Email Author Gilbert Garcia

2002 Stories by Gilbert Garcia

• Great Persuader

  published May 23, 2002

  Jerry Lawson doesn't get rattled easily. Lawson, the lead singer of the Persuasions — arguably the finest a cappella vocal group of all... More >>

• B-Boy Wonder

  published May 16, 2002

  Rule number one for aspiring performers: Always know the room you're working. After all, Ozzy Osbourne might be the self-proclaimed "Prince of... More >>

• Miseducated No Longer?

  published May 9, 2002

  About halfway through her new live record, MTV Unplugged 2.0, Lauryn Hill stops to consider her public image. "I don't know what the press... More >>

• Chico, The Man

  published May 2, 2002

  There's a famous story about Sonny Boy Williamson's attempt to record with the Yardbirds in the mid-'60s. The band entered the session with the... More >>

• Club Feat

  published April 25, 2002

  Years ago, when I lived in Dallas, one of the local bands threw a huge party for itself to celebrate its two-year anniversary. Keeping a band... More >>

• Mill Stones

  published April 18, 2002

  What is it they say about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery? If it's true (ask Pearl Jam about Creed), then we should probably... More >>

• A Witty Comeback

  published April 18, 2002

  Janeane Garofalo has appeared in nearly 40 movies, but she's hardly seen any of them. Compliment her for her affecting, little-seen work as a... More >>

• Red Alert

  published April 4, 2002

  As a worshiper of the mythical Delta bluesman Robert Johnson, Eric Clapton always longed to hear stories about Johnson from musicians who'd... More >>

• Modern Times

  published April 4, 2002

  Joe Herrera likes to take the attitude that every musical experience has value. For instance, Herrera -- a husky 23-year-old trumpeter... More >>

• Hello, Goodbye

  published March 28, 2002

  Love 'em or hate 'em, Victims in Ecstacy looks like a band built for success in the music biz. After all, this is a musical age when subtlety... More >>

• Shattered

  published March 21, 2002

  Rob Withem collects song titles. Withem, singer-guitarist for the '80s-flavored pop group Fine China, spends much of his time conjuring up... More >>

• Eels

  published March 21, 2002

  For a guy generally lauded as a pop alchemist, Eels leader Mark Oliver Everett (a.k.a. E) makes for a pretty unlikely pop hero. For one thing,... More >>

• Magic Dragon

  published March 14, 2002

  How can you tell when a jam session is working the way it's supposed to? Reasonable people might have different opinions about it, but I've... More >>

• Astro Creep

  published March 7, 2002

  Let's say you're a music-biz Dr. Frankenstein. You want to build the perfect beast for the MTV era, an artist equally adept at visual and musical... More >>

• Radio Active

  published February 28, 2002

  There's only one serious drawback to being a musician: the musician's lifestyle. Sure, that sounds a bit like the old Thurston Howell III line... More >>

• Turner Overdrive

  published February 21, 2002

  If a major-label deal is the musical equivalent of being presented with a worldwide soapbox, it doesn't take Trik Turner long to address the big... More >>

• Great Sonoran Hope

  published February 14, 2002

  Last September, Roger Clyne organized a gathering at the Sonoita Fairgrounds to celebrate the Festival of the Chubascos -- chubascos being... More >>

• Still Ferocious

  published February 14, 2002

  The enduring power of rockabilly is that it's rock 'n' roll in undiluted form. The dark menace and raging lust that early rock only hinted at were... More >>

• Friesen Weather

  published February 7, 2002

  Al Singer likes to poke fun at his own habit of running at the mouth. "Ask me what time it is, and I'll tell you how to make a watch," jokes... More >>

• Underground Notes

  published January 31, 2002

  Even if hip-hop's been the dominant form of popular music over the last decade, it's continually encountered pockets of resistance from people who... More >>

• Electric Mud

  published January 24, 2002

  Even if you get along with your parents, you hardly qualify as a red-blooded American teenager unless you make two crucial musical decisions early... More >>

• Twelfth Night

  published January 24, 2002

  Sometimes Ralo regrets naming her annual music festival the Earth Mother Mind Jam. The raspy-voiced singer-songwriter/bassist, born Lora... More >>

• Speed Kills

  published January 17, 2002

  Dave Jensen desperately wanted to work with the band Five Speed.Jensen, singer and guitarist for Before Braille, was so enamored of the driving... More >>

• Moth Balls

  published January 10, 2002

  Jesse Maxwell made sure to take a box of earplugs to his Friday gig.It's not all that unusual for rock musicians to protect their ears at live... More >>

• Jools Holland

  published January 10, 2002

  Although best known -- at least outside of England, where he's recognized as the host of the BBC-TV show Later -- for his stint as... More >>