The Editor’s Desk

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The Editor’s Desk
Santa Cruz California editor of good times news media print and web
Brad Kava | Good Times Editor

What do Earth Day and 4/20 have in common? Well, they both celebrate plants, for one thing.

We juggled both this issue with Richard Stockton’s cover story about the surprising history of growing cannabis in Santa Cruz, starting back in the dark ages (not that long ago, really) when it was illegal.

Richard writes about our own “Johnny Appleweed,” who spread seeds of a high potency strain of weed that you can still find today.

So how do you water your weed? Gardening expert Jillian Steinberger lets us know about greywater and how to use it safely.

The ebb and flow of California life is constant. We go from floods to droughts and too often manage to forget the one we’re not in. Saving water even when you’ve had a wet winter is still a great thing.

We lost a great alternative market and gain a midtown restaurant open on Mondays. Check Mark Anderson’s dining column for details.

Feeling musical? We’ve got Johnny Copeland’s daughter in town, Shemekia and Christina Waters previewing a Dance of the Living Composers to name two local concerts.

Our former county clerk and now state representative Gail Pellerin is pushing a bill to make the banana slug our state slug. Who knew we had a state slug? It’s a way to get kids interested in government and the environment, she says.

And, no, Blossoms Farmacy isn’t spelled incorrectly. It’s a play on the fact that these growers use herbs for wellness. Read it in Elizabeth Borelli’s weekly Health and Wellness column.

The teen fashion show is a teen now. It shows this weekend. Check out Morgan Guerra’s story about the latest version.

Should West Cliff be one way? Apparently not, according to the city council. Check Josué Monroy’s story for details.

Next week we will take on the elephant in the room, the giant proposed complex planned by the clock tower, which could be the county’s tallest building. Our mailbag is already filled with people who hate it. You’ll get the full story here.

Thanks for reading.

BRAD KAVA | EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST

ROLLIN’ ON Behind the scenes, S.C. Boardwalk Ferris wheel gets refurbished for its seasonal performance. Photograph by Ali Eppy

GOOD WORK

On April 17, Watsonville Prep, a Navigator School, will open its doors to the community to host its inaugural Mental Health Fair. “A Walk Towards Mental Health,” which will spotlight mental health resources and services in the Watsonville community. The event is open to the public and will feature raffles, prizes and fun for the whole family. The event is 4- 5:30 p.m, 407 Main St Floor 2, Watsonville.

GOOD IDEA

If you are sad that San Jose’s Comicon shut down, there’s good news. We have a local Surf City Comic Con Saturday at Capitola Mall 10am-6pm with 70 booths and all the comic stuff you love. Great to see that giant empty block of the old Sears building being used for something. Tickets are $10 at Eventbrite.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”
—ROBIN SHARMA

Food as Medicine

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Food as Medicine

Master gardener Delmar McComb’s first job out of college changed the course of his life forever. While working with a former apprentice of the legendary horticulturist Alan Chadwick, he learned the dirty secrets of conventional gardening.

Traditional agriculture relies heavily on a non-renewable and finite energy source for crop cultivation, leading to soil depletion and nutrient loss in food over time.

Searching for answers McCombs turned to a book, Thomkins and Bird’s Secrets of the Soil that completely shifted his thinking. He learned about a method developed one hundred years ago in Germany by Dr. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the modern biodynamic movement.

Turns out even then, industrial farming was on the rise and organic methods were being replaced in the name of science, efficiency, and technology.

Biodynamic farming represents an alternative, a regenerative approach that honors the interconnectedness of all life, and it sparked a redirect Delmar knew he had to follow.

Meanwhile in a small village in Switzerland, Carin Fortin packed up to leave her family of naturopaths, including her grandmother, who founded a hydrocolonic wellness spa in 1928 in the Swiss pre-alps. Her exposure to spa guests from all over the world had sparked a travel bug.

Fortin found her way to New York City where she went to school and worked as a designer. A decade later a midlife crisis sent her packing again, this time across the country to Esalen in Big Sur where she found her way back to her roots as an herbalist and teacher.

This set the stage for the founders of Blossom’s Farm Shop to meet and  bond over a shared belief in farming as a sacred act, and growers as stewards of the land. That was 14 years ago in Bonny Doon, when they built their first homestead.

Sustaining the business model led to three moves over the past 10 years, each to a farm they “cultivated” to biodynamic practice. Eventually with help of angel investors and a farm link they found their home in Aromas. What started on a quarter acre has eventually grown to 45 acres of biodynamically grown medicinal plants and herbs cultivated and served up as Blossom’s signature product line.

At first glance product names like Inner Balance and Inner Light sounded windy, but then a bright green sign caught my eye. It had the word Ashitaba splashed across the top. For a seasoned wellness geek, it’s unusual to find an unfamiliar herb. After hearing the benefits, it sounded amazing but pricey enough to require a bit more research. 

I learned 95% of the herbs used in Blossom’s products are biodynamically grown on their farm. And that Ashitaba is an herb to watch. Native to the Japanese Pacific region where it’s been cultured for centuries for its healing properties, both the leaves and stems are associated with health benefits.

Indeed there are over 450 studies posted on Google Scholar examining every aspect of this herb, most too complicated to easily sink your teeth into.

Carin described an herb known as a beautiful vine with heart shaped leaves and a teardrop root. Dioscera Batatas, also known as the Chinese Yam or Lightyam, is used in traditional Chinese medicine to impart light to the body. Even Rudolf Steiner called it “uniquely beneficial to modern humans”.

The following week I returned to the market to treat myself to some ashitaba. I bought a small bag I’ve already started adding to my green tea. It certainly tastes nutritious.

As Carin says, “Food is medicine”. By working in harmony with nature, biodynamic farmers produce foods and herbal medicines imbued with vitality, flavor, and nutritional value.

Look for Bloom Farm store’s open house every Friday and Saturday 9am-noon, www.blossomsfarm.com

High Fashion Trash

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High Fashion Trash

Glitz and Glam are swapped with empty bottles and food wrappers in this upcoming Santa Cruz fashion show at The Rio on Friday. 

 Santa Cruz teens will take the runway dressed in recycled chic, embracing their creative expression through the FashionTeens program. In this program, students design and construct a garment over several weeks and present it in a fashion show open to the general public. 

A Loofah gown, crushed iPhone corset, and soda can vest are some of the outlandish pieces that will take the stage. Every piece showcased will be made from upcycled materials, with the focus on sustainability.

Kathleen Crocetti, a Mission Hill Middle School art teacher, started the program 13 years ago, teaching students sewing skills and creative problem-solving. She is also responsible for having students make all of the mosaics over the bridges leading to downtown Santa Cruz and the big murals in Watsonville.

“We partnered with Goodwill, my students and I would walk down there, and they’d give us one item of clothing for free, then we would spend weeks and weeks deconstructing and remaking those items,” says Crocetti.

After crafting something new from the old, they would hold a fashion show at the school, displaying what they’ve learned. The fashion shows got the word spread, and FashionTeens took flight.

“We couldn’t hold it at the school anymore. We didn’t have enough space for the audience that was coming,”says Crocetti. “I would have 100 to 112 students participating.”

While Crocetti hung up her scissors and measuring tape this past June, FashionTeens expanded to include all of Santa Cruz County with Crochetti’s legacy living on.  Thirteen schools now offer the program run by teachers, parents and volunteers. 

Students in 6th-12th grades are given full creative freedom to make their outfits (as much as you can have for a school-sanctioned event, of course), and the products of their hard work are visually exciting and have social and societal implications at times. 

Zuki Tanaka-Kopp,15, is in her third year of FashionTeens, and is jumping into the deep end with her piece called “The Poison of Propaganda”. It consists of a white bedazzled mini dress covered in circuit board shards, old wiring bent into swirls across the breast, shells of iPhones past cinched around the bodice and a computer mouse dangling around the neck.

“It’s supposed to be about the influence of not only TV and Social media, but the government using social media and TV as a tool for propaganda” says Tanaka-Kopp.

The nature of the show isn’t to sell to a consumer or show off the predicted trends of tomorrow, it’s to showcase the hard work of the creative minds and their influential messages. Gehena Rivera, 17, in her first year of FashionTeens, is working on her piece “The Waste We Carry”. A  set of upcycled outfits connected by an umbilical cord of her trash has arguably more meaning than any high-fashion piece on the runway now.

“The concept of it is everything and nothing,” says Rivera. “ We’re all connected, which is both a positive thing and a negative thing”

Nyaumi Candelaria, 16, has been in the program since 6th grade. Growing up in the program, her eyes were opened to critical issues that her peers decided to cover.

“I’ve learned a lot from everyone who takes social justice approaches to their outfits,” Says Candelaria. “Everyone is so passionate about a different subject, and they all incorporate it into their pieces and I think that’s so wonderful that we can learn a lot from each other” 

While the students turn their artistic visions into reality, sewing skills, and new subjects are not the only thing they’re learning. They learn social skills, creative problem-solving, confidence and eco-consciousness.

Audrey Sirota, Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education has witnessed first hand the positive effects that the program has on the children. 

“Exploration of complex social issues, creative problem solving, which is so important in today’s world, and gaining confidence and valuable life skills,” she says.

“It takes a bit of engineering to construct because not all these kids can sew, ” says Tina Brown, a fashion stylist who has worked with FashionsTeens for 10 years.


Marley Bachtel,16, has been in the FashionTeens program since 6th grade. Her skill set has grown, both metaphorically and literally.

“I’ve learned a lot of sewing skills and crafting skills in general, but I’ve also learned a lot of social skills doing this,” says Batches. “With FashionTeens comes a lot of community and trying to navigate through social interactions.

FashionTeens highlights fashion as an art, mode of self-expression, and vessel for change. The youth of Santa Cruz gets to show off all that they have worked for this Friday, at The Rio Theatre.

A Vote For California’s State Slug

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A Vote For California’s State Slug

Gliding across the California redwood, a 10-inch slimy and bright yellow slug has weaved its way into the 2024 California legislative session with Assembly Bill 1850, which would make the banana slug the official state slug. 

A banana slug is a member of the Ariolimacidae family and can be found up and down the California coast from San Diego to Del Norte and, of course, Santa Cruz. They are most prominently found within California and are very beneficial to the state’s plant life.   

The goal of recognizing the banana slug as the official state slug is to help preserve the species. By naming the banana slug the official state slug, California hopes to enhance education, appreciation and research of the banana slug, according to the bill’s text.   

AB1850, authored by Gail Pellerin, (D-Santa Cruz), was introduced in January.  

 “I see this bill as a way of demystifying government and making that connection with civic engagement from a young age,” Pellerin said.  “A lot of kids in our district and actually around the state have been really interested in this bill and kind of following it through the government process and the legislative process.”    

  All over Santa Cruz, the banana slug is a prominent figure; it can be found within the redwood forests and on the UCSC campus. 

  The banana slug is so sacred to the University of California Santa Cruz, that they have made it the campus mascot for more than 25 years, naming it Sammy the Banana Slug.

It is known by pronouns “they/them,” said Scott Hernandez-Jason, UCSC assistant vice chancellor of communication and marketing.

“I think this bill is another way to draw attention to the amazing biodiversity of our state and also at the same time teach people about why the banana slug deserves to be our state slug,”  said Hernandez-Jason.

Unlike some garden slugs, the banana slug is very helpful, said nursery technician at the University of California Davis, Marlene Simon.  “They’re almost kind of like the recyclers and composers of the forest. They’re the good slugs,”  said Simon.

There are multiple species of banana slugs all ranging in size and color.  

“You can find banana slugs all over the redwood forest and it’s really interesting because they eat a little bit of everything, ”said scientist Laura Lalemand of Save the Redwood League. “They’ll eat dead animals, they’ll eat dead vegetation and plant material, and they’ll even eat plants, but they do not eat redwoods.”  

They clean up the environment as they go by nourishing the forest trees by breaking down and composting waste on the forest floors.  Banana slugs can be bright yellow, brown, white and green. In Santa Cruz, yellow is the most common color. 

The state tree of California is the redwood and around California the banana slug can often be found in the nook and crannies of the tree’s branches. They are also known to eat the competing young shoots that go against the redwood species.   

Without banana slugs, there would be no thriving redwood trees and without the moist redwood forest environment,  there would be no slugs.   

“Redwood trees create this nice moist environment that allows the banana slugs to thrive and move around while finding mates,” Lalemand said. “Besides the moisture part of it all, all those nook and cranny places to hide and store food are what make the redwood a great habitat for the banana slug.”  

The banana slug would join other state symbols including the state bat, the pallid bat, and the state mushroom, the Californian Golden Chanterelle. 

Dance and Music Share Stage on Night of the Living Composers

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Dance and Music Share Stage on Night of the Living Composers

New music, new moves, what better way to celebrate spring? NewMusicWorks and Tandy Beal & Company join together for an extraordinary coupling of music and movement featuring premiere scores by seven living composers, plus new choreographies by Tandy Beal—guaranteed to swing and surprise.

On board are world premieres by Philip Collins, Michael McGushin, Cary Nichols and Stan Poplin, and near-premieres by Hyo-shin Na and Matthew Schumacher, plus a vintage 1990s classic by Jon Scoville.

Hats, a suite by composer Jon Scoville commissioned and premiered by NMW in 1997, was written for clarinet, alto and soprano saxophones, violin, cello, double Bass, piano and percussion. Scoville’s luscious creation is described by impresario/composer Phil Collins as “a five-movement suite of infectious jazziness, celebrating styles from the Caribbean to Harlem. With dances choreographed by the one and only Tandy Beal.”

We checked in with local legend Tandy Beal about her ideas for this new and refreshed choreography. “The heart of the project is an insouciant arc of music that Jon made,” Beal responded, “funny, phat, boisterous, with one beautifully lyrical section. Each of these sections takes its name from a particular style of hat.” It all came about, Beal explained, since “we had all been hibernating through Covid. So I opened the invitation to some other wonderful Santa Cruz dancers to share the joy, to remember who we all are and, once again, to be able to share the skills we have. So these are new and tailored to fit the dancers and this music. Nancy and John Lingemann will do one of their gorgeous tangos to Borsalino, for example, and Karl Schaffer directs MoveSpeakSpin with one of his great prop dances with Jane Real, Laurel Shastri and himself.”

Beal said she has “updated a few repertoire works to delight people—hopefully! In these uneasy times,” she mused, “we need a moment to remember the bearable lightness of being, and that an ebullient spirit is what gets us through.”

Musically, this concert is filled with sizzle starting with a stunning piece by Philip Collins for two soprano voices. Another new work combines the incredible chemistry between Stan Poplin’s double bass and Cary Nichols’ electric guitar. Michael McGushin’s world premiere of The World showcases soprano, clarinet and string quartet. Satellites by Matthew Schumacher features piano and electronics. Domestic Counterpoint is a 2024 world premiere by Philip Collins, who describes the work as “a new octet, composed in memory of Judy Foreman” for orchestral ensemble. Many Paradises, a 2024 work by Hyo-shin Na was written for violin, cello and piano. And two more world premieres, one by Michael McGushin for soprano and piano, with text by poet Jane Hirshfield, and another by Philip Collins for two sopranos with text from a Sappho fragment.

And then the house will rock with the movement of Scoville’s Hats, illustrated by Beal’s choreography. The dances include Trash Can Lid, choreographed by Tandy Beal and performed by Keith Cowans and Jane Real; Skimmer, choreographed by Beal, and performed by Raina Sacksteder and Nicolette Kaempf; Mad Cap, performed by MoveSpeakSpin, Jane Real, Karl Schaffer, Laurel Shastri and directed by Karl Schaffer;Borsalino, choreographed and performed by John and Nancy Lingemann; and Flat Hat, choreographed by Tandy Beal and performed by Keith Cowans, Raina Sacksteder, Nicolette Kampf, Jane Real and Saki. Gorgeous stuff for all the senses.

Dance of the Living Composers Saturday, April 20, 7pm, Peace United Church of Christ, newmusicworks.org Tickets: $35 general; $30 seniors; $15 students.

Shemekia Copeland — Soul Truth-Teller

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Shemekia Copeland — Soul Truth-Teller

Shemekia Copeland isn’t sure what to make of the Blues Music Award for Instrumentalist Vocals that she received recently.

Does it mean she’s the best singer in blues, male or female? Or was it another way to honor her after she’d already won 14 BMAs in categories from the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year (the top prize), to Album of the Year and Contemporary Blues Female Artist.

She said she was shocked with the award. “I feel like I’m more of a storyteller than a singer. The one thing I can say is I don’t sound like anybody else. My voice is different. That’s one thing I appreciate about myself,” Copeland said.

Widely considered today’s Queen of the Blues, Copeland is back playing shows this year, bringing her songs and vocals to fans around the country.

But she won’t be playing straight-up traditional blues, at least in terms of subject matter.

“In order for anything to grow, it kind of has to evolve,” Copeland said from her California home in a recent interview. “That’s kind of been what I’ve done for a long time—evolve and grow as an artist so my music can do the same. That’s very important for me.”

That evolution can be heard on Done Come Too Far, Copeland’s album from 2022, which is the final installment of a trilogy that also includes 2018’s America’s Child and 2020’s Grammy-nominated Uncivil War—records that find her reflecting on Black America’s past, present and future.

“It’s always been important to me to sing and talk about things that others don’t,” she said. “I want to be different and I want to talk about what goes on in the world. I’m very much trying to bring people together.”

That’s the aim of searing history-based songs like “Too Far To Be Gone” which addresses the Civil Rights movement with allusions to Rosa Parks, John Lewis and Martin Luther King, Jr., and “Gullah Geechee,” which looks at the ongoing impact of slavery.

When it comes to facing difficulties and having burdens to bear, Copeland believes people should recognize we’re all the same. 

“It shouldn’t be ‘my ancestors went through something worse’ or anything like that. That’s one of the things that gets lost,” she said. “We should all be aware of what others had to endure and be sympathetic. Not just ‘screw you.’”

There are other topical songs on the album as well, like “Pink Turns to Red,” on which she decries the country’s gun violence epidemic, and “The Talk,” about a Black mother talking to her son about an encounter with police—something Copeland will soon have to do with her boy, Johnny.

Done Come Too Far isn’t all serious. There are also a pair of funny songs, a zydeco number and a torch song, “Why Why Why,” that’s a stunning showcase for her voice.

Plus, there’s Copeland’s version of her late father Johnny “Clyde” Copeland’s “Nobody But You,” which can only be heard as a loving nod to her past.

At 8 years old, Shemekia joined her father on stage at New York’s famed Cotton Club and spent her teenage years learning the blues and the business with her dad.

Signed to Alligator Records at 18, Copeland immediately became a blues and R&B sensation, hailed for her vocals, performance and personality. Her 2000 album Wicked garnered the first of her four Grammy nominations and 2005’s The Soul Truth earned eight Blues Music Awards, establishing her as one of the genre’s top artists.

With 12 albums and decades of performing now under her belt, the 44-year-old doesn’t feel like all that much is different decades after she began singing with her dad.

But she said she’s grown up.

“I love that. Aging has been the best thing that’s happened to me. Age and acceptance have been wonderful for me,” she said.

Perhaps the biggest change for Copeland came six years ago, with the birth of Johnny, who’s named for her father. She said wants her son to have confidence, to be himself and love himself unconditionally.

“I really want to make the world a better place for him,” Copeland said. “I want to be the best version of myself I can be for him.”

Her husband, Brian Schultz, who makes the new album on the semi-autobiographical “Fell in Love With a Honky,” grew up in Nebraska, in Scottsbluff. But she said the move has been great for her family and her husband, who says “he’s never going back anywhere it snows.”

Copeland is a steady presence on the live music scene, but maintains a schedule more akin to country acts than hard-touring rock or blues musicians, who commonly play five or six shows a week on tours that last a couple of months or so at a time.

“I don’t consider myself a touring musician,” she said, noting she likes performing on weekends, rather than being out on long tours.

“I love going out and performing. I’m a weekend warrior,” she said.

Things to do in Santa Cruz

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Things to do in Santa Cruz

THURSDAY

RAP

MAK NOVA

Rapper and producer Mak Nova, aka Mak Daddie The Prince, grooves and flows through a whole set before crowds even understand what hit them. With poetic—even mystical—leanings, songs like “Butterfly with Fangs” and “Walkabout” are a wondrous collision of vintage Afrofunk inspiration, modern hip-hop attitude and New Age self-empowerment. Nova’s latest single, “Oh Ah,” finds the rapper in quiet and contemplative territory, with a catchy melody carrying a message everyone can learn from: I make room for my inner child and get the scoop/and if she leads me astray/that’s just the way to the truth. ADDIE MAHMASSANI

INFO: 8pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $17/adv, $22/door. 479-1854.

FRIDAY

THEATER

WHITE SKY, FALLING DRAGON

Take a true story and add a great actor—that’s live theater at its most compelling. Steve “Spike” Wong’s performance is just that in his original play White Sky, Falling Dragon, based on his father’s life, Captain Ernest Wong, USAAF. After WWII service as a bombardier, Capt. Wong returned to his Watsonville home with a secret from the past. The tension between his obligations to his traditional Chinese family and his dreams for the future clash smartly in this cross-genre exploration. What does it mean to come home? Wong has some unforgettable answers to that age-old question. Fasten seatbelts and enjoy the ride—Wong is a brilliant storyteller. CHRISTINA WATERS

INFO: 7:30pm, Actors’ Theatre, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz. $35. 431-8666.

COUNTRY

LOVE AND THEFT

Country music is having a moment in 2024, and the Chaminade Resort is poised to make it more accessible on the West Coast. Their new series, called Nashville Nights, spotlights local favorites from that Tennessee city where cowboy hats and honky-tonkin’ are part of a regular night out. Nashville staples Love and Theft kicks off the series. They’re a duo of dudes smoking cigarettes,  drinking whiskey and pining for the one that got away—aka all the things that country music is known for. They even opened for Taylor Swift back in her Nashville days! JESSICA IRISH

INFO: 8pm, Chaminade Resort & Spa, 1 Chaminade Lane, Santa Cruz. $65-$75. 475-5600.

SATURDAY

BLUES

SHEMEKIA COPELAND

Known for her electric blues, gospel and R & B sound, Shemekia Copeland is a powerful vocal force. Her songs are chock-full of empowered messages on being an independent woman who understands the complicated truths about living in America, especially as a Black woman. Songs like “Ain’t Got Time for Hate,” “Money Makes You Ugly” and “When A Woman’s Had Enough” showcase her range of electrified emotions, not to mention her incredible vocals. As the daughter of Johnny Copeland, she hails from a lineage of musical talent, yet her songs are undeniably her own. It’ll be a night of dancing. JI

INFO: 7pm, Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9, Felton. $29.50/adv, $32/door. 704-7113.

AMERICANA

JOHANNA LEFEVER

The Santa Cruz mountains are in musician Johanna Lefever’s heart. While life has taken her to Alaska and beyond, she keeps returning to where she grew up to find inspiration and renewal. Saturday’s show at Lille Aeske will be special, not just because of how important the region is to this adventurous songwriter but because she is gearing up to release a second album, a follow-up to 2009’s Restless Heart. It will surely be packed full of lessons she’s learned through her travels. Multi-instrumentalist Cassi Nicholls joins the bill for an enchanting night of clear-voiced song. AM

INFO: 8pm, Lille Aeske Arthouse, 13160 Highway 9, Boulder Creek. $25/adv, $30/door. 703-4183.

FESTIVAL

EARTH DAY 2024

Earth Day began way back in 1970. Since then, the effects of climate change have gotten noticeably worse. So, it matters now more than ever that everyone stays involved in issues that concern the planet. (That should be everyone since everyone lives on this planet!) Earth Day is great for people to gear their priorities toward environmentalism, healthy living and sustainability. It’s also an opportunity to have some fun. In Abbott Square and Downtown Santa Cruz, eco-minded vendors, face paintings, inspirational talks, the Passport Program for kids and an “environmentally-focused” fashion show will add to the festival flair. Plus, local legendary band Coffee Zombie Collective will be playing the hits. Get inspired to be better stewards of our planet. AARON CARNES

INFO: 11:30am, Abbott Square & Downtown Santa Cruz. Free.

SUNDAY

FESTIVAL

SHLY SHLY FEST

As part of the Making California More Trans Than It Already Is Tour (#besttournameoftheyear), Santa Cruz’s dream-pop punks I’ve Never Been Here Before will be joined by June Henry (Kansas freak folk), the Reverent Marigold (Michigan possessed antifolk) and Pighati (sorrowful transfolk from San Francisco) at Shly Shly Music’s first Queer Folk Festival. Shly Shly Music is a new West Coast booking, planning and show promotion outfit highlighting queer artists and community connections. Of course, a tour lineup does not make a festival, so joining the previous four will be Half Calf, along with the Last Arizona, Stink Animal and the Bad Smells, Flat Animal and Rosiemakesjunk. MAT WEIR

INFO: 5pm, SubRosa, 703 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $15. 426-5242.

MONDAY

AMBIENT

LARAAJI

Hard work and productivity aren’t qualities usually associated with soothing, ambient music like that made by multi-instrumentalist Laraaji and his musical collaborator Arji OceAnanda. But the 80-year-old master of the electronic zither has turned out more than 50 albums of atmospheric, soothing sound since his debut in 1978. Studying Eastern mysticism and playing a pawnshop zither on the streets of New York started Laraaji on the path to becoming one of the trailblazers of the chill genre. Laraaji, who also plays piano and mbira, has worked with elite producers like Brian Eno and Bill Laswell. OceAnanda, a trained Reiki healer, joins in on iPad synth and percussion to produce the duo’s signature sound. DAN EMERSON

INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $36.75/adv, $42/door. 427-2227.

METAL

GALACTIC GORE ’24 TOUR

Behold! Three of Earth’s mightiest galactic death metal bands will descend upon Santa Cruz for a night of organ-melting, face-hugging riffs where nobody can hear the screams (read: the back room at the Blue Lagoon). Atoll, Xoth and Atrae Bilis are together on one stage for one Monday that definitely won’t suck. Each band brings a brand of sci-fi-themed death metal, from drifting among the cosmos and galactic empires to postapocalyptic destruction. But hark! Not all is as dark and lost as advertised. Headbangers might find refuge in the songs of A Band of Orcs’ human subservient captives, Grimpire, as they sing about brutal battles, terrible times and their lord, Gzoroth. Ok, maybe “refuge” isn’t the right word . . . MW

INFO: 8pm, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. 423-7117.

Remembering John Sinclair — Poet, Protestor and Pot Activist

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Remembering John Sinclair — Poet, Protestor and Pot Activist

Activist, poet and music manager John Sinclair died last week at 82. He was someone about whom everybody concerned about cannabis reform, of any age, should know.

There’s no doubting Sinclair’s place in the history of American counterculture and the fight for legalizing weed, but for all the lore surrounding him, the best story in which he was involved (if only tangentially) is also perhaps the greatest story in rock-and-roll history.

Between songs during the Who’s set at Woodstock, Abbie Hoffman leaped on the stage and started ranting into a microphone about Sinclair having recently been convicted for possessing a couple of joints and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Hoffman called Woodstock “a pile of shit,” presumably because he thought nobody should be having a good time, what with Sinclair in prison and everything.

“Fuck off my fucking stage!” Who guitarist Pete Townshend yelled at him. What happened next is subject to some dispute, but in the most widely accepted version of the story, Townshend unstrapped his Gibson SG and thwacked Hoffman in the noggin with it before booting him into the crowd with one of his Doc Martens. That job done, Townshend strapped back up and moved on to the next song.

Sadly, none of this was captured on film (supposedly, the makers of the Woodstock movie were changing equipment or something) but there is audio of Townshend yelling. Hoffman always insisted that Townshend had hit him with his guitar accidentally, but there’s no doubt that Townshend was fuming. To be clear, Townshend also thought Sinclair’s conviction was unjust, but, well, at that moment, it was his fucking stage, and he has never been known for suffering fools.

Two years later, Townshend would release what many believe to be his magnum opus, the Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” which can be interpreted at a backlash against the hippie worldview (which Townshend never fully embraced in the first place) or at least against the kind of groupthink and sloganeering that had by that point made the hippies insufferable to a good number of Americans, and not just the straights. But Sinclair was no mere sloganeer.

Also two years later, Sinclair would be released from prison after having served two years for offering a couple of joints to an undercover cop (he wasn’t selling them). His release was in part a result of the outpouring of protest his conviction had sparked, including massive rallies and a song, “John Sinclair,” by John Lennon (like Townshend, Lennon was something of a hippie skeptic despite being largely aligned with the movement’s goals).

Sinclair never stopped fighting for legalization. He was able to claim a kind of victory in 2019 when he became one of the first buyers of legal adult-use weed in Michigan. But a much bigger victory came in the Supreme Court in 1972. Sinclair, who was leader of the White Panther Party, was accused of conspiring to blow up a CIA recruiting office. Sadly for Michigan prosecutors, the high court ruled in the landmark case that warrantless wiretaps were illegal, and the charges were dropped.

Sinclair’s activities and accomplishments are too numerous to list here, but among the highlights: he managed the proto-punk band MC5 in the ’60s, hosted a radio show for years out of Amsterdam, worked on numerous anti-racism campaigns, and was a renowned and prolific poet.

His victory on the pot conviction was also a landmark case in that it came thanks to the Michigan Supreme Court declaring the state’s cannabis laws to be unconstitutional. New laws would be enacted before the War on Drugs reached a fever pitch, but soon after that ruling, Sinclair helped organize the first annual Hash Bash in Ann Arbor, a pro-legalization event that continues to this day.

While “Won’t Get Fooled Again” was well-targeted at figures like Hoffman who were mostly all about self-aggrandizement, it’s important to remember that the movement also included a lot of people like John Sinclair, who walked the walk. His life also offers an object lesson for the many people who seem to think cannabis reform is the only important issue.

Several Adored Eateries Closing

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Several Adored Eateries Closing

“The chapter of Honey B Market is coming to an end,” owner-operator Katie Belanger writes in a social media post. “I have been feeling the full spectrum of emotions about it, but oddly, [I’m] mostly at peace.”

Yes, that qualifies as a buzzdown for fans of her fermentation/natural foods hive at 1005 Cedar St. in Santa Cruz. But there is some good news (beyond the fact she’s welcoming in customers as long as she has inventory): Belanger will continue to supply local grocers with her Funky Bean brand fresh unpasteurized tempeh, and to lead classes on tempeh and sourdough (more at funkybeantempeh.com). Plus, we can always hope a cool tenant takes over.

“I cannot promise what the next chapter will look like,” she adds, “but I can promise that I will continue to create, from my heart, because it’s truly the best medicine for my soul.”

Other notable restaurants are also at various stages of ending and reemergence.

Legendary—and long dark—Bocci’s Cellar (140 Encinal St., Santa Cruz) is for sale for the first time in decades, listed price $1,199,000. “Own a piece of Santa Cruz history!” reads one real estate ad for the 3,200-square-foot Victorian.

Meanwhile, oceanview community favorite Palapas Restaurant & Cantina (21 Seascape Village, Aptos) has new ownership, including chef-owner Trent Lidgey of One Fish Raw Bar in Campbell. Remodeling for the new joint starts May 18. The incoming spot will be called Dos Pescados and work around a revved-up agave-centric cocktail program, raw bar and a new menu with Mexican-style seafood dishes like hamachi collar.

One more opening note: The debut menu at Hook & Line (105 Walnut Ave, Santa Cruz, eathookandline.com), which opened in the former Soif last week, (sea) stars elements like Manresa brioche with cured salmon, whole-fried local rockfish, bouillabaisse, uni toast and oysters. The gleaming rectangular bar area looks great too.

OTHER FISH IN THE SEA

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council decided to close the California ocean salmon fishery for 2024. Meanwhile the shortened crab season—which was limited by the number of traps allowed but served as a lifeline for local fishers—wrapped last week too. One opportunity that all inspires is to support area boats by shopping local and looking for less celebrated—and mighty tasty—catch, like rockfish, halibut and black cod. Get more information online at Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust, where I’m a contributor. montereybayfisheriestrust.org.

GOOD TASTES

Not news: SFMOMA bursts with inspiring art. News to me: Its ground-floor restaurant grace (named after Grace McCann Morley, SFMOMA’s forward-thinking founder; 151 3rd St., San Francisco) does some eye-catching—and palate-pleasing—yummies like spring bisque “cappuccinos,” braised chicken pot pie, salmon en brioche and buckwheat kake-soba noodle bowls, sfmoma.org…Discretion Brewing (2703 41st Ave Ste. A, Soquel) pours $5 pints of a spotlighted craft brew every Monday, discretionbrewing.com…The Midway (1209 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz) is now open Mondays, dishing plates like ricotta-and-nettle mezzelune and chicken liver toast with fennel and hazelnut, themidwaysantacruz.com…Americans now put away 250 million pounds of avocados a year, up from 100 million a decade back. Not bad for what was once marketed as “an alligator pear.”…Like divinity professor Rev. Halford Luccock once said, “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra.”

Seabright Social

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Seabright Social

Two weeks before the first Covid shutdown, Jon Bates and his business partners Jason and Keike bought the iconic Seabright Brewery and rebranded it as Seabright Social. Buying a restaurant/bar just before a pandemic was hardly ideal timing, but the popular neighborhood spot has persevered.

Bates had been working in wine sales, but said he got sick of “living behind a windshield.” Becoming a restaurant owner was the fulfillment of a longtime dream of his, especially in the Santa Cruz community that he loves.

It’s a community gathering place with a modern gastropub feel, family and dog-friendly with a beautiful spacious patio blocks from the beach. The menu is centered on upscale American pub food. Appetizer faves are the smoked and fried chicken wings and the charcuterie Pub Board.

Entrée bests include the fried chicken sandwich, shrimp and grits, and the carnitas or carne asada tacos. A warm-in-a-skillet chocolate chip cookie topped with gelato makes a great punctuation. Open every day, hours are 11:30am-9:00pm (until 9:30pm Fri/Sat).

What was it like buying the restaurant right before Covid?

JON BATES: The hardest thing was opening once we were allowed to in June 2020. Hiring front-of-house was easier, but it was so hard finding cooks because so many had changed professions. We’ve spent the last four years working hard to put the right people in place, be a real restaurant and rebrand, while also respecting the history of the Brewery.

How has the food been elevated?

JB: To start, we invested in a unique high-end oil filtration system that results in all the fried food being really clean. It allows us to filter and clean our oil often, as well as be eco-friendly with recycling it. And I’m so happy to have chef Desmond Schneider on the team, he has brought so much change to our restaurant. The primary menu hasn’t changed much, but the ingredients and purveyors we use have. His passion to make everything from scratch has motivated and improved our kitchen noticeably.

519 Seabright Avenue, Santa Cruz, 831-426-2739; seabrightsocial.com

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Seabright Social

Two weeks before the first Covid shutdown, Jon Bates and his business partners Jason and Keike bought the iconic Seabright Brewery and rebranded it as Seabright Social.
Read more
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