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,…
The HUM: March roars in like a (highly entertaining) lion
They say “March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb,” although whether the weather will do so, well, that still remains to be seen. For me, late February meant a missive from my old drummer pal, Danny Montgomery who wrote, “Back in California, two shows on the horizon—Thursday, Feb. 28 at the…
The HUM, February 2019, Part 2: It’s Groundhog Day all month
Have you noticed how lately holidays seem to stretch their borders? While it’s hard to celebrate Groundhog Day all month (unless you’re Bill Murray), in February, we can’t wait for Valentine’s Day to roll around. Thus we have Inked Hearts taking over the Blue Lake Casino the weekend before V-Day (Feb. 9 and 10) with…
The Hum: Bob’s back, once every month in the Union
I’m back. Yes, it’s true. The Hum is back. Back in print anyway. It never totally disappeared online (at thehum.online), but I needed a break. I had more pressing things to do — like lay my friend to rest, then my mom. The print Hum will be different. Watch for it monthly. (No more weekly…
The Hum: A bluegrass fix not far from home
It seems like every time I turn around I see Jenny Scheinnman. She was at Humbrews dropping tasty fiddle licks on some Absynth Quintet tunes at their CD release party. Then there she was collaborating on music at a wild house show with free jazz cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum (on tour as he bicycled down…