Sandy Rosen, half of the team behind Bez Arts Hub in Langley, welcomed everyone to the venue, talked briefly about the intimate live performance space and the kind of shows they present, and then introduced 17-year-old Jake Soberlak. The other half of the team, Russ Rosen, is the artistic director of The Bez and a musician with more than 40 years of experience.
Jake walked quietly onto the stage without any fanfare, although the crowd gave him a very warm welcome. He picked up his Gibson and, with barely a word, launched into the instrumental “San Ho Zay.”
That was about all the introduction he needed.
The Bez is an intimate live performance venue, and on this night roughly 100 people filled virtually every available space around the small stage. The audience was a mix of longtime blues fans and some younger faces, and there was an obvious sense that people had been waiting to see what this young guitarist could do. By the time the first notes filled the room, Jake had everyone's attention.
Soberlak, who comes from Kamloops, started playing guitar at 13 and picked up harmonica at 14. On this night he was joined by veteran drummer Chris “The Wrist” Nordquist and bassist Jake Verburg, forming a tight three-piece that gave him plenty of room to stretch out.
And stretch out he did.
Jake is not a showman in the traditional sense. He is soft-spoken and tends to keep his head down while playing, his long hair often falling across his face as he concentrates on the guitar. But once he starts playing, the guitar does the talking. His solos seemed to build on one another, each one pushing a little further than the last.
From my position in the room, getting a clear view wasn't always easy. The Bez was dark and packed, and as the night progressed, the room seemed to surge forward, filling every little gap where a body could fit. From beside the band, I could look out at the audience and, in some of the photographs, they almost appear to be half asleep. In reality, they were simply completely absorbed in the music. When a song or solo ended, that concentration erupted into thunderous applause, cheers and whistles.
Russ Rosen was clearly enjoying the performance as much as anyone. He spent much of the night dancing around whatever small patch of floor he could find, cheering the band on and adding to the infectious atmosphere in the room.
At one point, Jake quietly announced, “I’m going to play some harmonica now.” He put down the guitar, picked up the harmonica and unleashed a sound that came roaring through the room like a freight train coming out of a tunnel. It was another side of a musician who seems almost shy when he's not performing, but who becomes completely absorbed in what he's doing once the music starts.
There was also a vintage Silvertone guitar onstage. Jake had found it online for very little money and uses it specifically for slide. At one point he looked at the guitar and said, “I think this old thing is around 60 years old.” When he switched to it, it became another reminder of his fascination with the sounds and instruments of an earlier generation of blues.
What was particularly striking throughout the evening was the respect Jake received from the musicians around him. Nordquist and Verburg seemed completely comfortable giving him the space to lead, while Jake appeared equally comfortable sharing the stage with musicians with considerably more experience.
And then came the end — or what was supposed to be the end.
As the final song approached, Jake was reminded by bassist Jake Verburg that it was the last one. Jake had planned to finish on guitar, but he was actually set up for harmonica. He jokingly put the question to the crowd, and the response was a resounding yes. The harmonica came out again.
After that song, the musicians began to leave the stage. Then Jake called out, “Do you want one more?”
That was all it took.
The crowd came right back in, and Jake launched into a blistering version of “Long Tall Sally” — fast, raw and full of attitude.
It was a fitting way to finish a night in which a soft-spoken musician had quietly walked onto a stage and commanded the attention of an entire room.
Watching him at The Bez, surrounded by experienced musicians and a completely attentive audience, it was hard not to wonder where that journey might take him.