Teen promoters book rap, rock at Phoenix Theater in Petaluma

The concert production company Melody Bloom Music is about a year old. Its founders are relatively youthful, too.

Ben Solomon, 18, and Gus Miller, 14, have promoted more than half a dozen concerts at the Phoenix Theater in Petaluma since they started, and they’re planning two more this month. (Last February, Miller promoted his own benefit concert at the Phoenix for The Living Room, which helps homeless women and children.)

“I began by offering some shows to the Phoenix. A lot of bands want to play there because it’s an established venue. And the Phoenix was eager to get local bands,” Solomon said. “Moving forward, we are also going to work with other venues.”

Melody Bloom will present a rap night Jan. 14 at the Phoenix, with local rappers TH3MYSTICMISFIT, Niko Otis, Covein, 9aradox and Un$poken. An indie rock concert follows Jan. 21, featuring Crape, Quest Clown, Sun Casino and District.

Solomon, who grew up in Santa Rosa, moved to San Diego last fall to attend college at UC San Diego. He and Miller, a student at Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa, met through Miller’s older brother, Oliver, a local musician who performs with the band O.K.

“I’m not the most musical person, but Gus is. He plays piano and drums,” Solomon said.

“For me, I just love concerts,” he added. “You go with friends, see people you idolize and have an amazing experience you carry with you for the rest of your life.”

In fact, going to concerts is how Solomon got the Melody Bloom enterprise underway.

“I only knew one band and that was Oliver Miller’s, so I started going with friends to concerts and talking to the artists after the show, introducing myself,” Solomon said.

The Melody Bloom website identifies the firm as serving both the San Francisco and San Diego areas.

“We’re working mostly with local artists, but hopefully, the expansion will lead to booking shows down there in San Diego, too,” Solomon said.

Already, Melody Bloom has booked Sun Casino of San Francisco for their Jan. 21 show. The duo’s concerts also have presented ArmstrongWW and Bran Movay from Texas, Jake Fonda from Pennsylvania and Kam Robinson from Georgia.

Solomon’s informal mentor is Bruce Cohn, founder of the B.R. Cohn Winery in Glen Ellen and longtime manager of the Doobie Brothers band.

“He’s someone I look up to,” Solomon said. “My dad grew up with him.”

Cohn launched his classic rock festival at his winery in 1987, drawing as many as 6,000 people over two days annually for 28 years. Santa Rosa-based Vintage Wine Estates bought the winery in 2015.

Fame and fortune may await the Melody Bloom partners sometime in the future, but Solomon is philosophical about all that.

“With local shows, you can’t do it for the money,” he said. “You hope the money follows, but you do it for the experience.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.