Tag archives: musician
The call-and-response singing of devotional music known as Kirtan can be a joyous experience, but it’s also a healing one that can break down barriers between people. So suggests Darren Marc, the devotional Kirtan artist and singer-songwriter whose eclectic musical career includes more than 30 original songs featured in film and television shows. For Marc […]
Violinist Ari Streisfeld has garnered critical acclaim worldwide for his performances of diverse repertoire after originally establishing himself as one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary classical music. He’s also the co-founder of the world-renowned JACK Quartet, the fearless foursome that quickly became one of the experimental engines of new music after forming at Eastman […]
Aimee Mann’s gift for literate lyrics that belie the bright melodies of her chamber folk-pop music has defined her own genre for more than 30 years of a solo career. Her oeuvre is the vulnerable truth laid bare, mostly drawn from her own experiences, but in such refreshing ways that it’s decidedly universal, and healing […]
Anybody who caught Tina Schlieske’s mini-set closing out the series of six vocalists fronting the “Granada All Star House Band” at the theater earlier this month – where the powerhouse singer belted out her take on The Beatles “I’ve Got a Feeling,” Aretha Franklin’s version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” and her own composition “Everyday” […]
Maria Muldaur’s career has been a 60-year exploration of the music she grew up with as a Greenwich Village native who came of age in the early 1960s, the era of what John Sebastian calls the “folk scare,” when acoustic music of all kinds exploded in the downtown New York scene. “It was an incredibly […]
If there were any justice in the entertainment world, Don Was would be a superstar, with periodic concerts at the Santa Barbara Bowl selling out as soon as they’re announced, and records crashing the Top 10 on a regular basis. As it is, Was had some hits in the late 1980s with his funky duo […]
Former Montecito resident Johnny Irion’s new album, Sleeping Soldiers of Love, has roots deep in the world of nature, but also sounds like a cinematic score. For good reason. The songs on Soldiers were inspired by Jay Leutze’s 2013 bestseller Stand Up That Mountain: The Battle to Save One Small Community in the Wilderness Along […]
Residents of Montecito’s Hedgerow neighbourhood may be closely familiar with the tunes of the Grateful Dead, as, between the years of 2019 and 2021, my garage became the headquarters for my brother Cosmo’s Grateful Dead cover band, Curly & Co., made up of a rowdy posse of high school and college-age boys who, when not […]
There are likely more Elton John tribute acts than Top 10 hits produced by Sir Elton himself over his more than 50-year-career. Page 1 of a Google search yields such bands as Simply Elton, Almost Elton John and Ultimate Elton, as well as Rocket Max, The Rocket Man Show, Crocodile Mock and Elton Jeff & […]
Preparing for her final year at Berklee College of Music, Makena Tate – a Crane Country Day School and San Marcos High School alum – reflects on how her relationship with music has changed over the years. Dear Montecito, Last month I Ubered to a gig and the driver immediately asked: “Why do you like […]
It was certainly theater in the round when top bassist Nik West, 35, featured in the Granada’s Centennial on Stage with a 90-minute energized show of funk, soul, and rock. The singer-songwriter from Phoenix, Arizona, who was recognized as “the bass icon of this generation” by Rolling Stone, West has performed with Quincy Jones Productions, […]
Pete Muller didn’t set out to make a record in Memphis with an entirely new band when he visited producer/engineer Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell) on the advice of his manager. But the two hit it off, and when his previous producer Rob Mathes proved too busy with his Sting projects to get away, Muller committed […]
Natalie Merchant, the New York-bred singer-songwriter who a lifetime ago was the lead singer and lyricist for the alt.rock faves 10,000 Maniacs (1981-93) before embarking on an even more successful solo career, returns to town to perform at the Santa Barbara Bowl on May 23. Merchant’s latest album, 2023’s Keep Your Courage, continues to prove […]
Bryan Tari was just 18 years old when he was one of 84 pianists chosen to simultaneously and collaboratively perform a truncated version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue under the baton of conductor John Williams for the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The pianists – all men, dressed in powder blue tuxedos […]
Singer-songwriter Paula Cole was a household name back in the mid to late 1990s, when her commentary on gender stereotypes “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want to Wait,” picked up as the theme song of TV’s Dawson’s Creek, were all over the airwaves. She was nominated for seven Grammys, including Record, […]
It would be hard to overstate the popularity of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, whose reputation and name recognition soared following its recording of all the music for the soundtrack of the 1984 film Amadeus, which occurred about halfway through the 50-year leadership of founding artistic director Sir Neville Marriner. The album […]
Dear Montecito! I miss you! I can’t wait to be home for Spring Break next week! I’m getting ready to finish my second year at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, and a lot has happened since the last time we spoke about my single “Oblivious,” which at the time was […]
Third-grader Tom Snow came home from school one day with the devastating news that most parents regard as the sum of their deepest fears. “I told my mom that I wanted to play the trumpet.” When the poor woman had regained her composure, she gently but firmly took Tom by the shoulders and aimed him […]
Back in 1961, Johnny Cash and his then-wife Vivian hired contractors to build them a home in the hills of Casitas Springs, the small town near Ojai in Ventura County. Custom designed to fit the singer’s specifications, the home even featured a wall-mounted turntable and a writing room for Cash. The country singer was going […]
Growing up, moving out, heartache, and more. To quote singer-songwriter Dawson Fuss in his 2023 release: “When will these growing pains give my bones a break?” We last spoke to Dawson in April of 2021 about his musical beginnings. Two years later, the Teen Star and Cate School alum is now a sophomore at the […]
