An Interview with Dwele

By: Casey Pukl

Dwele is that guy. Which guy? That guy. You know, the one who writes incredible songs, can sing himself to the moon, has worked with Kanye West, Common, and many more, and you expect to be larger than life. Dwele is as humble, laid back, and kind as they come. I had the pleasure of speaking with him yesterday morning (one day after his emergency root canal might I mind you), and we talked about everything from his writing process and his speaker building hobby to his gorgeous female fans. If I had to pick one word to describe my chat with Dwele, it would have to be… cool. Just plain, old-school cool— and it doesn’t get much better than that.

CP: Tell me about your record Wants, World, Women and how it came together. Did you have the concept for it first, or once you finished writing, did the songs fit themselves into the categories?

D: It was really a combination of both. It really started when I was working with Nottz on the song, “I Wish.” The first line of the song I had was, “I wish I had a dollar for every dollar you think I have, I wish I had those Gucci shoes inside that Gucci bag.” It was a part of me that I don’t usually get to express. You know, I like those nice things, but that’s not all of what I’m about. I was trying to find a way to talk about it without making people mad. It was a section I just had a lot of fun with.

Then came the political section. You know, I’ve wanted to do some political stuff before, but I never really had the platform. I wanted to talk about the economy and what’s happening. I can’t really put a political song in between some baby-makin’ songs, you know? (laughs) Then came the “Women” section, where I did what I’ve been doing all along. This record was really about giving myself some different avenues to express stuff I don’t usually get to.

CP: Do you have any favorite songs on the record? Read the rest of this entry »

An Interview with Candye Kane

by: Casey Pukl

There are few women in this world as open, honest, raw, and inspiring as our local blues love, Candye Kane. The “L.A. gang member, unwed teen mom, plus-sized, ex-pornstar, bi-sexual, multi-award winning blues phenomenon,” has truly done it all, and even added “cancer survivor” to her list. I was fortunate enough to score a phone interview with her this morning, and I can’t even begin to express my deep respect and appreciation for not only what she has survived, but also what she continues to achieve.

CP: We are so excited to have you come to Anthology tomorrow night! I know it’s your only show in San Diego for 2011. Tell me about this show and what we can expect to see?

CK: We’re coming to Anthology with the show we’ve been touring all over the world this year promoting the two most recent releases. My eleventh record, Sister Vagabond, that was co-produced by Laura Chavez is the first, and then we’re also playing from my record with Sue Palmer called One Night in Belgium. Sue and I are going to open up the show playing songs from that record, and then we’ll bring up the band and rock out. Laura has been called the reincarnation of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and she’s unreal, so it’s a really guitar focused show. It’s just really fun to have two crazy girls on stage, and especially in blues where it just isn’t done that often.

CP: Earlier this year you went to New York City to perform your biographical stage show, “Toughest Girl Alive.” Are you bringing it back to San Diego again soon? Read the rest of this entry »

An Interview with Darren Rahn

by: Casey Pukl

It’s not every day that you find an artist who manages their own Twitter feed, never-mind reads and responds to their direct messages. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I was able to set up an interview with one of the hottest names in contemporary jazz by sending a message that I’m fairly confident may have contained a smiley face.

Meet Darren Rahn- contemporary jazz artist, writer, producer, and all-around nice guy. He’s best known for his work with the late Wayman Tisdale, and several of their collaborations have made it to the top of the Billboard charts. Though he was brought to the forefront of the scene with his productions skills, Darren Rahn still maintains that playing and being an artist is still his number one love.

Rahn is unique not only for his accomplishments and technical abilities, but also because he earned a Master’s Degree in Jazz from the University of Northern Colorado. I was honored to have the chance to sit down and ask him a few questions about what he has coming up, what we can expect from his show tonight with Grammy Award winner Paul Brown, and how he balances his wealth of technical musical knowledge with his creative side.

CP: So let’s dive right into it. I just read on your website this week that you’re in the studio working on a new record. Tell me about it! What are we going to see with this? Read the rest of this entry »

… But Kal David & Tommy Castro Made Them All Better

by: Casey Pukl

I feel the need to do some apologizing in this post. Why? Because I had all intentions of writing the most mind-blowing, geeked-out, musical review of all time. Two blues legends were playing back to back Friday and Saturday night. This was my moment. I created notes in my iPhone for all of the performers this weekend in preparation for reviews for today’s post. I finally arrived at the office this morning, sat down at my desk, and was ready to start writing. I opened my phone and clicked the “Kal David” note. What did it say? One word.

“WHOA.”

Seriously? I scrolled to the “Tommy Castro” note. There had to be something useful and genius in that one.

“HE PLAYED ‘SERVE SOMEBODY’!!! KILLER!!!”

What kind of music blogger/social media coordinator goes to a show and takes super terrible, non-descriptive notes? I’ll tell you what kind- one who was far too excited and caught up in the show to remember to take any notes. Just picture this: girl standing at the side of the stage, mouth wide open, eyes like a kid at Christmas, staring up at Kal David as he’s playing “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” and the only thought in my supposedly musically educated mind is… whoa. Bring her back the next night and repeat. I promise to get better at this as time goes on. Read the rest of this entry »

Simple Yet Sophisticated Dessert Options

by: Casey Pukl

Executive Chef Todd Allison has been known to whip up an impressive dessert or two in the Anthology kitchen. (I hope you’ve been lucky enough to try his chocolate soufflé!) Known for using farm fresh ingredients, Todd is definitely the man to talk to before heading to your weekend farmer’s market. I asked him what I should get to make an impressive yet simple dessert for my weekend dinner party that wouldn’t keep me in the kitchen instead of chatting up my guests.

Todd had one very simple, very confident, and very delicious answer, “Figs.” Read the rest of this entry »