Dulcie Taylor releases a remixed EP of her most popular songs about failed romance 

When Dulcie Taylor left the East Coast for California, it was a gift to local Americana fans. This gifted singer-songwriter fit right into the local music scene, playing all around the Central Coast, winning Best Songwriter in the New Times Music Awards twice—accolades she could add to her two East Coast WAMMIEs (Washington D.C. area music awards).

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• Photo Courtesy Of Dulcie Taylor
• OWNER OF A LONELY HEART Dulcie Taylor's new EP of remixes finds her traversing broken relationships, in Reimagined, out now on Mesa Bluemoon Recordings.

She recently reached back into her 20-year recording career to compile a six-song EP of some of her most popular songs, which have been "redesigned with new twists and approaches," according to press materials. These previously released songs have been "remixed, remastered, with some rerecording," and the results are nothing short of astonishingly beautiful. Also, a bit depressing!

The EP opens with "Easy for You," a song about a failing relationship: "I don't blame you, baby, for saying goodbye/ If your heart isn't in it, you surely got that right/ I don't blame you, baby, do what you have to do/ It just seems so easy for you/ Why is it so easy for you."

Her songs get to big emotions in a hurry, like "Diamond & Glass," whose chorus sings "Love can cut like a diamond/ Love can shatter like glass." And that voice! Nuanced, emotive, and glorious as it moves into upper registers!

"To Be A Fool" finds a relationship intact but under stress: "When we look at each other you know what we see, you know what we see/ A woman who loves you, a man who loves me/ Whatever comes I'm here for you, I'm here for you/ There's very little I wouldn't do/ But there's one thing you don't ask me/ I love you too much for you to ask me/ To be a fool."

Men, am I right? Jerks!

I think my favorite track is the sultry ballad "On a Rainy Day," that feels like a sweaty slow dance on a humid night but is really about another failing romance: "Telling myself to let you go/ Is like standing in a storm telling the wind not to blow/ I'll wait to cry on a rainy day."

By the time you get to "Corazon Frio (Cold Heart)," you'll be worrying if Taylor is OK. Her heart's been broken again! "Corazon frio, cold heart/ What makes me love you still/ Corazon frio, how can I get through/ Freezing water that surrounds a frozen will."

These are stirring laments, and I wish I could tell you the EP ends on a hopeful note, but the closing track, "You and Me," is about the last gasps of another failed relationship: "This can't be you and me/ Paying a third party/ To help us put our hearts back together again/ This can't be you and me/ Hoping a total stranger/ Can help us get across this ocean of pain/ Talk, talk, analyze/ Who did what and why/ Talk, talk, talk, deny/ Cry, cry."

The horn on this track is absolutely gorgeous. Put this EP on when you're feeling blue and want to commiserate with someone who knows how to sing about doomed romance. You can also listen to Taylor on Spotify and her YouTube channel, which has had 2.7 million views.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Classinova
• STAY CLASSY! Classinova will bring their bossa nova, classical violin, jazz, and Celtic music to an Oct. 2 livestream event hosted by the Performing Arts Center.

Triple stream

There are three terrific streaming shows coming up this week starting with the Performing Arts Center streaming Classinova LIVE From the PAC, this Friday, Oct. 2 (7:30 p.m.; link through pacslo.org). It's the kickoff to a new streaming series "developed and produced by the PAC to fill the void created when our doors closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic," organizers explained. Led by Central Coast superstar violinist Brynn Albanese, expect world music with a twist from Classinova as she and her musical cohorts mix bossa nova, classical violin, jazz, and Celtic music.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Ghost/Monster
• FEEL-GOOD ROCK Ghost/Monster will close A-Town's Saturday in the Park virtual concert series on Oct. 3.

The city of Atascadero presents its final virtual Saturday in the Park concert this Saturday, Oct. 3, with local feel-good rock act Ghost/Monster at 6 p.m. on KPRL 1230AM and atascadero.org/youtube. According to press materials, "Lead vocalist and acoustic guitar player, Nataly Lola, is an award-winning songwriter and her debut self-titled album was produced by platinum award-winning producer and Grammy member and nominee, the late and great Randy Rigby."

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• Photo Courtesy Of Bear Market Riot
• POWER FOLK Watch Wine Down Wednesday with Bear Market Riot online on Oct. 7, brought to you by Vina Robles Amphitheatre and SLO Brew Rock.

Vina Robles Amphitheatre presents Wine Down Wednesday with Bear Market Riot on Wednesday, Oct. 7 (5 p.m. on Vina Robles' Facebook page), in partnership with SLO Brew. Bear Market is a power-duo that plays propulsive, percussive folk rock with great harmony vocals. Expect "tales of adventure, equality, and romance," according to organizers.

On the radio

I don't know about you, but I've found myself turning to the radio more and more since the pandemic squashed the live music scene. The Central Coast has a lot of great stations, from Cal Poly's student run KCPR 91.3FM to commercial stations like KPYG 94.9FM and all the American General Media stations, but my go-to for years has been local NPR affiliate KCBX 90.1FM, which recently replaced Chris Thile's wonderful Live From Here (which replaced Garrison Keillor's even more wonderful A Prairie Home Companion) with American Routes, which I tuned in to last Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m.

Featuring Nick Spitzer, Louisiana's first state folklorist, the show digs deep to find a lot diverse American music, from gospel and soul to blues and jazz to rockabilly, country, Cajun, swamp, Tejano, Latin, and more. I have a feeling I'm going to discover a lot of new artists and music every Saturday afternoon thanks to this show.

KCBX also just announced that starting Monday, Oct. 5, they'll broadcast a new four-part series called The Ever Fonky Lowdown by Wynton Marsalis (Mondays from 8 to 8:30 p.m. through Oct. 26). It's presented by KCBX and the SLO chapter of the NAACP, and according to press materials, the half-hour segments will present "a funky, jazzy, satirical look at democratic freedom, abuse of power, racism, and cultural corruption."

According to Rick Mathews, host of another of my favorite KCBX programs, Freedom Jazz Dance, this show and its music "is so urgent, important, and timely that I couldn't pass up an opportunity to make this message available to as many people as possible." He calls the piece a "sincere and almost brutal assessment of the issues within our culture."

I'm in! Δ

Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at [email protected].