Dan Calderon
Writer
Dan Calderon is a contributor to Flatland, KCPT’s digital magazine, where he writes the bi-weekly music column, “Sympathetic Vibrations,” examining local and national music. Dan has been a lifelong resident of the Kansas City area and splits his time as an attorney and a DJ when he is not writing for Flatland.
Stories by Dan Calderon
Sympathetic Vibrations | Transplanted Roots
Fate came knocking in Bolivia in 2011 when artist Amado Espinoza was invited to compose music for a project by director Karen Lisondra, an American who had travelled to Bolivia from Kansas City. The two collaborated on the theater project and fell in in love during the process. Their show premiered in Bolivia in 2012,…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Picture Him Rolling
This Friday, June 16, would have been the 46th birthday for one of hip-hop’s biggest and brightest stars, Tupac Shakur. The emcee – best known for his infectious smile, his towering bravado, and his thought-provoking lyrics – died in 1996 during a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. Shakur’s death at the young age of 25 was…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Re-awakening Youth
Head into the common room in nearly any senior care center, and you will typically find the same scene — a pleasantly-decorated room filled with residents of varying ages and mobility trying their best. Trying to enjoy the most of their time with activities, to ignore the hospital-like feel of medical machines and care providers…
Sympathetic Vibrations | How My Kid Learned to Rock
My son Charlie is 6 years old. And when he’s not playing sports or setting indoor decibel records with his sister, he’s usually walking around our house with headphones on, jamming to his own handpicked tracks on an old, decommissioned iPhone. As a music lover, this makes me a proud daddy. But it wasn’t easy….
Sympathetic Vibrations | Make It A Musical Staycation
The seventh annual Middle of the Map Fest kicks off this evening, with shows at venues across Midtown and the Crossroads. The festival, which has become a darling for regional music enthusiasts, boasts a wide range of genres from more than 100 bands who will travel from all over the U.S. to perform. The…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Make Your Royals Tailgate Turnt
The Royals season is back in full swing. And following last week’s fanfare-laden home opener, baseball fever has once again descended upon our fair city. While the boys in blue are still working out some of the kinks on field left by both voluntary and (tear) involuntary roster holes, Opening Day saw yet another stellar…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Jon Batiste’s Social Face of Jazz
On Friday, the American Jazz Museum will welcome music icon Jon Batiste to Kansas City to recognize his successful music career and his work as a mentor and steward of jazz music with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, which has been given annually since 2005, seeks to commend those individuals who have made contributions…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Young Guns Showdown
Some of Kansas City’s youngest musical talent gets ready to duke it out this weekend at ShuttleRock – a teen battle of the bands at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art — and the stakes couldn’t be any higher for these four up-and-coming bands. This year’s lineup includes The Moose, Shades of Blue, Counterculture, and American…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Sparking Innovation Through Collaboration
What happens when you give a group of musical and visual artists free reign to collaborate and create something new and cutting edge, as well as a prestigious venue in which to perform it? That’s the question that Peter Anthony and Will Funk are asking this weekend at the premiere of their months-long labor, “Light +…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Make Your Tuesday the Fattest
Thanksgiving is full of food. Christmas is full of sweets. But neither holiday holds a candle to the level of indulgence that happens on Mardi Gras. In fact, the concept of overdoing it plays a central role in the holiday’s origin story. Mardi Gras, French for “fat Tuesday”, is anything but holy. Yet, the celebration…