Singer/songwriter Aaron Blyth grew up playing in the surf of Hawaii and tramping about the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, two very different regions of America. Still, both are known for their beauty and their stubbornly independent identities. He split the difference and settled in California, where he’s spent the last decade strumming and singing into microphones, building a following and honing his sound—an eclectic upbeat mix of folk, blues, rock, and even funk, stripped down and set behind his heartfelt and hopeful lyrics. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
INFO: 5:30pm, Discretion Brewing, 2703 41st Ave., Suite A, Soquel. Free. 316-0662.
ROCK
JANE WIEDLIN
Can you hear them? They’re talkin’ about Jane Wiedlin. The legendary guitar player for the 1980s multi-hit group the Go-Go’s is coming to this town (which is our town), Santa Cruz. Presented by Event Santa Cruz along with the Museum of Art and History and author Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, Wiedlin is the first guest in a new series called “Legends Live & Local.” The night kicks off with cocktails and visuals, followed by a candid discussion with Wiedlin about growing up in the Los Angeles punk scene. Then, Wiedlin will perform a special three-song set. Get the beat and finish the night off with a New Wave Rave dance party. MAT WEIR
INFO 6:30pm, Santa Cruz Museum Art & History, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. $33-$54. 429-1964.
FRIDAY 7/18
INDIE ROCK
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE
Philly-born Spirit of the Beehive combine a standard rock band setup with a well-constructed pool of samples to create a lush, almost symphonic, psychedelic sound. They are wildly experimental with touches of ambient veering into noise, complementing their core shoegaze-indie-rock sound. The finishing touch is their richly textured voices, earthy and ghostly all at once. Bass player Rivka Ravede has a voice that’s easy to imagine being conjured by laying a microphone on a Ouija board and asking the right questions. They’re joined by Her New Knife and Sour Widows. KLJ
In a magical forest filled with meddling fairies, love triangles and enthusiastic thespians, and peppered with quippy dialogue and whimsy, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream remains a classic for a reason. The play brings a lot of laughter in the interplay between reality and fantasy, the absurdity of human behavior, and Nick Bottom’s famous transformation into an ass. Although it seems all chaos ensues, the morning brings new clarity, a trio of marriages, and a delightfully amateur play performance—all brought to life by Santa Cruz Shakespeare with direction by Paul Mullins. The show runs through Aug. 31. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 8pm, Audrey Stanley Grove, 501 Upper Park Grove, Santa Cruz. $23-$86. 460-6399.
JAM
CHUM
To the unconverted and unconvinced, the enduring popularity of Phish remains an impenetrable mystery: Didn’t, one might well ask, the Grateful Dead say everything that needed to be said within that particular musical idiom? But for the faithful, the appeal of Phish—who effectively co-opted much of the Dead’s fan base—is beyond question. And while Phish remains active, the foursome from Burlington, Vermont, can’t be everywhere all the time. That helps explain the existence of an estimated 20-40 active Phish tribute bands across the country. And at the head of that pack is San Francisco-based CHUM, pleasing, er, “phans” since 2010. BILL KOPP
Ever think, “Life is excellent? The tap water tastes like excrement. The skies rain poison, but I gotta pay the rent?” Bobby Joe Ebola has and even wrote an incredibly catchy song about this dystopian late-stage capitalist society called, well, “Life Is Excellent.” Formed in 1995 by singer Corbett Redford and Dan Abbott after Redford tried to impress a girl in high school by telling her he had a band (he didn’t), Bobby Joe Ebola is an Americana style rock act with a knack for satirical humor. Their song titles say it all: “This is How We Get Ants,” “Naked Beach Party (On The White House Lawn)” and “Spending Christmas on Crack.” MW
INFO: 8pm, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.
HIGHLIFE
GYEDU-BLAY AMBOLLEY
Ghana-born musician, singer, band leader and composer Gyedu Blay Ambolley is the originator of Simigwa-Do, a hybrid of funk, soul, jazz, proto-rap and West African highlife. Ambolley was among the first artists—perhaps the very first—to bring rap to the mainstream worldwide. His pioneering single “Simigwa-Do” predates the Sugarhill Gang by more than half a decade. A prolific recording artist, Ambolley has released nearly three dozen albums, among which his 1975 debut Simighwa is held in the highest esteem. For his first-ever tour of the U.S., Gyedu Blay Ambolley and his band will perform that landmark work in its entirety. BK
INFO: 7:30pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $70. 427-2227.
TUESDAY 7/22
LITERARY
BRIDGET A. LYONS
The natural world has so much to teach. Lyons asks thoughtful questions about plants and animals while providing a provocative literary examination of them. In doing so, she reveals how all our lives are entangled. The choices humans make impact their lives. Because of this, it is imperative to make choices to preserve the planet. The essays in her new book, Entwined, give room to relate to and build empathy for even the most foreign creatures. Lyons will further discuss how to build empathy for nature. Together, we can find new ways to think about even the most ordinary of animals. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.
WEDNESDAY 7/23
BLUES
PAUL THORN
In true Americana fashion, Paul Thorn takes listeners beat by beat through true stories of love, heartbreak, hardship and humor. Lines about sweeping the floor, eating ice cream with a buddy, or buying a first-date dinner on a 2-for-$20 coupon reveal the beauty in simplicity. The son of a Pentecostal pastor, Thorn includes glimmers of gospel roots in his newest album, Life Is Just a Vapor, which includes guest appearances by New Testament and the Shoal Sisters. Enjoy Thorn’s ruddy voice, rock rhythms and country guitar all mixed with a bit of lyrical encouragement. SN
For the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, the element of fire has profound cultural meanings. It’s a symbol of innovation and inspiration. It’s a mediator between the physical and spiritual worlds and a conduit for communication with the ancestors. Through rituals, fire is a purifying and renewing force that helps people reconnect with their purpose, heal relationships and catalyze positive change in the community. In the coming weeks, Aries, I hope you will be deeply aligned with all these symbolic meanings. What are you ready to ignite for the sake of nurturing and care? What truths need light and heat? What future visions would benefit from surges of luminosity?
TAURUS April 20-May 20
In the Nahuatl language spoken by Indigenous Mexicans, the word nepantla describes an in-between space. It’s a liminal threshold where a transition is in process. The old ways have fallen away, but the new ways are not yet fully formed. It’s unsettling and perhaps confusing, yet seeded with the potential for creative change. I suspect you are now in a state resembling nepantla, Taurus. Please understand that this isn’t a crisis. It’s a chrysalis. Any discomfort you feel is not a sign of failure, but a harbinger of the wisdom and power that will come by molting the identity you have outgrown. I hope you will honor the rawness and speak tenderly to yourself. You are not lost; you are mid-ritual.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
The sea slug Elysia chlorotica is a small, unassuming creature that performs a remarkable feat: It eats algae and steals its chloroplasts, then incorporates them into its own body. For weeks afterward, the slug photosynthesizes sunlight like a plant. I believe, Gemini, that you are doing a metaphorical version of this biological borrowing. Some useful influence or presence you have absorbed from another is integrating into your deeper systems. You’re making it your own now. This isn’t theft, but creative borrowing. You’re not copying; you’re synthesizing and synergizing.
CANCER June 21-July 22
Ancient beekeepers in Anatolia carved hives directly into rock faces, coaxing honey from the cliffs. This practice was designed to protect bees from harsh weather and predators while maximizing honey production. The bees adapted well to their unusual homes. I suspect, Cancerian, that in the coming weeks, your sweetness and bounty may also thrive in unlikely structures. It could take a minute or two for you to adjust, but that won’t be a problem. Your nectar-making instincts will guide you. So I advise you not to wait for the perfect container before beginning your work. Make honey in the best available setting.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
I laughed until I sobbed as you earnestly played the game of love even after the rules had changed. I sighed till I panted as you dredged up a new problem to avoid fixing an overripe hassle. I rolled my eyes until I got dizzy as you tried to figure out the differences between stifling self-control and emancipating self-control. But all that’s in the past, right, Leo? Now I’m preparing to cheer until my voice is raspy as you trade in a dried-up old obsession in favor of a sweet, fresh, productive passion—and outgrow all the fruitless nuisances.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
The ancient scribes of Mesopotamia etched records onto clay tablets with styluses, pressing wedge-shaped marks into wet earth. Once baked, these tablets endured for thousands of years. Some are still readable today. In my astrological assessment, Virgo, you are undergoing a metaphorically comparable process. Messages and expressions that are forming within you are meant to last. They may not win you immediate attention and applause. But you already suspect how crucial they will be to both your own future and the destinies of those you care for. Be bold, decisive and precise as you choose your words.
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Is there any aspect of your life or character that is still unripe even though it is critical to your lifelong journey? Have you held on to your amateur status or remained a bit dilettantish beyond the time when you might have progressed to the next highest level? Are you still a casual dabbler in a field where you could ultimately become masterful? If you answered yes to these queries, now is a perfect moment to kick yourself in the butt and leap to the next level. Waiting around for fate to kick your butt would be a mistake.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
Many astrologers rightfully say that Virgo is the most detail-oriented, meticulous sign. I think you Scorpios may be the most methodical and thorough of all the signs, which means that you, too, can be meticulous and detail-oriented. A prime example is the Scorpio sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917). Eventually, his work became world-renowned, but his career developed gradually because of his painstaking patience and scrupulous devotion to excellence. I propose we make him your role model for now. Inspired by him, resist pressure for immediate results. Trust in the slow, steady refinement process.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
Here are half of your words of power for the coming days: windfall, godsend and boon. The other half are potion, remedy and healing agent. If you’re lucky, and I think you will be, those terms will blend and overlap. The blessings that come your way will be in the form of cures and fixes. I’m being understated here so as to not sound too wildly excited about your immediate future. But I suspect you will wrangle at least one amazing victory over hardship. Your chances of a semi-miraculous visitation by a benevolent intervention are as high as they have ever been.
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
The ancient Chinese character for “listening” contains symbols for ears, eyes and heart. I interpret this to signify that it’s not enough to seek the truth with just one of your faculties. They must all be engaged and working together to get the full story. You are wise to survey the world with your whole being. Keep these meditations in mind during the coming weeks, Capricorn. Your natural inclination is to be practical, take action and get things done. But for now, your main superpower will be listening to everything. So my advice is to listen with your skin. Listen with your breath. Listen with your gut. Let your attention be so complete that the world softens and speaks to you about what you really need to know.
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
If you would like to glide into rapt alignment with astrological rhythms, give gifts to your two closest allies. These offerings should inspire their ambitions, not indulge their cravings to be comfortable. They shouldn’t be practical necessities or consumer fetishes, but rather provocative tools or adult toys. Ideally, they will be imaginative boons that your beloved companions have been shy about asking for or intriguing prods that will help beautify their self-image. Show them you love both the person they are now and the person they are becoming.
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
Piscean photographer Ansel Adams is so renowned that he’s in the International Photography Hall of Fame. We know the moment that his lifelong passion erupted. At age 14, his family gave him a simple camera and took him to Yosemite National Park in California. “The splendor of Yosemite burst upon us, and it was glorious,” he wrote later. “One wonder after another descended upon us. A new era began for me.” In the coming months, I foresee you encountering a comparable turning point, Pisces—a magical interlude awakening you to a marvel that will become an enduring presence in your life. Be alert for it. Better yet, declare your intention to shape events to ensure it happens and you’re ready for it.
Little Uvas Vineyards—or LUV, as it’s called—is a fun place to visit.
On a recent trip there with my Wild Wine Women group, prawn cocktails awaited, followed by a tasty lunch of homemade pizzas—all reasonably priced and delicious, especially paired with Uvas’ excellent wines.
The Little Uvas 2020 Santa Clara Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($40) is one I highly recommend. Bold and bright with flavors of cassis, cranberry and blueberry, it makes a perfect pairing with hearty food.
Named LUV The One You’re With, this Cabernet won a Gold Award at the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition—not an easy feat when up against hundreds of other wines. And in the same competition, the 2020 LUV Bug merlot won Double Gold. Yes, you got it, proprietors and former restaurant owners Rich and Rosy Bergin have given every wine a LUV name, including LUV Me Tender for their chardonnay, and LUV at First Sight for sauvignon blanc.
Little Uvas holds an abundance of wine and food events. And don’t miss taking a stroll around the LUV garage—which also acts as a tasting room in inclement weather—to check out the antique cars and a vintage Airstream. Little Uvas Vineyard, 255 Fitzgerald Ave., San Martin, 408-337-1329. littleuvasvineyards.com
In the Pink
Regan Vineyards Winery has a new rosé which goes by the colorful name of Pink I Am. A tasting of Regan’s wines and “perfectly paired snacks” is $25—and it’s held in a shady gazebo surrounded by thriving grape vines. Proprietor John Bargetto will also give you a tour of his bucolic property. Email him for a reservation at jb*******@******to.com. Regan Vineyards Winery, 1660 Green Valley Road, Watsonville. Open Sundays through November.
Though he lacked direction after high school, Heriberto Dearo-Ortiz says he eventually found purpose as a chef, starting when he took the advice of a teacher to get into the restaurant industry. Initially working in front-of-house, his passion to learn new things eventually latched onto cooking and he found himself wanting to become a chef. So, he applied at the Farm House, a quaint country-themed breakfast/lunch spot in Freedom. Aspiring to work in the kitchen, he began as a dishwasher and ultimately became a chef. He’s now been there for more than two years.
He describes the ambiance as classic meets modern with farm-like feels and a classic American food menu with Mexican influence. Breakfast favorites include chilaquiles, a sort of breakfast nachos with tortilla chips, eggs, queso fresco, pickled onions and red enchilada sauce. They also offer a classic combo breakfast set off with sweet cream pancakes as well as a popular skillet with all the mixed-together breakfast things.
Lunch standouts include the smashed-style Dino Burger filled with pepper jack cheese and complemented by chorizo and jalapeño on a brioche bun, and a Philly cheesesteak with peppers, onions, skirt steak and Swiss cheese parked inside of a French roll. Fresh-made salads are also available with a crowd-pleasing housemade ranch dressing, and dessert choices are carrot cake and churro waffle.
What inspired your transition to back-of-house?
HERIBERTO DEARO-ORTIZ: Starting in restaurants as a busser and then a server, I became very curious about the other side of restaurant work and I wanted to gain the perspective of a chef. And I also wanted to gain the experience of working as a team with other cooks to serve delicious food. Learning to become a chef has really given me the direction and purpose that I was seeking in my life, and I feel that I’m getting closer to what I want to do and where I want to be.
What has becoming a chef taught you?
At first, I just wanted to learn how to cook great food, but learning to become a chef is about so much more than just flipping burgers and pancakes. It has taught me the importance of organization and patience, not just when cooking food but also with coworkers and even myself. And it’s also emphasized how important communication is when running a successful kitchen.
There’s a new nominee for the crown of “Strongest 30-Step Stretch of Santa Cruz Flavor”: the 800 block of 41st Avenue in Capitola.
The short expanse already enjoyed Penny Ice Creamery, the original Verve Coffee, and East Side Eatery (with its sister Pleasure Point Pizza across the street).
ESE, BTW, has some popular promotions dropping every weekday, with curated tasting flights from the full wall of whiskey for Whiskey Wednesday (which is also Wing Wednesday, with deals on chicken too), discounts on apps and drinks for happy hour 3-6pm Monday-Thursday, and Bottomless Mimosa Fridays until 5pm, for $14.
Now the block also offers Mad Yolks’ brand-new second location, which soft-opened last week.
So Capitola can now bask in the drippy-delicious-delirious bounty of Mad Chick, crusted SPAM and breakfast burger egg sandwiches, plus a site-specific breakfast burrito, bespoke iced tea and matcha drinks, dirty tots and loaded salads.
Like their neighbors, co-owners/creators/twin brothers Henry and Peter Wong try to channel the vibe and flavor of a singular neighborhood.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what elements we emphasize to match the location, but our idea is to make it very comfortable, very inviting,” says Peter, who notes live plants and cushy seating indoor and out. “I hear from other surfers that Mad Yolks is a perfect spot to grab a burrito or sandwich after a session—it provides enough calories, isn’t a gut bomb, and is fulfilling and flavorful.”
Davenport Roadhouse—where the address 1 Davenport Ave., Davenport, speaks to its centrality—just announced a sale effective as this publishes (July 16) that hopefully evolves rather than disrupts its solid burger program, nightly specials, happy hour and live music action. Outgoing owners Christopher and Vanessa Chamberlain describe a mix of emotion ranging from “a heavy heart” to optimism for “awesome [new operators] who are very successful with other properties.” “Vanessa and I would like to thank all of you who supported us through this crazy journey,” Christopher writes on Instagram. “The locals here have been some of the best aspects…of this story. You all know who you are. We will miss you. But ultimately, we want to thank our amazing, and epic, staff. We literally would have failed long ago if not for the trust and hard work they all put in…Vanessa and I have always said, ‘We want to be 90 and have stories to tell!’ Well thank you Roadhouse! We have a ton!” More on the new leadership here as it becomes available, davenportroadhouse.com.
PERIODIC TABLE
The foodie fave show Check, Please from KQED is dipping south for its 20th season. Hanloh Thai Food (inside Bad Animal, 1011 Cedar St, Santa Cruz) aired last week with a taste of the double-fried gai tod hat yai. Next it’s Sampa Brazilian Kitchen (841 N Branciforte Ave., Santa Cruz) at 7:30pm on July 17 with moqueca, vegan feijoada, pão de queijo, tropical juices, local beers, and live music on the menu. At Home in Soquel (3101 N Main St., Soquel), Chef Brad Briske takes a break from building out nearby Home Away casual spot (in the former VinoCruz) to craft fried chicken with anchovy aioli and candy cap mushroom panna cotta. That airs 7:30pm July 24, kqed.org/checkplease.
SPEED SNACKS
One highlight among many—including Good Times editor Brad Kava on harmonica for J.A.M. band—at GTSC’s 50th anniversary parking lot party: a sublime Taquizas Gabriel’s “po’ boy” fried shrimp taco from its food truck. Chef’s smooch level, served by El Gabriel himself, tacoscapitola.com…Rexford Wines ( 309 Capitola Ave.) has a second tasting space in the pipeline in Capitola Village, strategically positioned next to La Marea Pizza & Bakery, which used to be Reef Dog Deli, rexfordwinery.com…Homeless Garden Project’s dependably memorable and meaningful Sustain Supper still has tickets left for Saturday, July 19, with gifted Greens chef Katie Reicher on the stove and keynote speaker/author Manjula Martin on the mic, homelessgardenproject.org …Arnold H. Glasow, lead us out through the henhouse: “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”
The young Hawaiian princes were in the water [yesterday], enjoying it hugely and giving interesting exhibitions of surf-board swimming as practiced in their native islands.
—Santa Cruz Daily Surf, Sunday, July 20, 1885
The story of the three Hawaiian princes surfing here in Santa Cruz in the mid-1880s has been woven into local lore. A plaque honoring the royal trio and their exploits in Santa Cruz has been erected at Lighthouse Point, overlooking the fabled surf spot Steamer Lane. A decade ago, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH) staged an exhibit featuring two of the princes’ redwood surfboards (shaped here in Santa Cruz and buried in the basement of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu for decades) that proved to be the most attended show ever held at the local museum.
Now, there’s an even bigger historical set outside—and it will be breaking this week right here in Surf City.
Beginning at 7pm Friday and running into January 2026, the MAH will be hosting the largest surfing exhibit of its kind ever mounted anywhere in the world: Heʻe Nalu Santa Cruz.
The exhibit will feature more than 50 surfboards—many of which were produced by world-renown shaper Bob Pearson—including precise replicas of the two boards ridden by the princes here in Santa Cruz; the oldest known surfing artifact, a 16-foot, 240-pound wooden plank ridden in the 1830s by Hawaiian high chief Abner Paki (1808-1855); and a much more delicate board ridden by the Hawaiian princess Victoria Kaʻiulani (1875-1899).
The exhibit traces the history of surfing in Santa Cruz through the 20th century and features many contemporary boards designed by Pearson and ridden during the making of the Hollywood feature film Chasing Mavericks, which chronicled the life—and tragic death—of Santa Cruz surfing legend Jay Moriarty.
“I’m so passionate about surfing,” says an animated Pearson. “I made these boards to help tell the story of the beautiful Hawaiians who brought us the Sport of Kings, who made my life so much better and so much of my friends’ lives better. They brought us the surfing culture that is thriving. They brought us this, made us this. To be a part of it, I’m stoked! This entire story and the exhibit [at MAH] has us all just fired up, energy positive. Everybody is in this, and it’s family. Like the Hawaiians say, Ohana. Ohana. This is love, this is unreal.”
BY THE SEA The main Santa Cruz beach, painted by nationally known artist A.I. Keller a few years after the Three Princes’ arrival, illustrates the ways in which locals engaged ‘surf line’ during that era. Bathers hung on to ‘swim lines’ extending into the water to protect them from breakers. PHOTO: Geoffrey Dunn collection
RIDING THE FIRST WAVES
Based on decades of research first presented in Good Times more than a dozen years ago and enhanced by several findings since, the exhibit chronicles the 140-year legacy of the princes’ seminal visit to Santa Cruz in the summer of 1885.
Of special note is a section featuring nine early Santa Cruz surf shops from the 1950s and ’60s—Yount, Haut, Scofield, Olson, Hobie, Freeline and Johnny Rice shops and, of course, Jack O’Neill’s original surf operation overlooking Cowell Beach, which has grown into an international institution.
Also of focus are four women who have played a seminal role in this legacy: Antoinette Swan, the true linchpin of the princes’ sojourn to Santa Cruz and who was a prominent figure in the ruling Hawaiian monarchy of King David Kalakaua and later, following his death, of Queen Esther Julia Kapiʻolani; the aforementioned princess Kaʻiulani; legendary swimmer and surfer Dorothy Becker, who lived much of her childhood in Santa Cruz and moved to Hawaii, where she became one of the first women from the mainland to surf Wakaiki; and Rosmari Rice, the lone woman on the Dewey Weber surf team of the 1950s and a surfing fixture (along with her late husband, Johnny) in Santa Cruz.
There will also be a wide-ranging series of lectures, surfing exhibitions (including many of the world’s greatest surfers), walks, films and even a short play, “There Are No Kooks in Heaven,” by Santa Cruz’s theatrical whiz Ian McCrae, the proprietor of Hula’s Island Grill. It is truly a community-wide event.
“We’re thrilled to share this exhibition with residents of Santa Cruz County but also with a larger regional and statewide community,” said MAH Deputy Director Marla Novo. “Our intent is to highlight this fascinating cultural legacy, make links to a broader conversation, and to honor our relationship with the water that began before the princes came to Santa Cruz. This isn’t the beginning or the end of the narrative. It continues in the ways we connect with each other, share and listen, one wave at a time.”
LOCAL LEGENDS The three princes were students at St. Matthew’s Hall in San Mateo. Left to right, Jonah Kuhio (‘Cupid’) Kalaniana‘ole, David (‘Koa’) Kawananakoa and Edward Keliiahonui. PHOTO: Hawaiian Archives
REDWOOD BOARDS
The seminal moment in this story took place on the Santa Cruz waterfront, during the mid-summer of 1885. In the early edition of the Surf on Monday, July 20, the newspaper carried lengthy accounts of all the previous weekend’s festivities on the Santa Cruz waterfront under a detailed column titled “Beach Breezes.”
The Surf reported that on no other Sunday of the season “have so many bathers, both ladies and gentlemen, been in the water, and all pronounced it delightful.” A small theatrical troupe, including a small donkey pulling a miniature cart, performed a comedy routine along the breakers and “afforded much merriment to the spectators.”
Further east along the beach, however, at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River, history was about to be made. The three Hawaiian princes—David (“Koa”) Kawananakoa, Edward Keliiahonui and Jonah Kuhio (“Cupid”) Kalaniana‘ole—were in the water with long surfboards made of local redwood, and milled in the shape of traditional Hawaiian o‘lo boards, reserved in the Islands traditionally for royalty.
According to the Surf, “The breakers at the mouth of the river were very fine and here occurred the very primest of fun, at least, so said those who were ‘in the swim.’” As many as 30 or 40 swimmers were out in the water with them, “dashing and tossing, and plunging through the breakers, going out only to be tossed back apparently at the will of the waves and making some nervous onlookers feel sure that they were about to be dashed against the rocks.”
And then came that fabled first account of surfing anywhere in the Americas: “exhibitions of surf-board swimming as practiced in their native islands.”
What is significant to note in all of the waterfront descriptions appearing in the local newspapers that summer is that there were numerous accounts of both local and visitors alike engaging the surf and ocean in a multitude of sporting activities: swimming, body surfing (playing in the waves), diving and simply wading. The “surf zone”—referred to in Hawaiian as ka po‘ina nalu and viewed as critical to the islands’ history—had already been claimed for athletic activity long before the princes’ arrival.
LOST AND FOUND A recently discovered tintype photo, previously unpublished, of the princes and possibly a cousin of the Swan family, Richard Gilliland, who accompanied the princes to St. Matthew’s. PHOTO: Geoffrey Dunn collection
CHIEFESS
The three princes were not some casual day-trip visitors to Santa Cruz. And the family they stayed with here—Lyman and Antoinette Swan—also had complex links to Hawaiian history and, in the case of Antoinette Swan, direct lineage to royal Hawaiian bloodlines.
Twenty years after the princes arrived in Santa Cruz, an obituary appeared in the Surf on Oct. 2, 1905, for “Mrs. Antoinette Don Paul Marie Swan,” who had died the day before at her family home on Cathcart Street. The obituary noted that Swan “was courtly in manner, and had a charm in her dealing with people that won many friends. She was a kind neighbor and a devoted mother, loved by her children.” She was clearly a well-liked and widely respected member of the community.
The obituary also included some detailed information about Antoinette’s lineage, rather unique to Santa Cruz at this time:
She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, of Spanish parentage on her father’s side, he being for many years consul from Spain at Honolulu, and owner of the island at the mouth of the Pearl River, and was very prominent in the islands.…Her mother was of Scottish and Hawaiian ancestry. She married Lyman Swan in the islands, and they came to California in 1846, and, about 12 years after their arrival came to Santa Cruz, where she has since resided, except for a number of years spent at the islands, where she dwelt with the royalty at the palace, being a member of the King’s household, as she was secretary to [the] Queen, wife of King Kalakau [sic].
WATCHFUL EYE Antoinette Swan, Santa Cruz resident who served as chamberlain to the Queen of Hawaii, was hostess to the princes during their visits to Surf City. PHOTO: Hawaiian Archives
Not all of the information in the Surf obituary is accurate, but it is close enough to provide both an open window into her life story and enough clues to put the various pieces of this intricate historic puzzle back together.
According to baptismal records in Hawaii and her death certificate here in Santa Cruz, Antoinette “Akoni” Marin was born on the island of Oahu on October 6, 1832. Contrary to the reference in the obituary, her mother, Kaikuloa, was a full-blooded Hawaiian and a “chiefess,” which made Antoinette, by birth, of ali‘i or noble Hawaiian lineage.
Her father, Don Francisco de Paula Marin, was a legendary figure in Hawaiian history, from his first arrival in the islands in the early 1790s until his death in Honolulu in 1837. While he was never “consul from Spain,” as would later be claimed (indeed he deserted the Spanish army), he served in the role of unofficial consigliere to Kings Kamehameha III & IV and played a major role as liaison between European and American vessels and native Hawaiian authorities.
Records clearly indicate that Marin was a polygamist in Hawaii. In one fascinating letter sent to Marin from Monterey in 1823 by Luis Antonio Arguello, the first governor of Alta California under Mexican rule, Arguello suggests that Marin had expressed interest in relocating to the California coast. “As to settling in this province, you alone could very well do it,” Arguello intones, “but by no means can I approve of your bringing four wives that are not legitimate, as I am informed that you have, and consequently some twenty children of theirs.”
By the time Marin had died in 1837, he had fathered, according to various accounts, as many as 27 different children. His last daughter, Antoinette, had just reached her fifth birthday.
HANAI RELATIONSHIPS
Following Marin’s death, Antoinette was adopted by Dr. Thomas Charles Byde Rooke, a prominent British physician who had also married into an ali‘i family.
It’s hard for foreigners to fully grasp the significance of “hanai” (adopted) relationships in Hawaiian culture. Western traditions of genealogy simply do not translate. But a hanai relationship is very much equal to blood lineage. In her autobiography, Queen Liliuokalani offered that hanai “is not easy to explain to those alien to our national life, but it seems perfectly natural to us.”
In November of 1851, an item in the Honolulu Polynesian newspaper noted that Antoinette had married Lyman Swan, then a young businessman on the Honolulu waterfront. He was a partner in Swan & Clifford, a seemingly successful chandlery business that fitted out whaling ships during the heyday of the Pacific whaling industry.
In April of 1853, Antoinette gave birth to the couple’s first child, Olivia (“Lily”), and the young Swan family appeared to be living a life of prosperity and promise in Honolulu. But as often would be the case with Lyman Swan throughout his life, appearances were often deceiving.
Apparently, unbeknownst to his partner, Ornan Clifford, Swan began forging “bills of exchange” (or checks) with several whaling ships. On April 13, 1855, authorities in Hawaii issued a detailed circular (akin to a wanted poster) charging both Swan and Clifford with forging $40,000 in promissory notes and leaving more than $80,000 in unpaid bills just after Swan had snuck out of Honolulu in March of 1854. It was a huge amount of money during that era—the equivalent of more than $10 million today—and the case quickly garnered international attention. A $5,000 reward was offered for information about their whereabouts.
While Clifford immediately returned to Honolulu and declared his innocence, Swan was apprehended in Alameda, California. All of the forged bills, it turned out, had been executed in his handwriting. While Hawaiian authorities tried to extradite Swan, he was never to return to the islands again.
Somehow, during his various court cases, Swan managed to bring Antoinette and his daughter Lily to California, where the family first resided in San Jose, and then moved to Santa Cruz in the mid-1860s. By that time, there were four more children in the Swan household.
The family opened a bakery on Pacific Avenue and purchased a large plot of land in downtown Santa Cruz, at what is now the corner of Front and Cathcart streets, that backed up to the San Lorenzo River.
SURFIN’ USA Santa Cruz waterfront circa 1880s while the princes were visiting here. PHOTO: Geoffrey Dunn collection
LIFE ROPES
In 1884, the popular Hawaiian monarchs, King David Kalakaua and his wife, Queen Consort Esther Julia Kapiʻolani, who were childless, adopted the three princes after the deaths of their parents. By blood, the three brothers were Kapiʻolani’s nephews, the sons of ali‘i from Kauai, and they had been sent to Hawaii’s finest schools. Now they were being prepped for the monarchy.
David, the oldest (and nicknamed “Koa”), was born in 1868. Strong and handsome, at the age of 16, in the fall of 1884, he was first sent to St. Matthew’s Hall, a full-fledged military school for boys, located in San Mateo. The following year, Edward, born in 1870 and the frailest of the three brothers; and Jonah, nicknamed “Cupid,” born in 1871 and a brilliant athlete in all sports, joined their elder brother in California.
When not at St. Matthew’s, the three princes were placed under the careful eye of Antoinette Swan in Santa Cruz. The recently completed railroad line made their commute from school to the seaside resort an easy one.
The location of the Swan family home is of significant geographical import to this story. Up until the construction of the San Lorenzo River levees by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1955, the banks of the San Lorenzo River were woven into the fabric of life in downtown Santa Cruz. Boating, canoeing, swimming, fishing and strolling in the riparian corridor were all common daily practices.
The rivermouth itself had long been a popular location for “surf-bathing” activity on the Santa Cruz waterfront. As early as the 1860s, “life ropes” or “swim lines” (thick ropes attached at the beach by tall poles and extending out to floating rafts or anchors beyond the surf break) had been established at various points along both the main beach and Seabright Beach east of the river.
According to records kept by the waterfront historian Warren “Skip” Littlefield (1906-1985), the princes rode surfboards made of “solid redwood planks and milled locally by the Grover Lumber Company.” The Swans’ proximity to the San Lorenzo would have made the transport of these heavy boards easily facilitated downstream to the river mouth.
REVOLUTIONARY Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana‘ole served time for his attempt to overthrow the U.S. colonial government in Hawaii. PHOTO: Library of Congress
TROOP TAKEOVER
In 1887, Edward was sent home ill from St. Matthews and died a short time later in Honolulu from scarlet fever. The two other princes, David and Jonah, would carve out significant niches for themselves in Hawaiian history. The eldest brother, David, would eventually become the immediate first heir to the throne. Youngest brother Jonah, who had been Queen Lili‘uokalani’s personal favorite, was second.
Neither of them, however, would ever become king.
In January of 1893, a group of American and European businessmen, aided by the U.S. military, overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy. Queen Lili‘uokalani was deposed on January 17, 1893, relinquishing her throne to “the superior military forces of the United States.” Two years later, then 24-year-old Jonah, a fierce advocate for Hawaiian independence, fought in a rebellion against the U.S.-supported republic and was sentenced to a year in prison.
It was while Kuhio was incarcerated that a short account of Santa Cruz waterfront activities appeared in the weekly edition of the Surf. “The boys who go in swimming at Seabright Beach,” the newspaper noted, “use surfboards to ride the breakers, like the Hawaiians.”
Like the Hawaiians. From 2,400 miles away, Kuhio no doubt had more significant matters on his mind, but his waterfront exhibition of a decade earlier had taken hold in the surf at Santa Cruz and would flourish there for decades to come.
In 1902, Kuhio emerged from prison and a subsequent exile to participate in Hawaiian politics. While his brother David headed up the state’s Democratic Party (and was a delegate to the 1900 Democratic National Convention), Jonah joined the Republican Party and was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1903 as a “delegate” from the Territory of Hawaii, where he served until his death in 1922.
The Museum of Art & History is located at 705 Front St in downtown Santa Cruz. For more info go to the website at santacruzmah.org. Or call 831-429-1964.
Heʻe nalu Santa Cruz
Museum of Art and History
Partial Schedule of Events
Princes of Surf
■Opening Reception
Friday, July 18, 2025,
7-8 PM
at the MAH
■Paddle Out at the Rivermouth
Saturday, July 19, 2025
10- 11:30 AM
Rivermouth, Main Beach 400 Beach St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
■Surfing Exhibition of Traditional Hawaiian Boards
Bob Perason & Friends
Cowell Beach
August/September
TBD (depending on tides and conditions)
■Dorothy Becker Talk
Ed Guzman
Friday, September 5, 2025
6-7 PM
at the MAH
■Heʻe nalu Santa Cruz Book Launch
Geoffrey Dunn & Kim Stoner
Friday, October 3, 2025
6-8 PM
at the MAH
■Antoinette Swan Gravesite Tour
Geoffrey Dunn & Barney Langner
Saturday, October 4, 2025
11-12 PM
Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery
■Antoinette Swan and the Princes of Surf Walking Tour
After sitting vacant for decades high above Soquel Creek, Capitola’s Rispin Mansion is being repurposed at last, as a public park. While the building itself is currently entombed, or sealed off, to prevent further deterioration, the city has embarked on a project to transform the surrounding grounds into a new public park.
Among its features, the park will gain an amphitheater, picnic tables and fountain, according to Jessica Kahn, Capitola’s public works director. “It’s definitely going to be one of our more passive parks, a quiet, reflecting, peaceful place.” In other words, no play structures are being installed.
Completed in 1921, the Rispin Mansion has served many uses over the past century, including the home of the Rispin family, a convent and most recently, the set for a television show. The mansion was featured in May on the Discovery+ show Ghost Adventures and includes a segment with Deborah Osterberg and Carolyn Swift of the Capitola History Museum.
After years of vandalism, theft and a fire in 2010, the mansion has seen a flurry of activity this summer including plumbing, masonry and electrical restoration. New wrought-iron fencing was added in 2024 to line the property and provide better security. Construction crews installed water pipes and electrical wiring last fall. But then, eucalyptus trees and utility issues temporarily halted the project.
“We had a bit of a hangup with PG&E,” Kahn said. “We ended up removing one of the power poles there.” That area is now free and clear, she said.
On June 4, Triad Electrical was onsite installing lights, while a new walkway, amphitheater seating and ornately restored banisters are all proceeding on schedule, according to Kahn.
“There’s been a lot of restraint work with the fountain and the railing work,” Kahn said. “They had to take ones that were still in good condition and recast them.” A stairway has been redone into its original state, she added.
An amphitheater is the intended public use when construction is finished. Though Kahn doesn’t “anticipate the city programming any activities,” she added, “We do plan on holding an opening event later this summer.”
OPEN SPACE Deborah Osterberg of the Capitola History Museum surveys the exterior of the Rispin Mansion. Photo: Kristen McLaughlin
Since the city already has an existing policy of renting out other park spaces, Kahn anticipates this park being used for private events as well. “You get a great view from the library,” said Osterberg, curator of Capitola Historical Museum for the past four years. “I definitely see myself doing programs here.”
Voter Funding
The city has been holding onto funds to make this into a public park for quite some time. Under Proposition 68, every city got formula funds based on population, with Capitola receiving about $144,000 in state funding, according to Kahn. “It is partially funded by the State Parks,” she said.
Voter-approved initiatives contributed additional funds: Measure L, which protects the rail corridor, a Proposition 68 grant of $178,000 and $50,000 in Measure Q funding, which voters passed in 2024 for fiscal year 2025-26.
Measure Q is an investment in parks and public spaces, as Capitola Mayor Joe Clarke stated in his Mayor’s Message, published May 17 in the Sentinel: “This voter-approved initiative provides $200,000 annually to the city of Capitola, specifically earmarked for parks, open spaces and public improvements.” Contracts were awarded to local contractors Betz Works (formerly Earthworks), Triad Electric Inc. and Diamond D Concrete.
The project meets Capitola Municipal Code 8.72, the Greenway Capitola Corridor, which also calls for preservation of the historic Capitola Trestle. Exhibit panels have yet to be installed.
Local Landmark
An eclectic combination of Mission, Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean architecture, the Rispin Mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to records from the Capitola Historical Museum, Canadian-born entrepreneur Henry Allen Rispin built the mansion between 1919 and 1921 as a sort of demonstration home/example for developing Capitola as a resort. Rispin lived in the three-story, 9,000-square-foot, 22-room estate with his wife and son in the early 1920s.
“The imprint from Rispin’s time here is why Capitola looks the way it does today,” Osterberg said. “Rispin is responsible for much of the initial paving of the village.” He also curved the Esplanade, Osterberg explained. “That’s why the Six Sisters’ lawns are so long,” she said.
By the end of the decade, Rispin suffered a series of misfortunes and lost all his investments to creditors. In 1941, the mansion was sold for $90,000 to St. Joseph’s Monastery for use by the Poor Clares, a cloistered order of nuns. The Poor Clares lived in the mansion until 1959. Rispin died in 1947 and is buried in a pauper’s grave in Olivet Cemetery in Colma, California.
Round and round it goes. City planners have decided that a roundabout is the next best step to easing traffic at a busy all-way stop in Capitola. The roundabout design aims to protect multiple modes of transportation, including drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
Planners anticipate the roundabout project to break ground within about two years to replace a “quick build” project that was installed last summer at the intersection of Hill Street and Bay Avenue adjacent to Nob Hill Shopping Center, with a single-lane roundabout.
“The longer-term goal, probably two years out, is the plan to have it be a roundabout,” says Jessica Kahn, professional engineer and public works director for the city of Capitola. The roundabout was one of three different configurations discussed at Capitola City Council meetings in February and April of this year.
Conceptual design refinement of the Bay Avenue corridor includes a study by Kimley-Horn & Associates to monitor the intersection, as well as along Bay Avenue from the freeway to Monterey Avenue.
In that study, existing conditions were analyzed using traffic count data from 2024, including peak-hour intersection movements and roadway classifications, along with projected traffic growth.
Among their benefits, roundabouts provide a continuous flow of traffic, enhance pedestrian safety through protected crossings, and reduce emissions by minimizing idling. “They generally tend to help slow traffic,” said Steve Wiesner, director of public works for Santa Cruz County.
Similar projects, such as the Highway 129 redesign at Lakeview, have shown significant safety and operational benefits since a roundabout was installed in 2021, said Israel Murillo, CHP Santa Cruz public information officer. “It does seem like it’s helping,” Murillo said. “It does appear it’s calming traffic and reducing speeds in that area.”
Officer Murillo offered the following tips for roundabout ease: Slow down as you approach the intersection. Watch for signs or pavement markings that guide or prohibit, and enter the roundabout when there’s a big enough gap in traffic.
“Use your turn signals when you change lanes or exit the roundabout,” he added. “And don’t forget, drive in a counter clockwise direction and don’t stop or pass other vehicles. Be patient, don’t be in a hurry.”
Of course, improved traffic flow comes with a price. Preliminary cost estimates for the installation of the roundabout are $3 million to $5 million.
While an initial safety analysis began in 2022, the Bay Avenue corridor came into public scrutiny after local resident Deborah Towne, 70, was hit by a car near Crossroads Loop and Bay Avenue in November 2023. Towne was walking her dog at the time. In early 2024, the City of Capitola approved the Bay Avenue and Hill St. Quick Build Project as a short-term safety enhancement as part of a broader corridor study examining all intersections on Bay Avenue from Highway 1 to the village Capitola Village. Construction was completed in August of 2024.
In the short term, drivers will continue to navigate the quick build, including plastic bolsters over metal posts to accommodate multimodal transportation. “A separate green bike lane is likely part of the roundabout design,” Khan added.
In the days before lighthouses, some coastal communities used “fire beacons”—elevated structures where people tended open flames to guide sailors. In the coming weeks, Aries, I invite you to be like both the keeper and the flame. People will be drawn to your brightness, warmth and persistence as they navigate through their haze and fog. And surprise! You may find your own way more clearly as you tend to others’ wayfinding. Don’t underestimate the value of your steady, luminous signal. For some travelers, your presence could be the difference between drifting and docking. So burn with purpose, please. Keep your gleam strong and visible.
TAURUS April 20-May 20
The ancestors of my American friend Arisa lived in Ukraine, Indonesia, the Choctaw nation and the Great Lakes region. Her new husband Anselme is of Japanese, Italian and French descent. Their wedding was a celebration of multicultural influences. Guests delivered toasts in five languages. Their marriage vows borrowed texts from three religious traditions. The music included a gamelan ensemble, a band that played Ukrainian folk music, and a DJ spinning Choctaw and Navajo prayers set to Indian ragas. I bring this to your attention in the hope you will seek comparable cross-fertilization in the coming weeks. It’s an excellent time to weave richly diverse textures into your life.
GEMINI May 21-June 20
I predict a future when women will hold half of the leadership roles, when their income and time devoted to childcare will match men’s, when women’s orgasms are as common as men’s, and when most guys know that misogyny is perilous to their health. Until the bloom of that wonderful era, I invite Geminis of all genders to invoke your tender ingenuity as you strengthen female opportunities and power. In my view, this work is always crucial to your maximum spiritual and psychological health—but even more so than usual in the coming weeks. Boost the feminine in every way you can imagine.
CANCER June 21-July 22
In Yoruba cosmology, ase is the sacred life force that animates the universe. It’s divine energy that can be harnessed by humans to make things happen, to speak and act with ardent intention so that words and deeds shape reality. I am pleased to report that you Cancerians are extra aligned with ase these days. Your words are not casual. Your actions are not mild or minor. You have the power to speak what you mean so robustly that it has an enhanced possibility to come into being. What you command with love and clarity will carry enduring potency.
LEO July 23-Aug. 22
In medieval bestiaries, unicorns were said to be fierce, wild creatures. They were very real but also hidden. Only people with pure hearts could see or commune with them. I suspect you now have the chance to glide into a potent “pure heart” phase, Leo. My fervent hope is that you will take this opportunity to cleanse yourself of irrelevancies and rededicate yourself to your deepest yearnings and most authentic self-expressions. If you do, you just may encounter the equivalent of a unicorn.
VIRGO Aug. 23-Sept. 22
Some Buddhist monks create mandalas on floors from colored sand. They work meticulously for days or weeks to build intricate, symmetrical masterpieces. Once their beautiful work is done, however, it typically doesn’t last long. The creators sweep it away either immediately or soon. The sand may be disposed of, perhaps poured into a river or stream. What’s the purpose of this strange practice? Most importantly, it displays a reverence for the impermanence of all things—an appreciation for beauty but not an attachment to it. I recommend you consider taking a cue from the sand mandalas in the coming weeks. Is there anything you love that you should let go of? A creation you can allow to transform into a new shape? An act of sacred relinquishing?
LIBRA Sept. 23-Oct. 22
Glassblowers shape molten sand with breath and fire, knowing the material can only be formed while it’s hot and glowing. If they wait too long, the stuff stiffens, turns brittle and resists change. But if they push too soon, it collapses into a misshapen blob. In this spirit, Libra, I urge you to recognize which parts of your life are now just the right temperature to be reshaped. Your timing must be impeccable. Where and when will you direct the flame of your willpower? Don’t wait until the opportunity cools. Art and magic will happen with just the right amount of heat applied at just the right moment.
SCORPIO Oct. 23-Nov. 21
“I have often been racked by obsessive urges that plague me until I act them out.” So says my Scorpio friend Fatima, a conceptual artist. “Fortunately,” she continues, “I have finally retrained myself to focus on creative obsessions that fuel my art rather than on anxious, trivial obsessions that disorder my life. I’d be an offensive maniac if I couldn’t use my work as an outlet for my vehement fantasy life.” I recommend Fatima’s strategy to Scorpios most of the time, but especially so in the coming days. Your imagination is even more cornucopian than usual. To harness its beautiful but unruly power, you must channel it into noble goals.
SAGITTARIUS Nov. 22-Dec. 21
The Igbo people of Nigeria have a term: ogwugwu na-adị n’ulo. It means “the medicine is in the house.” It’s the belief that healing doesn’t necessarily come from afar. It may already be here, hidden among the familiar, waiting to be acknowledged or discovered. Dear Sagittarius, your natural instinct is to look outward and afar for answers and help. But in the coming weeks, you should look close to home. What unnoticed or underestimated thing might be a cure or inspiration you’ve been overlooking? How can you find new uses for what you already have?
CAPRICORN Dec. 22-Jan. 19
I invite you to celebrate the holiday known as Be Your Own Best Helper. How should you observe this potentially pivotal transformation in your relationship with yourself? Divest yourself of yearnings to have someone clean up after you and service your baseline necessities. Renounce any wishes you harbor for some special person to telepathically guess and attend to your every need. Vow that from now on, you will be an expert at taking excellent care of yourself. Do you dare to imagine what it might feel like to be your own best helper?
AQUARIUS Jan. 20-Feb. 18
In the ancient practice of astronomy, the stars were considered “incorruptible.” Unlike the planets, their movements were unchanging, their lights stationary, their destinies steady and stable. We human beings are the opposite of all those descriptors, of course. There’s no use in hoping otherwise, because constancy just isn’t an option for us. The good news, Aquarius, is that you are now poised to thrive on these truths. The inevitability of change can and should be a treasured gift for you. You’re being offered chances to revise plans that do indeed need to be revised. You are being invited to let go of roles that don’t serve you. But what initially feels like a loss or sacrifice may actually be permission. Evolution is a tremendous privilege!
PISCES Feb. 19-March 20
The axolotl is an amphibian that never outgrows its larval form. Unlike most creatures, it retains its youthful traits into adulthood. Amazingly, it can regenerate its limbs, its spinal cord and parts of its brain. Let’s make the axolotl your inspirational animal, Pisces. What part of your “youth” is worth keeping—not as immaturity, but as righteous design? Where are you being asked not to evolve past a stage, but to deepen within it? And what might be regenerated in you that seemed to have been lost? Your magic will come from being like an axolotl. Be strange. Be playful. Be ageless and original and irrepressible.
Eight-time New York Times bestseller Meg Waite Clayton just released her newest novel, Typewriter Beach. With thoughtful commentary on human nature and romantic depictions of the coast, Clayton weaves a tale of two women, separated through time, yet tied together through a Carmel cottage. In the 1950s, aspiring starlet Isabella Giori and blacklisted screenwriter Leon Chazan form an unlikely friendship. Flash forward to 2018, Chazan’s granddaughter prepares to sell the cottage and finds a hidden safe of secrets about her grandfather’s past. Clayton will discuss the book. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.
FRIDAY 7/11
NORTHERN SOUL
THE INCITERS
Northern Soul is meant to be done big, and The Inciters are doing it up right with a minimum of 10 people on the stage, including a full horn section, three vocalists, drums, guitar, bass and occasional surprise guests, all dressed to the nines in their retro mod finery. The excitement is so irresistible, even wallflowers get caught tapping their toes. The Inciters celebrate the release of their latest record, I Give You My Soul, by playing a hometown show this week with power pop friends Autos and rocksteady outfit The Tectonics. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
Redwood Express is only for those who like their rock bluesy, their beats funky and their vibes groovy. This five-piece is a local super group, featuring members from the China Cats, Rosebud, and Grandpa’s Chili. Their bio says they draw inspiration from Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Allman Brothers and Little Feat, but there’s definitely some Hot Tuna, Manassas and, of course, Grateful Dead thrown in there. This past May, Redwood Express dropped its debut album, Sanctuary, available on its website and featuring nine original tracks all from the heart of the forest. What better way to celebrate than with a free, all-ages record release show at Woodhouse Brewery? MAT WEIR
Drag is dragged (yeah, pun intended) into the political arena, and it’s up for the fight, but beyond all the red-faced boys who are proud of something, lord knows drag isfun. That’swhy it wins. It laughs at power. It laughs at itself. It puts lipstick, false eyelashes and high heels on our sacred cows, and it has fun. Who better to get a nice drag makeover than Disney, that campy realm of fairies and evil queens? Sin Sister Burlesque and Drag performers will showcase many of your favorite characters and songs from Walt’s playbook. Fun! KLJ
INFO: 7:30pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $35-$45. 423-8209.
REGGAE
BARRINGTON LEVY
Barrington Levy is a pioneering Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist, known for his distinctive vocal style and major influence on the genres. Levy debuted on record with 1979’s Bounty Hunter. His work with famed producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes was creatively and commercially successful. His worldwide breakthrough came with Englishman, one of four albums he released in ’79. That record featured the Roots Radics rhythm section. Levy has been at the forefront of combining reggae traditions with modern electronic textures. His work has been sampled by Kanye West, Notorious B.I.G., Sublime, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and many others. BILL KOPP
INFO: 8pm, Catalyst, 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $35-$38. 713-5492.
SUNDAY 7/13
DOG FASHION SHOW
DRESSED TO THE K-9’S
Bow Wow! These dogs look fabulous! Connecting to a current exhibit at the MAH, HOWL: The Art & History of Pets, adoptable pups will prance down the runway showing off the latest head-turning canine couture. The dogs are all adoptable through the SCSPCA, and there will also be a silent auction with proceeds benefiting the SCSPCA. Attendance is included with admission, but for those who want to enhance their experience, a “Top Dog VIP Ticket” is available, which gives access to wine, beer, hors d’oeuvres, and music along with front-row tickets to the glamorous fashion show and an exclusive meet and greet with the models. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 3:30pm, The MAH, 705 Front St., Santa Cruz. $8-$45. 429-1964.
MONDAY 7/14
JAZZ
LEW TABACKIN TRIO
Lew Tabackin is a master of the flute and tenor saxophone. Since the 1970s, he has led (with co-leader and spouse Toshiko Akiyoshi) a succession of acclaimed big bands. Tabackin has a deep catalog and has worked as a sideman with Donald Byrd, Benny Carter, Shelly Manne, Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard and many others. A true original, Tabackin is equally at home as a soloist, in a big band context or anywhere in between. For this special performance at the Kuumbwa, Tabackin will lead a trio featuring the rhythm section of bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Jason Tiemann. BK
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $37-$42. 427-2227.
TUESDAY 7/15
ROCK
FRANKIE & THE WITCH FINGERS
This Los Angeles-based psych garage act has been a favorite of rockers for years with their chaotic mess of never-ending fuzz-punched grooves and high-octane fueled live performances. The words of the late, great Hunter S. Thompson come to mind when talking about Frankie & the Witch Fingers, “One of God’s own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind, never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, too strange to die.” Their latest album, Trash Classic, can only be described as if Devo dropped acid, took a hit of speed, and then decided to write songs about the end of the world as AI launched the bombs outside the garage window. MW
Gut-punching poetry accentuated with gritty drums and screaming guitar, Torpedo presents an opera of their own design. The trio from Lusane, Switzerland, seeks to challenge and transform the listener, blending elements of post-punk, industrial, and proto-punk. Beginning as a duo in 2016, Carro Loubere on scratchy guitar and Jay Liseron with bass and drum machines churned together psychedelic songs before adding drummer Drew Hammer and solidifying the band’s live-wire, heady energy. Their newest record, What the Fucked Do We All Do Now? | – Light, is a cathartic dive into the realities of our treacherous and broken world. SN
ARIES March 21-April 19
For the Dagara people of Burkina Faso, the element of fire has profound cultural meanings. It’s a symbol of innovation and inspiration. It’s a mediator between the physical and spiritual worlds and a conduit for communication with the ancestors. Through rituals, fire is a purifying and renewing force that helps people reconnect with their purpose, heal...
The Little Uvas 2020 Santa Clara Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($40) is one I highly recommend. Bold and bright with flavors of cassis, cranberry and blueberry.
Though he lacked direction after high school, Heriberto Dearo-Ortiz says he eventually found purpose as a chef, starting when he took the advice of a teacher to get into the restaurant industry. Initially working in front-of-house, his passion to learn new things eventually latched onto cooking and he found himself wanting to become a chef. So, he applied at...
So Capitola can now bask in the drippy-delicious-delirious bounty of Mad Chick, crusted SPAM and breakfast burger egg sandwiches, plus a site-specific breakfast burrito.
The story of the three Hawaiian princes surfing here in the 1880s is woven into local lore. A plaque honoring the trio has been erected at Lighthouse Point
ARIES March 21-April 19
In the days before lighthouses, some coastal communities used “fire beacons”—elevated structures where people tended open flames to guide sailors. In the coming weeks, Aries, I invite you to be like both the keeper and the flame. People will be drawn to your brightness, warmth and persistence as they navigate through their haze and fog. And...
Frankie & the Witch Fingers, the L.A.-based psych garage act, has been a favorite for years with their high-octane fueled live performances. Tuesday at Felton Music Hall.
