Stephen Benson - singer, songwriter, guitar virtuoso - 20240712_LIVE in the studio_KZSC_Bushwhacker's
Release Date: 05/28/2025
G-Ma's Place, a young jazz band interviewed by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Char-Zard"
KZSC Santa Cruz
G-Ma's Place is a young Santa Cruz jazz band comprised of Otis Ragen-Andrews, bass; Ryu Cirillo, Keyboards & Trombone; Rowan Thompson, Guitar; Xander Shulman, Drums. Got together 2nd semester, 8th grade, in 2022 to form a band to compete in a talent show - now all high school juniors; inspired by local Kuumbwa Jazz Center; Ryu has perfect pitch, which he discovered in 8th grade - it's more of a blessing than a curse; they practice at one of their grandma's garages, thus "G-ma's Place", where they occasionally butt heads, with Otis usually the last to arrive; perform covers as well as...
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Rupert Wates - singers, songwriter, guitar virtuoso_20240809_KZSC_The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
KZSC Santa Cruz
Britain to New York & Colorado via Paris, where French encouragement helped him make the leap to being a professional musician; "Guitar-based story telling", and has been called a virtuoso; "California 1" song is a love song to our iconic highway; if he sings, it's an original, but he will play some classical guitar covers; as a songwriter, antennae always up...looking for patterns; he makes a living playing music, with almost all income from plyaing live (120 shows / year - 50,000 miles / year)...CD sales cover their cost...; uses jazz form for songs; deep dive into New York City living,...
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Stephen Benson - singer, songwriter, guitar virtuoso - 20240712_LIVE in the studio_KZSC_Bushwhacker's
KZSC Santa Cruz
Born in Montana, raised in Oregon, high school in Ohio, then Connecticut; New York since 1983, starting with Manhattan School of Music; busking (playing on street)...made enough to (almost) cover rent, busing with bands, duos, trios, no one place - but musicians competed for street corners, and even sent one member early to claim space; own arrangements of other's music, with few originals; subbed on "The Lion King" on broadway, and has now been playing Broadway for decades, including own chair in the pit...55 shows in total! Union? Absolutely! "Broadway is always...
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Painted Mandolin_"AiryLarry" Graff_singer-songwriter, musician_2025-01-17_KZSC_Bushwhacker's
KZSC Santa Cruz
Celebrating 10 years of "Painted Mandolin"...and Monday is the 36th Anniversary of "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club"...and this year marks 40 years for "The Banana Slug String Band"; "Painted Mandolin" begins when Larry had an idea to put together an acoustic band celebrating Jerry Garcia for a show at Don Quixote's in Felton (now the Felton Music Hall)...practices for a gig that would be a "one-off"; Larry knew Matt Hartle from playing around town, and Joe Craven from the Strawberry Music Festival, where Joe had sat in with 'The Banana Slug String Band"; 10 years ago they added Dan Robbins,...
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Banana Slug String Band - 40 years!_Solar Steve_singer-songwriter, musician_2025-03-21_KZSC_Bushwhacker's_interview
KZSC Santa Cruz
All 4 founding members of the band are still together: Sun (Solar Steve), Soil (Doug Dirt), Water (Marine Mark) and Air (Airy Larry); all educators, who formed around the Pescadero Valley outdoor education program 40 years ago, and decided to take it further; now, 40 years, and 12 albums later, they have managed to make music a part of their living / life, with environmental education music for all ages; Steve is the primary songwriter; 1st song? "I'm a Tree"; "Dirt Made my Lunch" was the first album (on vinyl & casette); they now have 4 generations of fans!; songwriter process? For Steve,...
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Poi Rogers_singers, songwriters Carolyn Sills & Gerard Egan_2025-04-18_KZSC_Bushwhacker's
KZSC Santa Cruz
During Covid Gerard banged his head, and got the idea for "Poi Rogers", a mash-up of old fashioned country western meets Hawai'ian; public radio stations are crucial to up-and-coming artists, providing a way for them to reach audiences without being curated by an algorithm; the money question? Survive through a diversity of money sources, including their guitar repair shop in Soquel; been in Santa Cruz 15 years, and found the perfect place to live that allows dogs; new CD release a week from Saturday, "Twilight Blues", which will also be released on 10" vinyl; 8 week tour this summer...when...
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California State Assemblymember_Gail Pellerin_interview 2025-04-18 on KZSC_Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
KZSC Santa Cruz
Attending Grand Opening of Beach Ranch today, a 247 acre parcel along the Pajaro River that the Land Trust is preserving, including wetlands; Land Trust is a local non-profit; Assembly currently in Spring Recess; Assembly working on the budget, and going through it line by line; next week is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and on April 28th, Asssemblymember Pellerin will host a floor ceremony honoring a constituent, Ruth Liberman, that is one of 5000 babies born in the Bergen Belsen concentration camp; Assemblymember Pellerin hosted a webinar with California Insurance Commissioner Lara to...
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Kray Van Kirk_Singer, Songwriter_2025-03-28_KZSC_Bushwhacker's
KZSC Santa Cruz
Arcata, California (Humboldt) based; start in music? Kray quit grad school (was at the Graduate Theological School at U.C. Berkeley) and started touring, playing quite a bit in Alaska; when he became a single parent he realized he needed something more dependable, and so got a Ph.D. in Fisheries Modeling before working for the government in Arcata; when his daughter left the nest he quit and went back on the road (2017); who would've thought 3 months ago that in the face of Federal Funding Chaos and Science Funding Uncertainty that being a singer / songwriter would look more stable financially...
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John Laird_California State_Senator_2025-04-04_KZSC_Bushwhacker's
KZSC Santa Cruz
Deep dive into California's Cap & Trade system (Senator Laird is on the Senate's Working Group on Cap & Trade, which met last week to disuss how far we want to extend it, and whether to move up the current sunset ); How Cap & Trade works: measure emissions, and if over a cap, company has to pay a fee for the amount of emissions over the cap - alert listener Eric in Santa Cruz texts in that they can buy emissions from other companies, which is how Tesla was able to survive before they had cars to sell - Senator Laird adds that Tesla also takes advantage of emission-free car...
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Jackson Emmer_Musician & singer-songwriter_2025-01-31_KZSC_Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
KZSC Santa Cruz
Jackson relocated to Santa Cruz a year ago, from Carbondale, Colorado, because he's addicted to surfing!; "You're never a prophet in your hometown!"; Songwriter Round format...Jackson experienced this at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, where the performers were in the middle, the audience surrounding them, and each takes a turn; it was intimate, and Jackson wanted to try it in Santa Cruz; Abigayle Kempst is a young prolific singer/songwriter who lives in Nashville, and Jackson is flying her out to produce his next album - they thought, hey! Let's put together a show!; Jackson alwasy brings a...
info_outlineBorn in Montana, raised in Oregon, high school in Ohio, then Connecticut; New York since 1983, starting with Manhattan School of Music; busking (playing on street)...made enough to (almost) cover rent, busing with bands, duos, trios, no one place - but musicians competed for street corners, and even sent one member early to claim space; own arrangements of other's music, with few originals; subbed on "The Lion King" on broadway, and has now been playing Broadway for decades, including own chair in the pit...55 shows in total! Union? Absolutely! "Broadway is always there"...the regular (DC) pay, vs. the feast & famine (AC) of gigs - sandwich freelance between Broadway gigs.
An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.