Song Spotlight: Ryan Hahn & The Believers' Farmers Son (a night at Sassafras Saloon)

The week ending September 13th was a rather joyous moment in the Los Angeles music scene. On Tuesday night, KCRW x School Night relaunched at Zebulon after ending their run in December 2024. Then on Friday night at Sassafras Saloon, Small Town Friday Nights relaunched after having to end its run at the Silverlake Lounge due to an ownership change at the bar in July 2024. 

Ryan Hahn & The Believers at Sassafras Saloon

I do have a soft spot for Small Town Friday Nights, because I went to one of their showcases on my second outing when venues re-opened (my first time out was to Stories Books and Cafe for an acoustic set by Starcrawler). An interesting side note as mentioned by Grand Ole Country Bunker, the showcase is considered the first offshoot from Grand Ole Echo. 

Small Town Friday Nights is curated by Ryan Hahn (of Ryan Hahn & The Believers) whom I've seen a handful of times. Interestingly, on this relaunch night, The Little Miss was on the bill as well as Ryan Hahn & The Believers. Why is that interesting? Because when I first crossed paths with Ryan Hahn & The Believers, The Little Miss was also on the bill.

Ryan Hahn & The Believers at Sassafras Saloon

His Small Town Friday Nights set was filled with both his originals and bringing up friends to sing Tom Petty Covers. He kicked off the string of covers with "Honey Bee." Then he brought up Frances Lawson to do a cover where a fun story was told. He mentioned that Lawson is close friends with his wife. So close that they even hung out in Kentucky (which is where Ryan Hahn is from) recently. Lawson apparently noticed more rainbow flags than Trump flags in the state. Of course, Hahn had to inject that this was the observation, because everyone in Kentucky is just assumed to be a Trump supporter. Harry Katz also came up assist with the Traveling Wilburys' "End of the Line."    

Ryan Hahn & The Believers at Sassafras Saloon

My Song Spotlight goes to "Farmers Son." It is a song of loyalty to his small town upbringing. Heck, his showcase is called Small Town Friday Nights. My appreciation of the song is driven by the fact that I also grew up in a small town north of Los Angeles. My experience is likely far different than others from small towns, because even though I grew up in a small town, it was still close enough to Los Angeles where I occasionally went to various sporting events as well as to Disneyland. But still the distance is some 60 miles or so (depending on what you define as the start of Los Angeles). It is interesting getting the perspective of small town living. Another favorite band of mine, The Doohickeys has the song "This Town Sucks," which is a negative take by singer Haley Brown on the life in a small town. 

Stuck in traffic on the 101.
Rush hour on a Monday morning.
I got the ocean in my sights.
But the city just don't feel right.