Michael Daugherty weaves orchestral music and electric guitar in ‘Gee’s Bend’
The electric guitar is an instrument seldom heard in symphonic music, but it’s the keystone of “Gee’s Bend,” the latest musical offering from renowned Ann Arbor, Mich., composer Michael Daugherty. Electric guitar and orchestra commingle in the piece, creating a timbral and stylistic patchwork in which rock, folk and contemporary classical music converge. “Gee’s Bend” makes its west coast premiere at the Civic on Saturday, Aug. 13 as part of this year’s Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Daugherty, a longtime festival favorite, found inspiration for the piece in the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Ala. One of the poorest areas of the south, Gee’s Bend is populated mainly by African American descendents of slaves from the Civil War era. The town’s residents are known for their innovative style of quilting, noted for its vivid colors and unusual patterns.

Although Juicy Fruit no longer wafts throughout the Westside, a sweetness still lingers about the Wrigley Building’s successor, The Digital Media Factory, thanks to Jerry and the Silly Monsters, and its delectable blend of bubbly, children’s pop-rock. “I’ve listened to a lot of bad children’s music over the years,” says lead vocalist/guitarist Toby Salciccia, otherwise known as “Jerry.” Desiring to change the genre’s reputation, Salciccia turned to his day job—co-manager of Happy Days Children’s Learning Center—for inspiration to create songs that are “positive and educational for kids, and fun for parents.” There, he befriended parent Craig Comstock, who introduced Salciccia to his future bandmates: bassist Ian Babcock (“Bob”) and drummer Scott McPherson (“Murray”) of Ribsy’s Nickel; McPherson’s daughter, Ashley (“Gigi” on stage); and vocalist/ukulele player Moreah Walker (“Gigi” in the studio). The result? Jerry and the Silly Monsters—a mix of clever, motivational lyrics and complex rock music. “We’re really starting to take on more of a family-like nature, now that we’ve had the opportunity to work [together] and know each other,” says Salciccia of their chemistry.

Electric guitarist D.J. Sparr mixes things up at The Cabrillo Festival
Imagine a musician showing up to a symphony rehearsal with a Marshall amplifier in tow, and an electric guitar strapped to his back—the string players brace themselves, the violist covers her ears. It’s hard to be a rocker in a classical environment—but it’s just another day in the life of D.J. Sparr.

The guitarist/composer loves a good riff, but he also has a doctorate in composition and is well-versed in symphony rehearsal etiquette. After all, no classically-trained musician wants to be blown off stage by a guy who sounds like he belongs at Lollapalooza.

From outside Chautauqua Auditorium in Boulder, Colo., Sparr reflects, “You have to know how to adjust your volume, and it sounds silly, but there aren’t many electric guitarists who could come to a symphonic rehearsal and know how to deal with that—outside a couple of guys in New York, Chicago and LA.”

Stryder Callison just got a new app for his iPhone. “Voice Tutor” is a vocal warm-up that helps singers like himself perfect pitch, and it’s a sign that the local rocker’s old habits—he “used to smoke cigarettes, stay up until six, and scream” the night before a show—are long gone. He’s finally taking himself seriously. After recording his first solo album, Years in the Making, Callison learned first hand what happens when you push your voice to its limit. “The more you abuse your vocal cords, it creates a little red bump,” he says. “When you sing or even talk, your vocal cords won't vibrate at the right speed.” Callison's late night jam sessions earned him a vocal polyp—a swollen growth on one of  his vocal cords—that Whitney Houston and Julie Andrews can sympathize with. Over the following year, Callison began repairing his voice by allowing himself to speak for only one minute every hour.

Regardless of life’s punches, Jesse Sykes stays committed to the music
For Jesse Sykes, a Sunday morning in Seattle is a walk in the park—more like the woods, actually. Once she returns home though, reality sets in for the 44-year-old vocalist/guitarist, and she’s faced with the question that has plagued her for the last three years: “How can you understand life, if you haven’t addressed death?”

The question stems from both the blissful and detrimental events that have come to define her Seattle-based band, Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter, during the extended recording period of their fourth LP, Marble Son, which began in September 2009. “We took our time because we didn’t even know if there would be an outcome,” says Sykes.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Gin Blossoms guitarist, Jesse Valenzuela, talks cake, rituals and ESP

Their chart-topping hits “Hey Jealousy” and “Follow You Down” were the soundtrack to the ’90s, and this week, Gin Blossoms is headlining a free concert at The Boardwalk on Friday, August 5. On the eve of their performance, GT spoke with Jesse Valenzuela, guitarist for the Arizona-based rock outfit, about the band’s latest album, gridlock on the 405 freeway, chocolate cake, pre-show rituals, psychic powers, and more …

Composer Paul Dooley finds inspiration in film, math and grunge rock

When he was only 12, Paul Dooley felt transformed after watching Shine, an Australian film starring Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, who plays a gifted but mentally mad pianist. Once the credits rolled, Dooley took to the piano, but instead of losing his mind, he found musical enlightenment by combining his two loves: classical music and raw, Seattle grunge sound.

“I taught myself how to play music by playing pieces by other people, and then changing them to make them my own—I improvised a lot,” recalls the 27-year-old composer and percussionist. He remembers his early piano days being jam-packed with countless renditions of Nirvana’s 1991 release Nevermind, particularly the song “Come As You Are.”

Dooley’s appreciation of both the classical and alternative rock genres sparked an unwavering interest in composition.

Ashwin Batish breathes sitar. He wakes up every morning, puts on his shirt, then grabs his eastern axe. Bringing his self-coined musical fusion, Sitar Power, to Don Quixote's this Sunday, Batish says he is excited to connect with the audience: “I think it’s the sharing of an experience. And there’s a lot of people, I believe, that live for that. Sharing an experience is seriously like bonding.” The Batish family is big on bonding. When he started playing music at 14, he would break from his sitar studies to sing along to Beatles records with his sister. Meanwhile, his father, S.D. Batish, was actually hanging out with the Fab Four in London, giving them sitar lessons. His father was later offered a teaching job in Santa Cruz, and the family quickly made it their home. In the ’70s, Batish and his father would play at their family's restaurant every night, in the same way that he and his son, tabla player Keshav, perform together today.

Local musicians vie for the 3rd annual Teen Battle of the Bands title
When teen librarian Matt Lorenzo realized in 2009 that many of his friends at the Branciforte Library played music together, he decided they needed a place to showcase their talent. After asking the library for sponsorship, Lorenzo created a Myspace page to generate interest, asked local businesses to donate recording time and music equipment for prizes, then found merchants to donate to a raffle—soon, the Santa Cruz Public Library Teen Battle of the Bands was born.

Flash forward two years and the battle is still going strong, with attendance skyrocketing from 300 spectators during its pilot year, to 700 in 2010. This year’s battle goes down on July 23, at the City of Santa Cruz parking lot, next to the Central Library, and will be judged by local musicians, Stormy Strong and Alan Heit of the White Album Ensemble, plus Spilly Chili from Community TV.

For Ben Lomond brothers Jamie and Kellen Coffis—the former, a 25-year-old keyboardist and singer, and the latter, a 21 year-old vocalist, guitarist and harmonica player—it’s not a matter of what life has to offer, but when they’ll get it. On “Love On My Side,” off of their debut album, they wonder, if “life is really just a battle with time, and I’m sick and tired of waiting in line, when will that arrow point at me?” Turns out they don’t need Cupid’s assistance, since locals have fallen fast for these budding folk rockers. The Coffis Brothers & The Mountain Men was released on June 17, after four days in Gadgetbox Recording Studio, with the help of producer Andy Zenczak and friends, The Mountain Men: bassist Mason Hutchinson, drummer Henry Chadwick, and guitarist Kyle Poppen. “We are all more than satisfied with the results because there is a nice mix of impatience and spontaneity on the record, which gives it a kind of personality,” says Jamie.

Sleepy Sun talks touring Europe, and staying true to your roots
A cross-country road trip is the closest I’ll ever get to understanding the grueling life of touring in a band like Sleepy Sun. As it happens, I’m riding shotgun in a car headed westward and marveling at the flat landscape near the Nebraska border.

“I like the U.S. because the landscape changes so much,” says Bret Constantino, singer of the Santa Cruz-born psychedelic five-piece, coming to Don Quixote’s on Wednesday. “You have the desert, you have the mountains, you have the South and humid swamps, big cities—seeing the U.S. feels more like an intense, epic journey.”

Christmas comes early when The Yule Logs hit Crepe Place
It turns out the North Pole is a whole lot closer than you think. In a humble cottage in Chico, referred to as “The Yule Lodge,” four loyal elves spread Christmas cheer year-round through song. And this week, the pop-rock outfit, led by frontman Marty Parker, brings glad tidings to The Crepe Place.

Decking the halls has been The Yule Logs’ M.O. since 2005, when Parker befriended Chico State alumnus and drummer Jake Sprecher. Soon, two more Chico State alumni, bassist Kirt Lind and guitarist Maurice Spencer, joined, sharing what Sprecher refers to as Parker’s “bizarre affinity for the holiday spirit.”