All that Jazz: Mimi Fox

–By Suzanne Corson With fingers flying over the fretboard and passion in her heart, acclaimed jazz guitarist and composer Mimi Fox celebrates the release this month of her latest DVD, Mimi Fox: Live at the Palladium. Fox has been named International Critics Poll winner in six consecutive Downbeat Magazine polls and has performed with luminaries [...]

Emily Jane White: The Poetic “Victorian American”

Like a modern-day Nico, Emily Jane White’s voice, deep and somber, sounds like it’s from a faraway land. However, this mod-haired folk singer is a California native, born and raised in the Mendacino seaside town of Fort Bragg, the influential factor for her second album, “Victorian American.” Another one for “Team California”. Sweet. If you think this is just [...]

Sea of Her: Vanessa and Her Many Moons

                            –By Julia Dodge   Bright-eyed and moody, Vanessa Beggs is a charming contradiction. Her song’s lyrics are melancholy pearls of wisdom, notions of triumph over personal demons, and desperate pleas for sanity. However, one wouldn’t believe such a heavy emotional load [...]

The Mark of the Woman: These tattoo artists can hurt you pretty

By Julia Dodge Kari Riley quickly pushes her eyeglasses up with the back of her arm as she intensely glides her buzzing tattoo gun over the top of her client’s left thigh. A dentist office-like lamp shines bright on the female client’s red, irritated skin, exposing Riley’s nearly completed work: an ornate, black-inked heart, with [...]

She & Him Shine “In the Sun”

–By Julia Dodge I first fell in love with Zooey Deschanel’s enchanting voice in Elf.  When she sang ”Baby, it’s Cold Outside” it channeled Judy Garland “Somewhere-Over-the-Rainbow” chills (which leads me to another thought: she’d absolutely shine Oscar-style as Garland in a biographic film.)  Today marked another milestone for She & Him, the folk-indie duo of actress Deschanel and M. [...]