Tim Bluhm Takes on Merle Haggard for New Tribute Album

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Tim Bluhm Takes on Merle Haggard for New Tribute Album

Tim Bluhm thinks he was about 22-years-old when he first heard outlaw country music singer-songwriter Merle Haggard. Bluhm was already playing in a rock band in Chico at the time, but Haggard’s forlorn lyrics and steadfast vocal delivery quickly adhered themselves to Bluhm’s musical subconscious.

“I guess I started working on trying to sing like him right then, but it took me a long time to feel anything close to good about my attempts,” Bluhm says in a statement. “He sang with such effortlessness and honesty, and he was good at humor too.”

For the last three decades, Bluhm’s music has held elements of Haggard in them; whether it was in popular West Coast soul band The Mother Hips–which Bluhm has co-fronted since 1990–or in Bluhm’s contributions to projects like Skinny Singers with Jackie Greene, Ball-Point Birds with Greg Loiacono, the Rhythm Devils, Brokedown in Bakersfield and Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers. It’s also been a part of Bluhm’s solo albums, including those albums he recorded in the aftermath of a bad outdoor accident that put him in a wheelchair in late 2015.

Now 50-years-old (and largely recovered from his accident), Bluhm is paying proper tribute to Merle Haggard with his forthcoming fourth solo record, Hag Heaven, coming out on Friday, Nov. 20, through the label Blue Rose.

Recorded in Bluhm’s Marin County home studio, which boasts both vintage instruments and top-quality recording gear, Hag Heaven is a collection of 11 of Haggard’s most beloved compositions.

Bluhm co-produced the album with frequent collaborator Mark Adams and he contributes vocals, guitars, piano and keyboards alongside session musicians Dave Zirbel on pedal steel, Megan Lynch Chowning on fiddle, Aidan Collins on bass and Daryl VanDruff on drums. This same cast of characters recently came together to record Mark Adams Band’s recently released album, Loaded with Lefty: A Tribute to Lefty Frizzell.

For Hag Heaven, Bluhm chose his favorite Merle Haggard songs and recorded their covers with respect for the original recordings. Bluhm says the album’s first single, “Am I Standing in Your Way,” showcases Haggard’s vulnerability, fortitude and humor all at once.

“This song embodies the attitude for which I love Merle Haggard so much,” he says.

The new album also features the classic Haggard song “Every Fool Has a Rainbow.”

“I’m pretty sure Hag takes the guitar solo on the original recording so I had to try it out too,” Bluhm says. “His soaring vocal and the lush orchestration are classic Merle.”

Bluhm also covers Haggard’s early hit “Hungry Eyes,” touches upon Haggard’s penchant for prison songs with “Hunstville,” examines Haggard’s Dust Bowl-era of songs with “Someday We’ll Look Back” and explores Haggard’s religious side with “Don’t’ Give Up on Me.” As a musician himself, Bluhm also covers Haggard’s “Footlights” on the record.

“I think this is one of his very best songs,” Bluhm says. “He tells a great little story about playing shows for 20 years and having to go out and kick ass every night, even if he’s not feeling it. I guess I can kind of relate.”

‘Hag Heaven’ is available on limited-edition vinyl on Friday, Nov. 20, at Bluerosemusic.com.

Independent Bookstores Prepare for the Holidays

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Independent Bookstores Prepare for the Holidays

Eight months into the coronavirus pandemic and with the holidays approaching, North Bay bookstores are experimenting with new ways of getting their products to readers—with some boosting online sales efforts, holiday delivery programs and online events.

Although the pandemic restrictions and a months-long shutdown earlier this year were hard on local bookstores, sales seem to be bouncing back at some of the four North Bay bookstores we contacted this week. 

Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that some North Bay residents, following a nationwide trend, have turned to books for solace, entertainment and as a distraction from the chaotic, pandemic world.

Across the industry, sales appear to be up over last year. A November 2020 analysis by industry consultant NPD Bookscan cited in Publishers Weekly found that total book sales were up 7.1 percent this year compared to the same time in 2019. 

In what may be one of the pandemic’s silver linings—or a desperate attempt by working parents to keep their children occupied—sales of juvenile nonfiction rose by a remarkable 29.2 percent in sales over the same time last year, according to a Nov. 6 Publishers Weekly article.

Yet, with the ever-present industry threat of online retailers looming in the background, North Bay booksellers hope their customers will choose to support local sellers over Amazon and other online options.

“I’ve just told everyone, ‘If there’s any way for you to, try to support local independent stores and your local community this holiday because they really need it,’” Aubury Doherty, the general manager of Copperfield’s Books, said in an interview. 

With that, here is a review of some North Bay bookstores’ Covid-19 experiences and holiday plans.

Copperfield’s Books

With nine stores throughout Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties, Copperfield’s is the North Bay’s largest local independent bookstore chain. Doherty, the company’s general manager, says most of the employees are back at work, albeit with some reduced hours as the company heads into the holidays, a crucial season for everyone in the book-sales industry.

Like many other North Bay bookstores, Copperfield’s offers a variety of options including online sales, curbside pick-up and in-store purchase. And, in order to keep customers and employees safe, Copperfield’s urges customers to shop earlier in order to spread out the usual holiday shopping season.

“We’re super excited to be back in business, and things are definitely improving,” Doherty says. “We’re finding different ways to reach our customers. But, as with most of your independent local businesses, sales are down for the year so far.”

Leaning into the apparent boom in children’s books sales, Copperfield’s recently launched CopperBox, a subscription service for young readers. Each month, subscribers receive staff-selected books tailored for readers 0–3 years old or 4–7 years old. 

The monthly infusion of literature may help parents trapped at home keep their children occupied—and curious about the outside world.

Copperfield’s also hosts a variety of online events. For instance, on Friday, Nov. 20, the company will stream an online talk with the authors of “Petaluma in Vintage Postcards,” a recently-released pictographic history of Sonoma County’s second-largest city.

Levin & Company, Healdsburg

Aaron Rosewater, one of the owners of this nearly 30-year-old store in downtown Healdsburg, says sales are up this year despite a sharp drop during the first months of the pandemic shutdown.

Rosewater spent the first months of closure updating the store’s website.

“Our hits [on the website] went from being three to five a day, to 40 to 50 a day,” he says.

Still, customers seemed relieved to return to the store in person when restrictions were lifted.

“They were just thrilled to be back in the store,” Rosewater says. “They were so happy to be able to browse and look at inventory, and I think just to get out, because they’d been sheltering for two-and-a-half months.”

Although they cannot accept orders through their website, Levin & Company accepts email and phone orders for curb-side pickup. The store also offers delivery service for Healdsburg residents, a program which may be convenient for customers who want to avoid human contact as Covid-19 cases begin to rise again.

Treehorn Books, Santa Rosa

Grant Hotaling says that sales at Treehorn Books, a store in downtown Santa Rosa which specializes in used and collectable books, are down this year despite somewhat successful efforts to increase online sales.

Going into the holidays, Hotaling says the store, which opened in 1979, is pinning some of its hopes on its annual sale of thousands of calendars. The calendar sale is usually a popular stop for Santa Rosa’s holiday shoppers, in part due to the store’s bargain-bin prices.

“If you have a calendar and live in Santa Rosa, there’s probably a 50 percent chance you or someone [else] got it for you here,” Hotaling says with a chuckle.

Like other bookstores, Hotaling said he has noticed some customers opting for political literature—perhaps driven by the nationwide protests this summer—while others are diving into more escapist fiction.

Whyte’s Booksmith, San Anselmo

This beloved downtown San Anselmo bookstore reopened in late August to business as usual, with regular customers ambling into the store, selecting books from the carts on the sidewalk outfront, or ordering for pick-up, says Manager Kim Moon. 

Customers have respected the health guidelines, including wearing masks and waiting outside to let the store clear out, Moon adds.

It must have been a long year for the bookstore: Last September, Michael Whyte announced plans to sell the store after 39 years of ownership.

But, one pandemic shutdown later, the store is still in business. 

Moon says Whyte is still holding out for a buyer who wants to maintain the store’s bonafides as a community bookstore, a trait the store’s loyal customers might appreciate even more after the isolation of the early months of the pandemic.

“What customers are saying to us is that having a bookstore in the neighborhood is something that they value, possibly even more so during Covid times,” Moon says.

Astrology: Leo’s ‘Need for Drama’

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Astrology: Leo’s ‘Need for Drama’

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Back in 1974, poet Allen Ginsberg and his “spirit wife,” Aries poet Anne Waldman, were roommates at the newly established Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. The school’s founder asked these two luminaries to create a poetics program, and thus was born the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Waldman described its ruling principle to be the “outrider” tradition, with a mandate to explore all that was iconoclastic, freethinking and irreverent. The goal of teachers and students alike was to avoid safe and predictable work so as to commune with wild spiritual powers, “keep the energies dancing,” and court eternal surprise. I think that would be a healthy approach for you to flirt with during the next few weeks.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Any legal actions you take are more likely to be successful if you initiate them between now and the solstice than if you begin them at other times. The same is true for any contracts you sign or agreements you make: They have a better chance to thrive than they would at other times. Other activities with more kismet than usual during the coming weeks: efforts to cultivate synergy and symbiosis; attempts to turn power struggles into more cooperative ventures; a push to foster greater equality in hierarchical situations; and ethical moves to get access to and benefit from other people’s resources.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Never follow an expert off a precipice. Nor a teacher. Nor an attractive invitation. Nor a symbol of truth nor a vibrant ideal nor a tempting gift. In fact, never follow anything off a precipice, no matter how authoritative or sexy or appealing it might be. On the other hand, if any of those influences are headed in the direction of a beautiful bridge that can enable you to get to the other side of a precipice, you should definitely consider following them. Be on the alert for such lucky opportunities in the coming weeks.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Malidoma Patrice Somé was born into the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso. After being initiated into the Dagara’s spiritual mysteries, he emigrated to America, where he has taught a unique blend of modern and traditional ideas. One of his key themes is the hardship that Westerners’ souls endure because of the destructive impact of the machine world upon the spiritual world. He says there is “an indigenous person within each of us” that longs to cultivate the awareness and understanding enjoyed by indigenous people: a reverence for nature, a vital relationship with ancestors and a receptivity to learn from the intelligence of animals. How’s your inner indigenous person doing? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to enhance your ability to commune with and nurture that vital source.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Psychologists have identified a quality they call NFD: “need for drama.” Those who possess it may be inclined to seek or even instigate turmoil out of a quest for excitement. After all, bringing a dose of chaos into one’s life can cure feelings of boredom or powerlessness. “I’m important enough to rouse a Big Mess!” may be the subconscious battle cry. I’ll urge you Leos to studiously and diligently avoid fostering NFD in the coming weeks. In my astrological opinion, you will have a blessed series of interesting experiences if and only if you shed any attraction you might have to histrionic craziness.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing,” wrote philosopher Baruch Spinoza. “Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone is sure.” Spinoza’s thoughts will be a great meditation for you in the coming weeks. If you go chasing phantom hopes, longing for absolute certainty and iron confidence, you’ll waste your energy. But if you identify what is most genuine and true and essential about you, and you rely on it to guide you, you can’t possibly fail.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika,” said Libran fashion writer Diana Vreeland. “We all need a splash of bad taste,” she continued. “It’s hearty, it’s healthy, it’s physical. I think we could use more of it. Having no taste is what I’m against.” I understand that her perspective might be hard to sell to you refined Librans. But I think it’s good advice right now. Whatever’s lacking in your world, whatever might be off-kilter, can be cured by a dash of good, funky earthiness. Dare to be a bit messy and unruly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): To convey the spirit of the coming weeks, I’m offering you wisdom from two women who were wise about the art of slow and steady progress. First, here’s author Iris Murdoch: “One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.” Your second piece of insight about the wonders of prudent, piecemeal triumph comes from activist and author Helen Keller: “I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian statesman Winston Churchill said that he was always ready to learn—even though there were times when he didn’t enjoy being taught. That might be a useful motto for you to adopt in the coming months. By my estimates, 2021 could turn out to bring a rather spectacular learning spurt—and a key boost to your life-long education. If you choose to take advantage of the cosmic potentials, you could make dramatic enhancements to your knowledge and skill set. As Churchill’s message suggests, not all of your new repertoire will come easily and pleasantly. But I bet that at least 80 percent of it will. Start planning!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In accordance with upcoming astrological indicators, I’ve got some good advice for you courtesy of your fellow Capricorn David Bowie. You’ll be well-served to keep it in mind between now and January 1, 2021. “Go a little bit out of your depth,” counseled Bowie. “And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” For extra inspiration, I’ll add another prompt from the creator of Ziggy Stardust: “Once you lose that sense of wonder at being alive, you’re pretty much on the way out.” In that spirit, my dear Capricorn, please take measures to expand your sense of wonder during the next six weeks. Make sure you’re on your way in.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Most of us aren’t brilliant virtuosos like, say, Leonardo da Vinci or Nobel Prize-winning scientist Marie Curie. On the other hand, every one of us has a singular amalgam of potentials that is unique in the history of the world—an exceptional flair or an idiosyncratic mastery or a distinctive blend of talents. In my astrological opinion, you Aquarians will have unprecedented opportunities to develop and ripen this golden and glorious aspect of yourself in 2021. And now is a good time to begin making plans. I encourage you to launch your year-long Festival of Becoming by writing down a description of your special genius.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1969, humans flew a spaceship to the moon and landed on it for the first time. In 1970, the state of Alabama finally made it legal for interracial couples to get married. That’s a dramatic example of how we humans may be mature and strong in some ways even as we remain backward and undeveloped in other ways. According to my astrological analysis, the coming months will be a highly favorable time for the immature and unseasoned parts of you to ripen. I encourage you to get started!

Trivia Cafe: Hitchcock for the Win

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Trivia Cafe: Hitchcock for the Win

QUESTIONS:

1 True or false?

a.  Lucas Valley in Marin County was named after filmmaker George Lucas

b.  Cleveland, Ohio was named after President Grover Cleveland

c.  California’s tallest mountain, Mt. McKinley, was named after President William McKinley

d.  The Sandwich Islands were named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich

2 What mythological creature had the head and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse?

3 McDonald’s restaurant sales greatly increased after the 1979 introduction of what?

4 Geometry, True or False: Three angles that measure 40 degrees, 30 degrees and 20 degrees are called “complementary angles” because their sum is 90 degrees.

5 The largest Christian church building in the world is located in Vatican City. What is its name?

6 What 6-letter word do baseball, legends, nations and three nautical miles have in common?

7 What person selected the swampy location along the Potomac River in Maryland and Virginia to become the District of Columbia (accepted by an act of Congress in 1790)?

8 This movie was directed in 1940 by Alfred Hitchcock and remade as a 2020 film that was shown at the recent Mill Valley Film Festival. Based on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier, what’s the one-word title?

9 Name, in order, this year’s first seven Greek-named hurricanes and tropical storms … so far.

10 What did they play?

10a.  Gary Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Bobby Fischer    

10b.  Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin and Nicolo Paganini  

10c.  Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Omar Sharif  

10d.  David Niven, Pierce Brosnan and George Lazenby

BONUS QUESTION: The Collins English Dictionary’s word of the year 2020 is something experienced, dreaded and needed by much of the world in 2020. What is it?

Tagline: Want more trivia for your party, fundraiser or special event, on Zoom? Contact Howard Rachelson at ho*****@tr********.com.

ANSWERS:

1a. False – named after John Lucas, 19th century rancher

1b. False  –  named after General Moses Cleaveland, distant relative of Grover Cleveland

1c. True

1d. True

2 Centaur

3 Happy Meals

4 False: Exactly two angles that add up to 90 degrees can be called “complementary” to each other.

5 St. Peter’s Basilica 

6 League

7 George Washington

8 Rebecca

9 Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta

10a.  Chess

10b.  Violin

10c.  Bridge

10d.  They played James Bond

BONUS ANSWER: “Lockdown”

Sonoma Noir: New Jonah Raskin Mystery

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Sonoma Noir: New Jonah Raskin Mystery

Shelter-in-place provided prolific Sonoma County author Jonah Raskin ample time to conclude his murder mystery trilogy starring private investigator Tioga Vignetta. Loyal readers will enjoy getting to know familiar characters more deeply, however, this first-time reader had no trouble diving into Dark Past, Dark Future without having read the first two books. 

Raskin’s book is set in and around Sonoma Valley, full of recognizable locales even if most are given fictional names. Though based in the present-day, it feels a bit outside of time. Its protagonist, Vignetta—lover of noir—is, herself, outside of time, a bit like Elliott Gould’s Philip Marlowe. Vignetta doesn’t stumble or mumble in bewilderment around 2020 the way Gould’s Marlowe does the early 1970s, but her world seems to feel more cinematic to her than to others in it. Her behavior can be anachronistic. She prints out a hard copy of an address instead of referencing it on her smartphone. When we hear her inner thoughts, they have a rawness and humor different from her quips in conversation. 

“Fuck anxiety,” Vignetta thinks as she drives past vineyards on her way home, where she’ll discover someone has broken in. And then, “Fuck grapes.” Later on, the same veraison she felt disdain for lifts her mood. Raskin, who is from the East Coast, has lived in Sonoma County for much of his adult life. One senses his fondness, frustration and fascination with the region throughout Dark Past, Dark Future. 

Raskin has published 15 books, ranging from academic nonfiction to poetry and memoir. Followers of his work will recognize common themes—marijuana, the wine industry, far-left politics and Jack London all make appearances. 

It’s clear Raskin enjoys genre fiction and hardboiled crime—he turns the Valley into a stylish milieu of sex, drugs and blackmail, which makes the book a breeze to read. Yet there are moments where the style gives way to harder grit. Raskin’s foreword explains that domestic violence and sexual assaults against women have reached epic proportions in the 21st century, exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s both sobering and dread-inducing to read this note, knowing the protagonist will face such trauma. Raskin, who knows when to be serious, handles the scene in graphic detail, but thankfully spends more time on Vignetta’s recovery. 

The author says he is too attached to Tioga to let go of her completely, but that this is the last we’ll hear of her for a while. He’s already completed his next novel, featuring a different protagonist. It’s set in San Francisco in the 1950s. 

“Dark Past, Dark Future” is available from Santa Rosa’s McCaa Books. — C.R. Griffith

Writing in Cafes

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Writing in Cafes

Remember writing in cafes? My own obsession began with Christine’s Cafe in Petaluma in the mid-’80s but quickly metastasized into San Anselmo’s Cafe Nuvo and finally into San Francisco’s North Beach.

This is where my cohorts and I vainly searched for traces of the Beats, who, by the early ’90s, were so heavily productized and marketed to those of us born under the sign of X that one could hardly think of On The Road without The Gap’s reminder that “Jack Kerouac wore khakis.” Why this didn’t become a title for a David Foster Wallace satire I do not know, but it remains a supposedly fun ad campaign I hope to never see again.

My type of place

Obtaining a cafe in which to write used to be easy. It was having something to write that was difficult. Barring that, you at least need something to write on or in, or whatever preposition you shouldn’t end a sentence with.

When at cafes, I used to write in Portage Brand reporter’s notebooks, which I still carry in the left, inside pocket of my blazer because they’re bulletproof. Now it’s all on my phone. Not as romantic an image, but it’s a damn convenient way to run a newspaper or write a mystery novel. Yes, I know this should be done in the hustle-bustle of a newsroom or in an overstuffed chair with a human skull on the shelf, but I’m a creature of habit. And cafes are hustly-bustly enough and I bring my lucky skull everywhere I go, anyway. You shouldn’t oppress writers with your preconceived notions of how we work—most of us are out of work, so that joke’s on you.

That said, l prefer writing in cafes, not outside them. Back of the room, back to the wall, mafia-boss style—not so I don’t get plugged unawares, but to protect my patented process from prying eyes. But now all my writing spots have turned into Cafe Covids, which restrict seating to orange playpens made of rented traffic barricades (Sonoma County) or pricey parklets (Marin County).

Works for me—except for the fact that it’s cold, and all of them are warmed with propane-powered heaters that are sure to blow into fireballs. Adds new meaning to Hemingway’s A Clean, Well-Lighted Place. 

—Written over consecutive coffees at Marin Roasters and Longway in San Anselmo.

Daedalus Howell’s books and films are free to download and stream at DaedalusHowell.com.

Open Mic: Sorry Siri

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Open Mic: Sorry Siri

Siri, who some call Alexa, is the robotic lady who lives in my phone. She professes to have the answer to any question. When I speak, she listens.

I talk to Siri by holding my 3×6-inch phone up near my mouth, flat and horizontal like a black, shiny graham cracker I’m about to take a bite out of, like a clown forever trapped in a comic strip frame.

I enjoy using Siri’s talk-to-text and text-to-talk functions. But, if I don’t immediately correct what Siri writes when I talk, I find myself looking at gibberish, her twisted free associations.

She might be simply perverse, or hungover, hard of hearing, or terribly drowsy. Or, maybe it’s me. Do I mumble instead of enunciating? Do I revert to my tacky New Jersey accent, while she hears with accent-free California ears?

I dictate “baroque,” but she writes “broke.” I say “dachshunds,” but she hears “dark sense.” I utter “anteater,” but she (understandably) writes “aunt eater.”

My “Dada” becomes her “daughter.” She hears “up here” as “appear,” “snafu” as “Snapple,” “feral” as “pharaoh,” “whether” as “weather” and “Titan” as “tighten” (she cannot handle homonyms), “boring” as “Boeing,” “juvenilia” as “do vanilla,” “capable” as “keep bubble,” “surfaces” as “services,” “this dream” as “the stream,” “terrain” as “to rain,” “omens” as “almonds,” “buddy” as “body” (she can be X-rated), “Judaism” as “Judy is in,” “afraid” as “frayed,” “lawyer” as “liar” (she can be snarky), “school” as “skull,” “inhale” as “in hell,” “troglodytes” as “truck with lights” (she can offer poetry prompts), “lunch” as “launch,” “laying fallow” as “lame fellow,” “Venus of Willendorf” as “Venus is a villain dwarf,” etc.

I say “frontiers,” and she writes “front tears.” Venturing into Siri’s frontiers reduces me to tears. My “poem” is her “palm,” and my “writer” is her “rider.” She has me in the palm of her hand. Writing with moody Siri is a wild ride.

Rita S. Losch, MA, MFA, is a Santa Rosa poet and writing coach who focuses on the creative process.

Letters to the Editor: Preventing Catastrophe

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Letters to the Editor: Preventing Catastrophe

The tragic structure fire in the Sleepy Hollow area of Marin County that left one person dead on Oct. 26 must ignite in us the inner fire needed to combat global warming. We simply cannot allow a handful of irresponsible and reckless energy magnates the “freedom” to continue to destroy our planet’s health and life-supporting ability with their continuing expansion of fossil fuel production and use.

President Biden’s presidency will make it easier for us to work for the transition to renewable energy. However, we can not merely sit back and expect that the coming catastrophe of global warming will be prevented by President Biden.

Joe Biden’s election merely opens the door a little more widely for us to increase the fight needed to halt the deadly destruction of the Earth’s atmosphere with endless pollution from greenhouse gases and the further destruction of our forests and trees. And it is essential that we in the United States insist that the political leadership of the United States end its senseless rivalries with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. 

The United States must replace its self-defeating policy of fighting against the world’s other superpowers and instead work in alliance with these other major world governments to radically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and to defend the health and restoration of the Earth’s dangerously abused ecosystems. And our window of opportunity is not large.

Time is running out in our ability to create this radical change in humankind’s relationship with nature—with our only home, this Earth. If we fail to act immediately, it will soon be too late to save our lives from this most grave threat to our survival.

Rama Kumar

Fairfax

Formerly Unsheltered North Bay Author Takes New Direction

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Formerly Unsheltered North Bay Author Takes New Direction

Edward Campagnola has stories to tell. For several years, Campagnola’s story was that of living as an unsheltered resident in the North Bay, and he spent five years writing that account in his debut novel, Directions to the Dumpster, released last year and now available on Amazon.com. 

The book traces Campagnola’s journey in homelessness and his attempts to get out of it while dispelling preconceptions about homelessness and the stigma surrounding it through compassionate writing.

In April of this year, the Pacific Sun ran an article about Campagnola’s struggles to find housing and his efforts to publish his novel, and soon, after another local publication picked up the story, a homeowner in Petaluma reached out to Campagnola and offered him a place to stay.

“It’s an amazing place, I have a room and a garden, and there are dogs that I’ve befriended,” Campagnola says. “I have a place to write, and the resources.”

With those resources, Campagnola has already nearly completed his second manuscript, titled Directions to Mercy Street. The new novel picks up where Directions to the Dumpster left off, and follows Campagnola’s journey during the last year as he found redemption in his writing and hope in his new housing.

“It was rough with ‘Dumpster,’ without the resources,” Campagnola says of writing his first novel. Not only was he forced to write in notebooks and on library computers, but the raw intensity of some of the experiences in the novel—such as being the victim of a violent, random attack on a California-bound Greyhound bus that left him with PTSD—were difficult for him to revisit emotionally.

Campagnola wrote Directions to the Dumpster as a form of therapy, and to give society a better understanding of homelessness in America. 

Directions to the Dumpster is a phrase Campagnola uses literally and figuratively, arguing that in a capitalist society, the homeless are seen as worthless in so much as they are often given directions to the dumpster when they do reach out and ask for help. 

This argument could extend to housing itself in the North Bay, as Campagnola failed to find a room to rent before his local publicity; even with a monthly budget of 800 dollars to spend and groups like Catholic Charities helping him search.

Now in a secure place physically, Campagnola’s writing is flowing out of him like never before and Directions to Mercy Street is packed with emotionally-charged true stories from the last year, including how the Covid-19 pandemic looked to unsheltered residents. 

“I’m on the street when it begins,” he says of the pandemic. “I saw nobody on the street, and I went into this speech about the meek inheriting the whole thing. And this guy listening to me says, ‘nice speech, but save it.’”

Currently, Campagnola is editing Directions to Mercy Street and looking for a publisher to help get the novel out to a wider audience. He is also already writing other manuscripts, and coming up with new projects and even several songs.

“I have been humbled to my knees,” Campagnola says, with regards to finding housing. “The gratefulness that I feel is without bounds.”

“Directions to the Dumpster” is available online now at Amazon.com.

BottleRock Napa Valley Moves to Labor Day Weekend for 2021

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BottleRock Napa Valley Moves to Labor Day Weekend for 2021

It’s been a long road to BottleRock Napa Valley this year, as the North Bay’s biggest music, food and wine festival was forced to cancel its planned eighth annual three-day party at the Napa Expo in downtown Napa last Memorial Day Weekend due to Covid-19.

Initially, the organizers behind BottleRock hoped for a fall version of the event this past October, though the festival officially shelved plans for a 2020 event back in July and instead announced that BottleRock would return in 2021.

Now, BottleRock Napa Valley announces that the road to the festival will go on a bit further, as next year’s event is now being moved from Memorial Day weekend 2021 to Labor Day weekend, September 3 to 5, 2021.

“We are looking forward to presenting BottleRock during such a beautiful time of the year in the Napa Valley,” says BottleRock Napa Valley producer Dave Graham. “We’re excited to bring back some joy to the Napa Valley through live music, with the health and safety of our patrons, artists, vendors, staff and surrounding communities front of mind.”

Organizers made the decision to shift the dates from May to September 2021 just as Napa County moves into a more-restrictive tier of social distancing this week as the state attempts to curb its current rise in Covid-19 case numbers. Festival organizers stress that rescheduling the festival to 2021 is to prioritize the health and safety of patrons, artists, vendors, staff and the surrounding Napa Valley communities that annually support an influx of tens of thousands of attendees.

According to California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state has seen its quickest increase in new Covid-19 cases over the last 10 days since the pandemic began in earnest in March, and state officials are even considering additional measures such as a statewide curfew to discourage people from social gatherings that increase the risk of spreading the coronavirus.

“Every age group, every demographic, racial, ethnic (group) in every part of the state, we are seeing case rates increase and positivity rates increase as well,” Newsom said during a recent briefing on the pandemic. “We are seeing community spread broadly.”

The 2020 BottleRock Napa Valley festival’s scheduled music headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band and Stevie Nicks were all previously confirmed to perform when BottleRock returned in 2021, and while there is no details on the new Labor Day weekend lineup, organizers will reveal the 2021 BottleRock festival performers early next year.

One thing is for sure, when it returns in 2021, BottleRock Napa Valley will once again feature the world’s top musicians on five stages, as well as its infamous BottleRock Culinary Stage showcasing culinary and celebrity mashups.

All tickets that were sold for BottleRock Napa Valley’s postponed 2020 dates are valid for the September 2021 dates, and festival ticket holders have been notified of their options via email. Those who wish to preregister to purchase available tickets for the new dates as soon as they’re available can visit bottlerocknapavalley.com.

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