Fresno Famous

From time to time we can all use a little historical perspective.

Like maybe something from Famous user Fresnoise, who has been in town forever — 50 years is a pretty long time.

Let's listen in on the Fresnoise.

Name/age/location/occupation/how long have you been in Fresno?

My name is Dale Stewart. I'm 57 years old and sometimes I feel like the guy in the bar scene in "The Shining," where he says "I've been here forever."

But actually, just since the late 50's with a couple of short stints in SF and Oregon in the 70's. Living in the Tower with my beloved Joceylin, we are both musicians and I have a couple of web sites: www.stagedive-records.com, www.myspace.com/dalenthedustups, www.geocities.com/punksnax/fresnopunkhistorymain.html, www.myspace.com/capitolpunishmentfresno

What's your favorite FF (Fresno Famous) feature?

I like the public square aspect of it where people can come to chat with a general focus of local civic issues. Having conversations and meeting people. Learning new stuff. There are other places that seem like the wild west, but most people on FF are pretty nice.

You're a music guy. Any local bands you're excited about?

We don't go out very much anymore, so I'm not really up on most of what is happening in the Fresno music scene right now. But, I like what Blake Jones is doing and I love the guitar work of Doc Morse. There are some others that I have just heard their recordings that I like, such as The Batteries, James Brittain Gore, Dave Nash, Sparklejet, Kat Jones and The Suicide Lounge.

Yes, Fresno's got a lot of great musicians playing around. Why don't they get the respect they deserve?

To think that I would really know the answer to that question would be presumptuous of me. I had a few minutes of success back in the 80's and have been trying to replicate that ever since. I only have opinions as to why success has eluded some and yet comes to others.

To begin with, you've got to have well-developed talent, but then after that you need a break or you need to make your own break through an advantage. And once that advantage presents itself you have to be able to step through the open doors with grace. One way to get an advantage is to buy one. Rent your own hall, put on your own shows, build up your own scene or get into the pay-to-play thing. Another advantage is to get support from an influential critic, DJ or promoter. Also constant gigging over several years will certainly hone your talent and give you a better focus.

But, to be honest, chance can have a lot to do with it. Just being the right band at the right time. If you were a decent punk band in '81 and worked hard, gigs would open up. If you were a pretty good psychedelic band with cool hair in '64 doors would probably open for you. I bet it was probably easy to get real good gigs if you played decent rock'n'roll, ala Elvis or Jerry Lee in '56. But, by the time these genres aged over several years the field got crowded and the opportunities diminished.

Trivia time. One good fact about your life that most people don't know/wouldn't guess.

I'm a big fan of Huell Howser and his documentaries about California. Some of the most wonderful places on the planet are just a few hours drive from here like the Sierra Nevadas and the Central Coast.

Final thoughts?

The history and the great people that have come and gone from this area is rich and diverse. When I hear people running down our little burg I think they're just ignorant. Not to say that we don't have problems, but let's not overlook the good things. A lot of people suffer from what I call the "grass-is-greener syndrome." They are just generally unhappy and think if they lived in a different place happiness would come to them. It's not where you live, it's who you are.