Me & Uke
“I saw this thing that looked like a guitar, but it had four strings,” says 13-year-old Izadora “Izzy” Fleetwood, describing her introduction to the ukulele two years ago while visiting her grandfather (Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac). Coincidentally, Izzy’s best friend and classmate at Ojai’s Oak Grove School, Sofia Burke, acquired her uke at the same time. After taking a few lessons together, the strumming pair decided to form BLUE MOON SINGERS . The band’s 2016 debut at Folk Steady—a monthly Sunday matinee acoustic series at Ojai Rancho Inn—prompted a bevy of performance demands that would be the envy of other bands. The duo has played at The Deer Lodge, Caravan Outpost, Euterpe Farms, and were flown to a gig in Austin, Texas. Their popular single “Wild Ones” (recorded by industry pro Bernie Larsen) is currently featured in an H&M video. As for the future, a full-scale album of their own songs is in the works. “We’re planning on being friends forever,” says Burke. Adds Fleetwood modestly, “It’s working out pretty well for us.” L . D . P .
IZZY FLEETWOOD
and SOFIA BURKE .
BL U E M O O N S I N GE R S .CO M
Star Turn
His award-winning film and TV roles (The Sopranos, Goodfellas, and Jungle Fever to name just a few) would fill several pages, but Santa Barbara resident Michael Imperioli has adopted a new role: author. His debut novel, THE PERFUME BURNED HIS EYES ($29.95, Akashic Books, available at Chaucer’s Bookstore, 805-682-6787, chaucersbooks.com), not only deserves an award for best title, but has garnered praise from literary icon Joyce Carol Oates, who describes Imperioli’s coming-of-age narrative as “vividly imagined.” This should come as no surprise to those who’ve trolled the credits of Imperioli’s career; in addition to writing several Sopranos episodes, he wrote (and directed) The Hungry Ghosts, was a writer on Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam, and has penned several plays. Bravo! L . D . P .
Arts
Mat eria l MATTERS
Left to right: Artist NATHAN SNYDER with Tesseract, 2018, stainless steel, 40 x 64 x 44 in.; Bending the Universe, 2018, high-polished bronze, 10 x 24 x 11 in.
“I do love metal,” admits sculptor NATHAN SNYDER , whose large-scale stainless steel piece Tesseract was one of eight artworks prominently displayed on State Street earlier this year for the State of the Art Gallery Exhibition sponsored by Santa Barbara’s County Office of Arts & Culture. But Snyder also works with bronze, marble, and wood and spent years mastering those materials as part of his exploration. “Until you become adept at using a material, you’re really bound by the material instead of your creative vision,” says the artist, noting that the turning point occurs when “I’m no longer concerned by the material, because I know how to work with it. That’s when art works start to open up and express something other than a shiny piece of metal.” Largely self-taught, Snyder was on the path to become a reconstructive surgeon until his class-time doodles became more compelling than chemistry. In addition to creating pieces for private collectors, Snyder has received several public art commissions and has participated in numerous regional exhibitions. His recent work combines static materials (metal, stone, wood) and technology (video projections). L . D . P . N AT H AN SN Y D E R ST U D I O S .CO M S A N TA B A R B A R A
PHOTOGRAPHS: BLUE MOON SINGERS, MARIANA SCHULZE; NATHAN SNYDER AND SCULPTURE, SHANNON JAYNE PHOTOGRAPHY
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