Category Archives: Clips

ETTA JAMES: Inland Icon dies at 73

This article was originally published in The Press Enterprise on A1 on Jan. 21, 2012.

BY VANESSA FRANKO
STAFF WRITER

Etta James, the internationally renowned singer whose recording of “At Last” is among the most beloved rhythm & blues standards, has died at age 73 after more than a year of battling leukemia and other ailments. She was a longtime resident of the Riverside-area community of Woodcrest.

She died from complications of leukemia and was with her sons Donto and Sametto, and husband, Artis Mills, in a Riverside hospital, her longtime manager Lupe DeLeon said.

While Mrs. James was an icon in the music world, highly regarded among peers and a member of the rock ‘n’ roll, blues, rockabilly and Grammy halls of fame, she was also a beloved and admired member of the Riverside community.

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COACHELLA 2013: The Zeitgeist of Coachella

Heineken is one of the sponsors with an area inside the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

Heineken is one of the sponsors with an area inside the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

This article was originally published on the front page of The Press-Enterprise on Thursday, April 11, 2013.

BY VANESSA FRANKO
STAFF WRITER

This weekend, the Empire Polo Club in Indio and its surrounding environs transform into an acres-wide fashion runway, a pitch meeting for marketing brands, a get-seen site for celebrities and the center of the pop culture universe thanks to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

And, oh yeah, there’s music.

Nearly 100,000 fans will watch more than 190 featured performers across six stages from Friday through Sunday — and then repeat the process with a new crop of attendees April 19-21.

“In the beginning we didn’t care about feather headdresses or neon clothes,” said Aracely Jarrell, a Beaumont resident who has attended every Coachella and will be going both weekends this year. “You were only there for the music.”

Not any more.

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COACHELLA 2014: When will the lineup be announced?

I’m one of those reporters where just writing the words isn’t enough. When I have a chance to illustrate something with charts and infographics, I will. By using our analytics software, I could tell that readers were finding my blog by searching for when the 2014 Coachella Festival lineup would be released. I used that knowledge to create an infographic. I also used the phrase in my blog headline to attract more readers via search engines.

This post originally appeared at the Audio File blog on The Press-Enterprise’s website on Jan. 4, 2014.

The crowd cheers for the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif., on Sunday, April 14, 2013. (2013/File Photo)

The crowd cheers for the Red Hot Chili Peppers during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, Calif., on Sunday, April 14, 2013. (2013/File Photo)

We’re only in single-digit days in January and I’m already getting a barrage of “When will the Coachella lineup be announced?” emails and social media messages.

The short answer: The 2014 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival lineup will be announced when Goldenvoice says it’s ready.  (Remember last year when the ink had barely dried on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ when the lineup announcement came out?) The work continues until that poster comes out.

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RIVERSIDE: Teacher’s duet heard ’round the world

Riverside native and CBU adjunct voice teacher Sarah Horn, 26 prayers were answered Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl when she was pulled out of the audience to sing a duet with Tony award winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth on stage as she talks about her chance encounter in Riverside, CA. Monday, August 26, 2013. (Terry Pierson, Staff Photographer)

The prayers of Riverside native and CBU adjunct voice teacher Sarah Horn, 26, were answered Friday night at the Hollywood Bowl when she was pulled out of the audience to sing a duet with Tony award-winning singer and actress Kristin Chenoweth . (Terry Pierson, Staff Photographer)

This article was originally published  on the front page of  The Press-Enterprise on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2014.  See the A1 presentation and the jump

BY VANESSA FRANKO
STAFF WRITER

Riverside native Sarah Horn has performed on dozens of stages, but on Friday, Aug. 23, she sang on one of the most famous — the Hollywood Bowl. After volunteering from the audience for that unexpected, impromptu duet with Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, the world has become her stage.

By Monday afternoon, the video of the vocal instructor performing “For Good” from “Wicked” — posted by pal Mike Kestler, who filmed her performance on his cell phone — had racked up 1.7 million views on YouTube and Horn was barraged by interview requests.

“I had been saying, ‘This isn’t happening; this isn’t real,’ ” Horn, 26, said during a Monday interview.

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COACHELLA 2014: High-end amenities turn festival into a pop-up society

Fans scope out the painted wood offerings in the Coachella Boutique. The Boutique features unique, limited items at the festival. (2012/File Photo)

Fans scope out the painted wood offerings in the Coachella Boutique. The Boutique features unique, limited items at the festival. (2012/File Photo)

This article was originally published  on the front page of  The Press-Enterprise on Sunday, April 6, 2014.  See the print presentation on the cover and the jump.  

BY VANESSA FRANKO
STAFF WRITER

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival isn’t just the 170 or so musical artists invading the Empire Polo Club in Indio.

Nor is it riding the Ferris wheel and looking down at 90,000 other concertgoers, or the sunset surrounded by palm trees and mountain vistas, or the sweaty dancing to the throbbing beats of DJs in the Sahara Tent.

Coachella, which runs April 11-13 and April 18-20, is an all-encompassing sensory experience and escape that’s about sound, taste and, if only for a weekend, embracing a different life.

“For Coachella, people go to have an experience that’s going to be unlike any experience that they can get at home. The lineups are less and less important,” said David Brooks, managing editor of trade magazine Venues Today.

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MAP: Coachella 2012 print map

This is the print version of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival artist origin map. Combined with the online presentation, it received second place in the graphics illustration category of the California Newspaper Publishers Association Awards.

The print adaptation of the original Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival artist origin map.

The print adaptation of the original Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival artist origin map.