They’re both comprised of different sized slats to strike to produce playful melodies. But the marimba, with its double row of wooden bars and metal resonator tubes below, is a far cry from the tinny, rainbow-colored toy you remember from grade school. Instead, it yields a warm, natural resonance like that of an acoustic guitar. […]
Arcata Playhouse
Posted inArts + Scene
Grown-up Problems
The Grasshopper and the Aunt Pantomime is a proud European tradition that I’m happy to see gaining a foothold in the U.S., thanks to theatrical funsters like James Peck, Amy Tetzlaff, Alyssa Hughlett and Sarah Peters, the team behind The Grasshopper and the Aunt, the holiday show now playing at the Arcata Playhouse. As with […]
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Blues, Loops, Peyote Rock and Soulgrass
Thursday Bluegrass returns to the menu at the Mad River Brewery Tap Room this evening around 6 p.m. courtesy of the Compost Mountain Boys. As usual, this is a free show, but that doesn’t mean you can’t throw a few shekels toward the band. The Old Steeple in Ferndale is starting off its season with […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Century Celebration
It took four days to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Creamery Building in Arcata this past week. Building owners Lisa and Brian Finigan, of Arcata, have spent the last 40 years rejuvenating the building and hosting an eclectic mix of tenants in the center of the emerging Creamery District — so they and friends […]
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Modern History
The music of Jonathan Richman and/or The Modern Lovers showed up on my radar when he started playing shows in Humboldt semi-recently. He has an earned status and a cult following of those in the know about his place in rock ‘n’ roll history. As the frontman and driving force behind The Modern Lovers in […]
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Rock Rock
Where did “Southern Rock” come from? The easiest answer is “The South” but you already knew that. Things get a bit more complicated after that. With a measure of the blues (from the South), early rock ‘n’ roll (built off the simplicity of the blues) and country music, Southern Rock has mutated and changed over […]
Posted inMusic
About Bob
My freshman year in high school, I’d hitch rides to school with my friend Cameron and his mother. Cameron and I would groggily listen to cassettes his older brother gave him: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Bob Dylan. We listened to Dylan from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan up to Blood On the Tracks and anything […]
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Tropicalismo
It’s never easy nail down a music genre. As with many things ineffable, the more you describe them, the more elusive they seem. Much like quantum physics, the more microscopic your view, the more you see, ad infinitum. This paradoxical quandary hit me while trying to pin what it was about Sugar Candy Mountain that […]
Posted inMusic
Looking for America
Among the few American songwriters who have profoundly impacted the American Songbook as I hazily define it, most would agree Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan are somewhere toward the top of the list. I wouldn’t be alone in putting Paul Simon way up there, too. With his early songwriting career rooted in folk music and […]
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There and Back Again, a Musician’s Tale
We here in Humboldt are lucky. It’s easy to forget but deep down we know that. We live in a rural part of the state that’s hard to get to and have a low average median income for a family of four compared to much of the rest of California, if my memory is correct. […]
Posted inMusic
The Godfather
Just like many of you, I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard James Brown. I was a kid riding along in my mother’s car in the morning with the radio on. Her favorite station would play what they called “golden oldies,” which didn’t mean much to me as an 8-year old. […]
Posted inMusic
Music in the Time of Crisis
Every year it’s harder to tell the next generation borrowing money for college is a good idea. Tuitions are on the rise — imagine them ever going down! — and student loans linger longer and longer. However, one tremendous benefit of college remains: being surrounded by peers who share the sensitivities to the overwhelming and […]