Americans are spending less and most small businesses are losing money. Restaurants, retail outlets and car dealerships suffer from a lack of customers. But in Cambridge, a business specializing in home beer brewing is thriving. Robert Chasse, who works at Modern Homebrew, says his job is secure.

“It pretty much is recession proof,” says Chasse. “When the economy goes south, everyone’s going to want to get drunk to forget it. When the market improves everybody’s going to want to get drunk to celebrate.”

Historically, the beer industry maintains profits during a recession. In 2001, Economist Donald Freeman examined beer sales between 1955 and 1994. He found beer sales held steady through economic changes. A recent Nielsen survey suggests most people haven’t cut back on beer consumption. Drinking seems a reasonable indulgence. And for those who wish to indulge and save, home brewing is a cheaper alternative to liquor stores.

“Making my own stuff just makes sense,” says Matt Carroll, a Modern Homebrew employee.

For regulars at Modern Homebrew, filling a growler starts with the raw ingredients. They pick the yeast, sniff out the hops and grind the grains. Carroll says his home brewed ales are better and cheaper than what he could buy in stores.

“You’re able to make something that is the fancy expensive six pack for a price more comparable to the really cheap stuff,” says Carroll.

The past decade brought an unprecedented demand for unique and complex beer. That demand was met by an astronomical increase in U.S. craft brewers. But a looming recession raised concerns about the willingness of consumers to continue paying for quality over quantity. Those worries were partially quelled by a mid-2008 Brewer’s Association report showing craft beer dollar sales up 11 percent from last year. Ann George, president of the Hop Growers of America, says the craft industry will continue to grow.

“I think that they’ve developed a pretty loyal following,” says George, “and I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to maintain their strength through the economic downturn.”

In case you don’t know, hops are bitter, piney flowers that are crucial to beer making. Worldwide hop acreage depleted considerably since 1994, until this year. George, who aids communication between growers and brewers, says U.S. hop yields spiked 23 percent this year. She says hop farmers could prosper in coming years.

“We’re hopeful that from the standpoint of raw materials for beer, that we’ll be able to see that market at least hold its own if not strengthen somewhat,” says George.

Part of this year’s hop acreage came from Chasse at Modern Homebrew. When the hop shortage threatened some of his favorite hop varieties last year, he planted his own hop fields in Missouri to get the strains he wants. This self-reliant mentality, Chasse says, protects home brewers from worldwide economic trends.

“We rely on no one,” Chasse says. “We don’t have to rely on anyone, because we do it ourselves.”

Modern Homebrew’s manager Randy Barrel is optimistic about the appeal of his store in a weak economy. Even if national business cycles continue spiraling downward, he’s confident people will keep brewing their own beer.

“I’m pretty happy with where we are in the current market economy,” Barrel says.

This video was originally published on Bostonia.

By Ross Dallas

In an era when some bands won’t take the stage without a synthesizer and drum machine—a time when sampled sound often replaces traditional instruments—it’s hard for young music fans to understand why people were angered to see Bob Dylan strumming an electric guitar here in 1965.

In 2008, at the same festival where Bob Dylan went electric 43 years ago, the boundaries are still pushed. Burgeoning artists share the stage with older acts like Richie Havens and Jimmy Buffet, and there remains no simple definition of folk.

This was originally produced for WERS.org in August 2008.

When Brian Wilson burst onto airwaves nearly 50 years ago, the music world was blown away by the West Coast sounds created by the Beach Boys.

In the course of only a few years, Wilson continually reinvented American rock with records like “Surfin’ Safari,” “All Summer Long” and “Pet Sounds,” an album sometimes acclaimed as history’s most groundbreaking release.
Wilson is now out with a new album called “That Lucky Old Sun.” It’s a tribute to a place that is always in Wilson’s heart: Southern California.

I recently had the privilege to speak with Brian Wilson. He’s now in California getting ready for a tour. Wilson says he tried out some new ideas when recording the new album.

Wilson: “At this juncture I try to write some new songs that are different than songs that I wrote before, so they were like 10 original songs.”

Wilson said that after all his years of songwriting, he still finds it hard to arrange new music. The last thing he wants to do is try too hard.

Wilson: “You can’t just manufacture a song. Songs don’t come in a manufactured kind of way, they come in a natural, inspired way.”

You may recognize the title track to Wilson’s new album. Louis Armstrong made it a hit in the 1940s, and it was sung as a spiritual long before that. It’s about someone who is overworked, looking to the sky, and wishing to be like the floating sun.

Wilson: “It touched my heart, so I used it as a theme song for my album.”

Aside from melodies, Wilson includes a few spoken word parts on “That Lucky Old Sun.” Some of these were written by Van Dyke Parks. Wilson collaborated with him before on “Smile,” a 2004 release that took almost four decades to complete. Wilson was glad to work with Parks once again.

Wilson: “It was great, he wrote some really good narrations, and the lyrics to live let live, some great narrations, great poetic images of LA.”

“I thought we’d try something different because “Smile” wasn’t like that, you know, so I thought we’d try something different and do narrations to break up the monotony of the album.”

In the mid-60s, as the music world anxiously waited for the beach boys to finish “Smile,” rumors began circulating that Brian Wilson suffered a mental collapse. Some worried they would never hear from the songwriter again.
Indeed, Wilson experienced troubling times. But through battles with personal demons and his notorious stage fright, Wilson never lost his gift for writing music.

Throughout his career, Brian Wilson has introduced complex lyrics to dreamy and pitch-perfect harmonies.
In earlier work, he displayed a unique understanding of the simultaneous joy and heartache that comes with adolescence. Wilson once said he intended “Smile” to be a teenage symphony to god. The man is a true composer, and he uses the recording studio as another instrument for his songs.

Wilson: “I use it as a way to house the musicians, house them into one format so that we can get a group sound.”

Brian Wilson’s songs are ingrained in the minds of millions throughout the world. In turn many consider him a legend. And that kind of status is bound to produce more than a few obsessed fans. This humbles Wilson.

Wilson: “Well, first of all, I’m very honored that people think I’m a genius, you know, and, second of all I don’t consider myself a genius. I consider myself a good songwriter but not a genius songwriter.”

For now, Wilson is looking forward to performing again with his band–a group Paul McCartney called “the best touring band in the world.” Wilson says he’s not sure when he’ll start writing new songs. But it is certain that Brian Wilson is back, and we’ll always be waiting to see what he does next.

A bill that would ban the possession by and sale of spray paint to those younger than 17 years old in Massachusetts is expected to be referred to a committee next week.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Michael Morrissey, intends to combat graffiti in the commonwealth. It was first filed in 2006 after Quincy City Councilor Brian McNamee brought increased graffiti in Quincy to legislators’ attention.

“Graffiti demoralizes a neighborhood,” McNamee said. “You might as well take a trashcan and just turn it over.”

The bill calls for jail terms and fines for young offenders. It costs the United States $8 billion a year to clean up graffiti, according to the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office.

Community groups have sprung up to combat graffiti in Boston. Anne Swanson, who cochairs the Graffiti NABBers for the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay said preventive graffiti laws are necessary. A neighborhood ordinance in the Back Bay already prevents minors from buying aerosol paint cans.

But Swanson says many graffiti taggers and vandals aren’t teenagers.

“Many of them are in their 20s, pushing 30, and they still seem to have no grasp of what the responsibilities are for living in a democracy,” she says. “They think freedom is freedom to do anything.”

Most taggers are between 12 and 21 years old, according to the National Crime Prevention Council. Sam Shames, 16, from Newton, said banning spray paint for those under 17 would be an arbitrary rule. If people older than 17 are tagging property too, Shames says, the age restriction should be higher.

“It doesn’t make that much sense,” he said.

McNamee said he hopes further spray paint regulations would follow the pending bill if it passes. He said the bill could establish a foothold for further legislation.

“I think you’re going to find that a lot of these offenders are older than you think they are,” he said, “but for starters, we can work on one segment of the population.”

McNamee said Krylon, a spray paint canister sold by Sherwin Williams, is one of the most frequently used products for taggers.

Dan Schreck, who works at Sherwin-Williams in Allston, said the bill wouldn’t create a significant change in sales at his store. He said that if there were suspicion about a teenager buying spray paint at his store, they would be asked to come back with an adult.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever actually sold spray paint to anyone who wasn’t at least 25,” Schreck said.

Though McNamee said the proposed spray paint law wouldn’t wipe out graffiti in the commonwealth, he said action must be taken.

“When you have somebody who does this kind of crime, it runs the neighborhood down,” he said. “It creates and environment of apathy and an environment of neglect.”

(This article was written on March 10, 2009.)

A bill to allow more effective means of capturing and eliminating coyotes that threaten Massachusetts residents will soon make its way to a committee and receive a date for a public hearing.

The bill, re-filed this year, would amend a law that restricts leg hold traps. That law, however, provides exceptions for trapping beavers and muskrats which present an imminent threat to public safety. The bill would create a similar exception for coyotes.

Rep. William G. Greene, Jr., the bill’s sponsor, proposed the legislation in 2007. He said the restriction of leg hold traps hinders animal control officers’ ability to deal with rabid coyotes. When dangerous coyotes are reported, Greene said, officers spend too much time hunting the animal.

“In one incident they spent several days hunting an animal with rifles,” Greene said, “whereas if they were able to put out a trap, they would have been able to catch it in one night.”

But the bill faces opposition from organizations like the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a non-profit animal protection group.

Linda Heubner, MSPCA deputy director of advocacy, said the legislation could cause cruel trapping of innocent animals. Leg hold traps, she said, are unnecessary.

“They’re indiscriminate,” she said. “They’re inhumane.”

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are also opposed to the bill. Ryan Hauling, a PETA coordinator, said in an e-mail that any legislation allowing the killing or inhumane trapping of wild coyotes is cruel. He said the state should choose “compassionate” solutions to coyote problems over “cruel” ones.

But there is support for the bill in the scientific community. Laura Hajduk, a furbearer biologist for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, does extensive research on coyotes in the Bay State. She said traps for dangerous coyotes aren’t needed often because there are so few rabid coyotes. In the 50 years since coyotes first appeared in the Massachusetts, there were three attacks on humans, two from rabid coyotes. Between 1992 and 2007, nearly 3,000 raccoons tested positive for rabies in Massachusetts, according to a MassWildlife study. In the same span, only 10 coyotes in the commonwealth tested positive for rabies.

“It’s an extremely, extremely rare event,” Hajduk said.

Greene said that while coyote attacks are uncommon, it’s still important to prevent them.

“It doesn’t happen often,” he said, “but when it does happen it’s best to be aware that there are solutions, rather than just allowing the animal to run around.”

Researchers could benefit from the proposed law, Hajduk said, because it would repeal bans on certain traps for legitimate scientific studies. The box traps now used are problematic because coyotes must become acclimated to the trap for several weeks before they walk in.

Cathleen Ellis, a wildlife enthusiast and blogger from Cape Cod, said she supports legislation that helps eliminate aggressive coyotes. She said her friend, who lives in Bournedale, lost his dog to a pack of coyotes.

Ellis said overpopulation is a nuisance to people and other animals. She supports traps which enable research that helps control the population.

“I don’t think it should be ignored any longer,” she said.

Greene said he’s received several “nasty phone calls” from people saying his proposed legislation is cruel.

“It’s discouraging,” he said. “Some people have more concern for wild animals than they do for little kids.”

Greene opposed the original legislation to ban leg hold traps, which passed through a ballot referendum in 1996. The box traps, he said, don’t provide a better solution for dealing with dangerous animals. He said the method used now involves the animal sitting in an enclosed box overnight until an officer comes in the next day.

“The trapper shows up and beats it to death with a stick,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of logic here, it’s all gut feel.”