Musician’s Showcase –

The showcases started in Houston, Tx in 1994 as an outlet for students to get real-life performing experience in real-life clubs. It continued every year (except 2009) and evolved into a highly respected forum for up and coming performers – thousands of players, future-signed bands, and world-famous guest musicians.

Many of the over 100 showcases were tightly scripted, 8-hour multi-art, multi-discipline productions. Each featured nonstop stage and floor acts with up to 75 performers and 16 bands. During the 5-minute onstage set changeovers, floor acts kept the energy flowing—turning stage set changes into part of the spectacle. Lindsey handled all administration, promotion, booking, and, most importantly, stage managed every showcase with strict precision ensuring a seamless, uninterrupted experience. Floor acts included robotics, modern and butoh dance, spoken word, belly dance, slam poetry, comedy troupes, acting troupes, magic, mime, cosplay, large-scale projection art, fire dancers and more.

From 1999 thru 2008, these marathon events were held quarterly. 40+ showcases alone held at the Red Devil/Polk St/SF during Dotcom era 2001-2002.

Everyone came, famous & not.

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San Francisco venues that hosted Musicians’ Showcase multiple times include Slim’s, Bottom of the Hill, CafeDuNord, Fort Mason, Thee Parkside, Red Devil Lounge, Tupelo, Grant&Green, OmniCircusLabs, Pyramid, Gallery Luscomb, Storyville, Conn. Yankee, El Rio, The 23 Club, Hotel Utah…

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Here is a list of some of the incredible players in the San Francisco scene, who performed over the years:

• Kai Eckhardt – John McLaughlin, Garaj Mahal
• Atma Anur – Journey, Cacophony, Shrapnel
• Osam Ezzeldin – Dave Weckl, Billy Cobham
• Joel Taylor – Allan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola
• Greg Howe – Shrapnel, Michael Jackson
• Stu Hamm – Joe Satriani, Steve Vai
• Jude Gold – Jefferson Starship, GuitarPlayerMag
• Jim Shirey– Willie Nelson
• Deszon Claiborne – Taj Mahal
• Pat Johnson – Iconic Rock Photog
• Tal Morris – CCR, Huey Lewis
• Brooklyn Layla Allman – daughter of Gregg Allman
• Samantha Franklin – Fashion Model, Dance
• Uriah Duffy – Whitesnake
• Jimmy Sage – Lee Rocker Band (Stray Cats)
• The Naked MC
• Roger Roche – 4 Non Blondes
• David de la Torre – singer Austin, Tx
• Clayton Gibb – Keb Mo’ Band
• Deszon Claiborne – Don Cherry
• Steven Winter – Ronnie Montrose band
• Marc T – Dirge
• Ariane Cap – Cirque de Soleil
• Bryan Turner – vox Berkeley
• Ray Sayre – gtr SF
• Groovy Judy – Psychedelic gtr
• Audrey Neri – artist SF
• Jason Muscat – TaintedLove
• Marcelo Nicoli – bass Cremona, Italy
• Julnar Rizk – violin
• Chris James Band
• Christina Bailey – performer SF
• Mayank Thanawala – Hookslide
• Cory Clar – War
• Kent Rosen – gtr SF
• New Vegas Lounge – PerformanceArtRock
• Ginger Murray – WriterPerformer
• Steven Bolinger – Thith
• BC Cliver – SF gtr
• John McDermott – gtr
• Rich Beerman – gtr SouthBay
• Norm Barahona – performer
• Jake Calvo/J.U.G. – Chamorro/Guam
• Doug Doppler – gtr Berkeley

Musicians Showcase IMPORTANCE

In short: it was a 25-year marathon performance series — starting in Houston in 1994 and migrating to San Francisco — that functioned simultaneously as a concert, a variety show, a community hub, and an incubator for serious musicians. The key design feature was continuity: floor acts (fire dancers, butoh performers, slam poets, mimes, robotics artists) filled every 5-minute stage changeover so the energy never dropped across an 8-hour run.

What made it distinct as an environment was the deliberate collision of calibers. World-class session players — veterans of John McLaughlin, Steve Vai, Billy Cobham — shared stages and green rooms with emerging local artists, raising the bar for everyone in the room. Boullt handled all booking, promotion, administration, and stage management himself, which gave the series a consistent, exacting standard across more than 100 events.

His compositional vision required exactly the kind of players who were walking through the door: veterans of John McLaughlin’s band, Allan Holdsworth, Whitesnake, Journey. That environment served a direct creative purpose: it kept an orbit of world-class technical players close, visible, and connected. An incubator of creative and compositional power.

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A very special thanks to all of you who have performed in these shows thru the years. And all that attended.