COVER VS ORIGINAL BANDS
It was very interesting to read Richard Stockton’s article about the challenge bands face by playing their own original music. We certainly wish he had included us, Extra Large, in his interviews. It’s rather ironic that we were overlooked as we were voted by Good Times readers as Santa Cruz’s favorite band 17 consecutive years all the while playing our own original music. Our sets include only 10% covers. We worked hard to establish ourselves as an original band and it paid off. Now we look out in the (huge) crowd and see happy dancing folks singing along to the songs we’ve created.
Valerie Leal | Santa Cruz
COVER OR NOT
My band is called THE JAMISSARIES. We play regularly at The Shanty Shack, The Crepe Place, Joe’s Bar, Henflings, Discretion and the Brookdale Lodge. I have been playing in bands in Santa Cruz since arriving here in 1991, escaping NYC, inspired by cassette tapes of jam bands recorded at The Catalyst, falling in love with the ocean, the mountains and everything in between. Our setlists are comprised of at least half of my original music. While we do funked-up jamband takes on Beatles, Donovan, The Grateful Dead, Tenacious D, etc., contrary to Mr. Stockton’s report, we have found that the dancefloor fills up and people get grooving to my originals, that local audiences are refreshingly receptive and responsive to them. For that we are, well, grateful.
Ed Levy | Santa Cruz
FAKE TRAIN NEWS
In their recent letter (“Billions for Rail”), Judith Carey and Russell Weisz repeated a persistent myth that “a few trackside landowners” would get a “payoff” if the rail corridor were railbanked. This claim is simply false and has been publicly debunked—even by rail advocates.
As Jim Weller, a leading rail supporter and self-described “Land Title Guru,” wrote in the Santa Cruz Sentinel (April 28, 2024):
“The RTC owns outright nearly all of the land in the 32-mile corridor. Among 113 distinct segments, just 14 of them are 19th-century easements. Only four of these affect the full width of the corridor. … The risk of loss by the public is vanishingly small as it stands.”
In other words, there is virtually no scenario in which adjacent landowners, such as myself, would receive any “payoff” if the corridor were railbanked for a trail. The property remains under the ownership of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, and the federal railbanking process explicitly preserves the public’s right-of-way for future rail use.
It would be greatly appreciated if Good Times and other local publications would fact-check these recurring misinformation points before printing letters that mislead readers. The conversation about the corridor’s future should be grounded in verified facts—not unfounded accusations about imagined windfalls for property owners.
Jack Brown | Aptos
