Davisville

Gene Parsons, son of a classical pianist, grew up in the Mojave desert, practicing banjo and guitar in an empty 10,000-gallon water tank on his father’s homesteaded ranch. One day, as a teenager playing banjo in a music shop, he was invited to join a recording session by Gib Guilbeau—a Cajun fiddle player who would later play with Parsons in at least three bands. The experience set Parsons on a path that led to him playing in The Byrds from 1968 to 1972. On Sept. 10 he joins David Hayes, an equally accomplished musician, in concert at the Davis Odd Fellows Hall (that's Hayes on the left in the photo, with Parsons), and today we present the first of a two-part interview with Parsons (here's part 2). The conversation includes memories of fellow Byrd Clarence White, Gram Parsons, and Sneaky Pete Kleinow; his songs Gunga Din and Yesterday's Train; and the “oddball story” about how a kid who had wanted to play fiddle grew up to play drums for one of the top bands of the 1960s, contributing to its revival after most of its original members had left.

Most people in Davis live in rentals, the vacancy rate is well below 1 percent, and enrollment at UC Davis keeps growing, further stoking the demand for places to live. That’s the context for a new rental ordinance Davis is developing this summer, and today we talk with Brett Lee and Lucas Frerichs, City Council members working on this project, about what the new ordinance would do, why it treats apartments differently than rented houses or granny flats, and why they're pursuing this change.

Kari Rundquist is the new chief executive of Davis Roots, a 4-year-old nonprofit that helps fledgling companies get started in Davis—it's a Silicon Valley kind of ambition, except based here. The idea is that if these companies emerge and grow in Davis, they will add jobs, opportunity, money, and variety to the local economy. 

"We have an opportunity to create commerce for entrepreneurs, and for innovation, and for economic development, sort of on our own terms," she says. The opportunity is often based on research that emerges from UC Davis. "So much of the science coming out of the university is really inspiring, altruistic kinds of science," she adds, "[and] is very aligned with our kind of community values." On today’s program she talks about the possibilities ahead.