As a boy raised outside Taft, California, Dave Ellis at 10 years old was already working with horses. His father worked in the oil fields in nearby Bakersfield and later Dave would follow along in his footsteps, working in the oilfields just like his dad. In the 1950’s he was witness to the birthing of [...]
When it comes to cowboy music, if you aren’t really into the culture, which runs pretty deep, you only really know polar opposites like Ian Tyson and Michael Martin Murphey. Ellis, a real old time cowboy, might fall somewhere in the great middle between the two but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make a mark. [...]
An itinerant electric bluesman, Thompson was once the virtual house band for the Oakland chapter of Hell's Angels but he couldn't parlay that into the success Doobie Brothers found as the house band for a biker bar and kept rolling down the line to the next gig like a true itinerant bluesman. Gathering praise from [...]
I can fit all I need in my 2006 ScionXB. A piano and an organ. An amp, site stands and seat. Cords. A shoebox full of cds. And then some clothes in a bag with a couple ironed shirts and maybe a jacket that I’ll hang in the back. Now that makes it pretty full. [...]
Steep yourself in gospel quartet music. Ask 16 year old Kingfish Ingram. I had the pleasure of playing with him 3x at The Waterfront Blues Festival over the Fourth of July Weekend. He’s a big Jubu Smith fan. He’s a big Spanky Alfred fan. And Lee Williams. And The Lumzy Sisters. Kingfish is a huge [...]
With us all having recording studios in our pockets and everything we capture put on YouTube within minutes, the notion of an Alan Lomax or Arhoolie Records’ Chris Strachwitz intrepidly making field recordings to preserve cultural music expressions, seems anachronistic if not obsolete. "The Three Friends from Where the Clouds Descend" by the trio Los [...]
The Little Village Foundation is a non-profit record label started up under the direction of keyboardist Jim Pugh, who recently retired after twenty-five years with Robert Cray. The mission of this organization is to seek and record obscure yet prodigious musicians who have not received proper recognition and respect. Oakland guitarist Ron Thompson certainly [...]
LOS TRES AMIGOES-SNUVIKO/Three Friends from Where the Clouds Descend: This might be pretty wild. Back when the earth was cooling, we used to hitch hike to school. For some reason, a Latino family ‘adopted' us on our morning trek and, since they stopped or us almost everyday, we saved a load in bus fare. They [...]