Bay Station welcomed nautical music duo Penny Opry to the sailboat Espresso for a later morning conversation and concert on the Oakland Estuary of San Francisco Bay.
Showing posts with label San Francisco Bay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Francisco Bay. Show all posts
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Thursday, July 12, 2018
Postcard: Bay Station's Love the Bay Day 1
Bay Station spent a long Memorial Day weekend, sailing around the San Francisco Bay, playing music with a bunch of area songwriters. Check out highlights from Day 1 when they say from Alameda to San Francisco and meet up with SF songwriters Nina Jo Smith and Peter Whitehead.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Bay Station Loves the Bay: Music & Sailing Adventure
Wow, what a ride the past weekend has been. Bay Station completed its mission on Memorial Day, sailing from Richmond to Alameda after a music-filled few days with some of our favorite friends in music. Below is just a sampling of some of the tiny boat concerts staged on Espresso. Check out the Bay Station Facebook page for full videos! Thanks to all those who participated!
Friday, May 25, 2018
Love the Bay v.2
Bay Station has sail from Alameda on our second Love the Bay multi-day sailing trip/tour of the San Francisco Bay. Follow along on Facebook and/ Instagram this Memorial Day Weekend for live broadcasts from our various ports of call.
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Monday, April 17, 2017
Hot Water Tour 2017: Soak in the Sounds of Sultry Americana withAireene Espiritu, Deborah Crooks and "Yours Truly, Michele"
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| Poster design by "Nemo" |
Excited about the "Hot Water Sessions" I'm doing with Aireene Espiritu and Yours Truly, Michele in May! Join us in some great venues in Niles, San Francisco, Suisun City and/or Alameda:
Hot Water Sessions 2017 Kick-Off Party at
The Mudpuddle Shop
Donations welcomed. Limited seating, RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/1860826930831504/
Hot Water Sessions @
$10 advance/ $15 day of show. A #FolkFightsBack Benefit event! Advance tickets recommended: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1459109
Hot Water Sessions @
$20 RSVP to boatysattva @gmail.com
Barkissimo is located in the heart of downtown Suisun City, across the grand plaza from Main Street. Bring a home made dish to share with the community.
Hot Water Sessions @
Donations welcomed. In the beer garden.
Hot Water Sessions @
A Private House Concert
ALAMEDA, CA
$20. Limited seating, RSVP to baystationband@gmail.com
More about the artists:
Aireene Espiritu
"Folk singer-songwriter Aireene Espiritu works in the elemental substance of vernacular American music with an uncanny ease. Whether blues, hillbilly, soul, folk or R&B...[she] demonstrates masterly command of each."- Jonny Whiteside, Los Angeles Times
Deborah Crooks
"California songwriter Deborah Crooks’ is simply too original to be a singer who will be known as someone who sings like…like no one. She changes gears seamlessly and in regards to Lucinda [Williams], Deborah may have a wider pallet of styles than even Lucinda." - John Apice, No Depression
Yours Truly, Michele http://michelekappelstone.com/
"She’s a celebration. No matter your mood, you’ll walk away with a smile. It’s cheaper than therapy." Tony DuShane, San Francisco Chronicle
With a sound infused with 60s pop, shadowy torch songs, and touched by by Americana Roots-Rock, it is truly Michele Kappel’s own brand of music.
Monday, April 3, 2017
Osprey Nest Cam Awesomeness from Golden Gate Audubon
GGA installed two high-definition cameras focused on a nest on a 75-foot-high inactive
WW2 maritime crane on the Richmond shoreline. The cameras have infrared ability
so the next can be viewed at night without disturbing the birds. There is
a chat room on the web site, as well as educational materials on
Ospreys and how to help them thrive, and even lesson plans for
teachers of grades 7-12.
Golden Gate Audubon is a founding member of the Bay Area Osprey Coalition, which includes organizations committed to helping this amazing raptor thrive! Other members of the coalition include the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory (a project of the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy) and Mare Island Preserve, which hosts our signature S.F. Bay Ospreys Days festival each June.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Bay Station (nee KCDC) "Go Out And Make Some" Celebration in Alameda
Please join us as we celebrate the release with a live show at The Fireside in Alameda, CA, on February 20, 2016. 1453 Webster Street, Alameda, CA 94501. We go on at 9pm. Plus our blue-rocking friends, The Dirty, will be sharing the evening. No cover!
If you'd like to join the Bay Station mailing list, please visit our site and Facebook pages for news about our upcoming shows and tour.
Bay Station | baystationband@gmail.com | www.baystationband.com
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Artist Interview: Annie Bacon's Pounding Corps
Q When did you first embrace songwriting? Who was a big early influence on your becoming an artist and who or what is fueling your muse currently?
AB: Before December of 2007, I'd definitely written songs, but I never considered myself a songwriter. I was content to play other people's music. That was the month, however, when I got Garageband,
which changed everything. Suddenly I could sketch out concepts of songs
across multiple tracks, and it was like a floodgate had been opened.
Within a few weeks I knew that this was what I was supposed to be when I
grew up. Pink Floyd and whatever was playing on the soft rock station
in the late 80s ... those were my early influences. Music that was
emotional. Right now I'm dealing with an Alt-J infatuation, a British art-band that does everything I love: harmonies, highly
literate lyrics, dirty-grimy bass drops, ear-worming melodies, and
arrangements that keep you on your toes. A few songs of theirs I love:
"Fitzpleasure"and "Ripe &Ruin."
Q Tell us about the new EP and the 'community effort' it's entailed?
AB: The
new EP, which I haven't yet named, is a collection of ukulele songs
that I've written across five or six years, but which never quite fit on
any other release. 2012-13 were hard years for me and my family.
Without going into it, I'll say that I was creatively paralyzed coming
out of it and having trouble getting re-started. A kind friend set me in
motion with a gentle nudge, another friend stepped forward to engineer
it, and others threw down their massive talent as the OSHEN. And still other
friends have offered ears, insights, and hours of talking them through.
It's one of those projects that has happened for me, not because of me,
which is a sweet and humbling relief. I feel really blessed by my
community.
Q You just were just awarded an Arts Incubator by Intersection for the Arts. What does that mean for your work and will you build upon The Folk Opera or drum up something else altogether?
AB: Yes!
This is really exciting for me. There's another project altogether that
inspired me reaching out to them for support. It's a project that needs
to happen within a certain framework, and to be honest I don't even
know what exactly it is going to be yet, only that I'm supposed to set
out to do it. I'm being necessarily vague, you'll forgive that I hope.
But I do also see the potential for the IFTA sponsorship as a platform
for finding the Folk Opera's next life, which is on stage. Maybe I'll
find funding to get the incredible Alphabet Arts puppet production of
the piece out here from Brooklyn.
Q
You're doing a benefit performance for The Liberation Institute. Tell
us about their work in the Bay Area (and any more details about the
show) and how it's important to you.
AB: The
Liberation Institute is an organization dear to my heart. I sit on
their Board of Directors and am consistently amazed and impressed by how
much they do with so little. Their community-mental-health model means
that absolutely anyone can access their services. As an artist, I know
how often I and other artists need support, but feel limited by
finances, so this accessibility is a key part of what I love about them.
The
show is to raise funds for their services for children, teens and
families. As a mama myself now, I also have deep empathy for how
necessary therapy can be in the process of both being and raising a
child! Holy moly. The show will be kid-friendly, with those under 12
free to enter and the show happening from 3-5p. (After nap before
dinner!) It's going to be an intimate show with only about 30 tickets
available for purchase. Since it's a fundraiser we're asking
$25-50/ticket, fully tax-deductible since Libi is a 501(c)3 non-profit.
I'll play the Folk Opera, followed by a set of ukulele songs from the
EP.
Details: Music Is Love: An afternoon with Annie Bacon, Sunday October 26th, 3pm-5pm
at the Liberation Institute's Urban Retreat Center, 1227-A Folsom
Street at 8th, San Francisco. $25-50 tax-deductible donation suggested,
kids 12 and under are free! Tickets available via www.anniebacon.me
Friday, March 28, 2014
BioBlitz! Golden Gate National Parks, CA Friday-Saturday, March 28-29, 2014
Check it out at Crissy Field, Hawk Hill, Muir Beach and beyond....
"The three national park units that make up the Golden Gate National Parks encompass more than 80,000 acres and 91 miles of shoreline along the northern California coast. These parks are home to an amazing array of biodiversity, including over half of the bird species of North America and nearly one-third of California’s plant species!
To better understand, appreciate, and protect this natural treasure, the National Park Service, National Geographic, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and Presidio Trust are teaming up to host a 24-hour BioBlitz species count and two-day Biodiversity Festival, Friday-Saturday, March 28-29, 2014.
BioBlitz 2014 will take place in several national parks, including Muir Woods National Monument, Fort Point National Historic Site, and locations in Golden Gate National Recreation Area including the Giacomini wetlands, Muir Beach, the Marin Headlands, Crissy Field, the Presidio, Mori Point, and Rancho Corral de Tierra.
Part scientific endeavor, part festival, and part outdoor classroom, BioBlitz will bring together more than 300 leading scientists and naturalists from around the country, thousands of local community members of all ages, and more than 2,000 students from across the Bay Area."
Hear more about the Blitz, and how scientists are working year-round to catalog and conserve local biodiversity on KQED's Forum, as host Dave Iverson talked with guests John Francis, biologist and vice president of research, conservation and exploration at National Geographic, and Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy: |
| Hawk Hill during fall migration |
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
On The Water
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| Somewhere west of The Farallon Islands |
Despite living near large bodies of water for most of my life, I don't know I've spent as much time on it as I have during the past few years. Growing up in Santa Cruz, my parents were landlubbers. After several slightly harrowing attempts, I stayed away from surfboards. And save for a semester in college, when a friend and I rowed a zipper out of the Santa Cruz Harbor three days a week, and a couple of serene kayak trips on Hawaiian vacations, for most of my adult life, I've been content on the water's edge. That's changed a bit lately. Having married a sailor, and now living on an island (albeit a little one) with an active sailing community, time spent on boats has become, perhaps inevitably, a regular event. For the past few weeks, when I haven't been doing a show, I've been heading out on the water.
As with most activities, I'm not so concerned with gear (in this case, boat types) or adrenaline (speed, competition, frequency), but I greatly enjoy the chance to experience another side of nature: how the wind shows its change on the surface of the bay before you feel it, the way seals bob in calm repose when the wind and current are low, diving Least and Caspian terns, low-soaring pelicans, the occasional flash of a sea porpoise. Plus there's something just downright soothing about rocking on water for hours at a time. It provides a reset button I've come to appreciate all the more.
Saturday, we went out on the Bay on a friend's boat for an afternoon of sailing. On Memorial Day, we boarded a whale-watching boat run by San Francisco Whale Tours in a bid to see some of the gray, blue and humpback whales that forage in the deep Pacific. I've seen hundreds of migrating whales from shore when living on the California coast, gone whale-watching in New Zealand and deep-sea fishing off of Monterey, but I'd yet to whale-watch out of San Francisco.
Memorial Day was threatening rain. A low fog hung over the water, inhibiting visibility out of the Golden Gate and to the Farallon Islands. Nonetheless, I was as excited to see what I could see of the Farallones, even if the jagged rock outcroppings 30 miles out of the gate were slightly obscured.
We could smell the birds who roost there before we reached a safe viewing distance, where could make out thousands upon thousands of nesting Murres, a bird not unlike a penguin. Our on-board naturalist told us how in the early days of San Francisco, locals came out to the islands to forage the Murre eggs (one egg equaled a decent sized omelet) and fur seals. When the effects of all that pillaging became evident, President Roosevelt created the Farallon Reservation to protect the islands and its wildlife. In 1969, it was expanded to become a National Wildlife Refuge. Now the Farallon Islands are an integral part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Wildlife Refuge, the birds and seals have recovered and access is limited. There weren't any other boats at the islands when we pulled up a few hundred yards from its craggy shore. A few seals swam out to check out our boat and a tufted puffin flew overhead as gulls, guillemots and murres wheeled overhead and swam in the inky sea. It was slightly spooky...and magical. I felt we'd gone very far away.
After idling a bit to scan sky and sea, we motored on West, in search of yet deeper waters and the thus far elusive whales....
Entering this part of the Pacific felt like driving across a (cold) desert: there's so much out there, but you have to really look and be in it to get just how much. A vast expanse of water and foggy horizon greeted us. The fog lifted a bit, the water was calm: our captain reported these were optimal conditions for whale viewing. We huddled in our storm coats and chewed on ginger gum, looking at the horizon for signs of spouting. We saw an albatross and another puffin, porpoises and auklets, more murres, seagulls floating on large seaweed 'rafts'...but the whales, seen only a day previous according to our guides, where foraging elsewhere. Evidently, a small percentage of whale-watching trips turn out this way (SF Whale-Watching graciously offers the next trip on them if you don't see whales). Eventually we headed back across the water, toward the Golden Gate and shallower waters. Though whale-less, I felt energized rather than disappointed...and happy I have a make-up trip ahead of me.
As with most activities, I'm not so concerned with gear (in this case, boat types) or adrenaline (speed, competition, frequency), but I greatly enjoy the chance to experience another side of nature: how the wind shows its change on the surface of the bay before you feel it, the way seals bob in calm repose when the wind and current are low, diving Least and Caspian terns, low-soaring pelicans, the occasional flash of a sea porpoise. Plus there's something just downright soothing about rocking on water for hours at a time. It provides a reset button I've come to appreciate all the more.
Saturday, we went out on the Bay on a friend's boat for an afternoon of sailing. On Memorial Day, we boarded a whale-watching boat run by San Francisco Whale Tours in a bid to see some of the gray, blue and humpback whales that forage in the deep Pacific. I've seen hundreds of migrating whales from shore when living on the California coast, gone whale-watching in New Zealand and deep-sea fishing off of Monterey, but I'd yet to whale-watch out of San Francisco.
Memorial Day was threatening rain. A low fog hung over the water, inhibiting visibility out of the Golden Gate and to the Farallon Islands. Nonetheless, I was as excited to see what I could see of the Farallones, even if the jagged rock outcroppings 30 miles out of the gate were slightly obscured.
We could smell the birds who roost there before we reached a safe viewing distance, where could make out thousands upon thousands of nesting Murres, a bird not unlike a penguin. Our on-board naturalist told us how in the early days of San Francisco, locals came out to the islands to forage the Murre eggs (one egg equaled a decent sized omelet) and fur seals. When the effects of all that pillaging became evident, President Roosevelt created the Farallon Reservation to protect the islands and its wildlife. In 1969, it was expanded to become a National Wildlife Refuge. Now the Farallon Islands are an integral part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Wildlife Refuge, the birds and seals have recovered and access is limited. There weren't any other boats at the islands when we pulled up a few hundred yards from its craggy shore. A few seals swam out to check out our boat and a tufted puffin flew overhead as gulls, guillemots and murres wheeled overhead and swam in the inky sea. It was slightly spooky...and magical. I felt we'd gone very far away.
After idling a bit to scan sky and sea, we motored on West, in search of yet deeper waters and the thus far elusive whales....
Entering this part of the Pacific felt like driving across a (cold) desert: there's so much out there, but you have to really look and be in it to get just how much. A vast expanse of water and foggy horizon greeted us. The fog lifted a bit, the water was calm: our captain reported these were optimal conditions for whale viewing. We huddled in our storm coats and chewed on ginger gum, looking at the horizon for signs of spouting. We saw an albatross and another puffin, porpoises and auklets, more murres, seagulls floating on large seaweed 'rafts'...but the whales, seen only a day previous according to our guides, where foraging elsewhere. Evidently, a small percentage of whale-watching trips turn out this way (SF Whale-Watching graciously offers the next trip on them if you don't see whales). Eventually we headed back across the water, toward the Golden Gate and shallower waters. Though whale-less, I felt energized rather than disappointed...and happy I have a make-up trip ahead of me.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Read.Eat.Listen: Stay
Read: "The Mountains of California" by John Muir. Last week, we played a last-minute gig at a cozy Berkeley neighborhood restaurant, The Westside Cafe. On our break, the friendly staff plied us with fine glasses of wine and food* and discussed local music. Somehow, the conversation turned to Martinez, a town north of here, a little east of the SF Bay on the San Pablo Bay. It's home to a handful of music clubs as well as a whole lot of history I hadn't quite grocked — think Pony Express and California Gold Rush and you start to get the idea. So we drove up there the next day and found, lo, naturalist John Muir's mansion and former ranch. I read oodles of John Muir's writing about the Sierra Nevada and his role in the conservation movement while studying natural history at UC Santa Cruz, but somehow failed to absorb that he settled down...in Martinez, living and writing there 'til his death in 1914. We enjoyed wandering the rooms— including Muir's book-filled study— of the stately mansion on the hill, before heading for a nature walk of our own along the Martinez Regional Shoreline.
Eat: Artichokes have always been my familiar. My dad grew them. They covered (and still do) the fields on the coast north of Santa Cruz. While they seem like the could be native to California, artichokes owe their roots to North Africa, have been cultivated in Europe since the ancient Greeks, and came to the US with French immigrants, reaching California via Spanish immigrants. But until I reached adulthood, I really thought they were disgusting. But now...a roasted artichoke with a glass of red wine is among my favorite things to eat. Simple. Good. Good for you. (Did I mention, Westside Cafe had them on their menu? Good call).
Listen: Vintage Jackson Brown, "Stay" which is about going as much as staying, and how for musicians, well, wanting to stay, and play, and go, are all mixed up... another old song that keeps on giving.
Friday, December 28, 2012
King Tides, Full Moons & Sea Level Rise
It's been a muddy few weeks on my favorite trail along Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary. It's not a real hiking trail or anything—the trail that runs along this sliver of the SF Bay is flat save for a several very slight dips— but it affords great views of migratory birds, the city skyline and a general check in with the SF Bay. The trail just skirts the tideline...until recently. Many of the tides of the past few weeks have been the highest of the year and much of the trail has been muddy and or covered in driftwood and debris. "King Tides" happen every year:
"The king tides are caused by the perfect alignment of the sun and the moon, which pulls ocean water to opposite sides of the earth. Most tidal surges are created predominantly by the gravitational pull of the moon*."
However a 'coalition of government and nonprofit advocate' caution that recent tidelines are actually indicative of where climate-change induced rising sea levels will take us in terms of land and water. The next King Tides in California are scheduled for January 9-11. The California King Tides Initiative is inviting residents to document the tides and their affects in photos and share them with others. Visit for more information on King Tides http://www.californiakingtides.org/
Wonder if there are 'Queen Tides'?...
Speaking of the very real issue of sea level rise. East Bay producer/director Claire Shoen has been documenting the effect of seal level rise on Bay Area residents in an award-winning series of webstories. Her media series RISE: Climate Change and Coast Communities depicts the face of the bay now. Take a look at one of the RISE webstories:
* Full Cold Moon 'This is the month when the winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark. This full Moon is also called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes.'
**Speaking of the effects of water... and to explain why there are no images of the trail from yesterday: I dropped my new iPhone into water over the holidays. Ouch! I thought it was done for but due to the MacGyver-like maneuvers of my husband, which involving dismantling the phone and drying it out thoroughly, the phone came back to life. Alas, everything functions BUT the camera.
"The king tides are caused by the perfect alignment of the sun and the moon, which pulls ocean water to opposite sides of the earth. Most tidal surges are created predominantly by the gravitational pull of the moon*."
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| Elsie B Roemer in late summer** |
Wonder if there are 'Queen Tides'?...
Speaking of the very real issue of sea level rise. East Bay producer/director Claire Shoen has been documenting the effect of seal level rise on Bay Area residents in an award-winning series of webstories. Her media series RISE: Climate Change and Coast Communities depicts the face of the bay now. Take a look at one of the RISE webstories:
* Full Cold Moon 'This is the month when the winter cold fastens its grip and the nights become long and dark. This full Moon is also called the Long Nights Moon by some Native American tribes.'
**Speaking of the effects of water... and to explain why there are no images of the trail from yesterday: I dropped my new iPhone into water over the holidays. Ouch! I thought it was done for but due to the MacGyver-like maneuvers of my husband, which involving dismantling the phone and drying it out thoroughly, the phone came back to life. Alas, everything functions BUT the camera.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Seal mind
"When I'm quiet, that's when the truth emerges.
A clear sky, the clouds like white fibers.
Underneath, a little gray house. The azaleas
Red and bright pink. " — Louise Gluck, 'The Untrustworthy Speaker'
A clear sky, the clouds like white fibers.
Underneath, a little gray house. The azaleas
Red and bright pink. " — Louise Gluck, 'The Untrustworthy Speaker'
So Sunday morning I got on K's boat. Unlike the rest life, I kind of prefer 'dull' sailing. Conditions were perfect for me: flat, chop-free and light wind. The bay was like a big bathtub (though not a warm one). We headed south where there weren't any boats and drifted a bit. Calm. Ahh. A certain point we came across several harbor seals in an easy repose. Heads up, looking south, spaced at a distance from one another, they sort of bobbed open-eyed in the water, as if meditating. It was a slightly surreal scene, at once magical and ordinary. They looked at us with only mild surprise and swam a little further away, unhurriedly, to resume their float. Ah-ha. A clue.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
California Coastal Clean-Up Day
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| Scouts on duty |
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| Our stretch of the Bay to clean up |
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