Pieter Pastoor's blog

Live DiRT:  KDRT and Armadillo Music welcome the Peter Holden Band for the Downtown Davis 2nd Friday ArtAbout. The show will broadcast live on KDRT 95.7FM / KDRT.org.

Peter Holden is a San Francisco-based pop/acoustic/rock musician who’s performed in California, Arizona, Texas, Georgia, and Connecticut, to name a few states.  His debut EP The Athens & Other Stories came out in June 2013.  The album is available on virtually every online download site.  A second EP titled simply EP#2 was released last year.  Peter’s sound is reminiscent of Matchbox Twenty, The Goo Goo Dolls, Jimmy Eat World, and the Gin Blossoms.  Peter grew up all over the country, travelling with his family.  Every place Peter lived became a part in his music.  Whether it’s the rocking EP#2 featuring “Tired of Waiting,” or “Wasted Youth” from The Athens & Other Stories, you’re sure to be singing Peter’s songs before you know it.

Listening Lyrics is honored that during the live broadcast we will be introducing the new CD by the Big Sticky Mess.  Big Sticky Mess traveled lightyears at rocketing speeds to Earth in search of you. Now, as if shot out of a cannon through the heart of a rainbow, the Mess is here bringing a kaleidoscopic mix of extraterrestrial hooks, vibrant grooves and potent beats, purely for your entertainment.  Close your eyes and hear the funky jams reminiscent of decades past with a sound much larger than the three piece arrangement before you should allow.  So slip another drop under your tongue and join the inter-planetary groove train that is the Big Sticky Mess.

All Listening Lyric shows are live on Fridays from 4:00PM to 5:00PM.(PST) on KDRT 95.7FM. For those outside the listening area, the show will stream live online at KDRT.org . It will also be available for replays in the show archives or as an podcast on iTunes under LISTENING LYRICS.

There are 7 bands from Davis nominated for the SAMMIES this Year -- MAU, MILLION DOLLAR GIVEAWAY, SPANGLER, BIG STICKY MESS, MISNER & SMITH, and WEST NILE RAMBLERS. Join us for three of these bands performing live at Armadillo Music. Aproximate times are 1:30PM for Million Dollar Giveaway. 2:30pm for MAU, and 3:15 PM for Spangler. All ages--come on down! 

Check out the bands and vote here https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=19807665

Have you ever seen an act where the essence of the band members not only influence the music but transcend it? Call it charisma or just call it humans that show and share their inner qualities...and meet The Polyorchids. NorCal band The Polyorchids play a fast and loose mix of indie punk and folk music. Justin, Tonym and Travis went to high school together in Winters, California, and have been collaborating musically for years, sometimes in bands and other times just as friends. The Polyorchids were born after a few of the members moved back to the Sacramento area after some years away. Their first shows as a band were on a 10-city tour of California in May of 2015, and they’ve been playing semi-regularly in Northern California ever since. Visit The Polyorchids on Facebook and Bandcamp.

Randy Berka works as a scientific manager at a local biotech company in Davis by day, but pursues his passionate hobby of music after hours.  He has played guitar, bass and harmonica with a number of rock bands since the late 60s.  Randy grew up in the Midwest (a small town in Iowa) where he performed with bands such as The Lazy River Band and Shadrack. The Lazy River Band's most recent CD entitled "Now & Then" and a single called "Man of Steel" were released just a few years ago (both are available online). The Lazy River Band still meets every year or two for gigs wherever and whenever they can arrange it.  Randy co-wrote the Shadrack single "It Was Me/I Wonder Why" on the Sonic label in 1972 and played on the LP "Shadrack Chameleon" in 1973. The album was re-released on the Gear Fab label nearly a decade ago.  Since moving to the Davis area in the early 90s Randy has played with a group of co-workers calling themselves The Amplified DNA Band.  They performed at a variety of local venues including the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland when they competed in Fortune Magazine's Corporate Battle of the Bands. He also plays an assortment of local gigs with QuidZin, The Plainfield Pickers, Stones Throw, The DNA Mechanics, and The Steve Kotarek Band.

Davisite Evan Daly is well known in Northern California. His own band, the Evan Daly Blues Band, creates a soul-searching experience of blues-rock and a mighty fine guitar. Evan's involvement in multiple bands, including Tha Dirt Feelin, is made possible by his absolute control of the guitar--he can play to fit most any genre. Evan's stage persona is electrifying, and he's been known to drive the dance floor into a frenzy. Let's hear what drives this young man.

Gordon is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter based out of Oakland, California. Starting with the Scottish fiddle at the age of 4, his passion for music has grown to encompass a wide variety of styles. On the violin, this has included jazz, folk, celtic, bluegrass, r&b and reggae. As a vocalist, he has done everything from shape-note singing to opera to beatboxing. Among other credits, he was introduced to choral music by the legendary Chanticleer, briefly competed in a barbershop quartet, and directed a pop acappella group at UC Davis. In college, his tastes as a dance facilitator and budding producer lead him to house music, electroswing, and glitch hop. Gordon's current projects aim to bring together these diverse influences – his sounds have been described as "gospel folk" and "post apocalyptic railroad blues." As a musician, producer and performer, Gordon hopes to unite people of all backgrounds and make them dance. You can follow him online at soundcloud.com/buskproject

All Listening Lyric shows are live on Fridays from 4:00PM to 5:00PM.(PST) on KDRT 95.7FM. For those outside the listening area, the show will stream live online at KDRT.org . It will also be available for replays in the show archives or as an podcast on iTunes under LISTENING LYRICS.    Listening lyrics on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Everything goes better with gravy. We at KDRT and Listening Lyrics are thrilled to get these 3 very talented musicians in the studio. "Gravy Nation is creating a stir in the Northern California underground rock scene. Local artist Christopher Hunt is the mastermind behind this rock trio along with Ryan Shickman on guitar and Billy Thompson on drums. The music is a delicious mix of sound that combines 90s guitar-driven rock with 60s pop sensibility. Gravy Nation is a product of Davis, California, a town that runs through their art and their blood." Visit and listen to GRAVY NATION here https://gravynation.bandcamp.com/releases. Getting into the GRAVY? Check out their music video here produced by Davis Media Access Kids Camp graduates Alec Lesnick and his brother Ed!

A new band in town is not especially newsworthy, but then this is no ordinary band. QuidZin out of Woodland, CA, has created a unique sound, and that does make it newsworthy. Just for that reason I have the pleasure of hosting them on Listening Lyrics this Friday 1/22. Members are Jim Hillard (brass), Randy Berka (bass), and Naomi Rogers-Hefley (fiddle). Their genre is a mix of jazz, Irish folk, and rock. Listen in as we explore their sound.

 Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. My favorite album by one of the first bands I loved as a young teenager. Scott Weiland's death last month resonated with me the way Bowie and Glen Frey did my parents this past week. (Although those ones matter to me as well). Tiny Music is 41 minutes long, so I'll probably break tradition and play a little Bowie, Motörhead and Eagles to fill our the hour. Justin Cox your host this week