Listening Lyrics

On Saturday Jan. 4, 2020 at 3:30 p.m. (San Francisco time), Listening Lyrics spied on some  friends and acquaintances and recorded what these folks where listening to at that time. The result is quite a mix of music, and a fun hour. The listeners were Connor Pastoor, Casey Groat, Brad Elliot, Karin Pastoor Hulsebosch, Thomas Bjorkroth, Billy P. Thompson, Ben Simmons, Evan Daly and Kevin Welsch. This was all done through the courtesy of Spotify. Enjoy!

Adrian West spends the hour with us in the KDRT studio. Listen now to his musical abilities.

His sound is original acoustic rock that sounds like Paul Simon meets Dave Matthews meets Talking Heads. His band also features vocal harmonies, guitar, electric violin, bass, drums, sometimes an alto sax, and a bit of live “looping.”

Born and raised in Montreal, Adrian is an exciting performer. A gifted vocalist, he moves effortlessly between guitar & violin, sometimes using live looping to add layers of sound and intrigue to his songs. With a knack for language that's simple yet poetic, he's not afraid to tackle difficult topics in his songwriting. "Safe Streets" tells an allegory about police violence, "Close Your Eyes" laments the beauty bias that pervades the mass media, and "Senses" entreats you to appreciate your senses while you can. But Adrian doesn't take any of this stuff too seriously; his lyrics are infused with a sense of hope and a touch of whimsy.

Listen in as we play tunes (and possibly explain why) these artists did not receive a Grammy

Listen in now as Gabe Lewin is joined by vocalist Lane Suaraz.

Gabe Lewin started singing about the time he learned to walk. He picked up the guitar at 13, or 60 years ago, and then 15 years after that he took up the harmonica. His first professional stage appearance was in 1965 at The Troubadour in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In South Africa he learned a wide variety of musical styles, including very old, very new, and original songs. He learned old folk standards, new folk tunes, reggae tunes, bluegrass, and even a few classic rock and blues tunes.  The common thread is that all have real melodies!

Gabe says he's a “song collector.” “if a song really grabs me I go about learning to play it," he says, "so I can share the song with others.” The criteria of a good song is interesting lyrics and melody. Some songs are tender, some moving, and some are humorous. Themes vary from the plight of the poor farmer and the poor coal miner, to broken hearts and true love, and ballads, and more.

Gabe is also a familiar figure as a sound system provider and operator at many events in the area, such as Celebrate Davis, and for many years  the Yolo County Fair, as the owner/operator of Clarity Sound.

Hey, Davis musicians, this is a must-listen for you. Joel Daniel received his grant last year, and he and the city want you to know about it. Here it is, in Joel's words:

1) With the aim of bettering the quality of music that comes from Davis, I applied for a grant that I hope will impact it over many years to come. I have called it the Davis Independent Music Initiative (“DIMI”). The main parts of the grant are:

First, over the next few months, I will host a free and public series of talks aimed at songwriting and the process of recording and marketing a work. These will take place at Repower Yolo and will be hosted by Bike City Theater Company. This will be the first Wednesday in April (executive production), the first Wednesday in May (songwriting) and the second Wednesday in June (publicity/promotion). I hope this will be an opportunity for musicians of ALL levels to network, and to start to think about how to better their work.

Second, I will make an album of original music with a $5,000 contribution from the city. It must be done by June 2021. I will perform it out in public for free, and will host it online somewhere where the community can listen for free -- Spotify, etc., and,

Third, while the talks are going on, I will host a monthly songwriting critique workshop (most likely at Sudwerk) where members of the area (Sac, Dixon, Woodland, Winters, West Sac, are all welcome too!) can bring tunes they are working on (ALL LEVELS welcome, or even if you just want to listen), and we will workshop them and try and improve the quality of what people are working on.

2) I am working with the city to formalize this support for future years. It is the goal of the initiative that as long as the city continues to make funding available for the arts, they will create an ongoing stipend that allocates annual support to DIMI ($5,000 to $10,000). This will ensure that future artists continue to receive needed financial support, in order to foster the development of the emerging and talented local pool of musicians in Davis. While this is not a certainty, I feel strongly, in talking to members of the city arts commission, that this is something the city is very interested in supporting on an ongoing basis.

3) My ultimate vision with all of this is to open Spotify in 2030 and see 10 projects that were created through this program, and all say, from "Davis, California" in the bio line, starting with mine as the pilot. My secondary goal is to never hear "Mustang Sally" at the FarMar again (kidding, kind of).

This was important because I have noticed the quality and quantity of original music decrease over the years in Davis. There are a multitude of reasons, not least of which is there are fewer venues, no rehearsal spaces, and increasing rents (my own has increased 25% in 5 years!).

To receive all of the updates about the events related to this project, and hopefully the funding provided, and notifications about future grant opportunities, join the DIMI facebook group and/or send an email to [email protected] or [email protected].

Karma Loading is a folk-rock group featuring original tunes by Didar Singh Khalsa. The smart lyrics and catchy  tunes make this band a unique, fun live experience. Their appearance on Listening Lyrics captures a bit of that.

The members are Didar Singh Khalsa (singer, songwriter, lead guitar), Jane Thompson (bass), and Tobias Wehrhan (drums).

Donut Exchange is a folk group based in both Davis and in Berlin, Germany. Members Anya Sturm, Obin Sturm, and Emma Ware grew up playing traditional old-time, bluegrass, and Irish fiddle music. They blend the three styles on their debut album, Any Place Is Home, with 11 original tracks. The album, started from transatlantic voice memos, features a warm blend of strings, percussion, utensils, and the occasional bagpipes. Recorded in December 2019, during the only week when the bandmates were on the same continent, it captures the magic and charm of sleepless nights spent playing tunes with the people you love.

We opened the show with a tune from The HackensawBoys and played a new one from Mikey LP and the Kooks