Love tequila and eating tacos? Santa Cruz joins Oxnard as the latest city to hold the Tequila and Taco Music Festival, a one-day event where Tequila-lovers can try a variety of their favorite tipple while soaking it all up with a wide selection of inspired taco creations. It all happens on Saturday, August 23 at…
Articles by Cat Johnson
Presidents of the United States of America
In the early-1990s, the Northwest was the epicenter of alt-rock, thanks to grunge. Among the bands that were letting both their emotions and flannel shirt tails fly were the Seattle-based Presidents of the United States of America. But unlike many of their peers, this band sidestepped the overly emotional, preferring to sing silly pop-punk songs…
Chick Corea & The Vigil
Winning a Grammy is quite an accomplishment. Winning 20 Grammys? Now we’re talking some next-level artistry. Such is the case with Chick Corea, a keyboardist and composer whose many musical contributions include forming the pioneering jazz-fusion group Return to Forever. Over a celebrated career, Corea has played alongside Miles Davis, Anthony Braxton, Blue Mitchell and…
Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It’
You could almost hear the collective gasp when Shakespeare Santa Cruz called it quits last year. But local appreciators of the bard were not to be denied. Santa Cruz Shakespeare stepped in to bridge the gap, and is currently in its first run, kicking things off with As You Like It. Featuring what Good Times…
Time for Three bring Bluegrass Fusion to Cabrillo Music Festival
The Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music is known for showcasing diverse, sometimes unexpected acts. But I must say, hearing the name Katy Perry mentioned in the same breath as the festival caught me by surprise. No, the pop starlet is not performing this year, but the self-proclaimed “classically trained garage band,” Time for Three will…
Be our Guest: Hop ‘N’ Barley Beer & BBQ Festival
For some, music festivals offer a great excuse to get loose and drink up. The music is fun and all, but it’s really all about the brews. The Hop ‘n’ Barley Festival skips the part about drinking being a perk and gets straight to the point with an out-and-out celebration of beer. Yes, there will…
Be our Guest: Seun Kuti
When Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti died in 1997, his youngest son, saxophonist/percussionist/vocalist Seun Kuti, who was only 14 years old at the time, took over frontman duties for his father’s band, Egypt 80. Since then, Seun has worked to keep the elder Kuti’s message of civil rights and equality alive, while reinventing the Afrobeat sound…
New Tech Meetup's Silicon Beach Party
When Doug Erickson started the Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup in 2008, attendance was generally less than 20 people. Erickson, who lives in Santa Cruz but worked in Silicon Valley, says he had to beg his friends to attend. But he kept at it, driven by the desire to connect with tech people locally. “I…
Fur for First Readers at Santa Cruz Libraries
On a big oval rug in the children’s section of the Capitola library sits a scruffy little dog with sandy brown hair and friendly eyes. A boy in a little league uniform is sitting next the dog, reading aloud. Not far away, a giant black Newfoundland named Bitsy is lying on her side listening to…
More Than Words at TEDxSantaCruz
TED talks have a reputation for being thought-provoking, but Irene Tsouprake’s ambitions for the TEDxSantaCruz conference aim a lot higher than that. “People can expect to have their minds and hearts blown,” says Tsouprake, the co-organizer/speaker curator for the conference, which comes to Hotel Paradox on Saturday. “Be prepared—it’s not like any conference you have…
