Podcast Stockton

In April 2010, at the beautiful Banner Island Ballpark, I met Al Wolter from the terrific Barbershop Quartet group, TuneStruck.

I absolutely loved their sound and soon after, I asked them if they would record something for our show. Within a couple of weeks, they had sent me this awesome recording! We played it on episode 38 in late April 2010, but the memory of their recording has lived in my head ever since.

So, here it is.

I love this.

Thanks again, TuneStruck!

You can still find them on Facebook and their website.

Welcome to Podcast Stockton, episode 106. For this episode, we pulled out some highlights from a couple of our past shows. 

This last weekend was the Over the Edge for Community Hospice event, which raised over $100,000 for the organization. 

Election Day is in just over a week. If you are registered to vote, please remember to do so!

Tod Ruhstaller and Riley
Haggin Museum

In February 2010, Matt and Rod met with Tod Ruhstaller, CEO and Curator of History at the Haggin Museum. 

The Haggin is currently featuring two great music-inspired exhibits, "Medieval To Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar", a traveling exhibit from the National Guitar Museum and "Brubeck: Jazz Ambassador" - both on display through January 8, 2017.

For fans of Iret-net Hor-irw, the mummy that used to be at the Haggin, you can see it on display in the “The Future of the Past: Mummies and Medicine” at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco - Legions of Honor running through August 26, 2018.

The original episode can be found here. 

Johnny Milford

Matt and Susan sat down with local radio personality Johnny Milford for episode 71.

It was September 2013 and Johnny had spent nearly 20 years off-the-air. Shortly after his interview with Podcast Stockton, Johnny returned to the FM dial with the local station, KSTN, newly re-born as 105.9 The Bull. Johnny is back on the air and can still be heard on TV and radio spots throughout the central valley.

The original episode can be found here. 

Follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

The music for today's show is "Red, White & You" by Austin James from his new album, Full Throttle, check it out on iTunes. Follow him on Instagram @austinjames209.

On this episode of Podcast Stockton, we feature a great interview with Brandon Piasecki. Brandon is a high school chemistry teacher at Stockton Collegiate in downtown Stockton, but that barely scratches the surface of who Brandon is and what he does in Stockton.

Brandon Piasecki
Photo by Shannon Lea Rock

As a talented musician, and using the name Mista P, Brandon created some impressive YouTube videos to help teach chemistry principles to his students. He also recently released an EP, Touch The World, recorded at Press Recording Studio in downtown Stockton. The proceeds from which will go toward his Grace Notes Music Project to give local students the chance to record music in a professional recording studio. As the hype man for Channel Brewing, Brandon helped get the Kickstarter campaign off the ground and helps put on events for the brewery. 

Brandon is also a member of Little Free Library Stockton and is the host of the Third City Podcast. 

Follow Brandon on Instagram @mrp_chemistry and Twitter @mrp_chemistry.

This week, we welcome back an old friend of the show, Gabriel Reyes, as co-host. A talented local artist and former podcaster himself, Gabriel has co-hosted a number of Podcast Stockton shows in the past. It's great to have him back on the show! Gabriel recently took part in the Upside Down art show at Empresso, featuring local art based on the Netflix series "Stranger Things".

The music for episode 105 is "Collide Someday" from Brandon's new EP, Touch The World. Check out the whole EP at brandonjames209.bandcamp.com. We also played a sample of "What's the Table For?", the video is a must-see!

Sharing the positive stories about people in Stockton has long been the goal of Podcast Stockton but we are far from the only ones doing that. Driven by his faith as a Christian and his love for Stockton, Peter Powers started Positive Perspective Stockton magazine two years ago. 

Peter Powers

Positive Perspective Stockton is a high-quality, full-color magazine that, just as the title suggests, highlights positive people and stories in Stockton. 

Peter's faith, along with his love for Stockton, drives him to publish the magazine, a definite labor of love. Peter is proud to consider his product a faith based magazine but acknowledges that not all of the articles in each edition are specifically Christian. 

Not being content with simply telling the stories of the positive side of Stockton, Peter plays an active role in creating more positive stories himself. He recently partnered with Calvary First Church on The Kelley Project to open Heroes Park, a needed community park on Kelley Drive. 

Positive Perspective Stockton is published 6 times per year and are available free throughout Stockton. In addition to making the print edition available for free, the magazine is also available online.

Hockey is back in Stockton! The Stockton Heat return to the Stockton Arena for their second season. This season they will be introducing a new goal song and they want us fans to help them pick a song. Visit their website before Wednesday to cast your vote!

And the next time you're at a Heat game, look for Podcast Stockton's own "Hot Rod" Villagomez working another season with the between play entertainment crew. 

N. Tyler Young
Photo by Jim Snyder

Local cyclist, Tyler Young, is the leader of the Great Ride Series bike rides from Stockton's Performance Bicycles in Lincoln Center. More than just a cyclist or ride leader, Tyler is one of the most well known cyclists in Stockton. His dedication to his riders is unparalleled. He started cycling again just a few years ago and used it to lose weight and get back in shape. Since then, he has used his passion for riding to encourage people all over Stockton to get out on their bikes.

Every Saturday, Tyler leads a ride from the Performance store. A family-friendly ride that often gets up to 50 riders, Tyler takes his fellow cyclists through north Stockton neighborhoods and on to the Calaveras bike path before heading to University of the Pacific and the turn-around point at Starbucks on the Miracle Mile. 

To get an idea of what Tyler means to local cyclists, I spoke with a few of his riders, Kelly Rose, Kiel Penrod and Karen Jordan, during a recent Saturday morning ride. 

Tyler's impact on local cyclists is clear. Talk to any of his riders and they will tell you he is the reason they continue to get out on their bike. 

Tyler has a ride for all cyclists, no matter what "tribe" they belong to. His Saturday rides have every level of cyclist, from families riding with small children to die-hard lycra-clad road cyclists. He also leads a weekly mountain bike specific ride and a Sunday road bike specific ride of varying distances.

Be sure to check out his ride schedule on Meetup and look for him and the rest of his riders on Strava. Here's a video from a recent Saturday ride.

Follow Tyler on Instagram, @roguefreeman.

The music for episode 103 is "Calaveras Super Highway" by Michael Klooster & Ernest B. Mancuso, featuring Justin Anderson. 

There is a new podcast in town, Fat City Establishment. Their first episode was released last week and focuses on Stockton politics. Stockton needs more independent voices and we are excited to have a new show in town. Congratulations to Fat City Establishment on their inaugural show. Listen and subscribe on Soundcloud and iTunes.

Even though Jenny-Faye Klooster and her family moved from Stockton four years ago, her ties to Stockton run deep. She is a multi-generation Stocktonian now living in Southern California but still considers Stockton her home.

A fixture on the Miracle Mile, Jenny-Faye first worked at, and then eventually owned and operated San Francisco Floral.

Jenny-Faye Klooster

After moving, Jenny-Faye started a blog, The Swearing Mom's Guide to Life, what she calls, "A menagerie of opinions and ideas of lifestyle and social relevance through the eyes of a potty mouthed Mama". 

Her blog is well-written and full of wonderful food and drink recipes. But its biggest draw is the personal stories and opinion pieces. 

On a recent visit to Stockton, Jenny-Faye sat down with Matt. Before they started the official interview, Jenny-Faye made a drink, one that she had recently featured on her blog, a Hard Cherry Limeade. 

Jenny-Faye also began releasing videos, showcasing some fun cocktails. Honey Lavender Lemontini, The Ginger Greyhound and Blackberry Bourbon Smash have been very popular. 

Amongst the recipes are some very personal posts, such as The Fattest Girl in the Room and A Villain, a Mom and Two Little Boys.

Follow the blog at swearingmom.com and on Facebook at  facebook.com/theswearingmom.

The music for episode 102 is "Brand New Revolution" by Icarus Jones.

Stephen Bentley, a deacon at Saint John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Downtown Stockton recently opened HUB, Helping Urban Bicyclists. A lifelong cyclist and twenty-year resident of Stockton, Stephen has spent years helping the homeless and near homeless members of our community. 

Episode 101 of Podcast Stockton is hosted by Susan Spracher and Rod Villagomez. 

HUB's Deacon Stephen Bentley at a recent Full Moon Riders ride around Downtown Stockton

Before opening HUB, he would occasionally help people in need by fixing a bike chain or flat tire but he had bigger goals. He set out to open a bike shop downtown that would serve the often forgotten members of our community. 

HUB opened in April and, with the help of volunteers and generous donations from the community, he has been able to provide people in need with bike repairs and, in some cases, their own bikes. 

Stephen talks with Podcast Stockton's Matt Beckwith about why he started HUB and what it means to be able to provide this service to the people of Stockton. 

HUB is always accepting donations of bikes, bike parts and cash. They are located at 131 E. Miner Street, just east of El Dorado Street. It is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 AM to 4 PM and on Wednesdays from 1 PM to 4 PM. Get more information on HUB and read some of the stories about the people they've helped on their Facebook page facebook.com/STOCKTONHUB.

Stephen is also a very talented comic artist and write the daily comic strip, Herb and Jamaal. Matt and Stephen talk about the work involved with hand-drawing and lettering a daily comic strip and if Stephen identifies more with Herb or Jamaal. You can read the daily comic strip at gocomics.com/herbandjamaal.

The music for episode 101 is "Lakeshore Drive (Guitar Jazz Version)" by Stockton based band, Pushers & Thieves. Find them on Facebook and ReverbNation.

Welcome to season three of Podcast Stockton! Our entire team is back and we all are excited to bring you more of the people and the stories that make Stockton great!

Visit Stockton CEO, Wes Rhea

For our 100th regular episode, we are very happy to be joined again by Wes Rhea, CEO of Visit Stockton. We are all thankful for Wes  and his incredible supporter of Podcast Stockton since the early days!

Episode 100 is hosted by Susan Spracher and Rod Villagomez.

Matt and Wes discussed what has changed in Stockton, and with Visit Stockton, in the past two-and-a-half years since the last time he was on the show. 

They also discussed the bold, new Visit Stockton logo, why it's important to also market Stockton to people in Stockton - "The number reason people visit a community is to visit friends and family", the progress in Downtown Stockton, some upcoming events and more.

There are always so many fun things to do in Stockton and Wes and his team work hard to organize the area's best events calendar. Don't forget to sign up for the weekly Visit Stockton newsletter, you won't be disappointed. 

Some upcoming key events:

Stockton Beer Week Brew Fest, September 11, tickets on sale now

Stockton Beer Week, September 16-25 

Stockton Arts Week, October 14-23

NCAA Women's Division 1 basketball, March 24-27, 2017

Follow Visit Stockton on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and their website, VisitStockton.org.

Thank you, again, to Wes Rhea for all of your support through the years, for your tireless dedication to presenting Stockton in a positive light, and for being our guest for episode 100.

Music for this episode, "I Told You I Love You, Now Get Out" courtesy of Wendi Maxwell. Visit her website wendimaxwell.com and follow Wendi Maxwell and Tres Hot Jazz on Facebook. 

Smack dab in the middle of Stockton Beer Week, in this week's episode Susan and Matt talk with Lauren Sage, a bartender at The Abbey Trappist Pub, and beer blogger at Beer Up Your Life.

Lauren Sage

Lauren talks about the craft beer movement in Stockton and the rest of California. 

She also brought along some great California brews for us to sample:

Dust Bowl's Hobo Pilsner

Sudwerk's Dry Hop Lager

Russian River Brewing Co. and Sierra Nevada Beer Camp's Yvan the Great Belgian-Style Blonde

21st Amendment Brewery Brew Free or Die IPA

Lauren works at The Abbey Trappist Pub which has been on the Mile for three years. With eight beers on draft and around 70 different bottles on hand - many of which a from brewers within an hour and a half drive from Stockton - there is a beer there for every type of drinker.

She worked alongside other brewers and the crew at Dust Bowl Brewing to help create Stockton Session, a hoppy red ale available just during Stockton Beer Week. Lauren also helped organize some Stockton Beer Week events like the beer and macaron pairing last weekend (sorry if you missed that one!).

Don't forget to come to The Abbey on Saturday for the Local's Only Beer Fest. 

Follow @beerupyourlife and @theabbeytrappist on Instagram.

From August 22 - 31, the team at Visit Stockton bring us so many opportunities to celebrate beer in Stockton during Stockton Beer Week. There are great events scheduled from Friday through next weekend. Visit stocktonbeerweek.com for all the details.

Leading up to Stockton Beer Week, in this episode, Matt and Rod sit down with Steve Altimari, President and Brewmaster of High Water Brewing.

Steve Altimari, President and Brewmaster of High Water Brewing.

One of the best things about doing an interview with a brewmaster is, well, the beer. Steve brought some of his beers in to the Outback Studio for us to sample while we talked. 

We opened the show with Hop Riot IPA and then moved on to Hop Logic, Aphotic Imperial Porter, and then ended with High Water's best-selling brew, and a favorite of Matt's, Campfire Stout.

Steve started as a home-brewer while working in information technology and then eventually attended America's Brewers Guild at UC Davis before working at Stockton's El Dorado Brewing Company which he eventually bought and turned into Valley Brewing Company. He eventually sold Valley Brew and is now a full-time brewer.

High Water Brewing beers can be found all over Stockton. On the Mile, you can often find a selection at Mile Wine Company and The Abbey Trappist Pub. You can also find High Water bottles at BevMo, S-Mart and even more retailers. 

Learn more about High Water Brewing at highwaterbrewing.com.

From August 22 - 31, the team at Visit Stockton bring us so many opportunities to celebrate beer in Stockton during Stockton Beer Week. There are great events scheduled from Friday through next weekend. Visit stocktonbeerweek.com for all the details.