Jay Gonzalez

Every Wednesday @ Kingpins

originally published May 23, 2007

Rich Merritt

Jay Gonzalez

I miss in-town living a little less because of Jay Gonzalez, of local band Nutria. But perhaps it’s best to back up and explain why the ubiquitous songwriter has improved outside-the-loop life. I eat, drink and bowl on the Westside - and I’ll even shop at Bell's if the missus lets me, or leaves me. Last Wednesday, she was gone and Bells was closed, so I decided that Kingpins’ better-than-average bowling alley cuisine would suffice.

Eating bacon-wrapped meatloaf alone at the bar while watching Maddux pitch against the Braves on a rec-room quality tube, the mood couldn’t've been more morose: a meal the wife should have prepared while watching a 300-game winner that used to be ours had me feeling utterly despondent.

Beneath the clatter and din of crashing pins and bowling-lane banter, though, were the ebony and ivory grand-piano keys and a voice seemingly born to sing pop songs. Jay Gonzalez is the resident piano man, and his repertoire is vast and nostalgic. He wraps up the Naked Eyes/ Burt Bacharach tune “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me,” and I agree; this used to be our bowling alley. Now, it’s just me and Jay. And he takes requests! Ever the glutton for painful relationship punishment I request the break-up classic “Under the Clay” (from Nutria’s Cheef), and the song prevails even when reduced to the bare essentials of voice and piano.

“I have a way of insinuating myself into situations,” says Gonzalez during a set break, adding with a smile, “Maybe it’s not the hippest thing to do. Some weeks there are a lot of friends here and some weeks it’s a little emptier.” He chuckles. “Either way I get to play my favorite songs for three hours.” This evening’s set was peppered with variety, everything from “Femme Fatale” to “Band on the Run,” and he's here every Wednesday from 8 to 11 p.m. at the bowling alley's lounge.

David Eduardo