Bonny Doon’s Dan Frechette Loses Studio to the Fire
On Aug. 22, Dan Frechette released his album By The Time It’s Over amid a lot of uncertainty. For the past five years, the singer-songwriter has called Bonny Doon home and recorded 33 albums in his...
View ArticleHow Gulch Attracted A Rabid Following For Its Merch and Music
In January, local hardcore band Gulch headed out to the FYA festival in Florida. Before leaving, they went to Twitter and posted a photo of a hoodie that was to be an exclusive piece of merch with a...
View ArticleSanta Cruz’s Alex Wand Chases the Music of Butterflies
Santa Cruz musician Alex Wand rode his bike for 50 days in 2018, following the monarch migration path from Los Angeles to Texas, and down to Mexico. His destination: Sierra Chincua Butterfly Sanctuary...
View ArticleWatsonville’s Kabwasa to Release Debut Full-Length Album
Watsonville singer-songwriter Kabwasa will celebrate a major milestone in his career on Sept. 16 by releasing his first full-length studio album, “Maiden Flight.” Born Etienne Kabwasa Green, Kabwasa...
View ArticleBonny Doon’s Olright Creates Tribute to Community After Fire Evacuations
In March of 2019, Bonny Doon-based beatmaker (and KZSC DJ) Olright drove up Empire Grade, admiring the natural beauty of his mountain town, and snapped some photos. For a year or two, he’d been...
View ArticleLocal Rockers Time Spent Driving Make Their Return
From 1999 to 2003, local rockers Time Spent Driving helped to spearhead an emo scene in Santa Cruz. They toured all over the world, got their song on some Xbox games, and were having conversations...
View ArticleLocal Rappers Reinvent Their Sound for Stress Nada’s First Single
Local MC Scorpz the Venom has been rapping for 15 years and has carved out a successful career in the underground scene. But in 2018, he wanted to see if he could stretch his sound a little outside of...
View ArticleHow the Musicians of WaxFeet Discovered an Audience for Ambient Music
Local musician Damon Danielson has written hundreds of traditional verse-chorus-verse songs with lyrics, vocals and a message—acoustic music, power-pop, yacht rock, R&B. But he’s over all of that...
View ArticleHow Physical Space Shaped the Sound of Local Quartet Majk
Initially, the members of local quartet Majk just got together to play a gig that cellist/vocalist Alexis Hawks had booked but didn’t have a band to perform. When they rehearsed, each brought some of...
View ArticleHow Local EDM Artist Kr3ture Found His Sonic Path
With a million-and-a-half plays, local “melodic EDM” artist Kr3ture’s most popular song on Spotify, “Watch It Grow,” is a dreamy dance tune on which he mixes mellow guitar licks with psychedelic...
View ArticleSanta Cruz Sisters Team Up for Holiday Song and Debut EP
Last year, local singer-songwriter Maddie Partida released the song “A Very Merry Christmas.” This festive, upbeat Christmas-rock sing-along did surprisingly well. Partida’s father dropped off CDs at...
View ArticleElectronic Artist Hex Wolves Builds Epic Tales Out of Soundscapes
It’s not easy to tell stories without words, but that’s exactly what local, mostly instrumental electronic artist Hex Wolves does. He listens to the shapes, sounds and textures of the music he’s...
View ArticleDancer and Artist Makana Goes Poet with First Hip-Hop Release
In 2018, local dancer and artist Makana was working on some songs, including a Caribbean-infused hip-hop tune called “Women.” She intended it to exalt the beauty of the feminine, but as she worked on...
View Article‘Love You Madly’ Livestream Features Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs and More
In Alecia Haselton’s video for the “Love You Madly” fire relief campaign on the santacruzfirerelief.org website, she’s sitting on a horse in a river, singing a cappella while she slaps her leg as...
View Article‘Love You Madly’ Fire Relief Livestream Adds Steve Earle, More
The upcoming livestream by the “Love You Madly: Artists for Santa Cruz Fire Relief” campaign has added co-headliner Steve Earle, along with several other new artists, organizers announced today. The...
View ArticleBe Natural Music Makes Students’ Accomplishments High-Profile
Be Natural Music is a local company that specializes in teaching kids how to play their instruments. But also, and perhaps more importantly, it teaches kids how to be in a band, as a group. The...
View ArticleVocalist Christie McCarthy Rereleases Jazz Christmas Album
In 2005, Christie McCarthy was asked to contribute to the Ansel Adams Sound of Christmas compilation. She chose a slow, jazzy rendition of “A Few of My Favorite Things,” a crowd favorite. Living in...
View ArticleBryn Loosley Releases First Album in Seven Years to Benefit Fire Victims
Santa Cruz singer-songwriter Bryn Loosley had a single lyric running through his head: “Hard to find that $50 feeling on the back of a dime.” He didn’t know what it meant, but he liked it, so he...
View ArticleEat the Sun Releases New Instrumental Album with Santa Cruz Inspiration
In 2014, local guitarist Kevin Ray was hanging out on Pacific Avenue, hoping to stumble on some inspiration for a tune. As he often did, he went into Bookshop Santa Cruz and flipped through the poetry...
View ArticleSinger-Songwriter Katie Ekin Returns to Santa Cruz and to Making Music
When Katie Ekin moved back to Santa Cruz, she found a recording she’d made while up in Seattle, where she lived for a year. It was a song she’d forgotten about, one that documented the raw emotions...
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