Spike Sikes & His Awesome Hotcakes

Like hotcakes themselves, the music Spike’s Awesome Hotcakes plays goes by many names. Soul. Swing. Rhythm & Blues. Jazz. Jump. It’s a sound that’s classic and simple, but when it’s done right, it hits the spot, and has you grinning from ear to ear.

Spike grew up in El Paso, TX, studied jazz at The University of North Texas, started The Spike Band in 2004, recorded three albums with them, joined the Coast Guard in 2008, continued playing music wherever he was stationed (Maine, NorCal, and New Orleans), and formed Awesome Hotcakes in 2014. Some of his biggest influences include Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Cleanhead Vinson, Gatemouth Brown, Lightnin Hopkins and Albert Ayler. Spike likes his coffee cold, black, and made with chicory.

From the Texas blues joints he cut his teeth in to the funky halls of New Orleans, he was always studying the music, trying to find just the right recipe. It makes perfect sense that he found his bandmates in Sonoma County, a music scene that has fostered many eclectic artists for decades.

What he didn’t know was how hungry audiences were for “this kind of music.” You might say they’ve been eating it up like…Hotcakes!

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