Upper Lake >> At least once a year, Michael Maffei makes the trek from Portland down to Lake County for a week-long stay at the Tallman Hotel and music gigs every night at the Blue Wing Saloon. He’s not the first musician to travel to the Upper Lake locale, and he certainly won’t be the last. It’s no secret that the Blue Wing is a hit for guitar wielding or — in Maffei’s case — piano banging folk. And it’s not hard to see why.
“It’s a friendly place,” Maffei said. “If you don’t know anyone when you walk in, soon you’ll meet people and you’re all friends.”
For five years, he has been swinging through the saloon to play for dinner guests and Sunday morning brunchers. It all started back when Maffei put on a living room performance at a friend’s house, where Tallman Hotel owner Bernie Butcher and his wife were in attendance. Butcher was so impressed with Maffei’s musical chops he invited the pianist to entertain the restaurant whenever he was in town.
But Maffei is more than a piano man — he’s also quite skilled with the accordion and an eager vocalist as well. As a six-year-old growing up in San Francisco, he picked up the accordion, a popular instrument with bands at the time. He would attend concerts with his cousins, and sit on the side of the stage watching the accordionist in fascination. That was all it took for Maffei to sign up for lessons.
“My first love was the accordion,” he said. “As a soloist you can play it like a guitar, play it by yourself and sing over it … You don’t really need other instruments unless you want to have a combo.”
At the age of ten, Maffei added the piano to his list of skills. And he’s been singing for just as long. In fact, his musical past is very much tied to Lake County. Throughout his childhood his family made trips from the Bay Area up to Clear Lake during the summers. They spent time at Hoberg’s Resort, where Maffei and his father entertained guests on the accordion and guitar, respectively.
It wasn’t long before Sal Carson, who played with his orchestra at Hoberg’s for 25 summers, took Maffei under his wing. Maffei joined them for shows and when he eventually recorded an album, Carson was his accompanying musician.
So it’s no wonder he likes to make frequent trips to Lake County. He’s drawn by the memories, the people and the weather. “I’ll always come up here because I love it up here,” Maffei said. “Maybe some day I’ll move here, get out of the rain.”
Though Maffei performs pop music, from Elvis Presley’s It’s Now or Never to Music Box Dancer by Frank Mills, he’s classically trained, both instrumentally and vocally — he’s a graduate from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied opera.
But despite this background, Maffei has a preference for the popular songs he heard on the radio as a kid. “I was always fascinated with bands, I started learning the standards at a very young age. I still have them today,” he said. “Those songs will never die.”
Maffei has lived a varied musical life. For years he traveled around the world performing as a cruise ship musician with Holland America. He’s played for a number of big names — Shirley Temple, Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack — who often frequented supper clubs in Palm Springs where he played. Ever the professional, Maffei said he never felt intimidated.
Tomorrow night from 6-8 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. -2 p.m. Maffei will be entertaining at the Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake. As a composer, he’ll perform some of his original work by request. Call 275-2233 for reservations.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
