A few years ago I went with my wife and my dear old mom on a trip to Europe. We started in Paris, went down to the French Riviera, then through Italy, essentially following what the Brits used to call “the Grand Tour.” Shopping in a Paris flea market, I scored some cool 45s for my…
The HUM: Taj Mahal show moved to Arkley Center
“There’s just no percentage in remembering the past, it’s time you learned to live again at last. Come with me, leave yesterday behind, and take a giant step outside your mind.” – from Take a Giant Step by Goffin and King There’s some irony, since there’s nostalgia involved and “Take a Giant Step” is about…
The HUM: Buddy’s blues will cure your blues
“Sometimes I wonder what I’m a-gonna do, there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues.” – Eddie Cochran Something got you down? There’s a cure: Find something to do. For example, Saturday, Aug. 3, we have the umpteenth annual Buddy Brown Blues Festival in Perigot Park (in sunny Blue Lake), dedicated to the memory of…
The HUM: Cool junk is itching
As July inches toward August, and the college students start trickling back into town, it seems like as good time as any for a festival of one sort or another. And there are a bunch of them, perhaps too many in fact. Let’s start with something I’m moderately involved in, something called a “FleART Market”…
The HUM: What the folk?
As summer rolls along, pulling July with it, it’s once again time for the Humboldt Folklife Society Folklife Festival, the 41st annual celebration of all local things folkish, whatever folk means. In Humboldt it’s fairly loosely interpreted, as you can see by the musical range in the eight-days-a-week ahead (Saturday, July 13, through Saturday, July…
The HUM: HUMmertime, and the livin’ is easy…
Summer is officially here, which means what exactly? Do things get easier? The weather shifts into a different phase, which means more sun and mostly windy afternoons in Arcata. (It’s always sunny in Blue Lake.) And there are less students in town, thus less shows aimed at that crowd, and instead we get some intriguing…
The HUM: The time has come for local oysters
It’s that time once again, time for The Big O, the 29th annual Arcata Bay Oyster Festival, brought to you by Arcata Main Street, who take over the Arcata Plaza overflowing it with food, drink, music and revelry. And what would it be with some controversy or other? It’s tradition. This time we have a…
The HUM: The Tim Gray Love Train and beyond
People all over the world (everybody), join hands (join), start a love train, love train… The next stop that we make will be soon… – The O’Jays After working as a music writer for several decades now, I’ve assembled a massive collection of records, CDs, etc. I wish I could say they’re well-organized — alphabetized…
The HUM: R.I.P. KHSU, now let’s Hum…
I’m in mourning. My dear friend died the other day. It’s not like it was a surprise. My friend’s health wasn’t that great, and frankly, as I grow older, I lose friends all the time. But losing KHSU is different. I was still suffering from a rough 2018, when I lost my radio co-conspirator Gregg…
The HUM: St. Pat says Erin go Bragh
It’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend coming up, where, for some reason, we celebrate the life of a legendary priest from the Fifth Century, who supposedly drove the snakes out of Ireland, although there never were snakes there. What he actually did was drive out the Druids and convert them to Christianity. Whatever. In his honor,…
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