Sheltering in Place: For the Love of San Lorenzo Valley
Love letter to the San Lorenzo Valley from P. Maya Morgan
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Category: Valley People
The Wrinkly Beat: Older Folks in San Lorenzo Valley
Stories of older folks in the San Lorenzo Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains
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Tending Toward the Bluesy – Damdave and the Left-Hand Band
By Julie Horner Looking out from the “fishbowl” at the Boulder Creek Brewery Outpost, heads close together in comfortable familiarity in the late afternoon light, Dave Gillett and I sipped our “usual” and went to town reminiscing about spirited times in old haunts around the San Lorenzo Valley. Known affectionately as “Damdave,” he is front-man singer-songwriter and guitar player for…
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Welcome Fairies and Earthlings: Ben Lomond’s Robie Hiroz
Ben Lomond craftsman, Robie Hiroz, makes magic and music in the mountains By Julie Horner With steady hands rough and stained with varnish, Robie slowly takes the top of the fiddle off with a butter knife. The top releases. “The seal breaks – makes that sound – POP! Scares you at first,” he says. A four-inch crack running parallel to…
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Kevin Foster: Horse Balm and Hard Work
Boulder Creek Neighbors social network founded by an old-school cowboy with community at heart. By Julie Horner Kevin Foster and his rodeo buddy, Billy Ray Coffey, stood tall and lean in front of Jenna Sue’s, chiseled, well-tanned faces shaded by crisp cowboy hats. Both men seemed naturally compelled to greet passersby – with a gentleman’s nod, touch to the brim,…
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Kenny Hill Guitars
Master Craftsman “Tilting Gravity” in Ben Lomond, California By Julie Horner A solo classical guitar breathed seductively into the early morning chill as I let myself into the Hill Guitar Company showroom in Ben Lomond, CA. Gentleman luthier, Kenny Hill, sat just inside, momentarily absorbed in music making, hands wrapped purposefully sensuous around one of his own instruments. The music…
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Dreams Elemental: JnJ Dynamite
Santa Cruz Mountains band featuring Julie Di Mauro, Joel Di Mauro, and Dustin Di Mauro: Songwriting that recreates the classic cult of small town America and pieced together memories of youth. By Julie Horner It was early for a summer Saturday, walking the few short blocks to downtown in the promising warmth to check out the annual Boulder Creek Harvest…
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Keeper of Threads: Embroidery Artist Mardeen Gordon
By Julie Horner There is nothing as elementally atmospheric as hearing live music filtered through a redwood forest. The higher up you are on the mountainside, the more clearly sound drifts, and you feel at once gathered into community, part of the pulse, without ever leaving your yard. The trumpet player practicing the next neighborhood over, the kid on his…
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Olde Blue: Roots in Windy City Blues
By Julie Horner Dashing out of a drenching downpour into the warmth of the Felton Community Hall on a late November morning, I was eager to mingle with local crafters and listen to area musicians who had come together to support the Santa Cruz Mountains Holiday Makers Market. One of the scheduled bands was Olde Blue, a name that has…
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Tina Saso Photography: Community Captured
By Julie Horner What caught my eye was the recent iconic photograph of local American roots musicians, Sugar by the Pound. It was a Marilyn Monroe moment. The photographer had captured the very essence of femininity, strength, and beauty in a series of relaxed looking shots; in-the-moment expression and sense of playful movement, the honesty of cotton fabric against smooth…
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