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Kyle Rowland is singing the blues only onstage

By Ed Goldman

Kyle Rowland is a young man who embodies the truth of an old saying: “Good things comes to those who wait.” But in Rowland’s case, “wait” is a literal verb: When he’s not touring the country (and beyond) with his blues and jazz band or studying for the ministry, he works as a waiter for the private Sutter Club in downtown Sacramento, which opened in 1889 (I became a member of it 11 years ago; I’m always a little late to the game).

A hard-playing harmonica virtuoso, guitarist and singer, Rowland clocks up as many as 160 gigs a year with his blues band. Others have noticed: This past fall, Rowland, who’s in his early 30s, became the youngest musician to be inducted into the Sacramento Blues Society Hall of Fame. 

He’s been on the road since then—and then some. In fact, our latest catch-up emanates from there.

“I am writing this on my phone, in various airports across our country,” he emails me.  “I went from our final show in Delaware to the airport in Philadelphia, and won’t be back in Sacramento until this evening, only to race to another show in the Bay Area with mere minutes to spare.” 

During the 1960’s, he says, “many young hippies visited/partied in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. These young hippies, now at the age of retirement, have returned to Mazatlán to relive their early 20s, escaping the cold winters of their homes in Canada and the United States. This mass phenomenon has nurtured a community of nearly 2,000 ‘snowbirds’ living in the Mazatlán area, hungry for live music.” 

He speaks fondly of Tom and Mandy Newbury, “who regularly offer their Venice beach home to musicians traveling through Southern California,” adding that the couple began bringing some of their overnight guests to Mazatlán in the winter of 2019-2020. “I was the last person to play the Mazatlán blues series, prior to the world ending in March 2020, halting all travel.”

No, you didn’t miss World War III, the apocalypse or armageddon. He refers, natch, to the COVID era. 

“This season,” Rowland writes, “Tom and Mandy have revamped the music series, flying down multiple national touring acts to the small coastal town. I arrived March 18th, 2025, for a series of five shows at The Water’s Edge Bistro and one private house show. 

“While in Mazatlán,” he continues, “I also taught a master class to college-level musicians at the Angela Peralta Performing Arts College.” The class included topics such as music theory but also, significantly, the business side of the music industry. 

In Mazatlán, Rowland writes, “we met with the local government, Cultura de Mazatlán, to explore possible collaborations between musicians from America and the community.  On this trip, Hohner Harmonicas sent me 100 beginning-level harmonicas and with the help of Cultura, we organized an event for the community at Casa Del Marino (a children’s nautical Museum). One hundred children arrived and were given a free harmonica—and with the help of a translator, I was able to teach a mass bilingual harmonica lesson for the children of the local community.” 

Rowland traveled to Mexico City for a one-off show at Parker and Lenox, a classy speakeasy-style establishment catering to the upper class of Mexico City. “I am pleased to say that all seven shows were sold out, each with a waiting list. I am currently in the process of booking additional locations, including Mazatlán, La Paz, and Mexico City for next season.”

Are you getting jet-lagged yet. Hang on. “I returned home for a week, only to return to the road for a 10- day tour on the East Coast,” Rowland says. “We successfully sold out nearly every show in Lansdowne, Lancaster and Doylestown, Pennsylvania; Rockville and Baltimore, Maryland and St. George, Delaware.”