Storied: San Francisco

Latest Episodes:

Broke-Ass Stuart (S4E21P1) Aug 17, 2021

Show notes

Let's try this again.

Back in Season 1, we met our friend Stuart Schuffman, aka, Broke-Ass Stuart, for a recording at The Willows. We have to admit: What we did for the podcast back then is much different than what we do now. Let's just say that the episode is more about Stuart's whacky San Francisco stories than about his total being.

Fast-forward to this summer, and we sat down with this affable SF character at The Wooden Nickel to hear his life story.

Check back Thursday for Part 2 and more from Broke-Ass Stuart.

We recorded this podcast at The Wooden Nickel in July 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Marcy Coburn of Pier 70 (S4E20P2) Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

In this episode, Marcy picks up where she left off in Part 1. She came out to friends on a walk across the country, but then, when she returned to California, had to go through that process again with her parents. Turns out her mother had "met someone" too. Her dad didn't take the news so well.

Marcy made the move to San Francisco in 1994. She talks about what we now call the LGBTQ community in the Mission back then, and how special a time it was.

She left for the East Coast, where she lived briefly. But, because it was a much different place back then, was easily able to move back to The City.

Marcy ended up directing the Eat Real Food Festival in Oakland for a while, as well as other food and agriculture gigs. Then she ended up at CUESA, which runs the farmer's markets at the Ferry Building here in San Francisco. It was there that Marcy began to work on establishing "third places," which start with food and agriculture but go beyond that to create full experiences that are memorable and important. She levied her work with CUESA to get involved at Pier 70.

Shortly after joining Pier 70, lockdown happened. But Marcy is excited to be with them nonetheless.

As she talks about in the podcast, Pier 70 is a project that honors San Francisco's industrial and maritime history while also creating spaces for artists and makers and looking toward a more inclusive future.

We end the podcast with Marcy talking about the potential for what's next here in San Francisco.

We recorded this podcast at Pier 70 in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Marcy Coburn of Pier 70 (S4E20P1) Aug 10, 2021

Show notes

The California Central Valley and its agriculture aren't too far from the Bay Area. But, as Marcy Coburn knows well, they're worlds apart.

Today, Marcy is the creative director at San Francisco's Pier 70, a mixed-use development just south of Oracle Park. Her mom's family moved west from Oklahoma and her dad migrated to California from his childhood home in Central Florida. The two met at Cal Poly Pomona near LA and moved to Visalia to raise a family.

Her folks split up and Marcy lived with her mom, who relocated to Stockton when Marcy was 13. She had dabbled in neon in punk before the move, but the kids in her hometown weren't ready for that. Stockton proved to be a better fit for the teenager.

Once they were 16, she and her friends started taking car trips to Berkeley and San Francisco. But Marcy's move to The City took quite a detour first.

She and a friend took a bus to New York City and walked across the country on a "peace walk" in solidarity with American Indians whose lands were being used for nuclear testing. That lasted nine months and ended with them at a test site outside of Las Vegas on Shoshone land.

It was on that walk that Marcy came out.

Please check back Thursday for Part 2.

We recorded this podcast in a construction trailer at Pier 70 in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Khafre Jay of Hip Hop for Change (S4E19P2) Aug 05, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Khafre picks up where he left off in Part 1, with the changes he underwent after taking part in the 2003 protest against the Iraq War in San Francisco. He was rapping with Richie Cunning and later with a group called B-Pos. He was also putting on shows and touring the country.

Khafre talks about the systemic racism coupled with capitalism that he experienced negatively when trying to do hip hop shows. It manifested in places like higher insurance rates based solely on the genre of music.

He went to City College for a handful of years and then to Mendocino Junior College and studied psychology. He also worked at some group homes up north teaching kids how to make hip hop.

After spending a few years there, Khafre returned to The City and got a job at Greenpeace, which put him on the streets of San Francisco raising money for the organization. He became the director of grassroots fundraising there. After a few years of that, in 2013, he married his love of education, hip hop, and his new experiences of canvassing and fundraising, and launched Hip Hop for Change.

The spot on KPOO started with Khafre going on a program there to advertise a show he was putting on. Hip Hop for Change on the radio evolved from there.

The non-profit exists to take back control over the genre from corporations. Its grassroots fundraising and work in the community to counter white supremacy has been going for more than eight years. Please visit their website and consider a donation.

Khafre ends the podcast with thoughts about surviving and coming out of the pandemic and a plea to support smaller, less well-known POC groups who need money.

We recorded this podcast at the Hip Hop for Change offices in Oakland in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Khafre Jay of Hip Hop for Change (S4E19P1) Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

Khafre Jay found his power through hip hop.

In this podcast, the founder and executive director of Hip Hop for Change shares his life story. His parents met in the Bayview when they were kids. They got together around age 11 or so and have been with each other since. Khafre tries to imagine what his parents went through as a young Black couple struggling to survive and raise a family in San Francisco.

Owing to his dad's being a singer and actor, Khafre got started singing in choir at a young age. In his teen years, he was influenced by hip hop artists who were getting bigger and bigger, including some local stars like E-40. He says he saw those artists taking their own power from a broken system.

After getting into trouble while at a public high school, Khafre moved to School of the Arts, then located on the campus at SF State. He met other artists and started to get inspired. He also taught the children of ESL students around this time.

Then, at an Iraq War protest in 2003, along with several other folks, Khafre got beat up by police. This incident sparked the activist in him, something that continues to this day.

Check back Thursday for Part 2 and the continuation of Khafre's life story.

We recorded this podcast at the Hip Hop for Change offices in Oakland in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Stephanie Scott of Gus's Discount Tackle (S4E18) Jul 27, 2021

Show notes

The story of Gus' Discount Tackle begins with skiing in the Alps. In this podcast, Stephanie Scott, the current owner, shares with us the story of her life. Her dad, Gus, escaped his home in Austria when the Nazis began persecuting Jews. He arrived in New York but went west for a restaurant bussing job in San Francisco. Gus met his wife (Stephanie's mom) in The City. She was a Sorbonne-educated lab doctor who immigrated here from Russia. Gus opened a general merchandise shop on Clement Street, but the predatory landlord there kept raising Gus' rent. Through a handshake-type agreement, he got the funding to buy his own place—the spot on Balboa where the shop still exists today, around 60 years later. Stephanie grew up on 17th Avenue on the northern side of the Richmond in the 1950s and '60s. She shares impressions of what San Francisco was like back then—a busy time with Beats, hippies, free-love advocates, and LSD, none of which the more square Stephanie took part in. She met her husband when they were both at SF State. After post-graduate opportunities fizzled out, Stephanie started working in her dad's store. The rest, as she says, is history. She's been there 45 years. Stephanie ends the podcast reflecting on the people she's watched grow up around Gus's, the changes that the store has seen, including transitioning from general merchandise to fishing supplies, and her hopes for the next phase of the only place she's ever lived—San Francisco. We recorded this podcast at Gus' Discount Tackle in the Outer Richmond in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Blue Bear School of Music's Steven Savage and Tennessee Mowrey (S4E17P2) Jul 15, 2021

Show notes

Blue Bear Executive Director Steven Savage starts this one off telling us all about Tennessee Mowrey's step-mom.

It's a story that involves three siblings (Bonnie Hayes and two of her brothers) who showed up at the fledgling music school in 1971 when it was located on Ocean Ave. Susie, Tennessee's step-mom, knew Bonnie from both of their touring gigs (possibly a Billy Idol tour), and Bonnie brought Susie to Blue Bear.

Tennessee joins in to give a little more context to his step-mom's story. Then Steve rewinds a bit to share the story of Blue Bear's opening.

Originally started as a way to make money while the band aimed for stardom, the school saw success in the first few years, with something like 60 students enrolled. But it started to founder a bit, and Steve had left. He got a phone call asking him to come back and save the operation, and he did.

There was a sizable debt to pay off. But in 1977, they made the decision to move to Fort Mason. And with that, the school started to grow. We talk about how they went about recruiting students back then, a common practice in those days that might surprise some of you.

These days, it's mostly word-of-mouth, and to a somewhat sobering effect: 40,000 students have enrolled at Blue Bear in its 50 years. We talk about how the school has evolved its teaching philosophy, especially with the advent of completely new genres of music. And then we hear about a few standout success stories coming out of Blue Bear.

We end this podcast with Steven and Tennessee talking about what it means for Blue Bear School of Music to still be here after 50 years.

If you missed Part 1, please go back and check that out. And for the Jack Black video that Steven mentions in the recording, watch here.

We recorded this podcast at Blue Bear School of Music in Fort Mason Center for the Arts and Culture in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

Blue Bear School of Music's Steven Savage and Tennessee Mowrey (S4E17P1) Jul 13, 2021

Show notes

Steven Savage came of age in Southern California in the 1960s.

In this podcast, the executive director of Blue Bear School of Music shares his life story with us. His first instrument to play was banjo, inspired by his love of folk music. But then he discovered rock 'n' roll, and soon after that, he picked up the drums.

He went to college in Ohio, where he met people and starting playing in bands. He came back to California and made his way up to Santa Cruz, playing in various bands along the way. Next was Palo Alto, where Steven lived in a garage and continued playing music.

And then a band here in The City needed a drummer and Steven got the call. Those folks he joined up here had already decided to start a music school while they played and worked toward stardom. That school ended up being Blue Bear School of Music. It was June 1971.

Then we hear from Tennessee Mowrey, Blue Bear's current Little Bears director. Born and raised in San Francisco, Tennessee traces his story back to his parents' meeting. Raised in a musical family, he took to playing from a very young. But he didn't like lessons.

His dad and step mom enrolled Tennessee in Blue Bear. Once in these rock band classes, he started playing several different instruments, and eventually began student teaching.

Please join us Thursday for Part 2.

We recorded this podcast at Blue Bear School of Music in Fort Mason Center in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

The Curtis Family C-Notes (S4E16P2) Jul 08, 2021

Show notes

In this podcast, Mama C. (Nola Curtis) picks up where she left off in Part 1, talking about finding confidence and a sense of self-worth through music and family.

Papa C. (Maestro Curtis) jumps in to express his admiration for his wife. Then we throw it over to the kids.

First, introductions. Zahara (16), Nile (15), Isis (14), Kiki (13), and Phoenix (11 as of Tuesday). Nile talks about how the band evolved over time. The kids had their own band (The C-Notes) and mom and dad had a separate band. Zahara got started in music during her time at Everett Middle School. But as that faded out, she picked up instruments lying around the house and asked her siblings to join her. The C-Notes were born.

When it came time for mom and dad to join forces with the kids, Papa C. tells us that they didn't want the spotlight to ever be on just one member, stressing the importance of family and the group dynamic.

At this point in the podcast, Erin Lim (Part 1 / Part 2) of Bitch Talk Podcast takes over hosting. We start off talking about the kids' fascination with physics. They each take a turn explaining how they got interested and what application of science pertains to their individual interests.

Then Erin asks the family to talk about the judges and host of America's Got Talent, the show on which the family is currently competing.

We end the episode by talking about the family's "special sauce."

Related Podcasts Uncle Damien (Part 1 / Part 2)

We recorded this podcast in collaboration with Bitch Talk Podcast at the Jones United Methodist Church in the Fillmore in May 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

The Curtis Family C-Notes (S4E16P1) Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

The Curtis Family C-Notes' star is on the rise, y'all.

In this episode, the San Francisco family shares their story with us. We dive into Papa C.'s past in Louisiana and San Francisco. Then we learn a little about Mama C.'s time growing up on the Peninsula.

Papa C. (Maestro Curtis) can't remember when he started playing musical instruments. He was asked to perform for family members from a very young age. He owes his lifelong work ethic to his growing up, as well. He spent time between Louisiana and San Francisco, but it was out here that he got involved in martial arts and positive social change.

After getting into some trouble in his high school years, Papa C. took a scholarship to Grambling State University in Louisiana. Then he spent seven years in the Army.

Mama C. (Nola Curtis) grew up a competitive ice skater. She's Tongan and grew up in San Mateo surrounded, essentially, by so many famous professional skaters. Looking back, she enjoyed performing, but not so much competing. Her father passed away when she was 14 and one of the effects of her grief was that she stopped skating.

She turned to books, especially reading stuff that wasn't assigned at school. To help her graduate on time, she took a history of jazz course at a community college, and that's where she first heard Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Billie Holiday. That class and those performers inspired her to start singing. Soon, she was asked to start a band with some folks, but she decided lessons were the first step.

Nola met her future husband in this context.

Be sure to check back Thursday for Part 2.

Related Podcasts Lavay Smith and Chris Siebert (Part 1 / Part 2)

We recorded this podcast in collaboration with Bitch Talk Podcast at Jones Memorial United Methodist Church in the Fillmore in June 2021.

Photography by Michelle Kilfeather

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