Posts by Andrew Quist

Greg Loiacono’s music has been more contemplative of late, it is paced and acoustic, evoking specific moods. And while they might be more subdued in sound and instrumentation, the lyrics hit hard and take the forefront in true singer/songwriter style. This new single, “Chamberlain’s Trunk” (Glide premiere below) is a case in point. The melodies […]

Perhaps it gets to the point as a writer that you become too close to something, too wrapped up in the beauty of a thing that you cannot adequately, or objectively report on it? Sitting down and trying to review this year’s installment of the Lost Sierra Hoedown has been nearly impossible. So much so […]

Last week, the Lost Sierra Hoedown, announced its set times for the weekend of September 19-22, 2019. This was done with little fanfare or social media blasts, just a post that those of us in the know get incredibly excited about. The Lost Sierra Hoedown is held annually every year in Johnsville, CA (High Sierra […]

Here’s the thing about Hipnic: It’s NOT a music festival. Hipnic is a vibe and it’s a vibe shared by everybody that makes the drive down (or up) to The Fernwood Resort smack in the center of Big Sur. It’s a state of mind that needs to be refreshed, as a plant needs to be […]

On the very eve of his band The Mother Hips’ annual Hipnic Festival (co-presented with FolkYeah Presents, this is year eleven for those keeping count), Greg Loiacono has released a video for his new single, “Close Your Eyes (We’ll Be There Soon).” The song is in keeping with his last single release in its dream-like mood […]

Somehow it seemed fitting that the headlines in national news carried the cancellation of the Woodstock 50th Anniversary Festival the day following the Do It Ourselves Festival (DIO) in Boulder Creek, California. In a world where big festivals are increasingly monetizing the live music experience with tiers of attendance and general admission tickets running for […]

Santa Cruz, California Folk singer, Joe Kaplow (pronounced like a firecracker goes “pow”), released his debut record, Time Spent In Between on Friday, April 12th and marked the occasion with an LP release party at Michael’s On Main in Soquel, CA that very night. The record is a collection of folk songs that could easily […]

A good crowd had gathered at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on the 7th of March and were waiting to get into the room and find their seats. They were largely a crowd of advanced aged, old hippies who had known the glory days of the Airplane when that band was playing the Fillmore […]

There are nights when a song comes over your stereo that completely stops you from whatever task is at hand and forces you to listen and listen deeply. And then that song forces you down the rabbit hole to find more and once you find the records, your life is changed forever. Those are great […]

With dark eventually comes the light, right? To get to the good you must slog through the bad – it’s almost cliché but everyone that reads this review knows that to be true. It is the one law of life that can keep us going and the last five years of The Mother Hips’ history […]

[rating=8.00 There is a buzz around the Bay Area and pockets of the country as the release date for Magic In The Other’s (MITO) debut album, What We Know Is Possible, nears its September 14th release. The buzz surrounds a band, comprised of Ezra Lipp on drums, Roger Riedlbauer (Jolie Holland, Mercury Falls) on guitar […]

To sit in the crowd at a Del McCoury Band show is to sit in the presence of a master of his genre. David Grisman called Del the finest rhythm guitar player in all of Bluegrass and Del has played with the greatest – the very father of the music, Bill Monroe, as one of […]

[rating=9.00] The last three and a half years have been really tough for San Francisco’s Mother Hips. This band has weathered a series of setbacks that, short of the death of a band member (which was way too damn close in this case), would have stressed even the most storied and successful bands out there. […]

The Do It Ourselves Festival (DIO Fest) has been covered here before but it begs a revisit. In fact, this truly singular and special event deserves an annual accounting if only for the genuine goodness it provides. DIO Fest is a special stoke. Some of this will sound like pretty flowery, hyperbolic hippie speak but […]

Marty O’Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra are probably not yet a blip on your radar screen. That should change. If you are the kind of music listener that likes to connect with your music and understand the importance of textured sound, then it is time for you to find these guys. Their new record […]

The essence of folk music is the song and the song is made up of two basic components, lyrics and melody. Boiled down to the very elements it really is that simple a combination. By that logic though we should all be accomplished folk musicians, but we aren’t. Why? Because there is one other thing […]

Magic In The Other is a recently formed trio with members out of the North Bay Area and Oakland, CA. Formed by one of the finest drummers in the north part of the state, Ezra Lipp (Phil Lesh and Friends and God knows how many other projects) has put together a band that plays music […]

Basically, now it comes down to the simple fact that if you’re lucky enough to get a ticket for The Lost Sierra Hoedown, you’re guaranteed one of the best musical experiences in the market. As co-organizer Azariah “Z” Reynold’s loves to put it, “This is not a festival because festivals have fences. This is a […]

“It all comes down to intention. You put it out there and the festival will happen. People need to gather, we should be sitting around a fire singing three times a week!” – Will Taylor Sheather Fest, 2017 kicked off at noon in Knights Ferry, CA on September 9th with a forty minute set of […]

Nathan Moore is easily one of the finest singer/songwriters that many folks have unfortunately never heard. His vast catalogue of music is woefully underrated, as he always follows his passion, embarks on projects, follows bliss, and wins. This is not to say that he walks or runs down these golden passion roads with some dumb […]