Author Archive
Breaking: Dawes
November 11th, 2009
Who: These folk-rock rookies started their career as the buzzy post-punk band Simon Dawes, co-fronted by Malibu native Taylor Goldsmith. But when the band’s other songwriter bowed out, the remaining members — Goldsmith, his brother Griffin (drums) and bassist Wylie Gelber — shortened the name and traded their Smiths records for plaid shirts and pedal steel.
Sounds Like: True to its Cali roots, the group’s new debut, North Hills, is full of twangy folk rock à ...
Eclectic Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Unites Emmylou Harris, Richie Havens in San Francisco
October 5th, 2009
Photograph by Jay Blakesberg
Warren Hellman is the kind of billionaire investment banker who makes it hard to hate billionaire investment bankers. Every year, Hellman — a successful venture capitalist and an amateur banjo player — organizes something called the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, a three-day celebration of picking and strumming in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It’s open to all and 100 percent free — and every year, Hellman picks up the tab. Since its ...