What do you get when you have two caterpillars in love, wrecked by the inevitability that one of them will cocoon first, leaving the other hopelessly alone?
You get “Butterfly Lover,” an original song by A Talent for Mischief, a homegrown San Francisco musical duo.
Lead singer and guitarist Kevin Coffey, 59, writes and arranges all the band’s music. Each song takes on its own unique vibe: A Talent for Mischief doesn’t stick to any one genre, but mixes up jazz, swing, pop, and rock and roll. As the duo’s website says, “The goal is FUN!”
Coffey and A Talent for Mischief drummer Lucien Muir, 31, performed a two-hour set of nearly 30 original songs last month on the sidewalk outside Emperor Norton’s Boozeland on Larkin Street as part of the BuskIt! expansion into the Tenderloin.
“If you don’t like this one, there’s another in two and a half minutes,” Coffey said into his microphone. The duo’s tip jar, a red water jug, was filled with dollar bills.
Despite the busy corridor, passersby stopped to listen, drawn by Coffey’s spiel. Anyone who paused was called a friend, and, despite any real crowd, Coffey captivated listeners.
One man walked by, stayed until a song ended, clapped and told Coffey that he, too, plays guitar.
“I’d like to hear you play sometime, buddy!” Coffey replied warmly, after thanking the man for staying.
Coffey and Muir’s eclectic music reflects their backgrounds. Coffey, born in Michigan, moved to the city as a teenager. He’s spent most of his professional life as an animator (he worked on the “Nightmare Before Christmas” scene where Oogie Boogie captures Santa Claus).
Muir was born and raised in North Beach. He plays in multiple jazz bands across the city and hosts a weekly jazz jam session at a brewery in the Haight.
One of their very local songs personifies Treasure Island as a romantic interest; another, called “Ragamuffin Vagabond,” talks about the unusual characters on a Muni bus, including a baby carriage, butterflies and feral cats.
Coffey, nearly 30 years older than Muir, is the more extroverted of the pair. Wearing a beanie, he leans back dramatically and bends his knees as he strums his electric guitar and calls out to the sidewalk audience.
Muir, quiet and bearded, lets Coffey take the lead in engaging the crowd. He orchestrates the heartbeat of every song, grinning widely when the music ramps up.
Especially when performing on the street, the duo says they try to live up to their name. Coffey said he once heard a public radio announcer describe a group of kittens as having “a talent for mischief.”
“It just stuck in my mind,” he said, smiling.
