John McCrea of CAKE performs during 94.7’s 20th Birthday Bash at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on Aug. 16, 2015 in Portland, Oregon. Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images. CAKE singer-songwriter John McCrea didn’t start out as an environmentalist out to reforest the West Coast. His fascination with trees…

John McCrea and Cake, courtesy. This story originally appeared in the Oakland Tribune. The New Year is a time of earnestness. It’s usually celebrated with a renewed hope for the future — not snarky cynicism, which is generally the type of lyric that rattles out of the mouth of…