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Looking Forward to Enchanted Forested in NorCal

Shpongle, PANTyRAiD, The Polish Ambassador, Ayla Nereo and Hamsa Lila Among Headliners for Enchanted Forest Gathering 2016 KZSC, Santa Cruz is excited to be part of the sixth annual installment of Enchanted Forest Gathering. The Gathering celebrates music, yoga, flow-arts and…

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Lightning in a Bottle 2016 My Experience

Words cannot describe how magical this year’s Lightning in a Bottle experience was, you truly had to be there, but I will try my best in the words that follow… We drove down from our perch at the radio station…

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May 29 KZSC Presents: Sugar Candy Mountain w/ Luke Sweeney and Jackie Zealous

Sunday May 29: KZSC Presents tropical psychedelic pop band, Sugar Candy Mountain from Joshua Tree, California. Playing with Santa Cruz's surf garage rock band, Jackie Zealous and San Francisco's psychedelic soul pop band, Luke Sweeney. "If Brian Wilson had dropped acid on the beach in Brazil and decided to record an album with Os Mutantes and The Flaming Lips, it would sound like this— featuring space-age sounds and far-out frequencies from the tripped out tropics," then you would have Sugar Candy Mountain. Hope to see you there!
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Father John Misty: KZSC Show Reviews

Father John Misty put on an absolutely awe inspiring performance for the Oakland crowd on the second and final night of his 2 night stint at the Fox Theater. The man oozed charisma as he absolutely owned every inch of…

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The Village, Lightning in a Bottle’s Sacred Environment, Announces Theme and Workshops

In celebration of the earth and to inspire humanity to reconnect within, Do LaB proudly unveils the 2016 theme, presenters, workshops and offerings for Lightning in a Bottle’s micro-environment and sacred epicenter, The Village. Built around a beautiful Grandmother Oak, paying homage to its 2016 theme, “Tree of Life”, The Village will give attendees a unique opportunity to learn by doing, develop hands on skills and discover what it takes to create and sustain a living Village together as a community.

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Pell: KZSC Show Reviews

Arriving at the Catalyst Monday night, a place I have struggled for air let alone space to dance, I was thankful to see a moderate sized turn out. The venue took on a new atmosphere with the comfortable not compacted situation. The few that did make it to the show were obvious die-hard fans and for good reason.

Originally from New Orleans and a Hurricane Katrina survivor, Pell is not the typical sound we hear coming out of that region. He works with more electronic beats switching vocally, as he says, from “affectionate wordsmith to hook-smashing crooner”. He comes across aggressive not because of a violent nature but because of the strength in his intelligent, passionate statements line after line. Pushing the boundaries of the current popular trap / dubby sound, Pell’s foundation is more rhythmic and more ambient. This new trip-pop dreamscape to sonics of rap had the crowd floating.

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Wobbleland: San Jose Comes To Life Under The City National Civic

February 26th and 27th, marked another successful year for the Bay Area concert Wobbleland hosted by Vital Events. Lines wrapped around The City National Civic with people eager to dance all night to the sweet sounds of EDM. Headliners Hucci and GTA dropped killer tracks, but honestly all the DJs brought their best to the weekend. From the opening performers to the headliners, the dancing never stopped! On top of their usual indoor main stage, Wobbleland included an outdoor tent introducing two stages for first time. The second stage was perfect if you wanted to get outside for some air and still enjoy the show. Wobbleland 2016 was a huge hit. I think my favorite part, besides the music, has to be the crowd. It must have been the music or simply the bay area people, but everyone was so friendly and dancing. The weekend was a huge success and KZSC thanks one of our own, Santiago Torrecilla, for inviting us to join!

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Taraf de Akácfa Tues Mar 15th

Taraf de Akácfa is a band based in Budapest, who met as traveling street musicians in Hungary. They'll be playing for a dance at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 7pm. Hailing from Sweden, France,…

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Le Bruit Court dans la Ville, Mon Mar 14th

The band Le Bruit Court dans la Ville (The Buzz of the Town) includes true legendary performers of the traditional music of Quebec, Canada who will be appearing on Monday, March 14, 2016 at 7:30pm at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA. Lisa Ornstein…

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Esperanza Spalding at the Rio: Saturday, March 12th @ 8:00 p.m.

Esperanza Spalding caused KZSC's phones to ring more than usual this week, after airing a ticket giveaway for Spalding's highly-anticipated Santa Cruz show this Saturday. In case if you missed the news, GRAMMY® award-winning jazz singer, composer, and bassist, Esperanza Spalding will perform…

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Noise Pop Festival: KZSC Show Reviews

This past week, the Noise Pop festival of San Francisco swept up the city in exciting shows ranging from Carly Rae Jepsen to Kamasi Washington. Although we at KZSC weren’t exactly able to see the big names of the festival, we did get a peek behind the press curtain and what we saw was amazing. Two shows in particular that blew us away were the Thermals and Diane Coffee shows at the Brick and Mortar Music Hall

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Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper Mon Feb 29th

Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper will be playing top quality traditional style bluegrass at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Monday, February 29th, 2016. From Charlestown, Indiana, Mike has won the International Bluegrass Music Association's award as Best Fiddle Performer of the…

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Irish Band Téada Fri Feb 26th

Award-winning Irish traditional band Téada (Gaelic for "strings") kicks off its "reAwakening" tour in the U.S. with an appearance at Don Quixote's in Felton, CA on Friday, February 26, 2016. Their performance will provide a glimpse into the 100-year period of Irish musical renaissance from 1916…

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Local Artist of the Week: Solar Glory

We are officially kicking off the "Local Artist of the Week" blog series here on the world-famous KZSC Website! To start off strong, we will be showcasing Solar Glory, a Santa Cruz-based space rock/experimental/drone/post-prog/psychedelic group! Check out their Facebook Page…

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Feb 24: KZSC, College 8 & Oakes Present: West Fest 2016 Music Festival!

KZSC Santa Cruz 88.1FM , College Eight, and Oakes College bring you a free music festival, on Friday February 26th from 4 to 7 pm. West Fest 2016 on the UCSC's College Eight Upper Lawn, incorporates music from psychedelic space rock and gameboy tunes to a Grammy-nominated cellist Rushad Eggleston. The line-up features acts who have years of experience and some that have only gotten their start in recent months. Check out the long-awaited release of the line-up below!  Also, see the Facebook Event link for more information.
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March 9: KZSC alum Julie Snyder speaking in Carmel

Julie Snyder, KZSC's former news director (1990s) and the co-creator of the world's most popular podcast, Serial, was the cover star of February 17th's Good Times weekly!  Don't miss the Q&A with Good Times Editor-in-Chief Steve Palopoli, where she talks about being a Senior Producer at This American Life and how that led to the birth and explosive growth of Serial--a Peabody-award winning true crime podcast series. And see if you can make it out to see Julie Snyder and Serial co-creator Sarah Koenig talk at The Sunset Center's ‘Binge-Worthy Journalism: Backstage With the Creators of Serial’ on Wednesday, March 9th.
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Feb 4: Hawaiian Musical Greats at The Rio Theatre

Two stars of Hawaiian music are at the Rio Theatre Thursday February 4th--Keola Beamer, composer, singer-songwriter, accomplished slack key guitar master and Henry Kapono, singer-songwriter, actor, and rocker. Moanalani Beamer will grace the stage with hula. These gentlemen of music brought us many of the original songs that have formed the identity of Hawaiian music since the 1970s.
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A Floral review (playing Jan 7 in SF)

Nothing really says DIY like a good ol' house show, and nothing says underground like bands that have forged their own distinct sound. I'd known Floral's guitarist since his punk rock days back when our bands were equally pissed off and equally terrible in that beautiful way that only punk is. What a few semesters at Berklee had done to him was simply mindblowing. With only a compressor to cut out feedback and static, his high treble tapping brought the room to a mathy frenzy. Fingers flashed and blurred. Feet flew over massive and elaborate pedalboards. Surely, math has never before been this rock. Or rock been this math. You know, whichever.
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Dec 16: Paula Fuga & Anuhea At Moe’s Alley

Warm it up, Santa Cruz!  Welcome the Island sounds of Paula Fuga and Anuhea to Moe's Alley Wednesday, December 16th at 8:30 pm. Paula has a truly exquisite voice and she uses her talents to be a cultural ambassador for her Hawaiian home and people. Anuhea, brings new reggae-tinged holiday music to the stage at Moe's Alley. Get your Island sway going on, groove to the music and the rare treat of having these two talents together on the mainland.
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