Last week the legendary Sacramento freeform station KZAP returned to the airwaves. Instead of its long remembered 98.5 dial position the freeform staton came back to life at 90.3 KDVS, the UC Davis college station. The event lasted over two days from November 8-10, featuring KZAP jocks from the 60s and 70s, when the station offered a wide eclectic mix where almost anything was possible. SacTV.com was there to get clips and interviews of the historic presentation. One of the program directors at KDVS, Michael Taber, explained in a SacTV.com interview how letting a famous station of the past return on the college station is unique and special to KDVS history.  KDVS has a vast library of mus

Sacramento's economic recovery has been slow, but one of the things keeping it alive is entertainment and the world of media production. While a series of big companies have been leaving town, the show goes on for creative people who want to perform for the local scene or distribute their media for professional purposes. Local culture had been stung by corporate interference, but the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward Sacramento establishing its own regional identity, especially when it comes to live and recorded entertainment. While no one claims Sacramento is an entertainment capital, it's still a place that provides growing opportunities for people with show business aspirations

Online auctions have become a big part of the internet revolution and small businesses. Bidding on low cost products can be a win-win for both buyers and sellers. Like many things in cyberspace, the online world replicates models of the traditional world, as online auctions have been patterned after live auctions. Denio's Farmers Market and Swap Meet in Roseville, continues to be the biggest attraction in that classic town on weekends. People actually come from all over the state to sell their products there. It's the largest flea market in Northern California, covering 80 acres, showcasing as many as 1600 vendors on any given weekend throughout the year. Since I'm intrigued by the variou

Skyrocketing gas prices in Sacramento over the weekend did not keep hundreds of local movie fans from attending Access Sacramento's A Place Called Sacramento Film Festival at the Crest Theatre on Sunday, October 7. The 13th annual event proved to be entertaining and diverse, attracting artists and filmmakers as well as loyal fans from the region and beyond. Ron Cooper, Access Sacramento's Executive Director, hosted the event and announced the winners after ten short ten minute local films were presented on the big screen. SacTV.com's portable video camera captured highlights and reactions of the festival.  I sat and watched these films in the second row Sunday afternoon, instead of watchi

The 13th Annual "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival premieres ten more local films this Sunday at the Crest. Highlights this year include: Mother and 11 year old son both have movies, the return of "Rockie" as a film writer/director, Mr. Lobo both directs and has a cameo, immigration issues started with "B" for the bracero program, experience a yogasim for the first time, "Oreos licked" - there I said it, "Tony the Tiger" not boxing in a boxing movie, can Danna do it for a fifth time, Frank is back, and so much more... Plus the event will kick-off ArtOber with an 8 minute promo for local filmmaking created by Gary Nyland and friends of the film arts here in the region. We have come

September 29, 2012, 100 artists of all mediums will flock to Davis to create their own masterpieces for the Great California Paint Out. People everywhere are encouraged to come to participate or just watch the show. Completed works will be exhibited that evening from 7-10:00 pm at the John Natsoulas Gallery with a juried event and awards sponsored by Ultrecht Art Supplies. A silent auction of the work will follow. Last year's event almost sold out. This is a great way to observe the artistic process and support local artists. For more information contact John Natsoulas Gallery at 530-756-3938 or go to the website at www.natsoulas.com. 

Over the weekend I spent some time exploring various indie music scenes around America. Instead of getting in my car and driving around America, I just stayed home and clicked around on ReverbNation, which hosts over a million indie bands worldwide. Of course, besides going to shows, listening online is about the only way to find out about local music scenes because even if you drove city to city, chances are you wouldn't hear much indie music on the radio. You either have to go to a bunch of dive bars in order to construct a report on indie music, or just listen online. My latest SacTV.com video explains how indie music would be stronger with better navigators and presenters.  The great

Technology has moved indie music forward, but it's still a big puzzle how to make indie music relevant to an online audience. Then again, if you let the music tell the story, much of the mystery is solved. I believe that music with lyrical value that adds insight to people's lives can make indie music more popular. I also believe that combining regional imagery with unique regional music creates timeless local videos. That's why over the past several months I've been producing "drive videos" and "river videos" for SacTV.com. While the drive videos highlight Sacramento's streets and highways, the river videos highlight scenes of the American River. Both types of scenery work well with loca

Award winning Blame Sally will be performing at Harlow’s in Sacramento on Sunday September 9th at 7:00 p.m. Blame Sally brings you everything from stompboxes to fiddles, as they weave their magic in a tapestry of musical delight. And don’t for a minute think of them as a folk band as they add a little bit of rock, and a whole lotta heart into each and every performance, blending the different genres into a melodic work of art. Their live performances are more than just a musical journey, as they banter back and forth with each other in between songs as only true friends can do, making for a very entertaining evening. Their most recent Sacramento appearance brought droves of fans from th

A common assumption that's really just a myth is that the past, present and future have nothing to do with each other. Many people might assume that Sacramento's local history is all about things that are never coming back. Yet, an event called Retro-Union on Labor Day weekend was like time travel to the past and future. The event was held at Harlows on Saturday, September 1 and attracted hundreds of people who still cherish the alternative dance music of the 80s and 90s. The futuristic part of the evening was performed by Gotham Chorus with Harrison Price, unleashing an innovative light show and new layers of electronic sound, captured on video by SacTV.com. One of the show's highlig

I met with Sacramento historian and author William Burg for a SacTV.com interview to talk about the history of Sacramento culture including its entertainment scene.  We covered many eras of the club scene. The prohibition era clubs, as you may have guessed, were among the most interesting. Resorts  on  the Sacramento River along with clubs all over Downtown have gone through both wild and quiet times over the past century. We talked  about the periods where the scene expanded and the times when the scene tightened up. Burg has researched the city's history and has written four books about it so far.  History shows that local officials have kept the Downtown area restrained from becoming

The local indie music scene is at least more than a rumor. At one time in the nineties the indie scene seemed much more high profile because the focus of the scene was on bands that were getting signed out of Sacramento to major labels. By the end of the decade the list was pretty extensive of local acts who signed deals, although only a few acts were able to go far in the music biz. These days not many people are hanging on the edge of their seats waiting to find out which local acts might be getting signed. There are more rumors about new apps that will help you track down indie artists and night clubs than indie artists themselves. That's because there are now more bands than fans, tha

Sacramento may not have a diverse mix of radio stations, but it sure has a diverse mix of gas stations. Today on August 13, 2012 you can find a fifty cent spread on gas prices around town. It's kind of like a flea market or an auction where you pick the best price, if you take the time to do the research. If you don't want to do any research, then you might not mind paying a premium - even if the gas is regular unleaded instead of premium. That means if you buy 10 gallons of gas, the difference between the high and low prices in town can make a difference of five bucks. That money could actually go to a few extra drinks, but if you'd rather let a gas station drink your cash, believe me, no

Sacramento is a city with amazing business potential. If location still means anything, as the internet world continues to eclipse the old brick n' mortar world, Sacramento's location on Planet Earth is pretty amazing, situated between two internationally known tourist destinations - San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. When you consider SacTown is also not far from some of the most beatuiful beaches and mountain scenery, as well as prime agriculture in the nation, one has to wonder why isn't Sacramento doing better as an indie market? It's still the capital of the biggest state, but why isn't it more the capital of anything else involving the concept of capital markets? Lately the word "capital

As the month of July comes to a close, so does the 21st season of the Friday Night Concerts in the Park. The city’s longest-running, outdoor music festival will come to a close on July 27th. The final concert will be headlined by local favorites The Brodys, who will bring their retro-pop sound to Cesar Chavez Plaza in their 15th Concerts in the Park appearance. Opening for The Brodys are local bands WRING and Hero's Last Mission. The free, all-ages concerts will take place 5 pm to 9 pm this Friday night. “It’s been an amazing Concerts in the Park season,” said Annie Stuckert, DSP Senior Manager of Event Operations and Development, “We entered our 21st year with record attendance, hugely p

The California State Fair has the fifth biggest attendance in America. Since California is the biggest state, some people in other states might have guessed it  would have the biggest. But those of us in Sacramento know it has always had its limits. This week I decided to analyze the bigger picture of all the state fairs around the country, which I have documented on SacTV.com with links to all the state fair websites. I wanted to see how our fair at Cal Expo compares with others around the country. What I found out is due to the recession, a few state fairs have disappeared. Michigan and Nevada, two of the worst stricken states in the economic downturn, have been the first two to drop ou

I haven't gone to the California State Fair much over the years, mainly because it's usually a letdown. In the past, admission has been as high as $10, but this year they are experimenting with $12 in what I call "creative pricing." I haven't been inside this year's fair yet so I can't really comment on it, although I shot some scenes from the exterior perimeter last week and the buzz I felt was typical. The parking lot was closer to full than empty yet it still had the feel of a ghost town full of empty souls. The fair has the potential of being the most exciting event of the year, yet it never quite lives up to that level. If we study the history of the state fair, not too many amazing t

Sacramento's most incredible natural resource is the American River. Sacramento's most incredible untapped resource is local music. If you put the two together you get "River City music videos," which is a new feature you'll find on SacTV.com. It's a new series of local music videos set to local music. It's a way to promote the beauty of Sacramento to the rest of the world and another way to promote local artists to Sacramento, and maybe even the rest of the world.  I spent most of Saturday (June 30)  thinking up the idea and most of Sunday (July 1) making videos of the idea for SacTV. On Saturday I produced a video of the American River with my own music just to get the idea rolling. It'

Welcome to another edition of the "Wake-Up Call," a rundown of items that we're working on, found interesting, or otherwise thought you might want to know about today. As is always the case here at Sac Press, suggestions are welcome. WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON: PINK SLIPS: Sacramento City Unified School District handed out pink slips to 300 people in March, including almost 60 percent of the district’s custodial staff, and those layoffs went into effect July 1. For one 63-year-old janitor, being let go just four months shy of her seniority date means zero medical benefits – something the not-ready-to-retire woman needs. Melissa Corker follows up with what the workers and their union reps are