Love Your Local Band: Wildcat Mountain Ramblers
Robert Cornelius used to listen to rock radio. But then one day he was driving around, a typical ’70s teenager singing along to the Tubes’ “White Punks On Dope,” when it struck him: he wasn’t that into...
View ArticleMusic Picks: December 12-18
Live music highlights for the week of Dec. 12, 2018 WEDNESDAY 12/12 FOLK JEREMY CLYDE If you were to describe the filmography of Wes Anderson in a single song, a good pick would be the impossible twee...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Christmas With the Misfits
Ah, Christmas. A time for Santa, presents and the music of horror-punk band the Misfits. OK, maybe that last one pertains only to Santa Cruz. After all, where else can one go to experience Christmas...
View ArticleHow Thundercat Made it Big With A-list Collaborators
The world is waking up to the genius that is Thundercat. Fans of prog-rock, funk, R&B and smooth pop have always had overlapping tastes, but few modern musicians have blurred these lines quite as...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Harpin and Clark
When John Troutner (aka “Harpin Jonny”) and Peter Clark get up on stage, people expect blues songs. But in reality, the duo Harpin and Clark plays many different styles of music. For instance, they...
View ArticleMusic Picks: December 26-January 1
Live music highlights for the week of Dec. 26, 2018 WEDNESDAY 12/26 ACOUSTIC PEPPINO D’AGOSTINO The self-taught Sicilian guitarist is a wonder to behold on the acoustic guitar, composing pieces that...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Smith & Tegio
For the past couple of years, Austin Smith and Mark Tegio have gotten together casually to strum their guitars. They even wrote a handful of songs in the process, mixing their love of outlaw country...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: ¡No Acción!
In 2017, local band ¡No Acción! released a record full of energetic, passionate, political music that was also quite fun. It was called Hymns of the Working Class. Not exactly punk, not exactly rock,...
View ArticleMusic Picks: January 2-8
Live music highlights for the week of Jan. 2, 2019 THURSDAY 1/3 HAWAIIAN LED KAAPANA Led Kaapana is a name synonymous with Hawaiian slack key guitar music, so much so that people view him as one of the...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Blazeen and Tribe
Shoko Blazeen was at Moe’s Alley one night watching Virgin Islands-based roots reggae band Midnite when he was struck with a profound feeling: I want to play this venue. It was in 2012, and he was...
View ArticleMusic Preview: Man Man at Catalyst
Ryan Kattner isn’t sure if anyone will come to see his band Man Man. It’s been four years since the band has toured, and even longer since their last record, On Oni Pond. Now they hit Santa Cruz on...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Coastal Greetings
When Zac Shober was living in Europe, he really missed Santa Cruz. So he wrote the reverb-drenched, low-key dream-pop song “Summer” as his ode to the sunny California coastlines and carefree afternoons...
View ArticleMusic Picks: January 16-22
Live music highlights for the week of Jan. 16, 2019 THURSDAY 1/17 DANCEHALL CHAM Dancehall, the Jamaican musical genre that finds a meeting ground between hip-hop and reggae, has in recent years found...
View ArticleMusic Picks: January 23-29
Live music highlights for the week of Jan. 23, 2019 WEDNESDAY 1/23 POWER POP THE POSIES A little more than three decades ago, two melodically inclined students were in the audience at a funk concert...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: 3upfront
Local skate-punk band 3upfront has been “defending a nation of ears from the evils of emo” since ’98, or so says their biography. Makes sense. Emo is pretty much the exact opposite of what the band is...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Michael Gaither
After 15 years of being a solo singer-songwriter, releasing five CDs, and even gaining some attention with some locally focused songs about Highway 17 and the Starlite Drive-In, Michael Gaither decided...
View ArticleMusic Picks: January 30-February 5
Live music highlights for the week of Jan. 30, 2019 WEDNESDAY 1/30 AMERICANA AMIGO THE DEVIL After a hard day at the office, nothing beats uncorking a bottle of wine, lounging in the bathtub and...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: 12 Decembers
Melody Egbert was writing dubstep songs when they met Myles Stevens, who was also doing their own dubstep music. The two together decided to collaborate and went in a completely different direction,...
View ArticleMusic Picks: February 6-12
Live music highlights for the week of Feb. 6, 2019 WEDNESDAY 2/6 HIP HOP J. LATELY There are so many things to love about rapper, J. Lately. His laid back flow that hides years of writing and...
View ArticleLove Your Local Band: Cruz Control
Vince Tuzzi has lived many lives. He’s popular around the holidays in his longtime role as a local Santa. He used to own a hot dog stand on the wharf. And as a founder of the Ukulele Club, he’s made...
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