While I no longer call Hayes Valley home, I went back to the neighborhood yesterday to help celebrate the opening of the Linden Living Alley, the brainchild of architect David Winslow and heartbeat of the ‘hood.
More than 5 years after Winslow received a Community Challenge Grant to complete the renovation of the once-downtrodden alley into a, if you will, urban gathering place, the completion of the project was a real testament to commitment, tenacity and vision.
It was sweet to play a bunch of tunes I’d written while living in the area as locals — including District Supervisors, Open Space Dept. heads & others— applauded Winslow and his team. Treats from Suppenkuche & Blue Bottle added to the festivities.
Deborah Crooks (www.DeborahCrooks.com) is a writer, performing songwriter and recording artist based in San Francisco whose lyric driven and soul-wise music has drawn comparison to Lucinda Williams, Chrissie Hynde and Natalie Merchant.
Singing about faith, love and loss, her lyrics are honed by a lifetime of writing and world travel while her music draws on folk, rock, Americana and the blues. She released her first EP “5 Acres” in 2003 produced by Roberta Donnay, which caught the attention of Rocker Girl Magazine, selecting it for the RockerGirl Discoveries Cd. In 2007, she teamed up with local producer Ben Bernstein to complete “Turn It All Red” Ep, followed by 2008’s “Adding Water to the Ashes” CD, and a second full-length CD “2010. She’s currently working on a third CD to be released in 2013.
Deborah’s many performance credits include an appearance at the 2006 Millennium Music Conference, the RockerGirl Magazine Music Convention, IndieGrrl, at several of the Annual Invasion of the GoGirls at SXSW in Austin, TX, the Harmony Festival and 2009’s California Music Fest, MacWorld 2010, Far West Fest and many other venues and events. She toured the Northwest as part “Indie Abundance Music, Money & Mindfulness” (2009) with two other Bay Area artists, and followed up with “The Great Idea Tour of the Southwest in March 2010 with Jean Mazzei.
