When the Tassajara Zen Monastery in Central California was threatened by wildfire in 2008, firefighters decided to evacuate. Five brave monks, however, decided to stay behind and do what they could to protect the monastery. Writer, longtime resident of California, and former Zen monk herself, Colleen Morton Busch, brings the story to life in the… Read more »
For full-time funkateers Ace Alan and Jay Stone, keeping the spirit of funk music alive is a calling of the highest order. They are priests of an “electric church”, as Stone calls it. Together, they make music in Stone’s group The Funkanauts, whose newest album, Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, is coming out soon. They… Read more »
Even in the epicenter of the Bay Area tech boom, the Burl Haggard String Band keeps the traditions of the western swing music of the 1920s and 30s alive and well. Founded initially by musicians Lucas French and Adam Simo, the band’s lineup also includes Kristina Miller, Marquitas Ignatius, and Mike Berry on the pedal… Read more »
Before winning Jazz Search West 2017, Le Perez had never set foot in a recording studio. A therapist by profession, Perez majored in social work and spent her career working in psych wards, jails, and chemical dependency units—all while maintaining a deeply ingrained love of music and lifetime membership to the “sing in your shower… Read more »
Live Oak Studio is so excited to share that Alta Magazine, the newly launched brainchild of William Randolph Hearst III, has just added a podcast to its already impressive roster of content, and it is being recorded right here. The magazine is Hearst’s California-centric answer to The New Yorker, and the podcast is no exception… Read more »