Mary McCaslin's Roundup

Nov 16, 2000

A LOVELY TIME OF YEAR

This is my favorite time of year. Even though I grew up in southern California, I've never been a what you could call a "sunshine" person. Some of my fondest memories are the winters I spent in New England. And there is something magical about the fall, which I think of as the beginning rather than the ending of the year.

I think this comes from the fact that while the summer is outdoor festival season, the fall is when the local music promoters start up their series of concerts, which run through the fall, winter and spring months. It's great to get away for a festival weekend, but it's just as nice to take a short drive to hear the world class performers that are brought to our neighborhood.

The fall also used to be the time when most new recordings were released. This has changed in recent years because of the proliferation of independent, self-produced recordings and the fact that so much music these days is not aimed at the "school-age" market. Or maybe there are just as many if not more CDs targeting that market, and I'm just showing my age...

CARRIAGE RIDES and TWEEDLE HAWKS

Santa Cruz Feed & Mercantile is located on Center St., near downtown Santa Cruz. This feed store has been in existance for decades and is now owned by Randy and Chris Clayton. If Randy's name sounds familiar, it might be because he has given carriage rides around downtown during the Holidays for the last few years.

On October 15 Randy and Chris celebrated their second anniversary as the owners of S.C. Feed & Mercantile with a day of music, carriage rides and games. The music was provided by Charlie Tweddle (he pronounces it Tweedle). Charlie writes and performs original and classic country songs, and has recently released a CD called Fantastic Greatest Hits. Charlie is one of a kind, who not only only writes some incredibly witty and unique songs, but also is a first rate visual artist and hat maker. His hats are worn by celebrities such as Cher, Kim Novak and hair stylist to the stars, Jose Eber.

For many years Charlie has raised pigeons and has been developing his own breed, which he calls "Tweedle Hawks". He had a few pairs of his pigeons on display at S.C. Feed & Mercantile when he performed on October 15.

Along with hearing Charlie that day, I was treated to a ride up top in the driver's seat of Randy's carriage. The horses pulling the carriage were Greta and Rick and are of the ancient Shire breed. This is the kind of thrill that might be lost to anyone who is not a "horse nut", or at least appreciative of the feeling a horse drawn vehicle can elicit in certain people. As Randy drove I asked questions he has probably answered a thousand times before and he was very gracious in answering them.

There aren't a lot of these old style feed stores left, and here in Santa Cruz we are lucky enough to have two, S.C. Feed & Mercantile and General Feed & Seed. Both have strong ties to the local folk/country music scene and both have a way of making you feel right at home.

SPEAKING OF HOME

As I mentioned earlier I grew up in southern California, mostly in an L.A. suburb called Norwalk. This is something I usually avoid admitting. However, a few years ago in a conversation with musician Dave Alvin I discovered that he and his brother Phil grew up in the neighboring town of Downey. For the first time I felt that discussing where I grew up could be a positive experience. After all, if Dave Alvin grew up in that vicinity too, there must be something I missed, though I have no idea what. I've always liked Dave's songs and have come to look for references to that area in his writing, and there are many on his wonderful CD Blackjack David. He even has an instrumental called Florence Ave. Lullaby on an earlier recording. (Florence Ave. is a fairly well traveled street that runs from the Norwalk area to downtown L.A.)

Dave plays the Kuumbwa tonight for Snazzy Productions. Don't miss him, and be sure to check out his new CD Public Domain. His introduction in the booklet is one of the finest pieces of writing I've ever read about folk music, a subject that has been discussed at length to say the least. In fact, it's one fine piece of writing, period.

AIRPLAY TIPS and RADIO NEWS

Having hosted a radio show on KZSC for a few years I have received many, many recordings for airplay. They either turn up in my post office box , my box at the radio station or make their way to me in some other fashion.

For reasons I've never understood, some artists seem to think the larger the package they send, the more impression they will make. Here's a little piece of advice: The impression made by an oversized promo package sent to a dj in the hope of receiving airplay is not a positive one. All any dj wants or needs is the CD itself and maybe one or two pages at the most folded into the envelope, which should be CD size.

I inherited the pack rat gene and have enough clutter in my life as it is and have no use or need for pages, reviews and quotes, or 8X10 promo photos. The cost of these un-necessary additions add up quickly and can drain the financial resources of a struggling performer. There is truly no reason whatsoever to send a photo in the attempt t to receive airplay. In fact, most record companies like Rounder, Sugar Hill or Red House would probably only send out a photo to a radio station if there was a request for one, or if the artist was well known and they were

playing in that area.

As we know, this part of the world is loaded with musicians and many of them have made recordings. Most people who record hope to get airplay and only good can come from making a positive first impression on the djs who receive your CD.

The fall is one of the two times each year that the on-air staff of our wonderful public radio stations asks the listeners for financial support in the form of pledges. This month KZSC is conducting its fundraiser. This endeavor can be either tremendously gratifying or completely dis-heartening, and very often both.

In the case of KZSC, I think many folks just assume that the cost of maintaining the radio station is picked up by UC Santa Cruz. In spite of the fact that KZSC is located on the beautiful UC campus, over 50% of the operating budget comes from listener support. The other important contribution to any public radio station's working capital comes in the form of underwriting. This is "public radio speak" for advertising, although underwriting copy is far less strident in its presentation than some of the ads heard on commercial radio.

It's never too late to become a supporter of public radio. KUSP, KAZU, KKUP and KZSC all have lots of shows devoted to the folk/country/acoustic music that is so beloved here in this great place we're lucky enough to call home.

That's about all for now. Enjoy the crisp cool weather!

Happy Trails.

Mary McCaslin can be reached by mail at PO Box 3394, Santa Cruz 95063 or by email at <roundup@marymccaslin.com>. Mary's radio show, the Fat Farm, can be heard Thursdays

from 3 to 5 pm on KZSC 88.1-FM.