Chuck Berry, who passed away at the age of 90 on March 18, was the Beginning of it all. His is a shadow that falls over those who took up guitar after him. He created the language and vocabulary of rock ‘n’ roll, both as musician and songwriter. His body of work, truly, is the […]
Michael Tiernan has established himself as a gifted pop singer/songwriter, whose prolific music encompasses multiple genres, while bearing his distinct brand. With a well-earned reputation as a creator of upbeat and good-time songs, on 2014’s Inside Your Head, he spent nearly half of the CD on songs with darker themes like violence and the internal […]
The 6400 block of Hollywood’s Sunset Boulevard is a busy place on Sunday mornings. On one side of the street is Amoeba Records, one of the largest, hippest record stores on the planet. Across the street is a perennial hamburger stand (now a Jack in the Box) where Ricky Nelson once crooned ’50s teenyboppers in […]
The Buddhists have a concept called upaya: “skillful means.” It grew out of the simple observation that one shoe does not fit all feet, and that we often have to change our approach as the situation around us changes. Principles and rules are fine, but without the freedom to adapt to the realities before us, […]
When the San Diego Music Award nominations for 2017 were announced, there were several established local artists on the list of nominees for Best Singer/ Songwriter. Then there was a new name: Lady Rogo. The Boston-area transplant switched coasts in early 2016 and has found the San Diego scene “very supportive and interactive.” Rogo appreciates […]
PART TWO If everybody were an artist, there wouldn’t be any wars. — Harry Smith (1923–1991) In the age of information, where knowledge is the key to living a conscious existence, there is certainly no bliss in choosing to remain ignorant about the world that we cohabit. And in a materialist-consumer society such as ours, […]
It’s ten in the morning on a Sunday, a light breeze in the air. The sun is a daffodil in the sky, and you’re pulling onto the 8 West in your car with the windows down and an ice chest full of cold Coronas on the back seat. You’re headed to Ocean Beach for a […]
There’s a grandma in South Dakota and she treats me like a star She tells me she listens to nothing but John Craigie CDs and NPR She says, “When you gonna get famous, boy, when you gonna shine?” I say, “The more famous that you get, honey, the worse songs that you write” —from the […]
It was that big pile of of 78 rpm records my folks had that started things off. Both Mom and Dad liked country and western and I grew up with the likes of Gene Autry, Roy Acuff, the Sons of the Pioneers, Hank Snow, back to Frank Marvin and Haywire Mac and as recent as […]
