We seem to have a steady stream of blast-from-the-past bands coming through for shows at one venue or another, some more authentic than others. You know what I mean — iterations of Foghat and Iron Butterfly with just their drummers from days gone by, Mike Love fronting a band called the Beach Boys. Cher-Ae Heights […]
Music
Coverage of the music scene in Humboldt County with upcoming shows from locals and out-of-town acts, reviews, interviews and more.
Posted inMusic
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
For the past six years investment banker Warren Hellman has bankrolled an impressive free music festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Held the first weekend in October, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass features a multi-generational array of roots-oriented acts, from traditional bluegrass to country-inflected punk, and this year was no exception. The weekend started with a […]
Posted inMusic
Free Stuff: Bargains, Discounts And Other Things of Value in Northern Humboldt County, Calif.
Hell, everybody wants free stuff. And, damn, you see a book called Free Stuff and you’re just absolutely, hyperventilatingly certain that you’re gonna flip that thing open and behold a step-by-step guide to skating by without dropping a penny. Jackpot! With the quarter found on the floor! But sensitive-man-about-town Fhyre Phoenix has got more depth […]
Posted inMusic
In Rainbows
By now, everyone knows what happened: Radiohead reemerged from nowhere on Oct. 1, announcing that they planned to release a new studio album in 10 days, and by the way even though they’re one of the biggest rock bands in the world they’d be releasing it themselves on the Internet, oh and also by the […]
Posted inMusic
Take Something Old
A sticker on the new live CD byHillstomp describes them as a “bucket and slide duo,” a phrase that might be confusing, unless you’ve seen them play. Guitarist Henry Christian bars chords with a slide made from a metal tube. Drummer Johnny “Buckets” Johnson has a kit made mostly from plastic buckets, the kind you […]
Posted inMusic
‘Homeland Security Behind the Redwood Curtain’ by Judy Boyd, essay review
(available on the web at www.hsaj.org ) Ever wondered what a high-ranking official from the Department of Homeland Security would make of Humboldt County? Wonder no more. Get right in there and read how a Beltway-bred stuffed shirt came to find a little piece of this great and troubled nation’s lost soul while on spiritual […]
Posted inMusic
‘The American Discovery of Europe’ book review
*The AmericanDiscovery ofEuropeby Jack D. Forbes*Illinois University Press Did Columbus discover America, or did America discover Columbus? Did Columbus meet Native Americans for the first time in 1492 when he sailed the ocean blue — an event marked, earlier this week, by Columbus Day — or did he meet two American Indians 15 years earlier, […]
Posted inMusic
Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby concert review
Ricky Skaggs andBruce Hornsby**Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007*HSU Van Duzer*Theater The last time I saw Ricky Skaggs was inside one of those megachurches in Southern Nevada. And he was a very different Skaggs from the man on stage Sunday night in the Van Duzer, where he and his band, Kentucky Thunder, played with Bruce Hornsby. Back […]
Posted inMusic
Tokyo Year Zero
Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace Alfred A. Knopf There’s nothing like an occupying army to stir desperation into the chaos of defeat. Just ask Detective Minami, chief of one of the two murder-investigation units operating in Tokyo during “Year Zero” — the first year after Japan’s surrender to and occupation by the United States. […]
Posted inMusic
All My Loving
directed by Tony Palmer Isolde Films Director Tony Palmer’s examination of the world of rock ’n’ roll in 1968 serves as a fascinating time capsule. Broadcast on the BBC 39 years ago, All My Loving , “a film of pop music,” was not shown in the U.S. and hasn’t been released on DVD until now. […]
Posted inMusic
The Original Patriots: Northern California Indian Veterans of World War Two
by Chag Lowry Self-published In Ken Burns’ new documentary series about World War II, which began airing on PBS Sept. 23, only one Native American voice is included. When the series was first announced last spring, there were none at all. After public protest and a quick reedit, Burns added two Latinos and a token […]
Posted inMusic
This Different Rhythm
He doesn’t lay claim to inventing reggae, but Frederick “Toots” Hibbert says he gave the Jamaican music style its name. Born in a town called May Ten in the hills far from Kingston, Toots headed for the lights of the city when he was still a teenager. As he tells the tale, “I’m from the […]