Category Archives: Mad Royal

805 Sound, Entertainment, Mad Royal

Burning It Up: James Scoolis

GOG burning jamesThe Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

Sometimes we look at someone and say he or she is a “natural” at something: painting, working with animals, musical ability. While it is true that talent cannot be learned, it is also true that most of the people who seem natural at something put in long hours of practice and study. Many people think musicians have the easy life, as in Dire Straits’ song, “Money for Nothing”. The fact is that most musicians work very hard at their craft for little monetary gain. Case in point is “Burning” James Scoolis, who practices one to two hours a day honing his craft, and takes voice lessons, to boot. Continue reading Burning It Up: James Scoolis →

805 Sound, Mad Royal

Get Ready For The 2015 Slo Jazz Festival

John Santos-2The Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

Brainchild of local saxophonist Scott Andrews, the 2015 Mercedes Benz SLO Jazz Festival is about to hit town, not with a bang, but with a sweet lingering note. It had long been Scott’s dream to have a world-class jazz festival in San Luis Obispo, and last year, it finally happened. It was very successful, attended by 1800 people from as far away as San Diego, San Jose, and the San Joachin Valley. This year is hoped to be even bigger, and a Youth Stage has been added. Continue reading Get Ready For The 2015 Slo Jazz Festival →

805 Sound, Entertainment, Mad Royal

Crooning for a Cause: Irene Cathaway

GOG irene cathaway bandThe Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

Sultry-voiced and soft-spoken, with big, brown eyes, Irene Cathaway’s appearance hides her inner diva songstress. Her singing voice is both sweet, and a little rough, just like life. Muscian Dorian Michael calls her “the best female vocalist I have ever worked with.” That’s why, when I asked if he had a band for a new club three years ago, I hired the band he put together for the event sight unseen and music unheard. When you work with people whose opinion you trust, that’s what you do. If Dorian says it’s good, it’s good. He went down to L.A. with Ken Hustad to rehearse with Irene and her drummer, Bill Severance (something they were going to do for fun, anyway), and the band Just for the Night was born. The evening in question ended up being the best night that venue ever had, and a lot of people and their dancing feet left happy. Continue reading Crooning for a Cause: Irene Cathaway →

805 Sound, Mad Royal

Making Music with Gene Baler

GOG geneThe Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

Anytime I’ve talked to Gene Baker, he’s had an aura of being calm and excited at the same time, kind of a restrained expectation of good things to come, tied up with a deep satisfaction in what he’s doing at the moment. He may be known as Mean Gene, and he may even look a little mean (not really, but let him have his illusions), but he’s a pretty cool guy.
Raised in the suburbs of Detroit, Gene grew up messing around on the family’s Hammond organ. His two older sisters influenced his taste in music, as well as he dad, who took him to see and Elvis tribute band, Elvis Wade.
“We asked them to play Polk Salad Annie, and were impressed when they did,” Gene said. Continue reading Making Music with Gene Baler →

805 Sound, Mad Royal

Keeping It Real: John Wessel

me blue snipThe Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

No one has a voice quite like John Wessel. It’s high, and raspy, and pure rock’n’roll. He can perform songs like “You Shook Me All Night Long” like nobody’s business. His flute playing is fantastic and much like Jethro Toll (more on that later), but he also rips on the guitar, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, and bass. Oh, yeah, and he’s self-taught, too.
John was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but the family moved to Reseda in the L.A.’s San Fernando Valley when he was in fourth grade. They were in Sylmar for a while, and lived there at the time of the big earthquake in 1971. He spent a year in Arizona, and then moved back to Reseda. Continue reading Keeping It Real: John Wessel →

Entertainment, Mad Royal

Nathan Clay: Breaking the Mold

me blue snipThe Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

Born in the middle of the last century, Nathan Clay grew up in a small shack in a pecan grove near Cullman, Alabama, which is about forty miles from both Mussel Shoals, Alabama, and Tupelo, Mississippi. He grew up with his parents and his sister, singing in church.
“I started singing when I was two. I thought everybody sang,” he says now. He picked cotton, corn, and potatoes to earn money for school clothes, and hunted deer and rabbit from the age of nine, to help feed his family on the farm his great-grandfather homesteaded after GOG nathan clay 1the Civil War. When Nathan was 11, in the early fifties, the family started moving back and forth between Alabama and Detroit, a move that was not finalized until Nathan was in his early teens.
When Nathan turned 13, he took guitar lessons, a series of ten lessons that didn’t move fast enough for the young boy, so he started teaching himself. He started playing in clubs in Detroit when he was just 15. He joined his first band, called Continue reading Nathan Clay: Breaking the Mold →

805 Sound, Mad Royal

Lady Swings the Blues: Linda Martin and Back Bay Betty

me blue snipThe Goddess of Groove

By Mad Royal

The music business, in this area, at least, is about ninety percent men. Why that is, I don’t know; musical talent certainly isn’t gender-specific. I do know that it takes a lot of perseverance, patience, and a bit of a thick skin to make it in this business, especially if you’re female.
Linda Martin of Back Bay Betty laughingly defines herself as a “good girl gone bad”. To some narrow-minded people, that might be true, but the fact is that you’d be hard pressed to find a kinder, more generous person than Linda. When she walks in a room, people light GOG bbbup. When she starts to sing, well, that’s something really special.
Linda grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition in Los Osos. Her family went to church three days a week. She sang in the choir and played the piano and organ. When she was eight, she sang alto in a gospel group with her siblings called Sisters Four. Impressed with her musical talent, the folks at her Continue reading Lady Swings the Blues: Linda Martin and Back Bay Betty →

805 Sound, Entertainment, Mad Royal

Why “Live” Is Better

me blue snipGoddess of Groove
By Mad Royal

An all-consuming passion for music–I have it for sure. Maybe you do, too. Music is known as the universal language, the language of love, the spice of life. Studies have shown that listening to music and playing an instrument increase aptitude in math, science and language. One study shows that people who dance have a 40 percGOG livemusiclumberyardent less chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease, more than any other single factor. Music permeates our lives. We listen to it in our cars, at home, and, in some cases, at work. It is as big a part of entertaining as good food. A party can do without one or the other, but not both. Music brings us together, and it helps us to share our emotions. It makes us cry, and it helps to heal us. It is a big part of worship. There is a saying, “He who sings, prays twice.” Continue reading Why “Live” Is Better →

805 Sound, Mad Royal

Paging Code Blues

The Goddess of Groove
By Mad Royal
me blue snipPeople get into music for different reasons. For some, it’s just a good way to meet members of the opposite sex (or the same sex, for that matter), or to make friends, to find a sense of belonging. For many, music is a healing experience. For others, it’s an all-consuming passion, something the person was born to do. For a few, it’s a way of making money. For some, a combination of some or all of those things. Continue reading Paging Code Blues →

805 Sound, Mad Royal

Scott Andrews: All That Jazz | The Goddess of Groove By Madeline Royal

GOG scott andrewsI’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Those of us who live here on the Central Coast are fortunate for many reasons. We have great weather, gorgeous surroundings, and friendly people. We are also blessed with many great musicians who could hold their own on the world stage (some of them have). If you like to dance, there are almost daily opportunities to dance to a live band. To have a good dance band, you need at least a guitar, bass, and drums, but sometimes other instruments are added to make the band more memorable and add dimension to the music. And, after all, what is sexier than a saxophone? Continue reading Scott Andrews: All That Jazz | The Goddess of Groove By Madeline Royal →