Christina Fuoco

1 week ago | tucsonweekly.com | Christina Fuoco

Sicilian guitarist Matteo Mancuso admits he was competitive as a teen. He wanted to one-up his peers with his guitar talents. Then his dad, Vincenzo, gave him advice that really resonated with Mancuso. “The best piece of advice was always to play to express and not to impress,” he explained. “That’s something that really stuck with me, especially when I was a teenager. I wanted to impress my friends, saying, ‘Check this out.’ I was on the competitive side of things.

1 week ago | pasadenaweekly.com | Christina Fuoco

Croatian cellist Stjepan Hauser says staying passionate about music is easy. The former member of 2CELLOS thrives on the applause and passion of his fans. “When sharing the music with an audience in person, you feel their love, their excitement and then you feel the same way,” Hauser said. “It’s the best feeling you can have as a musician.”He will have that same experience when he plays the Greek Theatre on Friday, May 30. “We want to make people feel emotions,” Hauser said. “My shows are so diverse.

1 week ago | picketfencemedia.com | Christina Fuoco

"Yacht rock” was founded as a parody of 1970s and 1980s soft rock, some say. But the tide has turned, and fans—and the tribute bands—are taking the genre seriously. Nobody knows this more than Yachty by Nature and its keyboardist/singer, “Capt.” Carl Nelson. “The phone has been ringing off the hook,” Nelson said. “There hasn’t been a bigger push for us, and we’ve been around since 2016.”Case in point: Yachty by Nature recently played the Borgata Casino & Resort in Atlantic City on May 23.

1 week ago | tucsonlocalmedia.com | Christina Fuoco

Carolyn Blair was facing ongoing health issues, often visiting doctors without finding relief. She turned to natural remedies to aid in her recovery — specifically lavender. She discovered this during a trip to Sequim, Washington. “That was the first time I saw a field of lavender,” she said. “I told my husband we should try it. We had an old, abandoned area. So, I bought 3,000 baby plants.” She planted each one by hand on Mother’s Day 2018.

1 week ago | phoenix.org | Christina Fuoco

Ava Maybee clearly inherited a Midwestern work ethic. Her father, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, grew up in suburban Detroit, the heart of blue-collar America. She’s driven and prolific. Before releasing her debut EP, “Orange Drive,” in May, she had produced 11 singles. “I work hard. Vocal training is important just because I have always had a very low voice,” she said. “For singing purposes, I go to speech therapy so I’m using my instrument correctly.