Pedro the Lion's latest single is a literal ode to Modesto
Plus, Dr. Greenthumb comes to the Tower District, while Living Legends book the Tower Theatre.
For the purposes of this newsletter (and also just the reality of things), Fresno’s music scene is tied into the greater Central Valley (and the Central San Joaquin Valley, most certainly).
Which makes Pedro the Lion’s latest single worth note.
As an intro, Pedro the Lion is a Seattle indie band that broke on the scene in the late ’90s and early 2000s with music that could be described as alternatively Christian. Its driving force was songwriter David Bazan, who went on to have a highly influential solo career (among many in Fresno’s indie scene, let’s say).
Bazan resurrected the band in 2019 and has released a series of location-specific albums, including “Phoenix” in 2019, “Havasu” in 2022 and “Santa Cruz,” which is set for release this June.
The album’s lead single is a literal ode to “Modesto.”
In it, Bazan sings that the city “isn’t boring like you thought it would be,” which is a reflection from time spend there.
Apparently, Bazan lived in Modesto for a time before moving to Seattle to become a musician. If the song can be believed he worked as a vacuum cleaner salesman before getting a job at the local guitar store, where he was introduced to the band Granddaddy (which has its own ties to the city).
It was a pivotal time.
As Bazan told Relevant Magazine: “It became really clear in those six months when I lived in Modesto that I didn’t want to work any other job—I wanted to try and make music. This song definitely feels like the launch pad for what became the life that I chose.”
Pedro the Lion will be on tour this summer with no stops in the Central Valley.
Dr. Greenthumbs opens in Fresno’s Tower District
Depending on your inclinations, Dr. Greenthumb’s is notable because 1. it’s the first dispensary to open the Tower District (something that’s been a long time coming) or 2. it’s owned by Cypress Hill rapper B Real, who showed up to greet fans at a ribbon cutting and grand-opening party last weekend.
Someone in yelled “let’s all get high” and the line erupted in cheers, to give you a sense of things of how people were feeling.
The rapper spent a lot of time among the fans, some of whom camped out for days to be first in line to support the shop and meet the man. He signed autographs and posed for pictures and (one assumes) smoked some cannabis (legally, obviously).
The dispensary chain started in Los Angeles in 2018 and has now opened six stores across the state, including Fresno. It’s hard to miss B Real’s influence on the stop. The name and branding his based on an alter ego his introduced via song in 1998. It’s his silhouette emblazoned on the side of the building and his swirling thumbprint on all the branding. Inside the shop is a wall-sized photo of the rapper, onstage.
This is actually the second rapper-owned dispensary in Fresno.
Cookies, the weed brand from Bay Area rapper Berner opened on Shaw Avenue in December.
Living Legends set date at Fresno’s Tower Theatre
File this under: It’s about time.
On Wednesday, the Tower Theatre announced a date with the Bay Area rap collaborative Living Legends. The group performs Thursday, May 23.
Living Legends came out of the Bay Area in the 1990s and featured Murs, Luckyiam, Sunspot Jonz, The Grouch, Eligh, Scarub, Bicaso and Aesop The Black Wolf, aka Black Aesop, aka Derrick Aesop McElroy.
McElroy is from Fresno and has performed here often as a DJ and emcee (along with his food business and other endeavors)
And members of Living Legends have performing in Fresno before (the Grouch and Eligh in particular come to mind), but mostly the group has been on for years, reconvening for the rare one-off concert date.
In November, the group fueled reunion talks with a new album titled “The Return.”
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. 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