1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 John is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor who, after losing re-election went on to be Managing Director of the Arhoolie Foundation, which was founded by Chris Strachwitz; Chris founded Arhoolie Records, a roots label founded in 1960 in the Bay Area; 40 years ago, John found Chris through his radio show in KPFA; Chris founded the Arhoolie Foundation in the 1990s; John cold called Chris, &amp;amp; asked if he could write grants for them - Chris was skeptical, saying, &quot;We don't have any money.&quot;; John started writing grants anyway, &amp;amp; ultimately brought in $1M; Chris asked John to join the Arhoolie Board of Directors in 2000 &amp;amp;, after he lost re-election, asked him to be Managing Director of the Foundation; on New Year's Eve 2022 Los Lobos played the Rio Theater; 2023 would begin the 50th year for the band, so they threw a celebration / party before the gig; after the gig, John was talking backstage with Steve Berlin &amp;amp; David Hidalgo, who asked John what he was working on; when he told them, &quot;A Clifton Chenier archival box&quot; to celebrate Clifton's Centenial; they said, &quot;If you're doing a tribute album, we're in!&quot;; John asked, &quot;How do you make an album?&quot; Steve had been a producer for 40 years and said, &quot;First, you get a record label!&quot;; John approached Jo-el Savoy, of Valcour Recrods, whose parents were friends of Clifton's; both Jo-el Savoy &amp;amp; Steve Berlin had won Grammys, so John wasn't sure how it would go when he introduced them at a Crawfish Boil in May, 2023, but they were totally sympatico; they released the record on June 27, 2025 (June 25 would've been Clifton's 100th birthday); how do you get a Grammy nomination? Pay $75 &amp;amp; nominate! Who votes? members of the Recording Academy (people who pay their dues &amp;amp; work full time in the music industry); there are 92 or 96 categories - only 10 are on TV; the awards ceremony, including the pre-telecast portion with the other 82 or 86, was on Sunday, February 1st, &amp;amp; &quot;A Tribute to the King of Zydeco&quot;, on Valcour Records with John Leopold as Executive Producer, won the Grammy for Best Regional Roots Music Album!!! If John had won re-election as County Supervisor, cannot tell what would've been: John loves music....saw an opportunity...took advantage of that opportunity (John is proud of his 20 years as an elected official); what's next? John is working with Steve Riley &amp;amp; Christine Balfa (Dewey Balfa's daughter) on a project celebrating Dewey's life, music, &amp;amp; impact, planning for release in 2027 when Dewey would've been 100. An interview on &quot;The Bushwhacker's Breakfast Club&quot; with &quot;Dangerous Dan&quot; Orange &amp;amp; &quot;DJ Wrangle&quot; (Chris Jong), airing Friday mornings on KZSC Santa Cruz, California. KZSC Santa Cruz http://kzsc.fm/talk <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/40260335/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/87A93A/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/199054320