Last Saturday, the harmonic vibes of local folk-rock band Gravity +3 swung around Downtown Hayward’s Snappy’s Cafe. The band performed both their original songs and cover tributes mid-afternoon.

The husband and wife duo, Bill and Ruth DeSmidt, and their newest addition Chuck Yolland prepared their full assemble of instruments in the small corner of the cafe entrance.

Surprisingly, they fit their numerous instruments comfortably enough in the venue to play their wide variety of genre covers.

Ruth, the percussionist, had her batch of tambourines, shakers, drums, and train whistles at a close reach for her to easily operate mid-song. Her husband Bill plays his acoustic guitar and serenades listeners with his silvery singing. Chuck adds his smooth harmonica melodies, and the blend of their rich, warm, and strong synergy swings out.

Chuck and Ruth wrote many original songs, and find inspirations in everyday situations. Of their songs they jokingly call the “Napkin Song” otherwise known as “Junkyard Cat” was written at a Battle of the Bands performance they attended.

“We were in a junkyard surrounded by cats, and we just wrote the song on the napkin we had on us,” Chuck explains. A few days later they unfolded the napkin and found the music for it, sounds which include Ruth’s playful cat meows.

Their crowd favorite, ‘That’s Life,’ appropriately brought a crowd into the cafe, some of whom were friends who have seen them perform at church. The song both combines their dazzling sounds and audience participation.

They began the second half of their two-hour performance shifting into their covers. Their tributes were a wide variety of hit songs ranging from Jesse Fuller’s “San Francisco Bay Blues” to Green Day’s ‘Good Riddance Time Of Your Life’.

Gravity +3 recently performed at the San Francisco Pride Festival, and can be seen every year at the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade right before the start of the march. They will be performing again at Snappy’s in October.