Tim Bluhm & the Coffis Brothers

Special Guest Artist

JULY 25: TIM BLUHM & THE COFFIS BROTHERS

Tim Bluhm

In one brief, excruciating instant, Tim Bluhm’s life changed forever. The acclaimed songwriter and avid outdoorsman was speed flying (a more intense version of paragliding) down a California mountainside when he lost control and crashed, slamming feet-first into a pile of felled trees at roughly 35 miles-per-hour. The force of the impact snapped his ankle in half and nearly tore his foot from his leg. By the time his body finally came to rest, his pelvis was completely shattered. While Bluhm was lucky to be alive, he faced a daunting road to recovery, one that required him to be bedridden for the better part of a year as he underwent more than a dozen surgeries. It was the kind of traumatic injury that could easily end a career, but for Tim Bluhm, it was more like a second chance.

“It changed my outlook on life and it changed my whole self-image,” says Bluhm, a California native best known as a frontman for the legendary The Mother Hips. “It was a humbling thing to be physically incapacitated like that, and it was a reminder of just how fragile we all are. I’m more grateful than ever to be alive right now.”

Bluhm began his musical journey while studying at Chico State, where he co-founded the now-iconic Mother Hips, a group the San Francisco Chronicle has hailed as “one of the Bay Area’s most beloved live outfits.” Performing at frat parties quickly gave way to club shows, regional touring, and national buzz, and before they’d graduated from school, Bluhm and his bandmates were signed to Rick Rubin’s American Recordings on the strength of their debut album, ‘Back To The Grotto.’ Over the ensuing two-and-a-half decades, Bluhm would release eight more studio albums with the band as they cemented their status as architects of a new breed of California soul and earned a reputation as festival and critical favorites, sharing bills with everyone from Johnny Cash and Wilco to Lucinda Williams and The Black Crowes along the way. Rolling Stone called them “divinely inspired,” while Pitchfork praised their “rootsy mix of 70s rock and power pop," and The New Yorker lauded their ability to “sing it sweet and play it dirty.”

Ever-curious and wildly prolific, Bluhm simultaneously released a slew of his own solo and collaborative projects on the side. He toured for years as music director with Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers, teamed up with The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann among others, and opened up Mission Bells Studio with fellow California favorite Jackie Greene and engineer Dave Simon-Baker. There, Bluhm produced albums for everyone from the Hips and Greene to Hot Buttered Rum and Little Wings in addition to hosting Phil Lesh, Josh Ritter, Rogue Wave, Los Lobos, Jonathan Richman, and more. As if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, in 2007, Bluhm and the Hips launched the Hipnic, an intimate and immaculately-curated music festival that’s still held annually amongst the towering redwoods of Big Sur.

 

The Coffis Brothers

Jamie and Kellen Coffis were raised in the Santa Cruz Mountains of northern California. Their mother was a children's musician who often recruited the boys to join her onstage, instilling in them an appreciation for energetic, catchy songs that focused on melody, mood, and message. "We learned how to sing three-part harmonies with Mom at a young age," remembers Jamie, who later grew into an accomplished keyboardist as his brother sharpened his chops on guitar. When the two began writing songs together in 2007, they found that their shared upbringing — including the music they'd heard on the radio airwaves as kids — had left a lasting mark on their artistic sensibilities.

 

"We have always loved the radio," says Kellen. "You can listen to one station and hear something you've never heard anywhere else, or you can listen to the classic rock station and hear music that hearkens back to yesteryear. Our music does both of those things, too."

 

With their 2011 debut, The Coffis Brothers & the Mountain Men, the siblings introduced their mix of the new and the nostalgic, the contemporary and the classic. They began touring throughout Northern California, joined by a lineup that soon coalesced around bassist Aidan Collins, lead guitarist Kyle Poppen, and drummer Cory Graves. Gig by gig, the band's audience grew. Santa Cruz Weekly described the Coffis Brothers' energetic stage show as "one part Avett Brothers and one part early," with the San Francisco Chronicle praising the group's "easy rock vibe that’s actually hip." Meanwhile, follow-up albums like Wrong Side of the Road and Roll With It helped broadcast the band's sound well beyond California's borders.

 

When the Covid-19 pandemic brought The Coffis Brothers' tour schedule to a temporary halt, Jamie and Kellen continued to work with Tim Bluhm — the Bay Area legend (and longtime Mother Hips frontman) Tim Bluhm who had produced the group's 2020 release, In the Cuts — during a series of livestreams. "We'd go to Tim's house, learn his songs, and back him up during those shows," Kellen remembers. "Other members of our band would sometimes join us, and that's how we all kept our chops up. It elevated our playing, our writing, and our singing."

 

The brothers continued working on their own music, too, writing songs that blended the woodsy imagery of their native California with universal stories about love, loss, and the open road. When it came time to record those songs, The Coffis Brothers relied on the skills they'd sharpened during those shows with Bluhm, letting instinct and intuition lead the way. They didn't want to overthink things. Instead, the goal was simple: turn up, press 'record,' and let the songs evolve.