Living Above the Fold

Guitarist David Sturdevant was nervous about his audience. They were tough. They were unforgiving. And they were five years old.

He was working for the first time as an artist-in-residence in Caren Nelson’s preschool class at Washington School last year. “I was apprehensive at first about working with such young children,” said Sturdevant, who also plays in the jazz and blues-style San Francisco Medicine Ball Band. “I thought they wouldn’t be interested in the music I do; I thought I wouldn’t be able to keep them involved. But it turned out they were very receptive to all sorts of music.”

Back Door Arts Programs (East Bay Express, August 17, 2005)

So, you guys may not know this already, but I’m going to be part of Thrill the World this Saturday. And what is that, you ask? Why, it’s only a global dance event where people all over the world dress like zombies and dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller! Hopefully, we’ll be able to break last year’s record.  I wrote a short piece about my experience:

Thrill the World (Synthesis, October 19, 2009)

I’d post the YouTube video of our practice, but then you’d see what a total, uncoordinated spaz I am when I dance!

Hmmm, after this, my piece on the Blue Room’s “Night of the Living Dead” show and my Mediashift post on zombie bloggers, I’m starting to see a theme in my writing as of late!

I was pretty lucky to have a chance to speak with Rev. Horton Heat aka Jim Heath before his band was scheduled to play up in Chico.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this one, since the Rev is known for good ole’ psychobilly music and I’m a city boy at heart.  But it turns out that Heath is a pretty laid-back fellow with a great sense of humor — which should be evident from his music — and he didn’t mind talking to this city slicker.  The big revelation of the interview was that Rev. Horton Heat did NOT, in fact, compose the Ren and Stimpy theme song, which is something that everyone I know had preciously believed.  Eat your heart out, Woodward and Bernstein, because I’m totally blowing the lid off that sordid little secret!

Rev. Horton Heat (Synthesis, Sept. 28, 2009)

I had a chance to interview Rykarda Parasol when she visited Chico last year. I didn’t know much about her going in, so it was really an experience to hear some of her creepy rock noir sounds for the first time.

A Dark and Deserted Place: Rykarda Parasol Explores the Darker Crevasses of the Human Condition (Synthesis, January 31, 2008)

If anyone reading this hasn’t yet seen it, go watch “Sita Sings the Blues.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfS2p1vFics) Nina Paley’s comic retelling of the Ramayana — spliced with episodes from her own life — is by turns hilarious and heart-breaking and always utterly charming. Paley spent six years and $200,000 creating “Sita Sings the Blues,” and it almost never saw the light of day due to copyright constraints. Paley took the unusual step of distributing her feature for free online. In my latest Mediashift article, I had a chance to talk to Paley about a new distribution plan that seems to be paying off:

Animated Film Takes Donations, DVD Sales to Pay Music Costs (PBS Mediashift, August 5, 2009 )