On April 3, two local bands were invited to perform at a special live streamed concert at The Complex, a recording and production space in the heart of San Francisco.
Bayview, a three-piece rock group made up of school friends Adam Renteria, Keith Rayburn and Ryan Costello, and Boxweed, a duo featuring Renteria and his brother, Austin Renteria, played back-to-back. It was their first gig since the pandemic shut down live performances last year.
“It was pretty exciting,” said Rayburn, who has also played in Pan Dulce and the Rayburn Brothers Band. “We drove up [to San Francisco] together, and it was a great venue. It was a lot of fun.”
You can view a recording of the show here.
The members of Bayview all went to high school together. After going their separate ways for a while, they ended up back in the area and decided to start playing together again. They now live in Castroville, Prunedale and King City, and practice in a garage on Bayview Road overlooking Elkhorn Slough.
Rayburn plays bass in Bayview, with Costello on drums and Adam Renteria on guitar. Boxweed features Renteria playing guitar and bass simultaneously, while his brother Austin plays drums and sings.
“It has been super fun playing and writing with these guys,” Costello said. “We’re best buds, which is really cool. For whatever reason, whenever we come back together and play, we fall right back into it. And everyone is so incredibly talented.”
Both bands had many concerts lined up that were canceled due to Covid.
“It’s been hard,” Adam Renteria said. “We had to forfeit all of those shows. It was a really big disappointment.”
But they found ways to persevere. They switched gears and began writing and composing music. In fact, they’ve written more songs than ever since the pandemic started.
“Before Covid, we only had a handful of original songs,” Costello said. “Now we have more than 20. Honestly, it’s an incredible time to write music.”
Rayburn agreed.
“We’ve been writing so much,” he said. “We have to slow down, force ourselves not to start writing again, because now we have to rehearse.”
Bayview and Boxweed have both just released new singles. Rayburn says their momentum will allow them to continually release more music in the coming months, and possibly record a full album.
Bayview has an outdoor show scheduled for April 25, 4-6:30pm at Abbott Square in Santa Cruz. They hope to do more outdoor shows in the upcoming months.
“We’re looking to get as many shows as possible for whatever pops up,” said Adam Renteria. “Anything that is available, anyone who is willing to have us, we’d be more than willing to be there.”
Added Costello: “I really, really hope things keep going in the right direction so we can have some normalcy soon, dance around and listen to music together, and have a good old time like we used to.”
