Spike Sikes and the Awesome Hotcakes at The Elephant

Spike Sikes at The Elephant in the Room

Spike Sikes grew up in El Paso, TX, studied jazz at The University of North Texas, started The Spike Band in 2004, recorded three albums with them, joined the Coast Guard in 2008, continued playing music wherever he was stationed (Maine, NorCal, and New Orleans), and formed Awesome Hotcakes in 2014.

The most frequently heard comment after a Spike’s Awesome Hotcakes gig goes something like this – “No one is making this kind of music anymore!”. But what, exactly, is “this kind of music?”
Like hotcakes themselves, it goes by many names. Soul. Swing. Rhythm & Blues. Jazz. Jump. It’s a sound that’s classic and simple, but when it’s done right, it hits the spot, and has you grinning from ear to ear. Spike has spent years searching for this sound.

From the Texas blues joints he cut his teeth in to the funky halls of New Orleans, he was always studying the music, trying to find just the right recipe. It makes perfect sense that he found his bandmates in Sonoma County, a music scene that has fostered many eclectic artists for decades.

What he didn’t know was how hungry audiences were for “this kind of music.” You might say they’ve been eating it up like…Hotcakes!

He is a husband, a Dad, a part-time elementary school band director, a songwriter/performer and he tries to write poetry. Some of his biggest influences include Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Van Morrison, Cleanhead Vinson, Gatemouth Brown, Lightnin Hopkins and Albert Ayler. Spike likes his coffee cold, black, and made with chicory.

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