Fresno drummer releases pro-peace protest song with a call-out for more.

Plus, Valley Music Hall of Fame announces 2023 inductees.

Michael Faeth wrote “In a River,” as a song about war. It was a way to work through the realities he saw happening in Ukraine, to people he knew; the wife of an old friend, who escaped the country with her mother (and dog) but not before being sheltered in a parking garage, under threat of bomb strikes.

“How could the pop world just continue writing ‘let’s party’ songs?,” Faeth wrote, explaining the genesis for “In a River,” which was released on Bandcamp July 1.

“Denial maybe, or perhaps a coping mechanism.”

Faeth is a drummer, who played with the Seattle/Portland band Jessamine in the ’90s and toured with Louisville’s The For Carnation in the US and England (they played All Tomorrow’s Parties). Locally, he’s played with Buzzbomb, Atoms Are Aliens, and Llama Boy, while self-releasing three full-length solo albums and creating a Youtube channel full of drum tutorials, playalongs and covers.

Appropriately, the drums became the catalyst for the writing of “In a River.”

Faeth was inspired by Manu Katché and Phil Collins to create a beat that was tom-heavy, powerful and driving, something he refers to as the “war drums.” He hopes others will be inspired, too.

Before releasing “In the River,” he sent the drums tracks to his musician friends, asked them to use it as a foundation for their own songs. He’s also made the tracks available to the public for that same purpose.

“How many songs about war can be written around the same drum part?”

For the month of July, all proceeds from the sale of “In the River” will be donated to help supply NAR C.A.T. Gen7 Tourniquets to Ukraine.

Valley Music Hall of Fame announces 2023 inductees

Last week, The Valley Music Hall of Fame announced the inductees for its 2023 class, to be formally installed in a ceremony Sept. 20 at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater.

Ticket info for the event hasn’t been released yet, but last year’s ceremony was a sell out, so …

This year’s list of inductees includes educator/jazz saxophonist Benjamin Boone; mandolin legend Kenny Hall; the Native American rock band Redbone; Flamenco guitar master Juan Serrano, and singer/recording artist Ann Thaxter.

• Boone is a well-known name in jazz circles as a player, educator and composer (and travel enthusiast. He’s been awarded Fulbright Scholarships to Ireland, Ghana, and the Republic of Moldova). His most recent work has been a collection of jazz-poetry collaborations (including two volumes with the late Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Philip Levine).

• Hall was a nationally-known master mandolin player who was said to have learned more than 1,000 tunes, which he could perform by heart. He was a fixture at the Sweets Mill Music Festival and appeared on a series of recordings with the Sweets Mill String Band. Locally, he was part of a old-time music collective that had a long-standing Wednesday night gig at the Santa Fe Basque restaurant.

• Redbone is the band formed by the Vegas brothers — Pat and Lolly — in the late 1960s. The brothers were born and grew up in Coalinga and gigged around town, before moving to Los Angles. The band became wildly recognized as the first Native American rock act to gain massive popularity (with the 1973 hit “Come And Get Your Love” most notably). They were inducted into the Native American Music Association Hall of Fame in 2008.

• Serrano (Dr. Juan Serrano Rodríguez) had an established career as a flamenco guitarist before coming to Valley in the 1980s, where created the guitar program at Fresno State and served as department head.

  Like, established enough to perform on Ed Sullivan show and at the White House (for President Kennedy, no less) and be featured on the cover of Guitar Player Magazine (in 1968). He also had his own series of guitar tutorials under Mel Bay Publications.

  Story has it that Serrano’s hometown Cordoba, Spain, replaced the bell in the city square with recordings of music.

• Thaxter is from the same Fresno family that produced Dick Contino (they are cousins) and attended Fresno High School before getting her break as a teen singing and dancing sensation in the 1950s. She also performed with the local hillbilly group, TheDave Stogner Band.

  Thaxter, known as Ann Leonardo at the time, appeared on a series of TV shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show and Captain Kangeroo had a series of singles on Capital Records (according to Discogs). She would later appear as a performer an interviewer on Armed Forces Radio.

  Ann currently resides at The Terraces at San Joaquin Gardens and has been know to entertain fellow residents with her piano playing.

Previous inductees in the Valley Music Hall of Fame are: Dave Stogner, Audra McDonald, Dick Contino, Dr. James H. Winer and Russel S. Howland (class of 2021) and Richard Hagopian, Allen and Faye Harkins, Ray Camacho, Gene Bluestein and the Fresno Musical Club (class of 2022).

Now, before you start questioning this year’s selections, or jumping in with the “what about (insert Fresno musician well-known or otherwise)?” understand that inductees to the hall are chosen through a process of public nomination.

If you think someone is worthy, they probably are, so take it upon yourself to fill out a form.

That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM and follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com