Coachella Valley Independent April 2024

Mailing address: 31855 Date Palm Drive, No. 3-263 Cathedral City, CA 92234 (760) 904-4208

www.cvindependent.com

Editor/Publisher

Jimmy Boegle

staff writerS

Haleemon Anderson

Kevin Fitzgerald

coveR and feature design

Dennis Wodzisz

Contributors

Melissa Daniels, Charles Drabkin, Katie Finn, Bill Frost, Bonnie Gilgallon, Bob Grimm, Valerie-Jean (VJ) Hume, Clay Jones, Matt Jones, Matt King, Keith Knight, Kay Kudukis, Cat Makino, Brett Newton, Greg Niemann, Dan Perkins, Gilmore Rizzo, Theresa Sama, Jen Sorenson, Robert Victor

The Coachella Valley Independent print edition is published every month. All content is ©2024 and may not be published or reprinted in any form without the written permission of the publisher. The Independent is available free of charge throughout the Coachella Valley, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies may be purchased for $5 by calling (760) 904-4208. The Independent may be distributed only by the Independent’s authorized distributors.

The Independent is a proud member and/ or supporter of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, the California Newspaper Publishers Association, CalMatters, DAP Health, the Local Independent Online News Publishers, the Desert Business Association, and the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On March 13, 2020, I made the decision to turn the Independent’s simple weekly newsletter into a daily missive with links to reliable news and information, both local and national, as well as commentary from yours truly. The first version of our Indy Digest newsletter was born.

That was the same day a national emergency was declared due to COVID-19. I was freaked out as the world was shutting down—chances are you were, too—and misinformation was running rampant.

The headline of that first Digest? “No More Visitors at EMC; (Palm Springs Unified School District) Closing for Two Weeks; and More!”

PSUSD Closing for Two Weeks. How little we knew.

On that same day, I was wondering about the Independent’s future, as 80 percent of our advertising went away in a flash. What was slated to be our 40-page April Music Issue, with a 16,000 copy print run, became a 24-page paper, with a 10,000-copy print run … with an empty roll of toilet paper on the cover.

In 2024, on March 13, I went to a sold-out Madonna concert at Acrisure Arena. It was a packed house of screaming, excited locals, celebrating a pop and culture icon’s career, in our community’s brand-new arena.

So, yeah. Things are a lot better overall now than they were four years ago; there’s no question about that. But when you start to dig a little deeper, it becomes clear that some things are much worse.

The New York Times marked the four-year anniversary of the national-emergency declaration with a piece headlined “Four Years On, COVID Has Reshaped Life for Many Americans.” This passage was particularly striking:

One common sentiment has emerged. The changes brought on by the pandemic now feel lasting, a shift that may have permanently reshaped American life.

Before the pandemic, Melody Condon, a marketing specialist in Vancouver, Wash., who is immunocompromised, said she had a stronger sense of confidence in other people.

“Unfounded or not, I believed that for the most part, others would take small actions to keep me and people like me safe,” Ms. Condon, 32, said.

But now she has encountered people who resist taking a Covid test or wearing a mask in some situations.

“What they’re communicating is that they don’t care about my health and my life,” Ms. Condon said. “I have lost so much trust in others.”

Frankly, I feel similarly. I sometimes ponder how much worse things would be if another pandemic arrived now. The growing number of anti-science and uber-privileged “personal rights” folks—riled up by powerful politicians on the right—would simply not take the precautions needed to protect themselves and, more importantly, those around them.

The lockdowns brought out some good in people, yes. But they also shined a light on some of the darkest traits in some people— like selfishness, a sense of privilege, anger and a disregard for the plight of others.

I am very, very happy we’re now in a time of Madonna concerts and being around one another, and that the Independent is back to a 40-page April Music Issue with a 16,000copy press run. But I am sad that my opinion of humanity today is much lower than it was on March 13, 2020.

Welcome to our April print edition—that aforementioned annual Music Issue. I hope you enjoy.

—Jimmy Boegle jboegle@cvindependent.com

WITH T

SCVINDEPENDENT.COM/

Watch out for snakes while enjoying the wildflowers—and get ready for Earth Day!

pring has sprung! Birds are singing; wildflowers have emerged; and wildlife is awake— including snakes.

Watch your step! Be careful while you’re walking around and admiring all of the beautiful wildflowers during this robust season. You don’t want to trample the delicate flowers, and you don’t want to step on a snake.

to share the trail.

It may seem a bit early, but there have been many recent reports of snake sightings along the trails. One came from my friend and working colleague, Debra Ann Mumm, founder and CEO of CREATE Center for the Arts. She recently encountered a very angry red diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) along the Randall Henderson Trail in Palm Desert. It seems the rattler was not willing as it was approaching the early evening hours. The nonvenomous snake was so well camouflaged into the soil that my hiking companion nearly stepped on it just as she spotted it. Shortly after the disruption, it quickly zipped

“It was right about dusk, and it was blocking the trail,” Mumm said. “There was a bit of a standoff, and I waited until the rattler slith ered off into a nearby bush (rattling all the way) before I climbed down a little cliff, leaving plenty of distance to get around it.”

The ruber is a venomous pit viper and a species of special concern due to habitat loss. One amazing fact about the ruber: It develops more toxic venom as it matures: An adult’s venom can be six to 15 times more toxic than a juvenile’s venom.

Avid desert naturalist and local field biolo gist Paisley Ramstead has already been superbusy fielding rattlesnake calls in and around the Coachella Valley and the high desert. She said the majority of calls from the Coachella Valley have been for speckled rattlers, while Twentynine Palms is a haven for sidewinders. If you want to learn more, Ramstead will be teaching a course about the diverse snake species found throughout Joshua Tree National Park from 3 to 7 p.m., Friday, April 5, at the Black Rock Nature Center, at 9800 Black Rock Canyon Road, in Yucca Valley. The class costs $35. There are a few spots open as of this writing. If you’re interested, register on Eventbrite.

Many snakes’ colors act as camouflage, making it difficult to see them. I have had several close encounters with rattlesnakes when I’ve heard the rattle before actually seeing them.

If you hear the rattle before seeing the snake, you’re too close—but don’t run or panic! Simply freeze. (For me, this is not hard to do, as when the rattle goes off, it’s almost a paralyzing moment.) Carefully look around to locate the snake, and then back away slowly.

Snake awareness is crucial: Snakes are an important part of the ecosystem and should be respected from a safe distance. As temperatures rise, snakes become more active, and encounters are more likely. Be mindful that we are in their territory. I’ve noticed that when I’m looking for snakes, I rarely see them— when I’m not looking for them, I’m liable to have a snake encounter.

Here are some tips to stay safe:

In Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (just more than 60 miles and slightly more than a one-hour drive from the east side of the Coachella Valley), wildflowers have really been popping—and that’s not all. Someone recently captured a great shot of two sidewinder rattlesnakes nestled in a burrow surrounded by purple sand verbena and white dune evening primrose. There have been other reports of sightings as well, so be careful if you’re heading out that way.

West of the Coachella Valley at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet (just more than 50 miles and a one-hour drive from the valley), where I was recently checking out the seasonal Wildflower Trail they have there, I saw a baby red racer (aka coachwhip, or otherwise known as Masticophis flagellum piceus). It was hanging out across the trail—possibly looking for food,

• Mind your surroundings. Watch where you walk or hike, especially in open areas. Snakes may be sunning themselves or seeking shelter. Stay on well-used trails, and check along edges of boulders; snakes often seek refuge in these areas.

• Wear appropriate gear. Wear boots, if possible, to protect your feet and ankles from snake bites. Long pants can also provide an extra layer of protection.

• Keep dogs on leashes. Curious dogs may encounter snakes and get bitten.

• Learn to identify snakes. Familiarize yourself with common snake species in the area. Not all snakes are venomous, but it’s best to give them space regardless. Rattlesnakes can strike up to two-thirds of their body length, so as a general rule, stay at least 10 feet (or 10 steps) away.

• Be prepared. If you encounter a snake, do not approach it; back away slowly. Don’t poke

at a snake with a stick or try to move it out of your way; you should move around the snake. Never attempt to pick up or handle a snake. In case of a snakebite, stay still and calm to slow the spread of venom. Remove any tight clothing or jewelry near the bite site, and call 911 if you have cell reception. Seek medical attention immediately—do not attempt home remedies.

Earth Day is April 22

The arrival of spring means Earth Day is just around the corner. It is celebrated annually on April 22 and marks the birth of the modern environmental movement to promote environmental protection and climate action. It is a great opportunity to honor and appreciate our planet, take action, and contribute to a more sustainable future. This year’s theme is “Planet vs Plastics,” to raise awareness about plastic’s harm to humans and biodiversity.

How will you celebrate Earth Day? You may

choose to be as plastic-free as possible for the day—or for life! Here are a few other ideas:

• Take a walk. Whether you’re exploring local parks, hiking on nature trails, bird watching or visiting a garden, getting out in nature is a perfect way to celebrate Mother Earth.

• Plant a tree. Be sure to choose a native tree species.

• Scatter wildflower seeds. Support our local ecosystems.

• Pick up litter.

Along with Earth Day, National Park Week is April 20-28 this year. All National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission on Saturday, April 20, to kick off the celebration and to encourage everyone to enjoy the parks in person.

Let’s all get out in nature and celebrate—but remember to watch your step; stay aware of your surroundings; stay hydrated; and always bring more water than you will need!

Debra Ann Mumm recently encountered this cranky red diamond rattlesnake along the Randall Henderson Trail. Debra Ann Mumm

EAT. DRINK. GIVE. END HIV.

DAPHEALTH.ORG/DOFL THURSDAY, APRIL 25

ARTS = BUSINESS

by Haleemon Anderson

As the blockbuster film Oppenheimer begins, swirling depictions of nuclear fusion are interspersed with scenes of the title character listening intently to classical music and pondering a Picasso. The patchwork of explosions and red-hot sunscapes is meant to suggest that art could have inspired the invention of the atomic bomb. It’s a vision of a brain that could unlock the codes to life-changing discoveries.

While humankind is flush with weapons of mass destruction, it can certainly use more creatives who think outside of the box. That’s a good reason to advocate for the arts, according to Kristen Dolan, executive director of the California Desert Arts Council. But there’s another incen-

tive: The arts are good for business.

The CDAC recently released the findings of a year-long study of arts and culture in the Coachella Valley. The Arts and Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) study contains aggregated data that shows how the arts don’t just drive culture and creativity; they also help drive the Coachella Valley economy.

The 60-page report‘s summary statement points to “compelling evidence that the nonprofit arts and culture sector is a significant industry (here)—one that generated $110.9 million in total economic activity during 2022. This spending—$46.6 million by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $64.3 million in event-related spending by their audiences—supports 1,623 jobs, generates $57.6 million in household income for local residents, and delivers $19.5 million in tax revenues to local, state and federal governments.”

“The arts are not just an amenity,” said Dolan. “What I’m hoping this study does is start to open people up to how much art does, not only for a person who is looking for employment in any field, but how much it does economically for our area and for our county.”

Data for the study was gathered from May 2022 through June 2023. Of 182 eligible nonprofit arts and culture organizations, 40 participated in the study; 739 individuals took audience-intercept surveys while attending nonprofit arts and culture events, exhibits and performances. The study did not include casinos and commercial ventures like Acrisure Arena and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

Dolan and Americans for the Arts vice president of research Randy Cohen gave a workshop on how to leverage the data for fundraising and advocacy work. Americans for the Arts, a Washington, D.C.-based arts-service agency, directed the study, with CDAC acting as a research partner.

“(We) wanted to bring the arts organizations and people who directly touch the arts in the Coachella Valley together to hear the data, to ask more questions (about) how to utilize it,” Dolan said. “I want to continue that conversa-

tion and have more discussions about what it looks like to advocate in different arenas with this data,” said Dolan.

The Independent spoke with three workshop attendees—Jarvis Crawford, Diane Moore and Eric Linnert—about their roles in the arts community, and their reactions to the impact report.

Jarvis Crawford is president of the Palm Springs Black History Committee. The all-volunteer group puts on mostly free events to celebrate Black culture. A third-generation native of the valley, Crawford said it’s important that the committee’s events are accessible for the community and visitors.

“If we don’t share who we are and let you celebrate with us, how else will you know?” he said.

Crawford left the workshop to prepare for one of the committee’s Thursday-night events at the Palm Springs Art Museum in February. The final night featured a DJ spinning hip-hop in the museum’s tony sculpture garden, where a friendly breakdance battle broke out.

“A lot of local artists here are doing great things—and last night, we got some youth out, so there’s a lot of growth coming,” Crawford said.

Crawford said it was a no-brainer for the committee to partner with the museum. The museum’s free Thursday nights accommodated Black History Month events and coincided with VillageFest, Palm Springs’ weekly block party. Crawford said that while the Black History Month events—including the annual parade and town fair—were low-cost and not meant to be “super revenue generators,” they did draw visitors and locals alike who came for the “knowledge and understanding and entertainment,” and spent time and money in the region, all markers emphasized in the AEP6 report.

In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, Diane Moore and Daniel Foster—two former arts-nonprofit leaders—sought a safe space for quarantine-weary artists to meet up and enjoy their craft. The Desert Plein Air Association was born.

Plein air—painting outdoors—was popular-

After a study documents how creatives boost the Coachella Valley’s economy, locals work to utilize the data

ized by French impressionists Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Each year, the DPAA puts on a three-week “Paint the Desert” festival and competition that puts artists in nature. It draws crowds—and not just painters.

“I see it all the time: We’re in an area where the public is out hiking or walking their dog, and they see artists painting,” Moore said. “They just stop and their mouth drops open, and they catch their breath.”

It’s a business model right out of the AEP6 handbook: Nature inspires the artist, and when members of the public see the artist’s resulting work, they want to take it home.

“We’ve been growing every year; we just had our greatest number of sales just last month,” Moore said.

Beginners are encouraged to paint alongside experienced artists, and often times, their fledgling creations become the best kind of souvenir.

“People love Coachella Valley, and when they go home, wherever they’re from, they have that to connect back with the nature they saw here,” Moore said.

Her dream is to see “Paint the Desert” eventually draw a national audience.

“Our weather is fabulous when the rest of the country is having more winter,” Moore said. “It makes traveling to our area for an art event and a vacation just very attractive.”

For now, the all-volunteer organization funds its programs out-of-pocket. Membership dues are nominal, and the DPAA’s 11-member board gives as much time, energy and effort as possible. Moore said hiring staff to coordinate volunteer work would help expand the DPAA’s reach.

“This is our fourth year, and we’re looking to the goal of becoming a national festival,” Moore said. “To take this larger, I’m going to need funding.”

Eric Linnert is in the midst of a career change.

After 10 years as a software developer, he’s now studying architecture at College of the Desert, with a focus on urban planning and development. He’s convinced there’s a role in the arts ecosystem for creative problem-solvers.

He attended the workshop to learn how the arts community is preparing for the inevitable G-word—gentrification. As popular destinations become oversaturated with visitors who eventually become residents, long-time residents—often the very artists and cultural leaders who made the place attractive—are priced out, a trend that was exacerbated by the pandemic.

“I started to see it very clearly through the lens of housing,” Linnert said. “… Not only was

(it) displacing the local creatives that made this place so great; I started to see that new businesses coming into town were very much just catering towards the tourist economy.”

Linnert said he’d like to see the Coachella Valley take a more active approach to these problems. He mentioned inclusive growth, a concept that prepares for gentrification by growing the area’s economy, and putting safeguards in place.

“It’s a theory that gentrification is inevitable, perhaps,” Linnert said. “So instead of trying to fight it, is there a way where we can boost up the local community, so they can also ride that wave and grow with the new development? There are ideas around workforce development, where you’re training up the locals to prepare for the new jobs that are coming in—and, of course, there’s a housing side that is important.”

While the arts impact study did not specifically address housing or gentrification, it did address equity and representation in the arts. Linnert hopes these issues will be the subject of further study by CDAC and others.

Having “intention around growth,” Linnert said, can keep the Coachella Valley from becoming like Brooklyn or Austin or Venice Beach, “places that started off very edgy, and then the artists got pushed out because it got trendy and cool. … It’s a balance, and it’s a really tough challenge. It’s fascinating, just kind of observing and studying it.”

Haleemon Anderson is a California Local News Fellow. She can be reached at handerson@ cvindependent.com.

Eric Linnert: “Not only was (gentrification) displacing the local creatives that made this place so great; I started to see that new businesses coming into town were very much just catering towards the tourist economy.”

8:3O am |Coffee Welcome & Breakfast

9:3O -11 am |Program

PALM S PR I N G S CONVE NTI ON CE NTE R

The Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Coalition invites you to join us. This event brings together all who support equality and social justice in celebration of this influential civil rights activist.

Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Har vey Milk Foundation

Stuart Milk, a global LGBT rights advocate, has worked on the ground supporting struggling and emerging LGBT communities in over 60 nations on six continents.

The nephew of Harvey Milk, Stuart has expanded his uncle’s example of visibility and courage leading historic global campaigns including major addresses and speaking events before the United Nations, the Munich Security Conference, the US State Department, the European Union, the US Department of Defense, the British Parliament, the Congress of Peru, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, and Parlamento Italiano.

LAWYERED UP

by Kevin Fitzgerald

SWith an attorney’s help, Lake Tamarisk residents voice their opposition to a nearby large-scale solar project

ince the incursion of industrial-scale solar installations began on the edge of the Lake Tamarisk and Desert Center communities in 2022, residents have been voicing their concerns about the proposed Easley Project, to be built by Intersect Power to the north/northeast of Lake Tamarisk.

Some months ago, the residents initiated a successful GoFundMe campaign to raise money to hire an attorney—and were able to retain Frank Angel, of Angel Law in Santa Monica, who has been litigating cases related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) since the 1990s.

The CEQA is at the heart of the Lake Tamarisk and Desert Center residents’ objections to the current Easley Project development plan. Intersect is currently navigating the state and county

processes to obtain approval of the draft environmental impact report (DEIR) the company is required to submit to the Riverside County Planning Department. After that department reviews the report, the Board of Supervisors would vote on whether to approve Intersect’s use of county-owned land.

With Angel’s assistance, residents of Desert Center and Lake Tamarisk jointly designated the area as an unincorporated community called Active Communities/Desert Center (AC/DC). The AC/DC team took on administrative titles and roles, and with Angel’s help, worked for 45 days on their DEIR comment letter, stating their objections to the Easley construction plan.

On March 11, the AC/DC team submitted the 17-page comment letter to the Riverside County Planning Department. It disputes various assertions by Intersect—and puts forward a compromise proposal that the residents call the “Respect Lake Tamarisk Alternative” (RLTA).

In a recent interview, Mark Carrington, a resident and the senior technical advisor of AC/DC, explained the group’s objective.

“We have a reasonable alternative that is economically and technically feasible,” Carrington said. “Those two terms are precisely what’s required by CEQA and NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act).”

Carrington said the alternative meets the project’s energy requirements and identifies other usable nearby land while including dust and health-management plans that have been successfully followed in other places.

“It’s very doable,” Carrington said. “You can still get the entire (projected) production output, and it can be done respectfully to our community.”

Environmental issues of concern to AC/ DC include the potential overdraft of the Chuckwalla Valley aquifer due, in part, to the additional water the Easley Project will require for dust suppression, and infrastructure cleaning and maintenance. AC/DC said other business interests being planned in the region will also require water from the aquifer, including revived plans to build a new truck stop/restaurant and other businesses in Desert

Center on north side of the I-10 freeway; two potential developments that would bring more than 100 new housing units to the area; and a pumped-storage hydroelectric facility that could be developed in old mining pits.

“If that did happen,” Carrington said, “that would use 4,000 acre-feet of water out of this aquifer per year for four years, and then 2,000 acre-feet per year every year after for evaporation loss. That would kill our aquifer. Right now, we have 100 acre-feet (of differential) before the inflow and the outflow” don’t balance anymore.

Resident Teresa Pierce, AC/DC’s chief executive offer, expressed frustration at what she saw as Intersect Power’s unwillingness to compromise.

“They said that, since the visual (beauty) was already degraded around here” due to prior solar development, “it was insignificant for them to have to do very much to improve the visual (impacts of) the Easley Project,” she said. “They also said that the water, dust and traffic and everything else was insignificant.”

The Independent reached out to Elizabeth Knowles, Intersect Power’s director of community engagement, and asked her about the AC/ DC compromise plan.

“The Intersect Power team responded to feedback from the Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort by creating and proposing an alternative, technically feasible project design that shifts the project’s location from the originally proposed 750 feet to a distance more than three times that, approximately half a mile away from the nearest residence, and have relocated the substation from its originally proposed location, per their request,” Knowles said. (It’s worth noting that nearby residents have requested a buffer zone of at least a mile between homes and solar panels.)

Knowles continued: “Additionally, we have offered the resort a payment for landscaping to help further buffer any potential impacts to their views. We have sent courtesy notifications to all members of the resort ahead of key milestones in the permitting process, as well as voluntarily notifying them whenever there is

planned activity on the proposed site. We have supported investments towards the betterment of the resort such as their direct request for monthly highway trash clean-up efforts and a recent proactive contribution to the Lake Tamarisk Lions Club for Christmas gifts for the children of Desert Center.”

Knowles insisted that Intersect has continuously maintained a dialogue with nearby residents over the last year and a half. “In addition to frequent emails, texts and phone calls … we have had several in-person meetings, taken members on field tours of a nearby project, and hosted an informational open house,” Knowles wrote. “Over the past year and a half, we have made significant investments to the Eagle Mountain School including a donation for the purchase of a new school bus, additional after-school and summer time recreational programming, the creation of a school garden, and sponsoring their annual fall festival. Additionally, we have provided critical in-kind support, supporting the school to remain open during emergency situations. Intersect Power team members will be volunteering at the school next month, helping with a variety of improvements to the school grounds. … Intersect will continue to reach out to engage with the Lake Tamarisk Desert Resort throughout the planning, construction and operation of our projects.”

The AC/DC officers said they have been unimpressed by Intersect’s efforts.

“They have offered us $40,000 to build our own berm, and (they said they’d give us) six trees,” said Don Sneddon, AC/DC’s director of communication. “But we had to put the trees in, and water them and build the berm ourselves. Initially, that was their response to one of our requests in the past year. … They also bought a sign to say they pick up the trash (along Interstate 10) as part of Adopt-aHighway. They think that’s great. We wanted to send them a picture (to show) that so far, that’s not working either.”

Added Pierce: “It’s still trashy.”

Angel, AC/DC’s attorney, said the DEIR submitted to Riverside County by Intersect is deficient in many regards.

“Having seen quite a number of EIRs, I would not rate this one with a passing grade,” Angel said during a recent interview. “This one is a failing grade particularly on the alternatives analysis. I can summarize one reason why: I have never seen an EIR that looks only at one alternative to the project, and that one alternative is a mirror image of the project itself. The whole purpose of alternatives is, as the word

implies, to provide the supervisors, or whoever the decision-makers are, a range of choices. The courts and the CEQA guidelines very clearly require that an EIR look at a reasonable range of alternatives. For them to come up with only one alternative, that in and of itself is not a range. … It does nothing to protect the microbial wetlands that are to the north of Lake Tamarisk. There’s nothing that deals with how (Intersect) would reduce the groundwater use. There’s certainly nothing that would protect the public and the private views from Lake Tamarisk or from Alligator Rock, and other areas (including the) new Chuckwalla National Monument.”

Angel’s 51-page letter in support of the AC/ DC comments, also submitted to the county on March 11, raises concerns focusing on a variety of issues including air quality, biological resources (including sensitive and endangered plant and bird species), greenhouse-gas emissions and water concerns.

“(Intersect) completely disregarded impacts on public health,” Angel said. “It’s a hyper-technical EIR, and very formulaic … but when you look at it, and you read it as a whole, even the air-quality and the water-quality sections, or wildfire or anything, there is nothing about the risks to human health. CEQA specifically requires that an EIR examine any substantially adverse effects on human beings, directly or indirectly, that result from the impacts to the environment.”

Angel said the county should tell Intersect to go back to the drawing board.

“Intersect Power should re-do the EIR, curing the deficiencies that we pointed out in the air quality, water quality, water resources and biological and other sections,” Angel said. “They should offer the Board of Supervisors a reasonable range of alternatives, (includ-

AC/DC resident Mark Carrington: “We have a reasonable alternative that is economically and technically feasible.”

ing) one … creating a (one-mile) buffer zone between Lake Tamarisk and both the presently developed area and also the areas to be developed. They need to consider the Chuckwalla National Monument. If they need to scale back, there are still over 100,000 acres in the plan from the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) alone. That’s available land. So it’s not something that’s impossible.”

This standoff due, in part, to decisions made by the state Legislature, the governor’s office and by the California Public Utilities Commission to favor industrial-scale solar installations built miles away from large population centers, where the resulting power is transmitted via cables. Meanwhile, decentralized rooftop-solar providers to residential and commercial customers have been stymied.

In December 2022, the most damaging blow was delivered to the rooftop-solar segment when the CPUC established its controversial Net Energy Metering 3.0 policy, which took effect on April 15, 2023. As explained by The San Diego Union-Tribune: “In one of the key provisions … new rooftop solar customers would no longer be credited at the retail rate of electricity when their systems generate excess energy, but get paid at the ‘actual avoided cost.’ That figure is lower than the retail rate during daylight hours when solar production is abundant and cheap, but it’s higher during evening hours when solar production ramps down to practically zero when the sun goes down, and California’s electric grid is under the most stress. Critics of the CPUC’s ruling say reducing the amount of the credits will undercut the incentive for potential new solar customers to install systems on their homes and businesses. The California Solar and Storage Association, which opposed the decision, estimated the average compensation rate would drop from 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to 8 cents, a reduction of 75 percent.”

Renova Energy CEO Vincent Battaglia said in a recent interview with the Independent that the CPUC is “essentially an extension” of industrial-scale power companies.

“They are an appointed extension of the governor (intended to serve) special interests that support him,” Battaglia said. “Those special interests in this case are large-scale, investor-owned utilities. … The market is guiding the transformation away from centralized utility-driven electricity with transmission lines— the expensive electricity. But instead of the transition that the market wants, to individual (rooftop or micro-grid) power plants, the CPUC stepped in and just gutted any legitimate value based on their own and the utilities’ calculus.”

Battaglia characterized the competition between large-scale power utilities and companies, like Renova, that offer individual solar power as a war that’s “at the end of one of the very last battles.”

“The utility can no longer ask for a lower

value (to be assigned) to rooftop. … There is no way for there to be a net metering 4.0,” Battaglia said. “Yet they still are maintaining their excessive costs to deliver their electricity, and that cost continues to go higher. … PG&E had a 28% increase that began in January, and then they just went back to the CPUC for a winter increase of 14%. Then there’ll be a spring increase and a summer increase. They have no solution other than to continue to try to maintain a monopoly.”

According to a Feb. 27 article by Reuters, one of the nation’s most highly respected investment experts is second-guessing the financial stability of power utilities: “Warren Buffett conceded in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders … that he made a ‘costly mistake’ about electricity. The error was thinking that investing huge sums to supply it to American homes and businesses would generate a steady return. Instead, it is turning into a gigantic problem.”

That problem is being exacerbated by increasingly frequent wildfires and related disasters caused by power-utility infrastructure.

“Their overhead and their exposure to fires and other disasters are leading to bankruptcies,” Battaglia said. “We are right now entering an era of utilities’ bankruptcies where they’re going to have to reorganize their debt. Essentially, they become transmission managers, and they’ll no longer be generating electricity.”

Even as the rooftop-solar sector was being negatively impacted by the new regulations, in 2023, the sector still generated roughly 36% of California’s total annual solar power generation, according to data shared in a recent email by Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of California Solar and Storage Association.

Out at Lake Tamarisk, residents adamantly said that they are not against the expansion of solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

“We believe in renewable energy. We just don’t want it 75 feet from our back door,” Sneddon said. “We really want to clarify that point. Intersect Power has options of moving it to meet their goals and to meet our goals. There are options out there. People think, ‘Oh, renewable energy is such a great thing. I mean, we need that, right?’ Yes, but you don’t need to destroy Lake Tamarisk and Desert Center in the name of that, when there are other options.”

The fate of the Easley Project, Lake Tamarisk and Desert Center sits in the hands of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The Independent reached out to District 4 Supervisor V. Manuel Perez for an interview about the AC/DC situation, and received an email reply from Darin Schemmer, his communications director, which stated: “Supervisor Perez has a public hearing on the proposed project, and so he … is not taking a position on the proposed project before residents have the opportunity in the public hearing to express their views on either side.”

CIVIC SOLUTIONS

by Melissa Daniels

When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across world, people in marginalized communities and low-income jobs were often affected the most—and not just by the virus itself.

Some worked in “essential” jobs that required them to be out in public, while others lost their jobs due to the shutdown of events, travel and recreation.

On the positive side, new ideas started to bloom. Data from the U.S. Treasury shows that new-business formation has soared since the pandemic’s start, with the average number of monthly business applications from 2021 to 2023 at least 50% higher than in prior years.

Now in Palm Springs, there’s a new resource to help entrepreneurs—with a focus on the Spanish-speaking population.

The Caravan Small Business Development Center opened up on Tahquitz Canyon Way in mid-February, creating the official home of a partnership of the Orange County Inland Empire SBDC and entrepreneurship nonprofit Caravanserai Project. Free programs will include training on how to set up a business, as well as mentorship opportunities. Carolina Rosas Saaverdra, who heads up the new center, said she wants to help clients bring their dream businesses to life—and make them profitable at the same time.

“There are people who work really hard here, and are eager to do things,” she said. “And it starts with having a perspective on, ‘What is it that I want to do?’ more than, ‘What it is that I can do?’”

Many new entrepreneurs in the postpandemic environment are from historically marginalized communities. The U.S. Treasury reports that the number of self-employed Latino workers in 2023 was 26% higher than it was before the pandemic. Nearly 25% of all new entrepreneurs who formed a business in 2021 were Latino, the data shows.

Here in the desert, where pandemicinduced unemployment affected many lowincome workers in sectors like hospitality and

agriculture—industries disproportionately staffed by people of color—the Caravan SBDC team is hoping they can boost those numbers even further.

“There are a lot of people waiting for resources so that they can move forward with their businesses,” Rosas Saavedra said.

The center is the result of a unique partnership between two organizations that share similar missions. The SBDC is a decadesold network that receives federal and state funding to run training programs for people who want to start their own businesses.

The Caravanserai Project has a more specific call to action. The nonprofit, founded in 2016, is focused on training and access to capital for entrepreneurs from marginalized and under-resourced communities. One of its most notable previous projects was an eight-month accelerator program called the SEED Lab, certified by the University of California, Riverside Extension. Since June 2022, Caravanserai has worked with more than 200 Hispanic small business entrepreneurs through its Business Readiness Training Program. Then last year, it launched the 2023 Inland Empire Hispanic Small Business Directory, which highlights more than 150 businesses, from child care centers to food trucks to tech start-ups.

Caravanserai executive director Mihai Pătru said that working with UCR and the

The new Caravan Small Business Development Center works to boost entrepreneurship—with a focus on the Spanish-speaking population

SBDC has helped elevate the role of the organization—and he credits Rosas Saavedra with accelerating that process to create the new center in less than a year and a half.

“We are unique within SBDC. In such a short time, we’ve transitioned from being a partner with them to being a center,” he said.

Rosas Saavedra, who is from Chile, said she’s inspired to help entrepreneurs who want to create jobs and build businesses that help drive the economy. She has a background as a start-up consultant, specifically working with tech companies, and has worked in biotechnology. As the director of business innovation and curriculum for the Caravanserai Project, Rosas Saavedra said that Caravan SBDC will be open and available to entrepreneurs regardless of their business ideas.

“We want to make sure that people feel like this is a space where they can receive services at no cost, and make sure that they can also

continue working with us on those terms,” she said.

Part of the beauty of the new Caravan SBDC center is that it’s building something from the ground up. There are no set guidelines or policies to follow (other than the SBDC rules), which can allow for new tailor-made training programs. Like any business owner, Caravan SBDC plans to pivot with the headwinds and tailwinds of the local economy.

“Data is very important for us,” she said. “If it’s not working in the short term, we switch; we pivot. And this is the beauty of working in an organization that is not huge. … We are able to change fast.”

The Caravan Small Business Development Center is located at 2150 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, No. 3, in Palm Springs. For more information, call 800-616-7232, or visit ociesmallbusiness.org/ intake-appointment.

The ribbon-cutting at the new Caravan Small Business Development Center took place on Feb. 15. Courtesy of Caravan SBDC

MAKING PRINT COOL AGAIN

by Melissa daniels

When Liz Lapp lived in bigger cities, some her favorite haunts were newsstands, like the iconic Casa Magazines in midtown New York. She liked the feeling of holding a physical product while reading instead of scrolling on a screen, whether she was perusing sports coverage or art and photography journals.

But once Lapp and her husband moved to the Morongo Basin, she couldn’t find a place that sold that many magazines other than the Barnes & Noble in Palm Desert—and while the former advertising executive is well-versed in the ins and outs of digital media, Lapp is adamant that physical products still have a role to play.

“I took a closer look at what’s happening for independent print, and independent print … is doing some really, really amazing things,” she said. “They’re going ad-free; they’re doing more calls for artists.”

By July 2023, Lapp opened Hi Desert Times in downtown Twentynine Palms. The shop is located in the newly renovated Corner 62 retail complex. Lapp calls her magazine shop “an oasis” where shoppers are consistently wowed—not only because they can discover so many types of magazines they hadn’t heard of, but because they see others they didn’t know were still in print.

“There’s a lot of excitement, and there’s a lot of curiosity,” she said.

Operating a magazine store in the year 2024 may sound like a risky business proposition, but Lapp has found success by keeping a highly curated assortment of more

than 100 titles. Her clientele is roughly 30% repeat customers, primarily Lapp’s fellow desert-dwellers who have become friends. She also sells zines, printed art from local makers and a handful of books from local authors like Desert Oracle’s Ken Layne. But she’s conscious of keeping the focus on periodicals that people might not find elsewhere.

Lapp works with a distributor to get an array of magazines from all over the world. She steers away from mass-produced titles that can be found in supermarket checkouts like Rolling Stone or Time. But she does stock some more locally flavored popular ones like Los Angeles magazine and Atomic Ranch

The selection includes literary magazines like The Drift, American Chordata and the London Review of Books. She also stocks some familiar titles like The New Yorker, I-D and Essence. But some of the funnest finds

are newer niche publications like The Bitter Southerner, which looks to disrupt stereotypes about the American South, and the art and design magazine Plastikcomb

“I don’t carry things that either people are reading online or have a subscription for, or you could find at a grocery shop—not to say that world shouldn’t exist,” Lapp said. “But I’m saying if you’re going to come all the way down to Twentynine Palms, I’m going to give you an experience.”

Part of that experience is simply the refreshing nature of enjoying a physical product in a phone-dominated world; the Pew Research Center found last year that 86% of people get news on their smartphone. But at the same time, trust in news is at record lows, according to Gallup’s October 2023 media confidence survey. In contrast to a bright screen flashing update after update, a printed magazine can only be created after multiple rounds of planning, creating, editing, designing and printing—a process that requires a considered perspective that might

not be reflected in the average Facebook post.

“I feel like print a lot of times is more of a trusted media right now, from what the landscape is out there,” Lapp said.

As Hi Desert Times approaches its one-year anniversary this summer, Lapp hopes she will be able to play a larger role in the community as the shop finds its base. She already hosted a launch party when local artist Bunnie Reiss was featured in Hi-Fructose magazine, selling copies that Reiss signed in-store. The event drew 300 people, and the magazines sold out—indicative of the fact that having words, photos and images all come together in a physical periodical is still something to celebrate.

“There’s nothing like being in print,” Lapp said.

Hi Desert Times is located at 73552 Twentynine Palms Highway, No. 2, in Twentynine Palms. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Monday, with hours extended to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit www.hideserttimes.com.

Liz Lapp with Bunnie Reiss at Reiss’ Hi-Fructose magazine launch party. Vanessa Jane Lamb.

CV HISTORY

by greg niemann

TScotsman Welwood Murray opened Palm Springs’ first hotel

hanks to the 1887 land promotions offered by John G. McCallum, people started arriving in Palm Valley—Palm Springs’ original name—to look at lots, but no lodging was available for them. Accommodations were needed, and McCallum prevailed upon Dr. Welwood Murray, his Scottish friend who lived near Banning, to establish some type of inn. Welwood Murray did not graduate from medical school; his title was bestowed upon him for the outstanding medical service he rendered to the wounded on a war vessel during the U.S. Civil War. Murray was a lanky Scotsman, born on Sept. 17, 1832, who came to the United States from Edinburgh when he was 26 years old. After the war, he was employed as a copy -

reader for a publishing firm in New York City. He moved to the Banning area in 1876 because of failing health; he became the manager of the San Bernardino Fluming Company, a corporation formed to cut and transport lumber, fuel and ties for the Southern Pacific Railroad.

He bought 80 acres near Banning, built a two-story house in a canyon, and began ranching and establishing an orchard with his wife. He also became manager of the local orchards owned by a San Jose company, and supervised the growing and canning.

Murray and McCallum, who was the Indian agent based in Banning, enjoyed an intellectual friendship, as they were the only two in the area with similar education and literary interests. Even so, they were dissimilar in personality and disposition, and often disagreed on numerous subjects. But when shown the possibilities of the new Palm Valley village by his friend, the normally cautious Murray “went for it,” and in 1886, he bought a five-acre plot just across the way from McCallum’s original adobe.

Murray, with his health improved, soon became one of the founding fathers of Palm Springs. Hiring local Indigenous people, he constructed and opened the Palm Springs Hotel in time for the great land auction of Nov. 1, 1887. He built his hotel across the street from and southwest of the hot springs, which he then leased from the local Native Americans for $100 a year. An old bathhouse and dressing room were erected just over the springs and remained standing until 1916, when the tribe replaced it with their own structure. (The Spa Hotel later stood on the site of the springs, and in 2023, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians opened the Séc-he Spa and Agua Caliente Museum on the historic site.)

The Palm Springs Hotel was a rambling, one-floor ranch-style structure of Murray’s own design, capable of accommodating 26 guests. It occupied the entire block of what is now Tahquitz Canyon Way between Main Street (now Palm Canyon Drive) and Indian

Canyon Drive. For the auction, Murray hired local Native American Willie Marcus, dressed him in flowing Arabian attire, placed him on a camel, and sent him out to Seven Palms to meet the trains and pass out literature. The Murrays had buckboards pick people up at the train station and also organized forays and picnics into the nearby canyons.

Murray left most of the hotel-managing to his wife, Elizabeth Erskine-Murray, also a native of Scotland. She had been a teacher at the Indian School on the Potrero Reservation before she and her husband relocated to Palm Springs. A stout woman, she became known for entertaining guests, her great homecooked meals, her nursing abilities, and the pleasant accommodations she offered.

Welwood Murray was more interested in horticulture and planted 22 varieties of fruit trees on the adjoining acreage, as well as all sorts of plants and shrubs. He quickly became an expert in the field and one of the leading horticulturists in California. In the book Palm Springs: The Landscape, the History, the Lore, author Mary Jo Churchwell revealed much about Welwood Murray when she wrote, “Murray was mad about trees. He loved them. He understood them. He cared for them as if they were his—I’m tempted to say children.”

Many notables were drawn to the new colony at Palm Valley, and they all stayed at Dr. Murray’s Palm Springs Hotel. In 1905, the naturalist John Muir arrived with his two daughters, Wanda and Helen—the latter ill and in need of a hot, dry climate. U.S. Vice President Charles Fairbanks came, as did Mrs. Fanny Stevenson, the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson (who had fought a tuberculosis condition most of his life and died before Palm Springs became known for its healing properties).

Welwood Murray became the first trustee of the Desert School District in 1893. Often called the “patriarch” of Palm Springs, he was considered by some to be the village’s greatest benefactor. He was well-read, garrulous, opinionated and passionate. The lanky man

with his Scottish tam and thick brogue could, and did, expound upon most any topic— from evolution, to the Bible, to Shakespeare, to the politics of foreign countries—sometimes to the chagrin of his boarders and charges. He loved to use pompous English. As an example, when John Muir paid a surprise visit, and Murray was forced to clean up the place mid-summer, according to guest Helen Lukens Gaut, he ordered his Indigenous employees to “exterminate the superfluous accumulation of dirt.”

In 1893, when the village was ravaged by flooding and then followed by an 11-year drought, many of the settlers were forced to flee, leaving just a handful of people, including the visionaries McCallum and Murray. Murray lost so many trees during the devastating drought that he became disillusioned and tried to sell the Palm Springs Hotel. He had earlier angered the local Agua Caliente when, to save his trees, he desperately diverted the remaining flume water. The hotel closed forever in 1909; it was finally torn down in 1954.

Murray was a friend of Indian Chief Francisco Patencio and generally worked for the betterment of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. While he was involved in water disputes with them, especially during the drought years, he continued to exhibit an interest in their welfare.

When the Murrays’ son Erskine (born in 1867) died in 1894, rather than take him to Banning, they buried him on a triangular lot on Vine Avenue (at the west ends of Chino Drive and Alejo Road). As the Native Americans used the Patencio cemetery on Section 14, the Murrays allowed a few other burials

on Vine Avenue. When Mrs. Murray died, she was buried there, and when Welwood Murray himself died in 1914, he was also buried in the cemetery that would be named after him.

The Murray heirs deeded the cemetery to the public, leading to the formation of the Palm Springs Cemetery District. Today, looking at the names on the tombstones is like revisiting the past of Palm Springs, as many of the town’s early settlers and notable citizens lie in repose there, including the White sisters, J. Smeaton Chase, Alvah Hicks, Nellie Coffman, Ruth Hardy, Zaddie Bunker, Albert Frey and many others.

Concerned with the lack of reading materials in the village, Murray made several attempts to help people borrow books. He even built a small adobe building at the rear of the hotel for a library, where he loaned out his own books. So it was fitting that in 1938, his son George Welwood Murray donated land in the heart of Palm Springs to the city for the construction of a library. The Welwood Murray Memorial Library (which opened in 1941) still graces the southeast corner of Palm Canyon Drive and Tahquitz Canyon Way. It was the main library of Palm Springs until 1975.

In addition to the cemetery and library, Murray Canyon is also named in honor of that garrulous Scotsman, Welwood Murray.

Sources for this article include Palm Springs: The Landscape, the History, the Lore by Mary Jo Churchwell (Ironwood Editions, 2001); and The McCallum Saga: The Story of the Founding of Palm Springs by Katherine Ainsworth (Palm Springs Desert Museum, 1973).

Welwood and Elizabeth Murray with their son Erskine. Photo courtesy of the Palm Springs Historical Society

APRIL ASTRONOMY

By Robert Victor

April highlights include a major solar eclipse; a comet visible through binoculars; beautiful gatherings of the moon, planets and stars; two close planet pairs; and the annual large gathering of bright stars in the western sky at dusk.

On the first days of April, as darkness falls, note bright Jupiter in west, and the second-magnitude star Hamal, brightest star of Aries, within 14° to the planet’s lower right. Using binoculars, look for a fuzzy spot, perhaps of fifth magnitude, in the same field as Hamal. It’s comet 12P/PonsBrooks, in its return to the inner solar system after nearly 71 years. Comet P-B is shifting position by 1.2° each day. Look to the star’s upper left, in the same binocular field, April 1-3.

Also near Jupiter and in the same binocular field is the 5.8-magnitude planet Uranus. Look above

and slightly left of Jupiter, by 3° on April 3. On April 9, Uranus will be only 2° directly above Jupiter, and on April 15, it’s just 1° to Jupiter’s upper right. Uranus will appear only 0.5° north (to the upper right) of Jupiter on April 20, but by then, the pair will be only 1° above the horizon at the end of evening twilight.

A bit less than an hour before sunrise, we can follow the planets Mars and Saturn, low, just south of east, all month. We’ll also catch the waning moon during April’s first week, and again after the full moon of April 23. On April 1, the 57% moon appears in the Teapot of Sagittarius. This southernmost moon reaches its high point directly south only 27° up, four minutes before sunrise as seen from the Coachella Valley. During April 1-10, Mars and Saturn appear closer together each morning. On April 3, they’re 5° apart and easily fit within the same binocular field, while the 35% crescent moon stands in the southeast. On April 5, Mars is within 10° to the lower left of the 15% moon, while Saturn appears 3.6° to Mars’ lower left. On April 6, in brighter twilight, the very low moon (7%) forms a compact gathering with Saturn and Mars. The planets that morning are 3° apart, within 3° and 6° to the moon’s upper right. From lower left to upper right that morning, the gathering of the moon, Saturn and Mars will fit within a 6° field.

Mars and Saturn will nearly match in brightness over the next few months, near first magnitude. Mars is slowly brightening, until a peak near its closest approach to Earth in January 2025. Saturn will fade at first, as its rings change from 4° from edgewise on April 9, to 1.9° at a temporary minimum in late June. By the end of April, Saturn will appear 13° to the upper right of Mars. Mercury will be just then emerging, 17ˆ to Mars’ lower left.

The major solar eclipse: It will be seen on Monday, April 8, as total from within a track crossing Mexico, the United States from Texas to Maine, and eastern Canada. The event will be seen only as a partial solar eclipse from nearly all of the rest of North America, including here.

To avoid serious and possibly permanent harm, anyone who wishes to directly view the partial eclipse must use a viewing device that meets safety standards to greatly reduce the sun’s brightness. For descriptions of the standards, the viewing devices, and a list of reliable vendors, visit eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety. Without such a device, you can observe the eclipse indirectly, by projecting images using a colander or pinholes, or looking at projected images on the ground or the side of a building.

From the Coachella Valley, the first contact of the moon’s disk with the sun’s occurs at 10:06 a.m., as the moon begins to cover the right side of the sun. If the solar disk is imagined as the face of a clock, and viewed through a safe solar filter, then a tiny part of the moon’s silhouette will first be seen halfway between the 3 o’clock (right edge) and 4 o’clock positions. The coverage increases until maximum eclipse at 11:14 a.m., when the lower 61 percent of the sun’s diameter and 53 percent of the disk area are covered. The fraction of the sun hidden will then decrease until last contact, around 12:26 p.m.

At sunset on the evening on April 8, eclipse day, the moon will still be within 4° of the sun and not visible. At mid-twilight on the next evening, April 9, about 40 minutes after sunset, the moon’s age will be an easy 32 to 33 hours, well-placed 18 degrees from the sun. Look for the beautiful 3 percent crescent that evening, 11° to the lower right of Jupiter.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, perhaps near its peak at magnitude of 4.5, appears through binoculars within 6° to the upper left of the moon on April 9. As dusk deepens on April 10, the 8 percent moon appears 5° to the upper right of Jupiter, and 7° below the Pleiades star cluster. On April 11, the moon is 7° above the Pleiades and within 10° to the right of Aldebaran and the Hyades cluster. On the 12th, the moon will appear very close to Elnath, the tip of the northern horn of Taurus, the Bull.

As darkness falls on April 13, the moon will be near the feet of Gemini, and the comet will be just 3° below Jupiter. On the nights of April

Planets and Bright Stars in Evening Mid-Twilight For April, 2024

This sky chart is drawn for latitude 34 degrees north, but may be used in southern U.S. and northern Mexico.

The month brings a major solar eclipse, a rare comet and beautiful celestial gatherings

April's evening sky chart.

ROBERT D. MILLER

Evening mid-twilight occurs when the Sun is 9° below the horizon. Apr.1: 40 minutes after sunset.

15: 41 " " " 30: 43 " " "

14 and 15, the moon skips past Castor and Pollux, and the bright stars of Gemini, and on the nights of April 17 and 18, the moon leapfrogs over Regulus, heart of Leo, the Lion. On the evening of April 20, the comet passes perihelion, 72.6 million miles from sun, but will be setting around the end of twilight. On the 22nd at dusk, the nearly full moon appears very close to Spica. Use binoculars to spot the star just south of the moon. At dusk on the 23rd, the full moon appears 13° to the lower left of Spica.

To follow the moon until the end of the lunar month, which began with the solar eclipse, we shift our viewing time back to dawn, and we see the waning gibbous moon 5° west of Antares, heart of the Scorpion, on April 26. We also see the summer triangle of Vega, Altair and Deneb approaching overhead these mornings, with Arcturus in the west, and Spica setting in west-southwest.

The Astronomical Society of the Desert will

Stereographic Projection

host a star party on Saturday, April 13, at the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center; and on Saturday, April 27, at Sawmill Trailhead, a site in the Santa Rosa Mountains at elevation 4,000 feet. For dates and times of other star parties, and maps and directions to the two sites, visit astrorx.org. The Abrams Planetarium Sky Calendar is available by subscription from www.abramsplanetarium.org/skycalendar. Links to free downloadable PDFs of the April 2024 Sky Calendar and evening skies constellation map are also available there. For $12 per year, subscribers receive quarterly mailings, each containing three monthly issues.

Robert Victor originated the Abrams Planetarium monthly Sky Calendar in October 1968 and still helps produce an occasional issue. He enjoys being outdoors sharing the beauty of the night sky and other wonders of nature.

DO-GOODER

CLOSING DISPARITIES

By Kevin FitzgerALD

Dr. Conrado Barzaga was in the news back in late September, when—abruptly and without public explanation—he was removed from his position as chief executive officer of the Desert Healthcare District (DHCD).

At the time, the DHCD board of directors, who were responsible his dismissal, released only a minimum amount information regarding the 4-3 vote to remove Barzaga. Meanwhile, Barzaga politely declined media requests for comment, including two from the Independent.

On Jan. 15, Barzaga resurfaced as he assumed what promises to be an impactful role within the regional health-care community. As the new vice president and chief project officer for Innercare—a nonprofit health organization that provides primary medical care in Riverside and Imperial counties—Barzaga will be tasked with advancing health-equity research, medical education and building a health-care workforce.

“With Innercare, I am responsible for developing a pipeline for health-care providers, and making sure that all the clinics at Innercare are going to have the health-care workforce that we need,” Barzaga said in a recent interview. “Mostly we’re talking about primary-care providers, which are family doctors, internal medicine (specialists), pediatrics and OB-GYNs.”

A recent analysis by Market Watch—a website that provides financial information, business news, analysis and stock market data— sought to determine the healthiest counties in the United States. Riverside County ranked 473rd out of 576 counties rated across the country (only a fraction of the nation’s counties were included), while Imperial County ranked 493rd. Barzaga said his own research shows there is an insufficient number of health-care professionals practicing in the two counties.

“I have found that, for the population in east Coachella Valley, we have a shortage of about 94 physicians in those specialties,” Barzaga said. “So there is a significant gap in what we have right now to serve our community, and this job allows me to continue envisioning and working on implementing solutions to grow (the number of) physicians in our area. By working in partnership with academic institutions and other federally qualified health centers, and … with other health-care institutions like Desert Regional Medical Center, JFK Hospital, Eisenhower Health and all the health-care partners in our region, we have the opportunity to contribute to the well-being of our community.”

Barzaga learned while overseeing the DHCD community-outreach efforts that to provide necessary health-care services to underserved and disenfranchised communities in our

region, not only does the number of medical professionals need to increase; the diversity of incoming professionals in all phases of health care needs to improve as well.

“We have pockets of persistent inequalities here in the Coachella Valley,” Barzaga said. “The east valley is a prime example. But even in the west valley, we have Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City and even pockets inside of Palm Springs where we see racial and ethnic disparities in access to health care. We need to close those disparities. Another thing that I will be working on is increasing the proportion of primary-care providers whose language comports with the region. It’s not only about having the right number of primary-care providers; it’s about having primary-care providers who are culturally and language-concordant with our population. We have a population, in the east valley primarily, where there are many people who don’t speak English, or they have limited English proficiency. When you have limited English proficiency, and your doctor doesn’t speak your language, it’s very difficult to understand the nature of your ailments, and it’s very difficult to follow procedures and to have the appropriate treatment, right?”

According to the organization’s website, Innercare operates 10 health clinics; six dental clinics; three pharmacies; three Women, Infants and Children Nutrition (WIC) education centers; and six WIC voucher-distribution sites. Its stated mission is “to improve the health and well-being of the communities we serve through providing access to excellent care, available to all.” It is this inclusive approach to providing high-quality health care to the neediest residents that attracted Barzaga to Innercare, he said.

“I have known the leadership at Innercare for many years (starting) when they were Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo,” Barzaga said. (Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo changed its name to Innercare in March 2022.) “I have always been impressed by the leadership of Yvonne Bell, who started this as a very small clinic, and it has grown to become the primary care provider in Imperial County. Now (it’s) a significant provider in the eastern Coachella

Former Desert Healthcare District CEO

Dr. Conrado Barzaga discusses his new role at health-care nonprofit Innercare

Also, there is a clear alignment in the work that I had been doing with the Desert Healthcare District and the work that Innercare is trying to accomplish in Imperial County and east Riverside County. So this was a good alignment, and a good opportunity to continue doing some of the initiatives that I had started with the DHCD. We want to create a stronger health-care infrastructure for the residents of the Coachella Valley, primarily looking at communities that have been neglected for too long, and disenfranchised. There is a dire need for health care in those communities, and that’s what attracted me to work with Innercare.”

After two months at Innercare, Barzaga said he is focused on accomplishing his objectives in a systematic fashion.

“What I will be doing is creating systems to attract, train and develop residency programs to train and educate physicians working in federally qualified health centers,” Barzaga said. “The other responsibility I have … is developing a research department. When we’re talking about research, we’re talking about allowing populations that typically do not participate in clinical research to be a part of that. By adding research into the institution, we’re looking at opportunities to improve the quality of health care, and also to improve the educational expe-

rience for those residents who will be coming to us. Ultimately, we need to close the racial and ethnic disparities that exist in our country, because that will reduce health care expenditures and improve the quality of care for this population.”

I asked Barzaga if he’d talk about his abrupt departure from the Desert Healthcare District, since a lot of people still wonder what happened.

“Yeah, me too,” he said with a laugh. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any comment about that. I do want to say that with Innercare, we are really nurturing an alliance with other federally qualified health centers, because coming together and working together is only going to make us stronger, wiser … and better-positioned to provide the quality of health care that traditionally underserved communities do not have access to. … One thing that I did successfully while I was with the Desert Healthcare District was bringing people together, and that’s what I’m striving to do in my new role within Innercare— bringing people together from academia, from the health-care world and from other healthcare organizations to envision solutions and to create the changes that are needed for our community, and for the health-care infrastructure of the Coachella Valley.”

Dr. Conrado Barzaga: “We want to create a stronger health-care infrastructure for the residents of the Coachella Valley, primarily looking at communities that have been neglected for too long, and disenfranchised.” Kevin Fitzgerald Valley.

ARTS & CULTURE

NEW SPACE NEEDED

By MATT KING

The Coachella Valley is blessed with both great theater companies and a lot of theater fans—and as a love for the arts grows in the community, the best local arts organizations must grow as well.

For 16 years, Dezart Performs has been one of the Coachella Valley’s most-respected theater companies. Producing everything from new works to classic productions, Dezart has made good on its mission statement to “enrich the life and culture of (the) community.” Dezart has expanded from humble beginnings at the Dezart One Gallery in the Backstreet Art District to sold-out runs at its current home, the Pearl McManus Theater at the Palm Springs Woman’s Club—and Dezart

needs to grow yet again.

In December 2023, Dezart announced a $3.2 million fundraising campaign to open a new theater at Canyon Plaza South, at 67555 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City. The goal of “Next Stage Campaign” is to raise $2.2 million to develop the new space, dubbed the Dezart Playhouse, as well as $1 million for operating costs. A new versatile performance space will allow Dezart to build upon its already impressive productions, while fostering a hub for community art and interaction.

During a recent phone interview with Michael Shaw, Dezart’s co-founder and artistic director, he said the organization has thus far raised more than a third of the funds.

“The goal still is to open in the season 2025-2026, and our budget is currently at $2.2 million,” Shaw said. “We went public on Dec. 5, but the campaign is almost two years old. There’s the silent phase of a capital campaign like this, where you’re going to your larger prospective donors to kickstart the campaign, and we were in a silent phase for well over a year before we went public with it. Since we began that silent phase, numbers have grown in terms of budget and cost factors … because inflation has had an impact on our original numbers. … Infrastructure is always going to be your biggest expense in terms of turning a space into a theater, because a retail space is not built to occupy 125 to 150 people for a two-hour period.”

No matter where Dezart Performs has been housed, or how many seats were in the theater, Shaw said his goal has always been the same.

“My mission from the very beginning was to bring newer plays, more contemporary work, to the valley,” Shaw said. “Some people have coined us as the ‘off-Broadway of Palm Springs,’ but we do a number of Broadwayproduced pieces as well. Our audience and our company have grown dramatically just in the last seven, eight years. … My goal has always been to bring stuff that might be played in larger markets—Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, San Francisco—here to the valley so

people don’t have to travel to those other regions to see really good theater.”

Shaw pointed out that Dezart is one of only two Equity-sanctioned companies in the Coachella Valley; CVRep is the other.

“We employ Equity Union-based actors as well as local talent and non-union talent,” he said. “We’ve done a number of world premieres and West Coast premieres over the years. Our latest piece, A Case for the Existence of God, was the latest play from Samuel D. Hunter, who wrote The Whale. We had the pleasure of hosting him for the opening weekend, and he was here for a Q&A. Our second play of the season, What the Constitution Means to Me, was a Tony-nominated play that was on Broadway in 2018, and that broke all of our records in 16 years. That was the most- attended show we’ve ever had, and then A Case for the Existence of God is now our second-largest-attended play in 16 years.”

COVID-19 hit the industry hard, wiping out some theater companies. Shaw explained how Dezart was able to pull through.

“The support of the community—and obviously state funding and government funding—helped us weather that storm,” Shaw said. “We’ve actually come back stronger than ever, as you can tell from our ticket sales. We continue to garner a lot of critical acclaim for the kind of work that we’re doing and the level of talent that we’re bringing to the valley. We’re technically a small professional team; that’s the status that we hold with Equity, which means we’re under 250 seats, and we’re just busting at the seams. Constitution ran at about 115% of capacity, which means we sold out and then oversold every show. Our 83 seats are just not enough, so we just keep adding rows and seats—and then truly standing room-only is what we are encountering right now.”

Shaw said he’s dreamed of Dezart having its own, new space for more than five years.

“We rent the space that we’re in now at the Woman’s Club, and it has served us incredibly well for 13 years,” he said. We’re clearly in need of a larger space … that we can grow into. The

Dezart Performs, ‘busting at the seams’ in its current home, is raising money for a Cathedral City space of its own

hope is that it’ll be 125 to 150 seats. At the Woman’s Club, there have been two theater companies in tandem running there at any given time over the years. There was a time when the two of us were juggling schedules between the two companies. … It’s clear that we obviously need our own space. It also allows us the flexibility that we need, as we don’t have the flexibility when you’re a tenant in a space like the Woman’s Club, which is used as a community space as well.”

Shaw envisions the Dezart Playhouse as having an “inviting lobby” that can develop camaraderie between audiences and performers.

“I want the audience to come early, and I want them to stay late,” he said. “In some theaters in Chicago, you go and you have a drink at the bar, or you grab a quick bite at the restaurant next door, and then you go in and see the show, and then you walk out of the theater and go straight to the bar in the lobby, and you meet the cast there, and you hang out for another hour and a half talking about the show. I want to create that experience for our patrons. … After Constitution, people hung out for 30 minutes to an hour after the show with the cast. In the new space, people won’t feel like they have to be pushed out of the theater.”

Shaw also intends for Dezart’s new space to be used by other community members.

“We want to make sure that the space is also

flexible, to be used by other organizations,” Shaw said. “There is a lot of music here in the valley, and right now, they go to small, little spaces, and makeshift spaces with a microphone and a light and a couple of tables, and they sing. I want to be able to create a space that people can come and say, ‘We want to do Tuesday nights in your new playhouse’— and the seating of the new place will be very flexible. We can have 125 seats, or we can clear that out, and we’ll have two tops and chairs, cafe tables, and you can grab a drink at the bar and go into the theater and sit and watch comedy or watch cabaret.”

Cathedral City is turning into an arts hub. The Dezart Playhouse space is just down the street from the CVRep Playhouse, and the downtown area hosts a variety of festivals and events on a regular basis.

“I live in Palm Springs. Palm Springs is my home, we’ve seen this renaissance happening,” Shaw said. “There is a very strong theater community in Palm Springs, but Palm Springs is noted for its tourism … The energy is incredible, but I don’t always run into people who are friends and family who I know. I run into people all the time in Cathedral City. … If we can be a part of that, I’m excited.”

Learn more at dezartperforms.org/ next-stage-campaign.

An artist’s rendering of the proposed Dezart Playhouse.

ARTS & CULTURE

HUMAN + MACHINE

Michael Childers melds his legendary photographs with AI for a new exhibit at Melissa Morgan Fine Art

by Cat Makino

Artificial intelligence …. friend or foe? Many creative professionals see it as a threat which will take away their livelihoods. Yet some, like renowned photographer Michael Childers and printer/photographer Stephen Baumbach, are embracing the new technology.

In fact, the two have collaborated with each other and AI—and the results can be seen in the AI Photography exhibition, on display at Melissa Morgan Fine Art at Palm Desert from Friday, April 5, through Friday, May 10.

“It doesn’t mean that Michael and Stephen used an artificial paint brush,” said Alec Longmuir, a director and partner at Melissa Morgan. “They combined the best of both worlds,

welding them together. They are taking human figures and integrating them in an abstract environment.”

Childers’ original photographs were fed into the AI tool with text prompts, producing the generated images. Baumbach, a visionary known for combining traditional techniques with modern technology, brought his tech savvy to the party to create the cutting-edge images.

“AI is growing; it’s moving fast and continuing at a rapid pace,” Baumbach said. “While some may be wary about the use of AI in the creative arts, it is a valuable tool for photographers. It gives us new ways to explore our creative expression and push the boundaries of traditional photography.”

Said Childers: “I used my photographs from the past that I felt passionate about. It was an extension of all my senses. AI reads my mind and takes images—of what I’m feeling and thinking, like an encyclopedia of our brains, using my films and stills—and turns them into live images.”

Bauchman sees AI as a saver of time and resources.

“AI-generated images are not meant to replace human creativity. but serve as a tool for it,” he said, adding that by accepting the use of AI, photographers can push boundaries—and play an important role in shaping the future of photography.

An AI system can process and record up to trillions of images. It can analyze large amounts of data and use what it “learns” to generate images that would be difficult or even impossible for humans to create.

Steven Biller, the longtime editorial director of Palm Springs Life, will moderate the “AI Photography Tea and Talk” at Melissa Morgan from 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday, April 21.

“It’s a great collaboration between Michael and AI,” Biller said. “He combines his sense of fantasy and reality that separates him from the other artists. The photos are provocative and have a sexiness to them. It’s groundbreaking work. … It’s really exciting

to see older artists like Michael embracing AI and will inspire a lot of artists to collaborate with all the new technology.”

Even so, some photographers still see AI as an enemy that steals published works and could replace the human portion of photography, making it merely a technical process. Baumbach counters that the best AI-generated images are a collaboration between human and machine, saving the photographer’s time and allowing them to focus on their creative vision.

“Don’t fear it; it won’t hurt you,” Baumbach said. “You need to jump out there, or you’re going to miss out. It’s all good. It’s not gloom and doom.”

Michael Childers’ AI Photography exhibit will be on display from Friday, April 5, through Friday, May 10, at Melissa Morgan Fine Art, 73660 El Paseo, in Palm Desert. An opening reception takes place from 4 to 7 p.m., Friday, April 5. The “AI Photography Tea and Talk” will take place from 1 to 3 p.m., Sunday, April 21. To RSVP for the talk or get more information, visit melissamorganfineart.com.

An AI-enhanced photograph by Michael Childers.

ARTS & CULTURE

MIRRORS, NO SMOKE

High desert artist Matt Elson shows some of his renowned ‘Infinity Boxes’ at Imago Gallery

by Cat Makino

It’s all done with mirrors.

High desert-based artist Matt Elson is talking about his series of “Infinity Boxes.”

They combine color, light and mirrors, creating a fun and immersive experience for anyone looking inside of them—and some them are on display at Imago Galleries, at 45450 Highway-74 in Palm Desert, through April.

Elson said he came up with the concept when he saw pieces of mirrors around in his thenworkshop in Long Beach.

“I put these two pieces back-to-back. I saw reflections of me and my friend,” he said. “We

started laughing. That’s when I decided to go with joy in my art, not darkness.” Elson said he enjoys seeing people having a great time looking into the boxes.

Since the creation of the first “Infinity Boxes” in 2012, they have been exhibited at museums, galleries, events and immersiveexperience facilities in North America, Asia and Europe, reaching an audience of more than 7 million people, he said.

and a couple of months to complete. He said he’s motivated to make the boxes, because they all give people a chance to look at someone they know, or don’t know in a new, or different way.

Elson, an award-winning computer graphics artist, trained as a painter at the Pratt Institute, earned his master’s degree in communications from the New York Institute of Technology, and is a graduate of the UCLA Anderson School of Management’s Executive Program.

Starting in 1982, he worked in the high end of 3-D computer graphics, working for Walt Disney Feature Animation, DreamWorks Animation, Magnet Interactive Studios, The Post Group LA, and Symbolics, Inc, a company that evolved out of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab.

However, things started to change in 2004. “I was getting further off the art track and wanted to get back on,” he said. “I became part of a brain trust that was less and less creative and more and more managerial; it’s not what I was after. So I left Disney in 2004.”

Each box takes Elson between three weeks

Sculptor Cybele Rowe said about her experience facing Elson in one “Infinity Box”: “I felt self-conscious. I stuck my head in, and the colors burst forth like I was on a carnival ride. I was colorfully animated. My mind quickly bounced back to my childhood, and I was inside a big kaleidoscope, my favorite toy. … So many me’s were laughing. What a trip.”

In 2007, Elson started attending Burning Man, the annual event where 70,000-plus people from all over the globe gather in the Black Rock Desert in northwestern Nevada around Labor Day. The world’s biggest party is dedicated to community art, self-reliance and art expression. Elson said he’s motivated and energized by the event, calling it “wonderfully overwhelming.”

“It’s like old home week—meeting so many friends and colleagues. Just everywhere you turn, you find something that’s fun, inventive and interesting,” Elson said. “It’s not commercialism; it’s a place to show art and party.”

Learn more about Matt Elson at www.facebook. com/mattelsonart.

A view inside one of Matt Elson’s “Infinity Boxes.” “We’re interested in ourselves as human beings. Everything revolves around the question of us and our perception,” he said. “So all of this is lending us tools to explore the mind and explore perception with each other.”

CAESAR CERVISIA

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By brett newton

LOVE YOUR HAIR

ifteen years ago, I was living with my cousin Josh, and we were discussing our desire to make a batch of beer ourselves. This led me to research everything I could regarding the

wasn’t good enough for me. Josh, being a busy father of two small children, didn’t have a lot of Google found me a Yahoo! group (remember those?) for the Coachella Valley Homebrew Club. I messaged the moderator (a gentleman named Micah, who was also the founder of the club), and I

Country Club and Cook Street Palm De sert

760-340-5959

www.jasondavidhairstudio.net

in the ’90s), the club got me on the road to where I am today.

However, I never really made another IPA. For one thing, I didn’t have all the equipment or the proper conditions to make one with which I’d be satisfied. There were many commercially available examples on offer locally by that time—but they were different from most IPAs today.

Today, I’ll hop in my time machine and travel back to 2009 and taste the IPAs I remember.

Stone IPA: This is where I’d start once I stepped out of the time machine. Why?

Because this was, to me, the ultimate “oh, thank Zeus this is here” beer on a random bar

The thing that strikes this older version of me sipping it now is the bitterness. All IPAs were like this. It was a hard barrier to people not interested in high levels of bitterness— but this and especially their Ruination Double IPA were in my life a lot. Stone, at their peak (again, to me), had Mitch Steele at the helm of the brewhouse, and he really pumped out some genre-defining ales—citrusy, piney and dank (before we were really using that last word in that context). And guess what? This beer holds up. It is still really good. This is coming from someone who has a lot of criticisms of Stone’s last decade, so that should tell you something. Find this fresh (which should not be difficult), and enjoy the late ’00s in your glass.

Sculpin IPA: Ballast Point was another brewery that kept ratcheting up what they were doing, with the beers getting better and

How do our beer scribe’s favorite IPAs from 2009 compare to today’s versions?

better. Back then, you were so glad to find this on tap. I wasn’t aware of anywhere in the desert where one could, so my first experience was at the brilliant (and now long-gone) Barley and Hops Olde World Family Tavern in Temecula. (This was also where I had my first experience with Russian River.) Sculpin was in the same class.

Then the first sale happened. Then the second. Ballast Point seems to now be in decent hands, though, because their current version is not bad at all—solid, well-made, dank and citrusy. But from my memory, it’s different. It’s designed for more modern palates, with way less bitterness than I recall. (Bitterness, of course, was absolutely common and desired then.) The current owners seem dead-set on reclaiming their good name, and I wish them all the luck in the world, because the name was heavily tarnished after they sold in 2015 to Constellation Brands for $1 billion, which then dumped it in 2019 to its current owners.

Union Jack IPA: Firestone Walker made some of the most drinkable hoppy beers around back then. They had the ability to perfectly marry the hops with the malt base underneath it. They also used to contract-brew an IPA for Trader Joe called Mission St. IPA that was too good to not buy every week when I went food shopping, as it was selling for less than $7 a six-pack. The dank, citrus hop flavors in both beers floated over the caramel backbone. Much has stayed the same in the beer that is currently in my glass, and I’m very happy about that. It is much less bitter than the other examples here, but that was what I remember it being like 15 years ago—so this presaged modern IPAs a bit, now that I think about it.

60 Minute IPA: I hadn’t had any Dogfish Head beers for a few years; the ones I’d last tried made me feel like they were beginning to miss a step. But on a whim recently, I picked up a can of their 90 Minute Imperial IPA—and I quite liked it. Now, if you come to that beer, or the 60 Minute, and you’re desiring a modern, not-so-bitter, maybe-a-hint-ofmalt IPA (of which I am a fan), you’re going to have a bad time. There is most definitely malt and most definitely bitterness, and those are what make the secret sauce in this style of beer. With caramel, toffee and a bread-pudding-like quality, this can be an intense flavor experience when the style is done well, and I hope it never gets forgotten. The 60 Minute has notes of grapefruit, orange and pine, with a nice, bready malt spine to prop it all up. I love how wrong I was about Dogfish Head.

I could go on, but a few of the other beers I would have included have been made consistently and continuously for decades. Swami’s IPA from Pizza Port Brewing is not only a classic, but it’s just as good as it ever was—and that’s very good. Sierra Nevada’s Torpedo IPA is the same for me, and you can sometimes find very fresh cans of it at your local convenience store. I could have included Green Flash’s West Coast IPA, but I couldn’t find it. It turns out the packaging is wildly different than it used to be, and while the Total Wine website says our local store has it, it certainly does not have prominent placement. (Green Flash is a subject for a whole other column, but 15 years ago, you would be thanking your lucky stars if you walked into a bar with it on tap. It was once one of the shining beacons on that hill that is San Diego.)

All in all, I was very pleased with this trip through time. While these examples may be viewed as “your uncle’s craft beer,” he’s a really cool uncle with good taste. In addition, I’m ecstatic that none of these beers are pale shadows of what they used to be. They were all beers I would happily have in my fridge, although I’m more likely to buy a fresh pack of the above-mentioned Swami’s than anything here.

And would you look at that? I do have a pack of Swami’s in my fridge. Uncanny.

Brett Newton is a certified cicerone (like a sommelier for beer) and homebrewer who has mostly lived in the Coachella Valley since 1988. He can be reached at caesarcervisia@gmail.com.

Stone IPA was great back in 2009—and it is great today.

VINE SOCIAL

JASON DAVID HAIR STUDIO

By Katie finn

LOVE YOUR HAIR

ve spent an unacceptable amount of time in Canada over the last month. Given how gorgeous

A look at why it’s impossible to find most Canadian wines in the United States

The good news is my trips to Canada were wine- and family-related, which makes snow flurries

Country Club and Cook Street Palm De sert

My first trip was to the Vancouver International Wine Festival, where I sipped and spit copious amounts of Italian and Canadian wines, ate like a queen in some of the city’s finest restaurants,

760-340-5959

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Okanagan region of British Columbia—and thinking about why these wines are not available in the United States.

Luckily, on both trips, I was surrounded by wine-industry folks and had the opportunity to ask some probing questions. I was able to address some of the very questions our snowbirds ask me every season.

“Are there any Canadian wines here beyond ice wine?”

“Do you have any wines from B.C.?”

“Why can’t I get any B.C. wines here in California?”

In Vancouver, the answers I received were varied—and more than a little vague. Some people said the wines are simply too limited. There only about 9,000 acres of vines planted in the wine valleys of the Okanagan, and as a result, the majority of the high-end wines produced in the region stay in the country.

Others explained that importing Canadian wines into the U.S. was simply too difficult: There are too many rules and hoops to jump through, and at the end of the day, selling wine in the United States just wasn’t worth it.

One winery owner said, quite plainly, that the United States isn’t ready to pay for the quality of wine that the Okanagan is producing. He claimed the wines of Canada are fully capable of going head-to-head with some of California’s finest wines, but Americans aren’t prepared to pay the same price or higher for luxury Canadian wines. His wines sell out every year, he said, so why go to the trouble of finding someone to import his wines, and then shell out massive dollars to market the wines to a group of consumers who don’t want them anyway?

These answers made me scratch my head in disbelief. The United States is now the leading consumer of wine in the world, surpassing France and Italy. The U.S. successfully imports and imbibes wine from virtually every wine-

producing region in the world. In my little wine shop here in La Quinta, I have wines from countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Hungary, Corsica, Sardinia and Tasmania, just to name a few. Even lesser-known domestic wine regions like the Finger Lakes in New York, or the wine regions of Virginia, have a place on my shelves. Not only are these wines represented in my shop; they are some of my best-sellers.

So why would our neighbors to the north think the U.S. isn’t a viable market for their wines? Why would they discount the fact that so many of their residents flock to our desert for 180 days each year? It just didn’t make sense to me.

Then I had an eye-opening lunch with some of my comrades who run my business partners’ liquor stores in British Columbia. Their bootson-the-ground insight helped me put some of the pieces together.

Some of the above-mentioned reasons are probably valid, especially for some of the smaller production wineries—but that’s not the crux of it. What is: the level of control the provincial government has over the alcohol trade in British Columbia, which I found upsetting and frustrating.

I’m from Alberta, where liquor sales have been privatized—meaning the sales and ordering of all alcohol is handled exclusively by independent retailers and restaurants—since 1993. I’ve taken for granted the fact that every time I’m in Calgary, I can walk into any little wine shop and find a wonderful selection of wines that come from every corner of the globe, at relatively competitive prices. I wasn’t familiar with just how invasive the other provinces’ liquor-control boards are.

In other provinces, like British Columbia, the liquor-control board controls every aspect of what wines and spirits can come into the province. They also mandate the pricing and availability based on what they supply in their own provincially run stores. Yup: Not only do they have control over the “privately owned” liquor stores in their province; they also have their own provincially run stores that directly compete with the independently owned stores.

Some of my comrades told me that the provincial government will go so far as to market and promote items they feature in their stores as a way to undercut their smaller, privately owned competitors. If a wine is presented to the B.C. market, the liquorcontrol board can make the arbitrary decision to withhold that product from other shops and keep it all for their-government run stores. They can control pricing and distribution, effectively prohibiting smaller retailers from any kind of competitive sales. They even run advertisements highlighting the advantages of shopping at the provincial stores over the “mom and pop” shops.

When I asked if anything could be done— like some kind of ballot initiative, protest or coup—the group kind of collectively laughed at me: “Oh, Katie, you silly American and your freedoms.” The answer was a resounding no. Apparently the corruption runs so deep that people in the private liquor-sales sector in provinces outside of Alberta have just thrown

up their hands in defeat. “It is what it is,” I was told. “Nothing is going to change. The B.C. liquor board is never going to relinquish control when their operation is such a cash cow.”

I find myself shaking my head in disbelief. Needless to say, I’m happy to be home, and at the end of the day, I’m lucky I get to be the master of my wine ship. I have the ability to select the wines I want to sell, that I stand behind, and that I’m passionate about.

It would be wonderful to have wines from British Columbia on my shelves. There are several that I have really enjoyed, and it would be a joy to introduce them to our local wine-lovers. But until British Columbia gets out of its own way and realizes that the United States is a wine force to be reckoned with, their wines will have stay behind their self-imposed iron curtain.

Katie Finn is a certified sommelier and certified specialist of wine with two decades in the wine industry. She can be reached at katiefinnwine@ gmail.com.

British Columbia is in the liquor business, operating about 200 government-owned stores across the province. Koshiro/stock.adobe.com

FOOD & DRINK INDY ENDORSEMENT

On this month’s menu: dumplings and arena sliders!

By Jimmy Boegle

WHAT Mandu (pan-fried dumplings)

WHERE Katsuyama, 74990 Country Club Drive, Palm Desert

HOW MUCH $11

CONTACT 760-404-0168; www.katsuyamaus.com

WHY They’re perfectly seasoned “We proudly serve the best katsu in the desert area.”

This is the sentence printed on all of the paper placemats at Katsuyama, a lovely Japanese restaurant that opened late last year in Palm Desert. You may ask: Is the sentence accurate?

After going to Katsuyama and having the don-katsu ($25), well, I can’t say I know the answer to that question. I enjoyed it—but katsu has never been my top choice at Japanese restaurants. I’ve always found other offerings to be more nuanced and more interesting, and such was again the case at Katsuyama: I can’t stop thinking about those mandu dumplings we had as an appetizer.

In other restaurants, these types of dumplings would be called gyoza or potstickers; interestingly, Katsuyama, a “Japanese katsu and izakaya” restaurant, uses the Korean term.

Whatever you call them, the “stir pan fried dumplings” were splendid. The six crispy dumplings were filled with a perfectly seasoned pork mixture and accompanied by an umami-packed dipping sauce. Once they were gone, we wanted more.

If you are a katsu fan, I do recommend a trip Katsuyama; while I can’t say the restaurant serves the desert’s best katsu, I can say it likely has the best-presented katsu, with the pork and all of its various accompaniments (including rice; tonjiru soup; cabbage; an interesting cold, creamy noodle salad; and various sauces and condiments) served beautifully on a tray.

If you’re not a katsu fan, there are plenty of other options, including ramen, sushi rolls, sashimi, honey-garlic bulgogi, kimchi fried rice, mussel stew and something intriguingly described on the menu as a “steamed egg bomb.”

You may go to Katsuyama for the katsu— but I’ll be going back for those dumplings.

WHAT The sliders

WHERE Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, Palm Desert

HOW MUCH N/A

CONTACT 888-695-8778; acrisurearena.com

WHY They’re actually seasoned

Actress Clara Peller became famous in the 1980s by asking, in Wendy’s commercials: “Where’s the beef?”

It’s pretty easy to find the beef in the burgers at most Coachella Valley restaurants; instead, I often find myself asking: Where’s the seasoning?

Seriously:

Where is it? Too many burgers I’ve had in local restaurants as of late have been under-seasoned.

Perhaps the chefs are depending on the toppings, condiments and sauces to carry the flavor; perhaps they’re not paying proper attention to what tends to be one of the cheaper menu items. Whatever the reason, I am encountering bland, uninspired patties at restaurants that can, and should, be doing better.

This spate of boring burgers came to mind one recent night at Acrisure Arena. I was there for a concert; we splurged and purchased admission to The Compound, the arena’s very cool VIP space which includes food, a bar and even a miniature golf course. On this particular evening, the food was included in the admission price, and servers were bringing around yummy treats—including beef sliders.

Fancy sliders, these were not: There was a bun, a patty and cheese. I don’t even think there was mayonnaise or any sauce … but the meat was seasoned. And as a result, the sliders were damn tasty.

Yes, all of the things that go around the meat on a burger are important. Good buns can enhance the taste and help create a nice mouthfeel; toppings can add crunch and freshness. Sauce and condiments can provide moisture and, of course, flavor. But the most important part of a burger is the protein at the center, and proper seasoning brings out the flavor of the meat. And if the meat is under-seasoned, the burger as a whole will be, at best, mediocre.

Props to the folks at Acrisure for seasoning their sliders!

Opens April 26!

Restaurant NEWS BITES

By charles drabkin

HELP THE CHILDREN—AND EAT MEATBALLS!

Sammy’s International Meatball Festival is back! The event benefits the Boys and Girls Club of Cathedral City, and it takes place there (at 32141 Whispering Palms Trail) from noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, April 7. This fun-filled event features music, food, wine, beer and games, with prizes in both amateur and professional meatball-making categories. It is a great way to taste delicious meatballs while helping our community. Regular tickets are $15 (and include five meatball tastings), while VIP tickets are just $25 (with 10 meatball tastings and a special lounge!). Get tickets and learn more at www.bgcccity.org/12th-annual-meatball-festival.

In other events news: The spring edition of Taste of On the Mark is happening from 4 to 7 p.m., Saturday, April 6, on Museum Way in Palm Springs, in front of the eponymous store. This is an opportunity to indulge in a variety of beer, wine and small bites from On the Mark and vendors from across the Coachella Valley. Tickets are $70 to $95; get details by going to onthemarkpalmsprings.com and clicking on events.

It is time again for Dining Out for Life. One of DAP Health’s most significant annual fundraisers will take place on Thursday, April 25. Last year, 68 restaurants participated here in the Coachella Valley, raising $270,000. If you are unfamiliar with Dining Out for Life, taking part is simple: You just need to go out to eat! Numerous wonderful restaurants and bars in our community then donate at least 33% of their sales for the day—with some donating 50, 60 or 100% of their sales, sometimes even more.

Dining Out for Life also takes place in other communities, always benefiting HIV/AIDS service organizations—but the Coachella Valley event raises as much or more than DOFL most major cities, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Chicago. A huge shout out and THANK YOU to the Coachella Valley restaurant community! Visit diningoutforlife.com/city/palmsprings for an updated list of restaurants—and make your reservations early.

IN BRIEF

Wang’s in the Desert, at 424 S, Indian Canyon Drive, in Palm Springs, has reopened. We’ve heard that management is new, and that ownership may be in the process of changing, but we could not get any confirmation. A spokesperson said via the restaurant’s Facebook page: “At this time, until a few items are ironed out … they don’t want to speak out of turn.” I am trying to remain cautiously optimistic. Since the Facebook page seems to be more up-to-date than the website, watch facebook.com/wangsinthedesert for updates. … DJ’s Sports Bar and Grill, at 34331 Date Palm Drive, in Cathedral City, is slated to open in mid-to-late April. With 300 beers on tap, pool tales and bar food, DJ’s seems like it should be a fun place to hang out. Watch facebook.com/djscorporate for details. … Super Taco has opened at 67778 E. Palm Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City; this is the space that was briefly Le Petit Dejeuner, and before that was Yanni’s Taverna. This taqueria used to be at 68171 Ramon Road, next to Outpost Market; the owners have made their new Cathedral City space much brighter and more welcoming than previous occupants. Check them out at instagram. com/supertaco_taqueria. … In other taco news: Olga’s Tacos, which had been inside the Fiesta Market next to Paul Bar, has moved to 67850 Vista Chino, No. 105, in Cathedral City. It offers the same great tacos; only the location is new. Meanwhile, the Fiesta Market space (at 3700 E. Vista Chino, in Palm Springs) has become All Guys Tacos, with a delicious assortment of taco, burrito and quesadilla favorites. I have always been a fan of more taco locations, so huzzah! Learn more about Olga’s at www.instagram.com/olgastacos18, and get the details on All Guys at www.instagram.com/all_guys_tacos. … Rodeo Bar and Grill has applied for a liquor license at the former home of Trunks, at 36737 Cathedral Canyon Drive, in Cathedral City. The application refers to the space as a rodeo nightclub; there is no word yet on whether there will be food offerings (although having “Grill” in the name is telling), or whether it will return as a gay bar. … The new Indio Taphouse, at 82867 Miles Ave., in Indio, has some interesting takes on bar food, including grinder-style tortas, an “agua chili tostada” and a cauliflower steak in green goddess chipotle aioli. Combine all of that with more than 120 brews, including local favorites and some international gems I haven’t seen in the desert before, and the Indio Taphouse sounds like a great time. See the full menu at indiotaphouse.com. … Just down the street, a new café has opened. The menu at Victoria’s Café, at 82720 Miles Ave., features pizza, burgers, pasta, Mexican food and an intriguing “aguachiles frosty.” Find details on the café by searching for it on Facebook.

Do you have a hot tip or news to share? Reach out: foodnews@cvindependent.com.

Is Coachella starting to lose its luster? It's a fair question.

While 2024 Stagecoach tickets sold out quickly, as of this writing, Coachella Weekend 2 passes are still available. Weekend 1 is sold out—but according to Billboard magazine, it took 27 days for all of the general admission passes to be purchased. Last year, Weekend 1 passes sold out in four days; in 2022, when the festival returned after a two-year pandemic hiatus,

both weekends sold out in about 40 minutes.

But make no mistake: Despite the slower Coachella sales, both Coachella and Stagecoach are slated to feature a whole lot of amazing musicians and other artists from all around the world—and hundreds of thousands of visitors will be flooding into the Coachella Valley to take it all in.

Welcome to our annual Music Issue.

Hatsune Miku’s Coachella set will celebrate Japanese culture—and empower aspiring musicians worldwide

By Matt King

There is much to be said about the uniqueness of this year’s Coachella artists—but there is one performer that is quite different than every other musician on the bill.

Hatsune Miku is not real.

What started as a virtual instrument that simulated the voice of a Japanese girl in 2007 has evolved into a cultural icon. The character design created for this musical tool has appeared in a number of anime productions, commercials and video games—and has achieved global fame.

Hatsune Miku, on Coachella’s not-tobe 2020 lineup, is slated to finally make her Coachella debut on Saturday, April 13 and 20. The show will feature Miku as a hologram, with intense visuals and a live band accompanying her.

“The core principle of the show hasn’t really changed much in the past decade,” said Riki Tsuji, a member of the global business team at Crypton Future Media, developers of Hatsune Miku. She has been touring as a hologram show since 2014; Tsuji and the team at Crypton have kept the main concept intact as the technology has advanced exponentially.

“We’ve mostly made refinements rather than any sort of major technological changes to the setup,” Tsuji said. “We’re always looking for whatever new options there are out there for us to present this concert, since it does have very special technological needs that a lot of other artists wouldn’t, but we’re not necessarily always trying to change up the formula. … For a lot of fans, it’s less about the technology, and it’s more about the creative community around Hatsune Miku.”

That creative community is what’s made Hatsune Miku so iconic.

“Miku, first and foremost, is a piece of software, so all of the songs Miku performs onstage were made by individual creators and fans,” Tsuji said. “The character herself definitely has a following and a draw, but I

think what makes Hatsune Miku special is not just the fact that this character is onstage singing to huge crowds, but the fact that the people who made the songs are in the crowd with the other fans. A lot of artists and a lot of celebrities will be like, ‘Oh, it’s all thanks to the fans,’ but in the case of Hatsune Miku, it’s quite literally thanks to the fans, because without the people buying the software, creating fan art, making music videos, etc., none of this would be possible. Hatsune Miku is made by the fans for the fans.”

Utilizing the Hatsune Miku software has allowed musicians to collaborate with the character.

“In the case of any professional recording artist, producers will reach out to composers and producers who they like, or who they want to work with,” Tsuji said. “That’s always a possible career path … especially with the internet these days, to start as a kid on SoundCloud, and then you end up making beats for Kanye or something. In the case of Hatsune Miku, that’s a very, very direct pipeline to go from consumer to a creator… We’ve been in the business of helping creators create since way before Hatsune Miku was even conceived. Hatsune Miku probably couldn’t have come out from any other company, really, because this wasn’t a character concept first. She was very much software—she was an instrument, and the package character just happened to catch on like wildfire.”

Hatsune Miku’s live set is preprogrammed, but that doesn’t mean that her setlist his always the same. Miku’s Coachella set will range from early YouTube’s viral hit “World Is Mine” by ryo, to semi-recent jam “Daisy 2.0” by Ashnikko. Tsuji noted that the community aspect of Hatsune Miku continues to hold importance in her live show.

“For Miku Expo, the concert tour series that we do outside of Japan, once every two years or so, we would do a song contest where the

winner would have their song performed by Miku onstage for a tour,” Tsuji said. “We’re always looking at the newest uploads, what’s coming up, what’s popular, what people are listening to—but we’re not a big company, so we don’t have the ears or the time to catch every single release that’s going up at the same time. There are so many people out there who make incredible stuff, but nobody knows about them, because maybe they’ve never posted, or maybe they just are not good at posting and aren’t getting the views for some reason or another, so the contest is one of the ways we try to mitigate that and uplift the lesser-known creators.”

Tsuji said Crypton will often reach out to Miku’s fans to collaborate. “For example, if we were doing a sneaker-brand collaboration, and the brand wanted a little theme song to promote the collaboration, we don’t have any creators in-house, so we would go out to the community, see who’s coming up, who’s new, or if there’s an established creator who likes that brand or something like that, and we would pick out someone from the community who we think would be a good fit.”

Coachella’s 2024 lineup is the festival’s most varied yet—and Hatsune Miku is just one of a handful of artists representing Japan in this year’s lineup.

“It’s very exciting to be a part of this rise in interest overseas toward Japanese music,” Tsuji said. “Miku has had a lot of international fans in the past, but it’s always been very subculture, underground kind of stuff. It’s been mostly an internet following, but to have that become, and be considered, a primary Japanese cultural export is pretty cool. It might not look like it from outside of Japan, but Miku’s influence on the Japanese music industry in the past decade is actually pretty crazy. One of the other Japanese acts performing at Coachella this year is YOASOBI, and the composer, Ayase, got his start as a Miku producer, and then he got a major label

deal from getting noticed by A&R directors. Someone who started out using our software in his bedroom climbed up the ranks of being popular on YouTube, getting noticed, and then getting the label deal, and now he’s performing at Coachella.”

Hatsune Miku’s robotic voice has helped popularize the Vocaloid genre, which focuses on artists using vocal software to craft upbeat and catchy tunes heavily influenced by Japanese culture.

“Streaming has made this a little more or less irrelevant, but if you look at Japanese Top 40 charts these days, I can bet good money that a large majority of the artists either grew up listening to Vocaloid music, or are working with producers who have been influenced by Vocaloid music, or are themselves people who came up in the Vocaloid music scene,” Tsuji said. “A lot of the major artists working in the Japanese music industry right now, and a lot of the producers and track-makers behind the scenes, got their start using not just Miku, but Vocaloid software in general, and the culture surrounding Vocaloid. That’s a point of pride that we have at our company, that our software really does serve as a great entry point for anybody to start making music.”

Miku’s Coachella set has been four years in the making—meaning it is not to be missed.

“This is our first time being back on tour outside of Japan in four years,” Tsuji said. “Our last Miku Expo tour was in 2020, right before COVID hit. … We haven’t been back in North America since 2018, so we’re very excited to see all of the fans over there again. We have some new things in store, so we hope we’re able to not just bring the hits and have fans enjoy what they know, but maybe a couple of surprises that they didn’t see coming. … We’ve been working behind the scenes on stuff, so we are pretty confident that this will be a very special show for people to remember.”

FROM SOUNDCLOUD TO COACHELLA

COACHELLA SOUNDCLOUD

The band late nite drive home reflects on viral fame and the group’s bedroom/backyard origins

By Matt King

Making it in the music industry is no easy task in this age of algorithms and online platforms. The bands who do go viral are usually viewed as “lucky”—but often times, a more appropriate adjective is “deserved.”

The group late nite drive home is one of those deserving bands. The four-piece band from El Paso, Texas, mixes rock and indie in the music, and English and Spanish in the lyrics. Thanks to SoundCloud and TikTok, the band’s song “Stress Relief” catapulted the band from DIY to headlining tours with soldout crowds. The single features catchy and jangly guitar riffs, as well as soothing vocals that both serenade and narrate.

You can catch late nite drive home at Coachella on Friday, April 12 and 19.

During a recent phone interview with lead singer Andre Portillo and guitarist Juan “Ockz” Vargas, they explained how performing at Coachella will make an inside joke become true.

“It was something we always joked about, like, ‘Oh yeah, when we play Coachella,’” Vargas said. “It was a running joke, and now we’re actually doing it.”

Added Portillo: “I think deep down, we’ve always wanted to play big festivals. I just think what caught us by surprise was how soon it was.”

It has indeed been a quick rise for late nite drive home. The band began in 2019, but their first release came in 2021 with debut EP Am I sinking or Am I swimming? “Stress Relief” garnered more than 100 million streams across multiple platforms, and the band signed with Epitaph Records late last year.

“One of the things that I’ve had to learn quickly was how to talk to people,” Portillo said. “It’s kind of crazy how many people we have to talk to, as opposed to just talking to a bar owner to play a show or something like that. Now we’re talking to interviewers, and we have to know the right words to say, or if it’s on radio, not cursing. I think that’s what’s been the hardest for me to adjust to, but also learning how to live on the road as well. When we go on tour, it’s something new. I would honestly say it’s more of a lifestyle than it is a career.”

“I’ve gotten to travel way more in the past three years than I ever had in my entire life,” Vargas said. “It’s a blessing, because I love to travel, and just being able to play music in these different cities and seeing people show up for us in different cities is something that you don’t take for granted.”

The platform SoundCloud attracted the band because of the simplicity of its upload feature.

“I feel like we’re an outlier, especially in the SoundCloud days,” Vargas said. “I couldn’t find that many alternative artists or bands posting their music on SoundCloud; normally, they did on Bandcamp. I don’t really know why we chose SoundCloud over Bandcamp, but I think it is because it was easier for us. We just started uploading music on SoundCloud, and it worked. That’s how we got some of our first fans.”

Added Portillo: “If you could blow up on SoundCloud, you’re doing something right.”

While late nite drive home started with the members making music in a bedroom, the thought of an audience enjoying their music was always on their minds.

“For us, especially when we’re performing onstage, it’s a lot of, ‘How do we interpret this song in a way that the audience could re-live the experience?’” Portillo said.

Added Vargas: “Especially in some of our older music, there’s a lot of layering in the recordings. Being able to transcribe them and execute them perfectly in the live setting is something that is challenging, but also just fun in the same context. It’s like

transcribing a book into a movie.”

Since signing the record deal, the band has gone from translating bedroom recordings into live shows, to translating their original recordings and demos into studio works.

“We recorded recently in the studio, and we were able to experiment with a lot of different sounds,” Vargas said. “When we first started branching out into the studio sessions, we didn’t really know how to fully express ourselves in the creative aspect, but since we’ve had practice, and we’re going to be working on the second record, we’re able to understand exactly how we want to execute the process of recording. We’re producing the album alongside a different producer, but we’re giving the ideas that we’re forming to them.”

The members of late nite drive home wear their Hispanic heritage proudly on their sleeves through their Spanish lyrics and the occasional Latin-rock influence.

“In terms of creative aspects, it’s super-cool when somebody takes something from one culture and just brings it into the spotlight so that everybody can see it,” Portillo said. “For instance, there’s Bad Bunny, and I know a lot of people throw shade at him for being so popular, and maybe they say his music sucks, but I like it, personally. I think it’s really cool that the origins of that sound are being broadcast around the world. I think it’s the coolest thing ever when a culture is able to break out of their little groups and is able to spread out around the world. There’s a very

creative way about going about that route, and I think if you execute it just right, it’s the perfect amount.”

Regarding the use of Spanish in their lyrics, Vargas said: “We don’t try to overdo it. My first language was Spanish, so I have heavy Mexican and Latin roots in my family, and I always try to think that if a song is going to have a Spanish part or a Latin influence, it has to be right, and it has to be proper. I don’t like the idea of just throwing in a random Spanish verse.”

Portillo said he loves how their music has spread appreciation for the Spanish language.

“Some of our fans do learn Spanish, which I think is the coolest thing,” Portillo said. “Even people who don’t come from a Spanish background or aren’t Hispanic, they still try to learn Spanish to sing to our music. It’s really fucking cool.”

The band’s Coachella set is sure to be representative of the band’s roots, both musically and culturally.

“We’re going to try to represent everything, from where we started, and then from the new era,” Vargas said. “The Coachella set is going to be very special, because it’s a long way from playing the backyard of Andre’s house and the backyard of my grandma’s house to Coachella. We’re going to try to include something that’s new, something that we’ve never done before—but also the roots that we had before.”

Tour life has been tough for Portillo, the self-described “homebody,” but both he and Vargas said they still can’t get over the rewarding feeling of playing live.

Credit: Jay and Bar

GROW OR DIE

GROW DIE

Trampled by Turtles brings bluegrass rock to Stagecoach for a third time

ABy Matt King

fter more than two decades of being a band, Duluth, Minn.-based folkrockers Trampled by Turtles still don’t feel like they fit in anywhere … and that’s a good thing.

Mixing bluegrass with rock, the band has crafted a sound that is as narrative, rootsy and Americana as it is fast and indie/alternative. Songs like “Whiskey,” “Codeine” and “Wait So Long” have roots in old-school mountain fiddling—but reverb and soulful vocal performances transport the classic genre into modern times.

Trampled by Turtles is set to perform at Stagecoach on Saturday, April 27, returning for a third time after appearances in 2010 and 2014.

“There’s a lot to love about (Stagecoach), but for me, I really love coming to that area of the country,” frontman Dave Simonett said during a recent phone interview. “I love seeing that desert. I’m a tourist there, so I just get to see the good parts, but I really think it’s one of the most beautiful parts of the country.”

In 2010 and 2014, the band played alongside country greats like Merle Haggard and John Prine. In 2024, the band is on the bill with acts like Diplo, Nickelback and Post Malone, as Stagecoach continues to integrate acts outside of country music.

“We’ve always kind of felt that we don’t really fit in anywhere, and that does have its downsides,” Simonett said. “For me, I’ve always felt like that was a really positive thing about our band, and I like a festival that leans into that a little bit, too. There’s plenty of country music at Stagecoach, but there’s also a late-night show with Diplo, and Wiz Khalifa, and stuff like that. I think it’s great, because I think that, in general, your average concertgoer likes more than one thing. I think people get into the theme, and that’s great … but I think it’s giving more credit to your audience to be put through a little bit of a challenge in a diverse lineup, because in the end, a lot of

people really end up liking that.”

While the group was a Stagecoach regular in the fest’s purer country years, Trampled by Turtles is not the purest of country bands. The bluegrass tinge is strong and apparent in the band’s music, but elements from other genres and rock instrumentation distance the songs from the classic country crowd.

“I have a complicated relationship with bluegrass in particular, and probably a complicated relationship with any kind of dogmatic approach to music, where a genre has to be within a certain bounds to be considered valid or something like that,” Simonett said. “We love all bluegrass music, and we definitely have borrowed a lot from those people, but we’ve also butted heads plenty with the bluegrass community throughout our lifespan. I always fall back on that adage that everyone’s allowed to like what they like, and we’ve never claimed to be something that I don’t think we are. … Grow or die is my philosophy. We have had people in the past say that we were kind of their gateway, and then they ended up loving bluegrass music, which to me is wonderful, because there’s a lot of great stuff there.”

“Grow or die” could certainly be a mantra for the band. Since Trampled by Turtles began in 2003, the band has grown regarding the maturity of their music, their stage presence, their personal relationships and more.

“I don’t think anybody is the same at 23 as they are at 43,” Simonett said. “There’s just a lot that happens in any human life between those two numbers. I will say that I feel more comfortable in our band, and I’m having more fun in our band, than I ever have.

“We’ve never really put any rules on our music, or any kind of intentional limitations

on anything, and I do feel like we’ve always been on this slow path. I know there are going to be a lot of turtle jokes about that. We just have taken it our own way, and I feel like we’ve hit a stride that maybe another band might hit when they’re just starting or something like that. We’re just in this very beautiful, loving relationship with each other, and I really am happy with our music, more than I have ever been. The older we get, to me, the better it is, and I think most of the guys would agree with that.”

Since Simonett brought up the Turtles name, I had to ask him his thoughts on whether musicians can figuratively shoot themselves in the foot with their band’s name.

“Nobody thinks (the band name) is gonna last,” he said. “For us, It started as we just had to have something, because we were going to play a local festival in Duluth, where we started, and just needed something, like, tomorrow. It was kind of the first name that nobody fully hated—and then here we are, 20 years later, stuck with it.

“I would say put a little more thought into it. If you are one of these people reading this, and you’re starting a band—it’s like a tattoo, man. You might regret it.”

While Simonett has “pride in the band outlasting people who thought it wouldn’t work out because of” the name, he admitted there can be trouble with a cheesy band name.

“I’m not comparing us to any of these bands, by any means, but there are a lot of very well-known bands with really dumb names,” he said. “Look at the Beatles; they spelled it like a drum beat. That’s cheesy as hell. Maybe you have to work a little harder (if you have a silly name), I guess, and you might start yourself a little behind the rest of the

pack.”

This October will mark the 20th anniversary of Songs From a Ghost Town, the debut album from Trampled by Turtles. Simonett said he often feels nostalgic, but feels it even more when it comes to anniversaries like this one.

“I moved this summer, and I was unpacking, and I had all these boxes that I’ve taken with me for 20 years throughout all these different apartments and houses or whatever,” Simonett said. “I hadn’t really opened this (box) for a while, and it was all this old paraphernalia from our first couple years as a band. I found notebooks where I had written those songs. … There was this little ledger in there about each show we played: ‘We made this amount of money, spent this much gas, this much on one hotel room that we all shared; and here’s how much we lost that day.’ It was really wonderful to sit and look at that, because honestly, I get so focused on moving forward that I forget what it was like, and that was a really special and adventurous time in my life, so I definitely look back on that a lot. That was the first time I’d ever made an album, so it was really fun and really exciting.”

Some of the band’s most popular songs to this day are gems from their first record, and there’s a strong chance you’ll hear some included in their Stagecoach set.

“I know a lot of people who do have albums that old, and they just kind of hate them,” he said. “It’s almost like a different person that wrote that, which is OK. It’s OK to have an awkward school photo that people can still look at, and I’ve always just kind of imagined the album to be a little bit of a snapshot of a place and time. It’s all just kind of building blocks.”

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Coachella performer Militarie Gun helps with punk’s renaissance by pushing the figurative envelope

By Matt King

Every year, Coachella features a “scary” band—one that ignites the mosh pit, usually inside the Sonora tent, into a blaze of circle pits, sweat, stage dives and more.

This year, that band will be Militarie Gun—but this is no mere hardcore punk group.

Militarie Gun’s distinctive mix melds intense, ferocious sounds with memorable, catchy, almost pop-like hooks, meaning Coachella attendees could be chanting the band’s choruses as they mosh. “Do It Faster” sees heavy hardcore go pop-punk as crunchy guitars and gravelly vocals provide memorable hooks, while the track “Very High” brings heavy punk staples like vocal growls and guitar bends to the world of modern pop production and bright vocal melodies.

You can catch Militarie Gun at Coachella on Saturday, April 13 and 20.

“There’s tons of excitement (about playing Coachella), but at the same time, you want to treat it like the next show,” frontman Ian Shelton said during a recent phone interview. “The huge part … is that we get to go out there and attempt to be ourselves in front of the next-biggest audience, and try to find a way to make ourselves translate to people who would have never had the ability to see us otherwise. Coachella is the crowning achievement in the music world, and I didn’t think it was going to happen … and when it came through, I was just like, ‘Holy shit, all right, I guess we’re doing it.’ We all were just completely geeked on our end.”

Militarie Gun is one of the hardcore bands that’s received an increasing amount of worldwide appreciation over the past few years.

“Really, everything that Militarie Gun has done for at least a year now has passed what I thought the peak of the band could ever be,” Shelton said. “For me, it’s all cloud nine, and (we’re) really trying to capitalize when we’re given these big opportunities, but I truly feel like I never thought I would be here. You just literally go, ‘All right, well, how do we make the most of it?’ That’s really where our brains lie. Our guitar player, this is the first band he’s ever been in, and he’s playing Coachella. He skipped all the steps that the rest of us had playing DIY shows for, like, 15 years. It’s just a crazy whirlwind.”

More attention is being drawn to the hardcore genre thanks to dedicated festivals for the scene, as well as hardcore bands opening for more radio-friendly rock bands. Shelton, however, pointed out that punk is nowhere near its pinnacle of popularity.

“One of the most famous punk photos of all time is from Black Flag playing the Palladium, and I feel like there’s this kind of general non-acknowledgement of how big punk shows were at the start,” he said. “Ramones shows were fucking massive. It’s that only really the truly great

bigger artists, and through all of that, I was being a sponge, taking in every piece of art and piece of music that I could, and banking it all for whenever I decided to finally do my own band—and that’s what Militarie Gun ended up being.

“I think that hardcore at large is very conservative itself. I was fed up multiple times with what I thought the scene or whatever the popular thing was, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that; I’m going to do my thing.’

That started with me making a band, called Regional Justice Center, that was a hyperniche, hyper-aggressive, noncommercial band, but I was like, ‘This is the style I like the most, and no one’s doing it, so I’m going to do it myself.’ With Militarie Gun, I wanted to make music that is inspired by Sam McPheeters from Born Against—and Third Eye Blind.”

The way in which Militarie Gun and other newer hardcore bands distanced themselves from the rigid hardcore scene helped grow the modern scene, which celebrates genre exploration and places an emphasis on the beauty of the song, no matter how “hardcore” the song is.

“The scope that I wanted to operate on was just to make a song that I enjoy,” Shelton said.

“On a day-to-day basis, the only metric for success was: Did I write a song I enjoy? Do I write something that I want to listen to? And if so, then the band is successful.”

Shelton offered some advice to musicians new to the hardcore scene.

bands achieve big audiences.”

Shelton credited the current renaissance to bands pushing the envelope.

“I feel like hardcore, for its traditionalism, became very small because it stopped reaching so many people,” he said. “I think this (current) moment in hardcore has been concerned with melody and things that, honestly, first-wave punk and hardcore had. That’s why it’s achieving this new audience again. It’s not about hyper-traditionalism; it’s not about the breakdown. … It’s about making a record that’s really listenable to people, and that people love. It’s about making a classic record—which, I think, was not the concern pre-pandemic, and why hardcore was so much smaller then.”

Shelton expressed disdain for the hardcore era in which he grew up, which focused on traditional standards over creativity.

“Hardcore is more or less a high school microcosm,” Shelton said. “It is very much imitating the structure of popularity … and I’ve never really been too interested in that. I was very interested in expressing myself to the fullest, in the most earnest sense possible. Over time, I was told that everything I made sucks, so I stopped doing that, and I just started playing drums in other bands, and I just listened to music for a long time. I started making music videos and collaborating with

“If you just write a great song, hopefully it finds people, whether that’s hardcore or not,” he said. “Coming from counterculture, if you can elevate your message and your aggression in a way that actually reaches people, then anything is possible. Scowl played (Coachella) last year, and they’re not doing the same thing we’re doing. They’re way more aggressive. The whole thing about punk music at large is that anything is possible, and it’s about forgoing all of the cautionary bullshit, and the idea that you ‘couldn’t.’ … The promise of punk is that it is for everybody, and anybody can achieve within the space if they work hard enough— first, musically, and then second, physically, as in going out on the road and trying to unlock people’s brains.

“The concept of success is a failing concept. Success changes, and that’s why I talked about the idea that (writing songs that you enjoy) is the concept of success, because everything else is so external. You could sell X amount of tickets; you could do whatever, and there’s always someone who sells more—but you can’t say someone wrote a better song than you, because it’s about how you feel about that song. If you start there, and that’s the only thing that matters first and foremost, then there is no failure at any point—because you wrote the song you enjoy. … The idea of doing something that I’m not fully 100% engaged in, in front of an audience, makes me want to die. I believe in this to the fullest, and that’s why I’m here.”

Credit: Daniel Topete

REACHING PEOPLE

Why is the local hardcore scene growing?

One local musician/venue owner offers his take.

Minutes away from the Empire Polo Club, the local hardcore scene is firing on all cylinders. In the past year, the heart of Indio has become home to a scene that is gaining both talented bands and community support.

“I’ve seen how much the community enjoys getting together for the shows,” said Miguel Arballo, a musician in hardcore band Destroy Nothing, and the owner of The Lab venue in Indio. “I actually have seen this style of music, this genre of music, grow exponentially here, in the small time that I’ve been involved in helping put on shows here at The Lab. There’s a very large amount of bands here that are very, very much in tune with the hardcore scene.”

What has made the Coachella Valley hardcore scene grow? Of course, credit must go to the creative musicians and the venues that have hosted them—but Arballo argues that community support has been the No. 1 factor.

“It’s been really nice to see that people want to come out to shows, that people want to go experience this music live—and not only experience it, but also be a part of it, and help it grow along with themselves,” he said. “That is something I’ve never witnessed. You hear of scenes exploding or scenes blowing up in different cities … but you never really see it in your community.

“I wasn’t part of the hardcore or the metal community before 2020. I didn’t really go to a lot of metal shows to support bands, and I wasn’t really trying to find out what bands were out here— because I wasn’t seeing support from anyone. That held me back a little bit in trying to really go explore, but once I became a little bit more involved, it was interesting to see a lot of youth in it—not so much for the money, but just to play music. This is how they feel out here, and to see them release that aggression and their creativity has been wonderful. “

While some young hardcore musicians may be inspired by a band like Militarie Gun being featured at Coachella, Arballo said he doesn’t think most of them are motivated by fame and success.

“(Big success) is like a cherry on the top,” Arballo said. “I think building the community aspect has actually been the biggest catalyst. For us, Destroy Nothing was exploring our music styles and what we wanted to write, and we just happened to gravitate to that place naturally. … Maybe that was from being exposed to a lot more of the hardcore music that was coming out, subconsciously. I think it’s nice to see that there’s a spotlight on that, and that those bands are being highlighted at the biggest music festival in the world, but I think a lot of bands really just like the community aspect of it: Going out, playing, meeting other bands, interacting with them, getting to make friends and learning from them has been a huge thing. For Destroy Nothing, we’ve actually made a lot of friends in the hardcore scene in a very small amount of time.”

Militarie Gun frontman Ian Shelton told me: “If you can elevate your message and your aggression in a way that actually reaches people, then anything is possible.” Arballo echoed this statement.

“We’re all going through the same struggle, and unfortunately, sometimes that leads to aggression that you build up inside of you—and (when) you’re able to release that at a show where you love (a band’s) music, it gets you going that way,” he said. “I think that’s what I’ve seen from the bands out here–they’re truly connecting with people, and people are relating to them personally, and not just because they’re a hardcore band. … That really makes you want to go to their shows to support them, because they’ve brought you into their space and into their life.”

The musicians and fans fortifying the scene have been helped by Indio venues like the Little Street Music Hall and The Rollup, as well as Flat Black Art Supplies in Palm Desert, all of which have opened their doors to the energetic brand of intense music. There have also been community members like photographers and videographers who are lending their talents, for free, to promote and grow the scene.

“Shout out to ChakaDogg, Jasyn Smith, showing up and doing interviews,” Arballo said. (Full disclosure: I have been helping Smith with interviews.) “We’re able to put that exposure out there, because not a lot of bands create that content. There are people doing interviews, and photographers that are literally community photographers. They’ll show up to take pictures, and they’ll share them, and that exposure has helped it blow up. Everyone has a skill set, and they want to help out.”

This sense of community focused encouraged Arballo to open his own venue, The Lab.

“There are a lot of venues that have opened up the doors to this sort of music,” he said. “It’s kind of crazy to see a hardcore show. Sometimes it’s complete, utter chaos, and you’re afraid of what’s going on in the middle of the storm—so I can see how venue owners have a bit of a concern for that. But for the most part, there are really no violent interactions. If you’re in the middle of a pit, you know what you’re in for, and you can easily stay away from that.”

—Matt King

SPLASH Splash Jams

When Coachella madness descends upon the desert, local music lovers can enjoy sideshows—concerts taking place during, between and after Coachella weekends.

The newest sideshow happening during Coachella weekends is Goldenvoice Surf Club, a rebrand of Day Club—and this year’s location, fittingly, is the new Palm Springs Surf Club. During the Saturdays and Sundays of Coachella weekends, attendees can catch performances by Bicep (a DJ set), Barry Can’t Swim, salute, Mia Moretti and others during the first weekend; and Skream backto-back with Benga, Mall Grab back-to-back with Skin on Skin, Kettama back-to-back withPartiboi69, Dylan Brady, JUNGLE (DJ set), Neil Frances (DJ set) and Juliet Mendoza during the second weekend.

During a recent phone interview with Goldenvoice Surf Club’s talent buyer, Becky Rosen-Checa, she explained how Day Club transformed into Surf Club.

“We have been doing an iteration of this event in the past at the Hilton, which was great, but we heard rumblings about the Surf Club,” she said. “Tyler McLean (of Splash House), who I work with, is very tied in with what’s going on in Palm Springs. … We thought, ‘We’ve done this with festival-level talent at the Hilton, but what could make it even better?’ Waterslides and a wave pool and surfing sounds pretty fun. … It seemed like such a cool concept, and they have an amphitheater outside, so it just seems so perfectly set up to have a live performance with the amenities they already offer there.”

Fans should keep their fingers crossed that all of the amenities will be operational at the Palm Springs Surf Club for these events— including the wave pool, the park’s main attraction. Per the GV Surf Club site: “Your pass grants you access to the park’s features including the music amphitheater, the main pool, lazy river, Amala Restaurant, and the Island Bar. For those in pursuit of heightened thrills, access to the water slides is available by purchasing an additional $20 pass on-site.”

There’s no mention of the Surf Club’s famous wave pool. Shortly after opening in the new year, PSCC announced the wave pool had closed due to “technical challenges.” As of this writing, reservations for the feature were still unavailable.

A while back—before the wave-pool issue—I toured the park with developer Timothy O’Byrne.

“As we concepted this and built out everything, one of the important things that we realized, and what really piqued our interest, was not just the surfing,” he said. “For us, surfing is a beautiful, wonderful piece to have in the puzzle, but only a piece. The waterslides, lazy river, the adult pool, all the meeting spaces, the various restaurants and (food and beverage) outlets we have, that’s really where we think a lot of the attraction will come from. Being able to be part of the community where everyone can come and enjoy, from kids to adults to pro surfers to beginning surfers—that was our vision, so that’s what we jumped on.”

The Palm Springs Surf Club’s ability to host concerts alongside aquatic fun has led to a promising relationship between the park and

The Goldenvoice Surf Club combines music, aquatics and fun at Palm Springs’ new water

park

By Matt King

Goldenvoice.

“We’re working on a bunch of stuff there,” Rosen-Checa said. “The soonest thing that we’re doing (after Goldenvoice Surf Club) is we’re going to do some programming during Stagecoach. … I believe there’s some other stuff that other buyers are working on, but we definitely want to keep booking stuff there. It’s a really cool and unique space, and the fact that it also lends itself to live music is very cool.”

When I toured the Surf Club in January, I viewed both the amphitheater area and another space where an events hall is slated to be built.

“We’re really excited that we created that beautiful area,” O’Byrne said. “It’s going to be a wonderful entertainment venue for Palm Springs, whether it be speeches, lectures, concerts, whatever the thing would be. We think it’s kind of cool to have all that variation in one location, especially with surfing going on in the background.”

Rosen-Checa credited Splash House’s McLean for offering Goldenvoice ideas on ways to expand programming in the Coachella Valley.

“He’s brought us some of these ideas like the (Palm Springs) Air Museum and the Surf Club,” Rosen-Checa said. “Obviously we’ve done Coachella for forever, but I think it’s really cool that Palm Springs is becoming an electronic music destination. I feel like it has kind of exploded more and more over the past few years—and who doesn’t love going out to Palm Springs? If there’s cool music in cool venues, I feel like that makes it even more attractive. I look for any reason to get out of

L.A. and go out there.”

Rosen-Checa said even more Goldenvoice events could come to the valley.

“There are so many cool opportunities out there that are not quite tapped into yet,” she said. “All the Goldenvoice stuff that we do out there is very non-traditional … Being able to do this where it still feels (Angelenos are) getting out of town, but close enough that it could easily just be a day trip, is really unique.”

Goldenvoice hopes to deepen this connection by making ticket prices reasonable. Goldenvoice Surf Club admission starts at $40, before fees, for a one-day pass.

“We all know how much tickets to festivals cost, and it’s usually a lot, and that’s unavoidable, for the most part,” Rosen-Checa said. “We really liked that we could make this one work on a cheaper ticket.”

O’Byrne told me in January that he and his fellow Palm Springs Surf Club managers are excited to see what comes of the venue.

“We are taking the philosophy that we want this to have its own heartbeat, and then let the community decide what that heartbeat is,” O’Byrne said. “We’re just excited to get people in here and let them start telling us what they think this should be and how we should direct it. We really tried to maximize the opportunity for the park to have its own soul and its own life, and we’ll let the community tell us what that is, as opposed to us trying just to tell the community. I’m just excited to see how this grows out and gets taken by the community.”

For tickets and more information, visit gvsurfclub.com

CORNSTAR to POPSTAR

Hailey Whitters, performing at Stagecoach, reflects on her musical influences—and signature outfits

BPopstar

By Matt King

eing from a small town and trying to make it big—it’s a country-music cliché. Well, clichés sometimes become reality.

Hailey Whitters, one of country music’s biggest stars, is indeed from a very small town: Shueyville, Iowa, which, as of the 2020 Census, had a population of 731. But since releasing her album The Dream in 2020, she’s made waves with her mix of ’90s country pop and Americana exploration. Hit single “Everything She Ain’t” taps into the classic narrative lyrics that have dominated country music for decades, while modern production and unforgettable hooks make the song a 21st century gem. As of this writing, the song has amassed more than 100 million streams on Spotify.

You can catch Hailey Whitters perform at Stagecoach on Friday, April 26.

“Stagecoach is one of those bucket-list festivals,” Whitters said during a recent phone interview. “It’s a really big one and one that I’ve always wanted to be a part of—and this is actually my second year. I got to play it two years ago, and I’ve just been waiting for the call to go back. I had so much fun the first time, and I was so excited to get the call again to come back this year.”

Whitters said the festival is special because some of country music’s biggest stars can hang out together for a weekend.

“I didn’t get to hang out a lot at the last one I was at, but the backstage atmosphere feels fun,” she said. “There’s a lot going on backstage. They’ve got a lot of artists and vibe spaces where you’re seeing your friends, and we get to hang out and have a cocktail. We had great weather the day we were there, so it’s all really fun and good vibes in the air.”

Her 2022 performance at Stagecoach marked the beginning of a frenzy for Whitters. “Everything She Ain’t” was exploding, landing her spots in other music festivals, tours and TV spots, while her album Raised was named the top country album of the year by Rolling Stone. She even took home the Academy of Country Music Award for Best New Female Artist. At Stagecoach 2022, she got an early time slot on the SiriusXM Spotlight stage—while her 2024 spot is near sunset on the Mane Stage.

“It doesn’t even feel like two years,” Whitters said. “It’s all been such a whirlwind. It seriously feels like it was just yesterday we were out there at Stagecoach. I can’t even remember the stage we played, but I remember me and Lainey Wilson were playing back to back, and it was really hot—but it was an awesome day.”

Whitters’ 2022 Stagecoach appearance also marked the beginning of her then-new brand.

“I think that was the first time I ever wore my Cornstar bloomers onstage and my patchwork skirt set,” she said. “I did a little flash of the Cornstar bloomers to the audience. It was a special moment in history.”

Being proudly from Iowa, Whitters has often been referred to as a “Cornstar”—so she embraced it and created a pair of ’70s-style running shorts with the “Cornstar” emblazoned on the booty.

“It’s sort of a signature outfit, and that started a signature

name and brand,” Whitters said. “People had always called me the ‘Corn Queen’ and ‘Cornstar’ and stuff like that. There’s actually a photo on my Instagram where I’m leaned over the fence hugging a fan at Stagecoach—and my stylist had slipped up the skirt so you could just see my Cornstar bloomers and boots, and it was really cute. That shot was just so epic and cool, and I think that was the definitive moment of the ‘Cornstar,’ I guess.”

The ‘Cornstar’ title has nothing to do with Whitters’ lyrics being corny: The songwriter’s success has been due in large part to her ability to craft strong narrative stories within her music. A great example of her ability to blend poetry and storytelling can be found in the song “Heartland,” where she writes: “And it don’t matter how high / You’ve been floatin’ in your blue sky / Nothin’ gets you like goodbye can / When life is out of your hands / Yeah, you gotta let your heart land.”

“There’s a song I have called ‘Janice at Hotel Bar,’ which is a very specific experience and story and moment in time, but I feel like the way that song was crafted, it’s something that could last for a long time,” Whitters said. “With my songwriting, I’m really trying to just write about my experience. I draw a lot of inspiration from my friends and family and their lives and what they’re going through and stuff like that, and I think my goal is definitely to be writing about the human experience and things that we’re all going through. The details may change, but those deeper things— love, loss, things like that—those are always going to be around for all of us.”

Another facet of Whitters’ success is the range of sounds in her work, from modern styles and instruments back to ’90s anthemic country jams. Whitters said she chooses to wear her influences proudly on her sleeve.

“I feel like I grew up on a lot of story songs in the ’90s, so that’s definitely influenced my writing,” Whitters said. “Production-wise, there are a lot of really pure sounds in the ’90s, and I think those records still sound really great today. They’re just kind of classic, and that was something that I wanted to achieve with my music. … I hope that it can transcend, like, a decade or an era of music, and people 30 years from now could be listening to my record.”

Alan Jackson and The Chicks are both obvious influences for Whitters, but the artist is also drawn to some of the best narrative songwriters and hit-making artists of today.

“I’m a huge Phoebe Bridgers fan; I love all of her records,” she said. “I listen to a lot of Billy Strings. I listen to a lot of Khruangbin. I love them. A lot of times, especially when I’m on the road, I’ll pop them on, and it just helps me kind of mellow out. I listen to them a lot when I’m getting ready. It just kind of puts me in a good mood.”

Whitters promised fun surprises during her Stagecoach set.

“I always want to try something a little different, something a little new,” Whitters said. “I’m already plotting my next outfit—like, what’s going to be the outfit at the moment? I always see it as an opportunity to try to have fun with it. (I like to) break up the tour set and try to put in a wild card or try something fun or something different, and just make it its own moment, its own day, its own set.”

Credit: Harper Smith

, , DESERT DESERT BLUES IN THE DESERT

Coachella performer Mdou Moctar’s take on rock honors the Tuareg people and the sounds of the Sahara

By Matt King

This year’s Coachella lineup is the most culturally diverse ever, with musicians traveling from other countries and continents to be at the Empire Polo Club—and one very special group is trekking from one desert to another.

Mdou Moctar, aka Mahamadou Souleymane, is a musician from Agadez, Niger, and his music adds hard-rock stylings to guitar sounds stemming from the Tuareg people of the Sahara desert. This blend of Tuareg music with rock effects has been described as “desert blues.” All of his music is sung in Tamasheq, one of the main languages of Tuareg culture, and his band’s music mixes African rhythms and styles with electrifying rock power. Songs like “Chismiten” provide a psychedelic trip through sonic worlds, and Mdou’s guitar work—which channels both the rock-guitar gods of America and the United Kingdom, and the takamba and assouf styles of Africa—is the reason why he’s widely known as “the Hendrix of the Sahara.”

You can catch Mdou Moctar perform at Coachella on Sunday, April 14 and 21.

During a recent phone interview with Mdou’s longtime bassist Mikey Coltun, the only American member of the band, he explained how the Coachella invitation was received differently among the members of the group.

“When we got the call, it was like an, ‘Oh, we made it,’ situation of playing the biggest festival we’ve ever played, and probably the biggest show we’ve ever played,” Coltun said. “I know Coachella from years of stuff—but the guys didn’t, and still quite don’t. I’m trying to explain it to them. I think they’re just really stoked that it’s in the desert.”

Even as the band becomes influenced by other music and grows in popularity outside of Niger, the roots of Africa remain apparent in the music.

“Even just, like, the drum groove—that’s supposed to mimic the camels trotting, bouncing up and down as it walks through the desert, so it is desert music,” Coltun said. “Through years of touring and stuff, it’s

important for us to maintain the roots of the music and where it comes from. Tuareg music is, at its core, political music. Pre-guitar, it was tendé music, with women chanting and drumming while men danced. … As we kept touring, it was important for us to keep the roots of what Tuareg music was, and to not really stylize it and be like, ‘OK, we need to go in the rock world’ or whatever.”

In Agadez, weddings are a celebration of life, with memorable and energetic musical performances. Mdou Moctar cut his teeth as a wedding musician, and a special emphasis is placed on maintaining the wedding vibe.

“Take the drums again, which I think are the most important part of this music, and you can dissect it and be like, ‘OK, it’s that beat,’” Coltun said. “We’ve played with different Western, American or European drummers before in the past, and it just doesn’t quite feel the same. Technically it is the same groove, but the essence of this raw rock—this trancey desert music that is very much wedding music—is so specific to the players over there that we just want to maintain that.”

Coltun’s dedication to spreading awareness of the culture of his bandmates stems from a career of performing with creatives from all around the globe.

“I grew up playing a lot of punk music in D.C., and then also playing Malian music, like traditional bambara music from Mali …

to get people to understand what we’re talking about.”

Mdou Moctar has performed all over the globe, with audiences as large as thousands— and as few as five.

“Personally, those shows in front of five people are some of my favorites,” Coltun said. “These people are there, and they care. … We did an entire Canadian tour from east to west over six weeks, which bands don’t normally do. We had a specific Canadian booking agent at that time, and we played all these small towns and hit these small bars for 50 people who have never heard this music before. That’s, like, some of my favorite shit.”

Coltun said he’s learned that when you take away barriers like language and culture, all humans are alike.

“There’s similar negative shit going on everywhere, and there are similar ways that people live, just maybe in different sorts of ways,” he said. “… I think the thing that I’ve taken from traveling all around the world is that it’s the same people, same problems, same ideologies and all that stuff, but just different languages and different cultures.

“The response from playing different places around the world, it’s amazing, because we could play a rock club in New York or in Portugal, or play a wedding in Asia or in Mali, or wherever, and you get a similar response and a similar energy from the crowd—no matter who the people are, and what culture they come from.”

The musicians in Mdou Moctar hope that their unique rock inspires audiences to learn.

and then I got super-deep into West African music,” Coltun said. “Playing with this guy, Cheick Hamala Diabate from Mali, was this amazing experience … and then I started playing with Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang, and his music is old witchcraft music from Sierra Leone. It’s super-fast-paced, hyper dance music, often with drum machines or electronic drums. Then hearing the first Sublime Frequencies’ Group Inerane record really kind of changed me. Hearing these West African grooves that I love so much mixed with this super-raw, energetic, punk-like energy, it was such a beautiful thing. When I first heard Mdou, I was like, ‘This is all my worlds colliding—in a good way.’”

One of the ways in which Mdou Moctar’s band shares Tuareg culture with audiences is by putting on a show just like one you would see in Niger.

“It’s important to show that this is a living, breathing culture—and Tuareg people, especially, are oppressed people,” Coltun said. “Sharing that with people who might not know that is important for everybody in the band. If you go to a Mdou Moctar wedding in Niger, it’s not going to be any different than a show in New York or something, or L.A.—the music is the same. On our new record (Funeral for Justice), the songs are super-political, and oftentimes, people … don’t understand the lyrics, but trying to convey that intensity through the actual music is how we’re trying

“If people get something from the music and the concert, and they feel compelled to research a bit about what Mdou is singing about and what the songs are about, that’s the biggest takeaway for us,” Coltun said. “This music is super-intense and supertrancey, but what we are singing about, oftentimes, is about colonization and shit happening around Africa, but it translates around the world as well.”

Since Mdou Moctar is from a place besides America, his music is often generalized as “world music.” An article in The Guardian discussing the dangers of this label includes the quote: “At its best, it’s bad culture, dialed-down and made safe for a generic, mostly Western consumer as imagined by a marketing department. At worst, the term is out-and-out racist.”

Said Coltun: “The music is what it is, and pushing it into this term ‘world music’ is not the way to go. This music is a living, breathing culture, like I said, and our music specifically is rock music. It’s no different than punk music or rock music. I think that grouping a bunch of artists from outside of North America and Europe into a ‘world music’ category is wrong, and it’s cool to see that at festivals like Coachella, there are international artists being shown as they should in any sort of festival, and it’s not being called a ‘world music’ festival. That’s pretty beautiful.”

“More people should hear this stuff—and what better way to do it than at Coachella?”

Credit: Ebru Yildiz

It’s April—and the valley has a lot of entertainment to offer beyond Coachella and Stagecoach!

Acrisure Arena features two music experiences. At 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 6, Freestyle Explosion: Throwback Jam celebrates some of the best spontaneous rappers in the game. The event will feature performances by Stevie B, Lisa Lisa, Exposé, Lisette Melendez, Noel, Connie, Pretty Poison and Nocera. Tickets start at $39.50. At 8 p.m., Thursday, April 25, Mexican singer and “El Sol de México” Luis Miguel returns to Acrisure. Tickets start at $116. Acrisure Arena, 75702 Varner Road, Palm Desert; 888-695-8778; www. acrisurearena.com.

The McCallum Theatre’s lineup is as diverse as ever. Enjoy an engaging conversation about the beauty of travel with Andrew Evans and his presentation Travel: A Bridge to Enlightenment, at 3 p.m., Sunday, April 7 Tickets start at $20. At 7 p.m., Sunday, April 14, the eccentric, eclectic and entertaining Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will perform an unforgettable show—with many ukuleles! Tickets start at $25. The McCallum’s annual talent competition, Open Call, is back for its 26th year. The competition shows will take place at 2 and 7 p.m., Saturday, April 20; and 3 p.m., Sunday, April 21. Tickets start at $20. McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert; 760-340-2787; www. mccallumtheatre.com.

Fantasy Springs is hosting boxing, music and comedy! At 5 p.m., Thursday, April 4, enjoy a night of Golden Boy Boxing. WBC Super Bantamweight Continental Latino Titleholder Tito Sanchez of Cathedral City will fight Erik Ruiz in front of a hometown crowd. Tickets start at $35. You’ve seen him onstage, in movies and on your television late at night—it’s George Lopez, and he’s heading to Indio for nonstop laughs at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 6. Tickets start at $69. At 8 p.m., Friday, April 12, the hard-hitting rock of Godsmack will fill the Special Events Center. Tickets start at $59. At 7 p.m., Saturday, April 13, Asian entertainment act Happy Family will perform. Tickets start at $68. Lea Salonga—actress, singer and the voice behind various Disney recordings—will enchant the desert 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 27. Tickets start at $48. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio; 760-342-5000; www. fantasyspringsresort.com.

Spotlight 29 Casino has two shows on the docket this month. At 8 p.m., Saturday, April 6, catch singer/songwriter and member of New Edition Johnny Gill. Tickets start at $40.

The Venue REPORT

APRIL 2024

By matt king

Experience nearly six decades of Mexican music when legacy act La Original Banda El Limón performs at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 27. Tickets start at $25. Spotlight 29 Casino, 46200 Harrison Place, Coachella; 760-775-5566; www.spotlight29.com.

Morongo Casino has a busy April. At 8 p.m., Thursday, April 4, comedians Teo Gonzalez and Don Cheto team up for Latinx hilarity. Tickets start at $59.99. Enjoy more Mexican acts at 9 p.m., Friday, April 12, with performances by Hijos De Barron and Alegres de la Sierra. Tickets start at $70. At 8 p.m., Friday, April 19, enjoy a double dose of R&B with songs from Dru Hill and Montell Jordan. Tickets start at $59. Comedian, actor and allaround entertainer Craig Robinson will head to Cabazon at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 20. Tickets start at $49. Morongo Casino Resort Spa, 49500 Seminole Drive, Cabazon; 800-2524499; www.morongocasinoresort.com.

Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage has a packed April; here are some noteworthy events. At 8 p.m., Thursday, April 4, Grammy Award-winning country artist Clay Walker will perform a show to raise funds for studentenrichment programs and services at College of the Desert. Tickets start at $50. Whether you know her from TV shows or her Netflix specials, you know that Fortune Feimster is hilarious, and she’s bringing her standup show to town at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 6. Tickets start at $35. At 8 p.m., Saturday, April 20, dance the evening away with Spanish music legends Los Ángeles Azules. Tickets start at $65. Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage, 32250 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage; 888-999-1995; www.aguacalientecasinos.com.

Another month means more residency events at Agua Caliente Palm Springs. Desert Blues Revival Wednesdays feature Los Angeles Blues rocker Jamey Arent (April 3), Coachella Valley favorite The Gand Band (April 10) and a double performance of

Brasilanova, the sultry-smooth sounds of bossa nova from acclaimed singing group A Cabbello (April 17 and April 24). Shows are at 7 p.m., and tickets range from $15 to $35, available at eventspalmsprings.com. Jazzville Thursdays are being rebranded for a bit as Carousel, “where the nostalgic melodies of yesteryear come alive in a rotating collection of captivating jazz shows.” This month’s offerings include the vintage sound of The Groove Empire Orchestra (April 4), 1960s cinema jazz from The Secret Agents (April 11), swingin’ songs by Sherry Williams with the Doug MacDonald Trio (April 18) and clarinetist and saxophonist Chloe Feoranzo. Shows take place at 7 p.m., and tickets start

at $15, available at eventspalmsprings.com. Agua Caliente Casino Palm Springs, 401 E. Amado Road, Palm Springs; 888-999-1995; www.sparesortcasino.com.

Pappy and Harriet’s features nonstop music. At 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 2, blues rocker Andy Frasco will perform, with the opener being the Kyle Gass Band, led by Kyle Gass of Tenacious D. Tickets are $27. At 7 p.m., Saturday, April 6, alt-pop icon Gary Numan returns to the high desert for another intimate show. Tickets start at $40. Experience intense rock energy from The Schizophonics at the indoor stage at 9:30 p.m., Friday, April 12. Tickets start at $15. At 9:30 p.m., Friday, April 19, prepare for a one-two punk punch from Supersuckers and Guana Batz. Tickets start at $22.50. Hopeful themes packed into folk rock will be featured for two nights, as Gone Gone Beyond is set to perform at 9:30 p.m., Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27. Tickets start at $25. Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, 53688 Pioneertown Road, Pioneertown; 760-228-2222; www.pappyandharriets.com.

Oscar’s in Palm Springs is featuring some engaging tribute-themed entertainment. At 7 p.m., Saturday, April 13, Sheri Winkelmann will tackle the songs of Connie Francis, from ballads to Broadway. Tickets start at $39.95. Mia Karter, backed by a nine-piece ensemble, will pay homage to the great Amy Winehouse at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 17. Tickets start at $59.95. Some shows include a dinner reservation and a food/drink minimum. Oscar’s Palm Springs, 125 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs; 760-325-1188; oscarspalmsprings.com/events.

The Purple Room features four diverse weekends of shows! At 8 p.m., Friday, April 5, and Saturday, April 6, Ken Page celebrates five decades as a performer with his show “Right Here, Right Now.” Tickets start at $45. Tickets are moving fast to see the “towering inferno of talent” Meghan Murphy perform everything from pop parodies to jazz at 8 p.m., Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13. Tickets start at $40. At 8 p.m., Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, spend an evening with Lilias White, who melds blues with Broadway in a beautiful way. Tickets start at $55. Palm Springs faves Black Market Trust return yet again to showcase their Rat Pack energy at 8 p.m., Friday, April 26, and Saturday, April 27. Tickets start at $45. Tickets include dinner reservations two hours before showtime. Michael Holmes’ Purple Room, 1900 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs; 760-322-4422; www. purpleroompalmsprings.com.

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

Fortune Feimster

MUSIC

LUCKY 13 the

Get to know a little about two young fantastic women performing at Coachella and Stagecoach

by matt king

NAME Mariana de Miguel, aka Girl Ultra

MORE INFO

One of the most beautiful voices on this year’s Coachella lineup belongs to Mariana de Miguel, aka Girl Ultra. Girl Ultra’s music mixes R&B, soul, pop, funk and club bangers.

She has a song for every mood, so enjoy the track “Discrecíon” for some old-school funky soul, “BOMBAY” for a nonstop dance party, or “Punk” for an indie-rock drive. The uniting factor: Girl Ultra’s captivating, silky voice, often singing Spanish words. You can catch Girl Ultra at Coachella on Saturday, April 13 and 20.

What was the first concert you attended?

My first concert was this pop band called OV7. They’re a very Mexican niche thing. I went with my dad, and I was sitting on his shoulders. They were a Mexican phenomenon back in 2002, so that’s my first concert memory.

What was the first album you owned?

The first album that I owned was maybe Kidz Bop or something, but the one that I consciously saved my money and bought was Black Eyed Peas, Elephunk

What bands are you listening to right now?

I’m listening to this band based in Mexico City called Las Pijamas. It’s a very punk and shoegaze-y thing, and I love it. I always listen a lot to Arthur Russell. That’s always my go-to reference for drums or sound processing. I’ve been listening a lot to this band that I just saw in a festival called Protomartyr.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?

Since I was younger, my parents, especially my dad, taught me to just not have any judgment about music at all. But one thing that is hard for me, as a Mexican girl, is to relate to something that everybody thinks that everybody loves … and that’s regional Mexicano—Corridors and all this craziness going around with Peso Pluma and all this stuff. … Everybody outside Mexico thinks that everybody listens to corridos tumbados and understands it, but I do not relate to it. It’s not part of my story, but I do have appreciation for it.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?

I would love to see Everything but the Girl live. I also would have loved seeing Prince live, but mostly playing bass. Also, Arthur Russell. It’s well known that he didn’t really give a lot of live performances, so that must have been crazy—and probably Brian Eno.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

I don’t consider anything as guilty pleasures,

but I do love Mexican pop—super-cheesy music from the ’90s and from the 2000s. I know everything by heart, and I’m not ashamed.

What’s your favorite music venue?

I particularly love playing in Detroit. There’s this venue called El Club where everybody gets super drunk, and it’s just a hallway with a secret, weird, Airbnb-ish backstage, but everybody’s always super drunk and super fun. I enjoy going to Detroit; it’s just like massive destruction.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

I’ve been listening a lot to this girl called Luisa Almaguer from Mexico City, and she’s got this lyric in Spanish that says, “Somos iguales de nuestros colmillos.” That means that “we have the same size of fangs.” She’s very raw-feeling, and that’s been replaying in my head all week. The song is “Azotea.”

What band or artist changed your life?

Probably Björk. I do have a lot of appreciation for artists who allow themselves to change, and to have seasons. Björk is a clear example of that. It feels like there’s some tenderness being that transparent within her music. I can see her being super young on the debut, and then growing as a woman and as a mother. I’ve always felt very, very attached to everything around Björk.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

I would ask something very personal, like: What’s Moby’s breakfast routine?

What song would you like played at your funeral?

Maybe something instrumental, no words, by Ryuichi Sakamoto or something.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?

The first thing that came into my mind is Disintegration by The Cure. I know it all by heart.

What song should everyone listen to right now?

“daydreaming” by Foudeqush. She’s one of my best friends, and she’s amazing.

NAME Megan Moroney

MORE INFO Country artist Megan Moroney burst onto the music scene in 2021—and three short years later, the singer is a bona fide star. Her single “Tennessee Orange” exploded on streaming services, and as of this writing, is nearing 200 million streams on Spotify alone, thanks to catchy, narrative vocals about finding love. Moroney’s music explores anthemic (“Sleep on My Side”), party (“Lucky”) and heartbreak vibes (“Girl in the Mirror”)

through twangy instrumentation, all while her voice navigates between country grit and pop melody. You can catch Megan Moroney’s set at Stagecoach on Sunday, April 28.

What was the first concert you attended? Justin Bieber.

What was the first album you owned? Mud on the Tires, Brad Paisley.

What bands are you listening to right now? Noah Kahan, Kacey Musgraves, and The Red Clay Strays.

What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get? EDM. It gives me anxiety.

What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live? Gram Parsons.

What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?

Florida Georgia Line’s The Acoustic Sessions LOL.

What’s your favorite music venue? Georgia Theatre in Athens, Ga.

What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?

“Whyyyyy Dallas did you take her from me?” “Why Dallas,” ERNEST.

What band or artist changed your life? Kristian Bush/Sugarland. He took a chance on me and started producing my music.

You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?

Taylor Swift: “Be honest, girl: Do you ever sleep, yes or no?”

What song would you like played at your funeral? “Desperado,” the Eagles.

Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time? Same Trailer Different Park, Kacey Musgraves.

What song should everyone listen to right now? “Dreamcatcher,” Lainey Wilson.

OPINION COMICS & JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

“One, Please”—no room for any more.

By Matt Jones

Across

1. Jesting sort

4. China, long ago (as seen in an airline name)

10. Blueberries for ___ (award-winning kids’ book)

13. Chicken ___ king

14. Max for tax calculation

15. Bird that’s not native to Tasmania

16. Radio personality who’s good at archery?

18. With The, 1970s musical Oz remake

19. Scorched

20. Notable time period

21. Bionicles maker

22. Return of the Jedi princess

23. Actor who’s good at pressing clothes?

26. July in Marseille

27. Pilot-licensing org.

28. Show grief

29. Cardinals’ cap initials

30. ___ nous (confidentially)

33. Ceremony performed by a mohel

36. Actress/TV host who’s good at economics?

39. SNL alum Horatio

40. Search site with an exclamation point

41. N, S, E or W

43. Talk trash about

45. Write-___ (some nominees)

46. Number of threeletter chemical elements

47. Blues rocker who’s good at hauling stuff?

52. Prefix for drama

53. Roots author Haley

54. Anchorman anchorman Burgundy

55. Colts’ fathers

56. Big wheel

57. Rapper/actor who’s good at holding together documents?

60. Vow words

61. Curse-inducing stare

62. Graceful shade tree

63. ___ Moines, Iowa

64. Picks up for another year

65. The Waste Land author’s monogram

Down

1. Sings like a bird

2. Montreal CFLers

3. English actress Wilde of Carrie and Wonder Woman 1984

4. ___ au vin (French dish)

5. Kwik-E-Mart owner

6. Director Lars von ___

7. Le ___ (French seaport)

8. Starting lineups

9. The Beatles’ “___ Blues”

10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles setting

11. Fernando’s friend

12. Largest island of the Philippines

14. It’s a blast

17. ___ minute

21. Scales of the zodiac

23. 1998 Wimbledon champ Novotna

24. Food package date, informally

25. Yokels, in Australian slang

27. Andre the Giant’s role

in The Princess Bride

31. Irish actor Stephen

32. Body of morals

34. Companion that’s great for apartments (and won’t run off)

35. They’re found in the epidermis

37. Alphabetical listing

38. Sound the horn

42. Phrase on tote bags and plastic containers

44. Try hard

47. Michelangelo masterpiece

48. Bypass a vowel

49. Auctioned autos, often

50. Rise of the ___ (PlayStation game coming out on March 22)

51. Mom’s brother

52. ___ de los Muertos

55. ___-Therese, Quebec

57. To see, in Tijuana

58. “That’s disgusting”

59. Pt. of CBS

© 2024 Matt Jones

Find the answers in the “About” section at CVIndependent.com!

MUSIC SERIES STAND TOGETHER

APRIL 6

Freestyle Explosion THROWBACK JAM

JUNE 1

Sarah McLachlan with Special Guest Feist

JUNE 4

Janet Jackson with Special Guest Nelly

JULY 6

New Kids On The Block with Paula Abdul and DJ Jazzy Jeff

JULY 19

Jennifer Lopez

AUGUST 8

Alanis Morissette with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Morgan Wade

AUGUST 23

Kings Of Leon with Phantogram

AUGUST 24

Jeff Lynne’s ELO

SEPTEMBER 7

SEPTEMBER 13-15

Chicago + Earth, Wind & Fire Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live!