KZSC Santa Cruz
On-demand news, interviews, and live performances from KZSC 88.1 FM Santa Cruz - Non-commercial, educational, community radio for the Monterey Bay, California
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Tom Lehrer tribute_Ron 'Snoozy' Sandidge & Richard Stockton (promoters)_2024-11-22 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club by "Dangerous Dan" Orange
05/31/2026
Tom Lehrer tribute_Ron 'Snoozy' Sandidge & Richard Stockton (promoters)_2024-11-22 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club by "Dangerous Dan" Orange
Snazzy does a tribute every year, and this year's, in honor of Tom Lehrer, is a benefit for music in the schools of Santa Cruz County; Lehrer was a Harvard grad student, contributor to "That Was The Week That Was" (TW3) who later put out an album of songs he created for TS3; when "The Foremen" opened for the Austin Lounge Lizards in Santa Cruz Tom Lehrer and family came to the show; deep dive into UCSC math department in the early years, and how UCSC would follwo a European-Style learning model of mixing disciplines, and how Lehrer fir that model. The YouTube video of complete Snazzy Tom Lehrer Tribute can be found at An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2024 is Bushwhacker's 35th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks! From (Nov. 26, 2022): "I, Tom Lehrer, individually and as trustee of the Tom Lehrer Trust 2007, hereby grant the following permissions: All copyrights to lyrics or music written or composed by me have been permanently and irrevocably relinquished, and therefore such songs are now in the public domain. All of my songs that have never been copyrighted, having been available for free for so long, are now also in the public domain. In other words, I have abandoned, surrendered and disclaimed all right, title and interest in and to my work and have injected any and all copyrights into the public domain. The permission granted includes all lyrics which I have written to music by others, although the music to such parodies, if copyrighted by their composers, are of course not included without permission of their copyright owners. The translated songs on this website may be found on YouTube in their original languages. Performing and recording rights to all of my songs are included in this permission. Translation rights are also included. In particular, permission is hereby granted to anyone to set any of these lyrics to their own music, or to set any of this music to their own lyrics, and to publish or perform their parodies or distortions of these songs without payment or fear of legal action. Some recording, movie, and television rights to songs written by me are merely licensed non-exclusively by me to recording, movie, or TV companies. All such rights are now released herewith and therefore do not require any permission from me or from Maelstrom Music, which is merely me in another hat, nor from the recording, movie, or TV companies involved. In short, I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs. So help yourselves, and don’t send me any money."
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(Michael) Schoolcraft & (Mike) Murray_singers, songwriters, satirists 2024-07-26 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'
05/31/2026
(Michael) Schoolcraft & (Mike) Murray_singers, songwriters, satirists 2024-07-26 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'
(Michael) Schoolcraft & (Mike) Murray met 20 years ago in LA when both were taking acting classes (Mike Murray was working delivering food), and, when they realized they both loved improv and played guitar, decided to join forces; with their senses of humor, wrote first song, "My Baby Loves the Flat Tax"; realized their niche is "Groove - Wit - Harmony", like the song "You Got Away"; putting singles on Spotify, might assemble them onto a CD; "Every Day is Just Another Yesterday" (deep, philosophical); loving the moment as they try to make music more of a full time gig. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Wrangle" (Chris Jong) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2024 is Bushwhacker's 35th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!
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Poi Rogers (Carolyn Sills & Gerard Egan) - Singers-Songwriters_2024-08-02_interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange
05/31/2026
Poi Rogers (Carolyn Sills & Gerard Egan) - Singers-Songwriters_2024-08-02_interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange
Gerard & Carolyn got the idea for "Poi Rogers" during the pandemic lockdown, which Gerard took as an opportunity to learn Hawaiian-style steel guitar, and they learned how to play as a duo, and Carolyn learned how to play stand-up bass; working on an album; Carolyn as a story-teller in songwriting; Q: "Do you change the way you think about music whey you approach the microphone (when you have 2 very different musical identities)?" Great question! Yes, because how you interact with the music varies considerably between being in a 5 piece band vs. a duo, where "There's more sonic terrain to cover." An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2024 is Bushwhacker's 35th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!
/episode/index/show/kzscfm/id/41485070
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Laurie Jennings_part of Singer, Songwriter duo Jennings & Keller_2026-05-15 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, 'DJ Spark Plug' (Dylan Estevez) & 'Maury-the-Mentee' (Maury Burnett-Cavoto)
05/31/2026
Laurie Jennings_part of Singer, Songwriter duo Jennings & Keller_2026-05-15 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, 'DJ Spark Plug' (Dylan Estevez) & 'Maury-the-Mentee' (Maury Burnett-Cavoto)
Laurie tours the country in an RV performing as a singer/songwriter duo with Dana Keller; started Main St. Cafe in Homestead, FL as a venue "for musicians by musicians"; Laurie has always been a performer, starting in theater in New York City; hurricanes, politics impacted the Main St. Cafe, & they closed it in 2006; Laurie & Dana were in a band together, & found a beat up old motor home, & formed a duo to tour in the RV; Dana is a dobro & pedal steel guitar player (what's a dobro?); Laurie was inthe National Shakespeare Repertory Theater - and recited one of Viola's monologues from 'Twelfth Night'; The "Money Question?" ("Are you able to make a living with your art, &, if so, how?") - A: "No!" - they get help, with a lot of side jobs...Dana does studio work, & they have a studio in the RV,Laurie teaches basic music at a Montessori school; Santa Fe RV park they discovered during Covid after fleeking the CZU Fire complex, which is now their 2nd home, where they "Play to Stay!" An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Maury-the-Mentee" (Maury Burnett-Cavoto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!
/episode/index/show/kzscfm/id/41484810
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Gail Pellerin, California 28th District Assemblymember - 2026-05-15 interview on on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, 'DJ Spark Plug' (Dylan Estevez) & 'Maury-the-Mentee' (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
05/31/2026
Gail Pellerin, California 28th District Assemblymember - 2026-05-15 interview on on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, 'DJ Spark Plug' (Dylan Estevez) & 'Maury-the-Mentee' (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
Yesterday was a hard day, with both "Suspense File Day" & the Governor's "May Revise"; andy bill that makes it out of a policy committee that has a cost "of significance" goes into the "Suspense File" - "of significance" =is = or > $50,000; there were 637 bills in the Assembly's "suspense file": 137 are in suspense, and 468 passed; it'sa quick vote process, with bills in the "A Roll Call" already agreed to by Republicans & Democrats, "B Roll Call" agreed to by the Majority Party (in this case, Democrats), "Held in Committee' = still in suspense, & effectively dead; and a few in "limbo" = oh hold because of ongoing budget negotiations; pivoting to the budget, & yesterday's Governor's "May Revise": the Governor submits a "draft budget" in January, with the legislature then going through it line-by-lin, and possibly taking some early action, then, after the April 15 tax deadline leads to clarity on state revenue, the Governor issues his "May revise" - the legislature is required by state constitution to pass a balanced budget by June 15; the Assembly & the Senatte have until May 29 to pass a bill out of the "House of Origin" (where the bill was initally submitted) to the other house; discussion of Assemblymember Pellerin's bills that are still "Held in Suspense", where it's possible they can be passed out to the floor (aka "Jailbreak"), but most likely dead; California has a 6 week supply of gasoline, with prices going up; California's energy is overseen by a number of state agencies (e.g.: Calif. Energy Commission, the CARB; Calif. Dept. of Tax); back in the district - in Morgan Hill today, and Branciforte Libbrary tonigh to inspire youth to civic action (with free pizza!). This interview qualifies for an exemption from "Equal Time" because an appearance by a candidate on a Bona fide interview is an exemption of "use" as per FCC rules and policies, and an exempt "use" has no requirement for "equal time"* *FCC on “Exemptions from “Use” rules by a candidate, (See page 6 of 110 in the FCC Primer on Political Broadcasting. Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; also FCC-78-523A1 [“New Primer on Political Broadcasting and Cablecasting”, FCC 78-523]) An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Maury-the-Mentee" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!
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Brad Kava_Good Times, Growing Up in Santa Cruz_interviewed 2026-05-22_on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, 'DJ Spark Plug' (Dylan Estevez) & 'Momento Maury' (Maury Burnett-Cavott)
05/31/2026
Brad Kava_Good Times, Growing Up in Santa Cruz_interviewed 2026-05-22_on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, 'DJ Spark Plug' (Dylan Estevez) & 'Momento Maury' (Maury Burnett-Cavott)
Brad arrived in Santa Cruz in 1978 after graduating college in New York & hitch hiking acros sthe country; worked at The Independent, which later became the Metro; & the Good Times (which was across form the Cooper House, & Brad was their 1st music reviewer); went to UC Berkeley School of Journalism, interned at the New York Times, then got a job in Florida as a police report [he broke the story about the sheriff running a prostitution ring], later Kansas City Star, the Gilroy Dispatch, and Santa Cruz Patch; Brad owns "Growing Up In Santa Cruz", a local monthly paper - it's a struggle, but it's beloved; his other 2 jobs are teaching at Cabrillo College, and editing the Good Times; plus he plays in "Jam & the Butterred Biscuits", a local band that plays all originals, and who are opening the mid-town summer music festival season; celebrating his 3rd anniversary at the Good Times after being hired on Memorial Day Weekend when the previous editor published an anonymous Anti-Drag Queen letter (in Santa Cruz?!!?!?), when the owner asked him if he'd fill in for "a couple of months"; this week's AI cover story generated hate mail even before it hit the news stand, with haters lashing out at a local restaurant "The Salty Otter", whose owner - a graphic designer - worked with AI to improve her logo (or so she thought) - artist supervised AI - the AI controversy is if it will replace artists, but AI *must* be supervised; Good Times has a circulation of [30,000, & gets more ad revenue from print than digital - people cherish hard copy; Karen Crocceti and AI assisting in giant mural planning; Good Times shifted to news during the pandemic - the owner owns 17 northern California papers & is working to keep a free (& independent!) press alive!! An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Momento Maury" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!
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Luigi Oppido - Pleasure Point Computers_interviewed 2026-05-22_on KZSC's Bushwhackers Breakfast Club by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Maury-the-Mentee" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
05/31/2026
Luigi Oppido - Pleasure Point Computers_interviewed 2026-05-22_on KZSC's Bushwhackers Breakfast Club by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Maury-the-Mentee" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
Luigi's family arrived in Santa Cruz in the 1930s (!!!), & his grandfather bought a house in 1937 (!!!)....for $12,000!!! (his grandfather packed meat, & sold ice); Luigi opened up his shop in 2011; "The Money Question" (are you able to make a living doing what you do?) "Yes!!! ...because I live in the house my grandfather bought! Otherwise, it'd be really tough." Luigi discovered when he wa a boyt that he could speak to computers, & understand them...he read a DOS manual, and later, when his dad's computer broke a 2nd time, he fixed it - at age 12!! Later, he would dumpster dive in the East Bay, and soon had a bedroom filled wiht desk top computers that he fixed; when the company he was working for after college took his anti-roll technology from car safety to missile control systems, he quit, and started his own computer repair shop; A.I. has added more work for him because it's often wrong; AI is a tool, and we are in the "spaghetti phase", where we throw it up against the wall to see what sticks'; Momento Maury & Gemini team to describe Luigi ("Pretty good!! Would I get the same thing if I asked?"); Right-to-Repair; Western Digital announced at the beginning of the year that...they had already sold all of the hard drives they would make this year! Data centers lead to price increases, shortages; the next 15 years? You will be more locked out of your data / files, and you won't have a laptop (everything will be in Data Centers, and all you'll have is a terminal ["The more things change, the more they stay the same!!" *]); Warner Herzog reading AI - "Where's Prunedale?!?!?!". * the famous French aphorism coined by journalist and novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849 ("plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"). [ironically provided by AI Gemini] An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Momento Maury" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button in the upper right-hand corner. Thanks!
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Adam Scow - 3rd Annual Mariachi Festival_interviewed 2026-04-24 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Maury-the-Mentee" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
04/24/2026
Adam Scow - 3rd Annual Mariachi Festival_interviewed 2026-04-24 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & "Maury-the-Mentee" (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
This Sunday will be the Third Annual Mariachi Festival at Cabrillo College, & will feature 6 mariachi bands, 4 of which are youth bands, as well as one class & Adam's band, Mariachi Libertad; youth bands include UC Santa Cruz; Adam has been in the area 8 years, with a day job dealing with environmental issues...he's a professional violinist, playing with the Santa Cruz Symphony as well as Chamber Music; along the way he fell in love with mariachi music; Adam's mother is Mexican, from Oaxaca, & his dad is Danish...his grandfather came here as part of the Bracero program; with his day job & musical pursuits, why is he teaching? People asked him to, and there's a resurgence in mariachi music...plus, students are enthusiastic & want to learn - making it rewarding; the mariachi class started 2 1/2 years ago, & Adam is the 2nd teacher; their fall concert sold out; Jalisco is the birthplace of mariachi; the song "Solamente Una Vez" (If Only One Time) is a beautiful ballad (Javier Vargas on vocal) performed by Mariachi Libertad de Watsonville at the 1st Cabrillo College Mariachi Festival 2024. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug", "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button. Thanks!
/episode/index/show/kzscfm/id/41011130
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Ginger Shulick Porcella (ED) Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History_2026-04-24 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, DJ Spark Plug (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
04/24/2026
Ginger Shulick Porcella (ED) Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History_2026-04-24 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, DJ Spark Plug (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
The MAH is now in its 30th year, and recently celebrated with their Red Ball Gala, which raised over $130,000 for the MAH (although it was pouring, so they had to pivot & move 200 people indoors, where DJ Spooky from New York entertained them)! the MAH oversees 3 sites, the main museum in downtown Santa Cruz, the Evergreen Cemetary (in Harvey West Park), & the Davenport Jail, where a resident artist, Joshua Moreno, is doing a year-long study in light (you can visit the 2nd Saturday of every month); the origin story is that back in the 90s there was a history museum in town, & an art museum, but that funding became harder after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, so that funding was the impetus to merge...with successful crowd source funding (20 years before GoFundMe?) they succeeded!! the annual budget is $1.5 million, with 7 full time employees, and 7 part-time; Ginger spends 95% of her time fundraising from individual donors, grants, (no more federal funding), donor-advised funds, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz, the Hewlitt Foundation & the Packard Foundation; the main MAH museum has 3 floors & a combination of exhibits from the permanent collection as well as rotating exhibts, a sculpture garden, and galleries; there's a new installation of light that will be there a year - come some night to see it; "Who picks the exhibits?" "Great question!!" - the MAH is unique in that exhibits are co-created with community input; on the last Sunday of every month there's a poetry workshop at the Everygreen Cemetary 1-3pm; Ginger came to Santa Cruz year and a half ago, lured by the job. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug", "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button. Thanks!
/episode/index/show/kzscfm/id/41011000
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Jennifer Merchant (ED) & Kayla Traber (Dev't Dir) - Grey Bears_2026-04-24 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, DJ Spark Plug (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
04/24/2026
Jennifer Merchant (ED) & Kayla Traber (Dev't Dir) - Grey Bears_2026-04-24 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange, DJ Spark Plug (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto)
Grey Bears recently secured a larger location, acquiring a warehouse (& 2.5 acres) that was previously owned by Palace Arts. which was sold to a Bay Area company (Triple A), but with the local store being managed by a son of the original owner; Grey Bears was built around seniors & healthy food, started in 1973 by UCSC student Kristina Maillard and her boyfriend, Gary Denny; they saw a need to nourish seniors, & food left to rot in local farm fields - they decided to gather their friends, gather the food, & host the first harvest festival; Grey Bears grew to have 3 pillars: 1) healthy food either picked up by, or delivered to, 4,000 seniors, 2) free food available to be picked out & taken from the Grey Bears on site market, and 3) free meals where seinors can gather & socialize with the Monday-Friday Grey Bears lunch; have any other towns in ag country imitated Grey Bears? "Great question!" - the answer is no, but with California law SB 1383 encouraging grocers & farms to share what would otherwise go to waste, maybe we'll see more Grey Bears like activities; their current capital campaign is 81% there, raising money to outfit the new warehouse & create a more dignified shopping experience; the budget is just under $4 million, with 34 employees (24 full time) & 836 volunteers - they have so many volunteers they have a weekly orientation! They still do recycling at their Chanticleer Ave. location, but the county took back the recycling centers at the landfill sites in December; the majority of their budget comes from thrift store sales, plus recycling (the "waste not, want not" mantra is baked into the Grey Bears DNA!); their website is GreyBears.org; Santa Cruz County has the fastest growing senior population in California! An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, & "DJ Spark Plug", "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez) & Maury-the-Mentee (Maury Burnett-Cavotto) airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening! To support KZSC (& these podcasts), please go to KZSC.FM and click on the "Donate to KZSC" button. Thanks!
/episode/index/show/kzscfm/id/41010955
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THE FUTURE IS PEACE: Interview with Palestinian and Israeli Peacemakers Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon | Transformation Highway, KZSC Santa Cruz
04/18/2026
THE FUTURE IS PEACE: Interview with Palestinian and Israeli Peacemakers Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon | Transformation Highway, KZSC Santa Cruz
Audio interview with Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon from Israel about their new book The Future is Peace on "Transformation Highway" with host John Malkin on KZSC 88.1 FM / kzsc. org. Their local book event is at Temple Beth El in Aptos on Monday, April 20, 7:00PM. The book event is co-sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz and the Humanities Institute at UC Santa Cruz and will feature a Q&A moderated by Douglas Abrams. Tickets: bookshopsantacruz.com/future-is-peace Aziz’s older brother, Tayseer, died in 1990 at the age of 19 after sustaining internal injuries due to torture in an Israeli prison, where he was held on suspicion of throwing rocks. Maoz’s parents were killed by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023. Aziz and Maoz are co-CEO's of InterAct International, a nonprofit dedicated to Middle East peace. An edited version of the interview is available online and in print in the April 16, 2026 issue of the Santa Cruz Good Times.
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Poi Rogers (Carolyn Sills) - Album Release shows for 'Whirligig'_interview 2026-04-10 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'
04/11/2026
Poi Rogers (Carolyn Sills) - Album Release shows for 'Whirligig'_interview 2026-04-10 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'
Calling in from Capitola, but hittting the road in an hour to tour in support of new album, "Whirligig", a 6 song EP & 10" vinyl project coming out May 1st (officially), but advance copies available for purchase at shows - Santa Cruz show coming 2 weeks from tomorrow; songs on "Whirligig" include tunes about Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay, plus a song, "Gil Carter" about the longest home run ever hit in baseball (Carolyn is a big fan of baseball history) hit on August 11, 1959, in a farm league game in Carlsbad, New Mexico, where the home run knocked a peach out of a tree that someone witnessed, so they know the home run was either 650', or 733'!!! Bushwhackers mention Chuck Brodsky, who has at least 2 CDs with all baseball songs that are in rotation at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; the new CD was recorded in Portald, Oregon by Eric Skye; "Telephone Tune" with references that our grandchildren might not get (land line telephone with rotary dial & a chord; letters in the mail); Carolyn, "Are you my mommy or are you A.I.?"'; the Money Question ("are you able to support yourself with your music, & if so, how?"): "Yes!! Wea re very fortunate to have a guitar repair shop in Soquel, The House of Twang, which they can shutter temporarily when they tour; "Dollars Medley" is a set of 3 songs inspired by the Clint Eastwood triology directed by Sergio Leone with Ennio Morricone's iconic scores - "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "For a Few Dollars More", & "A Fistful of Dollars" - that Gerard Egan (the other half of Poi Rogers) wrote into a whistle-infused song on their first album. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!
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Chris Berry & Laurie Egan_State of the San Lorenzo River 2026 Symposium & Tour_interview 2026-04-10 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
04/11/2026
Chris Berry & Laurie Egan_State of the San Lorenzo River 2026 Symposium & Tour_interview 2026-04-10 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
Started in 2015 with a grant to improve the scientific literacty of lay people about our watershed & its issues, inspired by former Santa Cruz city water director Rosemary Menard - & they've held the State of the San Lorenzo River Symposium almost every year since; our California State Senator John Laird will deliver the keynote; the Symposium is open to the public; Laurie is Executive Director of the Coastal Watershed Council, a local non-profit with a mission to preserve & protect watersheds - their budget is $600,000 - 700,000 per year, with 6 full time employees & 1 part-time...they get their funding from local & state as well as community support; deep dive into the agenda, with diversions to invasive species (esp. the shothole borer, which was first seen in Zayante Cree a year ago); "RCIS" = Regional Conservation Investment Strategy", which is used by the "RTC" = Regional Transportation Commission to guide investment & action in the watershed; "anadromous" = spawn in fresh water, & adult in ocean (e.g.: Steelhead, Coho Salmon), "HCP" = Habitat Conservation Plan = city permit to for handling water in the midst of endangered species, signed last year by the City Manager (after 25 years of work!); the San Lorenzo River habitat is the best it's been in 100 years, &, with regional planning, cities & communities are supporting each other better (but the challenge is that the Santa Cruz Mountains has the highest density of septic tanks west of the Mississippi!); the Symposium is a community conservation where, as Laurie put it, "It's amazing how many people are working on issues, & with a community conversation...about conservation!" An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!
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Cyanide Cyn - Sin Sisters 15th Anniversary Santa Cruz Burlesque & Drag Show_interview 2026-04-10 on KZSC's "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
04/11/2026
Cyanide Cyn - Sin Sisters 15th Anniversary Santa Cruz Burlesque & Drag Show_interview 2026-04-10 on KZSC's "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
Quoting Bushwhacker's interviewee Izzi (now Dio) aka "Azure iivy", whom "Dangerous Dan" & "Kaos" interviewed 3 years ago, "Trans is who you are. Drag is what you do!" Tomorrow the Santa Cruz Burlesque & Drag Show celebrates 15 years, & Cyanide Cyn started it & has run it the entire time; Cyn had just moved here and loved the art & entertainment scene, but there wasn't as much live entertainment as wished for, & there weren't any burlesque or drag shows; the Santa Cruz Derby Girls asked Cyn to put together a Burlesque & Drag show, and the first one at the 1000-person main room at The Catalyst was packed; they moved to monthly shows in the Catalyst Atrium, & later moved to the Kuumbwa, now bi-monthly; Cyn is re-purposing a costume from 13 years ago, adding even more rhinestones, but it's not done yet; their sound person, Tommy Powell-Demeuth, has been with them since the beginning (with a little break for serious medical issues) - "Solid!" There are 8 Sin Sisters - Cyn books 7 Drag Queens per show, and each does 2 acts, 1 in each set - Cyn also books from out of town, & always books who they want on stage; when you come to a Burlesque & Drag show, "Prepare to be amazed! And be a little scared!" An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. 2026 is Bushwhacker's 37th year on the air! Thanks for listening!
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Redtail - Chris McDougal (guitar, vocals) & Richard Smith (mandolin, vocals) - Americana Singers/Songwriters_interview 2026-04-03 on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
04/07/2026
Redtail - Chris McDougal (guitar, vocals) & Richard Smith (mandolin, vocals) - Americana Singers/Songwriters_interview 2026-04-03 on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
Hailing from Aromas, on the other side of the Pajaro River in far north Monterey County; Chris was born & raised in Aromas - Richard was born & raised in Watsonville; Richard retired as a farm advisor, having gone to school at U.C. Davis in ag...now U.C. Santa Cruz has an Ag & Natural Resources Department! Both are songwriters, but separate, with different styles; played together in a 5-piece band for 5 years; the song "Fireworks Stand" is for his wife, Michelle, whom he met at Chico State after sitting next to her at a Freshman gathering, rifling through her purse, and seeing a picture of a girl he knew, so she must not have been from far from where he went to high school - Michelle later worked at a Fireworks stand in San Juan Batista, & when Chris asked how her day was, she said, "It was hot!" - Chris replied, without skipping a beat, that it must've been with her in the stand! Richard song, "All That I Need". The "Money Question"? A: Absolutely not! Chris' day job is a home inspector; San Juan Batista, where Dayan Kai, who Chris went to junior high school with, hails from. Song: "Down Like That". No website, no CDs....yet. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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John Laird - California State Senator - 17th District - interviewed on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
04/07/2026
John Laird - California State Senator - 17th District - interviewed on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
Currently on Spring Break and in the district; as one of the first openly gay elected officials to city & state office, what's his take on Governor Newsom's homophobic slurs of conservative influencers & politicos? Quoting Barney Frank, Senator Laird said, "You have a right to privacy, but no right to hypocrasy!" Is this to help tailor his image ahead of a run for national office, or to raise attention to his own issues? Yes to both. Watsonville hospital - there's interest by Sutter to take it over in a public-private partnership, but not until later in the year - still need a bridge...the governor's office is focusing on hospitals that have 2 days of cash on hand, not 7 or 8 days; Senator Laird saved the hospital ove4 4 years ago via a "Gut and Amend" bill that created a hospital district; unfortunately cuts & delays in federal funding (DSH; QAF) have reduced revenue so that it's no longer sustainable; Watsonville is one of 2 1/2 hospitals in County (Dominican, also Sutter Maternity); Cesar Chavez day name changed for this year only to Farmworkers Day in record time by unanamous vote via Gut and Amend legislative action, including the "72 hour rule"; re-read Miriam Pawel's biography of Cesar Chavez, specifically the "Monday Night Massacre" when Chavez fired many aides...include a young Bill Monning, future California State Senator & John Laird's immediate predecessor; what happens next week? "All hell breaks loose!" - there's 6 weeks to get bills out of the House of Origin, with committee meetings every day, plus 7 - 8 bills of his that are in other committees...PLUS budget hearing; working on a resolution against offshore Oil & Gas drilling, with Dan Haifley, ex Executive Director of Save Our Shores, and Santa Cruz City staff, spoke...."Dangerous Dan", as a geologist / geophysicist working both sides of the military - industrial complex, including offshore oil & gas and offshore wind, assures Senator Laird that he can sleep well at night knowing that the oil industry will never drill offshore California north of Santa Barbara, because the many faults (including the San Gregorio - Hosgri Fault that cuts across Monterey Bay) butcher the potential reservoirs so that an "elephant" (1 billion barrels recoverable) cannot exist; Senator Laird: "You're remarkably rational. This administration is not. Plus, we need to send a signal." An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Chris Webster_Americana Singer, Songwriter_2023-07-14 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange & 'Kaos' (Katrina Clugston)
03/31/2026
Chris Webster_Americana Singer, Songwriter_2023-07-14 interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange & 'Kaos' (Katrina Clugston)
House concert tonight features 2 sisters from Ukraine, the Bezhenar sisters, who have been collaborating with Nina on her new CD; Nina was playing with her brother Scott when she heard Kate Wolf through her records - she learned the songs, and became Kate's accompanying guitarist; Chris hales from Davis, California; song: "Candybars and Freedom", written by Chris, and a discussion of songwriting; the "money question": "Do you make a living playing music?" Answer = yes, thanks to various incarnations / groups and performing: it's no longer possible to make a living selling music CDs, but you can make a living through live performances. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "Kaos", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Julie Macecevic - Executive Director, Walnut Avenue Family and Women's Center 2023-10-13 interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "Kalamity Kyle" Weller, & "Kaos" (Katrina Clugston)
03/29/2026
Julie Macecevic - Executive Director, Walnut Avenue Family and Women's Center 2023-10-13 interview on KZSC's "Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "Kalamity Kyle" Weller, & "Kaos" (Katrina Clugston)
Walnut Ave Family & Women's Center is celebrating 90 years in Santa Cruz!!! Started in 1933 as the local chapter of the YWCA; focus is on children, youth, women, family support, advocacy & prevention - children & youth = focus on the next generation, particularly life skills, including how to be in a relationship; added more focus on domestic violence in the 1990s, adding certified training to be an advocate for survivors of domestic violence (they have 2 hotlines, plus walk-in hours in downtown Santa Cruz); new program = "A Place for Change" - an alternative to the legal system for domestic violence; child care is a necessity...most parents in Santa Cruz work 2 jobs to get by...Santa Cruz subsidized child care is meeting only 14% of the need!! ...haven't been able to open infant / toddler child care because they can't pay enough for someone to live in Santa Cruz; Q: can we generate money to keep professionals? 75% funding from state and federal level, 10% local...local foundations are generous and more flexible (thanks!); shifted from YWCA to WAFWC when they saw the need for domestic violence services, and could not access federal funding as a religious organization; end on a note of hope & positivity: Julie enjoys working with people doing the hard work! An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange, "Kalamity Kyle" Weller, & "Kaos" (Katrina Clugston), airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Gail Pellerin, California 28th District Assemblymember - KZSC interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
03/29/2026
Gail Pellerin, California 28th District Assemblymember - KZSC interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & DJ "Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
Today's luncheon will honor the 14 Women of the Year in Assemblymember Pellerin's District; this is the 3rd annual, & will be held in Santa Cruz at the Seymour Center (the 1st was in San Jose, and the 2nd was in Morgan Hill); discuss each of the 14 women in alphabetical order; one successfully worked on Measure A, a temporary tax in San Jose to fill the gap in health care due to cuts; AAUW is the American Association of University Women; Monte Sereno, population 3500, is the smallest city in the Assemblymember's district - & has no businesses!; the Briggs Initiative was a California proposition to ban LGBTQ+ people from teaching in schools - one of this year's winners helped defeat this in 1978 58.4% to 41.6%; a "candy striper" was a young woman who wore outfits like striped candy who would go to facilities (elder care, hospitals) to brighten people's days; "Africcianado" is a combination of Africa & afficianado; Damian's Ladder is a non-profit that supports senior citizens with odds & ends and projects. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Brenda Avila-Handa - Watsonville Film Festival (WFF)_2026-03-20_interview on KZSC's Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
03/29/2026
Brenda Avila-Handa - Watsonville Film Festival (WFF)_2026-03-20_interview on KZSC's Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
Brenda is a UCSC professor, filmmaker, and board member of the Watsonville Film Festival (WFF); the WFF is in its 14th year, having been founded by Consuela Alva when she found there wasn't an outlet for her films in the area; the WFF grew organically over time, & focuses on Latino & Indigenous Stories, with screenings now in Watsonville, Salinas, and Santa Cruz; one of the WFF's short films won an award at DocNYC in New York City!; Brenda's film got an extended standing ovation, and will screen next at the Philadelphia Film Festival; Brenda teaches social documentation & storytelling at UCSC. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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John Laird_California State Senator_2026-03-06_interview on KZSC's Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
03/29/2026
John Laird_California State Senator_2026-03-06_interview on KZSC's Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
Senator Laird is the chair of the budget committee, with a lot going on, but first a look at his legislative package for this year's session; a lot more resolutions, but bills include helping out local wineries (who are sufferring) by letting them sell at Farmer's Markets...Pajaro Valley...Restore PG&E tax regarding Diablo Canyon...allow swimming in the lake that's at the headwaters of the Salinas River...and a new law prohibiting watering of artificial lawns (!!!! Yes, requires a law to give water districts the authority to prohibit this - a violation would be a misdemeanor with a fine!!!); discussion of arcane US Senate rules vs. California Senate; Watsonville Hospital in trouble AGAIN ??!?!? the root problem is that MediCal reimbursements are less than the cost of health care - they were on track to bin the black this year (or close), but the Federal government eliminated one reimbursement and delayed another, so now, with 8 to 10 days of cash on hand, they are trying to figure out how to save the hospital, starting with a bridge to next July; discussing "Private-Public Partnerships" with Sutter (Kaiser until recently) where the private entity would take on management and debt (1!1)...that works if the Watsonville Hospital fits with their regional perspective; deep dive into the Housing Element, where Senator Laird's constituents are all over this - Santa Cruz City is on track, but the County is not...specific projects & the "builder's remedy"...huge housing bond to the voters that would help out first time home buyers; as Budget Chair, Senator Laird is hellaciously busy after a day and a half budget retreat, followed by a 2 day policy retreat; the budget committee & 5 sub-committees have to go through every line item in the Governor's budget; there's a projection that California's revenue will be $6 Billion more than anticipated in December!!; Senator Laird authored a bill to help offset the Fed's $330 million cut to Planned Parenthood. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Ronnie Trubeck - San Lorenzo Valley Historian, Realtor, & Collector of Ephemera_interviewed on KZSC by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
03/29/2026
Ronnie Trubeck - San Lorenzo Valley Historian, Realtor, & Collector of Ephemera_interviewed on KZSC by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Spark Plug" (Dylan Estevez)
Ronnie has been in area for 45 years, coming here out of high school because she loved the mountains...and buying a house for $122k (!!!); she is giving a series of 3 presentations on Ben Lomond history - next Thursday is talk , "Mountain Outpost to Thriving Town", which will cover ~1910 or 1915 to 1950; the 1st talk covered 1820 to 1887, the "Formation of Ben Lomond" - logging was part of it, but it was the railroad which allowed wealthy tourists to come to big hotels that were instrumental in the development of the town; Part 2 is all about resorts & vacation homes, with the big hotels declining as vehicles supplanted the railroad (after the railroad was removed in 1934), and mom & pop resorts of 10-15 cottages each taking their place; after the mill closed, leaving manhy workers cottages along the river, the town decided to re-develop, with the owners of the land with the workers cottages all agreeing to move the cottages to the other side of the river - on lots half their original size - to create a park!!! The talk series is a benefit for the Ben Lomond Alliance, who are raising money for sprinklers for Park Hall; the 3rd talk in the series will include the Korean & Vietnam wars & the Peace Movements, the Hippy Movement, and lots & lots of music; Ronnie's passion for history grew out of her love of maps, and Santa Cruz not haveing many older than the 1920s & 1930s road maps - Ronnie discovered post cards, which had their golden age before WWI, as the most beautiful cards were made in Germany - before 1907, post cards did not have a divided back with space for the address on half of it; reprise the "Great Migration" in 1911 when everyone agree to give up their lots for a half-sized lot on the other side...all for a community park, where the firemen built a dam to make a pool for everyone to enjoy! An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Zach Raney_son of recently deceased Bill Raney, of Santa Cruz Arthouse Theaters_2026-03-27_interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'
03/29/2026
Zach Raney_son of recently deceased Bill Raney, of Santa Cruz Arthouse Theaters_2026-03-27_interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'
Bill Raney, Zach's dad, passed away exactly 1 month ago; Zach was adopted in 1968 from the Monterey Bay Children's Home Society, and lived with Bill & Joanne Walker Raney in the house attached to the Nickelodeon Theater ("Nick 1"); that house was later jacked up & moved down the street so that the Nick could expand ("Nick 2, 3, & 4"; "Great Question "); What possessed Bill & Joanne Walker Raney to start an arthouse cinema in Santa Cruz? ("Great Question ): they had met in North Beach, where Bill was a self-described beatnik (and the subject of his first book) & Joanne owned an arthouse theater - when they saw a movie theater for sale in Santa Cruz she sold that one, & they bought it & moved down (when was the Nick founded ["Great Question ]: A - in 1967); Joanned died soon after, leaving Zach at age 1, and his adopted brother Zerky (short for Zirxses) 3; Zirky passed away the next year; Bill traveled the world with Zeirky (back when this was not easy to do), & wrote about it in his book "Letters to Zerky: A Father's Legacy to a Lost Son...and a Road Trip Around the World" (with JoAnne Walker Raney as co-author); Bill remarried (Nancy), giving him a 2nd chance - Zach gained 2 step siblings; Nancy passed away in 2016; Zach went to Happy Valley School, where he was friends with "Sleepy John's" son, Ernie; Branciforte Junior High, then Harbor High & Santa Cruz High; SF State, where he played baseball (Division 2, or "D-2"), later playing baseball in Niceragua, and for the Atlanta Braves farm team; How'd he land at Gateway School? ("Great Question ); Zach was teaching in San Diego, where he had met & married Athena, and had kids...when Kathy Sandidge, Ernie's wife, told him about a job at Gateway, the family, around the dinner table, was unanimous that he apply - and he got the job (his students were listening to the interview); how did Bill & first Joanne, then Nancy, find movies? Bill spent a lot of time traveling, and would bring back movies in giant metal boxes of reels; the Sash Mill, which Bill also started, was showing a Beatles movie on the day John Lennon died; Bill screened the Rocky Horror Picture Show for years; when did the Sash Mill close ("Great Question ) - not sure, but there was a restaurant out front; "The Money Question?" the Nick was an Institution! With the Sash Mill, very successful - Bill hosted the Ramones, who Zach got to meet backstage when he was in High School; Jim Swinderlee, Bill's business partner, bought the Nick & the Del Mar - he sold both to Landmark Pictures, who closed them during Covid (Grrrrr...); about Bill Raney: he contracted dementia, which was debilitating...he was a great father...kind...loving...always an open door...welcome everybody with open arms;; Where was Zerky adopted from? "Great Question !" - Zach didn't know, & wished he'd asked his dad. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Chris Jett_Wolf Jett_Cosmic Mountain Music - Rockin' Americana_Live! in the studio_interviewed by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange
03/29/2026
Chris Jett_Wolf Jett_Cosmic Mountain Music - Rockin' Americana_Live! in the studio_interviewed by 'Dangerous Dan' Orange
Chris & Jon started playing music together when they wree 11; Jon went to UCSC, & Chris would visit, as they were best friends; the Jett part of their name came from Chris honoring a grandfather, Rawlin Jett, that he never knew - Curtis Jett gained infamy by murdering a lawyer on the courthouse steps - the Wolf part of their name came from Chris' mom, who told him to stop wolfing down his food; Chris grew up in Georgia, and wrote the song "Straight Back Home to You" as a Road Trip song; album / CD release party a week from tomorrow in Felton; Jon's house, with their studio, burned down in the CZU fire - recently re-built; songwriting - it takes work!; the "Money Question" - got to hustle! Also lumberjacking. and a past in Big Pharma; song "Don't Give Up On Me Now" came to him, and includes a ripping guitar solo by Benjamin Andrews that already has 350,000 views on Instagram - with no revenue for him or the band! People buying merchandise is the only way they make money to keep going. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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'The Messiahs' = Ken Kraft, Bobby O'Neill &Craig Owens_2026-03-27_interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'
03/29/2026
'The Messiahs' = Ken Kraft, Bobby O'Neill &Craig Owens_2026-03-27_interview on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'
Bobby came to Santa Cruz in 1964, when he was still in high school, following a musician he played with in a band; he started the iconic Santa Cruz band, "Snail", in 1968, & Ken Kraft Joined later that year; Snail toured all over...Southern California, Santa Barbara, Bakersfield; Snail landed a record deal in 1978 with Cream Records (David Crook), who had moved down to Hollywood; Snail got air play, & got big in places like Idaho's college towns; they recorded their 2nd album in Bayshore, Florida, where they recorded by day, and the Eagles would record evenings / nights their album, "The Long Run" - some fun stories came out of that, especially Joe Walsh, who was a character; they shortened the name "The Hen-Pecked Messiahs" to "The Messiahs" when they expanded from a duo ("The Shell Boys") to a trio, adding Craig Owens on bass & vocals to make a drumless trio; The Money Question? Bobby - no...after Snail stopped touring he became a house painter (but he picks the songs that fit the group - the drumless incarnation); Ken? Yes! He's done a lot of studio work & production; Craig? Yes! He's been fortunate, making enough as musician to "pretty much" make it...he spent 10 years on the road as Lacy J. Dalton's bass player, before working for Emu (aka "Eµ") in the 1980s (Emu, starting in a Silicon Valley apartment before moving to a house in Santa Cruz, helped drive the sampling revolution through their modular synthesizers and (later) samplers as well as drum machines; Emu for "Emulator") An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Kim De Serpa_Santa Cruz County Supervisor_interviewed 2026-02-27 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' KZSC
02/28/2026
Kim De Serpa_Santa Cruz County Supervisor_interviewed 2026-02-27 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club' KZSC
Kim has now been a supervisor for just over a year, having previously learned governance being on the Pajara Valley Unified School Board; a previous interview on Bushwhacker's in late 2024 / early 2025 got derailed when she attended "Supervisor Boot Camp" in Palm Springs - they had booked it for both Kim & her opponent, Kristin Brown, before the election; District 2 includes 30% of all the roads in the county, some 526 miles of roads - & roads are one of the top 3 issues she & her staff deal with, the other 2 being connectivity & PG&E, and the Planning Department; Prop. 1, when it passed, looked great - build out facilities for mental health & substance abuse, where the county is the primary supporter of health & mental health - instead, 30% of the behavioral health budget was removed...diverted...offsetting the gains from Prop. 1 - this is called "re-allignment", & is robbing Peter to pay Paul!; only 13.4% of property taxes stay in the county; the county is also being hit by online e-commerce, where the sales taxes go to the locales where the distribution centers are, which are in counties other than Santa Cruz, which is losing ~$10MM / year; with the federal budget cuts, 40,000 people in the county will lose their insurance, with the burden falling to the county; re: Watsonville hospital - medicare / mediCal reimbursements are not great, and the hospital needs a mix of payors to be viable; to survive, the hospital needs to cut $25MM out of their budget; a bill has been introduced in Sacramento to "Save Rural Hospitals', but its $300MM barely scratches the surface; Kim as 2 staff, a chief-of-staff, Maureen McCarty, who previously worked in Assemblymember Mark Stone's & Gail Pellerin's office (& who was interviewed on Bushwhacker's in December, 2024), & a super-analyst, Gigi Kelbert; Housing Element? There are 3 "builder's remedy" projects currently under construction...of the 4,634 units that are required to be built before 2031, 300 have been built!!!! other projects are in the pre-permitting stage; discussion about unpaid Federal Disaster funds, and that the county borrowed $80MM to cover the shortfall...$53MM has come in to pay down that debt; the county 2025-2026 budget is $1.35 B (yes, that's Billion!!) An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Wrangle" (Chris Jong), airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Zoë Aqua - Transylvanian String Music_interviewed 2026-02-27 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Wrangle" (Chris Jong)
02/28/2026
Zoë Aqua - Transylvanian String Music_interviewed 2026-02-27 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'by "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Wrangle" (Chris Jong)
Zoë is coming to town tonight with 3 people in her Transylvania String Band - they played San Francisco last night; Zoë discovered Klezmer music in high school, and when she moved to New York, she started hanging out with her Klezmer Peeps; a Klezmer pal exposed her to Transylvanian string music, & her reaction was "Huh?!?! What's THAT??!!?", so in 2018, after having won a Fulbright, she traveled to Transylvania, where she met her bandmates; the Fulbright was very, very helpful; discussion of bandmates and the instruments they play, which probably are unfamiliar to everyone; discussion of different music types, including a doina (improvisational). An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Wrangle" (Chris Jong), airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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John Leopold - Executive Producer Grammy Winner 'A Tribute to the King of Zydeco', Clifton Chenier_interviewed 2026-02-27 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
02/27/2026
John Leopold - Executive Producer Grammy Winner 'A Tribute to the King of Zydeco', Clifton Chenier_interviewed 2026-02-27 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club
John is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor who, after losing re-election went on to be Managing Director of the Arhoolie Foundation, which was founded by Chris Strachwitz; Chris founded Arhoolie Records, a roots label founded in 1960 in the Bay Area; 40 years ago, John found Chris through his radio show in KPFA; Chris founded the Arhoolie Foundation in the 1990s; John cold called Chris, & asked if he could write grants for them - Chris was skeptical, saying, "We don't have any money."; John started writing grants anyway, & ultimately brought in $1M; Chris asked John to join the Arhoolie Board of Directors in 2000 &, after he lost re-election, asked him to be Managing Director of the Foundation; on New Year's Eve 2022 Los Lobos played the Rio Theater; 2023 would begin the 50th year for the band, so they threw a celebration / party before the gig; after the gig, John was talking backstage with Steve Berlin & David Hidalgo, who asked John what he was working on; when he told them, "A Clifton Chenier archival box" to celebrate Clifton's Centenial; they said, "If you're doing a tribute album, we're in!"; John asked, "How do you make an album?" Steve had been a producer for 40 years and said, "First, you get a record label!"; John approached Jo-el Savoy, of Valcour Recrods, whose parents were friends of Clifton's; both Jo-el Savoy & Steve Berlin had won Grammys, so John wasn't sure how it would go when he introduced them at a Crawfish Boil in May, 2023, but they were totally sympatico; they released the record on June 27, 2025 (June 25 would've been Clifton's 100th birthday); how do you get a Grammy nomination? Pay $75 & nominate! Who votes? members of the Recording Academy (people who pay their dues & work full time in the music industry); there are 92 or 96 categories - only 10 are on TV; the awards ceremony, including the pre-telecast portion with the other 82 or 86, was on Sunday, February 1st, & "A Tribute to the King of Zydeco", on Valcour Records with John Leopold as Executive Producer, won the Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album!!! If John had won re-election as County Supervisor, cannot tell what would've been: John loves music....saw an opportunity...took advantage of that opportunity (John is proud of his 20 years as an elected official); what's next? John is working with Steve Riley & Christine Balfa (Dewey Balfa's daughter) on a project celebrating Dewey's life, music, & impact, planning for release in 2027 when Dewey would've been 100. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" Orange & "DJ Wrangle" (Chris Jong), airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Patti, Lilly & Melia Spooner_Alta Organic Coffee - interviewed 2026-02-20 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'
02/20/2026
Patti, Lilly & Melia Spooner_Alta Organic Coffee - interviewed 2026-02-20 on KZSC's 'Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club'
Patti was building masts for racing boats, and looked into getting into coffee, because "that's the last thing people would give up" - during Covid, they learned that this was indeed true, as they were declared an "essential business"; Patti started Alta in Newport Beach in 1984, & moved to Santa Cruz in 1998; Patti, when she was "Sleepy John's" girlfriend, went to Costa Rica where they went to a finca (farm) which had the best coffee they had ever tasted; Patti looked into different kids of roasters, & decided on an air roaster, when there were hardly any small roasting companies, just the enormous ones putting out industrial coffee; Lilly, Patti's granddaughter, was born in 1999, and was "born into Alta Coffee"; Melia, Lilly's aunt (the family tree would take a half hour to explain!), was a Newport kid, and, after graduating UCSC, managed Alta in Santa Cruz; their roaster is big enough to climb into, & roasts 33 pounds at a time, roasting before the shop opens at 8am; they have a few single origin coffees, but are known for their house blends, like their Wild Women Blend; Alta was organic before it was a thing, & it's important to support restaurants that support organic, & organic in general; Q: How were they able to pass along a working business to the younger generation? A: "Nepotism!"; one nigiht over dinner Lilly asked Patti if she would sell the business to her, & Patti was releaved, as she was considering retirement but had not come up with a way for Alta to continue; what's their favorite Alta coffee? Mehlia: espresso blend, because the Ethiopean beans are sun-dried, resulting in a European-style coffee; Lilly: Etheopean wash single origin, because of the chocolate flavor; Patty: mountain blend (which combines Sumatra, Guatemala, Mexico...); all from Arabica beans, as they are high grown (Robusta beans are for more mass-produced coffee); "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Industrial Coffee!!"; The Money Question: Patti: "Yes, it sustains me, & is thriving"; Lilly: "Yes, but we have different dreams & visions, but will continue with authentic hearts"; Melia: "Yes...it's only been a couple of months since taking over, but they are now in Patti's rich life shoes; Alta has 6 employees, & a shout out to them on Santa Cruz's Westside! (find them at AltaOrganicCoffee.com) An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", "Goldenv Voice Gene" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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Gail Pellerin_CA_Assemblymember_interviewed 2026-02-20 on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'
02/20/2026
Gail Pellerin_CA_Assemblymember_interviewed 2026-02-20 on KZSC's 'Bushwhackers Breakfast Club'
"2-year bills" had a January deadline to pass out of their House of Origin - Assemblymember Pellerin's bill on Janus Services passed out of the Assembly, & is now in the Senate (it would allow a campus like Janus to have an umbrella license, simplifying inspections & administration); Assemblymember Pellerin reviewed the bills she has submitted or will submit today as this year's bill package - it includes AB1548, the Monterey Bay Area Stewardship Authority, or MBASA, for creative funding solutions that support conservation & stewardship; AB1668, on Open Space Property Tax Exemption; AB1736 on Deceptive Lobbying; AB1988, the "Pause Act" (using 988 because that's the mental health hotline #), which would require chatbots to pause for 20 minutes & a real human to come on the line if there's a risk of suicide; once a bill is submitted, there's a "30 days in print" rule before any hearings can happen; once a bill is assigned to a policy committee by the Rules Committee, the Assemblymember & her team advocate on behalf of their bills, & negotatiate; discussion of last night's town hall with 1st District County Supervisor Manu Koenig - both gave 5-15 minutes of prepared comments before Q&A; questions about 3 housing projects being built with the "builder's remedy"; one local landlord said that he has vacancies for the first time in a long time, so that there's a view toward rent stabilization, & maybe even decreasing rents; Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas has initiated a review of a handful of bills that were passed, to see what worked (& what hasn't) - Assemblymember Pellerin has one, AB2496, which was passed as a Band-Aid for 10,000 foster kids who were to be removed from their homes due to foster agencies getting hit by claims - it was to allow kids to stay whiel working on a longer term solution, but the Assembly never got a report, so they will now hold hearings in the Policy Committee that heard the bill initially, as they have the expertise; that bill sunsets in 2027, & may need to be renewed (with a new bill?) if there hasn't been enough progress. An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan","Golden Voice Gene" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.
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