By Nick Brunner

Paul Bates is the creator of the YouTube channel lo-fire, which offers local performers a chance to showcase their music. It’s a weekly Sacramento-centric — for the most part — artist discovery series. Recorded and produced by Bates in his Sacramento home, lo-fire is filmed using a combination of VHS and digital camera work.

All bands are given the same treatment, no matter how high their profile might be. The series has featured musical acts such as Yumz Awkword, Rainbow City Park, Lillian Francis and Jakari Smith. The series offers a collage of Northern Californian talent.

Our new co-host Nick Brunner talks to Bates about lo-fire in our podcast, “Creativity in the Capitol,” season 2, episode 3, available on streaming platforms.

Listen to the episode here.

This podcast episode was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.