Hello Troubadourians! Last year I memorialized three famous guitar players—and a few not-so-famous ones—as well as one legendary luthier. I had hoped that I could get to at least March before I had write another such memorial. Such is life that it’s January and I’m doing it again, this time from a very personal perspective. […]
Eclecticism and diversity aren’t exactly championed in this culture of ours. In fact, it would appear at last glance that if you can do one thing reasonably well, and you can repeat that thing ad nauseam, you are poised for a successful 15 minutes in any number of artistic disciplines—regardless of whether or not you […]
A. J. Croce is a San Diego success story, a man born into roots music royalty who has now been releasing original music for a quarter of a century. His nine albums have featured his bluesy keyboards and broad musical palette, consistent for his uniquely soulful and heartfelt, old-school vocal personality. What Croce does on […]
Wide awake and feeling mortal At this moment in the dream That old man there in the mirror And my shaky self-esteem. —Kris Kristofferson In the summer of 1970 I was a 15 years-old, a Texas-born-Southern-California-raised kid who lived in a self-built bubble of music, words, and dreams. While my earliest memories are foggy, they […]
There is a fundamental paradox at the heart of all self-improvement work: you’re perfect just the way you are, but you could use a little improvement. Whether you categorize your self-improvement process as spiritual, religious, secular, psychological, or some combination thereof, the fact remains—something about the way you’re living your life isn’t quite right. You’re […]
I used to stay in Chula Vista with my Grandmother in the summer months back in the 1950s and that’s where I got acquainted with the Maddox Brothers and Rose. They owned a club in National City (I think it was called Club Twenty-One). At any rate, they played there quite a bit. Now, I […]
The Blue Guitar, which first opened in 1961 by Ed Douglas and Yuris Zeltins, will be closing its doors on February 14. In its long and illustrious history, the store gave birth to one of San Diego’s first bluegrass bands, the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, which included Ed Douglas, Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon, Larry Murray, and […]
Out of Tune is a new EP by the Sham Saints, a North County coastal band built around Darius (Degher) and Michael Packard. Both play guitars and sing, and they are joined by Phil Leavitt (drums), Louis Ruiz (bass), Chris Lawrence (Pedal Steel), and Ellen Maisen (backing vocals). Darius and Packard go back to the […]
