For my crew, I selected a few locals. Ryan Johnson and Shawna Young of New Rule Productions and Gina Bennett from the Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce. To round out my gang, I added Sun reporter Andrew Petty. Louie B's has karaoke Sunday through Thursday of every week. Each Monday, they feature a competition.
Winners move up to semifinals, then on to the finals which are held four times a year.
Unfortunately, we were there on a Tuesday. We walked in and ran into Jim Shine from the Melodrama in Oceano, a friend of Johnson and Young's. Petty leapt right in and started looking through the thick book of songs. Meanwhile, I talked to Shine. He was, too.