The 29th Street Band

I’ve heard about the 29th Street Band for years. So this weekend, I rode my Strand cruiser to North Hermosa to find out what all the fuss was about.

By the time I got there, the band was still tuning their instruments on the front patio of a three-story home. But the second that first Johnny Cash twang cut through the air, neighbors appeared with beach chairs, kids started weaving through the crowd, and a couple of dogs settled in at their owners’ feet, ready for the show. Just like that, the whole block slipped into its evening groove, casual, friendly, laid-back Hermosa.

“We’re a garage band without the garage,” guitarist Jeff Grant told me. He’s a retired aerospace engineer who once worked for the CIA, but these days, Thursday nights are for music, neighbors, and a front-row seat to the most feel-good gathering on the block.

The whole thing started during the pandemic, when Grant invited his Northrop Grumman coworker David Zabalaoui over to strum guitars in the patio, just two guys trying to break the monotony of lockdown.

Then Gary Ferguson wandered over with his drums. Ferguson just happened to be a studio drummer whose résumé reads like a who’s who of music legends: Etta James, Cher, Eddie Money, Ray Charles, k.d. lang, Little Richard, the Dixie Chicks. 

“Once Gary showed up, that was it,” Zabalaoui said. “We were just two guys messing around. Suddenly we had a real band.”

And it didn’t stop there.

Keyboardist David Goldstein, who’s played with Paul McCartney, the Coasters, the Platters, and Drifters, drives down from Encino. His fingers glide across the keys like he’s still on tour. Neighbor Larry Poindexter added congas. Darren Halford, a retired U-2 and special operations pilot, dusted off his guitar for the first time in 25 years.

Before long, the 29th Street Band was shifting effortlessly through decades of music, The Doors’ “Light My Fire,” Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” the Stray Cats “Rock This Town.” Their soulful renditions got the crowd moving.

They made sure to play “Shake, Shake,” Zabalaoui’s love letter to Hermosa.

Once you rocked on 29th Street
You’ll know just where to go!
Grab lunch at La Playita
Head back for one more show.

But the crowd is what truly makes this a Hermosa story.

Most Thursdays, you’ll find neighbor Mark Zurales in the street with his two-year-old son who proudly sports a tiny 29th Street Band jacket.

“This is the best-kept secret in the neighborhood,” Zurales told me. “But everyone is welcome.”

It’s also how newcomers get folded into the mix. Emily Weir had just moved from Connecticut when she heard the music drifting down 29th Street. She followed the sound, unsure what she was walking into, and was instantly swept into the warmth of the crowd.

“They couldn’t have been kinder,” she said. “They were so inclusive, so warm.”

Maybe that struck me even more this week, after watching the horrific video of a group of kids beating an older man near the Pier, a moment that made local and national news and left me sad and shaken. That’s not the Hermosa I grew up in. And it’s not the Hermosa I know now.

This, musicians sharing their talent, kids dancing in the street, strangers becoming friends, is the real Hermosa. A tight knit beach town where people still look out for one another.

“It’s community,” said Terri Taylor, who also grew up here. “We have a lot to be grateful for. This is just another way to smile.”

And on 29th Street, they make sure we do, every time they play.

(The 29^th Street Band will perform tonight, Thursday December 4th, at 6pm in the 300 block of 29^th Street in Hermosa Beach. The band plays when all five bandmembers are available).