The MOJO NAVIGATORS:
Safe At Anchor in the 1960's
The MOJO NAVIGATORS are a 60's psychedelic rock band headquartered in the mountains of Santa Cruz, a small coastal town 50 miles south of San Francisco, California. Over the years, Santa Cruz has harbored numerous refugees from reality, foremost of which are The MOJO NAVIGATORS. The MOJO NAVIGATORS derive their name from The Mojo Navigator, a rock fanzine published in San Francisco by Greg Shaw, in 1966.
Reformed But Unrepentent
The MOJO NAVIGATORS are pleased to announce that they have reformed, but remain unrepentent. Singer and guitarist Page Brownton welcomes the addition of Doug Semler on bass, Al Astrella on lead guitar and Seth Getlin on drums. With this new lineup, The MOJO NAVIGATORS no longer limit themselves solely to wimpy semi-acoustic folk rock, but now deliver an enthusiastic guitar-driven 60's style electric psychedelic rock and roll. Their repertoire has expanded to include songs recorded by The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, The Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Bob Dylan. The music of The MOJO NAVIGATORS is a unique blending of visionary psychedelic lyricism with the imagery and spirit of traditional Americana, country blues, gospel, and old-time Celtic roots music.
Americana and Beyond
The MOJO NAVIGATORS were formed in 1995 by singer/songwriter Page Brownton. As a songwriter, Page Brownton invokes the collective archetypes of American folk culture, and his interpretations of traditional material have the ring of authenticity. He has devoted much of his life to the preservation and interpretation of traditional American folk songs, the musical heritage of the people of the British Isles and their descendents in the rural subcultures of the American South.
From Folk Music to Psychedelic Rock
In 1960, Page Brownton discovered Harry Smith's epochal 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, which Greil Marcus cites, in Invisible Republic, as the well-spring of inspiration for a generation of musicians: "It gave us contact with musicians and cultures we wouldn't have known existed." The psychedelic movement generated an exploration of archetypal consciousness, and a synthesis of ancient roots and cultural modalities distilled in song and sound, resonant with the strangely familiar voices of forgotten ancestors resurrected from the collective memory; the songs of Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter owe their genius to this influence.
The musicians of the psychedelic movement, which began to take shape in 1964 and 1965 in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district and college communities around the Bay Area, drew inspiration from their common ground in traditional music. Thus it was that Page Brownton shared, with his contemporaries, a repertoire of traditional musical styles, and a fascination and reverence for the songs of "the old weird America." Prior to, and during, the San Francisco psychedelic rock revolution, he also shared the stage with such eminent folkies as Jerry Garcia, Pig Pen, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Country Joe McDonald, David Freiberg, Peter Albin, David Nelson, and Janis Joplin.
THE MOJO NAVIGATORS have performed at The Redwood Faire, the Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival, The Loch Lomond Celtic Gathering, Henfling's Tavern, Rosie McCann's, Palookaville, Squid Row, the Bistro Boulder Creek, The Blue Rock Shoot, the Boulder Creek Art and Wine Festival, the Merry Prankster, The Blarney Stone, Somar Gallery, the Santa Cruz County Fair, Rainbow's End, Abouché, and The Whale City Bakery Bar & Grill.
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For booking, or other information concerning
THE MOJO NAVIGATORS
contact: Page Brownton
(831) 336 8350; gnor@cruzio.com