I wear a few different hats at the Santa Barbara Independent, as both a writer and an editor. As for my own prose, I wrote more than 200 stories of various types over the last 12 months, which is similar to my 2023 tally. That sounds like a lot — and it is — but a good chunk of what I do is short and snappy, and a lot less time-consuming than the longer features my colleagues are able to devote themselves to.
That being said, some of my favorite stores are the ones I get to dig in more deeply on. Arts education is close to my heart and is something I’ve spent a lot of my volunteer time working on for many years. For a very long time, I have wanted to embed with a visiting artist and write about what it’s like not just to perform for UCSB Arts & Lectures, but to go all over town and teach and connect with people as part of their educational outreach. Hanging out for a few days with Lil Buck and Jon Boogz, and our fab photographer Ingrid Bostrom, was a dream come true. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer, more talented, and thoughtful group of artists to work with on this cover story.
Going behind the scenes to write about the AHA’s remarkable teen participants and their Sing It Out program was another cover story highlight for me, as was working with our team to organize the event and bring back the Annual Indy Awards for local theater in May (see story here). Working with Joe Woodard to put together our first full-blown Fall Arts Preview since the pre-COVID years was greatly satisfying as well.
Covering the Santa Barbara International Film Festival is always one of my favorite, immersive experiences, and one of my 2024 highlights was being just a few feet away from Brad Pitt as he sat in the audience waiting to present his pal Bradley Cooper with the Outstanding Performer of the Year Award. I also really enjoyed a Ken-tastic night with Ryan Gosling when he received the Kirk Douglas Award in January. Apparently I’m a bit of a sucker for a pretty face.
Arts Reviews
Delving into reviews remains both challenging and fun for me. I do a little bit of theater and a little bit of dance and a little bit of comedy, but mostly I write about music. Other than Sting and Pearl Jam at the Ohana Festival — both of which were bucket list level incredible but outside of the 805 — my favorite show of the year was probably Cage the Elephant and Young the Giant at the Bowl: Two Ginormous Bands Unleash a Great Evening of Rock and Roll, and a Rocket! Other favorite Santa Barbara Bowl shows for me this year were Sofi Tukker and John Fogerty.
A few of my other highlights include:
Toad the Wet Sprocket at the Lobero: Too Good to Take for Granted.
The Lobero Block Party with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Ozomatli Taking it to the Streets.
An evening at the Arlington where RuPaul Shows He Was Born to Entertain.
Meow Meow’s unique brand of postmodern cabaret was definitely Wow Wow at the Lobero.
Lyle Lovett was fabulous and I also got to interview him before his Lobero show and meet him afterward. He’s every bit as nice as he is talented.
Finally, the toughest reviews to write are when you have mixed feelings about a show. I struggled with this one a bit, but was happy with the final results and got some good feedback from fellow fans: Indigo Girls Still Have Much to Teach Us.
Experiences
It’s not every day you tour a greenhouse and then sit in someone’s backyard smoking pot and getting a private poolside concert with Iration, but that’s what happened here at the Iration x Autumn Brands Launch Party.
I don’t usually breathe the same air as Kanye West, and there are very few go-go dancers in my orbit, but this Lavish Santa Barbara Soirée Toasts Ty Warner’s New Reserve Tequila was quite the shindig.
Escaping reality with a night at the Rosewood Miramar Beach was definitely a lovely way to snuff out the post-election stress.
Click here to read my editor’s picks for 2024 as well.
