Out The Way on J: An Artist Pipeline From Sac to the Bay

Above the bustling one-way traffic on J Street, a main thoroughfare in Sacramento’s midtown, sits a second-story hair salon named Mahogany and Rose that doubles as a live performance venue once a month. On every third Saturday, dim lights, big plants and sultry incense smoke welcome attendees at the event series known as Out The Way on J.

On a typical night, live musicians play as poets, singers and rappers take the stage in front of an intimate yet energetic crowd of roughly 40 to 50 people. Many of the attendees and artists hail from Sacramento and its surrounding cities, while others drive up Interstate 80 from Richmond, Oakland and the greater Bay Area. That’s what makes Out The Way on J unique: it’s representative of the entire region.

While the Sacramento metro area and the Bay Area have their differences — namely the weather and the cost of living — the connections are undeniable. 

There’s been a longstanding exchange between the two regions, both in population and culture. Many Bay Areans, like Mac Dre and Raphael Saadiq, have called the state capital home. The inverse has happened too, with folks like Sacramento-raised Hall of Famer and former San Francisco Giants skipper Dusty Baker, renowned Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, and musician-slash-model Saweetie.

The connections are also shown through organizations, like the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, which originated in Oakland and once had an office in Sacramento’s Oak Park. Or how about by geology, as the Sacramento River is one of the main tributaries of freshwater flowing into the San Francisco Bay? Or even by American history: when settlers came in search of gold during the 1800s, many of them entered Northern California through the Bay before making their way into the Sacramento foothills. 

Even the phone dial once connected the regions. “We all shared the same area code once upon a time,”says Andreas “Dre-T” Tilman Jr., co-founder of Out The Way on J. “It was all 415.” 

Tillman Jr. is a true product of the region himself. His mother was raised in San Francisco, his father grew up in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood and his grandmother was a founding member of San Mateo’s concert series Jazz on the Hill. Now, Tillman Jr. is continuing that legacy of connecting the region and presenting live music. 

“We’re greater than we could even imagine when that music gets to playing,” says Tillman Jr., who is also an MC and producer. “That’s why I think it’s important to bring the region together through music, because so many other movements branch from it.”

Out The Way on J has one full season under its belt, during which it’s played host to over 20 artists, including the likes of Sacramento-area based poet Natachi Mez and multitalented musician The Philharmonik, as well as Richmond poet and author Donté Clark and Bay Area-raised vocalist Lizzy Paris. This coming Saturday’s show is headlined by East Oakland MC Ian Kelly and Stockton Poet Laureate Jazmarie LaTour.

“We have no sponsors, we’re doing this all independently, funded by the people,” says Tillman Jr., noting that they’ve compensated over $3,500 to independent artists so far. “We want to be able to give them more,” Tillman Jr. says. “We look at these artists the same way the masses look at the million-stream type of artists.” 

“A big part of it was us wanting to showcase the talent in Sacramento,” says Camille Janae, salon owner of Mahogany and Rose and co-lead of the event series. A secondary part of their effort, she adds, is about “showing that there is a space in Sacramento to showcase that talent in a way that will bring in artists from the Bay Area as well.”

Janae and Tillman Jr. were on the same page: people from Sacramento always drive to the Bay Area for shows, so they wanted to create a venue where folks from the Bay Area would be encouraged to drive to Sacramento. “We’re just trying to bridge that gap,” says Janae, adding that they intentionally invite community that’s local and folks who are “willing to make a little drive.”

Janae, a hair stylist and spoken-word artist who grew up in Sacramento and attended the University of San Francisco, has owned Mahogany and Rose since 2018. She moved the business into its current spot in October of 2022.

“It’s a space during the day where we specialize in curly hair and locs,” Janae tells me. “It’s a space that I wanted specifically Black women to feel wanted and celebrated.” 

Sacramento’s midtown is an area well-known for arts and culture, but not very well-known for being home to Black owned businesses, and Janae wanted their presence felt. “So it’s kind of cool to use the space beyond doing hair,” says Janae. 

Tillman Jr. explains that the Out The Way series has been making noise even before it moved to its current space. 

The event was born out of underground sessions Tillman Jr. held at venues around Sacramento, like the Neighbor Program’s Shakur Center and Estate Farms. He’d invite artists to come and cipher, and show off their skills. Instead of going into a studio, he’d hook up the speakers and mics as if they were doing a live show. And then he’d record it.

“I started to see how much of a community we were building,” says Tillman Jr., adding that several artists who’ve performed at the current incarnation of Out the Way on J are from connections forged during earlier iterations. 

“All I wanted,” says Tillman Jr., “was to see everyone who has something to offer work together.”

Tillman Jr. and Janae initially met in 2013 at an open mic called the Mahogany Urban Poetry Series. “This goes back to why maintaining this ecosystem within the region is so important,” Tillman Jr. tells me. The poetry series “was one of the longest running open mics in our region,” says Tillman Jr., noting that it exposed him to creatives like the Bay Area’s Grammy-nominated poetry duo Prentice Powell and Shawn William.

To those looking to get a dose of Out The Way on J, Janae says to come with an open mind, and be ready to receive whichever art form is showcased. Her hope is that people will leave “feeling like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.”

Maybe even something as big as Northern California itself.  

The next iteration of Out The Way on J gets underway on Saturday, March 16, at Mahogany & Rose in Sacramento from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Details here.