A hot night at the Rustic Rail Saloon in Bakersfield seems to be the perfect occasion to enjoy the music of The Soda Crackers, a local band of musicians with the Bakersfield sound in their DNA. Locals and visitors from places as far as Orange County had a blast keeping the dance floor busy and the drinks flowing at the iconic penny bar.

The Soda Crackers is a band with a nostalgic sound and upbeat rhythm that combines the music of a bygone era and the contemporary tunes of what country music is today. With a strong repertoire of covers and original songs, the band is doing the rounds all over California, getting their name out there and gaining new fans wherever they perform. Make sure to check them out on social media and live in a town near you. 

Below is the interview with Zane Adamo, Lead Vocalist.

Could you please introduce your band members and the instruments they play?

Zane Adamo, 32 from Bakersfield, CA – lead vocals, fiddle, and rhythm guitar Cooper Adamo, 27 from Bakersfield, CA – lead fiddle 

Chuy Holguin, 35 from Santa Ana, CA – Stand-Up Bass 

Ben Mathiews, 27 from Camarillo, CA – Pedal Steel Guitar 

Ben McCarthy, 35 from Ramona, CA – Lead Guitar 

James Miller, 33 from Fullerton, CA – Drums 

What kind of music did you listen to growing up? 

I grew up listening to the music I play, Bakersfield Sound & Western Swing. The first song I ever learned on fiddle was Deep In The Heart of Texas! 

What motivated you to get into country music? 

It’s always been music I’ve played and listened to. My parents would play Merle, Buck, Bob Wills, George Strait, and all the greats in the car and in the house growing up. 

What country music subgenres do you mix in your sound? 

In terms of subgenres, we take our main inspiration from The Bakersfield Sound & Western Swing in our sound. We try to capture that 40s-60s sound/attitude/look from that golden era of Country Music. 

How would you describe the Bakersfield country music scene of today?

Bakersfield’s country music scene is going strong as of today. I don’t know of another town in California that has such a strong country music scene as Bakersfield has today. There are lots of bands and artists here in town that are playing Country Music but not many people in town are playing the really early stuff that was coming out in the 40s & 50s. There’s also a small group of people in town writing/creating original country music, we just recently came out with our debut album that features 5 originals from current & former band members, but mostly what you’ll find here is Country Music cover bands. I think it’s very important to have both these original artists and cover bands playing the local circuit around town. I feel like we fall somewhere in the middle of that. 

You guys played at the Rustic Rail Saloon last Saturday. What’s so special about these honky-tonk places?

I personally don’t consider the Rustic Rail a honky tonk mainly because you can’t go there on any given weekend and expect country music. A Honky Tonk should have country music and that’s it. The Rustic Rail is definitely an all genres venue plus it has TVs and I don’t think any honky tonks should have TVs, sports bars have TVs! The Rustic Rail definitely is one of my favorite spots in town because it has a real dance floor & it’s a no-frills spot in Oildale. At the heart of what we do is dancing music. We play country music that wants you to get out of your seat and dance. 

Who writes your original songs? 

At the moment, I have written a few of our originals and our lead guitar player Ben McCarthy has written a few as well. We take a more democratic approach about writing. If someone’s written something and wants to bring it to rehearsal, we’ll all try to jam on it and see how it goes. It usually needs to be a pretty formed idea/song before we dedicate some time to it at rehearsals. 

What’s the craziest story you have experienced while touring? 

Probably the craziest thing we’ve done is try to rescue some lost merch on the side of HWY 101 in Santa Barbara. A few of our truckers hats flew out of a box in my truck and I doubled back and pulled off on the side of the highway to pick them up because there was a lot of money lying out there on the side of the road! It turned out that only one hat flew out, the rest were safe and sound inside the truck bed! The craziest drive we’ve ever done as a band was from LA to Lake Havasu. We left LA at about midnight and didn’t get to our Airbnb until 5am (AZ time) then we had to be backstage at 9:30am that same morning for our 10am show! We probably got a maximum of 3 hours of sleep that night. 

How many hours do you practice to be in musical shape? 

I practice just about everyday. I usually work on my singing and guitar playing just because I need to constantly practice that in order to stay sharp. The band rehearses about once every two months as a group but sometimes we’ll jam with whoever wants to during down time on our tours & runs. 

Country music is once again a leading force in the American music scene. Do you think Bakersfield is capitalizing on that renaissance? 

I think the city of Bakersfield is missing the boat on this renaissance of Country Music nationally. My hometown has always had a problem accepting and celebrating its rich musical past, present, and future. Back in the day, you could go dancing in town 7 nights a week at a dozen or so spots in town. Now there are no honky tonks left in town and the historic ones are all long gone. We also used to have about a half dozen or so Dance Halls in Bakersfield and now we only have one left. We do have an amazing Bakersfield Sound exhibit here at the Kern County Museum but I feel like that should be only the tip of the iceberg. I think the city has been dropping the ball for decades on this. 

Do you see a resurgence of the Bakersfield sound? 

I see the Bakersfield Sound as a moment in time or an era of music created by musicians who were descendants from the Dust Bowl Migration. It was a cultural moment here in the central valley and also LA in the 40s-60s that really left its mark. I don’t think you will see that again and there was only one true era & generation of the Bakersfield Sound. What we try to do as a band is to recreate that era and that moment where Bakersfield was dancing and twangin’ all night long to dance to country music. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. I do think you could definitely point to a resurgence in live music here in town. Compared to most cities we’ve played in, Bakersfield is a great place to start out as a band or artist. If the people here like you, they will follow you and support you like no other and there are plenty of places to play around town to get started. 

Popularized in 1973 by Buck Owens and in 1988 by his duo with Dwight Yoakam, “Streets of Bakersfield”, is now an anthem. You were born here. What’s the spirit of the streets of Bakersfield?

I think the “spirit” of the Streets of Bakersfield is one of optimism. I think these streets have so much potential and I believe the people of this city are wanting the city to embrace its history and make this town become a “music” town again. If you go to places like Tulsa, Memphis, Nashville, & Austin you can feel the music woven into the town’s identity and I believe that Bakersfield is primed and ready to join that list. 

Bakersfield is surrounded by fields. What’s the connection between country music and agriculture?

So much of our town’s identity is wrapped up in the two main industries of Kern County; Oil and Ag. It’s been well documented that many if not most of the famous Bakersfield Sound musicians families or themselves worked the fields out here in the Central Valley at some point and that hard work creates very tough and determined people. When you work in the oil fields or picking cotton, you are doing some of the toughest work out there and you better believe those people wanted to have some fun at the end of the day and one of the best ways to do that was to play some music and dance! I think that’s the reason why the “Sound” sounds like no other! 

Any message for your fans? 

Thank you so much to everyone who comes to our shows. We do not take it lightly when we travel across the US and tell people we’re from Bakersfield. It means a whole lot to us to be a band from Bakersfield, we have a responsibility to showcase our town’s music as best we can. We promise to always make you proud and make the greats like Buck, Wynn, Merle, Bonnie, Billy, Red, and all the rest proud each and every show.

Social Media: 

Instagram @thesodacrackers

YouTube youtube.com/@thesodacrackers