Alan Blakeboro
I was born and raised in Santa Barbara County, graduated from UCSB in 1976 and Berkeley Law in 1980. After a brief stint clerking for a federal judge in Hawaii, I worked for a large law firm in Los Angeles for four years before returning to Santa Barbara and beginning practice there in 1986, where I was lucky enough to meet my wife Carol. I have been a partner in the firm of Reicker, Pfau, Pyle & McRoy since 2000, and the firm’s managing partner since 2004. My law practice focuses primarily on litigation, real estate, employment and public pension law. I have advised and assisted many non-profits over the years and, along with Frank Blundo, was one of the founding directors of the Santa Ynez Valley Charter School.
Perhaps more relevant to my service to the Artist Advocacy Foundation, I have been a life long lover of the arts and music, and in particular the style of music at various times referred to as folk, acoustic and American roots music. My interest in this style of music dates back to the 1970s, when I spent many more nights at the now nearly forgotten Blue Bird Café in Santa Barbara, listening to folk, bluegrass, blues and country, than I did studying. Such time well spent, supplemented by the purchase of obscure LPs, occasional field trips to McCabe’s guitar shop in Santa Monica and the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, and an attempt, futile in retrospect, to master the guitar, led me to think that maybe I too could contribute in some way to this style of art. Unfortunately, I instead learned the following equation: no talent + writer’s block + a B.A. in philosophy = law school. Most of us are better off as benefactors than artists, and I am no exception.
My real heroes from this era were not those who stuck with music and made it big, but those who stuck with it knowing they probably wouldn’t ever be conventionally successful; they kept at it because they loved the experience and because sharing art in music was just something they had to do. Given this background, when the opportunity arose in the early 2000s to sponsor and support Tales from the Tavern, I jumped at it. Being able to serve the Foundation is a further extension of this mission; those who have devoted their life to music, and to communicating profound thoughts and feelings through this medium, deserve our thanks and support. Becoming an instrument to achieve this goal is an endeavor I truly look forward to.