Every once in a while a band come along that defies short description, one that is too unique to sum up with a one-word label or a even a few. The Shoemaker Brothers, a popular band in Southern California, is one of those bands. The four-brothers, Sam, Gabe, Nate and Dan, from a small logging town in Washington State, were all trained on classical instruments from an extremely young age and went separate their ways before uniting four years ago form a quartet of note. Playing their own original music, the Brothers individually write their own songs which are then fine tuned through committee collaboration that works a sort evolutionary magic on the tunes. Each Shoemaker Brother can play multiple instruments, such as guitar, piano, drums, bass, violin, and during a concert they are constantly switching roles, which brings freshness to each song that range from folk type ballads to high energy rock, from an Irish-Celtic type of sound to soul searching songs that paint a lilting picture of pain and hope. Sam, who served as a Marine in Iraq and participated in the massive Fallujah Campaign, in some ways is a de facto leader but the band actually comes as close to a true democracy that one can find. When sitting down to chat with all four Shoemaker Brothers, a feeling that all of them basically know what all the others are thinking or are about to say comes across. Loyal fans and musicians love the band and their gigs are well attended throughout Southern California. The Brothers draw large crowds at all the major venues and are booked and re-booked constantly. They have played Whiskey A Go Go, The Roxy, Canyon Club, World Fest, Camarillo Festival, Oak's Music Nights. They have also opened for major acts like Little Feet, Loggins and Messina, Los Lobos, Canned Heat, all this in one short year. For an unknown band just arrived in Los Angeles this kind of progress in such a short time is phenomenal.