to me. She also happens to be from Half Moon Bay.”

Today, Emily still visits Half Moon Bay several times a week, to see her parents and bring her son to her uncle Tom’s just adjacent to Francis Beach on Kelly Ave. She notes that La Di Da will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year and has fond memories of growing up in Half Moon Bay.

Will there be future Coastside lyrics in Train songs? Jerry wrote for their last record and will continue to work on future material with founding member Pat Monahan. Though Monahan wrote the lyrics to “Half Moon Bay,” Jerry says Monahan has never visited here.

Surely there are other musicians who have been inspired to either name a single song or an entire album after Half Moon Bay. Do an Internet search and you will find too many to list here.  Do a little more research, and you’ll see that the musical connection to Half Moon Bay spans nearly all musical genres.

Back in 1973, jazz pianist Bill Evans, accompanied by Eddie Gomez’ on stand-up bass and Marty Morrell on drums, decided Miramar’s musical institution Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society would be the place to record his Half Moon Bay live album. Also in the 1970s, jazz vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson paid tribute to our coast with his album Montara. Both albums came back on to the scene, with Half Moon Bay being re-released in 1998 and Montara returning on the New Groove: Blue Note Remix Project in 1996 and in a 2003 tribute to Blue Note jazz, Shades of Blue, by Oakland hip hop mix artist Madlib. Also in jazz, popular guitarist Warren Nunes recorded his CD Half Moon Bay in 1995. 

In the genre of Celtic or country music, there are several names that tie Half Moon Bay into their music, and with the lyrics there is reason to believe our coast is being described.    

Local act the Peninsula Scottish Fiddlers give a nod to Montara in 1999’s The Mists of Montara: A Celebration of Celtic Music With the Peninsula Scottish Fiddlers.  Gerry O’Beirne’s Celtic song and album Half Moon Bay, using his multiple talents as a writer, singer, and musician of the slide guitar, 12-string, and ukulele, among other things, inspired Grammy nominated folksinger Maura O’Connell to record the single for her 1995 album Stories.  An Irishwoman who makes her home in Nashville, O’Connell’s album was re-released by Ryko/Rhino Records in 2006.  Country bluegrass artist James Alan Shelton named an album Half Moon Bay for his 2004 traditional folk release.

Slightly less commercial, though certainly earning its own share of attention thanks to YouTube and other online media, is Redwood City’s young alternative rock artist Ronnie Day, who finished school at 16 to pursue his musical career: 

"I've been thinking about the day,

But you’ve been chasing the thoughts away.

Well not together all of those thoughts will stay,

Out on a beach in Half Moon Bay."

— Day’s The Album’s first track, “Half Moon Bay”

Pop and jazz musician Greg Kavanagh uses his background in touring, producing and composing to bring to life his guitar CD, 2008’s Boardwalk Café: A Collection of Guitar Grooves, featuring the song “Half Moon Bay.”

Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek (formerly of the Red House Painters) combines his modern music vocals and nylon stringed guitar for the second track, “Half Moon Bay,” off of his 2010 CD Admiral Fell Promises.

For the easy listening audience, Polish contemporary jazz singer Mariel Grande sings about the wonderful coast in “On The Beach In Half Moon Bay” on her  2008 CD Three Bottles of Champagne. Like 2008’s album title, this is light and bubbly music.  Those who are inspired by New Age music should check out musician William Aura’s 1995 CD Half Moon Bay. 

It's important to note that though they may not directly mention Half Moon Bay in their work, many talented musicians are inspired to create their musical art right here on the Coast. Neighborhood Radio AM 1710’s weekly show “Coastside Carousel” brings local talent to the forefront, with host Christopher O’Donnell. Our musical entertainment community is vast and O’Donnell stays one beat ahead in bringing the freshest Coastside talent to our attention.  The show is streamed online at www.neighborhoodradio.info/coastside-carousel.  

And the Train keeps rolling. 

“Hey, listen to this Train song,” shouts my friend over the noise of her car stereo.  “It’s about Half Moon Bay, and I just love it!”