The Brothers Comatose really are brothers — well, two of them anyway. In the beginning, the self-described “raucous and rowdy” stringband from San Francisco was Ben and Alex Morrison, a couple of Petaluma boys who grew up in a folky household. “Our dad had guitars, so we’d always played guitars, then one of my mom’s […]
Bob Doran
Freelance photographer and writer, Arts and Entertainment editor from 1997 to 2013.
Posted inMusic
Surviving the Blues
Last Thursday, one day before the start of Mark Hummel’s 22nd Blues Harmonica Blow-Out Tour, the harp player was on the phone calling from his Oakland home. Things didn’t look good. He’d just talked with a couple of band members who were stuck in Chicago — the airport was snowed in. Winter storms were in full […]
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The Core
In physics, the protons and neutrons at the core of an atom form the nucleus. In cellular biology, the nucleus is where you find DNA, the cell’s genetic material. In Humboldt, The Nucleus is a long-lived rock/funk/psychedelic jamband with guitarist Piet Dalmolen, bassist Steve Webb and drummer Pete Ciotti at the core. As noted on […]
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Occupy the Courts
Pouring rain did not stop dozens of citizens from gathering at 5th and H streets in Eureka Friday at noon to join a nationwide protest marking the second anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that defined corporations as “persons,” and, as local organizers sarcastically put it, thus “entitled by the […]
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The Name Game
What’s in a name? All sorts of things when you’re talking Wu-Tang Clan. The highly influential hip hop clan of Wu was founded in the early ’90s by three cousins, Robert Diggs, aka RZA (short for Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah, aka Bobby Digital, Prince Rakeem, The Abbot, Bobby Steels), Gary Grice, aka GZA (short for God […]
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Access Humboldt Goes Dark
They had to use the Internet to do so, but Access Humboldt announced last night that it’s joining Wikipedia and others in the SOPA strike by going dark from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. today. Here’s the official announcement: Access Humboldt is participating in action to highlight US legislation that threatens commercial censorship of the […]
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Supervisor Mark Lovelace – running for re-election
Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace gathered supporters on the Arcata Plaza Thursday afternoon to announce that he’s running for re-election (see text of speech below), then discussed challenges ahead, among them holding onto the county’s tax money, rural school busing, marijuana policy and smart meters. The last 3 years have been very busy. I’ve […]
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Two Wolves
At the heart of the Los Angelino rock band Los Lobos is the songwriting team of guitarist/vocalist David Hidalgo and lyricist/multi-instrumentalist Louie Perez, friends who have been crafting tunes together for around 40 years. Both grew up in East L.A. — Perez in a household where his mother played ranchero music on the radio and […]
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Something for Everybody
The Friday night cocktail party sounded promising: After a day of talking alt. weekly biz with peers at a conference in Portland, several Oregon wineries and some vodka company were hosting an open bar. It got better when the entertainment came marching in, literally. Flanked by costumed stiltwalkers, March Fourth Marching Band arrived with drummers […]
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Snow! In Eureka!
No, it did not snow last night. But it did snow on this day in history 105 years ago. Local postcard collector Steve Lazar dug out this photographic postcard record of the unusual weather event, although it took some history detective sleuthing to figure out exactly when and where the photo was taken. (View from […]
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2011’s Tops
Looking back over the last year’s collection of musical events, it wasn’t hard to pick a few of my personal favorites. Top of the list: the recent visit by Sharon Jones, who filled The Depot with powerful soul and took us to the land of 1,000 dances. The Dap-Kings were the tightest, funkiest band I’ve […]
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Got Vinyl?
Stopped by my favorite Arcata record shop last Wednesday to chat with proprietor Matt Jackson about this Thursday’s DJ night at Humboldt Brews, Missing Link’s Got Soul, another jumpin’ all-vinyl dance party hosted by the M.L. crew. The concept, spinning soul/funk 45s and the like for dancers, has been very successful so far — Matt […]