Paula Boggs Band

Paula Boggs Band was at local community radio station KBCS-fm, having just sung “King Brewster,” the true story of my ancestor’s journey from bondage to freedom, when our white DJ, Iaan Hughes, sprung the question to white multi-instrumentalist band member…

Don’t get me wrong…I loved Newport Folk Festival’s music…some of it blew my mind…

For me though the festival’s most magic moments arose from human connection…watching Randee Fox, my spouse,  discover an artist, the security dude who cracked jokes while…

What inspires me to write a song? Sometimes it’s a most reliable muse.  It could be what I see, hear or touch while walking. Maybe it’s something I read in the newspaper, a book or online. Every now and then…

OCTOBER 2022: I woke up this morning to sick and sad news out of Memphis. Yes, I believe everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I also believe in USA Today reporting and their track record to try to tell it…

Every year during June the global LGBTQ+ community and those who love/support us celebrate in a variety ways, take stock, recommit to justice, march, advocate and honor the struggles, sacrifices and deaths of those who came before. Why June? Because…

Not all mass shootings are hate crimes and not all hate crimes are mass shootings. But when they intersect something particularly cancerous cuts America’s soul and sullies all pretense of America as “shining city on the hill.”  

As a…

These are my personal views. I thought Sunday’s show was its best in years. Was it flawless? No. Were there a few unfortunate winners? Sure. I’ve been a Recording Academy voting member for a decade+ and a PNW Chapter board…

I wasn’t sure…having bought tickets months ago, confident in my Pfizer vaccine, Seattle’s high vaccination rate and before “Delta”became a household word.  Reading about the beefed up air filtration system at Saint Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Seattle, the show’s proof of…

Chronicles: Volume One by Bob Dylan
 
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 
It’s Dylan so not surprisingly the prose is highly lyrical. Honestly I was blown away by Dylan’s otherworldly ability to describe in exquisite detail…color schemes, books lining a…

We could not script 2020 and it tested us. Reminded of those lost, seeing Kobe Bryant’s name provoked...”was that really this year?”...his pre-COVID-19 death seemingly eons ago. Families, communities, a nation, a planet...all challenged, upended and many suffered incalculably. We…

Remembering Someone I Never Knew 

Why had I not heard of her?  How does that happen? I’m not sure why the Sunday Seattle Times obituary section always finds me.  Maybe it’s because the older I get the more likely I’ll…

As a third and fourth grader I sang songs like “Sounds of Silence,” “Blowin’ in The Wind,” “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “If I Had A Hammer.” They didn’t sound great on my clarinet but each showcased an instrument capturing my…