On Wednesday night, May 11th, Carry Yrself Home presents The Best Friends, Good People and The Jolly Llamas.

All three bands are local Santa Cruz bands: The Best Friends are a funk-rock band who recently participated in the Your Music Magazine Band Olympics, Good People are an indie pop band whose sound draws heavily on afro-beat, and the Jolly Llamas are a two-piece acoustic act. Good People will be handing out copies of their full-length to all attendees for free. Both Good People and The Best Friends have appeared as guests on The Rising Tide radio program.

On Thursday, May 12th, Carry Yrself Home presents Birdhouse, The North Pacific String Band and Tumbleweed Wanderers.

Birdhouse are a local indie jam band that have been featured on The Rising Tide, and Tumbleweed Wanderers are an indie rock act out of Oakland featuring Jeremy Lyon (who has also been featured on The Rising Tide as a solo artist).

On Friday, May 13th, Grand Fanali presents Joan of Arc, Air Waves and Worker Bee.

Worker Bee are a post-rock/americana-influenced band out of San Jose who have been performing together since 2007 and are working on their follow up to 2009′s Tangler. They were featured on The Rising Tide back in January.

And, on Saturday, May 14th, Carry Yrself Home presents The Art Museums, NODZZZ and Deep Ellum.

The Art Museums are a SC/SF indie pop act who will also be performing at the Woodsist Festival in July at the Fernwood Resort in Big Sur. They were featured on The Rising Tide back in January. Deep Ellum is a local supergroup consisting of members from The Groggs and The Terrible.

More information for these shows and more can be found at the Crepe Place’s website.

Local Music at The Crepe Place this week is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

It’s been an exhausting last couple of weeks, but nothing’s going to slow down The Rising Tide! As you can see on the sidebar of our blog, we’ve got a slew of wonderful performances to look forward to in the month of May! Interviews with Pangolin, The Ian Fays, The Beggar and The Coal, and more, so keep an eye out on the blog for more information about our upcoming guests.

Speaking of which, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to this week’s guests on The Rising Tide, a band by the name of The Best Friends.

A 5-piece consisting of UCSC students who all met in the Stevenson dorms in their freshmen year, The Best Friends bring together the best of roots rock, r&b and funk in a way that echoes artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and George Clinton. The group’s cooperative ethic is best seen in a live setting, where the band members share the front stage by taking turns at the microphone. It is here that the group really thrives, whether it be powering through their own original material or laying down an authentic cover song or two, for The Best Friends are the closest thing Santa Cruz has to a legit party-all-night band.

The group is coming onto The Rising Tide tonight to talk about their upcoming shows (including their May 11th show at the Crepe Place with Good People and The Jolly Llamas), possible future recordings, and whatever else 2011 has in store for the group.

This and more on The Rising Tide tonight at 7pm sharp! Listen live at 88.1fm or http://www.kzsc.org/

The Best Friends on The Rising Tide is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

You can check out The Rising Tide on Twitter right here! By following us, you’ll be the first to hear announcements about our upcoming interviews, the first to see photos of recent performances we’ve put up on our Picasa page, and the first to hear about all upcoming news and things concerning your favorite local music radio show!

That being said, let me introduce you to our first of two guests for tonight’s program, The SHE’S.

Hailing from San Francisco, The SHE’S are proof positive that making great music has no arbitrary age requirement. Much has been made of the group members’ relative youth (they’re in high school), but one need not delve too far into their music to find out that the band’s ability to craft melodies with quality pop sensibilities reaches far beyond what one would expect for a group of musicians their age. Their sound can be described as indebted to the likes of the Shangri-Las, Herman’s Hermits and the Beach Boys as far as structure goes, but The SHE’S bring that 50s-60s surf pop style of music into the modern era, having caught the attention of groups like AB & The Sea, Best Coast and Christopher Owens of Girls (who subsequently put the group on the map by having them open their Fillmore show last October).

The SHE’S will be stopping by our studio this friday night to talk about their ascension into bay area indie stardom, the pressures of being in a touted band at their age, and to perform a special acoustic set highlighting some of the songs from their self-titled EP.

After that, we’ll be treated to a very special visit to the station by Hod Hulphers, better known to the people of Santa Cruz as …And Hod.

A solo artist in his own right, Hod has been active in the music community of Santa Cruz for many years, as you can often spot him playing at the Crepe Place where his take on folk and music has found a home. That being said, the reason for Hod’s appearance on the show this week is that he’s in the midst of promoting a very special event taking place this weekend.

On Saturday night, Hod and a whole host of other musicians (including Little Wings, Sugar Shack (featuring Keith Thompson from The Groggs) and the Snow Buddies) will be performing at the Crepe Place to help fund raise for the Santa Cruz’s Bachelor Buddies Production Company’s upcoming production of the film Johnny and the Golden Bouzouki. A parody of 70s action/adventure films, Johnny is Hod’s most recent foray into the art of musicals. Hod will also be bringing the film’s star (Johnny Diamonds) up to the station tomorrow night with him to talk about the film, his own experiences in music, and what the future holds for Hod.

These and more when you tune into The Rising Tide tonight at 8:30pm! Listen online at http://www.kzsc.org/ or tune into 88.1fm.

The SHE’S and Hod on The Rising Tide tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

We’ve got a wonderful trio of guests for tonight’s program. It’s going to be one of the most musically diverse shows we’ve ever had!

We’ll first welcome into our studio a band from Oakland by the name of Bam! Bam!


This Oakland based two-piece have been kicking around thrashy, lo-fi garage pop jams for the better part of the last year. Though the group has yet to officially release any of their recordings, they have been steadily building a fan-base, taking their no-frills sound with them up and down the coast of California and taking no prisoners along the way. Fans of Black Tambourine, Beat Happening and fellow s.f. lo-fi artist Grass Widow ought to take note of this band, for once they get around to putting out non-demo recordings into the world, their star is bound to take off.

Tune in at 8:30 to catch the ladies of Bam! Bam! as they come to our studio to perform some songs live in the studio and talk about what the future holds for the band.

Then we’ll welcome Dan Potthast to our studio.

Once hailing from St. Louis, Missouri, this ska-punk legend has firmly planted himself in Santa Cruz. As a founding member of MU330, as well as the leader of Dan P. and the Bricks (among other projects), Dan has been making music for over twenty years. He’s opened for acts like Streetlight Manifesto, continues to make music that appeals to fans of Buck-O-Nine, and is active to this day.

Dan P. will be joining us live in the studio tonight to talk about making music in his adopted home town and the upcoming show with his band The Stitch Up this Saturday night, March 26th at the Crepe Place, where they will be performing alongside The New Trust and The Smoking Popes.

Last but not least, we have for you a very special interview with Victims Family.

This legendary Santa Rosa punk band is world-reknown for their unique fusion of hardcore punk, jazz and experimental noise. As a Nor Cal institution that has existed for over 25 years, Victims Family have performed with the likes of The Dead Kennedys, Nirvana, Green Day, Faith No More, and hundreds of other incredible bands. Though the group has sporadically broken up over the years, they’ve come back together in 2010 to perform and re-release their first three records on vinyl, starting with 1990′s White Bread Blues.

I chatted up the group’s guitarist, Ralph Spight, last night via Skype on a breadth of subjects, and if you tune in to the show tonight, you can hear our conversation in full. One of the things we did talk about is Victims Family’s show this Saturday night, March 26th at the Catalyst with Catacomb Creeps and (Rising Tide alum) Noise Clinic, which is bound to be a hellraiser of a concert.

These and more when you tune into the show tonight starting at 8:30pm! Listen live at www.kzsc.org or tune in to 88.1 fm.

Victims Family, Dan Potthast and Bam! Bam! on The Rising Tide tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

March is here! And as a special treat for all of you, we’ve lined up an incredible series of guests and live performances that reach across the genre spectrum for The Rising Tide! Check out our list of upcoming performers for more details, but let’s get back to what’s happening on tonight’s show!

Our first interview comes courtesy of a group that sold out The Crepe Place last weekend, The Growlers.

This multifaceted psychedelic surf rock act rocketed out of Costa Mesa, California in 2006, and haven’t looked back since. The band’s music shares the same musical shelf space as garage rock luminaries like Ty Segall, JEFF The Brotherhood and The Fresh & Only’s but also recall the psychedelic strain of The Entrance Band and The Mantles.

Propelled by the success of 2010′s Hot Tropics, The Growlers have been tearing it up all over the country and even around the world. Performances at the FYF Fest in LA (which we covered back in September) and this year’s Noise Pop festival in SF indicate that the group is on the rise.

Tune in on Friday night to hear our interview with the group, what it’s like to be an up and coming indie rock act, and what expectations they have of themselves for 2011 and beyond.

After that, we’ll be playing host to one of Santa Cruz’s most promising acts, Tater Famine.

A folk-punk trio from right here in Santa Cruz, Tater Famine have emerged as one of the perennial folk punk bands of our local scene, joining the ranks of similarly thrashy folk such as Blackbird Raum and Matador. The group has steadily climbed the ranks of the music scene in town, having played all over the city, and are quickly becoming a fixture in the city of Santa Cruz. Not content to perform only within the confines of our town, Tater Famine have taken their act on the road to promote 2009′s An Untimely Fashion, and have performed all over the coast and even in Europe.

The Tater Famine boys will be bringing their eclectic sound to our studio up in the forest tonight around 8:30 to play a few songs, talk about their upcoming show at The Crepe Place on March 17th, and tell us a few stories about being a band out on the road.

After that, make sure to stay tuned for our third guest of the night, Mylo Jenkins.

Mylo Jenkins is a seven-piece folk and americana act from Santa Cruz. Lead by Dan Kocher and featuring a roster of Santa Cruz musicians (some of whom perform in the local folk group Tether Horse), they band was on hiatus for a few years, but recently came to play a series of shows at The Crepe Place. We’ll be welcoming a number of the Mylo Jenkins crew to talk about their upcoming show supporting Jared Mees and the Grown Children at the Crepe Place this sunday, as well as what 2011 holds for the group.

These and more when you tune into The Rising Tide tonight at 8:30pm! Listen in at 88.1fm or http://www.kzsc.org/.

The Growlers, Tater Famine & Mylo Jenkins on The Rising Tide tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

These Santa Cruz musicians have been kicking it since way back in 2009. Though individually schooled in different forms of music, the group takes on indie rock, Afro-beat, math rock and dance rock with equal parts fervor and ambition. The group draws on influence as far flung as Fela Kuti, Discovery, Ryland Bouchard and Tera Melos.

Good People have pulled off a couple coups in Santa Cruz. They opened for local folk punk heavyweights Blackbird Raum and shared a Crepe Place bill with Hermit Convention however after that the band stayed largely inactive. Since summer Good People have rarely performed in public, venturing forth only for a couple of shows. The reason? The  group’s been working on their debut full-length (which has ten official titles, reflecting the band’s quirky nature….for simplicity’s sake we’ll call it Good People) which is coming out soon.

Good People will be in our studios to talk about their band, what it’s like to balance the pressures of being students at UCSC while also trying to make a band work and what’s ahead for them in 2011  this Friday night during The Rising Tide program, starting at 8:30 on KZSC.

Good People on The Rising Tide Friday Night is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

It’s the second week of February, and we here on The Rising Tide are going to heat things up with a trio of performers that are sure to match the warmth of this indian winter we’re having up here in sunny Santa Cruz.

First off, we’ll be hearing from one of San Francisco’s most prolific artists, John Vanderslice.

With a career spanning nearly two decade, John has recorded with the likes of The Mountain Goats, Death Cab for Cutie, Beulah, Spoon and Mates of State, and also fronted the band MK Ultra. Aside from that, he has steadily put out solo records since 2000′s Mass Suicide Occult Figurines, most recently releasing his collaboration with the Magik*Magik Orchestra titled White Wilderness (you can listen to a preview of the record here).

John is also a major musical force in the city, not only constructing one of the city’s most treasured recording locales, Tiny Telephone studios, but serving on the board of advisers for The Bay Bridged and teaching songwriting classes for grade school children at a local non-profit organization.

We’ll be talking with John before he takes the stage tonight at The Crepe Place (with Hod opening) about White Wilderness, how he views his role as a stalwart of San Francisco’s independent music scene, and what the future holds for him and his music.

After that, we’ll welcome our first of two live local acts, Skeletal System.

This two piece from San Francisco have been quickly making a name for themselves, exhibiting their own take on murky darkwave shoegaze very much in the vein of artists like School of Seven Bells, Memoryhouse and Tan Dollar, while having shared the stage with artists such as Sunbeam Rd., Woodsman and Maus Haus.

Skeletal System released a 5 song EP and single for Small Talk / Static Eyes last year that you can listen to here on their bandcamp page. Make sure to tune in and hear the group perform some of their songs and talk about what 2011 holds for Skeletal System.

To round out the show, we’ll be welcoming in Santa Cruz’s own Audiafauna into the studio.

This local six-piece has taken it’s indie folk-meets-electronic music sound all over the country, and is just coming off of a successful Kickstarter campaign to finance their debut full-length record that will be out sometime in the new year! Kelly Koval’s vocals recall Cat Power‘s Chan Marshall, and the band’s fusion of traditional folk instrumentation and electronic beat-making technology set them far apart from the rest of the field. You can listen to their three song EP, The Leaflet, on bandcamp by clicking that link.

Audiafauna will enter our studio on friday night to talk about their band’s whirlwind-like rise to the top of the local scene, and what 2011 has in store for the group.

This and much, MUCH more on The Rising Tide on KZSC, this friday night at 8:30pm. Tune in to 88.1fm or log in to www.kzsc.org to listen.

John Vanderslice, Skeletal System & Audiafauna on The Rising Tide is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

Allow me to introduce the first of Friday night’s guests: Blackbird Blackbird.

Blackbird Blackbird is the moniker of Mikey S., a San Francisco-based electronic artist whose work has attracted the attention of the press (The Bay Bridged, The Hype Machine and The Fader, among others) in recent months. Though firmly in the hypnotic and hazy world of chillwave at surface level, Blackbird Blackbird forgoes the vocally-focused approach of the genre for a more glitch-and-dream pop sound that fits nicely between Gold Panda and Baths. Remixes and covers of the likes of Beach House and Modest Mouse demonstrate that Blackbird Blackbird is an artist who refuses to rest on his laurels and not challenge himself.

Tune in tonight to hear Blackbird Blackbird talk about the upcoming CD release of his debut record, Summer Heart, his forthcoming performance at the SF Weekly’s All Shook Down event, and what ever else he has in store for us this year!

Blackbird Blackbird will be joined on air by the local group who will be backing him up at the SF Weekly event mentioned above, Old Arc.

This local two-piece has been burning up lately, amping up their psychedelic synth pop sound with a live show that’s equal parts MGMT-inspired tribalism and utter youthful exuberance. Similarly ambitious in scope as Blackbird Blackbird, Old Arc have remixed the likes of Toro Y Moi and Local Natives, and their collection of demo recordings, EPs and remixes have been on rotation on The Rising Tide for the last few weeks.

Old Arc will come into the studio tonight to talk about their live collaboration with Blackbird Blackbird, their forthcoming recordings, and what they have planned for the year as well.

And to wrap things up, we’ll be joined live in the studio by our third guests that evening: The Mystery Lights.

Hailing from Salinas, CA, The Mystery Lights relentless garage rock assault has terrorized this part of the state for several years. Sounding like something of a fever dream straight out of a 60s psych festival, The Mystery Lights are poised to deliver the goods in 2011, including the follow up to 2009′s Teenage Catgirls and The Mystery Lightshow. The band has been laying low for the past few months, but they are returning to help support the one-night-only reunion of The Spurts at the Crepe Place on Thursday, February 3rd (also playing are Sugar Shack).

Tune in tonight to hear from these artists and more, starting at 8:30pm on KZSC Santa Cruz!

- DJ PassiveTheory

Blackbird Blackbird, Old Arc & The Mystery Lights on The Rising Tide tonight! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

This Sunday, November 14th, KZSC Welcomes Oh No Oh My & Pomegranates at The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz.  Oh No Oh My, formerly known as Oh No! Oh My!, is a twee pop four piece from Austin, Texas.  Oh No Oh My has toured with bands such as The Flaming Lips, Mew, Au Revoir Simone, and many many more.  Oh No Oh My’s second full length LP, People Problems, will be released in January 2011.  Opening for Oh No Oh My is and coming band, Pomegranates.  Pomegranates is an indie rock band from Cincinnati.  Pomegranates just released their third LP, One of Us, which is garnering tons of press. So come on down to The Crepe Place, this Sunday, November 14th, to see a great show supported by the great 88, KZSC Santa Cruz!  Doors are at 8pm, and the show starts at 9pm.

KZSC Welcomes: Oh No Oh My, Pomegranates is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz

On tonight’s program, we’ll be hearing from Britt Govea and the rest of FolkYeah! productions. Britt and co. have, in recent years, established themselves as a linchpin in Nor Cal’s indie rock, psychedelic rock and (naturally) folk circles.

They’ve brought the likes of Animal Collective, the Arcade Fire, Bert Jansch, Dirty Projectors and Cat Power to our neck of the woods, and has also featured local artists such as Mountain Animal Hospital and Sleepy Sun in their shows. FolkYeah!’s booking of the Brookdale Lodge has turned it into a local music hotspot. Tune in to hear Britt and co. talk about FolkYeah, it’s recent run of successful shows in and around the Santa Cruz area, and perhaps some interesting news concerning the Dean Wareheim (Galaxie 500) show at Don Quixote’s next Friday night…

Also, The Rising Tide will play host this week to Santa Cruz’s very own Grizzel Toe.

Born from the ashes of one of SC’s most exciting bands, Grizzel Toe re-emerged this summer with a slew of new songs. Make no mistake about Grizzle Toe, these Sonic Youth disciples will be coming in to the studio tonight not only to talk about their new project and about their upcoming show at the Crepe Place on November 10th with Salesman and Writer, but also to play a few of their brand new songs.

Tune in tonight at 8:30 for these and much more on The Rising Tide!

Tonight on The Rising Tide! is a post from: KZSC Santa Cruz