Renowned Guitarist Evan Hirchelman to Offer Instruction in Ben Lomond

Hill Guitar Company Presents Guitarist/Composer Evan Hirschelman 
Santa Cruz House Concert
April 14th 2011
Thursday 7:30 PM
seats are limited, please make a reservation in advance
$15 General - $10 Senior/Student

Master Class
April 14th 2011 2:00 - 4:30pm
Hill Guitar Company
8011 Highway 9
Ben Lomond, CA 95005
$30 registration required

Tickets - contact HIll Guitar Company

(800) 262-8858 (831) 336-9317

khill@hillguitar.com

Sweet Velzoe Brown Celebrates 101 at the Kuumbwa

The Grand Dame of the Santa Cruz music scene, Velzoe Brown, is greeted by fans young and old as she celebrated her 101st birthday last night at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz.

The woman who left her home in Nebraska to join an all girl travelling jazz band at 16 then worked as a musician steadily for 50 years before settling down in Santa Cruz and continuing to perform and teach piano until very recently attributes her longevity to keeping “a child’s heart inside”.

A year ago she was on the Kuumbwa stage with her band, The Upbeats, as musicians and fans turned out  to honor her on the ocassion of her 100th birthday.  While the crowd was smaller last night to mark her 101st birthday (she was born March 1, 1910) and her health of late has kept her from her regular gig she was clearly enjoying herself as a number of local musicians played and serenaded her with some of the same music that she has been performing for almost 85 years. Meanwhile Velzoe greeted and shared moments with a steady stream of admirers that included former bandmates, students and fans.

After everyone sang “Happy Birthday” and shared cake, one guest bid her farewell by saying “See you next year.” to which Velzoe responded “Wouldn’t that be just delightful!”

Read more about Velzoe:

Velzoe Brown

Peter Hartlaub, Chronicle Pop Culture Critic
Wallace Baine, Baine Street: To beloved jazz pianist Velzoe Brown, age is just a number -- even if it does has three digits
1998 Photos by Jeffrey Luhn

A Coffis Brother Makes Incredible Bigfoot Claim - Supporters to Gather in Felton

A self described “Mountain Man” from Santa Cruz County claims he has first-hand personal knowledge of the mysterious primate Bigfoot. Most scientists do not give much credence to the existence of Bigfoot although among the growing number of experts and students in matters mysterious, Bigfoot ranks right up there with life on other planets, abductions and ghosts. 

(According to Michael Rugg, Director of the Bigfoot Discovery Project and Museum in Felton, California, actual claims of Bigfoot interactions, not just sightings, are all the rage these days. Rugg pointed to two recently published books, one in 2009 by Christopher Noel, of the Bigfoot Field Research Organization (BFRO) entitled Impossible Visits: The Inside Story of Interactions with Sasquatch at Habituation Sites, and the just released, ENOCH, by Oregon researcher and Bigfoot “witness advocate” Autumn Williams. Williams’ book chronicles the story of a man she says is “more than a witness (to Bigfoot) he is a friend.”)


The fact that Rugg and both Coffis brothers graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School and that these events are scheduled within days of each other is simply an interesting coincidence. There is no other connection.

In July, a standing room only crowd at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Felton listened to singer and songwriter, Jamie Coffis, 24, tell the story of growing up in the San Lorenzo Valley and his encounter with the legendary primate.

Born in the Redwood forest near the tiny town of Ben Lomond, he says that he befriended the legendary creature as a youth. “I had to grow up all alone, I learned to live off the land. I met Bigfoot. He’s a friend of mine.”

Jamie and Kellen, who perform as The Coffis Brothers, have been invited back to Don Quixote’s on Thursday night Aug 26 beginning at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $8 and sales have been brisk.

Their music is described as ”original, organic, and all American” They really have “that brother thing” going on said KPIG’s Sleepy John Sandidge who introduced the pair on his Sunday morning live music show last Spring. They were booked by Tom Miller for a Tues night gig at the venerable Felton music hall where they so impressed that they were brought back for a 4th of July weekend show. It was at this show where they introduced the song “Mountain Man”, with the Bigfoot mention - to wild acclaim.

Their act includes a short set that showcases the vocal blend and songwriting prowess of the brothers - they have written over two dozen original songs and also perform a handful of creatively arranged covers of artists like the Beatles, Everly Brothers, Ray Charles, Tom Petty and more.- Jamie plays keyboards and Kellen plays guitar and harmonica. They are then joined by drummer Henry Chadwick, bassist Mason Hutchinson and guitarist Kyle Poppen for a longer set of songs written with the melodic sensibilities of pop, blues and R&B combined with the emotion and feel of good old fashioned Rock and Roll.

If the packed dance floor at their last DQ show was any indication they have a strong cross generational appeal. Will Bigfoot be among the dancers Thursday night? The only hint Coffis would provide comes from the song: “I told him he looks much smaller in person; he said ‘I get that all of the time.’ ”

(The Bigfoot Discovery Project and Museum is hosting an all day event Saturday at their Highway 9 location near Henry Cowell Redwood State Park in furtherance of the search for the truth. Music, art and serious discussion will be followed later by a celebration and a fund raiser at the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz featuring local ska king Dan P and his new band the Stitch Up, garage punk trio the Groggs and pop punkers Kepi Ghouli. Events at the museum are free. Tickets for the Crepe Place show are $10.)

Ben Lomond Brothers to Headline at Don Quixote's in May

Jamie and Kellen Coffis are a couple of local boys, born and raised in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains in Ben Lomond. Jamie (piano and vocals) and Kellen (guitar, vocals and harmonica) blend their instruments and voices in a way only a pair of brothers could. New on the live music scene, the brothers are eager to bring their unique vocal harmonies and heartfelt melodies to the stage. Born into music, their mother Vicki Neville Coffis is a well known children's music artist and current member of the swing jazz band Jazz Birds.