Zac Salem and Nick Robinson (photo by Lisa Gold)
1900-1925: Echoes of front-porch serenades, parlor soirées, and vaudeville specialties… we play ragtime-era music of the Americas (north and south) on vintage acoustic stringed instruments. Waltzes, polkas, tangos, classic rags. Our goal is to teach and celebrate our past through joyfully musical and unaffected interpretations of early twentieth century music and song.
Nick performs on mandolin, and so does Zac. Zac performs on guitar, and so does Nick. Both of us sing, sometimes together and sometimes not. We are often joined by the wonderful Robert Armstrong, a founding member of “The Cheap Suit Serenaders”, and the phenomenal Irene Herrmann, and we call ourselves “The Easy Winners”.
Michael Steinman writes in Jazz Lives:
“There are so many names for the music The Easy Winners create (is it string-band music, ragtime, roots music, Americana, or venerable popular song?) that I have given up the quest to name it. But it’s light-hearted, sweet, sometimes hilarious, sentimental in the best ways, old-fashioned without being stuffy.
To me, this music is completely charming — what I envision people who lived some distance from cities playing and singing at home (ideally on the porch in summer), old songs, pop songs, swinging without trying hard to, joining their individual string sounds and vocal harmonies to entertain family, friends, neighbors. They feel a million miles away from music funneled through the iPhone into earbuds or blasting from someone’s car speaker: they remind me of a time when people made music on their own and they were expert at it even when Ralph Peer didn’t offer them a record contract: a landscape full of wonderful sounds, people creating beautiful melodies for their own pleasure.”
The Easy Winners have performed at the West Coast Ragtime Festival, The Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival, The Berkeley Old Time Music Convention, The Classical Mandolin Society of America, The Yolo County Library Foundation, as well as numerous private parties, cafes, restaurants and bars.
The Easy Winners
Zac Salem (mandolin, guitar, vocals) has been performing ragtime in the USA and Mexico since the age of 16. He is a vocalist, pianist, and performer on various stringed instruments. As an avid collector of antique phonograph recordings, he specializes in researching and conserving traditions of Mexican and Latin American popular music of the early Twentieth Century.
Nick Robinson (mandolin, guitar, vocals) played mandolin with the Ragtime Skedaddlers string band at ragtime and roots music festivals throughout northern California. Nick has also played Balinese gamelan, old time mandolin, and klezmer music.
Special Guests
The Easy Winners duo (Zac Salem and Nick Robinson) sometimes expands to a trio or a quartet with the addition of Robert Armstrong and Irene Herrmann. For exact personnel, see the “Shows” listing.
Robert Armstrong, Zac Salem, Irene Herrmann, Nick Robinson (photo by Bob Young)
Robert Armstrong (guitar, hawaiian steel guitar, banjo-guitar, ukulele, musical saw, vocals) started playing early 20th century on various string instruments while coming of age in Southern California. A founding member of the Cheap Suit Serenaders, he has performed with dozens of groups over the years that keep the sound and feel of old musical styles alive. See his website for more info about his music, paintings, comics, and instruments.
Irene Herrmann (mandolin, cello) began playing with Riccardo Tunzi at Cafe Pergolesi in Santa Cruz in the late 1970s. She played second (harmony) mandolin, learning his entire (and varied) repertoire - much of which came from the Ticino region of Switzerland. After Riccardo passed away, she (with Paul Hostetter) became close musical friends with Tony Flores, learned his vast repertoire of (mostly) Italian tunes and made the CD “Ricordo di San Vito”.
Thanks to
Lewis Motisher and Harry Liedstrand (graphics), Lewis Motisher, Rob Thomas, Kaethe Hostetter, and Mark Wilson (videos), Tom Iacino, Wendy Leyden, Bob Young, and Lisa Gold (photos), Rob Kerwin and Anita Voytko (hospitality services), the Salem family, and Laura Moriarty.