Djangatos is a Gypsy jazz trio honoring the style of Django Reinhart; Djangatos is a combination of Django and Los Gatos, where all three work in music store; Robert had an earlier band, Martini Max & the Swing Cats, and the trio came together during Covid, when they played for neighbors & friends on the driveway; new CD = Roulette will be released digitally after the album release party a week from Saturday, with the physical CD available now; the Money Question: are you able to make a living in music and, if so, how? Yes! Robert performs, manages the music store, & gives guitar lessons; bassist Sadie Hallinan just graduated San Jose State, and rhythm guitarist Ron La France was retired, but came out of retirement to "take one for the team" as a luthier at the music store; all the songs are originals written by Robert; a video of "In the Kitchen" is in the plans; dare to dress to impress at the record release party!

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Moved to Santa Cruz to escape the Santa Clara Valley; met Brad Hecht with the band "Cool Jerks", who were an R&B corporate band = members of the Chamber of Commerce, and band members got insurance (!); Burnin Vernon played with them for 9 years as lead vocalist, and was able to make a living; went to school with Chris Cain, but decided he would venture beyond the blues; turned down a chance to audition with Brick as their guitarist, and landed a job as house guitarist at Fantasy Records in Berkeley, where a producer, Harvey Fuqua, was Etta James' boyfriend & introduced him; Burnin' Vernon's ultimate guitar hero is Joe Walsh; when Vernon went to a music store in the Bay Area to buy a 1952 Gibson Les Paul, he met Freddy King, who was at the store with a pair of Gibson corporate types; Burnin Vernon plays songs from "A to Z", from Al Green to Led Zeppelin, & he has a vocal range that allows him to hit some of Prince's notes on "Kiss"; Santa Cruzan Ken Brady saw Burnin Vernon at Abbott Square, and introduced Dan to his music, thus the interview ahead of a show at The Crow's Nest; "Stormy Monday", played live, in the studio, with Dangerous Dan shouting out to the longtime KZSC Monday night blues collective; Burnin' Vernon has been able to make a living as a musician, but it's been a struggle.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin Represents the 28th California Assembly District.

Overview of district highlights from state budget: 5 Branches, with acupuncture still covered under MediCal, library infrastructure, the 415 project, healthy school pathway program, 2nd harvest food bank and continued support for the food & diaper bank, IHSS (ImHome Support Services), MediCal asset cap remains as previous, without draconian cut; regrets? It's a pretty dire picture give HR1, the "Big Brutal Bill"; The Care Fare will be Sept. 20 at the County Government Center, and will honor 12 Mental Health Heroes; recess is not a month off! Assemblymember Pellerin has been in the district, and attended the National Commission of State Legislatures (NCSL) meeting in Boston, where re-districting between census updates is under discussion; ACES (Adverse Child Experiences Initiative) was able to get funding; deep dive into Semper Virens (SB 679) & why this time "thir time is (hopefully) the charm!" - the bill is in the Senate Appropriations Committee, and would expedite land tansfer from entities such as Semper Virens (Redwoods) non-profit to State Parks, avoiding a lengthy and onerous public works board process...with a pair of bills, Gail's that is District Specific, and Senator Allen's that is statewide; deadline for legislation is Sept. 12, likely midnight.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "DJ Spark Plug", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

John Laird is California State Senator - 17th District

Senator Laird's Q for "Sassy Cassy": "What's the biggest challenge ou're facing that Policy might be able to address?" A: Literacy & (mis)information; Senator Laird: "Your father & I grew up with fact checkers and trusted sources. Now it's so crazy" ...with everything available everywhere all the time with few (if any) fact checkers or trusted sources; deep dive into Pain & Suffering bill which, when introduced, resulted in Senator Laird being "ambushed" with disinformation-fueled backlash; Senator Laird spoke with every member of the committee and got it passed, & then spoke with every Democrat in the Senate (30) to get it passed out of its House of Origin; recent British Colombia recycling information-gathering trip, learning about "extended producer responsibility", including carpets and lithium recovery; Senator Laird's interest in recycling is, in part, related to his postion on the Natural Resources Committee, but also historic as, when he was on the Santa Cruz City Council with Mayor Jane Weed, they got the city's first curbside recycling program approved (the Santa Cruz landfill, Dimeo Lane, had a projected 20 year life back then, and now has a 30 year projected life; California's Redemption Value (bottle bill) is a mess (after Dangerous Dan's pitch for bottle redemption wherever you pay a deposit); legislature back in session a week from Monday, with California Redistricting on the table due to an existential threat - possible initiative for a November special election for a re-districting out of the commission's hands that would be in effect to 2030 only.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "Sassie Cassie", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

The "Dangerous Neighbors" theater troupe have been performing in Santa Cruz & the Bay Area since the early 1990s; this show was put on in June as a fundraiser for Santa Cruz Indivisible; political satire, and did it die (as Tom Lehrer famously said) when Henry Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? The "Deflating Fascism" show is 1/2 political satire, and 1/2 random sketch comedy; the cast includes Gail Rich winner Suzanne Shrag, and Bob Vickers, who also leads the band; all of the pieces were written by Bob; in past Dangerous Neighbors shows they've skewered American Gun Culture; Bob monologue from the point of view of a convicted January 6 criminal; digital availability includes short films on location, available on the Dangerous Neighbors website.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "Sassie Cassie", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Anna & Joel joined Steve Poltz onstage at the recent Redwood Ramble for his song "Can of Pop", and then, on his urging, joined him in the mosh pit for his encore, "Ripple", with Joel on Tuba and Anna on vocals (& holding Steve's mic); Anna & Joel met at a band party in college (in Arkansas)...people had told Anna about Joel, and he walked in, guitar in hand - Anna introduced herself but Joel said, "Sing something!", and Anna began to scat; as Joel says, "Let autism be your super power!!"; they were touring in a bus 8 years ago, with a solar powered PA, when they got into a serious accident on Highway 49 in the Sierras; Joel ended up in a hospital in Nevada City (Grass Valley) for months while he recovered, so, now completely healed, Nevada City has a soft spot in their hearts; they played a sold out gig there last night; Joel got a song out of the accident, and it's now his "pity song", which he rolls out when he needs to reel the audience back in (see thier website for the Bus-king Documentary); Origin of the band name? They were in a 7 piece rock and roll band in college, "Don't Stop, Please" when they arrived at a gig and none of the rest of the band showed up; Anna & Joel played a stripped down, tender set, and called it "Handmade Moments" music; Anna plays guitar, uke, octave mandolin, upright & electric bass, sax, & bass clarinet (her favorite? Clarinet!); Joel plays tuba (his 1st instrument), guitar, bass, and mandolin; deep dive into incredible Mexican ballads Joel sang at Dan's camp at the Redwood Ramble - Joel loves Mexico and Mexican music (especially folk & traditional), and they were exposed to incredible songs by a flutist, Francisco, in Colombia, where Joel 1st heard "Sabor a mi"; Joel did a deep dive into who wrote it, and found Alvaro Carillo who, metaphorically, taught Joel (Alvaro has passed away); for shows, Handmade Moments just "goes with it", playing what they feel in the moment; song "Gravy" is about falling in love.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan" & "Sassie Cassie", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

oe Weed is a musician, composer, fiddler, and documentary filmmaker; playing music since 7 years old; as a fiddler, remembers and passes along who you learned a song from, and who it's by..."Mystery of the Ookpit" is a film about a fiddle tune that was mistakenly assumed to be derived from Native American music, but instead was written in 1965 by a Canadian; it gained prominence when someone played it at the Weiser, Idaho, National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest, where it was declared the winner - at this festival, at the next year, everyone plays the previous year's winner; Joe had made a previous documentary (2011) on the Westphalia Waltz, which turned out to be a massive project; with the Ookpit Waltz, he set out to make a short film, but it grew & grew; Vals Buena Vista is a song about an intersection he found when bicylcing in south Santa Cruz County; Joe also plays fiddle for Contra Dances; how Joe came to California (post-WWII baby boomer migration), where the schools had extensive music programs; met his wife, Marty, in the mid-70's, and she was already living off Summit in the Santa Cruz Mountains; The Money Question? Yes, in all its forms (performing, producing, composing, filmmaking), but in part because his wife, a professor, had health care & retirement - he couldn't have done it without her.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

UCSC undergrad in the early 90's majoring in psychology with a minor in journalism (there was not an option to major in journalism), where she was a reporter, and then the editor, of the campus City On A Hill newspaper; she wanted a career in journalism, but first worked in finance, and accounts receivable at a law firm; her break, and her first paying journalism gig, was writing for a monthly motorcycle magazine (she rode for 27 years); she moved back to Santa Cruz, eventually working for a PR firm for a great boss; she interviewed at The Carmel Pine Cone and they made a note that she "will write anything", and started out with the local police logs (hand written, and faxed in); when their sportswriter quit and she got laid off, she asked the owner / publisher if they had a full time slot, which she started in March, 1999; The Money Question: is she able to make a living as a report / journalist, and if so, how? YES! Even though she lives in an expensive town (Carmel), she has a small house, a landlord who keeps rent reasonable, and a publisher who pays well & covers a significant portion of her benefits! For story ideas she keeps an eye on meeting agendas, and people come up to her pass ideas along - her beats are Carmel law enforcement, meetings, local issues (& motor sports!); there are 3 other reporters! Plus 3 on the sales team, office staff, and 5 on the production team; the owner (also editor & publilsher) bought the paper in 1997, and brought ideas on how to make it work; The Carmel Pine Cone has been around since 1915, one year older than Carmel itself, is a free weekly, and now has a circulation of 20,000 (delivered in Pacific Grove, else picked up), and an email subscription list of 23,000; local journalism can not only survive, but thrive! Huzzah!!

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

Megan, and the other members of "The Musers", hails from Sonoma County; "The Musers" was an acoustic band project started by Megan and Anita Sandwina about 8 years ago...Anita is on vocal rest for another month, so the trio will play The Ugly Mug tomorrow night, with Tom Kuhn on upright bass, and Leslie Jackson on mandolin (plus fiddle, banjo, reso guitar, and harmonica) - all 3 sing; Anita & Megan and the songwriters, but they also do some covers, including some John Reischman tunes, plus Led Zeppelin; Megan had a career as a teacher, which allowed her to tour in the summers - but songwriting all the time; when she was a teacher, she put out 3 solo CDs; Megan leads a songwriters group in Oakland (and recommends this approach for aspiring songwriters); Tom plays his bass sometimes "Arco"-style, a German style of playing the bass with a bow; "The Musers", like many bands these days, relies on shows for income, with most of their music sold from the stage.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.

1 week from today is the deadline for bills to pass out of the policy committee in the other house (not the house of origin); this last Monday broke the record for the # of emails Senator Laird received in a day, which blew up over a bill on anti-semitism - an interesting & emotional twisting & turning, with an elevated # of instances across the state, especially in schools; the original bill, SB715, was bare bones, and was amended in the Senate to specify the boundaries on discussing the topic in schools, and whether this should be included in the ethnic studies curriculum; usually, bills need to be visible for 30 days for "sunshine" before there are hearings, with this amended bill, there would only be 4 days, and "all hell broke loose", and it was painful beyond belief (Senator Laird's new staffer in charge of email had his first day Monday, the day that broke the record for # of emails received, John to new staffer, "please come back Tuesday" {he did}); there is a move to hold the bill, with a commitment to address it before the last day of September; but isn't the deadline a week from today? Yes, but that deadline can be put on hold with a waiver from the Rules Committee,or a 2/3 vote of the members; Senator Laird is on the rules committee, and will support a waiver if there is a negotiated bill that all parties can coalesce around; who leads this effort? the leadership of both houses; after next week's deadline, Senate will be on receses, and back in August for a 5 week sprint; over recess, Senator Laird is going to British Colombia to learn about how they handle recycling.

An interview on "The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club" with "Dangerous Dan", airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California.