By Eric Ahlberg The For Lease sign is up on 1411 Lincoln Blvd. The Talking Stick is closed. Bottom Line: I blame rents. The start of its demise began when Rich and Sherry Braaksma, the original owners, were forced back to Canada by the Immigration Department. Rich and Sherri were just absolutely sweet people. They...
By Marty Liboff When I tell people I grew up here on the Ocean Front they sometimes ask, “Wasn’t there a rock ‘n’ roll club down here where The Doors and Janis Joplin played?” I tell them, “Sure, right over there on the north border of Venice on a huge pier.” They always look at...
By Suzy Williams Have you ever read a review of something in the arts and just wish they could come right out and write whether the artist was great or not? Well, I’d like to try that tack, which is to state the fact that our own Venice-based classical guitarist is a phenomenon – a master,...
By Anthony Castillo On January 27th at the age of 94 iconic folk singer, folk song collector, song writer and activist Pete Seeger died in New York. As a folk musician, Seeger was a living archive, carrying on the folk tradition of trading songs in an oral musical history to pass them on and preserve...
By Greta Cobar It’s always nice to interview people that I like, and it’s an added bonus if it’s a band whose music makes me get up and dance pretty much every time I hear them play. I would like to introduce you to the Venice Street Legends, comprised of Greg Cruz and Petr Hromadko....
By Anthony Castillo When I first heard the news of Lou Reed’s passing I said to myself “not Lou!” As you age you expect your rock n’ roll heroes to fall. But not Lou, at least not yet. He was still vital, still exploring new musical ideas, and his bullet proof cool was still intact....
By CJ Gronner When I first heard there was going to be a Venice Symphony Orchestra, I thought it was just about the best idea ever. Then I heard them, and that is now confirmed. Led by founder/director/conductor/musician, Wesley Flowers, I just heard the VSO play for the first time at the September Venice Art...
By Michael Riley Although I was born in Long Beach, I never went to Venice until I was in my twenties. The thing that brought me there was my love of music, in particular the 12 string guitar. My friend and compatriot, Chuck Moore had just introduced me to a couple of recordings: The 12...
By CJ Gronner Suzy Williams and her excellent band (“The Cracked Binding Quintette”) brought back the everpopular Lit Show to Beyond Baroque, and a blast was had by all. This unique – and educational – show is great because it’s all songs by famous authors that you may not have known also dabbled in songwriting....
By Delores Hanney He’s practically the living logo of our town, the rolling symbol of Venice eccentricity known far and wide. Rambling about northward and south, strumming his tunes flush with abundant distortion and wrapped around his particular form of poetry, he’s been a boardwalk fixture here since 1974. Just a few years earlier –...
