Huichica Music Festival Tickets Are Available Now
Set in the picturesque grounds of Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma, the annual Huichica Music Festival is always one of the coolest weekends of music in the North Bay, packed with performances from hip indie-rock bands and overflowing with a delectable array of beer, wine and food trucks.
Presented by Gun Bun Winery president Jeff Bundschu, boutique events organizers (((folkYEAH!))) and musician Eric D Johnson, this year’s festival is set for Friday and Saturday, June 8 and 9. The weekend’s musical guests include experimental San Francisco rockers Wooden Shjips, influential punk songwriter Jonathan Richman, Bay Area folk band Vetiver, who will perform their 2008 album “Thing of the Past” in full, and Eric D Johnson’s longtime project Fruit Bats, who will lead a festival jam.
If you want in, you need to act fast, as the intimate festival just made tickets available online. Click the link to grab your passes and look below to get the full lineup for Huichica Music Festival.
Santa Rosa Natives Decent Criminal End Up on Kendrick Lamar Vinyl
Today in “You Can’t Make This Up” news; fast and fun California punk band Decent Criminal, who formed in Santa Rosa and who recently organized a North Bay wildfire relief benefit compilation album, has unexpectedly found themselves in an international goof-up, as their recent album, “Bloom,” wound up accidentally being pressed onto vinyl copies of rapper Kendrick Lamar’s 2012 album, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.”
As reported in Noisey, a fan in the UK noticed that their newly-pressed vinyl of Lamar’s album, released on Universal UK, contains tracks from Decent Criminal on the record’s B-side. I can’t even imagine what that fan must have thought upon first listen, but it was quickly clear that something was amiss. The culprit appears to be the pressing plant in the Czech Republic, where both acts get their vinyl made.
Sounds too good to be true? Well, there’s video proof, provided by Decent Criminal’s label Dodgeball Records. Click the video below and then get your hands on these soon-to-be-rare misprints.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWqYxshrP0U[/youtube]
NPR Tiny Desk Contest Coming to Sonoma County
Calling all North Bay musicians, NPR’s massively popular Tiny Desk Contest is on for 2018. Now in its fourth year, the nationwide contest for unsigned bands and artists is an opportunity like no other. Simply make a video of yourself performing an original tune while sitting at a desk in the style of NPR’s longrunning Tiny Desk Concert series, upload it to YouTube and submit it as an entry. Winners will have the chance to tour the country, and this year, the tour stops in Sonoma County for the first time with a performance at Lagunitas Tap Room in Petaluma.
Now, maybe it’s just me, a humble North Bay native; but how cool would it be for a local band to be on that stage when NPR comes to town? Tiny Desk contest winners in past years have gone on to perform for sold-out crowds around the world, and Oakland’s Fantastic Negrito even picked up a Grammy Award after winning the contest in 2015.
If you don’t win the grand prize, submitting artists have still been featured on NPR Music’s All Songs Considered blog as well as Tiny Desk supercut videos and the like. If you’re a band that has submitted in past years, you can do it again, just pick a new song. Also, creativity is encouraged, so the concept of a “desk” to perform at can be stretched in any number of ways.
Unsigned bands and musicians can submit videos now through Sunday, March 25 at 11:59 p.m. ET at NPR.org/tinydeskcontest. Please see website for official rules.
Selector Dub Narcotic Is Playing a Surprise Show in Santa Rosa
With a list of music credits longer than your arm, songwriter, bandleader, record label owner and all-around indie icon Calvin Johnson has spent the last 30 years setting trends and representing the best of DIY culture with his label K Records and his bands Beat Happening, the Halo Benders, the Hive Dwellers and others.
When the Olympia, WA, native was in Sonoma County in 2016, Johnson unveiled his latest musical concoction, Selector Dub Narcotic, which boasted a DJ-oriented sound that mixes dance club beats and Johnson’s droned vocals delivering eccentric lyrics.
Now, Selector Dub Narcotic returns of the North Bay for a surprise last-minute show on Wednesday, Jan 31, at Brew in Santa Rosa. The show will feature two equally unconventional supporting bands in the form of Santa Rosa art rock act Hose Rips and quirky Sebastopol songwriter Big Kitty. Baked goods, beer, coffee, and other food and beverages will be available.
This intimate show is likely to fill to capacity quickly, so show up early on Wednesday, Jan 31, to Brew, 555 Healdsburg Ave, Santa Rosa. Doors open at 6pm, music starts at 7pm. All Ages. $10-$20. For more info, click here.
Mikey Pauker Reaches New Musical Heights on Latest Album
Berkeley folk and world music artist Mikey Pauker is already known in the Bay Area for his open-hearted melodies and catchy reggae beats, though fans are in for a different musical dimension when Pauker unveils his new album, ASCENSION, with an album-release concert on Jan 25 at Key Tea in San Rafael.
Drawing on influences that range from Bob Marley to The Police, Pauker’s output up to this year have heavily relied on electronic flourishes, yet ASCENSION departs from that aesthetic with a raw instrumental sound captured in live recording sessions under Grammy-nominated producer Warren Huart.
Thematically, ASCENSION takes inspiration for the outpouring of communal strength and resolve that manifested after the North Bay wildfires as well as the hurricanes that impacted Texas and Florida earlier in 2017. With a background in Yoga and mystical practices, Pauker’s sound aims to elevate the listener’s spirit with devotional songwriting.
Be the first to hear ASCENSION’s uplifting music when Pauker plays a full band set tomorrow, Jan 25, featuring opening act Annie Anton and a post-set DJ party at Key Tea, 921 C St, San Rafael. 7:30pm. All Ages. $20 at the door. For details and tickets, click here.
Sun Kil Moon Plays Fire Relief Benefit in Sonoma
Since forming Red House Painters in San Francisco in 1989, prolific and sonorous songwriter Mark Kozelek has secured a place in the annals of indie rock with gut-wrenching melodies and haunting lyrics about love, loss, memory and fate.
Since 2003, Kozelek has been most associated with the gloomy folk projet Sun Kil Moon, which released its eighth studio album, Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood, and a split album with Jesu, 30 Seconds to the Decline of Planet Earth, in the last year.
This weekend, Kozelek brings Sun Kil Moon’s evocative tones and insightful storytelling to the North Bay for a special benefit concert in Sonoma. Hosted by (((folkYEAH))), proceeds from the upcoming show will go directly to help victims and first responders of the Sonoma, Napa and Santa Rosa fires.
Sun Kil Moon performs Saturday, Jan 20, at Gundlach Bundschu Winery, 2000 Denmark St, Sonoma. 7pm. $37. For tickets, click here.
Bruno Mars, The Killers & Muse Headline BottleRock Napa Valley 2018 Lineup
Returning this May 25 through 27, BottleRock Napa Valley Music, Food & Wine Festival just unleashed its massive lineup of musical artists for 2018 including headliners Bruno Mars, The Killers and Muse. In its sixth year, BottleRock Napa Valley continues to impress with an eclectic lineup of veteran performers, today’s top-drawing entertainers, up-and-coming indie stars, and the best North Bay acts. The full lineup is below.
With over 120,000 attendees last year, BottleRock Napa Valley sells out quicker than you can say sommelier, so be sure to grab three-day or single-day passes starting tomorrow, Jan 9, at 10am PST at Bottlerocknapavalley.com. (more…)
Gabriel Wheaton Heads Home for Album-Release Show
Los Angeles-based violinist and composer Gabriel Wheaton traces his musical lineage back to Sonoma County, where he was born and raised in Sebastopol. After mastering the violin at a young age and performing in chamber groups and orchestras while attending Analy High School, Wheaton moved to La La Land to study at UCLA in 2011.
Wheaton currently makes a living as a freelance musician and plays in several bands in Los Angeles, including indie-pop group We the Folk. In his spare time, Wheaton also composes folk-tinged experimental pop music as a solo performer, utilizing looping effects and improvised melodies on the violin.
This week, Wheaton unveils his new album of these inventive, instrumental compositions, Single Source, and he’s headed back to Sonoma County to perform an album-release show on Saturday, Nov 25, at HopMonk Tavern in Sebastopol.
Joining Wheaton for the post-Thanksgiving soiree is San Francisco ensemble Barrio Manouche, also celebrated for improvised shows and exuberant energy. Copies of Single Source will be available at the show, and long-time local fans, friends and family of Wheaton will want to see how much he has grown musically. For more info and tickets, click here.
Luther Burbank Center Reopens With ‘Pay What You Can’ Program
Less than a month after the Tubbs fire ripped through Santa Rosa and destroyed an estimated 30-thousand square feet of the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts’ campus, the center has defied expectations and reopened to the public today, November 6.
After cleaning and restoring the main auditorium, which was spared major damage, the center is reaching out to the community by offering a “Pay What You Can” program for select performances during the month of November. Those affected by the recent fires and first responders are welcome to pay any price, and the community is invited to come together, connect and find solace in music and art.
Performances and family-friendly events included in the “Pay What You Can” program are “Shopkins Live! Shop it Up” on Nov 9, Air Supply on Nov 11, Imago Theatre’s “La Belle” on Nov 14, Dwight Yoakam on Nov 26, PJ Masks Live! “Time to Be a Hero” on Nov 27 and Mannheim Steamroller on Nov 29.
“Pay What You Can” tickets are available at the ticket office, 50 Mark West Springs Rd, Santa Rosa. Open daily, noon to 6pm. 707.546.3600. lutherburbankcenter.org with the code sonomastrong. Subject to availability, limit of 4 tickets per show.
Local Punk Bands Invade Bolinas This Weekend
Of all the mysteries that reside in Bolinas, one that kids are especially curious about is the long incomplete Bolinas Community Skate Park, first conceived of in the skateboarding craze of the ’90s, but left unfinished for years and currently languishing on the Mesa Park property.
Over the last few years, a committed group has made it their mission to see the dream of the Bolinas Skate Park become a reality for Marin youth with an online fundraiser for the skate park that currently sits at over $18,000. This weekend, three heavy-hitting North Bay punk bands show their support for the skaters and converge on the Bolinas Community Center to rock out and raise money towards the effort.
Sonoma County bands Streetbreaker, the Drought Cult and new group Holy Wood share the stage, and a silent art auction featuring local and visiting artists benefit the completion of the Bolinas Skate Park on Saturday, Nov 4, at Bolinas Community Center, 14 Wharf Rd, Bolinas. 7:30pm. $5-$20 sliding scale. For more info, click here.
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