Bakersfield Californian Executive Editor Robert Price

I Look Good in Red Leotards

Robert Price is executive editor of The Bakersfield Californian, where he has held practically every job in the newsroom since joining the paper in 1988. Before moderating a discussion of what Bakersfield sounds like today, he talked about his football career, his love of fried zucchini, and what color electric guitar he would play in the Zócalo green room.

Singer and Economic Development Official Jennifer Keel Faughn

I’m Either Selling a Song or a Community

Jennifer Keel Faughn is a Bakersfield-based singer and economic development official. Before participating in a discussion of what Bakersfield sounds like today, she talked in the Zócalo green room about …

Buckaroos Music Engineer and Keyboardist Jim Shaw

My Midlife Crisis Is in the Garage

Jim Shaw was country music legend Buck Owens’ longtime business manager, music engineer, and keyboard player for his band, the Buckaroos. Before participating in a discussion about what Bakersfield sounds …

When Bakersfield Plays, America Listens

Buck Owens Put the City on the Map with an Entirely New Country Sound. Does His Legacy Live On?

Depending on the person you ask, Bakersfield, California became a musical mecca thanks to the Gold Rush, Dust Bowl migration, or World War II, when young men flocked to California …

Singing Harmony with Buck Owens

There’s Nothing Quite Like Taking the Stage at Bakersfield’s Crystal Palace

I have been singing ever since I can remember. Growing up in Bakersfield, I sang three times a week in church, and, at home, my dad would play the guitar …

When Art Disappeared from Our ArtWalk

After Vendors of Nacho Cheese and Knockoff Purses Arrived at Bakersfield’s First Fridays, We Had to Implement New Policies—and Define Art

Things were going well until the crockpots of nacho cheese began showing up next to the knock-off purses in 2013. Once that happened, Bakersfield’s ArtWalk, part of its monthly downtown …