Sweden’s Väsen Returns to Santa Cruz Entertainment Music 

Sweden’s Väsen Returns to Santa Cruz

Celebrating New Album: Vågor  By Julie Horner One of life’s greatest pleasures is experiencing live music played on traditional acoustic instruments. Wood and strings meld with bones and sinew, connecting the humus of the human spirit with imperatives that lie outside of ‘self’, erasing borders, smoothing differences, expanding imagination and worldview. Make plans to experience Sweden’s Väsen-Duo, featuring Mikael Marin… Read More
Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Festivals Music 

Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Returns for 53rd Season: “Essentially Baroque”

The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival celebrates its 53rd season this year with an ambitious lineup of concerts, masterclasses, and competitions. Under the artistic direction of Jörg Reddin, who returns from the Bach Church in Arnstadt, Germany, the festival explores baroque music through programming from January through April.  Baroque music flourished from approximately 1600 to 1750, bridging the Renaissance and Classical… Read More
Felton Meadow Music Valley People 

Singer-Songwriter’s New Single Born from a View of the Felton Meadow 

Elisabeth Carlisle’s new music emerges from transcontinental collaboration By Mary Andersen When Elisabeth Carlisle posted a photograph of mist rising over the Felton meadow and Santa Cruz Mountains on her Facebook page last December, she was simply sharing the beauty of a foggy mountain morning. Within hours, the post sparked an unexpected creative partnership that would become her latest single.… Read More
Alecia Haselton Music 

Sunshine Ghost: Singer-Songwriter Alecia Haselton Releases New Single

By Julie Horner Corralitos singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alecia Haselton is back home and dipping into a well of emotions with her latest single, Sunshine Ghost. Available on your favorite streaming platforms, Alecia said, “Sunshine Ghost is an alt rock song co-written with my late boyfriend and bandmate Nathan Rael Candelaria in Nashville.” She and Rael had been working on the… Read More
Woodmill Band Music Valley People 

Grist for the Mill: WoodMill Band Blends the Best of the Valley

By Mary Andersen and Julie Horner There’s something about the Santa Cruz Mountains that brings musicians together. When local songwriter Dave Miller joins longtime friends and fellow mountain players, something magic happens. That spirit has taken shape in WoodMill, a new band blending country, rock, and Americana into a sound as natural as the redwoods surrounding them. “I’ve been performing… Read More
Redwood Express Releases Debut Album Entertainment Music Valley People 

From the Roots Up: Redwood Express Releases Debut Album

By Julie Horner Anchored in partnership, Santa Cruz Mountains band Redwood Express began as a project between China Cats drummer Michael Owens and Buffalo Blues Trio singer-songwriter Michele Murphy to express mutual talents and to have something fun to do together as a couple. Now married, Michael said, “I thought it would be great to have a band together with… Read More