In a time when public entertainment has become a rarity, one local artist has found a way to keep the spirit of music alive.
On Feb. 4, 2020, Robbie Gade began to busk on the streets and outside cafes around the Tahoe Sierra. Through sheets of rain, howling wind and raging blizzards, he played on.
“I’ve had so many people come up and say, ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing live music.’ I know how important it is because I’ve done it all my life. It’s the universal language.” –Robbie Gade
This month, he marks 365 consecutive days of outdoor performance in one of the nation’s wildest climates.
“This wasn’t my plan when I started doing this,” he says. “It was just to get out of the house. But now, I really like it.”
A Life in Song
Gade grew up in Ohio where he discovered rock n’ roll at a young age. In college, he majored in popular culture and played in the bar band, Baddog.
“When I first heard The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, that changed my life,” he says.
A classic rock aficionado, Gade knows more 1,200 songs by heart. If you request Tom Petty or Neil Young, don’t be surprised to hear a segue of 10 different songs in a row.
“It’d be hard to stump me,” he says. “I never have to repeat a song. And when I learn a new song, I never forget it.”
It was 1977 when Gade moved to Tahoe to play with the Warren Jay Band after hearing they had booked acts such as the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Buffalo Springfield at a bowling alley in Kings Beach. He’s been here ever since.
“I’ve never had a real job,” he says. “I’ve always played music.”
Once upon a time, he cowrote Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford’s lost solo album, “Magic Window,” which was released last April after the tapes disappeared in the studio for 35 years.
In 1991, he opened Renegade Productions to provide more live music to the region.
“Back then nobody was bringing bands to Reno or Tahoe,” he says. “It was mostly old casino acts. I somehow fell into doing it and spent 24 years promoting concerts. It went by quickly.”
As more venues began to open, Gade saw his revenue decline in the face of additional competition and a surplus of free entertainment.
“I’m not sure there are quite as many music people in Tahoe as they used to be,” he says. “A lot of the ski bums have been priced out because of housing. I know a lot of my old fans have had to move because they couldn’t afford to stay here.”
Many folks know Gade from his time in local rock band, Public Eye. In recent years, he’s performed with Renegade Hombres, a collective of friends who often play at the summer Concerts at Commons Beach in Tahoe City.
The highlight of Gade’s music career was the spring of 1991. He was playing at Legends bar in Incline Village when in walked a guitar player who happened to be in the area recording with Whitesnake frontman, David Coverdale. For three weekends, Led Zeppelin rock god Jimmy Page sat in with Gade for impromptu live sets.
“Once the word got out, our crowds went from 50 people a night to 700,” he says. “There were people parked up and down Highway 28 … It blew my mind.”
Music for the People
Gade took to the streets when his regular gig with Kelly Bentson at Caliente in Kings Beach shut down last March.
“When they quit having live music, I decided I’m going to keep playing,” he says. “I go and set up where people are hanging out.”
Gade can regularly be found outside Syd’s Bagelry & Espresso by Heritage Plaza Park in Tahoe City, Waterman’s Landing in Carnelian Bay, Mourelatos Lakeshore Resort in Tahoe Vista, Kings Beach State Recreation Area or downtown Truckee.
“I wait until the sun peaks out,” he says. “In the snow, I just pretend like I’m skiing and go out there and play.”
Passersby often approach Gade to request songs or even sit in to jam. He’s entertained traveling Russians with animated versions of The Beatles “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and made friends with James Curleigh, the CEO of Gibson Guitars. During the January blizzard, he couldn’t get his truck out of the driveway so he played for his neighbors door to door.
“Everyday something new happens,” he says. “I’ve had so many people come up and say, ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing live music.’ I know how important it is because I’ve done it all my life. It’s the universal language.” | Robbie Gade on Facebook
