The Second Episode of Season 2 of “Music in Our House” featuring the music of Red Light Go and Dana Castaldo. Dana performs here with his wife, Claudia, and the pair really have some pipes… so much so that our mic overloaded in places. Hopefully this just adds some of that raw, homespun character to the episode.

On Saturday, April 10, Yuri Inoo gave this performance of “Without A Trail To Lace,” a composition for voice and vibraphone by Alan Chan on two poems by Nicky Schildkraut. In this unusual yet oddly effective performance, percussionist Inoo’s musical companion was… a video of soprano Courtney Huffman. Huffman is on the east Coast, Inoo on the west, but the duo are regular collaborators with composer Chan and poet Schildkraut, and so they decided on this unorthodox presentation. The piece is at once energetic and stoic, perhaps mirroring the reflective intensity of these poems and their meditation on the emotional toll of adoption. Wonderful performances by both musicians seem to capture this spirit and meaning very well.

The Avocado’s David P. Kronmiller was allowed to tape the final rehearsal before the recital. This, along with bios, photos, and interviews conducted by David and by our music blogger Dan Rickabus, will be on the site soon. For now, enjoy this excellent performance.

Listen to Nicky read the her two poems that make up the text of this piece: Mother’s Lament and Daughter’s Lullaby.

This performance was part of one event in the Gateway Performance Series in Los Angeles. You can find information from the event’s organizers here.

Read and hear more of Nicky Schildkraut’s poetry with her five-part Subaltern Series on the Avocado Jungle, starting with Third Person.

We began a new season of our “Music In Our House” series when I welcomed singer, drummer, ukelele player and songwriter Dan Rickabus into my home for this excellent performance and a short interview. Enjoy!

You can find an earlier interview and a track from his EP in an earlier post here. Around the time of that interview, Dan agreed to blog for us regularly about music. We find his writing full of a contagious passion for music and creative points of view. Go read it and see if you agree.

And keep tuning in for great music performances on the Avocado Jungle!

Here’s a video from uke-rocker (?!) Dan Rickabus. His smooth-yet-gritty voice and his big, ukelele-glazed rock sensibilities are very easy on the ears.

If you like what you hear, here’s a track from his album (under the name Dan Rickabus and Friends), “The Audio Tree Sessions.” The song is called Something Static.

I also had the pleasure of an interview with Dan, who is from Michigan. We talked about his musical roots, listening to music, family and other things. An interview with Dan Rickabus.

The latest edition to our Dan Rickabus collection is his performance on Music In Our House in March 2010.

My first guest is Brendan McNamara who has a daily devotional he uploads to his YouTube Channel show called “Christian Sands”. I really appreciated Brendan’s honest expression of his spirituality and thought he would be great for our series’ launch.

Jeremy Olsen had the privilege of an interview with this mellow indie-pop band. They talked about their background, their take on indie music today, the “safety nets” built into their lives, and more. Listen to the interview.

Check out the track “Leave the Wine, Down the Ribbons” from their EP Agony of the Leave.

Be sure to visit lightninginsideyou.com for more music, photos, and information—or to buy the EP.

Don’t miss season two of David P. Kronmiller’s exciting action adventure webseries, and Boris! If you missed the first season of this impressive low-budget high-impact Russian spy thriller, catch up on the first six episodes:

Season 3 of David P. Kronmiller’s action adventure webseries and Boris!

Indie pop/rock musician Nathan Schafer performs in my living room for our series, Music In Our House. He’s playing “You Did” from his 5-song EP A Lapse.

In an interview with the AVJ’s Jeremy Olsen, Nathan talks about his background in composing, the meaning in his lyrics, the worth of music, and this week’s theme on the Avocado Jungle: individualism vs. individual responsibility. Listen to the interview.

Something else for your ears: a track straight from A Lapse entitled “Miles“.

For more of Nathan’s music, to learn more about him, or to buy his EP visit nathanschafer.com.