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 | Remembering Phife Dawg
It was a rough Wednesday morning for hip-hop enthusiasts like me, who learned that Malik Taylor, aka Phife Dawg, aka The Five Foot Assassin, had passed away at age 45. The MC was best known for his work with A Tribe Called Quest – a Queens-based hip-hop trio featuring Phife, Q-Tip, and Ali Shaheed Muhammed,…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Proud to Be An Amexican
Maria and Tess Cuevas are dealing with deep-seated identity issues. Not to worry though, they are extremely well adjusted people and coping in maybe the best way possible — by making music that complements that precarious sense of self. The Cuevas sisters front Maria the Mexican, a Topeka-based band celebrating the release of its sophomore album,…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Five Things I Learned at FAI
I should come clean. This was the third year of the Folk Alliance International Conference’s residency in Kansas City and it was my first time attending. I know, I know. I’m awful. Stain on me. I have to admit I didn’t know what I was missing. Looking back, last weekend was a whirlwind, complete with…
Sympathetic Vibrations | The Price of Doing What You Love
This weekend, a sizable chunk of the international folk music community will descend upon our fair city for the Folk Alliance International conference, which organizers describe as “the world’s largest gathering of the folk music industry and community.” To those attending as industry insiders, the five-day conference will serve as a pooling of ideas and…
Sympathetic Vibrations | The Right Way Through Wrong Turns
Taryn Miller has enjoyed a speedy rise to national recognition in the last three years, due in large part to simply not overthinking things. And to hear her describe the sequence of events that led her from Winfield, Kansas to a major label release, you almost feel sorry for all the bands out there meticulously…
Sympathetic Vibrations | It’s A Groove Thing
We are currently living in a music consumer utopia. Services like, Tidal, Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play offer more than 30 million tracks, available on-demand and anywhere you have a data connection – all in exchange for a monthly subscription price that is less than what you would have paid for a single album…
Sympathetic Vibrations | RecordBar’s Last Song
Halfway through Making Movies’ farewell set at RecordBar on Saturday, lead singer/guitarist Enrique Chi quipped, “We’re trying to play long because we don’t want to leave this place.” Chi’s joke resonated with the sold-out crowd, and likely the larger Kansas City music community, that reluctantly bid farewell to the space that has housed an institution…
What’s in a Trademark? Law. Lots and Lots of Law.
In 2014, while stuck in Kansas City rush hour traffic listening to N.W.A.’s infamous track, “Straight Outta Compton,” Mattie Green had a great idea. Why not replace “Compton” with “Kauffman” – a reference to the Kansas City Royals’ home field? In March 2014, Green had a single T-shirt printed with the phrase and a photo…
Sympathetic Vibrations | Holiday jams that get you out of a jam
As we near the end of the holiday season, many of us are also nearing the end of our holiday ropes. Thanksgiving came early and left bloated. Chanukah had its eight-night residency at beginning of the month. Milad un Nabi is either currently in swing or coming up, depending upon which team you play for….
Sympathetic Vibrations | Celebrating This Guy
In a week and a half, millions of cosplaying moviegoers will file into theaters in Kansas City and across the country, eagerly awaiting the sound of two iconic horn stabs that will accompany the words “Star Wars” on screen as they fade into a backdrop of space. This music will herald the beginning of “The…