Posts Tagged ‘artist’
Arann Harris
All I want to do is make my own music.
Something new but familiar, songs that feel as if you have known them
all your life but at the same time shake up the listener and make them feel.
Music that tastes and feels like it came from Petaluma.
I like the term Roots music, grounded in the past but
growing in our own direction.
Tradition country folk music is were we come from but this band,
our music is in the mist of a changing landscape, from dairies
to hatcheries to wineries.
My hope is to capture this feeling of change,
evolving land and evolving sounds.
Not to much country and not to much city.
Gabby LaLa
Gabby La La knew that she wanted to be a musician and performer since she was five years old!
She began singing songs from her favorite movie “Annie” and soon started taking piano lessons.
Some children play doctor, or chef, but Gabby played “superstar” and used the ends of her curtain rods for microphones!
After learning piano for several years, Gabby picked up the accordion, guitar, and then settled on the sitar.
Gabby Studied North Indian Classical Music at the Ali Akbar College of Indian Music for 4 years and then continued her training at The California Institute of the Arts where she received a BFA in Sitar Performance.
Gabby La La’s style has been described as “Kooky and Spooky”, “Experimental”, and “Unusual” but no matter what you call it, La La’s music will always bring a smile to your face.
Gabby’s first album “Be Careful What You Wish For…” was released in 2005 on Les Claypool’s Prawn Song Records.
She is currently performing and writing new music and working on a mini graphic collection of her songs.
Gabby La La has performed with Les Claypool, Buckethead, Bernie Worrell, Rat Dog, P Funk, Snoop Dogg, Weapon of Choice, Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra, The Benevento Russo Duo, and J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science, to name a few!
“Be creative, be courageous, be careful what you wish for, and most importantly… BE YOURSELF! ” -Gabby La La
Anna & Byle
Petaluma reminds us of the movie Joe Dirt.
It’s our Silvertown.
We love that the every morning smells like manure and money.
We both work a lot.
We play a lot in between.
We stay up way too late, and take really long naps during
the hottest and most boring hours of the day.
We fish more than most people do in a lifetime, drink cheep beer,
and kiss my little brothers dog when we have 15 minutes to kill.
We met in line at a coffee cart four years ago, and have been together ever since.
It was absolute love at first sight. Byle got my number, called me up one night,
and invited me on a date to the car races.
He was a train hopper before i met him.
I paint a lot, and he builds all kinds of shit.
We mix our lives together well.
We were both jaded before we met each other,
both ready for something and nothing at the same time.
My family adores him, and we adore each other.
Petaluma used to be amazing. It was wide open and beautiful.
Nobody cared what your yard looked like, and you would never get the cops
called on you for sleeping in your car for an hour or a year.
Trains ran through town, and there was never traffic.
The river wasn’t lined with lofts. At least that smelly thing can never be
replaced with a historical plaque next to a no loitering/skateboarding
sign stuck to a boutique.
We still love it here, and nothing ever stays the same,
but Petaluma needs a rehabilitation break.
Michael “BUG” Deakin
Petaluma has such a significant and accessible geographical location in the bay area, with an excellent combination of urban and ag, and an intriguing blend of the arts, sustainable intent and community outreach!
Michael “Bug” Deakin, a British Columbia native, built his first home out of reclaimed materials in 1970, and that was just the beginning. Along the way he has planted trees, designed, built and remodeled custom homes, boats, movie sets, rock walls, gardens, parade floats, tree forts, dog houses, ship models, furniture and a splendiferous array of art forms from repurposed materials.
As a member of Ivy Deakin’s story telling family of 10 children, everything was re-used and recycled, especially all the great stories. Bug takes to heart the story and origin of the buildings, people and materials that make their way in and out of the Petaluma yard. With relentless focus on sustainable enthusiasm and talking story, Heritage Salvage has become a center of creativity and sustainability.
As he waltzed his way through years of planetary wanders and events of wonder, he learned from many teachers and was affected by design without limits. From an Amazon Tree house to a Japanese Teahouse, a Balinese Birdhouse, a Driftwood Palace and the pleasing decay of a Western Barn, every nuance notched its niche.
Bug’s passion is the art and reward of re-purposing, re-using, and recycling as a part of a sustainable way of life. Teaching others to see the beauty in what is here, sharing treasures and stories of the past, and sharing the joy of turning old, sometimes falling down, structures into beautiful new things fuels each day.
Just as in the Deakin family, there is always enough to share, and Heritage Salvage goes out of it’s way to help those that need it and those that help others.
Michael Bug has a sprawling enthusiastic family in British Columbia, including a fabulous Daughter Suzy and two grandsons in Salmo!
Jason Webster
Jason Webster hovers above Petaluma, like a dark bird on a wire in the early evening. He scans the color and motion below, yet he’s comfortable and calm on his monochromatic perch. You’ve seen him downtown, capturing and preparing art at Picture Perfect. Thirteen lucky years framing our images, Jason, totally embracing responsibility to wife and baby, takes care of business. You trust him to display your art in the appropriate light. After closing time, Jason slides back to black, to hearth and home, where his family awaits and the walls vibrate with news from other worlds and ages. The place he prefers is made by hand and exudes not so much sadness as nostalgia for a time “when people had more dignity.” His space varies dramatically from neighboring living rooms where television prevails, but he doesn’t judge. Jason’s always been this way – bit of a death obsession; black-on-black; other-worldly – but in a happy way. “I’m sort of a death hippie,” he says proudly. Jason rarely ponders moving elsewhere. “I grew up in Petaluma. I’m notorious here, which appeals to me.”
Tony Najiola
After more than 20 years of intensive culinary experience, cooking in several of New York City’s and San Francisco’s top restaurants, Tony was able to fulfill his life long dream to develop his own restaurant.
“While you won’t necessarily find gumbo on our menu, my passion for food and appreciation for good hospitality and fine cuisine, which were greatly influenced from my New Orleans’ roots, is apparent in Central Market’s uniquely comfortable ambience. While chef in residence at Ravenswood Winery, I was able to further explore and cultivate the many outstanding fresh food purveyors throughout Sonoma County. The rich bounty of this agricultural region provides our mostly Mediterranean menu with seasonal dishes. I use the finest local products available – from fresh fish and meats, to right off the farm produce.”
In the heart of the dining room, behind the fresh oyster bar, you will find Tony and his highly trained crew pulling piping hot creations from the glowing wood burning oven. Tony’s flair for combining unique, yet extremely appealing flavors of local seafood, meats and produce provides a wonderfully tempting menu for any palette. Constantly changing with the seasons and the special flavors they bring, Tony usually has a surprise or three mixed in with a handful of menu favorites that continue to bring the locals back for “slow food, good served” — the restaurant’s official byline.
Tony’s flair for discovering delicious flavors extends to his hand picked wine list….no need to get lost in an excessive, bloated 20 page listing of unrefined vintages/varietals. Tony has taken the guesswork out of finding the right wines to complement his varied menu, by personally selecting outstanding values and flavors from local, statewide and international vintners. As with his menu, the wine list is updated throughout the seasons, always providing a fresh experience. A simple and exciting way to experience the complimentary pairings of food and wine is to take advantage of Tony’s themed weekly wine flights – an intriguing insight into the experienced palette of a master chef and wine maker.
Chili Empress
I became the Chili Empress in 1997 with the first Great Petaluma Chili Cookoff, Salsa and Beer Tasting. People actually started calling me the Chili Queen, but you know, I really felt more like The Chili Empress, so I self proclaimed as such. Every April when I have to convene with the Weather Goddess to make the sun shines down on our event and she holds back the rains, I feel they’ll listen closer if it comes from the Empress.
We’re now heading toward our 12th Annual event and each year it gets a bit more crazy and more successful. It’s the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Youth Program at Cinnabar Theater and the money goes towards scholarships, help for the teachers, directors, costumers, tech designers and others who make the kids program the best in the Northbay. My own kids went through the program and now are out in the world using the skills they learned at Cinnabar everyday in their jobs as adults. So I feel very dedicated and thankful to Cinnabar for the confidence they have given my kids to go out and tackle the world.
What I love about the Chili Cookoff is the lighthearted sense of extreme wackiness and good spirits that the challengers and the guests share. They come in team costumes, decorate their booths, make outstanding chili and salsa, and do it all with exhuberance and joy. Some go home with hand made art trophies and some just go home smiling with aching feet….but they all have had a great time and yell “See Y’all Next Year!”. And our guests do the same, altho they don’t get a trophy for it.
It’s a well loved Petaluma experience and I’m proud to be The Chili Empress.
Jude Mooney
I am happiest when I am making my art, taking pictures. I spend many sleepless nights making pictures in my head,
imagining the photos. Of course the beauty in making photos is they never turn out how you imagine them.
I strive to make beautiful, natural looking images. Light is very important to me and shadow is equally important.
There’s really only a few minutes of perfect sunlight each day, the rest of the time we work in the shade or backlight everything.
I would describe my pictures as timeless, sensuous, earthy and moody. Early photographers have a tremendous impact on my vision.
Edward Steichen, Julia Margaret Cameron, Bellocq, Annie Brigman.
I see portraiture as the study of human expression.
Ashley Karnes
I have always said that the best towns are those that you get stuck in, and Petaluma is the best of the crop (I have lived in 5 countries and been round the world two and half times, visiting over 15 countries). I came for a month…four years ago. My man and I found storage for our newly purchased school bus, Bertha, in the downtown area. We were planning to just pack our things up and leave for Canada in four weeks, but engine trouble followed and then complications with elements of the rebuild. So I got a job at Dempseys and started to refurbish her into a mobile home while we waited for the engine to be running. My living situation has been alternative while in Petaluma, to say the least!
Pet is one of the few American towns I’ve been in that has such a quant character and such an obvious, rounded history – from the immigrant wars to the invention of the incubator, American Graffiti film and all the great Victorian architecture. It’s also one of the few towns I have felt has a real sense of community, a diverse one at that. Everything I need is within cycling distance and I bump into folk i know all the time….I love bumping into the street kids along the river, all the parents at the dog park and all the folk propping up my favourite dive bars near closing. A friend is never far away.
I have had a bunch of visitors from England – who have all loved the place – I got married, found my fabulous little dog Pippi, learned alot about wood, patience and hustling for work.
I’m going to miss everything very very much.
Amelia Webster
If you could siphon the color from Monet’s “Woman with Parasol,” you’d find Amelia Webster. Classically attractive and cut from the Gothic cloth, she’s bored by newer incarnations of that aesthetic. Yes, she wears black, all the time, but she has no desire to be part of any scene. Amelia is more interested in the history of the Gothic Era, and she follows a literal interpretation of its sensibilities. Actually, she’s obsessed by beauty, art, literature and fashion, and she wears that obsession on her sleeve. Some people don’t get it. “People say mean things. They attack what they don’t understand. But I wouldn’t trade my sense of self for anything.” With a death grip on the past, Amelia admits to casting an occasional glance to the future. “We want to go into space,” she says, gesturing at her husband and child. “We’re fascinated by what we don’t understand. And I want to go underground. Do a Google search on ‘The Bloop.’ You’ll want to go too.”
