When singer-songwriter Luke Temple moved from the East Coast to West Marin two years ago, he felt fortunate to leave the noise of New York City and replace it with the peaceful sounds of Inverness—even though the acclaimed solo performer and bandleader of indie-rock outfit Here We Go Magic was faced with the task of starting over socially.
Luckily, Marin is jammed with musicians, many of whom share a penchant for indie-rock and folk aesthetics as well as communal creativity, and Temple has tapped into that vein with his ongoing concert series, Good Fortune.
“I moved here from New York, and I had been there for 15 years and had strong musical connections,” Temple says. “When I came out here, I didn’t know anybody, so it was an attempt to get to know the musical community.”
Good Fortune began life at Gospel Flats farm and gallery space in Bolinas, where Temple would perform solo. Soon, more and more musicians were checking in, and the event moved to the Old Western Saloon in Point Reyes Station.
“It turned into a jam,” Temple says. “I’ll have a band come and play a set to open, and then it’ll move into a structured improvisational jam where I sort of direct. Whoever wants to come play can come, and it always ends up turning into a dance party.”
Temple’s ability to direct rhythmically repetitive and often stream-of-consciousness songwriting shined on Here We Go Magic songs that had crowds dancing for joy at major festivals around the world between 2009 and 2015.
While the band still performs occasionally, Temple’s focus these days is his reinvigorated solo output, featuring intimate folk informed by his Marin surroundings, which bursts through on his patient, acoustic 2016 solo album, A Hand Through the Cellar Door.
Temple is also working on a pseudonymous project called Art Feynman that takes his tender ballad songwriting and infuses a healthy heaping of fuzzed guitars and four-track-tape grittiness. Temple will be taking Art Feynman on tour through Europe later this year.
Before that, he’s hosting another Good Fortune show on Oct. 20 with Bay Area garage band the Radio Fliers opening the show—before Temple and friends take over. “Everybody can get a chance to play an instrument,” he says. “I try to be as democratic as possible and get everybody up there.”
Good Fortune befalls you on Saturday, Oct. 20, at Old Western Saloon, 11201 Hwy. 1, Point Reyes Station. 9pm. $10. 415.663.1661.
