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Articles by Sean McCourt
A Fiery Rock Lineup Comes to Vallejo Original
When reading over 50 some years worth of Stef Burns’ musical resume, one is tempted to break into a chorus of “We’re not worthy! We’re not worthy!” a la “Wayne’s World.” But more on that part later. Burns, who is performing at Vino Godfather in Vallejo on Sunday afternoon, was born and raised here in the Bay Area. He started playing guitar at the age of 7, finding himself playing in a variety of bands throughout his school years, honing his skills on both cover tunes and writing original material.
Vallejo Native Helps Heal
Vallejo native Megan Bull is taking the pain and trauma life threw at her and turning it into healing and growth. After surviving both a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting and a violent car accident, Bull started the Reclaim Foundation, a nonprofit for people affected by trauma that aims to connect survivors of traumatic events to others from similar situations. The group is celebrating its second anniversary with “Shatter the Glass” on Thursday (Aug. 11) in San Francisco.
August 11 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Long Live Laughter Original
—Comedian Paula Poundstone brings the laughs to Fairfield (Contributed).Although she’s been making people laugh professionally for more than four decades, comedian Paula Poundstone, who makes a tour stop next week in Fairfield, always has a fresh take on things.
Bringing The Blues Home
Even though Tia Carroll grew up singing around her family and friends at various get-togethers over the years, it wasn’t until she was in her 30s that someone suggested she try her hand at doing it professionally. In the years since then, Carroll, who performs at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo Wednesday (Aug. 10), has truly found her calling, having recorded several albums, and toured all over the world.
Loma Vista Farm Alpaca shot with pellet
Friends and family of Loma Vista Farm in Vallejo are all asking themselves the same question this week—why would somebody go out to a beloved local farm and community center and shoot one of their adorable alpacas with a pellet gun? Apparently, that is just what happened sometime on Sunday night. When the staff came in Monday morning to check on the animals, they discovered that one of the farm’s three alpacas, 4-year-old Calvin, had been shot in the cheek with a pellet.
Loma Vista Farm Alpaca shot with pellet
Friends and family of Loma Vista Farm in Vallejo are all asking themselves the same question this week—why would somebody go out to a beloved local farm and community center and shoot one of their adorable alpacas with a pellet gun? Apparently, that is just what happened sometime on Sunday night. When the staff came in Monday morning to check on the animals, they discovered that one of the farm’s three alpacas, 4-year-old Calvin, had been shot in the cheek with a pellet.
August 4 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Music Among The Stars in Vallejo Original
Just like their fellow musicians around the world, two years ago Leo Cavanagh and Katrina Wreede faced an uncertain future when the COVID lockdowns began. The duo, who perform together as Paper Moon, and will be playing at the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum on Saturday afternoon, decided that they couldn’t simply take a break or walk away from what they had known for most of their lives.
August 4 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: ‘Cat’ Claws Back to the Stage in Vallejo Original
If “break a leg” is actually “Good luck” in the theater world, what is the lexicon for life on the stage after a tiresome, entertainment-sucking COVID pandemic? It may be time to find out for the cast and crew of Bay Area Stage, set to open its production of the Tennessee Williams classic “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” Friday in Vallejo. First scheduled to open in March of 2020, the show was postponed as the entertainment world — and pretty much everyone else — shut down over the mystery that was COVID.
Obtainium Cup is out of this world
If you find yourself late for a very important date on Sunday, don’t fret—if you’re on Mare Island, that is. There you will find all manner of pedal-powered performance vehicles, psychedelic art cycles, and a host of other curious contraptions and creations.
A-ha Brings the ’80s back to Napa
When Magne Furuholmen of Norwegian rockers A-ha looks back on the incredible success of the band that went from being a couple of friends making music in a small Scandanavian town to a huge act touring the world on the strength of their hit single “Take On Me,” in the mid-’80s, he’s a bit surprised himself. “It’s not something that we imagined would be such a defining song when we wrote it. I mean, I wrote that riff when I was 15 years old.
July 28 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Jazz It Up at the Marina on Sunday Original
With nearly seven decades of musical experience under his belt, Vallejo native Dalt Williams is a virtual walking encyclopedia of notes, tunes and melodies. These are the talents the longtime educator will bring to a special free jazz show at the Marina Green in Suisun City on Sunday afternoon. Williams started out playing trumpet and tuba in his junior high band, and then picked up the upright bass while serving in the Army in Korea.
July 28 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: The Bard Comes to Benicia and Beyond Original
Bringing the spirit of the Old Globe Theatre in London to a variety of outdoor settings in Solano County and beyond, Vallejo Shakespeare in the Park returns this summer for its 12th run — with this year’s production being the classic “Much Ado About Nothing.” Setting up the play in six different locations over the course of four weekends — starting July 30-31 at Hanns Park in Vallejo — is no easy task, but the company is excited to bring live theater to the community once again.
Dancing for a good cause in Suisun City Original
Country music has long been associated with cowboys, ranches, and the wind-swept beauty of open land. So what better way to raise money along with a little ruckus? A benefit concert for the Solano Land Trust featuring country rockers Locked N Loaded will is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. at Rush Ranch in Vallejo, promising an afternoon of dancing and singing along with food, drinks, raffles, vendors and more.
Young authors bring their books to Vallejo
For generations, books have been a way to discover the world and distant lands, learn about our surroundings, or just escape reality. Until recently, however, it was difficult for young people to actively participate in the creation and publishing of books. With new computer and printing technologies making the physical production of books easier and easier, more people than ever have the means to publish. Humans, however, still play a key role.
July 21 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Red Hot Blues at a Cool Show Original
Although the name of the colors in the band Red’s Blues name are obviously the opposite of each other, the couple at the core of the band couldn’t be a better match for each other. Singer Beth Reid-Grigsby and bassist RW Grigsby met while playing music more than four decades ago, eventually forming Red’s Blues, set to play at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo on Wednesday night.
July 21 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Funky Heroes save the party in Suisun City Original
“With great power comes great responsibility.” — Benjamin Parker That sage piece of advice, coming from the uncle of Peter Parker — aka Spiderman — fits the members of the Funky Heroes, whose out-of-this-world soundwaves and infectious grooves could be soaring out to the cosmos this very moment, making extraterrestrials dance without fully knowing what is happening to them.
State grants will help Vallejo Museum with programming
The Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum received a pair of grants that will help it continue to provide a variety of programs for the community. A $27,000 grant from the California Arts Council, earmarked under Arts and Cultural Organizations General Operating Relief, will go toward operating funds for the museum.
Reptile Roundup Comes To Vallejo Original
“Snakes … why did it have to be snakes?” That line, uttered with sheer disdain by Indiana Jones in the 1981 film “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” may have been many people’s outlook on certain types of reptiles back then, but over the last 40 years, more and more people around the world have come to love them dearly as pets and companions.
July 14 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Great Music for A Great Cause Original
For more than three decades now, Zydeco Flames have been bringing their brand of jubilant, juke joint shaking, Cajun-creole musical gumbo to stages around the Bay Area and beyond. While their concerts are always guaranteed to be a great time, the cause behind the group’s show in Vacaville on Sunday is a very serious one — a fundraiser for victims of violence to benefit Youth Alive, a group whose mission is to prevent violence and create young leaders.
Keep On Dancing!: Andy Santana keeps on playing
When it comes to the blues, age is but a number. But to watch the fiery intensity of Andy Santana — still going strong at 73 years young — on stage is to question that old adage. With age comes experience, but the important thing for a musician is the inspiration for what keeps them going on stage night after night with such an illustrious and long career behind them. According to Santana, who performs with his band The West Coast Playboys on Wednesday night in Vallejo, it’s simple.
From Vallejo to Hollywood, local artist perseveres Original
Persistence and perseverance. These are the words that Vallejo native Drew Lago uses when talking about his inspirations, outlook on life and how he has gotten to where he is today. The 41-year-old hip-hop artist and entrepreneur, whose stage name is DL da ARSUN, is in the running in a contest to win an opening spot at “We Can Survive” — a benefit show produced in partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention scheduled for the Hollywood Bowl later this year.
Music at Mare Island Coal Sheds: A Grateful Guitarist
Most musicians start out learning how to play their instruments by studying the songs and styles of their favorite bands or artists. Eventually, they might include a couple of cover tunes in their own groups as they get successful or grow with time. Some musicians turn that love for a particular artist or group into a full-fledged tribute band, doing it for fun on the weekends at the local pub, or in some cases, turning it into a lucrative career all its own.
Clean laughs for a good cause
Steve Bruner always knew that he wanted to be a comedian. The Santa Rosa native, who performs Friday evening at a benefit show for the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, has over the course of his more than three-decade-and-counting career shared the stage with the likes of Ray Charles, written for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and performed at legendary venues such as The Comedy Store and The Improv. He can still trace it all back to a childhood dream.
July 7 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Classical rock, with a twist Original
One has to imagine that if Jimi Hendrix were still alive to hear Dirty Cello’s take on “Purple Haze,” he would have been blown right out of his gypsy boots, jumped on stage, and tried to set cellist Rebecca Roudman’s instrument on fire.
Kalimba, the spirit of Earth, Wind and Fire comes to Vallejo
Widely considered one of the most innovative, enthralling, and entertaining bands of the 1970s and beyond, Earth, Wind & Fire has cultivated a huge fan base spread across multiple generations over the years, with music that has inspired countless people to sing, dance, and play music as well.
Launching a new tradition
If you were to visit the Mare Island Naval Shipyard around 80 years ago, it was a bustling hub of energy and activity. The installation was running at full capacity every day, building and repairing ships at a breakneck pace so they would soon be launched and setting sail across the Pacific to fight against the Axis Powers in World War II.
Local rockers cruise in Vacaville Original
There’s just something that screams “California summer time” about cruising down the road with a group of friends, blasting a bunch of classic rock tunes that everybody knows the words to and can sing along with, then pulling up to a park for a BBQ, picnic and party. Now that life is starting to get back to normal, why not do that same exact thing — but with a few hundred more new friends, and turn that car stereo into one of the best cover bands in the Bay Area playing live and loud on stage?
Swing back in time in Benicia for the Fourth Original
Are you “In the Mood” to make a “Sentimental Journey” back in time, to an old-fashioned Fourth of July? This month’s “First Fridays at the Museum” event at the Benicia Historical Museum will aim to do just that, when Darlyn Pearl plays a set of 1940s big band and jazz classics. The concert will have a World War II-era USO show theme, much like when the area was a bustling military installation. “The museum and the area have such a rich history,” said Darlyn Phillips, who sings in the group.
Pedrotti’s celebrates a century of helpful hardware
When the first customers walked through the doors of Pedrotti’s Hardware Store in Crockett a century ago, they could little have imagined how the world would change in the next 100 years. Now under the guidance of the family’s third generation, and in their long-standing home in Benicia, Pedrotti’s Ace Hardware is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend with a special party.
June 30 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Rock Out for the Fourth in Benicia Original
Blending elements of pop, classical, rock, rap and more, the music that Michelle Lambert creates isn’t easy to quickly define. But readily apparent is the fact that the songs she writes are catchy, soulful and unique. The multi-instrumentalist and singer, who performs at the Fourth of July Picnic in the Park in Benicia on Monday, began her musical journey when she was just 2 years old.
Anthony Paule is a soul man Original
Much like the diverse influences that help make up the prismatic sound of his music, Anthony Paule has taken quite a journey to get to where he is today. The guitarist and bandleader of the Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra, set to perform at the Downtown Theatre in Fairfield on Saturday night, was born in South Africa to British parents who left England after serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II.
Good music coming to benefit Faith Food Fridays
Members of the local Vallejo community are invited to come out Saturday to the Empress Theatre for an evening of “Jazz, Blues, and Food,” a benefit for a great local charity that provides meals for those in need, at an event that also promises to deliver some tasty tunes and nourishing noodling on the stage as well.
June 23 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Living in Clip in Napa Original
For more than three decades now, singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco has been making her one-of-a-kind alternative folk rock and releasing it on her own label, Righteous Babe Records, a testament to her fiercely independent creative and entrepreneurial spirit.
Flipping Over Coins in Vacaville Original
While coins have primarily served as a means of currency for civilizations around the world going back thousands of years, they also act as arbiters of history, telling the story of different empires and countries, their leaders, and reins of power. They also serve as metal canvases for art, tributes, commemorative works, and more, which are among the many reasons local numismatists, or coin collectors, will gather on Saturday at the Vacaville Coin Show to share their love for the hobby.
Celebrating freedom in Vallejo
The sounds of music, community, and celebration will once again fill Martin Luther King Jr. Park this Saturday as the 32nd annual Vallejo Juneteenth Celebration gets underway, featuring entertainment, food, history, exhibits, vendors, and more. The yearly gathering is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, which was recognized two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, at the end of the American Civil War in 1865.
Vallejo to show its Pride
For all the various Pride Month moments in the Bay Area, the head of the Solano Pride Center says there’s nothing quite like the flag being raised in Vallejo. “I think it’s important to have opportunities for the community to come together and see that visibility, so that we have a resilient community, in Solano County and in Vallejo in particular,” says said Jonathan Cook, looking forward to the 24th annual Solano Pride Picnic Sunday afternoon at Mare Island’s Alden Park.
Achieving Nirvana in Vacaville Original
The “27 Club” is not an organization that most people would want to join. Named for the young age that “members” join at, it is a congregation of some of the greatest musicians in the history of rock n roll — albeit those whose creative light, energy and life unfortunately burned too brightly, too soon.
June 16 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: They will put a spell on you in Napa Original
Taking the classic sounds of 1940s big bands and jazz combos and infusing them with the swagger, attitude, and energy of Southern California punk rock, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy has been ripping up stages since 1989.
A Screen to the Past Original
Back in 1935, with millions out of work in the throes of the Great Depression, desperate to make ends meet, the outlook for a career as an artist was bleak. In May of that year, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. Through an executive order, it aimed to alleviate mass unemployment, and in some facets of the program, to utilize the talents of American artists for the greater good of the nation, and to help those individuals help themselves.
For the record in Vallejo Original
Many music lovers these days may get their music via streaming services, instantly downloading their favorite artists’ new single or easily finding an obscure B-side. But for record collectors, there is nothing like the thrill of the physical hunt for vinyl. Thumbing through a dusty bin or box of records, looking for the missing treasure — that rare piece of wax that has eluded you for years. The same goes for connoisseurs of concert posters and other music memorabilia.
Here come the Sun Kings Original
With a band as universally loved, respected, and influential as The Beatles, there are likely thousands of tribute acts around the world that play the music of the Fab Four. Bay Area residents and fans of the lads from Liverpool are lucky that The Sun Kings, who play in Vacaville on Sunday.
‘Cat’ Claws its Way Back to the Stage in Vallejo Original
In the theater world, “Break A Leg” is the classic, superstitious expression that one is supposed to say to an actor before they go on stage. “The Third Time’s The Charm” seems more for the cast and crew at Bay Area Stage as they open their production of the Tennessee Williams classic “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” Friday in Vallejo. First scheduled to open in March of 2020, the show had to be postponed because of the COVID outbreak.
Rally Planned In Benicia to end gun violence
“Benicia March For Our Lives” — calling on elected officials to come together and take on the ongoing epidemic of gun violence in the United States — is set for Saturday in Benicia. The march begins at 10 a.m. at the First Street Green at First Street and B Street with a program featuring speeches from students and local officials, after which the group will march up First Street and back, where participants will hold a rally.
June 9 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Guitarist Nick Rossi swings into Vallejo Original
San Francisco guitarist Nick Rossi explored a wide variety of musical styles over the course of several decades of playing and performing, starting out with rock and R&B, before eventually becoming enamored with jazz. Embracing the many subgenres within the uniquely American style of music, Rossi collaborates with a large stable of different Bay Area musicians, depending on what sound he is looking to achieve.
Ahead of her time, ready for prime time in Vallejo
Frances Perkins may not be a household name in the United States, but she certainly should be. An advocate for American workers’ rights, she served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt from 1935 to 1945 — the first woman to hold a cabinet position in this country. Among her many other accomplishments was helping create the Social Security Act.
Get Beat at the bookstore in June Original
For generations of young people, it’s long been a shared rite of passage: Exploring the aisles and shelves of their local bookstore, thumbing through the spines of books, novels that perhaps they were told they weren’t supposed to read by their parents or teachers. Quiet, but still a potentially huge act of rebellion. Many of the authors of those books were likely members of the Beat Generation, a group of writers and artists that defied the norms of 1940s and 50s society.
A Filipino Celebration of Culture and Independence in Vallejo
If it’s June, it must be time for a celebration in Vallejo’s vibrant Filipino community. Families and friends celebrate will once again honor their rich heritage and history in the city with “Philippine Cultural Month.” The four-week-long fete, kicking off on Saturday, features concerts, martial arts demonstrations, exhibits, dancing, vendors, and more at locations throughout Vallejo.
Ferlinghetti in Film Friday night at the Empress
Although much of the output and work of the Beat Generation was shared in typeset on the printed page in the forms of poetry and novels or the brushstrokes of paint on canvas, many also experimented with film, jumping off of still paper and onto moving celluloid, preserving not only their written word but also their images and the sounds of their voices.
Just Read It: Beat Generation honored with readings in Vallejo
For many people, it’s hard to hear the term “Beat Generation” and not picture a gathering of guys with goatees and sunglasses or girls wearing berets and snapping their fingers in a dimly lit room while a lone figure reads poetry from a notebook, backed up by a cool cat playing bongo drums.
June 2 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Good Vibrations - Mike Amaral’s California Beach Boys Experience cruises into Vacaville Original
Back in the early 1960s, the Beach Boys captured the spirit of surfing and hot rod culture with their lyrics, harnessing the sound of waves cascading over you with their reverb-drenched guitars and infectious harmonies. It was a recipe that ruled the airwaves. When Mike Amaral saw the band for the first time back in 1964, you could say he caught a tsunami of admiration and reverence, a break that he’s still riding to this day.
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