Sacramento's rock and roll history is closely associated with Skip's Music, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in business at the Sacramento Music Festival on Saturday, May 25. The Old Sac festival, although formerly called the Jazz Jubilee, also is celebrating its 40th year. Skip Maggiora opened his first music store in 1973 and has since added a few stores. SacTV.com covered the opening of the event as Skip gave a speech about why he got into music and the history of the store. He then introduced the event's hosts, Charlie Thomas from 96.9 The Eagle, Tom Romano from Classic 93.1 and Kitty O'Neal from KFBK. The radio hosts kept the show flowing with announcements and introductions betw

SacTV.com has created a new section of art gallery videos made during Second Saturday Art Walk this year from March, April and May. This page brings together local painters and gallery owners who discuss the art they showcase on Second Saturday. This page presents a wide variety of local paintings and photography that span from portraits to posters to landscapes to surrealism. It also brings together eye-catching art that represents some of Sacramento's most talented artists. These art gallery videos can be found by going to SacTV.com and clicking the "art" icon. More Second Saturday videos will be added to this 2013 page as the year goes on.  Some of the art that has been featured during

Join us on Wednesday May 22 at 6 PM sharp for the 14th "Place Called Sacramento Film Festival - Cast & Crew Call". Curious and want to know more? Professional judges have been reviewing the "PCS" script entries. Each is ten minutes or less, and a family friendly story, with a theme and characters that shed insight on what it is like to live in a place called Sacramento. All are character and dialogue driven but range widely in subject matter. Want to see what has been produced in the past? Go to www.AccessSacramento.org and watch films from the past several years. Now the 2013 judges have selected ten for production and the writers now evolve into producers, eager to see their film come

    For the 14th year, Access Sacramento launches “A Place Called Sacramento” (PCS), a scriptwriting and short film production project for local writers and producers. PCS challenges local scriptwriters to write ten-minute scripts about the people, places, and events that make our community such a unique place to live (entry guidelines on-line at www.AccessSacramento.org). The PCS production format is unique to Sacramento. All PCS scripts entered are reviewed by local professionals and ten are selected. All ages are welcomed to get involved - both experienced filmmakers and newbies are welcome to attend. These ten scriptwriter/producers are introduced to actors and production teams at Th

Dennis Newhall has been the organizer and curator of the Sacramento Rock and Radio Museum since 2000. The museum, which houses a wealth of local concert memorabilia, only opens for the public on Second Saturdays. It's located at 911 20th Street, next door to what used to be a hot local band venue called the Oasis Ballroom. Dennis himself played a role in the local music and radio scene, working for radio stations KZAP, KSFM and KROY. The museum showcases his vast collection of concert posters and donated memorabilia of mainly the 1960s through 1980s, but also includes later artifacts. On Saturday night, May 11, Dennis and I did a video interview for SacTV.com about the museum and how it ha

Sacramento has been off and on the music industry's radar for many years, with its heyday being in the 1980s and 1990s as far as producing national acts. Lately Sacramento seems to be a music market of fresh material that includes national rock band Oleander, local r&b singer-songwriter Carla Fleming and local country/rock singer-songwriter Kally O'Mally. Each of these new releases has a refreshing sound that contrasts with a controlled corporate era characterized by over-production and redundant formulas. Somehow, Sacramento is helping resolve the problem that today's national hits sound too corporate and predictable.  SacTV.com continues to document local music that stands out as Olean

The heat has arrived, school is almost out, and soon, kids will be posing the classic question, “What are we doing this summer?” Answer: Local summer theatre camp. Imagine a spotlight on a stage, the closed curtain buzzing with the excitement of another opening of another show. The music starts, the curtain opens, the show begins and the on walks a familiar face. It's none other than your kid, projecting with newly acquired skill and bursting with all the talent you knew he or she had. This vision comes to fruition at the hands of the dedicated, professional acting coaches of the many various Sacramento summer theatre youth programs. Here is a compiled list to help you and your child fi

When I recently went through a box of old cassettes I was amazed to find so much music I had forgotten about. One of the songs I found was called "Strange New World" by Plastic Violents from 1992. David Conley, who hosted the local radio show "The Sound of Sacramento" on KWOD was the lead singer. It was like finding a nugget from the past that still sounds futuristic. David was talking about the project on Facebook, which gave me the idea to check my old library of cassettes. It turns out I have one of the last cassettes by Plastic Violets ever made. It made me wonder about not just how many other lost tunes I have on cassette, but all the other lost tunes that everyone else has on cassett

A few weekends ago I was inspired by Second Saturday in Midtown, how it helps local talent overcome barriers. Art itself can be a direct expression, but in order to have the opportunity to communicate with an audience, the artist must have a venue then must overcome the noise of society to stand out and be perceived in a crowd of messages. For the artists connected with Second Saturday, local business owners help them overcome the first major barrier. The art that captures people's attention comes down to the art itself. The paintings that caught my attention for SacTV.com were the ones with not only bright colors, but expressions beyond the norm that communicated a vibrant sense of commun

I've been having a lot of conversations lately about the farm-to-fork movement, especially now that it seems to have become the It Girl of the food world. While eating lunch in my backyard earlier today, a friend and I found ourselves discussing the topic once again. "Everybody's jumping on the bandwagon," he laughed. I smiled and replied, "Good." And it is. In my humble opinion, the more people come to appreciate the wonders of farm-fresh food, simply prepared, the better. Which brings me to the subject of this article: Japanese Farm Food, a cookbook written by California-born Nancy Singleton Hachisu, the featured author at next week's Tasty Books event here in Sacramento. The event pair

Midtown had a modest turnout for Sacramento's Second Saturday Art Walk. One of the things I wanted to find out about was who gets to play live music at these events. I understand from talking to local owners that an entertainment permit from the city is actually required but many artists show up without a permit and use it to get exposure. I ran into a few bands who didn't know what I was talking about when I asked about permits. Funny how I keep running into groups who perform at Second Saturday who don't even have a group name yet. What's amazing about Second Saturday, despite the cold breeze, was that I found great opportunities for local musicians and painters to showcase their work.

Last month Chef Adam Pechal and Feeding Crane Farms partnered to host the first in a series of Second Saturday classes at Lulu's Kitchen. Pechal will be holding another class this Saturday, April 13. This week’s class features wine and cheese pairings and recipes with Sean Minor Wines. If the March event is any guide, expect a good time and some delicious food. With Pechal’s gregarious personality and proven skills, you may even learn a little about about cooking along the way. Here's how things went down during the March class. The event was appropriately billed "Beer, Beer, Beer," and a variety of brews from Berryessa Brewing Company did indeed flow freely throughout the evening.  Gue

Recently I learned that a well known park in Sacramento called Goethe Park changed its name to River Bend Park. When I asked several different people who know the area what happened I was given several answers. After I did my own research I found a more shocking answer than anything anyone had told me. But the good news is that the name change resolved the issue to the degree that local parks should not be named after people, no matter how wealthy, who were associated with genocide. When you Google search "Charles Goethe" the first link that comes up is Wikipedia, with a listing that begins "Charles Goethe (1875-1966) was an American eugenicist." Eugenics was once a growing science in th

Sacramento's struggling economy survived the first quarter of 2013, despite continued high unemployment and rising cost of living. SacTV.com is currently exploring data on the local economy to make comparisons with the national picture. As it stands, it appears that the local region is still hurting, although the worst of times seem to be behind us. Unemployment in Sacramento County, which rose slightly in January, still hovers around ten percent, marking a huge improvement compared to 2010 when it was soaring at 13 percent. But the situation is still worse than the national figure, which is a hair below eight percent. Part of Sacramento's unemployment crisis has been that the Capital Cit

How many acoustic rap/ballad medleys have you heard lately? Does hip hop mix with classical music or are there strict rules that say this cannot be done? Whatever the rules are, Chris Goslow loves to experiment beyond musical boundaries with different styles. Part of his multicultural slant on music comes from growing up in San Francisco and studying music at U.C. Berkeley. Another part of his diversity comes from a love of many styles that covers a wide spectrum of music. He now makes a living performing and teaching music in Sacramento while being happily married to photographer Charr Crail, who has worked for the Sacramento Bee and now does freelance photography and digital art. Chris

The second annual Sacramento Food Film Festival was held last weekend at the Guild Theater. Presented by Slow Food Sacramento and supported by a slew of local sponsors, this year's festival was better than ever. Founder and event organizer Catherine Enfield – who also blogs at Munchie Musings and was one of the originators of SactoMoFo – did a stellar job with both the planning and execution of the festival. In addition to lining up two films on Friday night and a whopping five films Saturday, Enfield organized a series of fun events to complement the films: discussions with filmmakers, a sushi tasting and a scavenger hunt, among others. Below are some scenes from Friday night at the festi

Sacramento Old City Association (SOCA) President William Burg invited me to give a presentation for SOCA about local radio history on March 9. The presentation was held at Mdtown Village Cafe and lasted over an hour. I captured a lot of it on video for SacTV.com. It was fun because afterward I hung around Midtown for Second Saturday and visited several artistic galleries. The presentation covered almost the entire evolution of radio, mixing national and local history. One of the themes was that Sacramento radio has contributed to national history many times. Another theme is that radio started with the telephone and that's what's replacing radio as mobile phones are steadily becoming the m

Looking for something to start your weekend off right with ? Why not check out a special screening of "Destined for Greatness" which features local muscian Vince Vicari. Afterward Vicari will offer the crowd a selection of original work as well as some old favorite covers he is known for. A musician who also moonlights as a singing waiter, Vicari is not new to the music business. "I come from a long lineage of musicians in my family." Vicari said. "My grandfather played trumpet, my dad plays the drum. I have two siblings who play guitar and piano and I myself have been playing piano since I was eight. Music is in my genes; it's also something I have wanted since day one" Vicari said th

Aretha Franklin earned the title "Queen of Soul" after releasing several critically acclaimed timeless recordings that showcase remarkable talent in the soul genre. It's a debatable topic, for sure, since the pinnacle of any genre can be based on several factors such as popularity, talent, reviews or legendary staying power. Aretha is hard to beat in each of those categories since she is still well respected today, as are many artists in her league like Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and Beyonce. The list of R&B/Soul artists in Sacramento is somewhat obscure since there are not that many venues in town that showcase the music despite being one of America's all tim

Lights, camera, fashion is all the buzz to be heard around the Emerald City as it kicked off its seventh annual Sacramento Fashion Week http://sacfashionweek.com/, February 24 - March 2. Growing in attendance each year since its launch in 2006, we have been able to watch fashion in Sacramento transition from adopted trends from nearby cities and magazines to developing designers and fashionistas with inimitable style. SACFW Editor in Chief, Bridgett Rex explained that SACFW allows us to educate our community about fashion and style, creating a demand for people to become more interested and eager to engage in fashion. “With events like Sacramento Fashion Week, the community becomes mor