Berkeley-raised writer and director Matt Ross stays true to his roots with Captain Fantasticโwhich will surely seem a deep movie in that city (and Santa Cruz, as well), thanks to its spirit of political grievance, its mottos, and its fantasy of chucking it all to head for the redwoods. (Itโs firs and pines, actually; set in Washington state, the film is shot in Canada.) In the filmโs opening scene, we see a many-pronged buck peeking through a thicketโso peaceful and serene that you know itโs all over for the deer. Hiding, face painted with camouflage, young Bo (short for Bodevan, and played by George MacKay) pops out and stabs it in the throat. Butchering the out-of-season deer, Boโs father Ben (Viggo Mortensen) solemnly anoints his eldest sonโs forehead with the blood, giving him a tidbit of raw liver to eat: โThe boy is gone. In his place is a man.โ The patriarch has been raising his bustling family of six semi-differentiated children in the woods; the kids include a set of blond twin boys, as per a โ60s sitcom. They live off-grid in a jumble of buildings and a schoolbus, playing music around the campfire by night. In the mornings, theyโre rousted by โReveille,โ pumped from bagpipes to make it sound worse. They read important books, practice martial arts and climb rocksโitโs a mix of Outward Bound and the Swiss Family Robinson. What of the woman who mothered these kidsโshe, who in defiance of the environmentalism flaunted here, added this platoon to an overpopulated world? She has gone to where my own mom of five said we children were sending her: straight to the madhouse. Her timely suicide spurs a road trip to confront the angry in-laws, who are hosting the funeral in New Mexico. Meanwhile, Bo has a secret. Though he was homeschooled, his mail box is stuffed with acceptance letters from every Ivy League college on the Eastern Seaboard. Captain Fantastic gives the sense of a movie set in the 1970s but updated to the present, for budgetary reasons. Under the Sundance-ian stylingsโโLittle Miss Sunshine goes prepper!โโthereโs a whiff of mold to this script. After adventures on the road, Ben and his clan get a cold welcome from the grandfather, Jack (Frank Langella) who has called in the police to bar Ben and his brood from the funeral. Iโve been watching Langella with pleasure for a half a century, but he proves the old rule: play Dracula and you wonโt come back. Black clad and stern, heโs the counter-cultural nightmare. Seeing Ben in his thrift shop-bought funeral attire, a scarlet polyester number, Jack growls: โA hippie in a clown suit.โ Is Jack wrong? Actor turned director Ross (heโs the Hooli CEO from TVโs Silicon Valley) uses Ben and his pack as a way of flagellating a greedy and obese nation. If only heโd made these Spartan kids less like supermenโmade them a little more damaged. Their jam sessions are always in sync; if the script bemoans TV watchers, these musical scenes resemble The Partridge Family. One actress stands out, aside from Kathryn Hahn, as Benโs sister in law, an unheeded voice of common sense. At a trailer park, the movie gets a brief spark from the mocking teenage Claire (Erin Moriarty). She brings out the funny side of Boโs plightโthe problem of learning from books. Since Bo is full of the Victorian novels heโs absorbed, he expects that a casual kiss must be followed by a wordy, kneeling marriage proposal. As for Mortensenโheโs far from the soft-spoken, cowboy-movie intensity he brought to Lord of the Rings. He recalls critic Clive Davisโ description of a certain Shakespearean actor: โHe played the part with an intensity that made you wish he hadnโt.โ Ross is enthralled with this dictatorial crank, even posing him under a CG waterfall. Both โ60s kook and Chingachgook, Ben is insufferably right all the time. Ross is so adoring of his characterโs fantasticness that he practically has the camera up Viggo’s nose.
Captain Fantastic With Viggo Mortensen, George Mackay, Frank Langella and Erin Moriarty. Written and directed by Matt Ross. Rated R. 118 Mins.
Looking over 25 years worth of photos of Marin Alsop for this weekโs issue got me thinking about why sheโs been such a revolutionary figure at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music. As Stacey Vreeken documents Alsopโs legacy in advance of the longtime conductor and music directorโs final season here, the images say so much about the personality and philosophical approach that have transformed Cabrillo into a world-class festival for contemporary composers.
Her portraits are always classy, but theyโre playful, too. She always looks like she has no patience for the pomp and pretension of a typical โclassical musicโ type photo. And sometimes, she gets flat out crazyโI mean, just look at our cover this week. Thereโs always a twinkle in her eye, like sheโs up to something. Thereโs also a softness to her expressions that stands in sharp contrast to her snappy, perfectly structured sense of style, which makes it not at all surprising to read in the cover story that perhaps the most important part of her legacy is the way sheโs brought the music to the people with a defiantly democratic aesthetic.
Stacey and I worked together through much of the โ90s, including her accomplished time as editor of this paper. Weโve looked at a lot of photos of Marin Alsop together over the years, and I get the feeling from her story that she, like I, will miss seeing them.
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR IN CHIEF
Trees Tops
Re: โStumpedโ (GT, 7/13): Itโs uncanny how often Iโve been thinking about a particular subject, andโvoila!โthere it is in Good Times. I had just copied these words from Jeff Speckโs excellent book, TheWalkable City, in which he sings the praises of trees, saying, โUrban trees, located close to roadways, are 10 times more effective than more distant vegetation at hijacking car exhaust before it hits the stratosphere.โ He adds that a study in Leicester, England (where I happened to live for 18 years) found that โabove-ground vegetation stores more than 200,000 tons of the cityโs carbon, of which 97 percent is stored by trees โฆ even counting those ample British gardens.โ
Trees that shade us in the summer, turn colors in the fall and bare their branches in the winter to let the sunshine in make welcome companions for walking or biking. Your article mentioned Catalpa Street, with its tunnel of catalpa trees. Never heard of the street or the tree, but now Iโm anxious to find it and walk it. Walnut Avenue is so appealing because of its roadside trees. But what happened to the trees along Maple, Elm, Locust, Laurel, and Chestnut? Thereโs lovely shade this summer on the east side of Pacific Avenue, where youโll see more people walking, but please let the cherry trees on the west side branch out more, and donโt replace them with crepe myrtles.
Dana Bagshaw
Santa Cruz
Donโt Releaseย The Hounds
I was disturbed by the lack of compassion for homeless people in Kara Guzmanโs โSaving Lighthouse Fieldโ (GT, 7/6), as well as the absence of any concrete proposals to actually solve the problem by finding homes for the homeless (real homes, not a mat on the floor of a shelter).
Even worse was last weekโs letter to the editor on the topic, which seemed to propose off-leash dog harassment of the homeless. I donโt know if that person has been watching too much Game of Thrones, but the fact is that any decent human being (especially anyone proud of Santa Cruzโs traditions of peace, love, human rights, and compassion for all) should be ashamed of themselves for being so selfish and cold-hearted as to deny essential human rights and dignity to the most vulnerable among us.
Everyone deserves respect, and everyone deserves a home and a livelihood. To debase people who are already suffering debases our society as a whole. The solution to homelessness is housing, along with social services and funding for substance abuse and mental health counseling. Itโs wrong to use the police to harass the homeless to simply chase people from one spot to another. I assume no one is yet supporting a โfinal solutionโ to homelessness (will have to check with the Trump campaign on that), but the increasing hatred for the homeless is indeed disturbing. We will have these problems with us for a long time until we get serious about finding people the homes and services they need.
Michael Donnelly
Santa Cruz
LUNAFEST SUCCESS
Friends of WomenCARE – LUNAFEST would like to give a huge shout out to the community and our sponsors for supporting the LUNAFEST, a traveling festival of films by, for, and about Women. Thanks to local wineries, New Leaf and The Buttery for donating food and wine for our pre-party. This year, thanks to our paid sponsors and those attending the festival, we raised over $10,000 for WomenCARE and the Breast Cancer Fund. Special thanks to the staff at the Del Mar and to Good Times, santacruz.com and the Sentinel for getting the word out about this amazing event.
Kathy Ferraro, Laura Gleason-Fernandez, Lore James, Eva Brunner, Lesley Harris | Friends of WomenCARE – LUNAFEST
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
CLASS ACT
New Leaf Community Markets is asking customers to come downtown on Thursday, July 21, to support local schools. New Leaf will donate 5 percent of the dayรขโฌโขs sales at its Pacific Avenue location to the Santa Cruz Education Foundation to benefit Santa Cruz City Schools and students. Meanwhile, the Capitola New Leaf will be donating 5 percent of its sales to the Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group.
GOOD WORK
LIVE CULTURE
Senderos, a nonprofit that spreads traditional Mexican culture and arts, announced that it has been awarded a two-year $10,000 grant from the California Arts Council, as part of the Cultural Pathways grant program. The program provides two years of operating support and technical assistance to small organizations like Senderos supporting communities of color and diversity.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
รขโฌลWe want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.รขโฌย
Stop me if youโve heard this one before: Five vegan comedians walk into a jazz club. The punchline, though, is that this is no joke. The Kuumbwa Jazz Center will host the Vegan Comedy Showcase on Sunday, July 31, featuring five hilariousโand animal-product-freeโcomedians. DNA, a 10-year veteran Santa Cruz comic, organized the show after reading about the United Kingdomโs first-ever Vegan Comedy Festival, held earlier in March of this year. โVegans do not always have the reputation of being funny,โ says Virginia Jones, a comic who became vegetarian 27 years ago because of the Smithsโ song โMeat is Murder.โ โSo Iโm excited about this.โ Vegan comedy has begun to develop a niche, as healthy eaters try to turn the joke around after years of being the punchline, as they were stereotyped as โsensitiveโ or โweak.โ There was even a Los Angeles Vegan Comedy Festival in May, headlined by Eddie Pepitone. Jonesโ inventive and provocatively dark humor draws on her left-leaning politics, being a female in a male-dominated profession, and, of course, veganism. She has a history with Santa Cruz and has performed a number of times at the Crowโs Nest, which she says she enjoys because it fills up with eager comedy fans. โSanta Cruz represents,โ says Jones, who loves to stop in at Cafe Gratitude whenever sheโs in Santa Cruz. The traveling vegan comedy squad consists of Jones, Myq Kaplan, Matt Gubser and local comedian Laurie Powellโor as DNA puts it, โthe intellectual vegan, the militant vegan, the handsome vegan, the singer/songwriter vegan.โ โAnd Iโm the struggling vegan,โ says DNA, who adds that, when flyering for the show, some people have told him they โhate vegans.โ He has no idea why, but he doesnโt feel discouraged. โIf you have beef with vegans, bring it!โ he says. Santa Cruzans are no strangers to a meat-free diet, though. Vegetarian and vegan spots like Saturn Cafe and Dharmaโs Restaurant have been in town for decadesโfrom 1979 and 1981, respectively. And Santa Cruzโs roots in the lifestyle stretch back so far that a 2013 sfgate.com article recognized the city as โpioneeringโ the movement as early as the 1960s. These days, pretty much all restaurantsโfrom five-star destinations to fast foodโhave at least one meatless option. Meat and dairy-free meals line the grocery aisles in every form, from soy cheese to vegan orange โchicken.โ Several surveys on vegetarian and vegan population numbers in the U.S. have been conducted by the Vegetarian Resource Group and Vegetarian Times. Statistics on vegetarians vary, but a 2012 Gallup poll indicated that 5 percent of people identify as vegetarian, and fewer than half of those are vegan. Celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix, Miley Cyrus and Woody Harrelson are all vegans, as well as many politicians like former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. Even mega-bodybuilder and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promotes a meatless diet. But even as the lifestyle spreads to a wider array of folks, people are still making broad generalizations about vegans. โOne misconception, I would say, is that people think vegans are a monolith,โ comic Kaplan tells GT via email, โall thinking and acting and coming from the same place of motivation and goals.โ For his first show in 2002, Kaplan, who was a finalist on Last Comic Standing, shared the stage with Louis C.K., who was then relatively unknown. Two years ago, he released the live DVD Small, Dork and Handsome, a hilarious hour into the mind of the philosophy and linguistics major that is currently available to stream on Netflix. Kaplan, the showcaseโs headliner, will record his new album at a different vegan comedy show on July 27 in San Francisco. Matt Gubser, or, as DNA calls him, the โhandsome vegan,โ was born in Salinas and went to high school at Monte Vista Christian School in Watsonville. Gubser has been a practicing vegan for 14 years, the same amount of time as both Kaplan and Jones. Theyโve all experienced the same questions, they say, that every other vegan and vegetarian does: What do you eat, and how do you get enough protein? โIโm 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds, so when I tell people Iโm vegan, they think Iโm joking,โ says Gubser, who is careful to eat a balanced diet. โBut itโs not complicated.โ While plant-based diets have become more common and even fadsโsee Portlandiaโvegetarianism dates back to the ancient Greeks, according to some historians. First-millennial mathematician Pythagorasโoften called the first pure mathematician, and the father of the Pythagorean theoremโfavored an all-plant diet, and for centuries after, vegetarianism was called the โPythagorean Diet.โ In 1683, Englishman Thomas Tryon published The Way to Health and Long Life, promoting a plant-based diet and stirring a new generation of people to question what they eat. Inspired by Tryon, a 16-year-old Benjamin Franklin cut out meat from his meals, later writing in his autobiography that it left him with โgreater clearness of head and quicker apprehension.โ Though his dedication lasted only a few years, he admitted to โreturning occasionally to a vegetable dietโ throughout his life. In 1902, Upton Sinclairโs detailed book on the conditions of American slaughterhouses, The Jungle, spawned a new generation of Americans ditching flesh, along with the creation of the Food and Drug Administration and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The modern vegan movement dates back to the 1940s. These days, scientific studies have shown that eating noโor at least fewerโanimal products is beneficial not only to human health, but also to the planet, because vegetarianism has a smaller carbon footprint. Six years ago, the United Nations urged humans to consume less meat in order to help battle climate change. โItโs one of the most personal choices people have. We control what we put in our mouths, but most people donโt think about it at all,โ says DNA, who now owns the domain vegancomedy.com. โI think itโs important to question where your nutrition comes from.โ
The Vegan Comedy Showcase starts at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 31 at Kuumbwa Jazz. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
Itโs funny to think that while most of us watch the Republican National Convention from across the country with morbid curiosity, one of Santa Cruzโs most famously leftist former mayors is in the thick of it. Chris Krohn is wandering the streets of Cleveland this week covering the convention for the BerkeleyDaily Planet. โIt just brings a lot of people together that you only see from afar,โ Krohn says over the phone from a noisy room. โYou figure out what the questions are. Or the answers.โ Krohn, a UCSC internship director who will also write a column for brattononline.com, is at his sixth national convention, and plans to go to the democratic one in Philadelphia this month as well. He talked to rapper Chuck D., who teamed up with former members of Rage Against the Machine and other artists to create a supergroup called Prophets of Rage. The band brought its โMake America Rage Againโ tour to the Cleveland streets this week. He talked with Chris Matthews about President Barack Obama, marijuana legalization and the MSNBC news hostโs recent interview with Bill Maher. Krohn even talked to Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson about all the money the feds have put into the event. But Jackson, according to Krohn, doesnโt know how big of a bill the Rock โnโ Roll Capital of the World will have to pay when all’s said and done. Law enforcement has poured in from 21 states, and California Highway Patrol is even helping out with the beat. Outside the Quicken Loans Arena, Krohn says there were about 2,000 protesters and 3,000 officers. Most of Mondayโs speeches focused on familiar tropes, Krohn explains, like small government and national security. โEvery one could have been written 10 years ago,โ he says.ย
Each of the 12 signs provides humanity with a task, a specific labor, which helps humanity recognize and step upon the Path of Return. Humanity, in the Labors, is represented by Hercules, the son of God who is also the son of man (Sanskrit for the โthinking onesโโall of humanity at this time). As Hercules enters upon each sign, he faces trials and continuous tests. Each lifetime, as each sign represents, certain tasks and tests are completed. As this occurs, Hercules is flooded with understanding, his sight is widened, his mind illumined, love gathers in his heart. The 12 petals of the heart open and Hercules finally, the world disciple, enters the Rain Cloud of Knowable Things. Here intuition and pure love reside. Each signโs labor is different building one upon the other. In Herculesโ Fourth Labor (Cancer), Hercules must have wisdom, obedience of the heart and discernment which allows him to choose rightly. This particular task is important to understand. The world situation is demanding that we, too, make โrightโ choice between the dual realities offered us. Our choice determines our future. From the โLabor of Cancerโ we read, โThe Great Presiding One within Shamballa asked the Teacher: โWhere is the son of man, who is the son of God? How fares he, how is he being tested and with what service is he now engaged?โ We say; โOur world is engaged in war now, O Teacher.โโ After Cancerโs fourth Labor comes Leoโs fifth Labor. โLet Hercules burnish bright his shield. Let him prepare. Hercules must have courage strong. He is to seek the Temple of the Lord. But first he must rest from the last labor, resting at the fifth Gate. Afraid yet not afraid. Alone yet not alone.โ(to be continued)
ARIES: The full moon created a challenge between home and profession, bringing that duality to light so you could integrate both realities. Polarization, duality can be a source of difficulty, pulling one in two different directions. Visualize, imagine and plan for a synthesis of the two worlds, bringing them into a harvest of light. As you lead others, have both willingness and love, or leadership fails. TAURUS: Youโre emerging as a teacher. The Cancer/Cap full moon is a time when the Teacher is recognized and gratitude given. The Dalai Lama said we were to rejoice in the Teacher (and the teachings). What teachers blessed you with goodness so you gained knowledge? Thank them. You are to become greater than your teachers. The student is always to surpass the teacherโthe studentโs spiritual task. GEMINI: Youโre to be sensitive to impressions from greater realms (Venus and the starry realms) so you can understand more deeply the ancient mysteries. What concerned you prior to the Cancer festival and full moon is forgotten. Venus, Geminiโs Soul ruler, asks you to list your values (things, events, people, creatures, behaviors, facts, plans, teachers, etc.). As you see your values in words a greater self-identity emerges. CANCER: To figure out whatโs truly important, we often have to observe our daily routines. What is routine this week and month and how do these routines help define you? What helps you decide what to accomplish each day? Do you provide yourself with the same nurturance, safety and security you provide others? Careful with communication. You may not be able to hear yourself clearly. LEO: Allow yourself time away from work and responsibilities. Give yourself time to use your imagination. Allow yourself to play. These soothe, comfort and create a sense of care that sometimes you seek from others. Work continues to be quite transformative and in-depth. Prepare yourself each day with proper foods and exercise so weariness doesnโt set in. Are you remembering your father? VIRGO: Your mind is always filled with new ideas and plans, detailed organizing that others never consider. So much about you is inspired. Recognize this with delight. Virgoโs ability to discern, organize and tend to things in detail are deeply creative gifts. Eliminate all thatโs not needed in your home. Reimagine your home. Offer loving care to those around you. Your heart is touched by Jupiter. LIBRA: So much is in flux, with less and less knowable direction. As you change, your home life transforms. You always focus on bringing forth beauty, order and organization to all environments. Notice if your thoughts and beliefs are changing, too. If you feel obstructed in any way, look around. Thereโs something important to see. Be kind in all your interactions, especially with family. SCORPIO: Thereโs an ongoing question concerning resources, money and finances. This, at times, causes anxiety. Itโs good to communicate about these things. Communicating expands awareness and calms reactions to what seems like continual change. You continually feel the need to create a hopeful philosophy of life. Paring down expenses allows for emerging new and unusual resources (and imaginative thoughts) to appear. SAGITTARIUS: Itโs good to follow the advice about finances for Scorpio. A transformation is occurring, inner and outer, concerning resources and values. This is an important time when you think deeply on how you want to improve upon how you are in relationships. Notice your moods. From heights of achievement and authority to lack of confidence. These are normal behaviors for everyone in times of transition. The right time, place, direction, knowing appears. CAPRICORN: Careful driving, communicating and doing things that demand a focused mind. Neptune is refining your thinking. At first veils seem to drop over your eyes. Then your mind feels empty or confused. Then there are bursts of creativity, visions of new worlds. You will want to communicate these things. This is normal behavior for Neptune. You might have thoughts of attending church or praying more. For healing and for beauty. AQUARIUS: Tend carefully to your money. Know where it is at all times. Also, consider yourself valuable in all ways. Youโre the new cultureโs hero(ine), artists for the coming times, its creative spirit, dream and vision. Have confidence in all that you do, think and say. Build community whenever, wherever you can. You bring forth for others new and different perspectives. Be very disciplined with money, finances and resources. PISCES: Home is your Vestal light, your refuge, place of freedom and creativity. Carry out daily tasks of nurturance rhythmically. With Neptune in Pisces, your nervous system needs a protective enclosure. This means a home and garden of oneโs own. If sounds are disturbing, take Aconite, calcium and magnesium. Some Pisces need an actual home. Pisces need the deepest care of all the signs. You want to return home again. Pray for and visualize what you need.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): You now have more luxuriant access to divine luck than youโve had in a long time. For the foreseeable future, you could be able to induce semi-miraculous twists of fate that might normally be beyond your capacities. But hereโs a caveat: The good fortune swirling in your vicinity may be odd or irregular or hard to understand. To harvest it, you will have to expand your ideas about what constitutes good fortune. It may bestow powers you didnโt even realize it was possible to have. For example, what if you temporarily have an acute talent for gravitating toward situations where smart love is in full play? TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A directory published by the U.S. Department of Labor says that my gig as an astrologer shares a category with jugglers, rodeo clowns, acrobats, carnival barkers, and stunt persons. Am I, therefore, just a charming buffoon, an amusing goofball who provides diversion from lifeโs serious matters? Iโm fine with that. I may prefer to regard myself as a sly oracle inflamed with holy madness, but the service I provide is probably more effective if my ego doesnโt get the specific glory it yearns for. In this way, I have certain resemblances to the Taurus tribe during the next four weeks. Is it OK if you achieve success without receiving all of the credit you think you deserve? GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Over the course of a 57-year career, Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa won 78 major awards for his work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oscars. Among the filmmakers whoโve named him as an inspirational influence are heavyweights like Ingmar Bergman, Werner Herzog, Bernardo Bertolucci, Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. But Kurosawa wasnโt too haughty to create lighter fare. At age 86, he departed from his epic dramas to create a 30-second commercial for a yogurt drink. Did that compromise his artistic integrity? I say no. Even a genius canโt be expected to create nonstop masterpieces. Be inspired by Kurosawa, Gemini. In the coming weeks, give your best to even the most modest projects. CANCER (June 21-July 22): Capricorns may be the hardest workers of the zodiac, and Tauruses the most dogged. But in the coming weeks, I suspect you Cancerians will be the smartest workers. You will efficiently surmise the precise nature of the tasks at hand, and do whatโs necessary to accomplish them. Thereโll be no false starts or reliance on iffy data or slapdash trial-and-error experiments. Youโll have a light touch as you find innovative short cuts that produce better results than would be possible via the grind-it-out approach. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): My friendโs 12-year-old daughter Brianna got a โBโ on her summer school math test. She might have earned an โAโ if it werenโt for a problem her teacher had with some of her work. โYou got the right answer by making two mistakes that happened to cancel each other out,โ he wrote on her paper next to question seven. I suspect you will soon have a similar experience. Leo. But the difference between you and Brianna is that Iโm giving you an โA.โ All that matters in the end is that you succeed. I donโt care if your strategy is a bit funky. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Have you ever fantasized about being a different gender or race or astrological sign? Do you suspect it might be fun and liberating to completely change your wardrobe or your hairstyle or your body language? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to experiment with these variables, and with any others that would enable you to play with your identity and mutate your self-image. You have a cosmic exemption from imitating what you have done in the past. In this spirit, feel free to read all the other signsโ horoscopes, and act on the one you like best. Your word of power is โshapeshifter.โ LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Golden Goose Award is given annually to โscientists whose work may have been considered silly, odd, or obscure when first conducted,โ but which ultimately produced dramatic advances. Entomologists Raymond Bushland and Edward Knipling were this yearโs winners. More than 60 years ago they started tinkering with the sex life of the screwworm fly in an effort to stop the pest from killing livestock and wildlife throughout the American South. At first their ideas were laughed at, even ridiculed. In time they were lauded for their pioneering breakthroughs. I suspect youโll be blessed with a vindication of your own in the coming weeks, Libra. It may not be as monumental as Bushlandโs and Kniplingโs, but I bet itโll be deeply meaningful for you. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I hope it doesnโt sound too paradoxical when I urge you to intensify your commitment to relaxation. I will love it, and more importantly your guardian angel will love it, if you become a fierce devotee of slowing down and chilling out. Get looser and cozier and more spacious, damn it! Snuggle more. Cut back on overthinking and trying too hard. Vow to become a high master of the mystic art of I-donโt-give-a-f*ck. Itโs your sacred duty to steal more slack from the soul-anesthetizing grind. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I regularly travel back through time from the year 2036 so as to be here with you. Itโs tough to be away from the thrilling transformations that are underway there. But itโs in a good cause. The bedraggled era that you live in needs frequent doses of the vigorous optimism thatโs so widespread in 2036, and Iโm happy to disseminate it. Why am I confessing this? Because I suspect you now have an extra talent for gazing into the unknown and exploring undiscovered possibilities. You also have an unprecedented power to set definite intentions about the life you want to be living in the future. Who will you be five years from today? Ten years? Twenty years? Be brave. Be visionary. Be precise. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hereโs one strategy you could pursue, I guess: You could spank the Devil with a feather duster as you try to coax him to promise that he will never again trick you with a bogus temptation. But I donโt think that would work, frankly. It may have minor shock value, in which case the Devil might leave you in peace for a short time. Hereโs what I suggest instead: Work at raising your discernment so high that you can quickly identify, in the future, which temptations will deliver you unto evil confusion, and which will feed and hone your most noble desires. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): After a cool, dry period, youโll soon be slipping into a hot, wet phase. The reasonable explanations that generated so much apathy are about to get turned inside-out. The seemingly good excuses that provided cover for your timidity will be exposed as impractical lies. Are you ready for your passion to roar back into fashion? Will you know what to do when suppressed yearnings erupt and the chemicals of love start rampaging through your soft, warm animal body? I hereby warn you about the oncoming surge of weird delightโand sing โHallelujah!โ for the revelatory fun it will bring. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Iโm composing your horoscope on my iPhone after midnight on a crowded bus thatโs crammed with sweaty revelers. Weโre being transported back to civilization from a rural hideaway where we spent the last 12 hours at a raging party. I still feel ecstatic from the recent bacchanal, but the ride is uncomfortable. Iโm pinned against a window by a sleepy, drunken dude whoโs not in full control of his body. But do I allow my predicament to interfere with my holy meditation on your destiny? I do notโjust as I trust you will keep stoking the fires of your own inspiration in the face of comparable irritations. You have been on a hot streak, my dear. Donโt let anything tamp it down!
Homework: Which actor or actress would be the best choice to play you in a film about your life? Go to Realastrology.com and click โEmail Rob.โ
In his early college years, Jerry Wilburn had a hard time focusing on his studies because he had to worry about where to find his next meal. He was 30 years old when he enrolled at San Jose State University (SJSU) in 2010, and newly jobless after Fremont-based New United Motor Manufacturing Plant buckled under the weight of global recession. For a time, Wilburnโs schedule revolved as much around his six classes as it did around his daily treks to local soup kitchens and food pantries. He ate ramen and canned veggies from the campus food shelves, and, by way of a meandering bus trip, the occasional hot meal from Sacred Heart Community Service. The stress, he says, drove him to counseling. โI had savings, but I burned through them after six months,โ he says. โWhen you start running out of your savings, itโs all focusing on survival. Once a student is in that frame of mind, the chance of [focusing on] being a student becomes really slim because youโre thinking about quitting college and working for another company full time to make rent.โ After months of agonizing over hunger and the threat of eviction, Wilburn put himself on a list for crisis counseling. Thankfully, he found a part-time job at the university to pull him out of survival mode and into a mindset that allowed him to see the future again. Now 36 years old and working on his masterโs degree, Wilburn says he makes enough cash to get by and stay focused on what matters: his education. But Wilburn is hardly alone in his experience. One in five California State University (CSU) studentsโ57,000 of themโworry about hunger, according to a striking new report commissioned by Chancellor Timothy P. White. Meanwhile, one in 10 deal with homelessness. The survey of 460,000 students marks the first time in the nation that a public university system asked students about their personal experience with hunger and homelessness. University officials plan to use that data to figure out how to meet those subsistence-level needs so students can focus on graduating. โThese are our students,โ White said in a statement last month about the findings. โThese are the strivers who will define for a generation what it means to radically change the course of oneโs life. We must do all that we can to ensure that they have a place in this world where they can go when they are hungry and have no place to sleep.โ San Jose State conducted a similar campus-wide study in 2014, which showed that about half of students skipped meals because of cost. And one in three said theyโve had to choose between food or rent, transportation and utilities. Wilburn, who helps manage the same campus food pantries that pulled him through years ago, says he knows of at least 53 San Jose State students who sacrifice stable housing to stay in school. It doesnโt help that Californiaโs public university tuition costs have doubled over the past decade and tripled since 2000, according to a recent analysis by the Sacramento Bee. Compounding the problem are the rising costs of textbooks and rent, a dearth of affordable housing and higher student loan fees. โWhen you look at Silicon Valley, rent is high,โ says Stephanie Fabian, who manages the schoolโs student food resources. โWhen you are dealing with a city where rent is dramatically different, you can see the struggle among students who are deciding if their salary should be going to textbooks, rent or food.โ Similar problems persist at UCSC, with Santa Cruz being the fifth most expensive metropolitan area in the country for renters. To afford a two-bedroom unit without spending more than 30 percent of income on housing, a Santa Cruz tenant needs to work full-time and make $33.77 an hourโa figure that is out of the question for most full-time college students. As of 2014, one in four UC undergraduates system-wideโsome 37,500 studentsโwere food insecure. The World Food Summit defines food security as โwhen all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.โ Last year the UC Office of the President put $75,000 per UC campus toward addressing the problem. This year, the office is pledging an additional $151,000. At UCSC, this money has funded short-term solutions distributed by Slug Support, which helps students sign up for CalFresh, distributes food bags to those eligible, and issued 640 dining hall passes. According to the Pew Research Institute, millennials stand to become the most educated generation in history. That they have to choose between their academic success and basic survival is unconscionable, SJSU officials say. It means delaying graduation to take on more work or dropping out altogetherโespecially if they have children to feed and house. Going homeless and hungry also means suffering mental and physical maladies. A 2014 study by the American Society for Nutrition found that people who lack food are more likely to lapse into depression. Another report in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that hunger increases the risk of anxiety, a litany of mood disorders and drug and alcohol abuse. All of which, studies show, lead to less focus and lower grades. Food stampsโofficially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAPโoffer little help. To qualify, a person must actively look for a job, and not voluntarily quit or reduce hours to focus on school. Californiaโs CalFresh program may allow for some exceptions, depending on the county and extenuating circumstances. After the 2014 survey that showed the extent of student hunger, SJSU formed a committee to bolster resources for those who need help. The school now keeps 15 stocked pantries throughout the campus and requires no identification or sign-in for the food. Although, on a recent visit to one pantry, it looked like slim pickings: a dozen Campbell soup cans and a single packet of instant oatmeal. Wilburn says that underscores the need for more donations. But the stateโs yearlong study showed some ways to improve the safety net for SJSU students. Struggling students have access to only a limited number of emergency meals, according to the report. They can apply for a short-term $500 loan, but have to repay it within two months or at the end of semester. To make up for the lack of on-campus assistance, the school is making efforts to connect students with outside nonprofits and government subsidies. Elizabeth Agramont-Justiniano, an SJSU sociology major who spearheaded the schoolโs food shelf program in 2012, says Costco delivers about $2,500 worth of food every month, but that it still falls short of whatโs needed to feed students. The issue hits close to home, she says, as her college-educated parents relied on food stamps when she was a child. โThere were times growing up when we couldnโt eat,โ she says. โI just remember that experience, growing up and even having some of the resources and not getting enough. Thatโs why Iโm trying to help the students.โ
Additional reporting contributed by Georgia Johnson.
For Marin Alsop, the conductor and music director for the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, โcash is not the currency. New music is the valuation.โ And in her 25 years with the festival, sheโs created a gold standard. The two-week summer festival has an international reputation for launching composers, and a legacy of nurturing artists and audiences. When Alsop finishes this yearโs Cabrillo Festival, which runs July 31-Aug. 13, she will take her final bow after 25 years at the helm, showcasing new music by living composers. โItโs not that I wanted to leave Cabrillo to do something else, itโs more about an evolution. After 25 years, I am attracted to certain kinds of music, certain kinds of composers who write certain kinds of music,โ she says in a recent phone interview. โItโs a good moment to have another perspectiveโsomeone coming in with a different set of passions for different composers, for different styles of music, to take the orchestra and challenge them in new ways. And to challenge our audience in different ways.โ Alsop wants to go out on top when the festival is going strong. โI feel that many of the relationships that have been established between audience and composers that I brought to them will last a lifetime โฆ You donโt need me to broker that anymore,โ she says. She believes the Cabrillo Festival is set up well for her successor. โTwenty-five is a good number. Itโs not easy, because I really love it there. Thereโs no motivation besides feeling that itโs a good moment, and itโs a healthy transition time.โ
โEvery summer has been unique because of the personalities involved, and also because of the musicians. The musicians are very, very special. Theyโre there because they love new music. The audience is there because they love new experiences. And you certainly canโt say that about most audiences, or most situations.โ โ Marin Alsop
Festival Executive Director Ellen Primack understands the logic behind the decision. โMarin is incredibly beloved by this orchestra and this community, and she has done so much for the Cabrillo Festival on so many levels. She will be dearly missed,โ says Primack. โShe left us strong and vibrant and in a greater position for the future.โ That doesnโt mean it was easy news to get, Primack admits. โAfter the initial shock of Marinโs news and the sheer fear and heartbreak, she was the first one to encourage the board and staff to be excited and to embrace the possibilities and encourage us knowing that we face a really rich and bright future,โ Primack says. The festival board has formed an Artistic Leadership Team that is already vetting candidates. She says the festivalโs commitment to featuring living composers and advocating for new music is as strong as ever. But decisions about the future wonโt happen until the fall. This is Alsopโs season. โWhatโs extraordinary about Marin,โ says Primack, โsheโs brought so much to the Cabrillo Festival with the wellspring of creative ideas she has. The desire to bring the audience and community into the fold, and the deep respect she has for musicians for coming here for all the right reasons. And one of the things that made her so successful here and had such an impact is she embraced the culture and sense of possibility here. She loved Santa Cruz. She loves the vibe of the festival. It created an artistic outlet and haven for her. She capitalized on that throughout her rising career.โ The award-winning Alsop is the director of the Baltimore and the Sรฃo Paulo (Brazil) symphony orchestras, and has established OrchKids, a youth music program and Rusty Musicians, a program for amateur adults, both in Baltimore, where she is also the director of the graduate conducting program at the John Hopkins Peabody Institute. Her reputation for innovative programming and developing talent has earned her an impressive series of honors, including a MacArthur Fellowship. She has guest conducted for some of the greatest orchestras in the world, and has a close relationship with the London Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras. SURELY THEY ‘JEST’ The Attacca String Quartet will perform John Adams’ ‘Absolute Jest’ at the festival’s Aug. 6 concert titled ‘Inspiration and Impact’. When Alsop started with the Cabrillo Festival, now in its 54th year, she was a young and upcoming artist, and a former student of conductor Leonard Bernstein. โWhatโs funny is when I came in, it was Dennis Russell Davies who approached me about taking on the directorship. He said heโd been there 19 years. I thought to myselfโyou know, in my 32-year-old little pigeon brainโโWho would stay some place for 19 years?โ And here I am 25 years later,โ Alsop says with a laugh. The contemporary music festivalโs summer camp feel, and the presence of both famous and new composers, is part of the attraction. โYou know, itโs not like a normal symphony experience,โ says Alsop. โCabrillo is very unique in that every summer itโs a different journey, and a very unique and special journey because of the living composer elements. I think thatโs a testament to the creative recharging I get from being there. From really working with musicians and composers in such a positive, nurturing setting.โ Highlights over the last 25 years of conducting and directing include the performance of Leonard Bersteinโs Mass in 1999, and collaborations with Osvaldo Golijov, John Corigliano and Jennifer Higdon, among others. The performed work has always been enhanced by the presence of its creators. โEvery summer has been unique because of the personalities involved, and also because of the musicians,โ says Alsop. โThe musicians are very, very special. Theyโre there because they love new music. The audience is there because they love new experiences. And you certainly canโt say that about most audiences, or most situations.โ This openness to new experiences leads to experimentation, risk and results. The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is one of the places for new artists to make their first marks.
COMPOSERS AND CREATORS
โI always like to say Beethoven was new music too, at one point. So, I try to approach every piece like that, maybe not with that depth of reverence, but certainly with the idea that if we donโt have new music, we will miss the next Beethoven. I feel certain about that,โ says Alsop. โItโs very, very rewarding to work with the composers and creators. And for me, Iโve never really been a person whoโs deeply impressed by credentials. Iโm much more deeply impressed by talent.โ Alsop features composers who she thinks have a special voice, whether theyโre well known or not. โOnce the composer comes to Cabrillo, if that connection is enhanced by their experience with the orchestra, then they develop their own relationship with the orchestra and the community, and so they become regulars,โ Alsop says. Some of the artists, such as Jennifer Higdon (whose music is featured Aug. 12) become well established and then recommend students. The creative mentoring cycle continues. It has resulted in unexpected connections with some of the most famous living composers in the world today, right here in Santa Cruz. That includes John Adams (โNixon in China,โ โOn the Transmigration of Soulsโ) featured on Aug. 6; James MacMillan (โVeni, Veni Emmanuelโ) featured Aug. 5; and John Corigliano (Pulitzer, Grammy, Oscar winner) featured Aug. 13. โTheyโre all like family in many ways,โ Alsop says. โJohn Adams, Iโve known him for decades now. He has a unique relationship with the festival, because he was the music director for a season [1991], and he lives in the area. Thatโs a very special bond. Heโs also become a lead mentor at the festival through supporting these commissions for younger composers. Heโs connected to us in at least those three ways.โ FORECAST: FAIR The Cabrillo Festival’s popular Church Street Fair returns Aug. 6 and 7. In Alsopโs honor, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra has commissioned a piece by Adams, โLola Montez Does the Spider Dance,โ premiering Aug. 6, based on themes from an upcoming opera. โThatโs what Iโm doing in all my spare timeโspider dancing,โ she says. โI donโt know what a spider dance is, it must be like a tarantella that goes crazy โฆ I canโt wait to see it. I think the fact the musicians got together to honor me in this way is extremely emotional. Itโs really an incredible thing. I am very, very touched by it.โ James MacMillanโs โDeath of Oscarโ will be performed Aug. 5. โSomeone like Jimmy MacMillan, Iโve championed his music since the early โ90s, and heโs been to the festival a few times. He fell in love with the festival the first time he came, and talks it up worldwide,โ she says. โEvery time I see him, he asks about everyone there. I think itโs the same with everyone. Itโs a very special place.โ Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1 will be reprised on Aug. 13, the last day of the festival. It was first conducted in 1993 at Mission San Juan Bautista, and will be Alsopโs finale for the festival. Symphony No. 1 memorialized friends and colleagues lost to AIDS, which at the time was a fairly new and devastating epidemic. โThat was the idea. To try to close the circle in some ways. Also to point out how 25 years ago, [when] the subject matter inspired his writing, the piece was more urgent and in the news. The essence of the piece is as relevant today as when it was written. And thatโs what great art is all about. That was my motivation,โ Alsop says. Corigliano asked Alsop to marry him to his partner Mark Adamo at the Cabrillo Festival in 2008. โI think that speaks volumes about how much people love the area, but also the feeling of acceptance they embrace that exists at Cabrillo,โ she says. Alsop will now turn her attention to teaching, mentoring and spending more time with her 12-year-old son Auden. Her afterschool Orchkids program for children has become an important component of education in West Baltimore, with more than 1,000 kids participating. Her Rusty Musicians Project allows adult amateur musicians to play with professionals in an intensive weeklong summer camp. โI was reading about the fact that more people play instruments today than ever before in history,โ Alsop says. โWe should really be connecting with these people. These are the people who love classical music.โ Alsop says itโs the only thing she has ever done where everyone who filled out a survey for the camp had 100 percent satisfaction. โAll based on the same principles I try to bring to Cabrillo,โ Alsop says. โArt is for everyone, not just a select few. The creative process is a process that is owned by every single human being, not just โtalentedโ people, and sharing the creative process is a win-win. Itโs what we do at Cabrillo. Everythingโs about access, inclusion, information and enjoyment.โ
The 2016 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is a two-week music festival focusing on new music by living composers, many of whom are in residence. Dance and imagery are often part of the concerts, and artists with international reputations solo with the acclaimed Festival Orchestra. This will be Conductor and Music Director Marin Alsopโs final season with the festival. Composers in residence include John Adams, Mason Bates, Anna Clyne, John Corigliano, Jennifer Higdon, Michael Kropf, Alexander Miller, Kevin Puts, Christopher Rouse, Gregory Smith. Not in residence but of note: James MacMillan, Osvaldo Golijov and Marlos Nobre. In honor of her last season, the eveningโs concerts have been named for the qualities that make her so extraordinary: โPower and Devotion,โ โInspiration and Impact,โ โCourage and Connectionโ and โMemory and Meaning.โ The festival runs July 31 through Aug. 13, with five main evening shows at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium and a host of open rehearsals, talks, a family concert and the Church Street Fair as part of the season. Church Street Fair runs 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Aug. 6 and 7 featuring music, dance, art, food and wine.
REHEARSALS AND WORKSHOPS
Free open rehearsals will be heldย 7-9:30 p.m. on July 31;ย 2:30-5 p.m. on Aug. 1; 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Aug. 2-3; 2:30-5 p.m. and 7-9:30 p.m. on Aug. 4, with a concert talk in between; 2:30-5 p.m. and 7-9:30 p.m. on Aug. 9; 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30-5 p.m. on Aug. 10; and 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 2:30-5 p.m. on Aug. 11. There will be a free conductors workshop 4-6:30 p.m. on Aug. 3.
CONCERTS
All concerts are at the Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St., Santa Cruz, unless otherwise noted. Details: cabrillomusic.org and 426-6966. July 30 at 4:45 p.m: Donors Concert: Chamber concert of contemporary solo works by the Festival Orchestra. For festival donors of $250 or more and Three Steps to the Future pledges. Aug. 2 at 6 p.m: โIn the Worksโ: Featuring works by composers Viet Cuong, Dani Howard and Michael Schachter led by six emerging conductors. Aug. 5 at 8 p.m.: โPower and Devotionโ: Two West Coast premieres by Christopher Rouse โThunderstruckโ and Oboe Concerto featuring Katherine Needleman; โDeath of Oscarโ by James MacMillan; and RIFT, a symphonic ballet by Anna Clyne featuring the Hysterica Dance Co., choreographed by Kitty McNamee and commissioned by the festival. $37-$65. Aug. 6 at 8 p.m.: โInspiration and Impactโ: Two festival commissions are featured in this concert. โLola Montez Does the Spider Danceโ by John Adams and โSpinning Musicโ by Michael Kropf, both are world premieres; Attacca String Quartet performs Adamsโ โAbsolute Jestโ; West Coast premiere and co-commission with the festival of โThe Cityโ by Kevin Puts, accompanied by a film by John Bartolomeo. $37-$65. Aug. 7 at 1 p.m.: Free Family Concert: โTempus Fugitโ and โMr. Smithโs Compositionโ by Gregory Smith, who also narrates. Free. Aug. 7 at 8 p.m.: โIn the Blue Room: Sticks and Reedsโ: Featuring performers from the oboe and percussion sections of the Festival Orchestra, including a piece by oboist Alexander Miller and two short documentaries on festival musicians. $30. Aug. 10 at 6:30 p.m.: โMusic in the Mountainsโ: At Nestldown. Festival fundraising event featuring the Los Angeles Duo, concertmaster Justin Bruns and members of the Festival Orchestra. $200.
Aug. 12 at 2:30 p.m.: โStudent Staff Ensembleโ: Featuring performances of original works by young members of the Festivalโs Student Staff Program, age 16-24. Free.
Aug. 12 at 8 p.m.: โCourage and Connectionโ: West Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdonโs Violin Concerto featuring Justin Bruns; โScherzo Cryptoโ by oboist Alexander Miller; and Mason Batesโ โB-Sides.โ $37-$65. Aug. 13 at 8 p.m.: โMemory and Meaningโ: West Coast premiere of Marlos Nobreโs โKabbalahโ; Osvaldo Golijovโs โOceanaโ featuring The Choral Project, Alicia Olatuja, Los Angeles Duo and boy soprano Lucas Fedronic; Symphony No. 1 by John Corigliano. $37-$65. Edit 10:26 a.m. 7/21/16: Corrections were made to times and dates of concerts.ย
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay was inducted into the Rock โnโ Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 for singing in Americaโs most eclectic and esoteric ensemble, the Grateful Dead. Most people would expect that to far overshadow her induction earlier this year into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, but for her, the latter was even more important. โTo be honored by your peers from your home stateโyour own town actually, Muscle Shoalsโcuts a little deeper,โ Godchaux-MacKay tells GT from her neighboring home in Florence, Alabama. โThatโs where I started out and learned my craft. Itโs where I began my trip and adventure into the music business and itโs where Iโve returned to live.โ Itโs staggering how many great musicians and singers come from AlabamaโNat King Cole, Hank Williams, Percy Sledge, Tammy Wynette, the Commodores, Wilson Pickett and Emmylou Harris top a very long list. In the late 1950s, within the small community of Muscle Shoals, a music aficionado named Rick Hall opened a recording studio called FAME Studios, which produced a treasure chest of national hits. โI went to my first recording studio when I was 12,โ says Godchaux-MacKay. โMy motherโs friend was a cousin to Rick Hall. I saw all that equipment at FAME Studios and I got hooked. I got nailed. If I didnโt know before, I knew at 12 years old [that] that was what I wanted to do. I set my heart, my hand and my life into singing. I had no other plan. I pursued it and because of FAME studios I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time when all this incredible music was being released and hitting the national charts during my high-school years.โ The lithe, raven-haired beauty would run to FAME Studios straight from cheerleading practice, arriving in her uniform, her friends unaware of what was brewing. โThey didnโt even know there was a music scene going on until the documentary came out in 2013,โ chuckles Godchaux-MacKay. โThe Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, so many people came to Alabama to record, but nobody in the area had any idea what was going on. On a certain level, it was almost covert what we were doing.โ Godchaux-MacKay sang at small sock hops in high school and in the studio with people like Elvis, Duane Allman, Cher, and Boz Scaggs. A fortuitous move to San Francisco led her and her husband at the time, Keith Godchaux, to join the Grateful Dead. ย So, when she performed with them for the first time at Winterland in 1972, it was also her first time in front of a big, colorful, chaotic audience. โThat was a huge leap,โ says Godchaux-MacKay. โWhat provided the confidence was that I knew I was where I was supposed to be. It was daunting being in a big boy band. I had to hold my own. You either sink or swim with the Grateful Dead, and I was going to swim!โ A conduit between Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, Godchaux-MacKay sang her heart out, but this was 1972. Audio technology was stuck in the high-school auditoriums of the โ50s and โ60s. There were times, and every Deadhead will attest to this in varying degrees of emotion, that Godchaux-MacKay could simply not hear herself. By 1974, the Grateful Dead were performing through 92 tube amplifiers and crushing 26,400 watts through 604 speakers. It was the loudest sound since the big bang. Godchaux-MacKay was recently back in the saddle singing with the most recent incarnation of the Dead, Dead & Company. The singer/songwriter is positive about that experience and admits that she always loves singing with her old bandmates whenever the occasion arises. But, Godchaux-MacKayโs heart is at home with her extremely talented friends and family in Alabama. โMy next project is redoing some of the songs Iโve written,โ says Godchaux-MacKay. โMy husband David MacKay is recording an album of basses, and Iโm involved with that project. Iโm not embarking on putting a new band together. When you get to be my age, you get to choose what you want to do. This is a great time in my life. I donโt have to prove anything to anyone. I get to just have fun.โ
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay will perform with Shady Groove at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, July 22 at Don Quixoteโs in Felton. Tickets are $20.
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