 
The Last of the Blacksmiths are Nathan Wanta, Nigel Pavao, Bert Garibay, and Jake Bunch Dinner with Jennie: “Do any of you have any sad memories that involve eating cold pizza?” asked Nathan Wanta, one of the founding members of the Last of the Blacksmiths, as the rest of the band and I made eyes at what remained of our meal. I couldn’t really think of any bad memories that involved cold pizza. I appreciate leftovers. But, Nathan was talking about the loneliness that cold pizza can represent. Like his first night alone in his new apartment after moving to San Francisco, after his parents had left, all alone with his possessions packed away in boxes, eating a slice of cold pizza. Bert, the drummer, talked about the hurry or maybe laziness of eating cold pizza, not even bothering to warm it up. These boys are something that I am not. Songwriters. I see a free meal, they see a story of sorrow and isolation. The Last of the Blacksmiths are talented songwriters that convey great stories though their music. Some of the lyrics were written by Nathan’s grandfather, are traditional folk bordering on gospel. Others lyrics are modern stories though the eyes of boys that were born in the seventies. (“Before televisions were in cars, when it was good enough to stare outside your window at the moving stuff”). But, the harmonies and instruments stay true to the traditional sound. As I said, we were just finishing our pizza. I was given the assignment to take the Last of the Blacksmiths out to dinner at a restaurant of their choosing. We want to see where local bands like to hang out, and create kind of like a tour guide of the Bay Area compiled by local musicians.
He wasn’t kidding around. The place was packed. Everyone seemed to be part of “the young post-Atkins crowd” joked Jake. All of the voices, the music from the jukebox, and the clinking of plates and glasses combined to make Little Star one of the worst places to conduct an interview. I brought my little digital recorder, and from the moment that we walked in I knew I’d be in trouble. You’ll have to excuse me if I forgot something, but most of what I recorded was just background noise. The music coming from he jukebox was pretty cool though. We played Johnny Cash, Operation Ivy, and Granddaddy. I noticed Spoon and Jawbreaker too. It felt like being at a friend’s house looking through their collection. Only really crowded. The food was also amazing. There was no question that we had to get the Classic deep-dish pizza. It’s “the best Chicago style pizza outside of Chicago,” according to Nathan. We also got the garlic bread, caprice salad, and spicy chicken wings. The garlic bread is the kind where you spread butter on slices of toasted French bread, then squeeze roasted garlic out of the clove yourself. Fancy. We all ordered beer, and even though I told them that the Manifesto would be picking up the bill, everyone ended up with PBR. I asked if they were excited to open for Smog at the Independent. Bert said that they were, but that they hadn’t really listened to Smog until they were offered the opening spot. He said that when his friends would listen to the Last of the Blacksmiths album and “when they got to hear us they were like ‘Do you like Smog?’ That was one of the band names that was always dropped amongst others.” So, they weren’t surprised that they did like Smog when they finally got to hear him. And they were excited to open for him. We talked about shows that everyone had been to lately (Rufus Wainwright, Spoon, The Peels, Sleater-Kinney, El Capitan). Jake was impressed by the Ben Folds set at the Davies Symphony Hall.
“We were in the nosebleed seats, and I could still hear everything,”
he said. “At the beginning of one of his songs there is this three
part harmony that on the record he did himself and he was like ‘hey
guys do you want to sing this for me?’ and he said ‘Here
is the minor third,’ and the audience would sing it perfectly
in this huge symphony hall. It was awesome.” “That guy really
knows how to work a crowd,” Nigel agreed. Nathan and Nigel were even more excited about their trip to Woodstock to see (the Band’s) Levon Helm at the Midnight Ramble. After the show Nathan’s shy wife Eva went up to Helm and introduced herself and Helm invited them back the next day to “take a swim on down by the creek.” “We didn’t go swimming, but we came and hung out,” Nathan said. “Aw man, he couldn’t have been a better host, he was real appreciative that we were fans of his music and he was just another guy almost and we were just enamored.” “He wants us all to come back and record in his studio,” added Nigel. “We were thinking about going back on October 23rd, but we got such a great slot opening for Okkervil River at Café Du Nord so how could we not because that is such a good show.” Last of the Blacksmiths are all nice genuine guys. I’ve been watching them for years, and its great to see a local band with a unique sound and an amazing new record start getting some attention. If you’re ready to become a stalker, here are a few other places where you might find them… Other favorites of the band: Club Waziema, Ethiopian food & bar, on Divisadero across the street from the Independent, live music (including “city sessions” with local songwriters). Uptown, a dive bar in the Mission on 17th and Shotwell. Great India, Geary & 25th, the food is so great that Nathan had them cater his wedding. Rosamunde Sausage Grill, Haight & Fillmore, get the Hungarian. We’re planning on having an in-store performance in Berkeley sometime in September, so check our website for the date, and come check out the free show!
To my delight the started the show with my personal favorite song, “the records.” I don’t know if it was Nathan beautiful voice resonating in my ears or the overall good feeling that was in the air. It could be seen on every ones faces, and it sent chills up my spine. The chills remained throughout the show, until they were finished, and I was left wanting more. I wanted to hear “grass blade,” another of my favorite songs, this one sung by Nigel. I will just have to hope they play it at the next show I go to. If you want to hear this terrific band you can find out more about them at www.lastoftheblacksmiths.com. You can even hear a couple of their songs. Trust me, you won’t be let down. I bet that soon you will be saying they are the best band in the bay, or I will buy you a drink. Then I’ll dump it on you, because you’re stupid. Upcoming shows:
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Sad
Memories and Cold Pizza
The
Last of the Blacksmiths chose Little Star Pizza on Divisadero near McAllister
in the Western Addition of San Francisco. The area has changed a lot
over the last year or so (since the Independent re-opened), so I was
happy to have the chance to check it out. The Blacksmiths chose Little
Star because one of their friends owns the place. “It seemed like
this bizarre idea that someone our age…would take on…and
see through to fruition, this big thing like opening a restaurant. We
came to the party before it opened and got to taste the pizzas and they
were really good… When it first opened we just came by and hung
out, and now it blew up,” said Bert. 
We
arrived at the Independent early so we could get a good spot to shoot
some photos. It’s a good thing we did, while Steve was setting
up his equipment I went to get some shots of Jack and A couple Millers
for us. As I was doing this, the Last of the Blacksmiths went on. I
was amazed to see how fast the area surrounding the stage filled up
with eager listeners. I was happy to see so many people listening to
my buddies, I am used to seeing them at smaller venues. This did swelling
of fans did, however, make it hard to maneuver back to the stage holding
the two shots and two beers.