Kelly Clarkson is obsessed with Patrick Contreras (or, his music at least)

Also, Vince Warner lives streams and new music from Carlos Montano, me.

So, Patrick Contreras is at it again. Again.

Not to be flip, but the Fresno rock violinist has made a pretty good run of this pandemic.

At a time when many musician are struggling (financially, if not creatively), he managed to create for himself a revenue stream and a means of performing in-person live, while maintaining safety and social distance. He even set himself off an a mini-tour playing at taco trucks.

We’ve already talked about Buzzfeed picking up his compilation video back in December.

On Wednesday, he got featured on the Kelly Clarkson Show. Clarkson is the original American Idol whose daytime talk show is in its second season and actually a pretty fun watch, as daytime talk shows go.

Clarkson seemed a bit shocked by Contreras’ playing.

“That was sexy,” she said. “That was a sexy violin solo. I like it. I’m obsessed with it.”

Along with the performance snippet, Contreras got to plug the The Legacy Commons Community Music Studio (worth checking out) and Fresno’s spot as the taco capital of the United States.

Livestreams

Almost a year into the pandemic and some gigging musicians are tentatively starting to reengage with venues (for good or bad). Many are also continuing to hold it down with livestreams.

A few worth checking out:

Vince Warner does a mostly regular Tuesday night slot, 7:30 p.m. on Facebook.

Roger Perry has done a series of Unhappy Hour concerts that you can rewatch on his Facebook page.

Blakes Jones and the Trike Shop just put up a one-song live stream practice from their Whispermaphone studios. It was prep for an eventual full set to be part of a monthly presentation from the LA’s Big Stir Records.

Carlos Montano, “My Family” (ft. BKR, Doeface, MC Wicks)

Carlos Montano either has a stockpile of music waiting to be released, or is so prolific he can release new stuff like every other week.

Last week, it was “Agradecido,” a song he cowrote with my brother and son as tribute to Jorge Santana, Arcelio Garcia and Rudy Salas.

On Thursday, he released a video for “My Family,” a collab with Money Grip Media, Dab Tacos and Tower Gas (which is evident in the vid). The song is Montano’s signature — nostalgic old-school funk smooth-soul R&B (whew) with some raps (from Doeface, BKR and MC Wicks in this case).

Shameless self promotion: New Old Man

Or, more stuff I’ve been working on during the pandemic.

New Old Man is a first try at an actual solo outing; something beyond frontman duties, which in the case of the first single “Ammunition b/w Brain Bleed,” means everything but the song writing (and mixing, mastering and some production).

The songs originally appeared on “Chamber Music,” Victim of Propaganda’s 2020 electronic postmodern ambient rock album, which was created exclusively on a Boss DR-880 drum and bass machine.

A proper release is in the works with all versions for side-by-side for comparison.

“Ammunition b/w Brain Bleed” is out now on Bandcamp and streaming services.

If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com