The worlds of music and visual art harmoniously collide with Amps & Easels. This open-venue Sunday brunch event showcases musical artists, composers and purveyors who also express their creativity through tangible art forms such as painting, textiles, sculpture and more! Guests can enjoy bottomless mimosas, a delicious brunch menu, and a curated display of artwork created by artists with deep roots in the music scene. Amps & Easels celebrates the intersection of sound, color, and imagination in a uniquely inspiring atmosphere.
This year, you can give the gift of art for the holidays and support your local community while you're at it! Artists will have thier works for purchase, so bring your last minute holiday gift list!
Meet the Artists:
Greg La Traille is an American composer and visual artist whose creative life began in childhood. A heart condition that kept him out of sports led him to explore the arts early, developing skills in drawing, painting, sculpture, model building, and filmmaking. Music became equally central, nurtured by his father’s love of Stravinsky and small jazz ensembles and his mother’s enthusiasm for Broadway musicals. La Traille began piano lessons at a young age and was composing extensively by high school, producing piano works, chamber music, band pieces, orchestral scores, a viola concerto, and a four-movement symphony.
Deepening his connection to the classical world, La Traille also serves as the host of “Classical Excursions,” heard on KDRT-FM in Davis, California, on Fridays from 11 AM to 1 PM Pacific Time and streamed worldwide at KDRT.org. His perspectives as both a working composer and a lifelong listener shape the program’s thoughtful, exploratory tone.
La Traille pursued formal training at Arizona State University, studying composition with Ronald Lo Presti and Grant Fletcher. He also took private lessons with visiting composer Vincent Persichetti, who praised his concertos and supported his development. In the 1990s, he served as Overseas Classical Music Sales Director for Tower Records, establishing classical music departments in stores across Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and South Korea.
A composer with two music degrees, La Traille has written an extensive catalog that includes his recorded Oboe Quintet (Crystal Records), a ballet titled Ojibwa—reflecting his Chippewa heritage—along with major orchestral works such as a Viola Concerto and a full Symphony. He later joined the faculty at Arizona State University as a Faculty Associate, teaching advanced orchestration and 19th- and 20th-century theory.
Given the challenges faced by modern orchestral composers—including cost, access, and institutional bias—La Traille currently employs advanced music-production software to create detailed scores and high-quality instrumental samples. These serve as polished demonstrations that support live performance opportunities.
As a visual artist, La Traille works across oils, pencil, and pen & ink. His “Rhythm-Ink” series portrays classical and jazz musicians with a fluid, Art Deco–inspired energy that mirrors the feel of live performance. His “Equation-Art” series interprets famous scientific equations through symbolic, vivid imagery, transforming mathematical concepts into expressive visual forms.
La Traille’s aviation artwork—often in oils—evokes the drama and nostalgia of mid-20th-century model-box illustrations, capturing both the specific character of aircraft and the exhilaration and tension of flight. Beyond his themed series, he has also created distinctive landscapes, portraits, and abstract works, demonstrating a versatile artistic voice comfortable in both realist and abstract styles.
Award-winning clarinetist Brennen Milton has performed at Carnegie Hall and in many of Sacramento’s most celebrated venues. Known for his expressive tone and collaborative spirit, he brings a deep passion for performance, coaching, and teaching to audiences and students across the globe.
Brennen made his Carnegie Hall debut in April 2016, invited by the InterHarmony International Music Festival to appear on their New York concert series. Earlier that summer, he performed at their festival in Arcidosso, Italy—offering a vibrant interpretation of Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie and appearing with chamber groups and the festival orchestra. In 2014, he earned a scholarship to the International Lyric Academy in Viterbo, Italy, performing with the opera orchestra and the Tuscia Opera Festival Orchestra. During his free time, he even brought his music directly to locals, performing on the streets of historic Italian towns.
In October 2015, Brennen was featured as a soloist with the California State University, Sacramento Symphony Orchestra for the opening concert of their 2015–2016 season. After winning the university concerto competition, he performed Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie in its orchestral setting—a piece he hopes to revisit in collaboration with future ensembles.
As an orchestral musician, Brennen has performed throughout the Sacramento region. He has appeared with the Sacramento Choral Society Orchestra for their annual Home for the Holidays production, and in 2015 he was invited by members of the Sacramento Philharmonic to perform as a substitute for their educational concerts and serve as Eb/auxiliary clarinetist for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. He currently performs with the Rancho Cordova Civic Light Orchestra, where he also serves as librarian.
Brennen’s dedication to wind-band music began in 2007 when he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as a field band clarinetist. After graduating with honors from the Naval School of Music in Norfolk, Virginia, he served as Section Leader of the “Golden State Wind Band,” an ensemble committed to making wind music accessible to all. He continues to support community, college, and university bands across the region.
Beyond the concert hall, Brennen performs as a freelance musician and spirited street performer. Armed with an iPad, a stand, and his clarinet, he brings live music to weddings, parties, proposals, and public spaces—an approach that has earned him numerous collaborations with Sacramento ensembles and even a feature on Good Day Sacramento.
In July 2016, he presented a sold-out performance at the Crocker Art Museum, offering an all-American chamber program for Independence Day. Brennen hopes to expand this and other themed chamber programs into touring projects that inspire listeners nationwide.
Brennen studied with clarinetists James Gholson, Deborah Pittman, and Sandra McPherson, earning his undergraduate degree from Alcorn State University and his master’s degree in music performance from California State University, Sacramento.
Above all, Brennen performs with wholehearted enthusiasm and a desire to connect, inspire, and uplift. His goal is simple: to make the world feel a little more beautiful, one performance at a time.
A Passion for Design
Outside of music, Brennen channels his creativity into sustainable fashion design. His garments balance artistry and intention—clothing that feels good, looks original, lasts, and treads lightly on the planet. He creates dresses, shirts, pants, bespoke pieces, and custom alterations, crafting each item with an eye for detail and a flair for individuality. Whether reimagining a classic silhouette or tailoring a personal design from the ground up, Brennen aims to make the world not just sound more interesting—but look more interesting, too.
With Musical Guest
The Proxy Moon Trio
PROXY MOON's music is rooted in jazz, blues, folk, country - fundamentally American music - with an emphasis on original songs with strong, interesting lyrics and melodies delivered with spirited musicianship. They’ve been described as esoteric and poetic, deep while being entertaining, rootsy and “real, rainy, rich and relentless.”
Comprised of a core group of four multi-instrumentalist musicians with diverse backgrounds, the band is at home in virtually any genre, and delivers all with a bit of an edge, utilizing both traditional and non-traditional instruments, including one made up of a ball-peen hammer and heavy iron coupler, popularly known as “the junk.”. The term is catching on. Aaron Davis of the Sacramento Bee captured a certain sense of the band this way:
“Yes, ‘junk’ is a genre. Proxy Moon, a four-piece local outfit, has a jazz-rooted sound that is sweet and smoky, with the perfect amount of rustic wear. It’s as if they refused to vacate a Chicago martini lounge when the wrecking ball tore through it, staying with the rubble all the way to the scrapyard and not skipping a beat under a desolate moonlit sky.” -Sacramento Bee, March 18, 2015
The band has been compared to such artists as Tom Waits, Joe Henry, Jolie Holland, and Dan Hicks & The Hot Licks. Members include Patrick Grizzell, songwriting, guitar, and vocals; Steve Bird, upright bass; Ann Wherry, vocals and various instruments; and Ingrid Tracy, violin, saw, and accordion.
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