Monterey County Weekly (formerly Coast Weekly) 831-394-5656 news/cover

The Homemade Jamz Blues Band’s skills belie their youth.
Stuart Thornton -

Listening to songs from The Homemade Jamz Blues Band’s debut CD Pay Me No Mind, certain images come into focus. With numbers like “Penny Waiting on a Change” sung in... read on»
Master-mentor relationships help keep an American music form pure.
Stuart Thornton -

No American music has a richer mythology than the blues. There’s the gripping lore surrounding blues music’s first superstar, Robert Johnson, who allegedly sold his soul to the devil at... read on»
Vocalist Bettye LaVette persisted until she got the career breaks she deserved.
Stuart Thornton -

After recording what was supposed to be her first album and long-awaited breakthrough in the music industry, vocalist Bettye LaVette got a phone call. The record executive on the other... read on»
Taj Mahal took his own path to musical success.
Stuart Thornton -

Taj Mahal got valuable musical advice from blues elders, including Lightnin’ Hopkins, when he first embarked on his unconventional path as a musician. ... read on»
One of the best guitarists in blues started in classical music.
Stuart Thornton -

The blues hit young Joe Bonamassa like a lightning bolt. At the time, Bonamassa was reciting classical music pieces verbatim on guitar. But when at 8 years old the guitarist... read on»

E. coli outbreaks in fresh produce coincide with the push for volume, variety and year-round supplies.
Paul Roberts -

Just after 9 on a frigid January morning in 2007, nearly six months after the disastrous E. coli outbreaks in bagged spinach, some 200 vegetable farmers and shippers, tailed by... read on»

Little Trips, Little Towns: South Coast Big Sur
Stuart Thornton -

The South Coast town of Gorda has a dubious distinction: ABC’s “Nightline” did a feature this past spring that revealed the community had the highest gas prices in the entire... read on»
Little Trips, Little Towns: Fort Hunter Liggett
Mark C. Anderson -

From time to time, major military exercises at the increasingly active base close off certain roads and currently, the Indians Fire has neccessitated the closure of Del Venturi Road. If... read on»
Little Trips, Little Towns: Moss Landing
Jessica Lyons -

The South Coast of Big Sur might have more hawks than humans. Moss Landing has roughly the same population as a small high school class. And soldiers aside, Fort Hunter... read on»

As David Nilsen’s investment company unravels, investors wonder if they’ll ever see their money again.
Zachary Stahl -

David Nilsen’s face twitches. The owner and broker of Cedar Funding nervously shifts in his leather seat inside Monterey County Superior Judge Marla Anderson’s courtroom. He wears a black suit,... read on»