21.02.12 California Diner - 'Fresno Rocks!'

For some time now, I’ve been alluding to a musical mecca in California’s Central Valley, known as Fresno. It’s nearly a three hour drive south of where I sit in Sacramento. Most people don’t give Fresno its due--it’s inland, and it’s a bit out of the mainstream. When outsiders talk of California--they’re thinking of Los Angeles and visualizing San Diego. If you mention San Francisco, you get an “oh yeah--that’s right, San Francisco”. Try mentioning Sacramento--you get something like “oh--that’s part of California, isn’t it?”. And poor Fresno--if they even got “oh--that’s part of California, isn’t it?”--that would be an improvement. Well I’m here to tell you that Fresno looms large on the musical map. More than once, I’ve found myself playing two or three Fresno artists on a California Diner episode. Well this week, we go all out and play seven(!) different Fresno artists. Some originally from Fresno, but have moved on to other music scenes. Others who continue to rock Fresno. Either way, that should pretty much seal the deal--Fresno rocks! A couple of Recharged Radio debuts come our way this week. Poplord has an album out called “Poplord vs the Universe”, and it’s a good one. These guys roam everwhere from power pop to grownup adult pop, and Tom Magill leads them to some pretty great musical highs. www.myspace.com/poplord Also from the Poplord camp comes Jet Electro--led by Poplord’s Craig Daniel, with an eponymous debut album. This one travels the Americana and power pop roads, and has some amazing hooks to, well, hook you in! Some of the stalwarts of the Fresno scene join forces to help out on this effort. www.jetelectro.net We’ll also hear from California Diner mainstays Blake Jones & The Trike Shop (“mad pop”) and Sparklejet (intellectual hard rock), who continue to keep the Fresno arts scene vibrant. Kat Jones, she formerly of Fresno, now of Portland, checks in with her velvety alto. We’ll play a new track from the legendary Debora Iyall, she of Romeo Void fame, with a cover of one of her solo songs from last year. She takes a moody song and adds to the atmosphere, with a surprise rock ending. She rose to fame in San Francisco, but grew up in Fresno. www.blakejonesmusic.com www.myspace.com/sparklejet www.katjonesmusic.com www.deboraiyall.com And last, but certainly not least, is Rich McCulley. He started in Sparklejet over a decade ago, but moved on to make a name for himself in the vibrant Los Angeles Americana scene, not only as a singer-songwriter, but as a producer and recording engineer as well. If you hear a musical sound in Los Angeles, and it’s got a twang or a jangle, you can bet that Rich had a hand in it! www.richmcculley.com So check out these great musicians. One way or another, they all came from Fresno. Make them part of YOUR music scene! Hey! Recharged Radio now has a magazine! It’s a free monthly music e-zine called Sound of the Suburbs (not to be confused with our radio show of the same name--oh heck, go ahead and confuse it--we don’t mind!) It’s our joint effort with our friends at Perfect Pop Co-Op. You can get it on the left hand side of the home page of Recharged Radio. Just scroll down a bit, and get reading! If you'd like to make a request, just drop me a line at mike(at)rechargedradio.com. If you'd like to become an honorary California citizen, drop me a line at the same address. And if you'd like to hear all this great music—simply tune in to the California Diner, Tuesday night, 8:00-10:00 p.m. (GMT), 12:00-2:00 p.m. Pacific, only at Recharged Radio—www.rechargedradio.com. See you then! Chef Mike mike(at)rechargedradio.com MN2BDNC Poplord - Flower Bomb The Fuegos - Against The World Kat Jones - Those Expensive Eyes Rob Bonfiglio - Blow Me Away Green Beetles - The Basement Last Breath - The Story Ends Jesus H Christ & The Four Hornsmen of The Apocalypse - I'm Around Sparklejet - Let's Behind That Place Peter Daltrey and Damien Youth - Blue Girl Eyes Laurie Biagini - The Invisible Guy The Little Philistines - Hot Phone Blake Jones & The Trike Shop - Here Comes the Bus Nushu - Synthia Baby Scream - The Last Call Winzenried - Ohio Model Society - Horizon Natalie Cortez & The Ultraviolets - Three Times Lindy LaFontaine - I Might Not Love You Rich McCulley - Far From My Angel Wim Oudijk - Love you. Period! The Well Wishers - Escape The Light Girl Muscle - My Head Spins Around Emily Zuzik & Tim Lefebvre - E-Vill Joe Swidenbank - Coming Up For Air Maxi Dunn - Messed Up Jet Electro - For Sale By Owner Anny Celsi - First Love Freezes Debora Iyall - 99 Bill Mumy - Chariots Comin' Chat with Andy from The Scratch The Scratch - Teen Idol Auditorium - The Sex Offenders Ricky Berger - Silly Boy, Goodnight