The Echo Chamber

On March 6, 1971, a group of some of the top musicians from the United States -– Ike and Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Staple Singers, and more -– boarded a plane bound for Ghana to perform in a musical celebration that was dubbed the “Soul to Soul Festival.” Thousands of audience members filled Accra’s Black Star Square for a continuous 15 hours of music. The festival

As we gather this week to witness the inauguration of our new president, we find our nation in a state of great political unrest. While certain recent events of violence at the Capitol are no doubt unprecedented, it is certainly not the first time an inauguration in our country has been met with divide. In 1973, the United States was reaching the concluding stages of our involvem

Some candidates have their campaigns for presidency planned out before they can even vote. For others, such as General Eisenhower, it took a little Broadway magic to coax him into the race. On this episode of The Echo Chamber, we bring you a special election episode – filled with a closer look into some unknown, and perhaps surprising, facts about campaign songs and how they have

This is an expanded version of a story that originally aired on KALW in 2018 when Yoko Arimichi and her Powell Street Blues Band were celebrating their 40th anniversary at The Saloon in North Beach. The band formed when Yoko was busking around Powell and Market Streets in the late 70s. Yoko Arimichi and her Powell Street Blues are currently one of the longest running acts at The

On this episode of The Echo Chamber, Shonen Knife – a story of cultural exchange through the cassette tape. But also a story of an era in history just before the stronghold of the looming internet drastically changed, among so many other things, the way we consume and discover music. It was a time when culture – as writer Karen Schoemer said – was precious, you really had to

On today’s episode, Maximum RocknRoll – the story behind the famed punk institution. Beginning in 1977, a group of Bay Area music fans led by Tim Yohannan, began a weekly radio show out of the studio at KPFA in Berkeley, California. The driving impulse behind the show was simple – an unabashed uncompromising world of punk rock. By 1982, the punk scene had grown into a world

The story of a small Filipino nightclub that transformed into one of San Francisco’s most influential punk venues. "To play, you need a place – be it where you live, the street, a venue. For unrestricted play, you need an unrestricted playground. Dirk Dirksen envisioned The Fab Mab just as such a playground. Without him and The Mab, there might not have been the great punk sc

This bonus episode features my interview with two of Dave Brubeck's sons, Dan and Chris Brubeck. Excellent musicians in their own right, the two shared intimate memories of growing up with their father and his legendary contributions to modern jazz.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1369MM9B40 The Brubeck Brothers Chris Brubeck: We're sitting about 10 miles away from the house wher

In 1958, the Dave Brubeck Quartet embarked on a tour of Europe and Asia sponsored by the U.S. State Department. HEAR THE STORY. This episode features interviews with Keith Hatschek, Program Director for Music Management and Music Industry Studies at the University of Pacific; and Mike Wurtz, Assistant Professor and Head of Special Collections and Archives at the Holt-Atherton Speci

Rock critic Joel Selvin on the origins of psychedelic rock in San Francisco–including Ken Kesey and his Acid Tests, the Trips Festival, and birth of bands such as the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company. Joel Selvin: In San Francisco in 1965, '66, '67, there was such an explosion of music, great rock bands – it was just impossible not to be swept up in it. A