Dan Hirsch, Rob Brant and Gilligan Strange of Sin Nombre, host open mic night Wednesdays at the Red School House in Pine Grove. Ledger Dispatch photo by Gwen Johnson

They used to be a band without a name. That's not the case anymore for blue collar rock-and-rollers Sin Nombre, who made a name for themselves by winning the Amador County Recreation Agency's third annual Battle of the Bands Oct. 17.

"(Winning BOTB is like) opening a crack in the door and we're gonna kick it wide open," claimed Sin Nombre's guitarist/vocalist Gilligan Strange.

As the winning band, Sin Nombre was awarded studio time at Jackson's Temple Sound recording studio, as well as a $200 gift certificate for Guitar Center in Sacramento. The final feather in the winner's cap is a 30-minute set at ACRA's Blue Moon New Year's Eve Bash to be held Dec. 31 at the Amador County Fairgrounds in Plymouth.

"It was actually a very close competition," said ACRA executive director Tracey Towner-Yep. Five bands competed in this year's competition. She credits Sin Nombre's performance savvy as their reason for taking the number one spot.

"I think what won it for them was that the guitarist scoped out the competition last year," she noted. "They played familiar tunes; playing popular songs helped them move to the top. Their showmanship was very good as well."

Sin Nombre, a Spanish term meaning "nameless," is comprised of Strange from Pine Grove, bassist Dan Hirsch of Jackson and Wilseyville-based drummer Rob Brant. The group formed this past June when Hirsch and Strange played the OK Corral in Pioneer with the Wingnut Adams Band, and Brant was playing with the Steve Capitanich band. The first time the three of them jammed together, they knew they had a special chemistry. Within 30 days of their first jam session, they were already playing together at local venues.

Music has always been a part of the guitarist's life. He grew up in Amador County listening to his father, who was a regular in the Dixieland band scene back in the 1960s. The patriarch died from alcohol poisoning when Strange was 10 years old.

"He didn't leave me a whole lot, but one of the things he left behind was a guitar," Strange recalled. The left-handed youth flipped the instrument upside down and restrung it to fit his needs. As time passed, he found himself living on an Indian reservation in Wyoming, where the culture heavily influenced his style of playing. Strange also spent several years as a civilian working for the United States military in the war-torn Middle East. Music was the one thing that helped him through the hard times.

"I found myself trying to hold on to my sanity," he recalled. "Music is like a light switch, like a transformation." Brant started his musical career as a tyke in the Bay Area, banging on empty coffee cans with wooden spoons.

His father was also a drummer, and his grandfather played guitar. Other family members were frequently playing one instrument or another. When he discovered hip-hop as a teenager, Brant found his calling.

"There was a steady drum to it," he said. "I'd try to emulate it."

In addition to his drumming duties, Brant handles the band's promotions and other business functions. He holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Nevada Reno and owns a graphic design company in Calaveras County called Wonderful Trash. Besides the usual flyers, T-shirts and graphical materials, Brant has created miniature voodoo dolls of the band members as promotional items.

Hirsch is a Chicago-born musician who plays a Fender Precision bass named Betsy. Although blues was a big influence on him, it was the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album that enticed him to sneak into his brother's room and start playing his sibling's guitar. Today he enjoys improvising and playing all genres of music.

"I just grab 'em all and throw 'em in a big pile," he notes.

That grab-bag of musical genres is what gives Sin Nombre their unique sound. Their sound is reminiscent of George Thorogood, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker, resulting in what their Myspace page describes as a blend of Americana, roots music and rock.

"They deserved the first place they got," said fellow musician Dennis Davis. Davis is part of the regular crowd of Wednesday night performers at open mic night at the newly opened Red School House in Pine Grove. Sin Nombre is the hosting band.

"It's fun to watch them grow into what they've become," Davis noted. For more information on Sin Nombre, visit www.myspace.com/88sinnombre.

Tickets for ACRA's Blue Moon New Year's Eve Bash are $35 each and include dinner, one drink ticket and party package. Sin Nombre takes the stage when gates open at 6 p.m. Happy Hour lasts from 6 to 7 p.m. Dinner will be served from 7 to 9 p.m. Fireworks start at 9 p.m. and dancing with live music lasts from 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. A free shuttle service will be provided to local hotels until 1:30 a.m. For more information, call 223-6349 or visit www.goacra.org.