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Some virtuoso musicians sound like they sold their souls to the Devil for their fiery chops, but Austin, Texas’ Eric Johnson sounds more like a conduit for an archangel. As showcased on his signature tune, the Grammy-winning instrumental “Cliffs of Dover” from his platinum-selling 1990 album Ah Via Musicom, Eric possesses an unusual combination of […]
With the internet offering easy access to music from every era and genre, today’s musicians are being influenced by an unprecedentedly broad range of sounds. That point isn’t lost on local singer/multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Henry Chadwick, whose new Guest At Home EP showcases an indie pop/alternative rock sound that’s informed by the music of such diverse acts […]
According to local folklore, there’s a curse on this town: Once you’ve lived in Santa Cruz, you can never leave. You might move all the way to the other side of the world, but sooner or later, you’ll end up back in Santa Cruz. In the case of sitar/tabla player Ashwin Batish, that story has […]
There’s a wistful feeling permeating the country-tinged folk music on Lauren Shera’s third album, Gold and Rust. With its yearning vocals, weepy pedal steel guitar and plaintive string arrangements, the album perfectly captures the feelings that Shera, a former Santa Cruz resident, was experiencing while she and her husband were preparing to move to Nashville […]
If you’ve heard his solo guitar adaptations of songs by The Beatles and Mason Williams that have been making the rounds on social media lately, you’ve undoubtedly uttered an expletive or two in appreciation of Australian-born fingerstyle guitarist Tommy Emmanuel’s gusto and technical prowess. A one-man band of sorts, Tommy simultaneously plays melodies, bass lines, […]
Local musician Etienne David Franc is determined to capture his song ideas… even if it kills him. “Almost all of my writing happens—very dangerously—while I’m driving,” the bassist/guitarist/vocalist/rapper confesses. Franc does a huge amount of his composing on iMaschine, the phone app version of a drum machine/sequencer/controller that is changing the way producers make beats […]
In 2013, the Americana/bluegrass band The Brothers Comatose found itself at a crossroads. When bassist Gio Benedetti parted ways with the group to meet the demands of having a newly born second child, the four remaining members were left with a major void to fill. “We messed around with some substitutes, and we just never […]
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