Fiddletown Fiddler's Jam

Aired on The California Report Magazine on September 21, 2012.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201209211630/c

Last year I was driving through Amador County on my way to do a story about a tiny Gold Country theater's performance of Grapes of Wrath:

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201110281630/b

My GPS had no idea how to handle the little back roads, and I ended up driving through Fiddletown, and pulled over when I saw the 20-foot fiddle on its community center.  I heard they had a yearly Fiddler's Jam, so I had to go back.

PS -- my recorder pooped out on me this day so the whole thing was captured on iPhone.  Terrifying.

Conspiracy of Beards...encore

Aired on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday on September 8, 2012:

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=160795816&m=160795788

Thirty men sing Leonard Cohen a cappella.  One more reason to still love San Francisco.

Tejano Conjunto...Californio

My friend and colleague (and accordion ambassador) Julie Caine and I explain why hundreds of people come Sacramento for a little taste of Texas: 6th annual Tejano Conjunto Festival. It's a celebration of Latino music from Texas that migrant farmworkers brought with them as they made their way west. Acclaimed accordionist Flaco Jimenez is headlining this weekend's show.

Three ways to hear it.

On KQED News:
http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2012/08/30/106817/tejano_conjunto_music_takes_the_stage_in_sacramento?category=bay+area

On KALW's Crosscurrents:
http://www.kalw.org/post/taste-texas-sacramento

And on The California Report:
http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201208311630/e

Conspiracy of Beards

Aired on The California Report Magazine on July 6, 2012.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201207061630/f

30 men singing the songs of Leonard Cohen. 

Hunting Wild Pigs in Yolo County

Aired on The California Report Magazine May 25, 2012.

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201205251630/e

Some of the most beautiful, undeveloped property in California is privately owned. That means it's off-limits to hunters, hikers, birdwatchers and other members of the public. But thanks to a new program from the Department of Fish and Game, public and private are coming together -- starting with a series of wild pig hunts.

Los Hilos de la Vida

Aired on NPR's Latino USA on May 18, 2012.

http://www.futuromediagroup.org/lusa/?s=los+hilos+ 

My favorite quilters hit the air again, talking about immigration and religion and becoming artists in rural Mendocino County.

Arcata Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary...and Wastewater Treatment System

Aired on The California Report magazine on May 4, 2012:

http://www.californiareport.org/archive/R201205041630/b

In most cities, waste treatment plants are unwelcome and often controversial. The concrete and steel facilities can be ugly -- and smelly. But that is not the case up on the North Coast, where the City of Arcata built an eco-friendly wastewater system right on scenic Humboldt Bay. But this system is so popular, people have gotten married on its grounds.