The Bard of Tomales Bay

Performing constantly on the S.F. scene, DeNatale soon came to the attention of local music maven Nick Tangborn, who was starting his own label, Jackpine Social Club, and was looking for new projects to help launch it. (He'd just offered his first release, an altroots tribute to Kris Kristofferson called Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down.) Tangborn met DeNatale a couple of years ago, when the songwriter helped bail him out of an awkward position at a Mission District venue for which he'd been booking shows.

"I met Jesse standing outside the Make-Out Room, when somebody I was planning to have do an acoustic set didn't make it. I was talking to Jesse and a mutual friend, Rob Douglas, asking who I should get as a replacement, and Rob said, 'Well, this guy is great.' So I had [DeNatale] play a few songs, sitting on a bar chair in the middle of room with no mike, and he blew everyone away. Early on, it started to occur to me that this was a guy who belonged on Jackpine, and could help make it a real label."

Randall McKinney

Details

Record release party is Tuesday, April 1

Chuck Prophet and Stephanie Finch open at 8:30 p.m.

Admission is $6

647-2888

Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St. (at Mission), S.F.
www .makeoutroom.com

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Tangborn continues, "There's a real maturity to his songwriting, although his influences can be somewhat apparent, but never in a way that seems like he's just ripping somebody off. He's absorbed all these great storytelling songwriter types, and made the music entirely his own. It's just beautiful, melodic, moody music, but also very uplifting, and has a real positivity that I find immensely appealing."

By the time Tangborn had launched his label and was able to offer the singer a contract, late last year, DeNatale had already recorded and self-released Shangri-La West and was selling copies at his shows. So the two of them decided to rerelease the album and to start work on a follow-up, which they hope to put out later this year. DeNatale, who now divides his time between his new home in North Beach and visiting family and friends in Tomales Bay, is looking forward to touring. In part, he's curious to see how his music will transform itself as it reaches new and wider audiences.

"The CD's developed its own sort of life," he jokes. "It's just like having kids. You give them all this stuff, and make sure it's got its ration of this and that, a coat and everything, so that when you send it out there, it can survive. You want it to be strong, because once it's out the door, you're not going to have any control over it. ... But you also hope it can make you proud."