Robby Armstrong and his Band

The Other Sunset Strip
by Kelsi Maree | Riviera Orange County magazine | August 17, 2012
When Angelenos want to indulge in late-night entertainment, they head to the Sunset Strip. But in O.C., Sunset Beach is a nightlife magnet that’s known to locals only. Tack on ocean views and bartenders who know their booze, and you might never venture to L.A. again. Join us on a virtual pub crawl of the strip, starting at its southern tip.
1. J. King Neptune’s?It may not be the next Whisky a Go Go, but the rotating lineup of local up-and-comers who play everything from punk to funk puts it in close proximity. The stage—heck, the whole place—is small. But it’s mighty, packing the house with Sunset Beach denizens and band followers who start rolling in around 9pm. 17115 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.4878, jkingneptune.com
2. Captain Jack’s?Some nights, the stress of the day requires a simple scotch (neat, of course) and a sole man strumming his guitar. When the urge hits, Captain Jack’s always delivers. The vibe is ultra low-key, making for the perfect atmosphere to take in folk-rocker Jim Quealy’s standing Saturday night showcase without any disruption. 16812 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.2514, facebook.com/captainjackssunsetbeach
3. Mother’s Tavern?One look at the walls and ceiling—and the menagerie of things stuck to them—and you’ll know instantly that Mother’s Tavern is the untamed dive of PCH. While the spot’s been known to entertain a band or two on the weekends, the live music schedule is just as unpredictable as an evening here can be. If fortune isn’t in your favor, head to the poolroom with an ice-cold beer. Don’t set your heart on anything stronger, though. It’s beer and wine only—but there’s plenty of it. 16701 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.2111
4. Nadine’s Irish Mist ?If the Irish have brought us anything, it’s good music and buzz-worthy booze. The combination makes Nadine’s Irish Mist a lock for one of Pacific Coast Highway’s best haunts. With waiter service (cross your fingers you get one of the Emerald Isle natives) and a late-night food menu, you’ll be tempted to stay put till the wee hours. Fight the urge because the stage welcomes an ever-changing lineup of cover bands. 16655 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.7000, nadinesirishmist.net
5. Brix?If you like wine, beer and pastrami, with a little live music tossed in here and there, then you’ll feel right at home at Brix. Part New York deli, part California wine bar, it’s the kind of place you can hang with your friends, chat for a while and listen to tunes performed by local artists like The Happy Ending Band. 16635 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.3167, brixsunsetbeach.com
6. Pelican Isle?Don’t let the demure exterior of Pelican Isle fool you. The massive bar and restaurant puts on a great show. A large stage hosts local indie bands, while the vintage-esque bar and oceanside patio overlooking the Peter’s Landing marina entertain a younger crowd than this haunt’s PCH counterparts. And the surrounding ocean views are far superior to any view of the pavement that Sunset Strip has to offer. You’ll find yourself roaming into the bar’s pool-tabled game room, out to the docks for a look at the yachts, back into the restaurant for a snack and then onto the dance floor for another toe-tappin’ show. 16400 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.3221, stockteam.com
7. Turcs ?Between the bars wailing live tunes, stop in at the quieter Turcs. The small pub trades live entertainment for a juke box and stereo system, but the intimate setting is worth a stopover on your way to the next venue or a late-night sundae at next door’s Harbor House. Large wooden tables and a light crowd make for a perfect break from the rambunctious goings-on outside the doors. 16321 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.2311, facebook.com/turcs.cocktails
8. Don The Beachcomber ?If you felt Sunset Beach was lacking the superstar aura of the Strip, you’ll find a little celebrity edge at Don The Beachcomber. With its Hawaiian-themed bar—complete with tiki décor—you can pretend you’re on a vaca in the islands. But the real treat is resident act the Robby Armstrong Band. (Insiders know that Armstrong is Cameron Diaz’s brother-in-law.) The tiny dance floor, which is in front of the even smaller bar, will only increase the likelihood of a run-in should Cam ever drop in to seem him play. 16278 Pacific Coast Highway, 562.592.1321, donthebeachcomber.com - The Riviera O.C.

Robby Armstrong and his Band—Don the Beachcombers, Huntington Beach
The second stop for the night was Don the B’s featuring the inimitable Robby Armstrong and his band!
Hostess Chimene Armstrong (looking quite the fetching wench in her costume) greeted everyone at the door and did an outstanding job of orchestrating the festivities onstage. The Armstrongs have been doing a Children Today (www.childrentoday.com) Halloween fundraising gig for seven years now, and the end result is always a success. This time they raised $4,400 from ticket sales and live auction combined. The CT foundation holds a special place in the entire family’s hearts because it was organized to help the homeless children of Long Beach, the city where Chimene and her sister Cameron (Diaz) grew up. Robby and Chimene are active contributors for this wonderful organization and work hard at giving back to the community.
Although the efforts leading up to the party always involve hard work, it definitely looked like the Armstrongs were having nothing but fun at their own event! These people and their crowd certainly know how to have a good time! The atmosphere was ablaze with music, laughter, and pheromones. There were some very good looking devils (literally AND figuratively!) lurking about, and almost everyone was exuding a sensuous charm that seemed to circulate throughout the room. Maybe it was due to the master of ceremonies costume that set the tone for the evening. Robby came in a kilt (Chimene hand-made it!) He also donned a sleeveless t-shirt that was testament to the fact that he spends a lot of time working out (when he’s not performing and writing songs.) The kilt get-up was a perfect complement for an extraordinary physique, not to mention the symbolic representation of Mr. Armstrong’s Scottish heritage!
But costume aside, when Robby plays the guitar, it’s like someone has plugged him in! You could swear that he has electricity running throughout his entire body and that anyone needing some current could simply tap into the fingers that are strumming that instrument. The band was on fire as well, with Emily Kilimnik (fiddle) always a standout, and Josh Taddeo (bass,) Mike Khalil (guitar,) and Steve Hawryluk (drums) adding to the strength and intensity of the music. Armstrong’s original music with songs like “All Hat and No Cowboy” and “Go Rodeo” were offered up as the standard but exciting new fare, and later on, his Stones and numerous other covers sizzled. The band puts forth an explosion of music anytime they play, but on this night, the fireworks were particularly impressive!
Guests danced, laughed, hooted and howled a lot (especially the werewolves!) Others loitered in corners and had intimate conversations with cocktails and kisses. There was lots of hugging going on in the crowd—so much strange affection since all seemed liked strangers due to the masks, make-up and creative garb. Later, guests took part in the annual costume contest which awarded $25 gift certificates to the sexiest (Amy Winehouse,) best couple (Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth,) funniest (Popeye,) and scariest couple (the Walking Dead.)
Art Snyder (owner) at Don the Beachcombers donates one of the extra-large party rooms in the back every year for this event and it really works. The Hawaiian Tiki Bar motif is a whimsical backdrop for the crazy costumes—it seems almost other-worldly. There are two levels of tables with bar areas which make for good elbow room even with the huge number of guests that were swarming. Don the B’s prepares excellent Pu Pu platters (thanks to Art’s wife Delia who personally created them for gold and silver contributing tables.) Don’s also pours great drinks! Everyone seemed quite happy as far as the food and drink were concerned.
This party looked like it would be "hangin’ ten" and going strong for another several hours when Examiner people reluctantly had to leave the scene to go check out the last hoot of the night.
- TheExaiminer.com

Robby Armstrong, arguably “the hardest working musician in the Sun Region” can add another title to his list of many successes—award-winning talk show host.

“The Robby Armstrong Show with Niko Bolas,” a public access program produced at SBTV-3 by Theresa Bavaro and Rob Roy, with production assistance, from Robby and his wife, Chimene Armstrong, has just been announced as a WAVE Award finalist.

The WAVE (Western Access Video Excellence) Awards are sponsored by the Western Region, which is one of six chapters that comprise the national organization, Alliance of Community Media.

This year’s competition included 350 entries in 30 different categories from the Western Region states which include, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico. The winners will be announced at the Western Region conference which will be held later this month in Sacramento.

The program, which aired last year, was the second of four shows hosted by Robby during the past year and a half. This, in addition to his generous gift of time and talent each month for another public access program and the previous multiple WAVE Award-winning, “Studio Café.”

Armstrong is an intellectual and humorous host whose personal connection with his guests creates engaging discussion and entertainment from making music to post-production.

Niko Bolas is music producer, sound engineer, and consultant and business developer in the fields of virtual reality and Internet radio. In addition to working with Robby, he has worked on productions with Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Melissa Etheridge and KISS to name a few.

Armstrong plays a steady stream of concerts and shows with his Robby Armstrong Band at a pace that many seasoned musicians would find grueling, yet like the energizer bunny, he keeps going and going … etc.

He also had a song in the new Sims pet video game that just came out.

The musician and songwriter has also used his music for various causes, including an annual Halloween Costume Ball for Children Today, a Long Beach charity for the children of homeless families. Chimene Armstrong, sister to film star Cameron Diaz, is the force behind this entire and several other local fundraising events such as the Sunset Beach Fireman’s Ball, now the Sunset Beach Masquerade Ball.

Armstrong also lends his talent as an emcee to various fundraiser events in the surrounding community.

For the past year, while continuing his busy schedule, Armstrong has been jetting back and forth from California to Nashville, Tenn., working on his music and projects with other musicians and music producers in addition to playing the ASCAP Nashville Movie Festival and Fan Fair.

The years of hard work seems to be paying off as Robby recently found work in the American film industry. Armstrong and his band will perform in a remake of the 1966 film “Gambit,” which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. He has three original songs in the film, parts of which will be heard six times throughout the movie—or in film vernacular, he will have six “plays.”

The “Gambit” remake will star Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz.

The family connection aside, according to his wife and sometime publicist and manager, “Robby submitted his songs to the music director and got word before Cameron that he had gotten the songs in the movie,” she said. “The band was there with Robby and they had a great response to the new music. They will be the band in the movie in the bar. His song sets are 95 percent all original music that gets you up, dancing and having a great time.”

Within his always high-energy shows, Robby Armstrong includes plenty of humor and describes his music as “Americana country rock,” but he is versatile in any form of music, from funk to blues.

Armstrong will be coming out with three music videos this year that are connected as a vignette in film and you can see his band perform at local venues such as Finbar’s and Mahé in Seal Beach and Don The Beachcomber in Huntington Beach.

For more information, visit his website at www.RobbyArmstrong.net or his Facebook page.
- The Sun Newspaper

Robby Armstrong of Surfside, Seal Beach, may be the hardest working musician in the Sun Region.

For the past nine years he has performed a popular, intimate solo acoustic show at Harpoon Harry’s in Sunset Beach. Meanwhile, he plays a steady stream of concerts and shows with his Robby Armstrong Band.

Amstrong keeps a pace that many seasoned musicians would find grueling, yet like the energizer bunny, he keeps going and going … etc.

Armstrong seems to be playing out everywhere. He even has his own cable show on SBTV-3 and is the music talent on the station’s Studio Café show. He also had a song in the new Sims pet video game that just came out.

The musician and songwriter has also used his music for various causes, including an annual Halloween Costume Ball for Children Today, a Long Beach charity for the children of homeless families. The latter he produces with his wife Chimene Armstrong, sister to film star Cameron Diaz. Armstrong also lends his talent as an emcee to various fundraiser events in the surrounding community.

For the past year, while continuing his busy schedule, Armstrong has been jetting back and forth from California to Nashville, Tenn., working on his music and projects with other musicians and music producers.

He has written for Keith Urban, Josh Turner, Leann Rimes and with other songwriters who work for a bevy of other music stars. He recently played in the Nashville Movie Festival on April 26 and will play Fan Fair in Nashville in June.

The years of hard work seems to be paying off as Armstrong recently found work in the American film industry. Armstrong and his band will perform in a remake of the 1966 film “Gambit,” which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine. He has three original songs in the film, parts of which will be heard six times throughout the movie—or in film vernacular, he will have six “plays.”

The “Gambit” remake will star Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz. The family connection aside, according to his wife and sometime publicist and manager, “Robby submitted his songs to the music director and got word before Cameron that he had gotten the songs in the movie.”

These days Armstrong has been spending about a week every month to meet and write with publishers and writers in the Nashville area. He just did his first show at the ASCAP Nashville Movie Fest.

“The band was there with Robby and they had a great response to the new music,” Chimene Armstrong said. “They will be the band in the movie in the bar. His song sets are 95 percent all original music that gets you up, dancing and having a great time.”

Armstrong describes his music as “Americana country rock,” but he is versatile in any form of music, from funk to blues.

Within his always high-energy shows, Armstrong includes plenty of humor.

Now with his film project nearly behind him, Armstrong, will be coming out with three music videos this year that are connected as a vignette in film.

You might hear Armstrong’s shows at local venues such as Finbar’s and Mahé in Seal Beach and Don The Beachcomber in Huntington Beach advertised on kfrog radio. - The Suns News Seal Beach California