Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1182230
62 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 9 Bringing the Lads from Liverpool to Life B Y M I C H A E L C H AT F I E L D W hen the Beatles performed their career-making appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964, John, Paul, George and Ringo were 23, 21, 21 and 23, respective- ly. A pair of Salinas-area buskers were in the same age bracket when they began performing the Fab Four's iconic songs for passersby at a Monterey tourist mecca. The Beatle Boyz—guitarist/vocalist Brandon Leonard and vocalist Lee Morgan—were singing at Steinbeck Plaza on Cannery Row when they caught the ear of music impresario Jacqueline Kabat. "I posted a video of them on social media and got tons of views," Kabat says. She invited the pair to "Tribe in the Sky," a weekly jam session she oversees. That exposure led to legitimate bookings at Bulldog British Pub, the Lovers Point Music Series and Sand City's annual West End Celebration. So how did two guys who were decades away from being born when the songs they perform were written end up using them as their act's cornerstone? "Their parents are Beatles fans, so they got hooked on that music at a young age," Kabat says. The Beatle Boyz are scheduled to perform Friday, November 22, at the Carmel Craft Brewery in the Barnyard Shopping Village in Carmel from 7-9 pm. SHORTCUTS MUSIC Singer Lee Morgan and guitarist and singer Brandon Leonard have gained fans playing Beatles tunes in the Monterey area as The Beatle Boyz. Photo: Kelli Uldall