Piano Players
BOB WALIN – President & CEO
Bob Walin has had a long career in theatrical business, live entertainment, and the restaurant industry. After visiting the Alley Cats Dueling Pianos in Dallas, Texas he decided to develop the first dueling piano club in Minneapolis. Bob worked for Rock Bottom Restaurants as Director of Entertainment for 12 years, designing and developing Sing Sing Dueling Pianos in Denver, Irvine, Pittsburgh and San Diego. He created and opened The Shout! House San Diego, along with his partners, Kevin Clover and Roger Hunt, taking over the Sing Sing location on March 24th, 2004. He later developed The Shout! House in Minneapolis and Glendale, AZ. He designed and created Garage Kitchen + Bar next to The Shout! House which opened on December 12th, 2014. The photo above was taken on November 7th, 2017 when The Shout! House won the Gaslamp Quarter Associations award for “Favorite Music Venue for Live Music 2017”. Bob accepted the award on behalf of every single hardworking staff member for making The Shout! House “ The Happiest Place in San Diego”.
Tom Bagley
Tom Bagley has lived all over the world including Africa, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, Maryland and California. He started his first band at the tender age of thirteen and later in life honed those skills and became a band leader for Disney for over twenty years. Tom’s musical inspiration is across the board from classic rock to African Pachanga. Being the family man that he is, if you are thinking about buying him a drink, make sure it is double water on the rocks.
Jonathan Coyle
Jonathan Coyle joins us from the mean suburbs of Long Island, NY. He started playing piano around the age of five by imitating his favorite babysitter. Soon his mother signed him up for piano lessons, which he protested greatly by hiding from his piano teacher every time she came to the house. Struggling to deal with the awkwardness of puberty he turned back to music and began writing his own songs. He has been heavily influenced by Billy Joel and even wonders sometimes if they may be related since learning his mom was “friends” with the Piano Man himself in high school. Jonathan feels very lucky to have such a fun job where he gets to share his love for music and bring other people together in song on a nightly basis.
James Martinez
James Martinez is homegrown here in North County San Diego. At the tender age of 3, his grandmother taught him to play by ear until he began formal lessons at age 5. Raised on Rock N’ Roll and given classical training, James went on to get his BA in Music at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. During college, he played with rock band, Hot Beef Injection (don’t Google it). With his diverse background, James also simultaneously played with the college orchestras and symphonies. He says, “Playing at The Shout! House gives me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Watching a crowd unify through song… and beer is a very powerful thing to be a part of.” He is also an avid outdoorsman, spending lots of his time saltwater fishing. So if he ain’t at the piano bar, he’s probably gone fishin’.
Eric Blumenfeld
Eric Blumenfeld hails from Chicago where he started classical piano lessons at the age of 4. Eric attended The University of Denver earning a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies and Commercial Music. While attending DU he formed the Colorado based rock band Kinetix. Eric has performed throughout the country, and opened for acts like Blues Traveler, Earth Wind and Fire, and one of his personal favorites Umphrey’s Mcgee. As a former TED speaker, Eric is very comfortable hogging the microphone. His musical influences include anything that doesn’t suck. Request music from the 90s if you want to get on his good side.
Jeff Puszykowski
Jeff started piano at age four. By 10, having picked up the pipe organ, he was playing church services, weddings, and also competing in regional piano competitions. At the same time, he performed regularly on stage in community theater productions. A classically trained pianist and piano performance major at Michigan State University with orchestral conducting aspirations, he has experience with and interest in film scoring, composing, arranging and conducting. While at Michigan State Jeff did much performing and arranging with The Spartan Dischords, MSU’s renowned a cappella group. Jeff would like to thank his mom and dad for all of their love and support and also for never letting him go outside during the summer to play with his friends, making him sit in front of the piano all day to practice. Love you guys!!
Dave Puszykowski
Dave Puszykowski is hailing from Saginaw, Michigan, and has been electrifying audiences with his dumb face all over the world. With extended performance residences in Denver, Miami, Chicago, and the Netherlands, and tens of shows under his belt, he is excited to call San Diego home, among the best sing-a-long pianists in the country. An accomplished vocalist and pianist, David brings wit and a vast repertoire of crowd pleasing songs to the stage. As a veteran comedy writer, David is proud to perform at The Shout! House and eager to stop writing about himself in the third person.
Rick VanderKleijn
Rick VanderKleijn (pronounced “van der kline” ), hails from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He started playing piano at the age of 5 and wrote his first song at age 14. For no apparent reason, as a young boy Rick always dreamed of one day living in the USA. So, at the age of just 19, Rick left everything behind and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a recording artist. Soon after, he found himself recording his first solo album in the famous Paramount Recording Studios in Hollywood backed by Madonna’s band. Rick was frequently seen performing his original music in some of Hollywood’s hottest music venues. Next to producing and composing music in his home studio, for many years, Rick also performed as a resident pianist/singer at luxury hotels such as the Beverly Hills Hotel and Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Rick quickly built a name for himself as the go-to pianist/singer in Beverly Hills’ exclusive party scene having performed for music legends such as David Foster and Quincy Jones, and many celebrity homes with most recently even a Valentines serenade for DJ Khalid and his wife at their private residence. Rick believes that being a dueling pianist at The Shout! House gave him the opportunity to continuously grow his skills as an all-round entertainer. Rick loves music from the 70’s and 90’s. Want to strike up a conversation? Rick is very passionate about philosophy, technology and anything containing a disruptive entrepreneurial spirit!
Sami Davis
Sami Davis is a Denver grown professional singer, multi-instrumentalist, and entertainer whose passion for music began at an early age. She began playing harp and piano around 8 years old but she didn’t truly pursue music until she was 19, shortly after quitting her childhood dream of synchronized swimming (fun fact!). She has been striving to better herself as a musician ever since, in part by receiving a degree in Audio Production from the University of Colorado, Denver. Sami has been working as a full-time musician since September of 2014. During this time she also became the lead vocalist for a Denver band called Rocket Surgeons, which has brought her success in the Denver area. Their video titled “Broccoli” became viral, bringing international success and recognition to the band.
Bill Pomerleau
Bill hails from the great state of Maine, joining our piano staff in 2009. He started playing piano at 6 years old and began playing professionally at 9. He graduated from the University of Maine with a degree that in no way aids his musical career. As well as guitar playing, Bill enjoys writing music, baseball, history, dogs, disc golf and minor acts of defiance. His greatest enjoyment, however, is the privilege to play music and make people happy.
Melissa Alcazar
Melissa Alcazar is a true renaissance artist with an acclaimed nomination for Best Singer Songwriter at the 2019 San Diego Music Awards. Receiving her Master’s Degree in Piano Performance from the California Institute of the Arts heavily influences her compositions in her paintings and songwriting. With years of experience in performing at prestigious venues such as San Diego Symphony’s Copley Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall, she’s deeply passionate about teaching, holding the title of Music Director for the SSS Program at the Old Globe Theatre and CEO of MELBA LLC. On her spare time, she manages her own piano/vocal studio, art studio, record label and philanthropic projects with Romblon High School and Sawang Elementary in the Philippines. For more info visit her website: www.melissaalcazar.com
ADAM Johnson
Adam Johnson is all over the map….musically and physically. He grew up the son of a musical theater director and learned to love a variety of genres in the musical landscape. As a composer and song-writer his music is featured in movies, television, and all kinds of media. His recent collaboration with Whitney Shay won them both a San Diego Music Award for “Best Blues Album” of 2018. He performs all over the globe and is proud to have cut his teeth as a dueling pianist here at the Shouthouse, San Diego. He’s always ready to be the biggest dork in the room. See when and where he’s performing at www.adamjeros.com
Martha Boles
Martha Boles was born a small black child in Okinawa, Japan, and is now a full grown black woman. She received her MFA in Acting from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. You can find her on episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, and ABC’s The Kids Are Alright. In addition to dueling pianos and acting, she has done quite a bit of improv and stand-up comedy. (If you laugh while she’s on stage, now you know why. She’s a pro, don’t try it at home) You can check out her reel at www.marthaboles.com
Melissa Barrison – FIDDLE PLAYER
Melissa Barrison is a graduate from Point Loma Nazarene University and is an all-genre violinist steeped in classical training but fluent in fiddle/bluegrass, jazz, rock, gypsy, blues, reggae and more. She has played in venues across the nation including residencies in Nashville, TN. Melissa has played for artists such as Rihanna, Future of Forestry, Louis XIV, and opened for Cee Lo Green, Pepper, POD and The Killers. She has made television appearances on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and the Marie Osmond Show and has also performed in the NHL Pre-Game Show and NBA All-Star Game Half-time Show. She is also a seasonal player for the San Diego City Ballet Orchestra and active member in La Jolla Strings small ensembles for weddings and private events. Melissa has been an active member of the worship arts ministry in various churches and has graced many stages, often receiving standing ovations for dancing while playing her violin!
Jazzly Moné – FIDDLE PLAYER
Jazzly Moné is a classically-trained violinist from Phoenix, AZ who is continuing her venture in learning alternative styles of music. Miss Moné obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Arizona State University where she studied with violin professor, Dr. Katherine McLin. In addition to classical music, Jazzly has experience with Country Fiddling, Rock, Jazz, and Latin genres, to name a few. She is actively performing and collaborating with other artists in a variety of music genres.