Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
Musician Jeremy Plog doesn’t mind playing a doubleheader on Saturday because he’s a big baseball guy.
Plog is on bass with headliner Jackie Greene Band at the Crystal Bay Casino and on guitar for openers Golden Cadillacs.
“I am playing every gig I can, juggling all my bands and day job,” Plog said in a phone interview after dropping his son off at his Little League game.
The Roseville resident has probably been in more bands than much-traveled pitcher Edwin Jackson has had big league uniforms (14). He’s also coached former San Francisco Giants Tim Flannery and Jake Peavy as they transitioned from the diamond to the stage as guitarists.
This is Plog’s second stint with Jackie Greene, who holds the Crown Room record for most appearances.
“I was in a band that opened for him at Slims and Great American Music Hall,” Plog said. “Jackie told me, ‘I’m thinking that my next record should be like Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers.” Something like that, a big statement.’ ”
That’s all it took for Plog to make his pitch: “I said, ‘I’m in if you need my help. That’s my wheelhouse.’ So I started hanging with Jackie after that.”
Greene’s a roots rock and blues singer-songwriter with 13 solo albums. He’s been a member of the Black Crowes and Trigger Hippy and WRG with Bob Weir and Chris Robinson. His band has played multiple New Year’s Eve shows at Crystal Bay as well as General Manager Bill Wood’s recent retirement party.
Plog and Greene grew up in the same area.
“He went from playing the same dive bar circuit to headlining the Blues in the Park festival,” Plog said. “What he had that other artists didn’t have is he was writing his own songs. It really made him standout from the field.”
The Golden Cadillacs are more twangy than the Jackie Greene Band.
“We all grew up with Merle Haggard and graduated, for me, to Tom Petty and the Allman Brothers,” he said. “People think of country rock as like the Eagles. But we’re a little more toward Petty Southern rock with country rock influences.”
The Golden Cadillac’s most played song on Spotify is Plog’s “Heartache for the Heartbreakers,” with Greene contributing piano and vocals. Plog plays guitar, bass, drums and sings.
Notes: Saturday’s Crown Room show might be the last time Tahoe music fans will see drummer Brendan Smith for a while. Smith soon will move to Vermont. Smith and Plog also are members of Dead Winter Carpenters, which will play the Crown Room on April 30. Former drummer Brian Huston will rejoin DWC. … Nick Swimley is another guitarist in multiple bands, including the Golden Cadillacs, Dead Winter Carpenters and with Plog and Nick Foster in a band to be named later. … Inexplicably, Plog’s son is a Dodgers fan.
-Tim Parsons
- Two nights with the Jackie Green Band
- When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 11-12
- Openers: Six Mile Station on Friday, Golden Cadillacs on Saturday
- Where: Crystal Bay Casino Crown Room
- Tickets: $25 in advance or $30 on the day of the show
Tim Parsons / Tahoe Onstage
