Music

It’s a Sunday morning and Hello Stranger is off the road for a change. Lead singer/keytar player Juliette Commagere is supposed to be finishing up a new song for band practice that afternoon, but, admitting she’s a procrastinator, she’s more than willing to put the task off to chat. She’s at home in West L.A. […]

The metaphor was unfortunate, even if it did declare itself a metaphor. The subhead in the Times-Standard preview of Wednesday night’s Winter Ruckus 4 promised "six exciting acts that plan to metaphorically burn the place down." Of course the hardcore hip hoppers, Tech N9ne, Potluck, LCA, Subnoize Souljaz and Blaze Ya Dead Homie do not […]

It’s been a while since Thad Beckman lived here in Humboldt. The blues guitarist/songwriter left for Texas a few years back – Austin to be specific – and then moved on from there to Portland, Ore., home to a substantial Humboldt ex-pat community, not that he’s exactly part of it. When I got hold of […]

For some guitar players it’s BB King, Eric Clapton or maybe Jimi Hendrix who provides inspiration to rip out a stinging lead run. For a young Bobby Radcliff, growing up in suburban Chevy Chase, Md., it was "Magic" Sam Maghett, a funky bluesman from Chicago. While still a teenager Radcliff ran away from home and […]