San Francisco Voice

When I was about eighteen, I quit my job on a whim and spent a couple of months unemployed and “studying life”. That time was both awful and wonderful; I was broke, I was confused about life and I still had a tendency towards teenage drama but I was spending my time in cafes, reading books, writing bad poetry and really developing who I thought that I wanted to be. What I remember about that time is that life was kind of a hodge podge of this good and bad, a hodge podge of a lot of things really.
I covered …read more

Comments Off

Bi-lingual singer-songwriter Tiffany Joy is a true joy to listen to in any language. She has a strong voice, lyrics filled with character and great instrumentation. She’s also got an awesome personality which shines through in the interview she did not that long ago with San Fran Voice.
Tiffany Joy just released her new album, and she’ll be showing off some of the new music tonight on XM Radio. The show happens at 7 pm PST and will run for an hour. Tiffany Joy is only one of the performers in that hour so you’ll get to hear her for a …read more

Comments Off

Jazz music usually sounds very old-timey to me. That’s not a complaint or a negative statement of any kind; I love that sound and the way that it takes you back to a time that perhaps you only know from the movies that you’ve seen. But I have to be in a certain kind of mood to be interested in that kind of music. What I found when listening to the five tracks on the EP sent to me by Marlina Teich was that I didn’t have to be in a particular music to hear her kind of jazz. I …read more

Comments Off

Shane Papatolicas is a local musician who won my heart with his catchy instrumentals and poignant lyrics. He’s got a California style, a warm voice and poetic imagery which meld together to create plain old good music. You can learn more about what I think about him from this review. Or you can just learn more about him from the following San Fran Voice interview. And if you’re a drummer or you know one, this guy’s looking for some talent so don’t hesitate to get in touch!!
What’s the story behind your path to becoming a performing musician?
Well, between ages six …read more

1 Comment

I actually became familiar with Miggs when I was asked to review the band’s sophomore CD for Sure Shot Magazine. After hearing the CD, I became interested in learning more about the band. And I got to do so through this San Fran Voice interview with Don Miggs in which we learn the history of the band, their favorite SF venues and a few of their secrets.
Q: What’s the story on how the band formed?
A: Miggs has had a few incarnations, for sure. We’ve been calling it a “collective” at this point!!! The latest lineup, the one I truly …read more

Comments Off

Kate Isenberg is an amazing local singer-songwriter who has been working hard to carve out a career for herself in the creative arts. Hopefully you got a chance to check out my review of her recent CD release, The Time Comes on Humming Tracks. In this interview, Kate tells us about her work and gives us more insight into that CD.
Tell us about your work.
My work in the arts is multi-faceted, reflecting three major areas of interest: music, illustration, and writing. Currently, music is the pursuit I devote my after-work resources to, though that has shifted before and will likely …read more

Comments Off

I can’t help but wonder if bace135 is a Gemini. Like the Gemini, his music has two sides to it which seem like they would contradict one another but which actually fit well inside of a full personality. Maybe I’m biased by the double EP that I received – Monkey Vs. Robot and Man Vs. Machine. The first has a hint of hip hop but is primarily electronica / dance music. The second has some electronica but is primarily hip hop. And they both come together to create a complete musical set of electronic hip hop that captures the essence …read more

Comments Off

Last week, San Fran Voice was lucky enough to publish an interview with Marlina Teich, a local jazz musician who has been adding her voice to the San Francisco music scene for a number of years. Next week we’ll also be publishing a review of her music. In the meantime, you can check her out yourself live this Friday afternoon. She will be playing with her full band (Junius Simmons on guitar, Eugene Warren on bass and Vince Lateano on drums) for one hour starting at noon. The show is at 1390 1/2 Turk Street (just off of Fillmore).

Comments Off

Different. That’s the word I’m thinking of as I listen to The Down Lowe’s 2006 CD Listen Up. It’s different from anything else I’ve heard lately, especially anything coming out of the Bay Area. And since San Francisco is all about appreciating those who are different, I’d say that’s a good thing. But let me clarify to say that by “different”, I don’t mean “weird. I just mean different.
Much of the difference comes from the fact that The Down Lowe combines the vocals of a solo singer with the full support of a band and the skills of a DJ. …read more

Comments Off

Although I don’t live there anymore, there is a fondness in my heart for my hometown (Tucson). There’s an area of that city that I used to spend a lot of time in – 4th Avenue – which is the haunt of Tucson’s hippie community. I used to linger there in the evenings, listening to open mic poets read their works at late night cafes. And I used to wander there during the day, picking up clothes at the thrift stores and listening to the strumming guitars of people sitting outside at sidewalk tables. When I think of this place, …read more

Comments Off