One of my favorite sounds is the soft rustle of a breeze through the leaves of a tree. I’m talking about broad leaves here, like a maple tree, not the evergreens that tend to populate our forests, and whose branches creak and groan in the wind like the ghosts of old washerwomen attending to the […]
Blackplate
Posted inMusic
Weekenders
As is sometimes the case in the re-emerging world of local live entertainment in which we find ourselves, the good shows are simply not spread out evenly across the week. Drat. Don’t worry about it because the offerings this weekend are top-notch, with national touring talent vying with some of our best local acts for […]
Posted inMusic
Stretch Out
I’ll keep this brief because I really stretched out in my ekphrastic music writing this week and I don’t want to test your patience. It’s a brand-new week, a new month dawns, my birthday is just around the corner (next Thursday for anyone thinking about buying me a rideable war bird, black market Gundam suit […]
Posted inMusic
Pour One Out
Last week, local heavy music aficionado, New York native and Natty Dog Hot Dogs cart wrangler Eric Riccio died. That he died of a heart attack at a local heavy metal show should not be a source of grief for his many friends, customers and casual acquaintances, but one of pride. Eric loved OG punk […]
Posted inMusic
Blackened Brightness
This week is a bit of a somber one for me, as Nov. 25/26 marks the 20th anniversary of my mother’s death from cancer at the far too young age of 52. I give those dates because she passed away late at night after Thanksgiving of 1999, likely with the cold front that curls over […]
Posted inMusic
Lend A Hand If You Can
It’s been an active week for a news junkie like myself. Johnathan Franzen took a backheel approach to climate change in the pages of the New Yorker and, in doing so, cemented for all time the terminal uselessness of the establishment liberal position on nearly any topic. A brave banjo-wielding man busted the crap out […]
Posted inMusic
Animal Instincts
I am writing this in my living room on my couch with a large Italian mastiff snoring like a Sardinian sow pig behind me. She doesn’t mean any offense and, in fact, Grinza is a sweet dog, stinkiness notwithstanding. She’s better company than most people, if I am being honest. I mention her because she […]
Posted inMusic
Wellville Blues
When John Harvey Kellogg developed his now famous Corn Flakes in the end of the 19th century, the product was intended to promote better health through blandness, the idea being that an unexciting and flavorless beginning to the day would discourage the consumer from committing an act that the staunch Seventh-day Adventist considered to be […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Alien Noise in Outer Space
The Outer Space is something of a unique venue for Arcata. The only DIY, all-ages, sober/safe space in town, it sits in a building in the southwest section of the Nilsen Feed lot, on the corner of 11th and M streets. Drugs and alcohol are strictly forbidden, and children run through the floor plan past […]
Posted inMusic
Less In, Less Out
Thursday Local musical man of mystery Chris Parreira tipped me off to an interesting show this evening in a rare venue — at M. Walker Guitars at 550 South G St., Unit #9 — with Anna Tivel. She’s a touring singer/songwriter and has recently been a winner at the Telluride Troubadour Contest and the Kerrville […]