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by Gavin Heaney BeachLife has been a first for many things, but this year they hosted something historical without even knowing it. Has anyone ever before combined the frontman feats of James Brown with the guitar god game of Jimi Hendrix? It happened Friday night on a side stage, where a small, tight crowd witnessed […]
by Gavin Heaney There is something deeply fulfilling about Jeremy Buck being the first act to hit the BeachLife Music Festival’s main stage when the festival opens Friday, May 1. Although the line up boasts household names, no one has more skin in the game than the music man who lives here in Redondo Beach. […]
by Gavin Heaney The reverb soaked vocals that flow out of Jim James resound like a waterfall, emitting a cool and cleansing mist. This is the wellspring of My Morning Jacket’s sacred sound, which is like a rushing cascade of restorative water thundering through a rocky canyon hollow, echoing eternity. Inspiration for his songs circles […]
by Gavin Heaney According to Kadampa Buddhist practitioner and meditation teacher Kadam Gerry Donovan, happiness is a state of mind and the method to accessing it is through meditation. How this functions will be the focus of his upcoming public talk at The Hermosa Playhouse later this month on Friday, November 21. Donovan is the […]
by Gavin Heaney Last year, Mickey Mance Jr. enlisted friends to put together a fundraiser for Mance’s lifelong friend Eric Stevens, who was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) six years ago. ”Eric’s been a best friend since kindergarten. He was diagnosed with ALS, a week after his wedding. He had just gotten back from his […]
by Gavin Heaney You might recognize Mikey Jerome as the happy go lucky, teddy bear of a bartender at Hennessey’s. Although he’s quick with a joke or to light up your stoke, there’s someplace he’d rather be and that is writing a song. “No one’s gonna remember me as a bartender 100 years from now, […]
by Gavin Heaney Sunday afternoon at BeachLife saw a little sunshine when Marcus King rocked the HighTide with his teeth out. King is a husky southern soul-rocker with all the right fix-ins. He grinned out from sideburns under red shades and a straw cowboy hat like a young Meatloaf gone buck wild as he wailed […]
Spring will swing at the BeachLife Festival by Gavin Heaney Springtime in the South Bay is more of a cross-up of winter and summer than its own season. The sun finally emerges from cold grey winter storms, flashing summery prospects of dazzling green gold and blue, warming up backyards and baseball games. But the beach […]
by Gavin Heaney Bouncing offbeat bursts of chordal horns, guitar and keys counterpoint walking bass lines as the high hat skips around the shuffling drum beat, accenting African and Caribbean rhythms. The ska is an offset boogie woogie groove that incites riotous dancing known as skanking and The Skatalites were the innovators of ska music, […]