"To me … folk music has always been the blues." — Dave "Snaker" Ray You need look no further than that quote from guitarist Dave "Snaker" Ray to identify the ethos that formed the foundation of seminal acoustic folk-blues trio Koerner, Ray & Glover. The Minnesota-based threesome, rounded out by fellow 12-stringer "Spider" John Koerner […]
Music
Coverage of the music scene in Humboldt County with upcoming shows from locals and out-of-town acts, reviews, interviews and more.
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Collected Poems
On a recent brief flight from Monterey to San Francisco, a woman who sat next to me noticed me reading Lynda Hull’s Collected Poems and asked what Hull’s poems were about. "Her poems are not really about anything in particular, yet they are about everything," I answered. "Her strength is her description and use of […]
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Natural
If this record was your first exposure to the Mekons, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were some obscure British folk combo, not one of the original punk bands of 1977, still plugging away after 30 years. The Mekons were contrarians from the start — their first single, "Never Been In a Riot" was a […]
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The Way Home — Zap Mama, Santana and can’t-miss folk at Muddy’s
Marie Daulne has come a long way since 1990, when she founded the all-woman a cappella quintet Zap Mama . And it’s not just that she’s been around the world several times. The Zap Mama sound has evolved from an amalgam of African and European vocal styles to incorporate touches of jazz, hip hop, funk, […]
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Words of Wisdom, plus a Parisian busker, Dr. John and the Lu’au
The first time I met Tevya "Wisdom" Jones, years ago, he was selling T-shirts along the road into Reggae. I bought one emblazoned with his logo — a red, green, gold and black pyramid/eye inside a flaming circle. The next year, stickers with the logo showed up on outhouses all over the concert grounds. A […]
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Down Home
College is almost back in session, the students are back in town and it’s time for another CenterArts season. The local concert juggernaut kicks off a stellar ’07-’08 season on Sunday, Aug. 19, with a show at the Van Duzer featuring what is likely the most successful old-timey band working today, Old Crow Medicine Show […]
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Gainfully employed
UB40 Back in the days when my main income came from restaurant work, the sound system of choice in the kitchen was a food-encrusted boombox, typically with auto-reverse so the music would play on when things got going and the stoned dishwasher’s attention was elsewhere. I turned one such dishy into a reggae fan starting […]
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It’s just Reggae (a river runs through it)
The first weekend in August is upon us. Here in Humboldt, that means just one thing: Yes, it’s time for Wildwood Days! No, just kidding. It means we batten down the hatches for another Reggae, that massive gathering that’s been bringing thousands of visitors to SoHum from far and wide for 23 years. Most years, […]
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Jazzy Matazzy — Guru foresees the future of hip hop
He was half of the duo Gang Starr, but the smooth rapper known as Guru was never a gangsta type, not in his style and definitely not in the socially conscious content of his lyrics. At the end of the ’80s, Gang Starr — Guru and producer/partner DJ Premier — pioneered the use of jazz […]
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Positive Force
If you dig African music, you probably don’t need to know much more than the fact that saxophonist/bandleader Femi Kuti is the eldest son of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the undisputed Godfather of Afrobeat. If you know that, then you know you want to hear him play on Monday. Femi quit school in 1978 to take […]
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A Burning Thing
It was one of those parties. A wild one. My friend Gregg was moving out of a ramshackle place in Blue Lake into classier digs elsewhere and had a backyard bash to celebrate. Gregg has definite pyromaniacal tendencies and included a flaming limbo dance as part of the affair, followed by fireworks and a bonfire […]
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The Fire This Time
The Jamaicans are coming! You’re thinking, what’s new about that? Humboldt is a dread zone, a reggae magnet, and Caribbean musicians come through constantly. But this contingent is a bit larger than most with almost two dozen guys from Kingston, JA, coming in for two shows. In SoHum Friday, July 6, at the Mateel, there’s […]