Sandy Haley Brings Her Mix Of Blues, Gospel and Motown To The Ojai Blues Fest This Coming Weekend

Sandy Haley brings her mix of Motown and blues to scenic Ojai on Saturday, June 4. Her performance, part of the Ojai Blues Fest, brings a return of the Blues Fest to the stage which was on hiatus since 2019. In conjunction with Sandy’s newest album, Feels Like Freedom, the show will showcase her husky, smoky blues voice. The Ojai Blues Fest will also feature Crooked Eye Tommy, a long-standing blues powerhouse fronted by guitarist/vocalist Tommy Marsh. Tommy Marsh is also a veteran of producing many Southern California blues festivals; and bringing back the Ojai Blues Fest has long been a wish he’s had.

The Ojai Blues Fest will be held at the California Arts Center. Over the years, Ojai has been the home to many musicians, including Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash; and actors such as Larry Hagman. Ojai has also been known for its many Art Festivals and galleries, herbal shops and top-flight restaurants. Just about an hour northwest of Los Angeles, the Ojai Blues Festival can easily serve as the centerpiece of a weekend in the mountains.

Sandy Haley and Tommy Marsh both talked with The Los Angeles Beat about the upcoming Fest, as well as Sandy’s newest album. Sandy answered a few questions about what’s coming up. She said:

Q: Ojai has a rich history in music and art. Many major musicians call Ojai home; and the Ojai Blues Fest has had a long history. What do you think about playing at the return of the Ojai Blues Fest?

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Album Review: Sex Pistols – The Complete Recordings (Ume)

One thing you may not know about mass retailers like Target and Best Buy that still sell physical music by the ton: they only ever stock “current releases”. This is why so many groups who have already issued career spanning compilations always seem to have a new greatest- hits title out just in time for their big summer tour, Hall of Fame induction or whatever milestone has recently put them in the news. This new collection can be considered a new product and the artist with no new recordings can find themselves on the chain store shelves again. And so it is that we find ourselves considering The Original Recordings, a 2-lp set by the Sex Pistols whose proximate timing to the premiere of the TV show “Pistol” can’t possibly be a coincidence. Thus, it presents as a conspiracy, not the first one involving the Pistols. Let’s unravel it Continue reading

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Movies till Dawn: Creepy

Night Caller” (2022, 123 Go Films) Grisly supernatural thriller which channels the grimy vibe of ’70s and ’80s slasher/grindhouse fare while also finding room for writer-director Chad Ferrin‘s eclectic perspective. Susan Priver stars as a psychic working for a cut-rate phone line who begins to receive not only calls from a stranger (Steve Railsback) who claims to be a serial killer, but also horrible visions of his crimes. The latter are remarkably nasty, but Ferrin finds equal room for character detail – like Priver’s dad (Ferrin regular Robert Miano), a bedridden but remarkably hardy cop movie fan, and Railsback’s visions of his own pop (Lew Temple), a fellow maniac with a critical eye – which lend heft and tonal variations to the grim material. Another unique effort from Ferrin, whose approach to horror embraces dark material like this, broadly comic/cult-minded titles like “Exorcism at 60,000 Feet,” and out-there explorations like “The Deep Ones.” Currently available as a VOD title on various platforms.

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Cynthia Plaster Caster, Super Artist and SuperGroupie! May 24, 1947 – April 21, 2022

When 21-year-old Cynthia Albritton met Jimi Hendrix on a cold Chicago night in front of the Conrad Hilton Hotel in 1968, she asked if she could plaster cast his penis. She was so nervous that she stuttered, but Jimi said he’d heard about her in the cosmos and invited her up to his room. The Jimi Hendrix Experience had just played a show at the Civic Opera House, and Cynthia and her casting mates had followed the band’s limousine after the set. They were in Dianne’s car, trying to catch the band’s attention by waving their official suitcase with the Plaster Casters of Chicago logo (that Cynthia designed) through the window. It worked. They accompanied the band to Room #1628, casted two of the three band members, and Cynthia had sex with her favorite bassist. Cynthia told me, “That was an unbelievable evening.”

Her horoscope for that day told her that she was about to get what she most wanted. In one skillfully playful swoop, she deftly integrated music, art, and sex.

Growing up in Chicago, Cynthia loved to draw. She was a fan of The Beatles, whose music made her want to have sex, even if she didn’t really know what that exactly meant. In 1964, high school chums Kathy Barnett and Cynthia figured out how to meet rock bands: when The Rolling Stones rolled into town, the gal pals hung around their hotel. Sometimes, Cynthia climbed a hotel’s fire escape to catch a glimpse of a band she loved. If security guards turned her away from the hotel, she dodged them through the stairwells.

“It’s all a mad, rock ‘n’ roll blur,” Cynthia said in a video clip about her plaster casting life from 2012’s “Rock Scene Magazine,” her hair and make-up reminiscent of sex symbol Marilyn Monroe (platinum hair, creamy white eye shadow, black eyeliner and peachy lips). “I wanted to keep on meeting more cute mop-top boys because this exciting life was the life for me.” She’d been a “shy, fledgling, virginal goofy girl that wanted to get laid by cute British boys with long hair and tight pants. But I wasn’t experienced or seductive….” so, she believed that the “only way I could go about getting the zippers down” was a goofy, funny way. When Cynthia and I talked on the phone in 2012, she said, “I wasn’t girly. I was a tomboy and the boys in my high school looked down at me because I was very irreverent. But I wasn’t friendless. I had enough pals.”

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The 36th annual Bug Fair is Happening at the Natural History Museum this Weekend

The 36th annual Bug Fair at the Natural History Museum. Photo by Mike Guerena.

There is a wide selection of exhibitors, presentations, crafts, live insects, exhibits of pinned specimens, and all kinds of bug-related things to buy, including live insects. You can have close-up encounters with all manner of creepy, crawly things, while enjoying live music (The Buggles! The Beatles! Iron Butterfly! Buddy Holly and the Crickets! Scorpion! Adam and the Ants! Insect Surfers! Sorry, I went off on a tangent…).

While I plan to avoid the “hands-on activities, it is a popular, can’t miss event! You still have a chance to check out the uggie bugs Sunday from 9:30 am until 5 pm. for only $15 per adult. Discounts for kids and seniors. Free for Museum members. Advance tickets required for the general public. Get yer tickets here!

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The Hollywood Museum Unveils Very First Mother’s Day Exhibit with Celebrity Photos and Finger Sandwiches

(L-R) Michael Lerned, Erin Murphy, Donelle Dadigan, Ilene Graff, and Ruta Lee; Photo By Bill Dow, Courtesy of The Hollywood Museum

It was a divinely feminine, and festive night on Highland and Hollywood the Wednesday before Mother’s Day as the old Max Factor Building welcomed mothers, sons and daughters, many of whom were also mothers and fathers, in celebration of The Hollywood Museum’s very first Mother’s Day Tea!

Originally set to take place in the spring of 2020 the museum’s latest lobby exhibit, two years in the making, featured photos of famous moms, kids, and a combination of both, in the form of TV moms and kids, and/or TV moms who were also kids/daughters and vice versa.

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Cruel World Festival Brings Back the 80s

Written by Dave Arnson

This past Sunday, the Cruel World festival, took over the outer grounds of the Pasadena Rose Bowl. It was like a new wave Woodstock, with a rich dark chocolate goth frosting! There were three stages that you could trek back and forth between, with different acts overlapping set times. In between some of the bands’ sets, it was like watching wildebeest herds migrating through the Serengeti, some great people-watching and some fabulous goth outfits.

I started off the day by watching OG English psychobilly punks The Meteors. Psychobilly can either be defined by punks playing rockabilly licks, or rockabilly guys playing punk licks, and everything in between. The trio’s guitarist had a shaven head full of tattoos and still sang in his Popeye the sailor voice! The English Beat were an explosion of joyful ska, and their 30-minute slot seemed too short for what they could’ve played. LA’s own 45 Grave played a great ‘”best of” set, and singer Dinah Cancer seemed really happy to be up there.

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Movies Till Dawn: Cracked

Straight to VHS” (2021, Indiepix) Willfully odd but often compelling documentary about an obscure 1988 Uruguayan film, “Act of Violence in a Young Journalist,” and its hold on filmmaker Emilio Silva Torres, who attempts to not only root out information about the picture, but also understand its grip on him. The first third of the doc is devoted to Torres tracking down like-minded fans of the film and anyone involved with its production, which proves harder than one might think: few, if anyone, has anything good to say about its director, Manuel Lamas. From there, Torres dovetails into reveries that may or may not be fictional: these may prove polarizing for some viewers, though they’re creatively done and do sum up the endless theorizing, fantasizing, and perseverating about film obsessions that seem to take up the most mental real estate for diehard film fans. Indiepix’s DVD also includes the full-length “Act of Violence,” a curious mix of romance, political drama, and supernatural thriller that frequently slows down to discuss the root causes of violence with experts and passers-by alike. It’s crudely made, but also oddly fascinating, if for no other reason than its baffling construction; one can grasp how it might sink its dull claws into curious film fans like Torres, and maybe you.

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The Spring Joshua Tree Music Fest returns for a more intimate festival experience

Nestled within the Joshua Tree Lake and Campgrounds, the Joshua Tree Musical Festival will feature five stages and 40 acres to fill four days and nights with soul-lifting, high-energy music, art, workshops, and more, this Thursday through Sunday, May 12-15, 2022.

According to the Facebook page, online sales end tomorrow, Tuesday, at midnight and the event is only available for pre-sale tickets. Four-day passes are in limited supply and may not be available at the gate and car camping and RV passes are almost sold out.

Celebrating 20 years, this year’s festival, ‘Let in the Light,’ will feature The California Honeydrops, Neal Francis, Cimafunk, Gone Gone Beyond, Thumpasaurus, DJ Dan, 79rs, Sofaz, Adam Freeland, Banda Sin Nombre, Sunny War, TheSeshen, Kate Vargas, House of Hamsa (Live DJ set), Mikey Reyes’ Beats & Rhymes, Gorangutang, Father Taj, along with a variety of art installations, family-friendly activities, yoga and workshops. Continue reading

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Where to Take Mom to Eat on Mother’s Day in LA

Photo courtesy of Trejo’s Tacos

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. If your mom lives in LA, why not show her your appreciation by treating her to brunch or dinner? Make it a Mother’s Day to remember with the help of our list below.

Trejo’s Tacos is known for its delicious breakfast burrito. This Mother’s Day, you’ll find that same burrito and a menu of limited-time brunch items created especially for this day at Trejo’s Tacos‘ Santa Monica location. Think breakfast tacos, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and bottomless mimosas. This brunch menu will be available from May 6 through May 8. In addition, on Saturday, May 7, Danny Trejo himself will be on hand to pass out flowers to moms during brunch!

This Mother’s Day, enjoy a botanical-inspired brunch at Blue Streak at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. Activities include a Botanical Spritz Bar by Ketel One, complimentary floral bouquets at the floral shop pop-up, live music, and a coloring card station for the kids. Highlights include stations offering crepes, omelets, ceviche, salad, prime rib, and more. You’ll also find accompaniments like quiche, Lyonnais potatoes, charcuterie, and cheese. The dedicated Kids’ Table features Macaroni & Cheese, Chicken Tenders, Pigs in a Blanket, mixed fruit, and more. Brunch is $119, or $75 for children 10 and under. You can make reservations here.

Enjoy an aquatic Mother’s Day lunch at Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach! Tickets include lunch on the rooftop veranda overlooking Rainbow Harbor and all-day aquarium admission. The lunch menu includes chicken piccata, polenta, herb-roasted potatoes, balsamic vegetables, tortellini with cream sauce, and cheese blintzes with basil and strawberry coulis. Tickets are $74 for adults and $50 for kids 3-11. Find more information here

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