Esperanza Spalding caused KZSC's phones to ring more than usual this week, after airing a ticket giveaway for Spalding's highly-anticipated Santa Cruz show this Saturday. In case if you missed the news, GRAMMY® award-winning jazz singer, composer, and bassist, Esperanza Spalding will perform…
This past week, the Noise Pop festival of San Francisco swept up the city in exciting shows ranging from Carly Rae Jepsen to Kamasi Washington. Although we at KZSC weren’t exactly able to see the big names of the festival, we did get a peek behind the press curtain and what we saw was amazing. Two shows in particular that blew us away were the Thermals and Diane Coffee shows at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall
Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will be playing top quality traditional style bluegrass at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Monday, February 29th, 2016. From Charlestown, Indiana, Mike has won the International Bluegrass Music Association's award as Best Fiddle Performer of the…
Award-winning Irish traditional band Téada (Gaelic for "strings") kicks off its "reAwakening" tour in the U.S. with an appearance at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Friday, February 26, 2016. Their performance will provide a glimpse into the 100-year period of Irish musical renaissance from 1916…
We are officially kicking off the "Local Artist of the Week" blog series here on the world-famous KZSC Website! To start off strong, we will be showcasing Solar Glory, a Santa Cruz-based space rock/experimental/drone/post-prog/psychedelic group! Check out their Facebook Page…
KZSC Santa Cruz 88.1FM , College Eight, and Oakes College bring you a free music festival, on Friday February 26th from 4 to 7 pm. West Fest 2016 on the UCSC's College Eight Upper Lawn, incorporates music from psychedelic space rock and gameboy tunes to a Grammy-nominated cellist Rushad Eggleston. The line-up features acts who have years of experience and some that have only gotten their start in recent months. Check out the long-awaited release of the line-up below! Also, see the Facebook Event link for more information.
Julie Snyder, KZSC's former news director (1990s) and the co-creator of the world's most popular podcast, Serial, was the cover star of February 17th's Good Times weekly! Don't miss the Q&A with Good Times Editor-in-Chief Steve Palopoli, where she talks about being a Senior Producer at This American Life and how that led to the birth and explosive growth of Serial--a Peabody-award winning true crime podcast series. And see if you can make it out to see Julie Snyder and Serial co-creator Sarah Koenig talk at The Sunset Center's ‘Binge-Worthy Journalism: Backstage With the Creators of Serial’ on Wednesday, March 9th.
There’s not really any sort of cohesive way to discuss a band like Godspeed You! Black Emperor that doesn’t begin to sound either extremely pretentious or like an academic paper. As I sat on the base of a pillar in…
Two stars of Hawaiian music are at the Rio Theatre Thursday February 4th--Keola Beamer, composer, singer-songwriter, accomplished slack key guitar master and Henry Kapono, singer-songwriter, actor, and rocker. Moanalani Beamer will grace the stage with hula. These gentlemen of music brought us many of the original songs that have formed the identity of Hawaiian music since the 1970s.
Nothing really says DIY like a good ol' house show, and nothing says underground like bands that have forged their own distinct sound. I'd known Floral's guitarist since his punk rock days back when our bands were equally pissed off and equally terrible in that beautiful way that only punk is. What a few semesters at Berklee had done to him was simply mindblowing. With only a compressor to cut out feedback and static, his high treble tapping brought the room to a mathy frenzy. Fingers flashed and blurred. Feet flew over massive and elaborate pedalboards. Surely, math has never before been this rock. Or rock been this math. You know, whichever.
Warm it up, Santa Cruz! Welcome the Island sounds of Paula Fuga and Anuhea to Moe's Alley Wednesday, December 16th at 8:30 pm. Paula has a truly exquisite voice and she uses her talents to be a cultural ambassador for her Hawaiian home and people. Anuhea, brings new reggae-tinged holiday music to the stage at Moe's Alley. Get your Island sway going on, groove to the music and the rare treat of having these two talents together on the mainland.
Nahko and Medicine for the People play the Catalyst in downtown Santa Cruz Saturday, December 12th, with the Wheeland Brothers opening the show up at 9:00 pm. Nahko is of Apache, Puerto Rican and Filipino cultures and adopted into the family of music. With the power of Real Talk Music, Nahko gathers a tribe of truth seekers to each concert and event.
Recently, we at KZSC had the opportunity to talk with the guitarist of the legendary Santa Cruz Skate Punk band, Mike Neider. Recently, the band put out a new EP with Dave Grohl on drums and Chuck Dukowski on bass…
Wiki Wiki Wednesday honors the birthdate of the last reigning monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai'i this Wednesday between 6 and 9 am. David La'amea Kalakaua was born November 16th, 1836 and known as 'The Merrie Monarch' for his enthusiastic revival of Hawaiian music, dance and sport. Fluent in English and Hawaiian, the young David Kalakaua studied law in his younger years, and led the group the Young Hawaiians, whose motto was "Hawaii for the Hawaiians." We will have many musical tributes to the king, along with a very special guest co-host, Ku Imua Kalakaua!
This past week, the Catalyst presented the wonderfully weird indie sounds of Of Montreal and KZSC has exclusive photos from the fanatical festivities. Led by lead singer Kevin Barnes for almost twenty years, Of Montreal has always had a reputation…
Multi instrumentalist, Multi talented Willie K. is blasting into Moe's Alley Sunday November 8th for 2 blistering sets of blues, a smattering of jazz and perhaps a traditional tune from this virtuoso Hawaiian entertainer. Listen to Wiki Wiki Wednesday on Nov 4 for an interview!
There comes a time when The Diversity Center has an event that we all wish we knew about, so I'm letting it all come out! You guessed it! I'll be revealing all the alluring details about The Diversity Center's Gala, happening…
Debashish Bhattacharya is a master improviser on the Indian slide guitar, and KZSC is proud to host Bhattacharya on this week’s Used Records show, Wednesday September 30th between 9 am and noon. Bhattacharya developed a new system of playing--and teaching--Indian classical guitar centered on three of guitar designs of his own invention. He is in Santa Cruz for a concert on Friday October 2nd, at the Pacific Cultural Center.
Trying to find tickets to next weekend's Dry Diggings Festival (Sept. 25th-26th)? Tune into the Great 88.1 KZSC this weekend for a chance to win a pair of tickets to one of the premier reggae festivals of the season! Brought…
Carol's interview with iconic San Francisco bluesman Joe Louis Walker is available--on demand--in the Test of Time archives, until September 25. He's played with Lightnin' Hopkins, BB King, James Cotton, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Otis Rush, and Mike Bloomfield. JLW plays Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz on Wednesday September 16.
Ledward Kaapana, from Hawai'i Island, playing his inimitable slack key guitar style, rallies in the redwoods with Fran Guidry on Wednesday. These gentlemen of music perform at 7:30 pm Wednesday, August 26th. Led has been entertaining audiences since "small kid…