Music
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Mateel Announces Reggae Legacy to Replace ROTR
Posted By Kym Kemp on Wed, Jul 3, 2019 at 1:54 PM
After High Times abruptly cancelled this year’s Reggae on the River festival, the Mateel Community Center Board of Directors decided to offer an alternative event located entirely at the financially strapped Community Hall. Today, they announced what they are calling the Reggae Legacy 2019 event on the traditional ROTR dates, the first weekend in August.
According to the announcement, the all-ages event will be “dedicated to the life of Carol Bruno.”
Bruno, who recently died, is the universally acknowledged powerhouse behind the early days of the event but her place in the event history was battered by the so-called Reggae Wars that split the Southern Humboldt community.
The cancellation of Reggae on the River, which annually brought thousands flocking to the small towns of Southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino, was expected to leave motels empty and small businesses scrambling to fill the financial gap at a time when those communities have already been hit hard by the downturn in the cannabis industry.
“It was a huge disappointment that High Times cancelled,” said Michelle Bushnell, board president of the Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce. “[Reggae on the River] was one of our biggest money makers. Once [an event] doesn’t happen in our area, it is hard to get it to start back it up again. … I am concerned that money-making events like it are dwindling away. [The festival attendees] utilize our motels and restaurants and when you don’t have that influx, it is harmful economically.”
High Times stepped in to produce the event in May of 2018 after the Mateel Community Center landed in desperate financial straits when the previous year’s festival lost $140,000, leaving the Redway nonprofit facing a $430,000 budget deficit.
Bushnell explained that the hotels, restaurants and food markets got a “huge” bump in sales from Reggae on the River. “I’m sure they are having cancellations right now.”
“For the smaller stores, it was more like 25 percent, depending on the weather,” she said.
However, she said, Reggae Legacy could partially mitigate the financial impact.
According to the announcement, the all-ages event will be “dedicated to the life of Carol Bruno.”
Bruno, who recently died, is the universally acknowledged powerhouse behind the early days of the event but her place in the event history was battered by the so-called Reggae Wars that split the Southern Humboldt community.
The cancellation of Reggae on the River, which annually brought thousands flocking to the small towns of Southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino, was expected to leave motels empty and small businesses scrambling to fill the financial gap at a time when those communities have already been hit hard by the downturn in the cannabis industry.
“It was a huge disappointment that High Times cancelled,” said Michelle Bushnell, board president of the Southern Humboldt Chamber of Commerce. “[Reggae on the River] was one of our biggest money makers. Once [an event] doesn’t happen in our area, it is hard to get it to start back it up again. … I am concerned that money-making events like it are dwindling away. [The festival attendees] utilize our motels and restaurants and when you don’t have that influx, it is harmful economically.”
High Times stepped in to produce the event in May of 2018 after the Mateel Community Center landed in desperate financial straits when the previous year’s festival lost $140,000, leaving the Redway nonprofit facing a $430,000 budget deficit.
Bushnell explained that the hotels, restaurants and food markets got a “huge” bump in sales from Reggae on the River. “I’m sure they are having cancellations right now.”
“For the smaller stores, it was more like 25 percent, depending on the weather,” she said.
However, she said, Reggae Legacy could partially mitigate the financial impact.
Monday, June 17, 2019
UPDATE: Reggae on the River Cancelled
Posted By Kym Kemp on Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 6:46 PM
UPDATE:
Dusty Hughston, a Mateel Community Center board member, confirmed that the 2019 Reggae on the River show has been cancelled. “It’s real. They called me and the treasurer,” he told Redheaded Blackbelt.
The Mateel Board will release a complete statement but at this time Hughston said that though the board won’t have the money from Reggae this year, they have continued to pay down the Mateel’s debt.
Hughston said that with the closure of the big event, the Mateel will put on a smaller event at its hall in Redway. “We’re going to do something that weekend at the Mateel,” he said.
PREVIOUS:
The perennially troubled event, Reggae on the River, has been cancelled as of 5:30 p.m. today.
While little information was immediately available, last year’s ticket sales were dismal.
High Times stepped in to produce the event in May of 2018 after the Mateel Community Center landed in desperate financial straits when the previous year’s festival lost $140,000, leaving the Redway nonprofit facing a $430,000 budget deficit.
According to the Reggae on the River’s website, ticket holders will be refunded within 10 business days.
Dusty Hughston, a Mateel Community Center board member, confirmed that the 2019 Reggae on the River show has been cancelled. “It’s real. They called me and the treasurer,” he told Redheaded Blackbelt.
The Mateel Board will release a complete statement but at this time Hughston said that though the board won’t have the money from Reggae this year, they have continued to pay down the Mateel’s debt.
Hughston said that with the closure of the big event, the Mateel will put on a smaller event at its hall in Redway. “We’re going to do something that weekend at the Mateel,” he said.
PREVIOUS:
The perennially troubled event, Reggae on the River, has been cancelled as of 5:30 p.m. today.
While little information was immediately available, last year’s ticket sales were dismal.
High Times stepped in to produce the event in May of 2018 after the Mateel Community Center landed in desperate financial straits when the previous year’s festival lost $140,000, leaving the Redway nonprofit facing a $430,000 budget deficit.
According to the Reggae on the River’s website, ticket holders will be refunded within 10 business days.
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Community / Education / Government / Media / Music
A 'Dark Day' at KHSU
Posted By Kimberly Wear and Thadeus Greenson on Thu, Apr 11, 2019 at 4:00 AM
The first sign arrived yesterday afternoon, when KHSU staff members received an email from Craig Wruck informing them there would be a mandatory meeting for all paid staff today at 9 a.m.
“I apologize for the extremely short notice, but this is an important meeting,” Wruck wrote.
When staff arrived for the meeting this morning at the new studio space in Feuerwerker House, however, they were separated. Morning Edition host Natalya Estrada and Development Director David Reed were sent to another building on campus, where they were informed of the changes and the fact that they would be the only staff members spared in the reorganization, with Reed being named interim station director. Meanwhile, Wruck was informing the balance of the staff that their positions were being eliminated, effective immediately.
As this was happening, 32-year volunteer Ed Campbell, who hosts “A Wandering Ear,” showed up to prepare for his 10 a.m. show to find his keycard no longer worked.
He knocked and Wruck reportedly agreed to let him in to do his classical music show. He played about an hour’s worth of music before putting on Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s “Requiem Canticles.” As it played, he walked out, later explaining that Wruck and administrators could deal with the dead air. Campbell said he chose “Requiem Canticles” as the last thing he’d ever play over the station’s airwaves because it was the last significant piece Stravinsky composed and has “a bunch of finality to it.”
Outside, KHSU Producer Jessica Eden smiled and hugged volunteers who stopped by to inquire what was going on. A University Police Department patrol car sat parked nearby.
“It was a great station and we really put our hearts into it for years and years,” Eden said. “They’ve just destroyed a beautiful community resource. Shame on them.”
The upheaval included Peter Fretwell, whose tenure as general manager was fraught with controversy after the sudden firing of longtime program and operations director Katie Whiteside in May.
Along with the staff reductions, which the university press release states will result in “significant savings,” all volunteer-run programs are under “indefinite suspension.”
Eden pointed out that administrators announced this decision just days after KHSU finished a community pledge drive trumpeting how listener’s donations would support local programing. The pledge drive hadn’t fully met its goal but was widely considered to have been successful, staff said, noting that some donors and sustaining members who had walked away from the station last May in the wake of the controversial firing of longtime program and operations director Katie Whiteside firing had come back.
“Then they do this right after they took people’s money,” one volunteer grumbled.
“I apologize for the extremely short notice, but this is an important meeting,” Wruck wrote.
When staff arrived for the meeting this morning at the new studio space in Feuerwerker House, however, they were separated. Morning Edition host Natalya Estrada and Development Director David Reed were sent to another building on campus, where they were informed of the changes and the fact that they would be the only staff members spared in the reorganization, with Reed being named interim station director. Meanwhile, Wruck was informing the balance of the staff that their positions were being eliminated, effective immediately.
As this was happening, 32-year volunteer Ed Campbell, who hosts “A Wandering Ear,” showed up to prepare for his 10 a.m. show to find his keycard no longer worked.
He knocked and Wruck reportedly agreed to let him in to do his classical music show. He played about an hour’s worth of music before putting on Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s “Requiem Canticles.” As it played, he walked out, later explaining that Wruck and administrators could deal with the dead air. Campbell said he chose “Requiem Canticles” as the last thing he’d ever play over the station’s airwaves because it was the last significant piece Stravinsky composed and has “a bunch of finality to it.”
Outside, KHSU Producer Jessica Eden smiled and hugged volunteers who stopped by to inquire what was going on. A University Police Department patrol car sat parked nearby.
“It was a great station and we really put our hearts into it for years and years,” Eden said. “They’ve just destroyed a beautiful community resource. Shame on them.”
The upheaval included Peter Fretwell, whose tenure as general manager was fraught with controversy after the sudden firing of longtime program and operations director Katie Whiteside in May.
Along with the staff reductions, which the university press release states will result in “significant savings,” all volunteer-run programs are under “indefinite suspension.”
Eden pointed out that administrators announced this decision just days after KHSU finished a community pledge drive trumpeting how listener’s donations would support local programing. The pledge drive hadn’t fully met its goal but was widely considered to have been successful, staff said, noting that some donors and sustaining members who had walked away from the station last May in the wake of the controversial firing of longtime program and operations director Katie Whiteside firing had come back.
“Then they do this right after they took people’s money,” one volunteer grumbled.
Monday, October 22, 2018
Hundreds Gather to Celebrate the Life of Merv George Sr.
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 4:11 PM
Hundreds of people gathered Sunday to celebrate the life of Merv George Sr., a Hupa religious dance leader and frontman of The Merv George Band, which for decades kept local dance floors buzzing at venues big and small. George was remembered Sunday as a talented musician with an easy smile who was dedicated to the communities he was a part of.
Check out local photographer Mark McKenna's slideshow below of images from Sunday's celebration of George's life. To read more about George, see past Journal coverage here. Donation's in George's honor can be made to the Merv George Memorial Music Fund at the Humboldt Area Foundation, 363 Indianola Road, Bayside, CA 95524.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Popular Musician and Tribal Leader Merv George Sr. Dead at 74
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Sat, Sep 1, 2018 at 9:30 AM
Merv George Sr. — Hoopa tribal member, religious dance leader and popular musician — died yesterday afternoon after suffering a severe stroke earlier in the week. He was 74.
According to a post on Merv George Jr.’s Facebook page, his father was being transported home from Redding Mercy Hospital when he died. “He had my mom by his side and he went peacefully,” George Jr. wrote, adding that “he waited until we got near Weaverville and could see the Trinity River before he left us.”
According to a post on Merv George Jr.’s Facebook page, his father was being transported home from Redding Mercy Hospital when he died. “He had my mom by his side and he went peacefully,” George Jr. wrote, adding that “he waited until we got near Weaverville and could see the Trinity River before he left us.”
Friday, June 15, 2018
Eureka High Gifted Strings and Things from Sara Bareilles
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Fri, Jun 15, 2018 at 3:28 PM
The music department at Eureka High School has a little more string in its step after a gift from a famous alum yesterday. Music, Broadway, TV and soon-to-be Apple TV star Sara Bareilles teamed up with Yamaha Entertainment Group and Eastman Strings to send her fellow Loggers some string instruments and audio equipment. Bareilles posted a video about the donation and her Skype chat with students on Instagram (watch below) in which you can hear the EHS band cranking out her hit "Love Song."
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Mateel, High Times Create Partnership to Save Reggae on the River
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 10:46 AM
The Mateel Community Center’s board of directors voted last night to approve a partnership with High Times Productions to put on Reggae on the River.
The deal was announced in a press release this morning with few details, other than that the production company, the event-management arm of High Times Media, will “assume responsibility for the upcoming festival’s talent lineup, marketing and monetization efforts.” In the release, Mateel Board President Garth Epling says the partnership will give the Mateel “the resources to continue growing and developing the festival.”
A story on www.kymkemp.com that posted last night notes that the deal has been in negotiations for six months.
The deal was announced in a press release this morning with few details, other than that the production company, the event-management arm of High Times Media, will “assume responsibility for the upcoming festival’s talent lineup, marketing and monetization efforts.” In the release, Mateel Board President Garth Epling says the partnership will give the Mateel “the resources to continue growing and developing the festival.”
A story on www.kymkemp.com that posted last night notes that the deal has been in negotiations for six months.
Saturday, February 17, 2018
One Billion Rising and Rising
Posted By Mark Larson on Sat, Feb 17, 2018 at 4:45 PM
More than 100 Arcata Elementary School and Sunny Brae Middle School students sang and danced to "Home We'll Go" at the sixth annual One Billion Rising event on the Arcata Plaza on Friday afternoon. "We're making a statement through dance to rise, resist and unite to make change happen so our homes and workplaces are safer for all of us," said event organizer Jessie Hobba. See a slideshow of photos from the event below.
Hobba and others from the local V-Day Humboldt movement started the local One Billion Rising dance event in 2012 as part of their activities on ending violence against women and girls. In her introduction, Hobba explained the origins of the "One Billion Rising" term by citing the United Nations statistic that one out of three women worldwide will be beaten or raped. That works out to about 1 billion women worldwide.
Hobba and others from the local V-Day Humboldt movement started the local One Billion Rising dance event in 2012 as part of their activities on ending violence against women and girls. In her introduction, Hobba explained the origins of the "One Billion Rising" term by citing the United Nations statistic that one out of three women worldwide will be beaten or raped. That works out to about 1 billion women worldwide.
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Poor Reggae on the River Attendance Leaves Mateel Community Center's Future in Question
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Sat, Sep 2, 2017 at 9:33 AM
Redway’s Mateel Community Center is in a state of crisis after its biggest annual fundraiser, Reggae on the River, not only failed to meet revenue projections but left the center with a “significant” debt.
“Very challenging times lie ahead, there are difficult decisions to make, and the future of both ROTR and the MCC is at stake,” Mateel General Manager Justin Crellin wrote in a letter to to the Southern Humboldt community, inviting it to a Sept. 19 meeting when he will share further detail of the Mateel’s financial state and what options are being considered.
“Very challenging times lie ahead, there are difficult decisions to make, and the future of both ROTR and the MCC is at stake,” Mateel General Manager Justin Crellin wrote in a letter to to the Southern Humboldt community, inviting it to a Sept. 19 meeting when he will share further detail of the Mateel’s financial state and what options are being considered.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
Scenes from the Folklife Fest
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Jul 18, 2017 at 11:55 AM
The week-long Humboldt Folklife Festival in its 39th year drew large crowds to its events this year, according to Patrick Cleary, one of the many Humboldt Folklife Society members who organized the event. Cleary said this year's festival was dedicated to the memory of Susan Anderson, one of the original members of the Humboldt Folklife Society back in 1978 who died this past year.
Personal highlights for me included Thurday's Bluegrass and Beyond show that included Clean Livin', Jenny Scheinman and The Compost Mountain Boys at the Dell'Arte Amphitheatre. Scheinman's virtuoso skills on the fiddle and singing of her creative and sometimes very personal lyrics were outstanding.
Scheinman first played solo on tunes from her latest release Here On Earth (a tribute to fiddle tunes). John Wood then accompanied her on his keyboard for songs that she has written that were very personal, funny, sad and a few based on her memories of growing up in Petrolia behind the "redwood curtain."
The Folklife Festival came to a close on Saturday in Blue Lake with its All Day Free Fest of workshops and18 bands performing on two stages. Check out the full slideshow below.
Personal highlights for me included Thurday's Bluegrass and Beyond show that included Clean Livin', Jenny Scheinman and The Compost Mountain Boys at the Dell'Arte Amphitheatre. Scheinman's virtuoso skills on the fiddle and singing of her creative and sometimes very personal lyrics were outstanding.
Scheinman first played solo on tunes from her latest release Here On Earth (a tribute to fiddle tunes). John Wood then accompanied her on his keyboard for songs that she has written that were very personal, funny, sad and a few based on her memories of growing up in Petrolia behind the "redwood curtain."
The Folklife Festival came to a close on Saturday in Blue Lake with its All Day Free Fest of workshops and18 bands performing on two stages. Check out the full slideshow below.
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