Celebrating Three Years of Music, Friends and Food

From breeding coffeeshop heroes and restaurant divas, a growing music community celebrated its birthday in the most fitting way.

Last Wednesday night marked the 3rd anniversary singer Deland Grace and his trusty band the “Fuss” began hosting music shows for themselves and other budding artists to showcase their chops.

Starting in 2008 at the now defunct It’s A Grind coffeeshop in Lakewood, Deland and the Fuss have since been delivering their brand of semi-acoustic (yet loud enough to leave its mark) soul to the patrons of the Filipino eatery  (JAG) in Cerritos. And last week the popular neighborhood restaurant drew about 30 other veteran performers to celebrate the special anniversary.

It's a Weekly Affair

Usually, Grace invites a handful of performers (or some brave volunteers) to JAG, give them 15 minutes to do their thing and possibly do it again a week later. But lately, in an attempt to have a more intimate setting with the performers, Grace shares the stage with one or two other artists to fill a Wednesday evening set. Over the past three years, he has featured guitar-toting singers, songwriters, beatboxers and pianists – all of whom have returned with more experience and a couple new friends.

“God’s working in a way that brings everyone together with music, talent, friendship and fellowship” Grace said. “This anniversary is not just mine. It’s everyone here who’s ever taken part (in it).”

Grace’s advice to his fellow performers is to keep doing music (especially original work) because it can inspire oneself and others. Of course, in the age of Youtube stardom and would-be Corrine Bailey Raes, almost always, a bit of originality is the key to an artist's progression.

Bringing a New Element to Jeepney Asian Grill

Ramon Saporsantos, a manager at JAG, said Grace has created an environment that attracts younger crowds to the neighborhood eatery. The restaurant's menu includes relaxed, almost fusion-like versions of traditional Filipino dishes such as pork adobo, chicken satay and fried lumpia. It’s like a stationary L.A. food truck minus the hint of exhaust fumes and grub-prolonging lines.

“He (Grace) is very instrumental in introducing the Filipino food to the younger Filipinos and the non-Filipinos as well,” Saporsantos said.

Meet the Artists

Awaiting his turn on stage, Brent Calvin -- performing with Deland and the Fuss since the early days -- described his own act as having a jazz/pop-feel. Honing his skills at a young age, Calvin’s dad used to hand him the karaoke mic, “being Filipino n’ all.”

“I like the audience (at Jeepney Asian Grill),” Calvin said. “I love the love that comes toward me, and I like to give the love back.”

Indeed, love is something evidently present in the two hours that Deland and the Fuss fill every Wednesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. Here, there is no sense of competition or pretention, no Jersey Shore-esque domestic spouts, and no delusions of grandeur. Just a bunch of kids laying down jams over carbs and cholesterol--not a bad deal for a local, bored suburbanite looking for something to do other than raging over the latest episode of "So You Think You Can Dance."

Performing early in the evening was Aussie, Nessa Rica Ramos, affecting a slight American accent (think early Nicole Kidman flicks). Pushing five feet with a huge voice to boot, Ramos has the Michelle Branch-meets-Lisa Loeb thing down pat. Her new single, “Saving the World,” has all the makings of a cheery, pop sing-along, but you’ll have to wait till Sunday for the official iTunes release.

Bursting through her sentences, Ramos explained her transition to Jeepney Asian Grill from being an It’s A Grind veteran.

“I grew up as a musician playing with these people,” Ramos said. “They’re very family oriented. I loved it because it was like jamming at home, but at a place. It was very chill, and then when it started growing, we knew that we had to move to a bigger place.”

For some performers that night, music plays a counterpart to another goal in life: nursing.  Fuss percussionist Jeremiah Francisco and human beatboxer Richard ‘RJ’ Rowe have endured (and are still enduring) the rigors of all-night study sessions and 10-hour clinical work. Francisco and Rowe have been performing with Grace even during the most trivial periods of their nursing programs.

“I’m so honored to be part of it,” Rowe said. “This is probably one of the biggest crowds I’ve performed in front of.

Sometimes, being a musician is all about looking super similar to James Franco -- being broody in nature and slinging coffee at the local Starbucks until your solo album is sleek and shiny -- otherwise known as the quintessential rock n’ roll dreamboat. In addition to this persona and backing soulstresses Iris Leonardo and Tricia Coronel, guitarist Michael Tiedge plans on releasing his own album by next year.

“I’ve been playing guitar for 14 years,” Tiedge said. “I learned mostly by ear. I picked up some college classes just to help my dexterity and technique. My goal for 2012 is to start my own solo album….if that movie isn’t true.”

Other times, it’s about the girl sporting the fashionable pixie-cut, a one-button blazer and secretly practicing a song for a beauty pageant (and discovering they’re actually quite good). According to singer/songwriter Iris Leonardo, she is focused this year on completing her album.

“It was a secret, and my family was like, ‘Whoa, you’re gonna sing?’” Leonardo said. “I was like….yeah!”

Just as Grace gently shooed out the stuffed and hopefully entertained diners, local Sheriff's Department personnel arrived to tend to the young rockstars and their fans crowding the JAG's lawn. Apparently, the authorities’ presence isn’t uncommon at Grace’s anniversaries – mostly due to the large turnout in a tight capacity.

But today, Deland and the Fuss will be back to play the same catchy melodies, in front of the same delicious food, and hopefully inspire the next big thing to hit your coffeshops.

“I know life gets hard sometimes, but music is the only thing that’s really saved a life,” Grace said.

Catch Deland and the Fuss along with a featured artist every Wednesday night, from 7 to 9 p.m. at .