J.W. Falcon goes punk on latest EP, asks the question 'Are We Great Again Yet?'

Plus, will there be another Fresnan on The Voice? And, Lynyrd Skynyrd live at Selland Arena 1977.

Sep 14, 2025

From the title on, J.W. Falcon’s latest EP is a pretty pointed affair.

“Are We Great Again Yet?,” is a political statement but also a reflection of an artist interacting in the world.

“I generally don’t compose politically themed material,” says Anton Tilgren, who writes and releases music under name J.W. Falcon (he’s also played in The Sold! and Bones, Pedro and the Falcon and The Cody Allred Band). “But I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with the state of our country.

“I’ve felt a lot of anger over the past few months and it felt therapeutic to use this emotion in the songwriting process.”

The four songs exist in pairs. The first two (“New Revolution” and “Orange Stained”) are punk-paced in the vein of Bad Religion (or NOFX, Lagwagon, Strung Out, Refused; bands that had an early influence on Tilgren).

The second pair (“You’re to Blame” and “Self Reflections”) keeps the melodic structures for which J.W. Falcon is probably better known.

The EP was released on Friday and is out now on digital platforms.

Tilgren has plans for another EP, which “will probably end up being a small collection of acoustic songs.” You can look for that at the end of the year. Until then, Tilgren has been hosting a monthly open mic night at the Little Green Fresno event space on Olive Avenue.

Will Vibe Check singer earn a spot on ‘The Voice’ season 28?

Historically, Fresno has had a decent showing on “The Voice.”

It was just three years ago that Alyssa Witrado made it to the top 16 on season 22 of the show under coach Gwen Stefani. Side note: Bryce Leatherwood, who won that season, played at Boots in the Park last night.

Rudy Parris was on Season 3 of the show way back in 2012, making it through the blind auditions with a version of the Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” He ended up on team Blake (Sheldon). Side note: Sheldon headlined last night’s Boots in the Park.

And now Ralph Edwards is shooting his shot, so to speak.

The Vibe Check singer teased the Season 28 premier on Instagram.

“Catch me on this season of “The Voice.” Do y’all think I got a chair turn??”

You can watch round one of the blind auditions Sept. 22 with Michael Buble, Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg and Niall Horan as coaches.

Youtube find: Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aug. 24, 1977, Selland Arena Fresno

Here’s one from Fresno Media Restorations, which has an archive of audio and video concert footage from 1970s’ Selland Arena. I seem to remember a story about the dude sneaking in a 16-mm (or 8-mm??) camera, but that could be me misremembering, too.

At any rate, some of that footage has been digitized over the years and uploaded to Youtube, where it’s gone through this persistent back and forth of being taken down and then reuploaded (and rediscovered).

That seems to be case with this footage of Lynryd Skynyrd from Aug. 24, 1977. The band was stopped at the Selland Arena on its Street Survivors tour. It would be one of the last performances the band would do before three of its members (including Ronnie Van Zant) were killed in a plane crash.

The concert runs more than an hour and includes a number of Skynryd classic, including a 10-plus minute version of “Free Bird.”

Bandgeeeek!

Ready for more?