NOTICE OF DRAFT REPORT BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN TRANSPORTATION PLAN NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Draft Report for the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan 2011 has been prepared by the Palo Alto Department of Planning and Community Environment, Transportation Division. This document will be available for review and comment during the period beginning July 26, 2011 through September 7, 2011, and is available online at: www.cityofpaloalto.org/bike
Many of the young performers in question have already encountered the public eye, and developed comfort levels that range from marginally jittery to cool as a cucumber. Local concertgoers might remember Butera and her bandmates from last year’s Teens On The Green, or recall having heard Allison strumming soulful country-pop tunes at Palo Alto’s World Music Day outdoor festival in June. Here’s a closer look at several of the Palo Altans in the upcoming Aug. 20 concert: After Closing Time Each of the four artists in this band — Butera and Gunn seniors Nitsan Shai (piano/guitar), Justin Alfrey (guitar/vocals) and Remy Felsch (drums/vocals) — seems emphatically an individual. The musicians have individual approaches to music and differing post-high school plans. Felsch, who is also a songwriter, is looking into music schools where he might study composition. Butera, a soon-to-be freshman at University of the Pacific, says she’s curious
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I have more respect for people who play a really terrible song that they wrote than I have for people who do what someone else did. It takes so much bravery to get up and play an original song.”
-Musician Elana Loeb
about its program in music management. Independent though they may be, the band members appear to handle their group dynamic with ease, operating on a “friends first, band second” philosophy and insisting that artistic differences should never be divisive. “Sometimes we have arguments, but we’re all friends,” Felsch said. “We have to remind ourselves that friendship is more important than being in a band. You never know, maybe your band won’t be popular.” A sensible acknowledgment, but perhaps not one that needs to be a concern. The teens have amassed a Facebook fan following that numbers in the hundreds; collaborated
with rappers; and even popped into a studio for two immersive days of recording their shiny new EP, which they’re fairly secretive about due to the difficulty of keeping tabs on their music once it materializes on the Web. Some of their tracks have been accessible through a music-sharing site called PureVolume, but the band’s page is “in the process of being taken down,” Felsch said. “PureVolume is kind of like Myspace, but different because (on PureVolume) you can download music for free, which we’re trying not to do because we want to sell our music.” Those who attend the Aug. 20 concert can expect After Closing Time to debut a fresh batch of hitherto unheard songs. “Be excited!” Butera said. Elana Loeb A guitarist, singer, enthusiastic scholar of history, aspiring writer of musical theater and self-described cinephile, Loeb values artistic flexibility and risk-taking over measures of experience. “There are great musicians who can do crazy, crazy things with their instruments, but they don’t write,” said Loeb, a songwriter approaching her junior year at Gunn. “That, to me, doesn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t you try? I have more respect for people who play a really terrible song that they wrote than I have for people who do what someone else did. It takes so much bravery to get up and play an original song.” This kind of originality, especially the writing involved, is “why I play music,” Loeb said. “The point of playing music is to create.” And create she does, often bringing her rock, jazz and pop stylings to open mics around town. She’s also taken part in local theatrical productions. According to Loeb, childhood participation in Peninsula Youth Theatre and a recent role in the “Little Women” musical put on by Los Altos Youth Theatre are good experiences to draw on for her current project, a musical she hopes to see performed by student thespians at Gunn. “I’m writing and choreographing and I really want to direct next year for One Acts, my school’s studentdirected plays,” she said. “It’s a silly, random musical about comic books and copyrights and men in spandex shorts.” The inevitable downside of all this fun is that schedules tend to fill up for students keeping a grip on academics and activities. “There’ll be times when it’s one in the morning and I’m halfway done with my homework and I’ll be like, ‘Hey! I’m going to write music now,’” she said. “So yes, it is difficult balancing everything, but for a high schooler, especially a high
schooler in Palo Alto, it’s not that crazy.” Loeb cites “Seussical the Musical” and “The Book of Mormon” as personal favorites. In terms of general listening, she talks nonstop about Ella Fitzgerald and Elvis Costello. Hannah Allison Like her peers, Allison preaches work ethic. “Just stick with it,” the singer-guitarist said. “If you love music and have a true passion for it, you’ll get what you want.” Since the age of 4 or 5, she’s found singing — and then, starting in her freshman year of high school, playing the guitar — to be a matter of “sitting down and working with it until you’re strong enough.” Recording her country acoustic “heartbreak songs” from home has been tricky, she notes, but overwhelmingly positive responses from friends and family, along with a learned willingness to “just let it go,” make it less necessary for her sound to give off an air of slick production. “I don’t want a lot more attention for (my music),” Allison said. “It’s really special for me in the way that I can just come home and zone out and sit down with my guitar for an hour. I want to keep it with me all my life.” The laid-back approach is one plausible reason for moving away from social media typically used by young artists. Allison has considered weaning herself off musician profiles on Myspace and Facebook and creating a less hectic, but ultimately more approachable, personal website. “I want my fans to be able to hear my music even if they don’t have Facebook or Myspace,” she said. The artist’s senior year at Gunn will be spent working in a similar vein. As a student government official overseeing campus arts, Allison will be charged with coordinating ways for students to entertain and be entertained. “I want to get more open mics at Gunn and more opportunities for performers and all kinds of artists,” she said. “I think it’s really important for people to have chances to show their work.” N What: Teens On The Green, a concert of teen bands that concludes the city of Palo Alto’s annual Twilight Concert Series Where: Mitchell Park, 600 E. Meadow Drive, Palo Alto When: 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 20 Cost: Free Info: Go to cityofpaloalto.org or call 650-463-4930. (The second-to-last Twilight concert is scheduled for this Saturday, Aug. 13, at 6:30 p.m. in Mitchell Park, featuring Beatles cover band The Sun Kings.)
An online comment form is available to provide immediate feedback. Comments may also be submitted via email at transportation@ cityofpaloalto.org. Printed copies of the Draft Report are available for review during the hours of 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon and 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M., at City Hall, 5th Floor, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Additional copies will be made available at the Downtown Library and the Cubberley Community Center Library. This Report will be considered at a public hearing by the Planning and Transportation Commission on Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 6:00 p.m. in the Palo Alto City Council Chambers on the first floor of the Civic Center, located at 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, Curtis Williams, Director of Planning and Community Environment In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, listening assistive devices are available in the Council Chambers and Council Conference Room. Sign language interpreters will be provided upon request with 72 hours advance notice.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Xceed Financial Credit Union 601 Showers Drive Mountain View, CA 94040 Seating is limited. RSVP by August 15 at www.xfcu.org/lifeworks or contact Matt Butler at 650.691.6501 or mbutler@xfcu.org.
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