Tag archives: singer

Raising Cain at Carrillo
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 26, 2024

Blues guitarist/singer-songwriter Chris Cain was already 30 before he formed his first band in 1986 in his hometown of San Jose, far from the blues meccas of the Mississippi Delta, Memphis, or Chicago. In fact, even to this day, Cain has never lived anywhere else but northern California.  But he’d grown up listening to his […]

Dar She Goes
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 16, 2024

It might be her breathy and vibratoless soprano that somehow suggests both urgency and a leisurely, steady pace. Maybe it’s her knack for rhymes that never feel forced, or her commitment to a more universal truth in her songwriting. Or her ability to erase any divide between passionate politics and personal songs. Whatever the reason, […]

Mendeleyev Gets Self-ish at SOhO
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 19, 2023

Santa Barbara native singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mendeleyev’s new album won’t actually be available in CD form for his concert at SOhO on September 21, as the record isn’t officially released until eight days later. But that won’t stop him from making this particular homecoming show into a special evening in every way.  For one thing, it will […]

The Stories of Sutton
By Steven Libowitz   |   May 16, 2023

Jazz singer Tierney Sutton’s Friday, May 12, show at the Lobero Theatre, the nine-time Grammy nominee’s first concert at her self-professed favorite venue in the world, is actually two concerts in one. Sutton – who in the interim not only released a sequel to her 2014 collaboration with classically trained Parisian guitarist-arranger Serge Merlaud, but […]

4Qs: Forever Young with “Get Together” Singer
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 7, 2023

If Jesse Colin Young never sang another song besides “Get Together,” his place in rock history would be assured. Indeed, the ‘60s feel-good, quasi-protest song is so iconic that FestForums has borrowed it as the title of their tribute concert to the late producers of Woodstock and Newport Folk & Jazz festivals. Young will both […]

The ‘Makena Tate Project’
By Stella Haffner   |   December 27, 2022

Early career singer-songwriter Makena Tate attributes her confidence on stage to her Santa Barbara upbringing. The Crane School alumna says: “Being at Crane really gave me this great foundation for what I love now. It felt like there was no judgment, that everyone there wanted you to succeed. But having supportive teachers like Shana Arthurs […]

Molly’s Game is Great Music
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 1, 2022

Palo Alto-raised, Boston-trained, Nashville-based guitarist/singer-songwriter Molly Tuttle inspires critics to manufacture metaphors to describe her dexterity on an acoustic six-string guitar – “her fingers are like 10 Olympic athletes” or “she could pick your pocket without breaking stride.” That’s not surprising since after years of participating in bluegrass jams all over Northern California, Tuttle broke […]

Seeking a New Tune
By Richard Mineards   |   July 26, 2022

Patricia Westley, daughter of the Santa Barbara Polo Club’s John Westley, who used to manage the polo training school, had just scored the experience of a lifetime two months before Russia invaded Ukraine. The Kiwi-American opera singer had won an Atkins Foundation fellowship to work at the historic Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, finding an […]

Reflections with a Musical Legacy
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 3, 2022

SoCal native Karla Bonoff came of age during the early days of the emergence of the singer-songwriter in Los Angeles, playing her original songs on open mic nights at the famous Troubadour in the late ‘60s, where she met lifelong friends Kenny Edwards, Wendy Waldman, and Andrew Gold. The foursome formed Bryndle and made a […]

Tuttle’s Bluegrass Throwdown
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 29, 2022

SOhO has secured a bit of a booking coup for the end of the month in Molly Tuttle, the singer-songwriter-guitarist who became the first woman to win the International Bluegrass Music Awards’ Guitar Player of the Year awards in 2017 and repeated in 2018, when she was also named the Americana Music Association’s Instrumentalist of […]

Finding the ‘Good in the Heart of Life’
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 25, 2022

The COVID pandemic has been an ongoing career if not a personal crisis for a lot of musicians around the world. But for Drew McManus, the shutdown actually afforded him a chance to slow down, regroup and, most importantly, reconnect with his roots in the mountains of Montana. Although he was born in the western […]

Béla Fleck: His Heart Belongs to Bluegrass
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 14, 2021

Credit Béla Fleck’s son for sparking the banjo master’s desire to return once again to his bluegrass roots. Fleck, who was first inspired to take up the five-string instrument as a child when he heard Earl Scruggs play the theme song for Beverly Hillbillies, has long since become an ambassador of the instrument who has […]

Broussard’s Journey: Bayou to Lullabyes and Back
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 7, 2021

Singer-songwriter Marc Broussard made his stage debut before he reached first grade, belting out “Johnny B. Goode” at age 5 as a guest singer in his father, Louisiana Hall of Fame guitarist Ted Broussard’s, famous band The Boogie Kings. Swamp pop and blue-eyed soul runs through his veins and makes up his bones. But classic […]

Arts in Lockdown #23: Sharon Hendrix
By Joanne A Calitri   |   March 25, 2021

Sharon Hendrix is an icon. As a black American female singer working in a predominately white-male, music industry since 1978, her vocals, dance routines, stellar stage outfits, nonstop smile, professionalism and business savvy grace the world’s top performing arts venues. She’s played the London O2 Arena, Broadway Theatre, Las Vegas, and Europe, numerous TV specials […]

A Friend in Need
By Richard Mineards   |   January 21, 2021

Montecito singer-songwriter Brad Paisley, who was generous with his music and contributions during the 2018 mudslides disaster, as well as being a major supporter of the Unity Shoppe along with fellow musician Kenny Loggins, brought major help to Nashville, Tennessee, after the Christmas bombing, I learn. Brad, 48, who has sold 11 million albums and […]

Fisher Finds a Way
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 24, 2020

If a sudden affliction of acute flaccid myelitis resulting in becoming a quadriplegic wasn’t enough to stop Santa Barbaran Grace Fisher from pursuing her musical dreams, the coronavirus pandemic couldn’t contain her from continuing her community Christmas celebration. This year’s Winter Music Showcase from her Grace Fisher Foundation – which was pre-recorded using proper protocols […]

Gillies Goes from ‘American Idol’ to Star of His Own Heart
By Mackenzie Boss   |   December 24, 2020

No one could fault Santa Barbara singer-songwriter-guitarist Jackson Gillies for letting early success go to his head. After all, while still battling both Type 1 diabetes and a painful skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, Gillies was a surprise winner of the 2016 local Teen Star competition at a sold-out Arlington Theatre at age 15, sang […]

House Calls: No Other than Giddens
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 19, 2020

It’s doubtful we’ll hear Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style,” which Rhiannon Giddens covered so memorably a decade ago as part of a genre-busting, talent-bursting display by her then-band The Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Grammy Award-winning outfit that blended acoustic instruments with a decidedly modern approach. Indeed, Giddens, an operatically trained singer, songwriter, fiddler and […]

Arts in Lockdown Series Part 14: Musician Keith St. John
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 12, 2020

Artist Keith St. John is the true representation of the American dream: love it, work at it, keep it fresh, and it’s yours. And true to his nature, he has remained prolific in creating music throughout the lockdown, with virtual concerts, recording, composing, and some outdoor live shows with COVID-19 guidelines. Here with sage advice […]

Arts in Lockdown Series Part 13 Multi-instrumentalist Musician Elle Archer
By Joanne A Calitri   |   November 5, 2020

Musicians are here to provide wisdom and comfort for a traumatized world, and to uplift the voices of the downtrodden,” says Elle Archer, a Portland-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Managed by Seth Loeser at Silver Morning Management, and recently signed with Kill Rock Stars, Elle’s band Shaylee is a project aimed at conveying youthful queer exuberance […]