The Philharmonik, a musician currently based in Sacramento, believes that in todayโs music world, there are only two paths to success. โYou either have to have a plethora of talents that you .can use, a very wide skill set,โ he suggests, or you have to have a lot of money so you can bring in people who have that skill set. โAnd let me tell you,โ he says with a smile, โI do not have the money.โ
Having a wide skill set no doubt helped The Philharmonik become the 2024 winner of NPRโs Tiny Desk Contest. And heโll be in Santa Cruz showing off those skills at a concert at Woodhouse Blending & Brews. The event is cosponsored by Soul Good Entertainment and Creative Minds.
Even before he first picked up an instrument, The Philharmonik (born Christian Gates) was a serious music lover. โI was listening to a lot of โ70s music, he says. โBut I wasnโt allowed to listen to hip hop; it was the thing I listened to in secret, to rebel.โ
And he went deeper than merely listening. โIโd read all the credits, see who was producing,โ he recalls. That was especially true when he immersed himself into hip hop. โIโd find out where the samples were coming from,โ he says. โAnd then Iโd listen to those songs. So hip hop played a huge role in my returning back to the classics.โ
Those classics include an eclectic assortment of the very best: Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix and even Elton John. Listening to The Philharmonikโs music, keen listeners may hear the influence of Donny Hathaway. โWhen I was a child, one of the first CDs I got was a compilation,โ he recalls. โSo I grew up on a lot of Bobby Caldwell, Christopher Cross, Prince โฆ all of those are right down my alley.โ
Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, The Philharmonik was also immersed in other musical forms; he learned piano and studied classical music, and he sang in a choir. โThose things gave me a foundation,โ he says. โThey gave me a head start when I wanted to create. When I started making my own music, I already knew how to play piano and sing, so all I had to do was write.โ He believes that his musical self-sufficiency developed in large part thanks to those formative years of study.
In high school, The Philharmonik enrolled in a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) class. MIDI is a technical standard that allows multiple digital instruments to communicate, synchronize and work together. For a self-sufficient, multi-instrumentalist in the tradition of Stevie Wonder, Todd Rundgren, Prince and Paul McCartney, MIDI opens up a world that allows a solo musician to create and render fully arranged music.
Combining his keyboard and MIDI skills, The Philharmonik began working as a producer while still in high school. He was still involved in the sorts of musical activities his fellow students enjoyedโโhaving rap battles, beating on desks,โ he saysโbut he took everything several steps beyond. By graduation in 2011, he was โmessing aroundโ with a demo copy of Fruity Loops, a computer-based digital audio workstation.
The Philharmonik released his self-titled debut album in 2018 on Sacramento-based Sol Collective. The following year, he toured as the opening act on Hobo Johnsonโs first national tour. Sidelined (like everyone else) during the worst of the Covid era, The Philharmonik dove into the creation and development of his second long player.
MASTERFUL FUNK Now is the time to catch soul man, the Philharmonik, because he seems perched to blow up.
Released in 2022, Kironic expands his artistry in many directions. Across its ten tracks, the album moves seamlessly between stylesโ funk, R&B, pop, rock, psychedelia and hip hopโin a way that effectively erases the divisions between those styles.
The albumโs opening track โAm I Dreaming?โ asks the musical question: What is the meaning of life? In addition to a rich and soulful musical foundation, The Philharmonikโs music features thoughtful lyrics that probe such big questions. โI like to observe a lot,โ he explains. โAnd I like to reflect that in my music.โ He says that he endeavors to put a philosophy class into his music. But thereโs still room for ruminations on love. โI study a lot of musicians,โ he says. โBut I also study a lot of poets.โ And that emphasis makes itself known in a real, organic form on Kironic.
Considering such a directed, together artist as The Philharmonik, it might come as a surprise to learn that as recently as a few years ago, he considered giving up his musical pursuits. โWhen the second album got released, we were still coming off the pandemic,โ he explains. โWhen it was released, I feel like it flopped.โ Dealing with the aftermath of an auto accident, The Philharmonik hit what he describes as a dip, a dark moment. He recalls thinking, โIโm creating my best work, but I donโt know why Iโm doing this any more. And I donโt know how much more I have in me.โ
Back in 2019โโjust as a feeler,โ he saysโThe Philharmonik submitted an audition to NPRโs Tiny Desk program. He wasnโt chosen, but he tried again a few years later. โThe second time, I knew exactly what to do,โ he says. โI trusted myself.โ He told himself, โThis is the last thing Iโm throwing at the wall. If this doesnโt make it, Iโm done.โ He won the 2024 competition, and performed on the popular program in May.
But it wasnโt the accolades that came with the Tiny Desk win that got The Philharmonik back on track. โIt was the win itself,โ he says. โI needed proof [to] myself: โThis is worth it to me.โโ He says that if he encounters another difficult point in his career, he can look back to Tiny Desk and remind himself: โRemember what you did when you saw nothing ahead? You kept going.โ
The Philharmonik plays at 7pm July 28 at Woodhouse Blending & Brews, 119 Madrone St, Santa Cruz; 831-313-9461. $15 adv/$20 door. Tickets through Eventbrite. And check out his Tiny Desk video.
โThatโs the thing about country music over other genres,โ Coleton Joe Tidwell says, before pausing and taking a final drag from his cigarette. As he exhales he adds the butt to a small pile heโs been building in the form of a log cabin.
โPeople love country music because it tells stories. When we began I wrote more abstract lyrics that were out there and creative. As we progressed I wanted to tap into the concept of songwriting instead of concept albums.โ
Itโs exactly the sort of thing one would expect from the singer and primary songwriter of five-piece country outfit Kentucky Mule. Thatโs because while other bands might say that statement to sound deep and introspective while being basic and clichรฉd, Kentucky Mule breathes a sun-soaked, scent of fresh grass life into their songs.
This Saturday theyโre bringing their blend of working-class, American folk tunes, mountain string music and honky tonk to Moeโs Alley when they open for San Franciscoโs The Sam Chase & The Untraditional.
Though barely two years together, Kentucky Mule has already made a name for themselves in the Santa Cruz music scene, country and beyond.
โWhen we first started playing we found ourselves in front of audiences who were not there to have a country music experience,โ laughs drummer Troy Nadeau. โBut it was cool because a lot of people would come up to us afterwards and say, โI never thought Iโd like country!โโ
โThat was always my favorite sentence,โ Tidwell agrees.
โAnd we heard it a lot,โ guitarist Scott Willis says.
The base for Kentucky Mule was poured when Tidwell and Willis met as the pandemic lockdowns began to lift. Willis already had bass player Will Lermini in his back pocket.
โHeโs my first pick for bassist, always,โ Willis says.
They knew Nadeau from the local scene and had played with him in other projects so he was quickly added to make Kentucky Mule a quartet.
Nadeau just so happens to also be a sound engineer by trade and has a self-built home studio where he records all of the bandโs music. Itโs a tradition that dates back to Kentucky Muleโs very first practice.
โThe first time we ever played together we recorded our first song,โ Lermini says.
That track is the harmonica-driven, soul-searching โHounds,โ still available online.
Because of Tidwellโs prolific writing from playing solo gigs over the years prior to the band forming, Kentucky Mule already had a couple dozen original tunes right out of the gate.
โBecause of all that work we had the opportunity to hit the ground running with a full set of originals,โ Nadeau recalls.
โOur first set was like 80% originals, which was pretty amazing,โ Tidwell says.
Soon after, the boys were joined by fiddle player Lizzy Smith, the lime juice and garnish that completes the Kentucky Mule recipe. Tidwell tells GT that Smith โreally makes the soundโ of the band and that everyone knew she had to join after meeting her and seeing her play.
The feeling was quite mutual.
โIโm so excited to be a part of this band,โ Smith writes in a text message.
Last year they released their debut EP, Beginnerโs Luck, a four-track collection of songs about questioning traditional values, working hard for minimum pay while capitalists get rich and driving fast down Highway 17. Tidwellโs voice flows from silky smooth to whiskey grizzled depending on what the songโand sometimes chorusโcalls for. In only 12 minutes and 48 seconds, Beginnerโs Luck throws down the gauntlet and harvests a gamut of Americana styles from outlaw and country rock to folk and western ballads complete with a slide guitar.
Then thereโs the freshly released Deep Roots Ranch Live Sessions EP that just dropped on July 15. As the name implies, it was recorded live at Deep Roots Ranch outside of Corralitos, surrounded by the local mountains, fields of wild plants and that California sun sinking down just right at the golden hour.
A monster of an EP, Deep RootsRanch captures the bandโs best side. Itโs built with boot-scootinโ honky tonk and beer-swigginโ stories about finding oneโs place in this life. Thereโs even a 1960s-style string ballad that sounds like something Robert Hunter wouldโve written. Which is on brand because, ultimately, Kentucky Mule is a live experience, as anyone whoโs seen them play can attest.
With skill and ease they follow one another through the songs, sometimes running one tune into another, ร la jam band style. Part of that stems from all members having backgrounds in punk and heavier music, with local psychedelic metal bands like Supernaut and Knuckledragger represented.
Then thereโs also their grateful side.
โBeing a Deadhead [helps],โ Lermini says. โI try not to turn my nose up at anything and be as open as possible to all of it.โ
Itโs a very democratic take on music, which makes sense considering the bandโs punk rock background. Someone not familiar with the genres might not think country and punk (or metal) have much in common, but theyโd be wrong. All began as music โof the people, by the people and for the people,โ with songs about everyday life and struggles.
Itโs a connection not lost on Kentucky Mule and theyโll continue to sing their true stories whether they make it in Nashville or not.
โCountry music is supposed to be the voice of the average person,โ Tidwell says. โBut the popular option for country today isnโt giving people that voice. The more you move away from that and corporatize what was supposed to be the music of the masses, somethingโs definitely off.โ
Kentucky Mule opens for The Sam Chase & The Untraditional July 27 at Moeโs Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $20/adv, $25/door. 479-1854.
Aries singer-songwriter Lady Gaga has written many songs, both for herself and other artists. She has famously declared that some of her most successful songs took her just 10 minutes to compose. They include โJust Dance,โ โPoker Faceโ and โBorn This Way.โ According to my interpretation of the astrological omens, you could be rising to Lady Gaga levels of creativity in your own sphere during the coming weeks. And I wonโt be surprised if your imaginative innovations flow with expeditious clarity, like Gaga at her most efficient.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
During the winter, some animals hibernate. They enter a state of dormancy, slowing their metabolism, breathing and heart rate. Other animals enter a similar state during the summer, conserving energy when the weather is hot and dry. Itโs called estivation. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, many of you Tauruses would benefit from a modified version of estivation in the next couple of weeks. Youโre in prime time to recharge your energy through deep relaxation and rest.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
The English word โamphibianโ is derived from the Greek term amphibios, which means โliving a double life.โ The original meaning of the English word was โcombining two qualities; having two modes of life,โ though eventually it came to be used primarily to describe animals that function well on both land and in water. You Geminis are of course the most amphibious of all the astrological tribes. You can feel at home in a variety of situations. This may sometimes stir up confusion, but I see it as one of your greatest potential strengths. In the coming weeks, I hope you enjoy it to the maximum. It should serve you well. Wield it to take advantage of the sweet perks of versatility.
CANCER June 21-July 22
I dreamed that a young elephant appeared on the back deck of my house and stuck its trunk through the open sliding glass door. I got up from my chair and gently pushed the animal away, then closed the door. But after I woke up, I was sorry I had done that in my dream. What was I afraid of? The elephant posed no dangerโand may have been a good omen. In some cultures, elephants in dreams and visions are symbols of good luck, vitality, long life and the removal of obstacles. So hereโs what I did. I dropped into a deep meditative state and reimagined the dream. This time, I welcomed the creature into my home. I gave her the name Beatrice. We wrestled playfully and had fun playing with a red rubber ball. Amazingly, later that day, a certain obstacle in my actual waking life magically disappeared. The moral of the story, my fellow Cancerian: Welcome the elephant.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
Some bamboo species grow very quicklyโas much as 36 inches per day. I suspect your capacity to burgeon and blossom will display a similar vigor in the coming weeks. You may be surprised at how dramatic your development is. Iโm hoping, of course, that you will be acutely focused on channeling your fertility in positive ways. Donโt feed an urge to recklessly gamble, for instance. Donโt pursue connections with influences that are no damn good for you. Instead, decide right now what areas of your life you want to be the beneficiaries of your growth spurt. Choose the beauty and power you will encourage to ripen.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
For months, we heard and saw crows pecking on the roof of our rental house. Why? Were they grubbing for food? It was mildly annoying, but seemingly no big deal. Then one night, their small, regular acts of mayhem climaxed in an unexpected event. Rain began to fall around 8pm. It was constant, though not heavy. At 9, the ceilings in five rooms began to leak. By 10:30, our house was flooded. We managed to rescue most of our precious items, but the house was damaged. We had to find a new place to live. I donโt expect anything nearly this drastic to befall you, dear Virgo. But I do encourage you to check to see if any small problem is gradually growing bigger. Now is a favorable time to intervene and forestall an unfavorable development.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Two Scottish veterinarians researched the health of rhesus monkeys that are compelled by human handlers to dance on the streets of Islamabad, Pakistan. When I first learned about this, my response was, โWow! Donโt those doctors have anything better to do? That is the most obscure research I have ever heard of.โ But later, I decided I admired the doctors because they were motivated primarily by compassion. They found the monkeys were under severe stress, and they publicized the fact as a public service. Their work will ultimately lead to better treatment of the monkeys. In accordance with astrological omens, Libra, I advise you to seek out comparable ways to express altruism in the coming weeks. By engaging in noble and idealistic acts, you will attract good fortune into your sphere both for yourself and others.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Do you place any limits on how deep and expansive you allow your yearnings to be? Are you ever worried that maybe you desire too much and are at risk of asking for too much? If you answered yes to those questions, Scorpio, I will give you a temporary license to rebel against your wariness. In accordance with astrological rhythms, I authorize you to experiment with feeling the biggest, strongest, wildest longings you have ever felt. Please note that I am not advising you to immediately go out and actually express those longings to the hilt. For now, Iโd like you to simply have the experience of entertaining their full intensity. This will be a healing experience.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
You will never guess the identity of the strongest animal on the planet. Itโs not the gorilla, tiger or elephant. Itโs the dung beetle, which can lug loads that weigh 1,141 times as much as it does. The equivalent for you would be to pull six double-decker buses crammed with people. Iโm happy to inform you that although you wonโt be able to accomplish that feat in the coming weeks, your emotional and spiritual strength will be formidable. You may be surprised at how robust and mighty you are. What do you plan to do with all that power?
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
By age 35, you have already shed over 50 pounds of skin. The flesh that covers you is in a constant state of renewal. In the coming weeks, I expect your rate of regeneration to be even higher than usualโnot only in regard to your skin, but everything else in your life, as well. Hereโs a proviso: Renewal and regeneration are always preceded by withering or dwindling. To enjoy the thrill of revitalization, you must allow the loss of what was once vital but is no longer.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
Among people who go hiking a lot, โdeath marchโ is a term that refers to a long trudge through boring scenery in bad weather. Letโs use this as a metaphor for your life. I believe you have recently finished your own metaphorical version of a โdeath march.โ Any minute now, you will begin a far more enjoyable series of experiences. Get ready for an entertaining meander through interesting terrains in fine weather. Be alert for unpredictable encounters with inspiration and education.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Alex Larenty gives massages to lions at the Lion Park near Johannesburg, South Africa. They especially love foot rubs. Even Jamu, king of the local beasts, rolls onto his back so Larenty can get a good angle while caressing and kneading his paws. I bring this to your attention, Pisces, because itโs a good metaphor for the unique power you will have in the coming days: a knack for dealing successfully with wild influences and elemental powers through the magic of kindness, affection and service.
Ask hardcore fans about the Big Four, and theyโll list Dr. Know, Agression, Ill Repute and Stรคlรคg 13โbands from Oxnard that popularized the โnardcoreโ (a combination of hardcore and Oxnard) sound of the โ80s. Yet, despite their 1984 debut album, In Control, being a modern genre classic, Stรคlรคg 13 broke up only a year later when their tour fell through. They reunited in 2003 for several years and even got a new singer (with original vocalist Ron Bairdโs blessing) when the latter decided to stop touring. Now, Baird is back with the boys, making Holding On Vol. 1โa brand-new banger of an album dropped last March like Danny Way from a helicopter. MAT WEIR
INFO: 7pm, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $13/adv, $17/door. 423-7117.
SALSA
MERIDIAN BROTHERS
Launched in Bogotรก, Colombia, in 1998, Meridian Brothers are known for their brand of psychedelia-tinged tropicรกlia. In some ways, Meridian Brothers is as much a sociological project as a dance music outfit. The prolific group has released 11 albums since its inception. Meridian Brothersโ latest release (available digitally, on vinyl and even on cassette) is presented as a self-titled collaboration with El Grupo Renacimiento, a legendary (in the literal sense of that word) salsa dura group from the โ70s. The album features lyrics that explore and address real-life, street-level concerns: addiction, social marginalization, police brutality and class struggles. BILL KOPP
Americana, rock โnโ roll and the blues walk into a bar . . . and Paul Thorn and Band are there waiting to play all three. Country music might have been taking a quick whiz in the bathroom, but itโll also be a part of the fun. Songs like โItโs a Great Day to Whup Somebodyโs Assโ and โI Donโt Like Half the Folks I Loveโ have a certain down-home country twang. Thornโs band is made up of guys who really know their stuff, and their music is made for rocking out with a cold one in one hand and a hot date in the other. JESSICA IRISH
INFO: 7:30pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $32. 423-1854.
SATURDAY 7/27
HARDCORE
Death Lens plays the Catalyst
DEATH LENS
Death Lens combines the best of punk rock and shoegaze as their foundation, then adds the chaos of hardcore shows to their performances. Once the band revs up, nothing can stop them. To see them live is to be embraced into turmoil, energy and community, and attendees can now expect a broader range of sounds as they incorporate songs from their latest album into their setlist. The shows make space to experience an emotional release from a world that constantly pushes people down, encouraging hope for a better future. Death Lens is unapologetically themselves, expressive punk rockers who keep evolving and speaking on the reality of the world while highlighting community and inspiring positive change. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
Minneapolis-based singer/songwriter Mason Jennings is full of surprises. The folk rocker has played in the synth-pop band Painted Shield and released an album of heavy metal covers, exploring the music he grew up onโall while writing and recording over a dozen albums of the storytelling folk songs he is most known and loved for. On Saturday, Jennings brings his folk band and probably a few surprises to Felton. Another artist known to spin tales in his songs, acoustic balladeer Jack Symes, will be opening the show. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
Jan Harwood spent her career years as a psychiatric social worker. Since retiring, she has turned her energies toward writing. Her sharply satirical songs are written for the Raging Grannies, a troupe of vocalists dressed in old-timey โgrannyโ gear. (Theyโre also part of the pioneering, century-old Womenโs International League for Peace and Freedom.) Harwood has also written poetry books, childrenโs books and two mystery novels. Her seemingly unending wellspring of creativity is celebrated with a signing for her latest, Patchwork: True Stories from My Life, a richly varied memoir of tales from the 93-year-oldโs fascinating journey. BK
INFO: 2pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.
MONDAY 7/29
JAZZ
CLรUDIA VILLELA QUINTET
JazzTimes magazine described Clรกudia Villela as a โBrazilian-born genius with a blistering voice.โ Now based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the singer, pianist and composer with a five-octave voice that has made her one of the most in-demand guest artists in jazz circles will perform her signature mix of samba, jazz and blues covers and original compositions. The Clรกudia Villela Quintet also features saxophonist Gary Meek, guitarist Jeff Buenz, bassist Gary Brown and drummer Celso Alberti. KLJ
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $36.75/adv, $42/door. 427-2227.
TUESDAY 7/30
PSYCHEDELIC
Gary Wilson plays Moe’s Alley
GARY WILSON
Before the Flaming Lips danced around in rainbow and mushroom costumes while singing about fighting robots, Gary Wilson was onstage hanging out with blow-up dolls and bandmates in monkey costumes. Wilson is freaky, wearing wigs of every color, shape and quality (read: some of them are pretty ratty), using duct tape and fake blood, and singing songs that would make Ariel Pink jealous. Heโs been doing his thing since the โ70s and is pretty open about how LSD has informed his creative approach. Heโs a rebel in his industry, pushing the boundaries of performance while making music thatโs, put simply, very good. JI
Before The Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, there was Hamlet. After 424 years, it still stands as the ultimateโnay, the archetypeโof political dramas with murder, betrayal, revenge, madness and humanityโs struggle. โTo be, or not to be,โ โto thine own self be true,โ and โthere are more things in heaven and earthโ all took root in the Western vernacular and continue to flourish today. Indeed, no drama is more timeless than that of the Prince of Denmark. The show, directed by Susan Dalian, runs through August 31, so thereโs time to realize something is rotten in the state of Denmark. But donโt worry, though this be madness, yet there is method in it. MW
INFO: 2pm, Audrey Stanley Grove, 501 Upper Park Rd., Santa Cruz. $5-$50. 460-6399.
Watching the Biden announcement on social media in real time, followed by the ascension of Kamala Harris to the top of the ticket, was a rather dizzying affair.
First came the despair: everybody took it as a major defeat. But then, within minutes, came the flood of endorsements by Democratic leaders from across the spectrum: the Clintons, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ilhan Omar, and on and on.
On top of that, the Republicans, led by Donald Trump, were flailing, clearly caught by surprise even though people had been talking about this possibility for weeks. And within an hour, it was already clear that the campaign had been re-energized. Hope was restored. Some measure of it, anyway.
Given the vice presidentโs pedigree and background, this might seem somewhat surprising. Harris is a middle-of-the-road Democrat, and such people are supposedly politically toxic these days. And, like most middle-of-the-road Democrats, she has throughout her political career tended to equivocate and โflip-flop.โ Thatโs as true of her stance(s) on cannabis as it is of any other topic.
But โflip-floppingโ isnโt always a bad thing. We want politicians to have principles, but we also want them to be flexible and to change with the times. This is an inherent tension in democratic politics, but itโs a needed one.
Within that tension, the work of governing gets done. Itโs where compromise happens, and compromise is needed in a democracy, or itโs not a democracy. But itโs not easy: flip-flop too much, especially on core principles, and youโre ineffective. Stick to your principles regardless of social change or your constituentsโ desires, and youโre even more so.
Cannabis policy, as important as it is (especially to people it directly affects) most often isnโt a core principle. โNot throwing people in jail for possessing weedโ is a core principle, but beyond that, everything about cannabis is open to debate.
Harris has, in the past, shown signs that this wasnโt a principle for her. But as with Joe Biden and the Democratic Party as a whole, she has evolved on the issue, as on other issues. Meanwhile, the Trump administration did nothing on weed and in fact (likely at the behest of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell) rolled back and blocked some reforms.
Recall that Biden was once one of the most stalwart drug warriors in Congress. He spent most of his career opposing any kind of reform. He repeatedly referred to weed as a โgateway drug,โ and he did that even after the theory had been roundly debunked. (Pot doesnโt โlead toโ the use of stronger drugs like heroin for most people. Or, when it does, itโs just because pot is the most widely available and safest illegal substance.) Now, Biden seems at least open to decriminalization at the federal level and maybe even full legalization.
Harrisโs evolution is at least equally pronounced. As a prosecutor in California at both the state and local levels, she got just short of 2,000 people convicted for cannabis crimes (it was, after all, her job; yet she seemed to go at it with vigor). But Harris is now fully on board with Bidenโs stances, and she was instrumental in getting pot reclassified so that it will become Schedule III drug rather than a Schedule I drug.
Harris hasnโt weighed in on full legalization, but at least some observers are saying that sheโll likely come out in favor during the campaign. Sheโs no fool, and she realizes that sheโll gain a lot of votes for it, and lose very few if any at all.
โNo one should be in prison simply for smoking weed,โ she has recently said, echoing Biden. The implication of this, of course, is that it shouldnโt be illegal, or at least shouldnโt be a criminal offense. As rescheduling was being worked on, she repeatedly called potโs Schedule I classification โabsurdโ and โunfair,โ most auspiciously at a White House event on the subject in March, which she hosted along with rapper Fat Joe.
The important thing for cannabis advocates to remember, even if they think of Harris as a โcopโ (which many do), is that she, like Biden, would be way better on this issueโand all issuesโthan Donald Trump would be. Authoritarian governments donโt tend to be reformers.
Authentically Italian, from the vibes and welcoming service to the food and dรฉcor, Lago Di Como seeks to transport guests straight to Italy upon walking through its doors. Co-owner Lindsay Rodriguez and her husband, Matteo, partnered with executive chef and founder Giovanni a year ago, and she says their complementary skill sets make a perfect match.
Rodriguezโs industry career is extensive and international; she was a server during college in San Francisco before studying and serving/bartending abroad in France and Spain. She then returned to Santa Cruz and managed several local spots before taking the ownership dive with Lago Di Como.
The menu blends northern and southern Italian cuisines with a nod to Sardinia, best begun with appetizers like the fritto misto, with local calamari and large head-on white shrimp, and the smoked beef carpaccio, with caperberries, shaved parmesan and balsamic reduction.
A flagship entrรฉe is the branzino, a whole Mediterranean sea bass marinated in fresh herbs and baked in a wood-fired oven. A ruffled-edge macaroni served with sautรฉed guanciale and fresh local artichokes is another favorite, as is the bone-in, dry-aged porterhouse steak.
The menuโs authenticity ends with the seada, a classic not-too-sweet Sardinian dessert of pastry dough filled with soft, fresh pecorino then flash-fried and drizzled with honey.
How would you compare service here and abroad?
LINDSAY RODRIGUEZ: I think the difference is that in Europe, service is more customer-driven. Itโs not as much about fostering a personal relationship; itโs more about creating an experience and facilitating an amazing time. Itโs really not about the server, and can be very humbling in that sense. Being an American abroad in the service industry, I found people really responded to my kindness, warmth and American-driven sense of personal customer service.
Tell me about your concept.
What weโre going for here is bringing a genuine Italian experience to Santa Cruz that most people wouldnโt find outside of Italy. Our menu changes frequently, but we always feature scratch-made in-house pasta as well as traditional, popular dishes in Italy that arenโt often found in the U.S. We have nightly diverse and seasonal specials, as well as an extensive and eclectic Italian-focused wine list that is unrivaled locally.
Dark on Tuesdays, hours are 5-9:30pm. 21490 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, 831-454-8257; lagodicomoristorante.com
The upcoming Strawberry Festival isnโt the only thing zinging in Watsonville
Some berry fun facts for your consideration. Strawberries arenโt technically berriesโtheyโre whatโs called an aggregate fruit.
Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside. Each strawberry has about 200.
Strawberries are the largest and most valuable crop in the Pajaro Valley.
Then thereโs perhaps the funnest strawberry fact of the summer: The Watsonville Strawberry Festival takes over the heart of the Dubvilleโs downtown Aug. 2-4.
That means strawberry tacos and strawberry tamales, strawberry pizza and strawberry paletas, strawberry shortcake and strawberry churros, plus strawberry twinkies, strawberry waffles and strawberry smoothies.
Oh, and live music, dance performances, carnival rides, fun runs and zero admission.
The weekend originally came about in 1994 to help fund recovery from the Loma Prieta earthquake. The event continues to provide a swath of nonprofit organizations like Friends of Watsonville Parks and Community Services and the Rotary Club of Freedom the opportunity to raise funds forโand public awareness ofโtheir work.
So the Romans were onto something when they assigned medicinal powers to the singular strawberry.
WHILE WEโRE HERE
By working with the city and the Chamber of Commerce, Watsonville Public House (625 Main St.) helped create a local beer and cider showcase in the Strawberry Festivalโs adult beverage area. The Public House, Santa Cruz Cider, Fruition Brewing and Buena Vista will all pour, helping raise money for the nonprofit CoC.
WPH will also be featured at โBeer with Friendsโ this Friday, July 26, at Lupulo (233 Cathcart St., Santa Cruz), when WPH pointman Robby Olsen will be there talking beer, and Lupolo will have three of Public House beers on tap.
Meanwhile, back in Watsonville, Olsen et al. are building out their events calendar with bands, karaoke, salsa dancing (with a live band) and line dancing nights. watsonville.pub
PROOF POSITIVE
Venus Spirits could rest on its laurels, including Best of Class, Double Gold and Best Other Agave Spirits at the Sunset International Spirits Competition for its El Ladrรณn Yolo. Instead it keeps swirling a brisk calendar. This week presents a biggie, as Venus Spirits Cocktails & Kitchen Westside (400 High Road, Santa Cruz) celebrates 10 years of craft distilling with five hours of block party programming noon-5pm on July 27: A special anniversary menu lines up smash burgers, lobster rolls, and oysters; the Frans Lanting Studio and Gallery hosts a mid-summer open house with celebrated nature photographer Lanting and his partner Chris Eckstrom; two stages present live music from Rodeo Gulch and DJ sets by Techno Tony, with further music curated by Redwood Records; Independent, Mob Grip, Bronson and Slime Balls present a five-obstacle skate contest with free entry and cash prizes; a Vendor Village brims with unique local finds; and Group Open Air Training leads a free cycling class. Bonus note: Venus Beachside (131 Esplanade) is now open additional hoursโ5-9pm Monday-Tuesdayโin Aptos. venusspirits.com
TURBO TASTES
Farmers market coffee roaster Hidden Fortress has opened a new outpost in Santa Cruz, inside Cruzio coworking space (877 Cedar St.), hiddenfortresscoffee.comโฆNow until Aug. 8, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk does special summer promotions on the daily: Mondays and Tuesdays mean free live music; Wednesdays and Thursdays welcome in magicians and acrobats; Fridays roll out free movies on the beach; and Saturdays and Sundays drop a DJ dance party, beachboardwalk.comโฆUnfun fact: Bottled water is the best selling beverage on Earth, which is wackโฆGround us, please, legendary oceanographer/anti-plastic pollution advocate Sylvia Earle: โIt is the worst of times, but it is the best of times, because we still have a chance.โ
I wasnโt looking for a new way to spend time and money, but then this link crossed my laptop: โDiscover the benefits of red light therapy in helping to preserve youthfulness.โ
They had me at youthfulness, and since the email came from a trusted source, I clicked.
The article described a laundry list of conditions said to improve through red light exposure, ranging from mending torn muscles and wrinkled skin to reducing depression and inflammation.
It sounded too good to be true, yet the news was compelling. In July of last year, a study published by the National Library of Medicine was headlined โReverse skin aging signs by red light photobiomodulationโโaka red light therapy.
So I did a local search for red light therapy in Santa Cruz, and up came the only result: Santa Cruz Light Therapy, with a special for new clients. I signed up for three sessions.
I arrived at an inconspicuous building across from the Shopperโs Corner parking lot. One of the co-owners, Julie Bettencourt, asked what I knew about red light therapy. She was eager to fill me in, sharing her personal story of healing. She says it started with a trip to the vet when her dog tore an Achilles tendonโwhich, thanks to the use of red light therapy, healed quickly.
Bettencourt remembered the therapy when she tore her meniscus, prompting her to invest in a hand-held device. In a string of coincidences, she learned her friend Donna Cherie was dealing with a similar tear. Cherie, a licensed aesthetician, had recently seen LightStim red light therapy beds on display at a trade show. After they compared notes, they formed a partnership and set up shop.
And now here I was ready to lie face down on the clear acrylic panel resembling a red-hued tanning bed with a massage-style face cradle extending from the top.
Forty very warm minutes later, I sat up and noticed right away that my right mousing arm no longer hurt. It was a pleasant surprise.
The next day another shopper at New Leaf remarked on my healthy glow, nodding at the bunch of kale I was holding.
Duly encouraged, I wondered whether other people were on to the red light approach. I began asking around, and eventually I connected with Adora Deva, the former partner of Mellen Thomas Benedict, whom she calls the inventor of red light therapy.
Adora first met Mellen in Los Gatos in 2006, when she agreed to participate in a research trial on wrinkle reduction. The technology wasnโt all she was interested in, and the two began dating in 2007. For the next ten years Deva worked closely with Mellen, assisting him as he traveled the world sharing the findings, lecturing on the mechanics and developing more prototypes.
Eventually a larger company bought the prototype, now named Dreamspa, and added two features to the original design: a sound option for brain balance, and gamma wave. And the research continues.
This same machine was just tested by Dr. Peter Newsomโs team at Stanford to study the healing effects of gamma waves on brain fog and long Covid. Meanwhile one prominent LA aesthetician, Dr. Michael Galitzer, relies on it for celebrity wrinkle reduction.
Since Mellenโs passing in 2019, Adora has stayed true to the work. Today she uses several of the machines in her business, Life Spirit Healing. Along with the original light chair, Deva combines treatments using near infrared technology and red and blue light therapy. Depending on the clientโs needs, she uses different lights to treat a range of issues from anxiety and depression to acne and joint pain.
Deva explains that light โbathes our connective tissue. Itโs fiber optic so it carries the light to the mitochondrial level, producing ATP, the life source. Mellen was 20 to 25 years ahead of his time.โ
Although the technology is now gaining traction for not only anti-aging but also a whole host of inflammation-related issues, it has decades-old roots in Santa Cruz.
The light therapy practitioners I spoke with are more than proponents of the technology. Itโs not a stretch to use the word enamored. And with good reason: They and their clients find it works. How often, for how long? Those questions seem based on the individual, but for now, Iโm looking forward to my next session.
Any minute now the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music will start filling the Civic Auditorium with what Music Director Cristian Mฤcelaru calls โtomorrowโs music.โ Always impossible to characterize, this festival is known for chance-taking surprises, for music youโve never heard of.
This season, Music as Movement, strongly highlights the journeys of tribes, individuals, nations transmuted into world premieres by young living composers. The theme of movement will also play itself out through an experimental commission called Creative Lab.
Embodying the spirit of this season, the inaugural Creative Lab project, Parhelion, will play with acoustical architecture, special visual design interwoven with vocals and heightened sonics.
I spoke with Riley Nicholson, the festivalโs new executive director, about his expectations for this season, and also with composer Bora Yoon and video programmer Joshue Ott about their immersive collaboration, Parhelion.
THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
WEARING MANY HATS Executive director Riley Nicholson works collaboratively with the music director and the board. Photo: Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
Riley Nicholson, well-known as a pianist and composer in the Bay Area, has most recently led the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas in expanding its offerings in living music, before being tapped last autumn as our festivalโs executive director.
Can you tell us a little about Creative Lab?
Riley Nicholson: The Creative Lab is a new commission, but something more. With a typical commission, composers deliver a score, they maybe have a conversation with [music director] Cristi, and then they collaborate during rehearsals, which is beautiful and wonderful, but we wanted to take it a step further. We wanted to give the composer even more creative and curatorial control over the entire experience, the latitude to design an entire experience and not just notes on a page. In a way, this is beyond the orchestra.
Bora Yoon is really interested in technology and multimedia and creating an experience through production design, and we told her, hereโs the orchestra, hereโs the hall, itโs your play space. So, for example, at one point Boraโs placing some of the musicians around the entire perimeter of the venue. Thereโs a strong spatial aspect to this piece. And her producer Annie March will be working with our production team to think about lighting design, and there might be some props and projections and things like that.
What fills most of your time as incoming executive director?
Nicholson: Itโs a little bit of everything, especially wearing many hats, which is often the case with nonprofits. So itโs very, very collaborative. I have my hands in all the different buckets, and thatโs good, because itโs my job to be able to zoom in and zoom out. I need to be able to see the big picture, see where weโre headed, see maybe threats in the future, opportunities in the future, but also be able to manage the mechanics of the everyday administrative operations and subtly shift those over time to get us where we need to go.
Thatโs kind of the most exciting and most challenging thing, being able to do the little pieces and get your hands dirty, so to speak, but also work collaboratively with the music director and the board to really think big picture about the organization. And of course a big piece of that is fundraising. Fine tuning this season was a great test run of our collaborative relationship, finding ways to craft the season together. But itโs still very much Cristiโs vision.
THE COMPOSER
Bora Yoon: “Everybody shudders when you say electronics, But I also think that it can be tastefully done.” borayoon.com
Korean-American composer and sound artist Bora Yoon brings her commissioned work to the Aug. 10 concert: Parhelion, an immersive sound experience work in collaboration with Joshue Ottโs Interval Studios and Visual Endeavors for multimedia and visual design.
Talk a little about Creative Lab and what kind of parameters you were given for this commission.
Bora Yoon: Iโm really honored to be asked to be the first composer in this new initiative. And I think itโs also a really exciting time for symphonic new music. I think what the Creative Lab is doing in a post pandemic world is re-envisioning how we see orchestral music moving into the 21st century. It was very much an open invitation to bring my exploratory and kind of adventurous approach to soundscape work. I have worked on theater scores and dance scores. I donโt necessarily always blend them together. But itโs special about when you can bring two seemingly disparate fields together. Everybody shudders when you say electronics, But I also think that it can be tastefully done. Not using electronics for what the orchestra can do, but for the things that are irreplicable in the orchestra, like the sounds of wind or the sounds of water, environmental sounds. Knowing how to balance the acoustic ocean of sound that the orchestra is.
Itโs a challenge scoring for orchestra as well as found, manipulated and digital sound.
Yoon: I understand the challenge. I actually feel like thatโs maybe why they trusted me because I do have a vast musical language that goes beyond the orchestral world, but I do know the protocols of the orchestral world, how it works. But to be asked to actually synthesize them all skillfully and to make something new was a real challenge.
How did you work with the Civicโs acoustics?
Yoon: This work was proposed two years ago. Last year a piece of mine was performed at the Civic, so I knew the acoustics. And it was great to get to know the festival, understand the space, and the culture of the festival. I was able to compose the work knowing all those things in advance. It was really intelligently planned by Ellen Primack [the festivalโs former, longtime executive director] that way. I got to hear the same conductor and the same ensemble. And knew that all these players are down with doing weird things. Thatโs not always the case for orchestra. But the Cabrillo orchestra players are on the composerโs side. Theyโre totally down to try their adventurous things.
You already have a working relationship with Joshue Ott.
Yoon: Yes, heโs a longtime collaborator, maybe 10 years of working on projects. So I take care of the sound realm and he takes care of the visual realm, with a beautiful custom software that he created himself, called Super Draw. It works in real time, and I remember seeing it for the first time and my jaw just dropped. Itโs gorgeous.
He and I have toured so we already have a working language together, sound worlds to visual worlds. Whenever I compose anything, I truly do think of music very visually. So whether itโs the image of the man, the image of the place that Iโm painting, or whether it’s a narrative, thereโs always some kind of visual component. This is an orchestral commission, but I think of it as a kind of a show sequence with many different vignettes, significant and small vignettes, or scenes and interludes.
What can we expect with Parhelion?
Yoon: The beginning is kind of an acoustic outer space, kind of soundscape of sirening sounds or Doppler effects of sound. Thereโs all these different kind of metals that pulsate at different frequencies. It starts with this cosmos thatโs very open, not necessarily metered. A lot of the instruments that have belled horns, like trumpet and clarinet and my voice thatโs going to come through the microphone, will all be in Doppler effect so the audience is surrounded by acoustical design. Weโll be using the balcony spaces of the Civic to kind of lighthouse the sound, moving from left to right. Then thereโs these kind of brass fanfares that happen throughout the piece, initially as a foreshadowing of whatโs coming. Then weโre going to get much more granular. So we go from light thatโs very pulsating and very distant and aerial to string harmonics and crystalline metal sounds, bells, maybe the sound of writing. The orchestra is going to do this collective breathing. A lot of white sounds.
Iโm using Joshโs visuals as a way to jam with the orchestra. The plan is that the orchestra will continue playing through a particular composed movement thatโs been designed so that the video collaborator can follow the movements of Cristiโs baton, follow the bowings of the violin sections to generate visual graphics. They will be responsive to each other, orchestra and visual design.
And there will be audience engagement in this performance, in the sound of things like the rustling of newspapers, wings, bird calls, to spatialize the sound field. We’ll have little LED diodes so it will look like a vast field of stars. These are all ideas that weโre still talking about in production meetings, but the vision is to get people to be part of the atmospheric experience.
THE DESIGNER
TECHNOLOGIST Joshue Ott says, โIf weโre at our best, we are creating something that is sort of beyond sound or beyond visuals.โ PHOTO: Shannon Greer Photography
Joshue Ott, of Interval Studios and Visual Endeavors is light designer and programmer, and collaborator for Yora Boonโs Parhelion. Ott is a New York-based software designer specializing in time-based interactive experiences.
What got you into a light design?
Joshue Ott: Iโm a creative technologist as well as a visual artist. I went to art school and studied computer graphics. My interest was always in abstraction and abstract forms. And I just started making this visual software. I started going to these weird jam sessions in New York City in the early 2000s where everybody would bring all of their technical toys and jam out together. That was very inspiring. And I got inspired to make my own software. And that piece of software became something that was the source of many, many collaborations, one of which was with Bora. I started making visuals for her. Bora and I have a really nice working relationship, where itโs almost like weโre completing each otherโs creative sentences.
Does your work respond to acoustic prompts?
Ott: Actually it doesnโt. Itโs not actually responding to any audio or anything like that. Itโs completely controlled by a human being. I built it to be an instrument like a violin or a guitar. And my goal was to make it as responsive and as malleable, as the guitar or as a violin. Those instruments are capable of a very wide range of incredible sounds and rhythms. So I wanted to do that with visuals and a computer and abstract art. For Creative Lab Iโve designed the instrument with all these visuals, and Iโm sending a good friend of mine, Nathan Wheeler, who is going to play this instrument.
How is it not a light show? Light shows were freestanding, abstract works of art made of oil, water, and pigment forming the colorful backdrop rock bands. In what way is this different or the same?
Ott: I think itโs actually quite similar. I think thatโs a very good description of whatโs happening, more than just a VJ set. But I think the way itโs different is that I have so much control of the software and the choices that we make can be more extreme. And if itโs doing its job, if weโre at our best, we are creating something that is sort of beyond sound or beyond visuals. It is intertwined in a way that you canโt really take it apart. And at its best, itโs giving the audience more information and more to think about, and a new understanding of what youโre hearing and experiencing.
So the other difference is that my software, SuperDraw, also produces audio. Some of the sections of Parhelion will have audio actually generated by my software that blends with the orchestra. Iโve been doing this for 20 years like I said, itโs changing all the time. Iโm actually working on a new version of the software that may make it to this piece, so Iโm really excited about that.
Itโs all in that same magical place where it goes beyond what a projector does or what theater lighting does. Itโs sort of something new and volumetric that exists outside the space that weโre in. My goal is to bring this ethereal other space into existence through these pieces, through this software. โ
Recently a relative let me know the Good Times awarded the Hippo Tree the weirdest Santa Cruz landmark. โฆ Awesome !!!! I put it together 10 years ago for our grandkids, Big Boy and Mr Kane. I call it a LiBear (cross a mountain lion and bear). I recently brought it back to its original condition. Itโs nice to know that our community gets a kick out of it too. Thanx for joining with me in a little weirdnessโฆโฆ. Ha !
โHodge
FOOTLOOSE HERE
We have a swing dance friend, Thorin, who approached the City of SC and the SC Wharf people (not sure who) a couple of years ago to find out about renovating the funky stage/dance area near the end of the wharf, near Ollitaโs restaurant. They agreed that if he got a volunteer crew together and provided all the materials to rebuild that old stage, they could use it for events. He and his crew of volunteers did a great job. Thorin has been lugging his equipment out there once a month and teaching free swing dance lessons for a year.
The city decided to rent it for fairly big bucks (I think it may be $60 an hour) to him, and to at least one other group. Everyone who teaches the free lesson and DJs (myself included) do it for the sheer joy of the event, bringing together people of all age groups to dance and chat.
And many people come just to watch. Passersby and tourists always stop to enjoy the event. People often suggest that the dance should be every week!
But itโs all he can do to finance the event once a month. Itโs a really great community event, and Thorin mentioned to us that heโd love some publicity. He said the wharf people are 100% behind him and someone in the city has decided about the $.
This stage made no money for the city prior to Thorinโs renovation, and we think at the very least he should get a good discount. For free would be ideal! People sometimes do leave tips, but not nearly enough to finance the actual cost of having the dance and lessons.
The Philharmonik, a musician currently based in Sacramento, believes that in todayโs music world, there are only two paths to success. โYou either have to have a plethora of talents that you .can use, a very wide skill set,โ he suggests, or you have to have a lot of money so you can bring in people who have that...
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Along with the original light chair, Deva combines treatments using near infrared technology and red and blue light therapy. Depending on the clientโs needs, she uses different lights to treat a range of issues from anxiety and depression to acne and joint pain.
We have a swing dance friend, Thorin, who approached the City of SC and the SC Wharf people...to find out about renovating the funky stage/dance area near the end of the wharf...
