Circa 2018, Scott Samuels is a mainstay of San Diego’s music community, with combos such as Vinyl Pirates, Roxy Monoxide and Solitary Diamonds to his credit. But his entry into music came decades earlier, in his hometown of Skokie, Illinois. In 1976 Samuels and his teen rock ‘n’ roll band Phaze released what would be […]
The Bottom Bass can be quite a bit easier to capture than other instruments, especially if you’re not having to use (and mic) an amp. Usually, a DI (direct injection) box is employed for this task. A DI box essentially converts your ¼” high impedance signal to low impedance, allowing your signal to travel via […]
Northern California’s Gwyneth Moreland is a singer/songwriter who played as a teen in her brother’s bluegrass/folk band, and returned to the Mendocino area after college to start writing and recording her own Americana songs. She released a CD in 2014, Ceilings, Floors, and Open Doors and her follow up is Cider. On hand for the […]
“In my youth, they changed pop music, and me with it.” –Richard Corliss, Time magazine on the Kingston Trio So, let’s take a trip to the past for a paragraph or two. It’s the much-anticipated Troubadours of Folk Music festival in a football stadium at UCLA in 1993. It seems like everyone is there: Arlo […]
The Jackstones play rock and don’t hesitate to crossover into modern country. They made a splash with their 2015 debut, What Brings You Here, where the quartet flashed a lot of alternative rock cred. At their heart, they are a guitar/keys/bass/drums setup that relies on catchy hooks, harmonies, and chunky guitar to get their message […]
It is easy for Ira B. Liss to wax about his big band. “People enjoy what we do,” he says. “And it’s what I love to do, too!” Liss and his big band have been making music since 1979. And ever since its inception, the Ira B. Liss Big Band Jazz Machine has kept big […]
John Batdorf has been playing music professionally for over half a century, and is a soft rock/harmony ballad specialist, releasing many solo albums as well as projects with Michael McLean, James Lee Stanley, and others. Recent projects include 2017’s Next Stop Willoughby. Batdorf is back with Me and My Guitar, a sort of career retrospective; […]
Ammar texted me late Friday afternoon. “Can you write a campaign song for us, something I could pull out at events when people ask me to sing?” “Hell, yes!” “Just something off the top of your head, about country over party, and bringing people together.” “I’ve been wanting to do this anyway. Let me take […]
