Joe Payne
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Music and wine under the oaks

Koehler Winery is finishing up its first concert series on the Foxen Canyon wine trail
by Joe Payne

Summer is the season of the concert series, and one local winery is in the seasonal spirit.  Koehler Winery has two concerts left in its very first summer concert series, which showcases acoustic singer-songwriters on the winery’s peaceful lawn. Perched atop a hill in Los Olivos, right off of the Foxen Canyon wine trail, Koehler […]

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Blazing a trail in history

The DANA Adobe keeps the memory of mountain man James P. Beckwourth alive by illuminating his footprints on the Central Coast
by Joe Payne

American frontier history is filled with iconoclastic characters of independence and freedom. Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie, to name just a few, are all remembered and lauded as folk heroes and have come to symbolize the American dream. One man, James B. Beckwourth (1798-1866), was dismissed for generations as a liar in regard […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Paul Roark explores the duality of black and white

Gallery Los Olivos presents “Landscapes and Cityscapes” through September
by Joe Payne

Before cameras ever captured color, black and white reigned, from film noir to Ansel Adams. Despite the advent of reproducing reds, yellows, and blues, however, some people have stayed committed to the basics. One local photographer in particular is presenting a show of his photography, which includes a black and white treatment of landscapes and […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Education begins with music

A cry for sanity from the front lines of music education
by Joe Payne

I’m still in the dawn of my career as a musical educator. I teach several instruments—piano, guitar, and mandolin, among others—at Music Motive in Nipomo, and I talk to every student I have, from kindergartners to senior citizens, about music theory and the ideas surrounding what they’re learning. As any educator will probably tell you, […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Hancock will get 
you to the Getty

by Joe Payne

Allan Hancock College’s Community Education program is offering an educational bus tour to the Getty Center in Los Angeles on Oct. 4 with registration currently open through Aug. 29. The Getty Center highlights many exhibits, including pre-20th-century European paintings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, decorative arts, and 19th- and 20th-century American and European photographs. The bus […]

Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture

Taking action

by Joe Payne

The Community Action Commission of Santa Barbara County presents the annual “Head Start Book Drive” event with the goal of providing complete sets of new books in 24 centers in Santa Barbara. The event runs through September. Community members can help buy books for kids up to 5 years old. Direct donations can also be […]

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