A pair of 'kindred spirits'

Twist of fate linked Marc Brueland, Tuomas Holopainen – and created a life-affirming friendship

By Chris Nixon
May 22, 2008

“Higher than hope my cure lies,” reads the gravestone of Marc Christopher Brueland, a San Diego DJ, artist and animator who passed away in 2003 after battling liver cancer for seven and a half years.

In a strange twist of fate, three disparate elements have combined to create a powerful story: a British cartoon from the 1980s, a Finnish metal band and Brueland's battle with cancer. The story has inspired a song, numerous YouTube video tributes and music fans around the world.

Brueland grew up in Tierrasanta, a kid fascinated with both music and art. He started his own comic book company, Invincible Studios, and later worked as an animator for The Lightspan Partnership, a local computer animation studio.

Brueland also DJed every Saturday night at Club Sabbatt, a goth/industrial club in Hillcrest. At age 22, he was diagnosed with a rare liver cancer, fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma.

DETAILS
Nightwish
When: Tomorrow, 9 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $25-$60
Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: hob.com

During his formative years, Brueland fell in love with a 26-minute, animated piece called “The Snowman.” First shown on the BBC, the cartoon includes the haunting song “Walking in the Air,” which reached No. 5 on the United Kingdom pop charts in 1985.

Halfway around the world from San Diego, the young Tuomas Holopainen watched the animated film at his home in Finland. In 1996, the musician formed Nightwish, a Finnish prog-metal band. On its 1998 album “Oceanborn,” the group covered “Walking in the Air” from “The Snowman.”

Brueland discovered the song on a compilation he found at Tower Records in San Diego. Marc's mother, Georgene, remembers the day Marc brought home the compilation: “The music brought us together as a family once again as it did in Marc's childhood, especially at this difficult time in Marc's life.”

Says Marc's sister Erin: “It was one of those moments that just changes you forever. It was just fate or chance that he found the song on a compilation.”

Over the next four years, Holopainen would get to know the Brueland family through correspondence and visiting San Diego. Each time the musician visited San Diego, Marc was too ill to meet him. Terminally ill with cancer, Marc decided he finally needed to meet Tuomas.

So the Brueland family traveled to Atlanta to see Nightwish perform “Walking in the Air” onstage at the ProgPower festival.

“When he flew to Atlanta, he had metastasis all over his abdomen and all over his lungs,” remembered Georgene. “He was in severe pain. But he wanted to do this for Tuomas and for the band. I'll never forget the flight there. It was terrifying for me as a mom to watch, because his body was wracked with this disease. But that's the kind of person Marc was.”

In front of thousands of fans at the ProgPower V festival, Nightwish performed with the Brueland family watching from the wings. Before launching into the song, Tuomas dedicated “Walking in the Air” to Marc. Even in his weakened condition, Brueland was able to get out of his wheelchair and walk to the stage to hug Tuomas.

A month later, as Marc Brueland lay on his deathbed at the San Diego Hospice, Erin and Georgene called Tuomas so he could say goodbye to Marc. Georgene thought to call the Finnish musician: “Tuomas was on the phone with Marc a few minutes before he died.”

Erin added; “We called Tuomas from the hospice just so he could say goodbye. Marc couldn't talk. He was wheezing from all the fluid in his lungs. But Tuomas got to hear him breathe.”

Touched by Marc's life, Holopainen wrote the song “Higher Than Hope” as a tribute. The song includes an excerpt of Marc's voice recorded in an interview with local television reporter Sandra Moss for News 8 KFMB. Brueland's gravestone inscription is the chorus in “Higher Than Hope.”

In the years following Marc's death, the Brueland and Holopainen families have become more intertwined. The friendship between the families has helped Erin and Georgene cope with the passing of Marc's father, Eric, also from cancer, in 2007. Tuomas' parents Kitia and Pentti were in San Diego when Eric passed away.

“To this day, Tuomas has joined our family,” Georgene said. “I lost my husband now. So there's nobody left but Erin and I. We have an adopted family now in another country. And the kinship of these metal fans is so loving.”

Nightwish will be playing its first show in San Diego tomorrow at the House of Blues downtown, and it's going to be a special night for the friends and family of Marc Brueland.

“They're two kindred spirits that met just the one time, but their story has really touched everybody who hears it,” said Erin Brueland. “The fans of Nightwish still remember him. They still talk about him on the forum of the Web site. When we go to gigs all over the country, people know who we are and they remember Marc.

“That's why it's a very special day when they finally play his hometown. We've been waiting for this forever. It's really a celebration of Marc and the band.”

Georgene Brueland said it best: “This is a beautiful thing that came out of a horrible tragedy.”

MARC WAS ALWAYS A HEAVY METAL FAN

Drawing inspiration from fantasy novels like “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the Dragonlance series, Holopainen creates fantastic imagery in his lyrics.
The band is currently touring behind its 2007 release, “Dark Passion Play.” Tomorrow's show at the House of Blues will be the band's first appearance in San Diego.

Erin Brueland on Nightwish's musical appeal to her family: “Marc (her brother) was always a heavy metal fan. And this European style of symphonic metal, with the orchestra and the female vocals, was somewhat new to us at the time. We got the best introduction to it with Nightwish.”

The Nightwish lineup includes Holopainen (keyboards, vocals), Anette Olzon (vocals), Erno “Emppu” Vuorinen (guitar), Marko “Marco” Hietala (bass, vocals) and Jukka “Julius” Nevalainen (drums).

Learn more about Marc Brueland at invinciblestudios.com and see more photos of Brueland and Nightwish at invinciblestudios.com/marcphotos.html.

Globe-trotting journey

Ska gets around, and Warped Tour's Aggrolites have followed its path

By Chris Nixon
August 14, 2008

The story of ska is a journey spanning continents, beginning with a percussive extension of American rhythm and blues that developed into a uniquely Jamaican style of music under the Caribbean sun.

Mixing a punk ethos with reggae, The Aggrolites, a five-piece ska group, lands at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre as part of the Vans Warped Tour. And the story of ska – with its circuitous passage from one island in the Caribbean to another island in the North Atlantic and back to America – is also the story of The Aggrolites, a Los Angeles-based reggae and ska band whose sound encompasses the genre's history. The band is one of the headliners at this year's Warped Tour, which lands at Cricket Wireless Amphitheater in Chula Vista tomorrow.

People tend to divide ska's history into waves.

The first wave came out of Jamaica in the '50s (Prince Buster, The Skatalites), influencing later island sounds like reggae and rocksteady. The second wave hit the shores of the U.K. in the late '60s and '70s, with the advent of 2 Tone Records and bands like The Specials and Madness.

The third wave spilled onto the beaches of the U.S. in the '90s (Hepcat, Bim Skala Bim, Mighty Mighty Bosstones), giving birth to pop ska/reggae bands like Sublime and No Doubt.

DETAILS
14th annual Vans Warped Tour, with The Aggrolites, Angels & Airwaves and Rise Against
When: Today, 11 a.m.
Where: Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista
Tickets: $24
Phone: (619) 671-3600
Online: warpedtour.com

Meanwhile, a young Jesse Wagner delved through his father's record collection while collecting chops from his musician uncle.

“My uncle was into soul music, and played in soul bands in Cleveland, Ohio,” said Wanger, the Aggrolites' singer and guitarist. “So I was raised on my dad's Motown and Tower of Power records.”

Immersing himself in the American soul music catalog, Wagner's love of brassy horn sections led him to ska, and that led to reggae. That musical heritage led him to Jamaica, which eventually steered him to the U.K.

“I was listening a lot to Madness and The Specials,” recalled Wagner, speaking via cell phone from a tour bus headed toward a Warped Tour stop in Canada. “There was also a local band called The Skeletones and another band called Hepcat, and I started getting into more old school ska from those bands. A lot of punk bands, too, turned me on to reggae.”

THE AGGROLITES
Jesse Wagner – vocals, lead guitar
Brian Dixon – rhythm guitar
Roger Rivas – organ
Korey Horn – drums
Jeff Roffredo – bass

And reggae brought Wagner to his current situation, leading the five-piece traditional reggae/ska group. Formed in 2002, the Los Angeles-based Aggrolites draws from the soul of ska and reggae mixed with the pure adrenaline of punk, a style they call “dirty reggae.”

Wagner and his band have released three albums, 2003's “Dirty Reggae,” the 2006 self-titled major label debut and 2007's “Reggae Hit L.A.,” while also serving as the backing bands for Jamaican performers like Phyllis Dillon and Prince Buster. The Aggrolites also collaborated with Rancid's Tim Armstrong on his 2007 solo debut “A Poet's Life.”

Ska icon Prince Buster once said after playing with The Aggrolites: “It reminded me of the old days. I can't believe that this young band from America could play my music just as good as the day it was recorded.”

Along with the link between punk, ska and reggae, The Aggrolites' inclusion in the Warped Tour this year represents founder Kevin Lyman's vision of diversity for the festival: Maybe some kid will check out The Aggrolites and get turned onto The Specials or Prince Buster, he reasoned.

“I think Kevin Lyman wanted us on there with a handful of other bands to keep the spirit of the Warped Tour alive,” said Wagner. “It's always been about diversity, about coming to a concert with dozens of bands and experiencing something you've never heard or opening your ears.

“You could go see a punk band, then move over and see a hardcore band and see a reggae band after that. It's about opening up your mind and exploring other genres of music.”

SKINHEAD SKA: ISLAND MUSIC BECOMES SOCIAL COMMENTARY

So how did a reggae/ska band playing traditional music from a tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean find its way onto the Warped Tour bill?

The annual traveling festival may be known as summer camp for punk bands, but Warped founder/promoter Kevin Lyman is known to step outside the tightknit punk family for his bands and artists. From hardcore to hip-hop to even edgy pop, the Warped Tour sports a diverse amalgam of sounds every year.

The Aggrolites' appearance this year represents the long history of reggae, ska and punk living and how those musics have thrived off each other's energy.

Aggrolites lead singer Jesse Wagner pinpoints a time almost 40 years ago and many thousands of miles away as the moment when reggae and punk became intertwined.

“Reggae came to the U.K. in 1969,” he said. “It became their Motown, what we would now consider oldies. In England, reggae was everyday music.

“Reggae was pretty much working-class music. That's why you had skinheads listening to reggae music in the '60s. It had nothing to do with racism. It was a working-class thing. There were Jamaican skinheads working in factories, just as there were the young English kids working in factories.

“That's how reggae music became social commentary, rebel music. Punk rockers heard what these Jamaicans were saying, and got into it. And it became the working-class music of the U.K.”

– CHRIS NIXON

BOOKED FOR WARPED TOUR

Bands playing the 14th annual Warped Tour tomorrow at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista:

3oh!3, Against Me!, The Aggrolites, Alesana, All Time Low, Anberlin, Angels and Airwaves, Beat Union, Bring Me the Horizon, Broadway Calls, Charlotte Sometimes, Classic Crime, Cobra Starship, Confide, Danger Radio, Devil Wears Prada, Dr. Manhattan, Evergreen Terrace, Everytime I Die, Family Force 5, Forever the Sickest Kids, Four Year Strong, From First to Last, GBH, Greeley Estates, Gym Class Heroes, Horrorpops, Katy Perry, Ludo, Mayday Parade, MC Chris, Motion City Soundtrack, Norma Jean, Pierce the Veil, Protest the Hero, Reel Big Fish, Relient K, Rise Against, Say Anything, Set Your Goals, Shwayze, Sky Eats Airplane, Story of the Year, Street Dogs, The Academy Is..., The Audition, The Briggs, The Bronx, The Color Fred, The Fabulous Rudies, The Human Abstract, The Lordz, The Maine, The Saint Alvia Cartel, The Vandals, We the Kings

Only danger for Danger Mouse is overwork

By Chris Nixon
July 24, 2008

Danger Mouse, aka Brian Joseph Burton, is in the midst of a personal dilemma. After working his way into the top echelon of music producers, the 30-year-old artist now has the resources to take time off and relax, but chances to work with Beck, The Black Keys and Damon Albarn don't come around often.

DETAILS
Gnarls Barkley
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Del Mar Racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar
Tickets: Free with admission to the racetrack
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: delmarscene.com

“I have more opportunities to do more stuff than I ever have,” said Burton on a recent tour stop in Forence, Italy, with his current project, Gnarls Barkley. “So, I've been taking advantage of those opportunities instead of taking time off. I just can't get myself to stop.”

Since he gained notoriety for his seminal 2004 mash-up disc “The Grey Album,” (instrumental tracks from The Beatles' “White Album” with rhymes and vocals from Jay-Z's “Black Album”), Burton produced 2005's “Demon Days” for Gorillaz (nominated for Grammy as best producer of the year), The Rapture's 2006 disc “Pieces of the People We Love” and Sparklehorse's “Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain” in 2006, not to mention a fruitful collaboration between Danger Mouse and rapper MF Doom as DANGERDOOM.

In 2007, he produced with the supergroup The Good, the Bad and the Queen's self-titled album, working with Damon Albarn, Clash bassist Paul Simonon, The Verve's Simon Tong and Fela Kuti's drummer Tony Allen. Just in 2008 (so far), Danger Mouse turned the dials for The Black Keys' “Attack & Release,” The Shortwave Set's “Replica Sun Machine,” Martina Topley-Bird's “The Blue God” and Beck's latest opus, “Modern Guilt.”

So, what makes this guy so appealing to so many different kinds of musicians?

Black Keys vocalist-guitarist Dan Auerbach said of Danger Mouse: “Brian has a real ear for melody and arrangement.” Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse added in a 2007 interview with the Union-Tribune: “He was able to realize a lot of the stuff I heard in my head.”

Danger Mouse's main skills as a producer stem from his background in hip-hop and his love of film scores, particularly the music of Ennio Morricone. Hip-hop gives him knowledge of beats and rhythms, along with the ability to think of music in terms of a patchwork of samples. After studying how music can create moods in film, Danger Mouse is masterful in the art of creating lush landscapes to surround an artist's songs.

In his role as producer for Albarn and The Black Keys, Burton uses subtle methods to shift the sound and texture. But his collaboration in Gnarls Barkley with vocalist-MC Cee-Lo gives him the largest canvas to paint his image of the perfect song.

Cee-Lo hails from the Dirty South hip-hop school, adding rhymes to three albums by Atlanta's Goodie Mob before pursuing a solo career. With Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo adds his powerful vocals and outsider lyrics, giving the most sugary Barkley creations a bittersweet tinge.

Gnarls Barkley burst on the scene in 2006 with the debut disc “St. Elsewhere,” which gave birth to the soulful single “Crazy.” The album went platinum, selling 3.6 million copies worldwide. “Crazy” shot to No. 1 on the charts in the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and Italy.

For the follow-up album, Burton drew upon his experience as producer to other artists to help hone Gnarls Barkley's sound.

“I had to work with a lot of people between (the first album) and now,” said Burton. “So, this time around I felt like I was a little better at trying to get the sound I wanted. We dug a little deeper into some of the genres from the first album. We wanted to keep it dark and keep it colorful too. Without revisiting things, we just wanted to keep going. We still have plenty of things to say.”

The culmination of Danger Mouse's experiences as a producer the past few years, “The Odd Couple” expands on the hand-clapping, sing-along infectiousness of “St. Elsewhere.” With its blend of 1960s pop sensibilities, hip-hop percussion and Cee-Lo's booming vocals, Gnarls Barkley's songs sound distinct, rising above the din of disposable hip-hop and pop on the charts.

It looks like Danger Mouse will be busy for a while: “Some days, I wake up and I say to myself, 'I need to take a break.' And then, later on that day, I come up with another idea I want to do. As long as I don't break down, I should be fine. But I'm pretty happy on the whole.”

Win, place and shows!

Good music's a sure bet at Del Mar's 4 O'Clock Fridays

By Chris Nixon
July 17, 2008

Once upon a time, not too long ago, the sport of kings carried heavy baggage in the minds of anyone under the age of 40 – crusty old men reeking of cigar smoke donning fedoras and spending their paychecks on the ponies.

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, one of America's classic racetracks, has managed to reshape the perception of horse racing through clever ad campaigns giving the sport a classic retro appeal. Along with the shift in marketing strategies came a series of live concerts, free with admission to the track

“In an effort to attract a younger demographic, we began concerts – known as 'Wild Fridays' at the time – with a show by the Rugburns in 1994,” said Josh Rubinstein, vice president of development with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for the past 10 years. “The concert series took off during the '01 season when a total crowd of 27,000 was on hand for the races to see a former professional surfer turned up-and-coming musician named Jack Johnson.”

DETAILS
4 O'Clock Fridays with Gavin Rossdale, Pinback, Steel Pulse, Black Francis
When: July 18-Aug. 29
Where: Del Mar racetrack, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar
Tickets: Free with track admission
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: delmarscene.com

So from a business perspective, has the series, now called 4 O'Clock Fridays, worked?

“From a marketing-promotions standpoint, it's the most successful thing we do. In addition to getting a younger audience to the races on concert days, our research shows these folks return for nonconcert race days as well. Also, handle (wagering) on concert days (Fridays and some Saturdays) continues to increase.”

By teaming with radio station 91X, Rubenstein identifies bands walking the line between drawing young crowds while still appealing to older audiences. A few classic examples include Johnson, along with the Cult, Cake and Pete Yorn, to name a few.

“We try to book bands that offer appeal to a wide age range,” said Rubinstein. “In a perfect world, bands we book can be heard in a college dorm room as well as a 50th birthday party. The Violent Femmes, who have played at Del Mar for a record five times, are a perfect example. We also try to book bands that fit our 'cool as ever' branding and are a good match with our media partner, 91X Radio.”

Here's a look at the 4 O'Clock Fridays schedule and the artists who will be performing:

Gavin Rossdale (Tomorrow, 7 p.m.): Same gravelly voice, same sweet pop hooks. But instead of songs wrapped in layers of fuzzy guitar riffs like back in the good ol' days of Bush, Gavin Rossdale lives in the lucid world of middle-aged rock. Same Rossdale, he's just more mature, softer, sweeter and less edgy. Lately, he's known better as Mr. Stefani (husband to Gwen, father to Kingston). But that doesn't really do justice to his songwriting skills. On his latest solo disc, “Wanderlust,” the 42-year-old musician incorporates the skills of guitarist Chris Traynor (Helmet, Bush) and drummer Josh Freese (the Vandals, Guns N' Roses, A Perfect Circle).

Super Diamond (July 25, 7 p.m.): Who says you can't make a living in a cover band? Sorry make that a “tribute band.” After 15 years of spreading the gospel of Neil, this campy six-piece group makes a good living delivering kitsched-up versions of the Diamond songbook – “Kentucky Woman,” “Song Sung Blue” and “Sweet Caroline,” to name a few. Led by Randy Cordero, aka Surreal Neil, Super Diamond packs the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach every time it makes the journey down from the band's hometown of San Francisco. Everybody sing along: “Girl, you'll be a woman soon ”

Pinback (Aug. 1, 4 p.m.): If you love music from the sun-kissed streets of San Diego, then just the mention of Pinback will probably bring a sly smile to your face. It's hard not to feel possessive about the beautifully crafted transcendent indie rock songs Pinback creates. But it's time to share one of our best bands with the world: Zach Smith and Rob Crow are no longer just a San Diego phenomenon. “Summer in Abaddon” produced an infectious single, “Fortress,” that found a foothold on alternative radio station nationwide. The latest record, 2007's “Autumn of the Seraphs,” reached no. 69 on the U.S. charts.

The Bravery (Aug. 8, 4 p.m.): From the New Order-esque synth-driven melodies of “Honest Mistake” to the chiming U2-flavored guitars of “Believe,” The Bravery covers a lot of musical terrain. Guitarist Michael Zakarin obviously learned from many hours listening to U2's the Edge while growing up, and the singer spent time perfecting Bono's croon along with Robert Smith's high-pitched sing-song vocals. The quintet is currently riding high on the strength of “Believe,” the latest single from 2007's “The Sun and the Moon.”

The Wailers Band (Aug. 15, 4 p.m.): Rocksteady. Reggae. Ska. Jamaica has made major contributions to popular American music. Like the Motown and doo-wop groups from nearly 50 years ago, ska artists Prince Buster, the Skatalites and the Wailers (which included Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh) served as the backbone for Jamaica's storied musical history. Since Bob Marley's death in 1981, the Wailers Band continues to spread the legend's distinct brand of roots reggae.

Black Francis (Aug. 22, 7 p.m.): “CRACK! CRACK! CRACKITY JONES! CRACK! CRACK!” screams a pained Black Francis on the iconic 1990 Pixies album “Doolittle.” Despite the band's rather short recording career (1987-1991), Black and his Pixies cohorts churned out five of alternative rock's best albums. The Boston band's gigantic sound set the stage for the grunge revolution, which blew crappy pop music off the charts for a few years in the early '90s. Since the Pixies heyday, Black Francis (or Frank Black) has been building an impressive catalog of solo albums, including 2006's “Fast Man Raider Man” and 2007's “Bluefinger.”

Steel Pulse (Aug. 29, 4 p.m.): Straight out of Birmingham, England, Steel Pulse has been carrying the banner for roots rock reggae since the mid '70s. Anchored by David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals) and Ronald McQueen (bass), the lineup has changed over the years, but the devotion to the traditions of reggae and the Rastafarian religion remained through the 30-plus years of playing professionally. The band's Web site claims that Steel Pulse is “still the greatest reggae band on the planet.” While there are a lot of young reggae groups out there, not too many can claim the résumé of Steel Pulse.

Also, the racetrack is producing three Saturday shows and one Wednesday performance during its non-Friday concert series. On July 26, Gnarls Barkley will play after the races, followed by Ziggy Marley Reggae Festival on Aug. 9 and Devo on Aug. 30. On the last day of the thoroughbred season, Sept. 3, the English Beat will perform.

– CHRIS NIXON

A Pride weekend to remember

Marriage rights celebration, 'D-List' celeb among celebration's highlights

By Chris Nixon
July 17, 2008

Marriage rights celebration, 'D-List' celeb among celebration's highlights

After 34 years of celebrating diversity and rights for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community in San Diego, the local organization Pride San Diego is reaping the rewards of activism and education.

Same-sex couples now have the right to marry in California, which should make this weekend's 34th annual San Diego LGBT Pride Celebration one to remember for members of the community.
On May 15, the Supreme Court of California overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage with a 4-to-3 decision. As of June 16, the state started issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples.

“Pride 2008 will be a Pride many people will remember because it will be a celebration of equal rights and a celebration of the ability for millions of individuals to marry the person they love,” said Pride San Diego executive director Ron deHarte. “This is a significant step forward in our LGBT civil rights movement and will be one of those 'point-in-time moments' people will remember forever.”

This year's festival combines the usual frolicking sense of fun with a sense of urgency and activism.

“We expect many parade contingents to celebrate this historical achievement of equal rights in their parade signage and themes. We will have a community celebration of marriage equality on Sunday afternoon and the Festival Opening Rally will have a number of speakers who have provided leadership in the effort to secure marriage equality.

“Pride is an opportunity for us to stand together and celebrate our shared vision of freedom and equality.”

DETAILS
34th annual San Diego LGBT Pride Festival and Parade
When: Saturday and Sunday
Where: Balboa Park, Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street (main entrance)
Tickets: The parade is free / festival: $15 ($25 for two-day pass)
Phone: (619) 297-7683
Online: sandiegopride.org

Here's a look at the schedule of events for this weekend's 34th annual San Diego LGBT Pride Festival and Parade:

Human Rights Rally & Vigil (tomorrow, 6:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.): The vigil will call on the San Diego community to bear witness to human rights abuses of LGBT people locally and globally, to educate and inspire them to action in Balboa Park.

27th Annual Run and Stride With Pride (Saturday, 10 a.m.): Fast, flat and USAT&F sanctioned and certified 5k run and walk along parade route. There will be awards to top three in each age category. For entry fees and more info visit www.frsdweb.org. Annual Pride Parade (Saturday, 11 a.m.): With more than 150 floats and contingents, the Parade is the largest civic event in San Diego and the largest Pride parade in Southern California.

Right to Marriage Celebration (Sunday, 1 p.m.): As part of the Pride Festival in Balboa Park. Complimentary photographs will be taken by members of the Hewlett-Packard Leadership Council. Wedding cake provided by Babycakes.

Art of Pride (Saturday and Sunday): The juried exhibit showcases works by local LGBT artists skilled in oil painting, pottery, sculpturing and jewelry making will take place during the two-day Pride festival in Balboa Park.

Hillcrest Community Clean Up (Monday, 6 a.m.): Help the Hillcrest Town Council clean the neighborhood of Hillcrest after the Pride celebration. Volunteers help clean our city and raise funds for the Hillcrest Town Council.

For a complete list of events and the bands playing this year's festival, go to sandiegopride.org.

– CHRIS NIXON


THREE GRAND MARSHALS WILL OVERSEE THE FESTIVITIES

From drag queens to muscle-bound shirtless men, the Pride Parade gives the LGBT community a chance to celebrate and strut its stuff. With more than 200 floats and organizations marching, the parade is a fun-loving spectacle to behold. But it's also a chance to recognize people making a difference in the community here in San Diego and all over the world.

This year's parade features three grand marshals: Gilbert Baker, Peter Tatchell and Ruth Henricks.

Pride's celebrity grand marshal is Gilbert Baker, the creator of the Rainbow Flag and longtime gay activist and accomplished vexillographer (flag maker), who in 1978 put forth the colorful symbol that is embraced by millions within the gay community as a visible call for equal rights.

Hailing from London is Australian-born Peter Tatchell, a prominent spokesman for Britain's Green Party and a parliamentary candidate for Oxford East. In the U.K., he continues battling the government on issues of same-sex marriage and hate crimes while supporting other activists in more than 70 countries where LGBT people suffer considerable oppression.

San Diego Pride's community grand marshal is Ruth Henricks, recognized for her longtime volunteerism in the San Diego LGBT community. Henricks is the founder of Special Delivery and co-founder and chairman of the Board of Townspeople, which provides affordable and safe housing to people living with AIDS. She is also co-founder and board member of Something Special Food Pantry and active with ACCESS San Diego, an organization that brings clinical trials to San Diego.

Starting at 11 a.m. on Sunday, the Pride Parade is free. With a course starting at University Avenue and Normal Street, the parade travels west to Sixth Avenue, then south to Balboa Drive. The total distance is approximately a mile.

– CHRIS NIXON

AS A D-LISTER, KATHY GRIFFIN CONNECTS WITH BITING WIT

Believe it or not, there is someone out there actually giving letter grades to actors based on their draw and bankability. His name is James Ulmer, and his main accomplishment as an entertainment journalist is creating the so-called “Ulmer Scale”: the A-list refers to the most bankable movie stars; the C-list refers to the least. D-list refers to a celebrity too obscure to even make the list.

Watching an episode of Kathy Griffin's reality show “My Life on the D-List” is like getting a glimpse into the catty world of celebrity: the dirty looks, backstage fistfights and the snide comments muttered between gleaming white smiles. And it's all filtered through Griffin's brutally honest and hilariously funny perspective.

Griffin is the Jon Stewart of celebrity news. Self-described as a fake celebrity, her self-effacing wit lets her off the hook, but her biting commentary gives her act real substance and edge. She won a well-deserved Emmy Award for “Outstanding Reality Program, Non-Competition” in 2007, and she'll be performing at this year's Pride Festival.

Said Pride executive director Ron deHarte of Griffin: “Through her performance, she connects with people and she certainly has a connection with the gay community. She's popular because she's funny. She expresses thoughts that many people have but keep to themselves.”

Kathy Griffin will perform at the San Diego Pride Festival at Marston Point in Balboa Park from 6 p.m. on Sunday. One-day tickets are $15, a two-day pass is $25. Festival hours are noon to 10 p.m., Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sunday.

– CHRIS NIXON

Mayhem Festival: Proving their metal

Bands from all over the country rev it up for Mayhem Fest

By Chris Nixon
July 10, 2008

Listen up America: Your youth is talking to you. From the rolling cornfields of our rural small towns to the hard concrete streets of our cities, kids are sick of the pervading complacency, and that's reflected in the pop culture barometer known as music.

Bubbling underneath the thin veneer of Midwestern family values (Iowa), urban elitism (Chicago), quiet retirement communities (Tampa) and the racially divided South (Atlanta) are metal kids from all walks of life feeling pinned down by adults.

That's not a new story. But add in the lingering economic divide in the U.S., the war in Iraq, a lagging economy and the laundry list of social ills facing the nation, and there you have it: the perfect recipe for youthful rebellion through metal.

In its first year, the Mayhem Fest gives credence to the growing popularity of metal bands. Case in point: More than 8 million people logged onto AOL to check out the new masks Slipknot is donning these days.

Kevin Lyman, the longtime architect of the Vans Warped Tour, is putting on the Mayhem Fest, and he expects it to be an annual touring festival. From locales all over the metal map, both musically and physically, the festival sports 14 bands on three stages.

Iowa's Slipknot, Chicago's Disturbed, Tampa's Underoath and Atlanta's Mastodon anchor the first-ever festival, which lands at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista Wednesday.

Here's a look at the primary bands causing Mayhem:

Under the mask: Slipknot

Full of farmland and desolate plains, Iowa was the unlikely breeding ground for one of modern music's most fierce combos. From its hometown of Des Moines, Slipknot rose in 1996 like a nine-man revolution against insular God-fearing, family friendly life.

DETAILS
Mayhem Fest
with Mastodon, Disturbed and Slipknot
When: 2 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, 2050 Entertainment Circle, Chula Vista
Tickets: $10.53-$49.75
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: mayhemfest.com, ticketmaster.com

Like a Halloween party gone awry, this collective dons menacing masks and matching jumpsuits. The band members – using monikers numbered from zero to eight – burst out of the late 1990s' rap-metal explosion.

Rougher than Limp Bizkit and more musically deft than Korn, Slipknot rose above the metal glut with haunting turntable samples, dense percussion, brash guitar licks and lead singer Corey Taylor's angst-ridden lyrics. The band's music struck a chord with America's disaffected youth.

Slipknot recently donned new masks, adding buzz to the band's upcoming release, “All Hope Is Gone.” Due out Aug. 26 via Roadrunner Records, Slipknot's latest was recorded with producer Dave Fortman (Evanescence, Mudvayne) at a studio near the band's hometown.

Said Taylor in a recent release: “Every album we have made is a statement about that space in time. I think this era is the most mature, most beautiful and the most powerful. We have made an album that will show the road behind, the road ahead, and where we are as men. I think it's the best thing I've ever made.”

Prehistoric monster: Mastodon

Gut-splitting. Severe. Massive. Fearsome. All these adjectives describe Mastodon's huge metal riffs and the harder edge of the Atlanta quartet's musical spectrum. But the band's ability to slide in and out of odd signatures and the soaring melodic flights set Mastodon apart from the metal herd and the remainder of the Mayhem lineup.

Twisty, intricate compositions sprawl all over Mastodon's instant classic disc, 2006's “Blood Mountain.” Think a new millennium version of Iron Maiden meets Metallica with a twist of prog-rock pioneers like King Crimson, Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Or think Tool on steroids and buckets of caffeine.

Any way you slice it, these guys rips on their instruments. Drummer Brann Dailor ranks with Tool's Danny Carey as two of the best drummers in rock these days.

Matt Bayles (Pearl Jam, Brad, Minus the Bear) produced all three of Mastodon's epic full-length discs: 2002's “Remission,” 2004's “Leviathan” and “Blood Mountain.” Mastodon went with producer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Bruce Springsteen) on the upcoming release, which the band is currently finishing up.

Throwback hard rock: Disturbed

This Chicago-based quartet channels old school metal, circa late '80s and early '90s: the pre-growl pre-turntable pre-crunching guitar riff stuff. Everyone from the old guy in the Iron Maiden shirt to rocker chicks can dig on Disturbed's brand of accessible metal.

Disturbed's first couple of albums, particularly 2000's “The Sickness,” sported a tougher, edgier metal sound, but the band's music has shifted more to mainstream in recent discs. Its latest record, 2008's “Indestructible,” is packed with pop hooks wrapped in infectious guitar riffage and lead singer David Draiman's percussive vocal style.

Draiman told UltimateGuitar.com in 2006: “We probably have too much melody going on or we're not quite as turbulent or caustic (to be considered heavy metal). While I really love that type of music, it's not what we try to do. If we have to place things in context, we're more hard rock than heavy metal these days.”

Clean and screamed: Underoath

If Disturbed lives near the mainstream end of the metal spectrum, the music of Tampa's Underoath is slightly more hardcore. Like a lot of screamo metalcore bands, Underoath uses two vocalists: Spencer Chamberlain for the screamed vocals-growls and drummer Aaron Gillespie for the clean vocals (adding harmony and choruses). Formed in 1998, the band is openly Christian, but not in a real preachy way.

Chamberlain told Europunk.net that Christianity is “backbone of our lives, especially in the way that we handle certain things, but it's not so much the backbone of our lyrics. It's not like every song is a lesson from the Bible or something. It's just normal life struggles.”

For U.S. Open, get set to play by Open rules

By Chris Nixon
June 5, 2008

An invasion is headed our way.

Some San Diegans may embrace the invaders with open arms. Others may want to join in the revelry, but will have to watch from afar. Still others may want to stay afar ... far, far away ... until the madness dies down.

Hordes of golf fans will invade San Diego for the 109th annual United States Open, this year at Torrey Pines Golf Course, and you're either with them or against them.

DETAILS
U.S. Open
When: Monday through June 16, 6 a.m.-7 p.m.
Where: Torrey Pines Golf Course, 11480 N. Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla
Tickets: Sold out
Phone: (858) 452-3226
Online: usopen.com

About 42,500 tickets have been sold for each day of the tournament. According to Open officials, about 75 percent of those tickets were sold to folks from out of town. Now, the tournament is officially sold out, but face value on this year's tickets ranged from $40 for practice rounds to $100 for rounds one through four.

This is not your grandfather's United States Golf Association (the governing body putting on the show), festooned with old-school mismatching plaid garments and goofy hats (think Rodney Dangerfield in “Caddyshack”).

The USGA and the PGA tours these days are well-oiled PR and corporate-relations machines. In today's market, professional golf means money, and with it comes all the trappings of big-time pro sports: high ticket prices and strict security among them.

So, for one weekend, San Diego is going to have to play by Open rules. Let's break this down into bite-sized portions, depending on the type of golf fan you are:

The Zealot

If you are a zealot, you have your tickets to all four championship rounds from Thursday through Sunday safely attached to your official U.S. Open lanyard, 'cause you know you need to display your tickets at all times on the course. You've dreamed about the day Tiger and Lefty roam the South Course at Torrey Pines for the past eight years, when local golfers started lobbying to stage the Open in La Jolla.

You also probably know that taking free shuttles to Torrey Pines from the parking lots at Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley is the best option when considering your transportation to the event. It's not recommended to try and park in La Jolla and take a cab. Parking is going to be a mess, period, and taxis will be slammed. Park at the stadium and add some time into your schedule for parking and the shuttle ride.

The Wannabe

Maybe you're a casual fan of the PGA, or maybe you just got on the stick late and didn't get tickets before they sold out. If you want to throw down for tickets, they are available on eBay, Craigslist or the Union-Tribune classifieds for around face value, maybe a bit more. Look around before you buy.
The U.S. Open is more than happy to let you buy merchandise from them this weekend. The Main Merchandise Pavilion is open today through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla. Follow the signs for parking.

If you just want to watch the Open from the comfort of your living room like the rest of the world, ESPN and Channel 7/39 will split coverage Thursday through Sunday.

The Hater (or The Anti-Fan)

“Hate” is a strong word, but this kind of golf fan will only notice the Open when traffic gets backed up on I-5. If you fall into this group, then you still believe a Tiger is an animal. You may want want to just steer clear of the madness all together.

And let's not even talk about the San Diego County Fair, which opens Saturday, June 14. Talk about a perfect storm within a few-mile radius.

First, avoid Interstate 5 and La Jolla in general. “The Jewel” of San Diego County can get clogged with traffic on a regular day, but during the Open it could get downright ugly. Watch out for normal commuting hours next Thursday and Friday – you may want to take alternative routes to work.

With all the hoopla, you may want to stick to neighborhood spots and local dives. All high-profile destinations will be swamped. Keep your head down and be patient with our friends from afar. They keep our economy rolling.

Rock 'n' Roll Marathon: Music to go

It's a tough road for bands wanting to perform in marathon

By Chris Nixon
May 29, 2008

So you wanna be a rock 'n' roll band?

As 20,000 runners, rollers and walkers converge on San Diego this weekend, 45 local bands and artists wait to perform on 26 stages situated at every mile along the course of the 11th annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. But for local musicians serving as the cheer squad along the 26.2 mile course, the process starts many months before race day on Sunday.

Amber Lopez, entertainment coordinator for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, has been helping choose the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon bands for the past three years. Out of the hundreds of applicants, only 45 will perform along the course this year. But she and her colleagues at Elite Racing, the race organizers, “listen to every single one of the submissions.”

Elite Racing requires bands to submit a CD with five songs, a bio and a photo. The listening sessions go on for a couple of months before final decisions are made.

DETAILS
11th annual Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
When: Sunday, 6:30 a.m.
Where: Balboa Park to Marine Corps Recruit Depot
Tickets: Free
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: rnrmarathon.com

“We make our choices based primarily on the music,” Lopez said, “but also on location and the nitty-gritty details of the size of our stages, how many people can fit on those stages, what kind of music it is dependent on what kind of area the stage is in. We have a lot of neighborhoods along the course and we like to provide music that's not too crazy for them at 6:30 in the morning. So we try to accommodate everybody.”

Lopez and Elite Racing tries to keep in mind the neighborhood surrounding the course, but they don't necessarily want sedate, sleepy music either: “We try to pick uplifting music and upbeat music that will help the runners keep going.”

This year's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon kicks off at 6:30 a.m. Sunday. The race follows a course beginning at Sixth Avenue and Robinson Street in Balboa Park, including a stretch on state Route 163 before winding around the edges of San Diego Bay and through beach communities. The finish line sits at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. If traveling in the area, be aware that many of the streets will be closed along the course.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego freelance music writer.

Benatar rocks on

May 29, 2008

In the four years between 1979 and 1983, Pat Benatar was unstoppable. She had the classically trained voice offset by a gritty airtight band ripping the catchy rock tunes: “Heartbreaker,” “Hit Me with Your Best Shot,” “You Better Run,” “Promises in the Dark,” “Fire and Ice,” “Precious Time,” “Shadows of the Night.”

DETAILS
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, with Bedford Grove
When: Sunday, 6 p.m.
Where: Concerts in the Green at Qualcomm Stadium, 9449 Friars Road, Mission Valley
Tickets: $30
Phone: (858) 450-6510
Online: rnrmarathon.com

Benatar (born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski in Brooklyn, N.Y.) released a series of four great albums in just four years. Then it all started to get soft and mushy, though the hits kept coming: 1983's “Love Is a Battlefield” and 1984's “We Belong.”

In the past couple of decades, she started a family with guitarist Neil Giraldo and played shows here and there. Despite the fall from grace, Benatar's still one of the all-time rocker chicks, making her a perfect fit for the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

Previous headliners: Ozomatli, Pinback, LIVE, Chris Isaak, Sugar Ray, SmashMouth, Chicago, Hootie & The Blowfish, Huey Lewis & The News and Seal.

– CHRIS NIXON

Bands on the run
UNION-TRIBUNE
May 29, 2008

With 45 bands covering the 26.2-mile Rock 'n' Roll Marathon route (including two artists at Concerts on the Green near Qualcomm Stadium after the race), this year's event offers many hours of live music to navigate. Here are a few favorites from this year's lineup:

Pitch Michael (Park Boulevard and Presidents Way, 6:45 a.m. at mile 3.4): This local band is focused around the songs and voice of Jonathan Pitcher, ranging from pretty pop (“You Complete Me” and “Happy Song”) to introspective bittersweetness (“Father's Eyes” and “I Need You Goodbye”). With a new album packed with solid tunes, Pitcher has the goods to go a long way.

Elite Racing's Amber Lopez on Pitch Michael: “He's performed along the race course for five or six years now. He's reminiscent of John Mayer.”

Bedford Grove (Mission Bay Park Visitors Center, 7:40 a.m. at mile 16.3): Tapping into the infectious triumvirate of sly Fender Rhodes, soulful vocals and slinky horns, San Diego's Bedford Grove adds the musical sophistication of jazz to funk and other danceable styles. Led by Marc Gould (aka Bedford Nelson) on keys and vocals, the band celebrated the release of its new album “Welcome to Our Side of Town” April 23 at the jazz club Anthology downtown.

Lopez on Bedford Grove: “The lead singer is actually the nephew of Bob Babbit, who is one of our Running Elvi. They're set to open for our headliner (Pat Benatar).”

Tricia Freeman (Pacific Highway, 8 a.m. at mile 23.5): Little bit country. Little bit rock 'n' roll. A lot of vocal power. Tricia Freeman and her band kick the blues rootsy country rock common to a lot of bar bands around Southern California. But Freeman's huge gritty pipes (think a combo of Linda Ronstadt and Janis Joplin) set this band apart.

Lopez on Tricia Freeman: “We're putting a little country in our rock 'n' rock. It should be fun for all of our runners.”

– CHRIS NIXON

Destroyer Dan Bejar, rock 'n' roll multitasker

By Chris Nixon
May 15, 2008

After launching an album full of glistening new songs, musicians commonly hit the road to spread the gospel, promoting the record through many months, sometimes years, of touring.

Not Dan Bejar. The primary songwriter and lead singer of the Vancouver band Destroyer doesn't dig the grinding schedules of long strings of shows.

“We've never done that, (touring for long periods of time), and we're not going to start now,” said the 36-year-old singer from his cell phone, standing in the parking lot of a diner in Kansas City. “For the last record, 'Destroyer's Rubies,' I think we played 18 shows in total in support of that album. We're doing more like 30 this time around. There's been some talk about going to Europe in the fall. We'll see. But aside from that, I'm going to take it really easy. I'm getting old, you know?”

DETAILS
Destroyer, with Devon Williams
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Middletown
Tickets: $12
Phone: (619) 220-TIXS or (619) 232-4355
Online: casbahmusic.com

Thirty-six is not old, thank you very much Mr. Bejar. Maybe he just feels old with the amount of projects he finds himself in these days.

Along with his long-standing gig as main man with Destroyer, the bearded Canadian played roles in the Vancouver-based collaboration with Carl Newman and Neko Case (among others) called The New Pornographers. He's also engaged with members of Wolf Parade and Frog Eyes in Swan Lake, along with collaborating with his girlfriend, Sydney Vermont, in forming the group Hello, Blue Roses.

Despite all the time spent in studios recently, Bejar is finding the occasional two-week mini-tour – at least the hour or two on stage every night – to his liking.

“I like playing live music,” admitted Bejar. “I'm getting more and more into it. I find that having difficulty playing live and having difficulty being on tour are two separate things. One is kind of the lifestyle around being in rock bars every night and traveling every night and sleeping in hotels. And the other is the act of playing music in front of people.”

In terms of creative process, the studio remains the center of his musical world: “I would say hands down I would probably feel way more comfortable messing around in a studio than messing around on a stage. I like both but I'm more comfortable with the recording process.”

Despite Bejar's high-profile collaborations and the success of The New Pornographers, Destroyer is his main band. In the past 12 years, Destroyer has released 10 albums. Displaying Bejar's penchant for penning symphonic indie rock, complete with world-weary vocals and glam-rock swagger.

Destroyer's latest disc, “Trouble in Dreams” (Merge Records), finds Bejar musing in the strummy mellow “Foam Hands” and shouting in the noisy, almost punkish song “The State.” The album is a collective effort between a cohesive group of musicians: keyboardist Ted Bois, guitarist Nicolas Bragg, bassist Tim Loewen and drummer Fisher Rose, along with the production team of John Collins and Dave Carswell.

“Destroyer has become more a band on the last couple of records,” said Bejar. “Especially if you come and see the show: It's not like James Taylor with a bunch of session musicians. We're all pretty loud and going for it. It's not like a platform for me to delicately sing the songs. So, yeah, I think of it as a rock band.”

'80s splash long over, but Jackson still drips emotion

By Chris Nixon
May 9, 2008

No such thing as tomorrow, only one two three go! / Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head, chimes Joe Jackson on “Got the Time,” the parting shot on his stunning debut “Look Sharp!” The album is a classic of the New Wave era of the late '70s and early '80s.

Jackson, along with Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, was once tabbed as one of rock's angry young men. While he has been under the radar for the past decade or two, the 53-year-old singer-pianist continues to crank out albums full of the emotion of a young punk and the subtlety of a slick jazz crooner. And the romantically scarred man suspicious of authority remains the same.

“I think it's a cliché that when you're young, you're just rebellious against any kind of authority,” Jackson says on the interesting companion DVD packaged with the CD version of “Rain.” “I find that the older I get, the less credibility I think any kind of authority has.”

Born David Ian Jackson in the midsized town of Burton upon Trent in the English Midlands, Jackson studied at the Royal Academy of Music before finding punk rock. Along with his crack band, he catapulted into the spotlight with a trio of major-label releases in a two-year span: “Look Sharp!”; 1979's “I'm the Man”; and 1980's “Beat Crazy.” The records established Jackson as an angsty songwriter with a penchant for jazz-inflected chord progressions.

DETAILS
Joe Jackson, with Mutlu
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, Shelter Island
Tickets: $45
Phone: (619) 523-1010
Online: humphreysconcerts.com

Jackson further explored his jazz roots with the big-band album “Jumpin' Jive” in 1981 and his ode to New York City, “Night and Day,” which sported his biggest hit, “Steppin' Out,” and the gorgeous “Breaking Us in Two.”

Between '82 and the most recent spate of albums, Jackson experimented with classical forms, including 1999's “Symphony No. 1,” which featured jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard and metal guitarist Steve Vai. Since “Volume 4” reunited his original “Look Sharp!” band in 2003, Jackson seems more comfortable revisiting his power pop roots.

Jackson lived in New York City for the past few decades. But as his seedy and gothic New York transformed into a gentrified, gilded bastion of upper-crust society, the city lost its allure for him, prompting a move to the more bohemian Berlin. Surrounded by communist architecture in an abandoned warehouse-turned-studio in East Berlin, the musician tabbed two mates from his first album – bassist Graham Maby and drummer David Houghton – to record “Rain.”

“I wanted something elemental because that's the kind of album I wanted to make,” explained Jackson in his “Rain” DVD comments. “There is no padding on it at all; the album is stripped to the bare essentials, so I hope it has a timeless quality. The title seems to fit.”

The album might not crack any sales charts, but “Rain” is a beautiful collection of 10 tracks dripping with Jackson's exquisite piano playing and his trademark vocals.

“It always seemed to be raining when I was working on these songs,” Jackson said, “and it rained every day while we were recording them. But I like the rain, and I don't understand why for many people it has this automatic association with doom and gloom. What would we do without rain?”

Jackson sings on “Wasted Time”: Some people keep returning / To the scene of the crime / Try to rewrite the story / Tell you you never tried / Tell you you should be sorry / For wasting their time.

Time may be tick-tick-ticking away for Joe Jackson, but time spent with his music isn't wasted.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Kathleen Edwards: Went to a garden party ...

Kathleen Edwards took a break from the road to recharge and tend her 'Flowers'

By Chris Nixon
May 8, 2008

Musicians get caught in the same cycles as everyone else: You get up and go to work. Come home and go to bed. Wake up the next day and do it all over again.

Before you know it, years float by.

For singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards, her cycles – five years of churning out albums and touring – left the creative well dry. After a productive and critically acclaimed turn as the fresh new face in acoustic alt-country, she hit the songwriting wall.

“I think I was always in a little bit of a rush,” recalled the 29-year-old singer. “And also there was a bit of expectation on my shoulders from other people to straddle the line between a commercial sound and not being too sugary or saccharine.”

DETAILS
Kathleen Edwards, with The Last Town Chorus
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $15-$17
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com

After getting off the road in support of her 2005 breakthrough album, “Back to Me,” the process of songwriting slowed to a standstill: “I couldn't seem to break the ice. It was a really humbling experience, because I usually been able to write songs without too much of a dilemma in my own life.”

So, the clear-voiced Canadian did other things: planted a garden, worked at a winery, went jogging and learned to play the piano. She did the simple things. The space gave her a new perspective on songwriting and her career, allowing her to hone her vision of the next album.

“This time around, I said to myself whatever the consequences of making the exact record I want to make, I think I can live with them,” said Edwards. “Just being home for a while made me want to go back on the road, but I wanted to go on the road with songs I love getting up and playing every night.”

First, she assembled a crack band to record the album: drummer Don Heffington (Bob Dylan, The Wallflowers), bassist Bob Glaub (Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Leonard Cohen), keyboardist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers), and pedal steel player Greg Leisz (Sheryl Crow, Wilco, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss). Then, she enlisted producer Jim Scott (Wilco, Whiskeytown, Tom Petty) and recorded at Plyrz Studios in Santa Clarita.

The resulting record – “Asking for Flowers,” released last month – combines Edwards' strong songwriting skills with a more textured, layered sound. The entire album has an comfortable, effortless feel, spearheaded by the sweet opening track, “Buffalo.”

Edwards gets a little cheeky on the ABC song “The Cheapest Key”: A is for all the times I bit my tongue. But in general “Asking for Flowers” hits the mark, in an acoustic contemporary country way.

Edwards' points to the six-and-a-half-minute track “Goodnight, California” – featuring the talents of bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Marc Ribot) and keyboardist John Ginty (Robert Randolph and the Family Band) on Hammond organ – as the fullest realization of her “sonic vision.”

“I always wanted to write this sweeping, instrumental, haunting song,” said Edwards. “Sonic vision means not worrying about how long the song is and not worrying about whether it has any commercial value. It means going for something and loving what my ears are hearing.”

By stepping out of music industry cycles, with its constant pressures to crank out content and take the show on the road, Edwards achieved a deeper understanding of the permanence of making a living as a musician.

“I wish I was a prolific writer; I wish I could write on the road,” she admitted. “But I can't, so I have to accept that my pace is my pace. I don't want to rush this stuff. You record a song and it's there forever. No one may listen to it, but it's still there forever. I can only stand behind the work that I end up making.”

Recrafting country

Shucking tears-in-your-beer ballads and two-stepping cowboys in ten-gallon hats, a fresh brand of singer-songwriter is reinventing country music. Adding a touch of twang to mainstream folk and rock songs, these alt-country divas focus on country music's strength: its ability to tell a story.

Kathleen Edwards is one of them. Here's a look at a few others:

Lucinda Williams

Moniker: The road-tested originator

Must listen: “Unsuffer Me,” a chilling, atmospheric track from 2007's “West.”

The skinny: The 55-year-old Louisiana native dared to bust out of the country singer mold before Kathleen Edwards was out of diapers. Her career stems from the late 1970s, but she really hit her stride with 1998's “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” With the ability to oscillate between tough and tender, Williams crafts songs with an eye for imagery and knack for storytelling.

Shelby Lynne

Moniker: The Nashville refugee

Must listen: “Just a Little Lovin',” the title song from her wonderfully stripped-down tribute to Dusty Springfield.

The skinny: Once a promising young bright-eyed beauty with mainstream country music star written all over her Southern belle body, Shelby Lynne gets better the further she gets from the cookie-cutter country albums and the Nashville music industry. Her most recent album – a Dusty Springfield tribute artfully produced by Phil Ramone – gives her subtly soulful vocals proper space to breathe.

Allison Moorer

Moniker: Shelby's younger sister

Must listen: “Some Sugar in My Bowl,” a sultry swing tune (originally by Nina Simone) from 2008's “Mockingbird.”

The skinny: Often defined first by her relations (older sister Shelby Lynne, husband Steve Earle), but Allison Moorer's powerful voice draws attention whether she's singing on family member's record or on her own. Dancing around the outskirts of traditional country territory, the 35-year-old singer musically touches on everything from rootsy rock to quiet country tinged folk.

Tift Merritt

Moniker: The talented newcomer

Must listen: “Keep You Happy,” a pretty, twangy track from 2008's “Another Country.”

The skinny: Full of spacey pedal steel, strummy guitars, mellow electric piano and angelic vibrato-laced vocals, Tift Merritt's latest album title suitably describes her rejection of the typical country formulas: “Another Country.”

In her own words, she describes her sound: “Maybe a little like if Creedence Clearwater Revival had a girl singer who loved Dusty Springfield and Bruce Springsteen and old French movies and played a real warm summer night right after a thunderstorm ... but really ... I'm pretty sure I just sound like me.”

– CHRIS NIXON

Adams Avenue: 'It's going to be a good little festival'

By Chris Nixon
May 1, 2008

Huddled around campfires and warm hearths, around dinner tables and family pianos, the people in this country have always created music to share, passing stories down through the generations to help create the American musical tradition.

The bustling streets and cement sidewalks of Normal Heights might seem like a different planet from the back porches and parlors that served as the birthplace of American roots music. For one weekend in April, the Adams Avenue Roots & Folk Festival brings the backporch to San Diego.

Lou Curtiss, who started the first roots festival in 1967 at SDSU and has continued to be involved with the festival to this day, champions the cause of roots music locally. Along with this festival, he runs a record store filled with old-timey music called Folk Arts Rare Records (2881 Adams Ave.) and hosts “Jazz Roots,” a weekly radio show on KSDS 88.3 FM brimming with jazz, folk and country from the early 20th century.

“It's important to know where we came from,” said Curtiss recently from his record shop. “Of course, there is roots music in the modern, too: music created in a community. We don't get an opportunity all the time to hear the real musical treasures, the real old-timers. This is probably the only opportunity San Diego has to hear that kind of performer.”

The event, run by the Adams Avenue Business Association, draws 40,000 people a year over two days to Adams Avenue. This year, Joel Henderson put together a committee of himself, Curtiss and Chris Clarke, who – along with Judy Moore, Lois Bach and Annie Ross – picked the artists and planned the event.

DETAILS
35th annual Adams Avenue Roots & Folk Festival
When: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Adams Avenue, Normal Heights
Tickets: Free
Phone: (619) 282-7329
Online: AdamsAveOnline.com

“This is a kind of homecoming festival,” said Curtiss. “There are a lot of musicians who were active in the folk scene when this festival started back in '67. Ray Bierl is coming down from the Bay Area. Bob Le Beau is coming down from San Jose.

“I'm happy with the lineup this year. The people who are coming are great. It's going to be a good little festival.”

The lineup

Saturday: Bob Le Beau; Curt Bouterse; Patty Hall; Shawn Rolfe; Martin Henry, Robin Henkel and Allen Singer; Hullabaloo; Cindy Lee Berryhill; Sara Petite; Martin Henry; Kathy & Carol, Mimi Wright with Kim and Jim Lansford; Fred and Cathay Zipp; Trails & Rails; Tomcat Courtney; The Gypsy Jazz Trio; Fred Heath with the Slidewinders; Coyote Problem; Mary McCaslin; Last Transit; David Grisman; High Wide and Handsome; Johnson, Bosley and Morin; Chris Clarke and Tanya Rose; Allen Singer; Buffalo Chip Kickers; Ray Bierl; Anna Troy; Plow; Martin Henry; Kathy Larisch and Carol McComb; Jalopy; Peter Bolland; Gregory Page

Sunday: Joey Harris; Patty Hall; Last Transit; Jim & Kim Lansford; Mary McCaslin; Tom Boyer; Mimi Wright; Pat Berrogains and the Hot Club Combo; The Brombies; Anna Troy; Gregory Page; Chris Clarke; Hot Pstromi with Yale Strom; Cindy Lee Berryhill; Robin Henkel; San Diego Cajun Playboys; Curt Bouterse, Patty Hall and the Gypsy Jazz Trio; Ross Altman; Kathy Larisch and Carol McComb; Plow; Jalopy; Peter Bolland and Allen Singer; Fred and Cathay Zipp; Los Alacranes; Patty Hall; New Lost Melody Boys; Ross Altman; Tanya Rose and the Buffalo Chip Kickers; Nathan James and Ben Hernandez.

Cat Power: Free bird

Cat Power is back on track, ready to take her rightful place on the 'Jukebox'

By Chris Nixon
April 10, 2008
Everybody loves a transcendent cover song: Familiar choruses and melodies co-exist with an artist's interpretation, shedding light on the tune's undiscovered nooks and crannies.

But Chan Marshall might love them more than most. The 36-year-old vocalist seems to find solace in recreating and reshaping time-tested classics. And she has seen some tough times.

A couple of years back, Marshall's life veered on an unsteady course toward a messy and destructive end. Imbibing scotch while riding high on a laundry list of pharmaceuticals, Chan (pronounced “Shawn” for the uninitiated) was heading for a train wreck with fatal implications.

She had just finished her most polished collection of work along with an all-star cast of Memphis studio musicians, 2006's “The Greatest.” Yet a lifetime of substance abuse had led her to a lonely Miami apartment, battling her personal demons with the only tools she knew: numbing anesthetics.

Marshall admitted in a recent interview: “If I had my brain split in 14 different corners and was living on Xanax, antidepressants and scotch every day like an idiot who keeps her head above water from the stress of traveling all these years nonstop, I didn't want anybody to know.”

DETAILS
Cat Power with Appaloosa
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: 4th & B, 345 B St., downtown
Tickets: $25
Phone: (619) 231-4343 or (619) 220-TIXS
Online: 4thandb.com

Leading up to 2006, Marshall had amassed a music career as Cat Power complete with staggering heights and gutter-crawling lows. Filled with blurry brilliance and passionate vocals, Marshall's albums consistently earned raves from fans and critics.

But her erratic live shows distracted from her beautiful songs and distinct voice, if she finished the shows at all.

Unfortunately, her live performances became more about the spectacle of watching someone completely melt down on stage, rather than her gifted voice. Will she get through one song before demanding everyone leave? Will she ramble and start talking to chipmunks between songs (as she reportedly did at one outdoor show)? Marshall has admitted to suffering from stage fright, using the bottle to get over her anxieties.

Like many caught in the clutches of substance abuse, Marshall had to reach crisis mode before retreating from the edge of the cliff: “It was horribly, excruciatingly painful to get out of the hospital and learn that your tour has been canceled, you're in debt, you failed all these people who bought tickets.”

To her credit, Marshall re-emerged from the fog. She did finally tour with the musicians on “The Greatest,” including a transcendent performance at the Coachella Arts & Music Festival in 2006. She took control of her life, and now she's reaping benefits.

Cat Power has returned with a new album of covers along with two originals, “Jukebox.” It's her second disc of reinterpretations, following the aptly titled 2000 release “The Covers Album.”

With nods to James Brown and Billie Holiday, there's a hard-won wizened blues streak running through the disc. And she surrounds herself with amazing musicians, including guitarist Judah Bauer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and Jim White (Dirty Three, P.J. Harvey, Nina Nastasia).

Always at the center of her best songs, Marshall's voice sounds more confident than ever. Gone is the edgy, precarious young vocalist, leaving slightly more weathered pipes surrounded by a sound smoothed by the tides of time.

“Jukebox” is an album that rings true with survivors, those who have moved past the immortal Neil Young line It's better to burn out, than to fade away.

For Marshall, balance between music and life is the key: “This past year has taught me something I never had before, which is stability. Now, I have a dog, I come home after a tour, I have a life, I do my laundry, I read my books, I stick my finger up my nose, I go swimming at the beach, I ride my bike.”

A selected Cat Power discography

From edgy lo-fi provocateur to soul chanteuse, Chan Marshall's ability to range far and wide along diverse musical terrain sets her apart from most musicians in this day and time. Here's a look back at the many faces of Cat Power:

“Dear Sir” (1995) / “Myra Lee” (1996): Cat Power's first two albums are a snapshot of a young vocalist finding her own voice: focusing on the projection of emotion rather than technical precision. Fuzzy lo-fi indie rock provides the background to Marshall's plaintive vocals. Cat Power recorded both albums on one December day in New York City, and both have the feel of a cold, gray winter's day. “Myra Lee” was named after Marshall's mom.

Standout track: “Still in Love” from “Myra Lee,” a little bit of laid-back country and jittery city vibes in the same breath.

“What Would the Community Think” (1996): This quiet, contemplative disc – Cat Power's first for Matador – comes off sounding like the mellow muted indie rock of Pinback fronted by a deadpan Joni Mitchell (in a lower register). By far, this is the best album of her early career and it gives hints of her later fascination with the blues, soul and other forms of Americana music.

Standout track: “In This Hole” sets the introspective tone for the entire album.

“The Covers Record” (2000): By wrapping herself in the songs of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed devoid of any lush backing or extravagant production, “The Covers Record” focuses on Cat Power's sharpest musical tool – her voice.

Standout track: “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction,” completely different from the Stones' original or Devo's cover, but just as good.

“You Are Free” (2003): Cat Power nicely offers a neat, exquisitely produced compendium of her career to date, while also playfully stepping outside the boundaries with “Free” and “He War.” Eddie Vedder and Dave Grohl add different colors to the palette as guests.

Standout track: “Free.” By including an infectious hand-clapping pop song, Marshall basically describes herself in the title.

“The Greatest” (2006): Chan is great by herself, but she is elegant and beautifully damaged on this album, marking a soulful rebirth. Backed by a crack band of Memphis veteran studio musicians (including Al Green guitarist Teenie Hodges), she's less self-obsessed on “The Greatest” than on previous discs.

Standout track: The title track oozes soul and sadness.

“Jukebox (2008)”: With newfound sobriety and vocal clarity, Marshall revisits cover songs with soulful confidence on her most recent release. Ably backed by the Dirty Delta Blues Band (with drummer Jim White), she filters well-known classics by such diverse icons as Frank Sinatra, Hank Williams and Janis Joplin through soulful Americana.

Standout track: Sinatra's “New York” thrives in this treatment, with a heavy backbeat and floaty electric piano.

– CHRIS NIXON