Local band set to play festival

Strings of patio lights and a blue moon lit the stage last Thursday night, as the band Hobbs played its first show at Angeline's Bakery.

"A gig was on the calendar even before we were a band," said bass player Patrick Pearsall.

If dancing fans and clapping hands are an indication of a fun time, it's a good thing they came together.

Pearsall describes the band's fresh but familiar sound.

"We came up with the term Kung Fu blues," he said. "But that doesn't mean anything."

They settled on "funky, blues, rock."

The band name comes from frontman Hobbs Magaret, 25.

"This is the band I've wanted since I was 15," he said.

Hobbs grew up on a cattle ranch in Amarillo, Texas. His grandfather kick-started him into the music world as soon as he could walk. Or grab.

"As soon as I could pick up a guitar my granddad had me playing," he said.

Drummer Kaleb Kelleher, 29, and bass player Patrick Pearsall, 33, are second-nature musicians as well.

Kelleher, a Sisters native, uncovered his talent on his brother's drum set.

"My parents bought a drum kit for my older brother, and I played it more than he did," said Kaleb.

Kelleher has been playing the drums ever since, keeping the heartbeats of three other bands around town alive and well.

"It's the best job in the world," he said.

Pearsall on bass seems to think so, too.

Besides a close second aspiration in kindergarten of becoming an astronaut, he always knew this is what he would do.

Patrick is a full-time professional musician who played a heavy hand in getting the band together.

"I met Hobbs at the Americana Song Academy," said Patrick. "I heard him play and said, "You're great, let's start a band.'"

And so it was.

"Now that the universe has presented me with such amazing musicians to work with," said Hobbs, "I have to step it up even more."

They'll get that chance this weekend at the 2012 Sisters Folk Festival.