enough to be featured on Seattle’s new public radio music powerhouse KEXP, Whitey Morgan & the 78s are as real deal as real gets. Tickets are $10, music starts at 9 p.m. and the show’s 21-and-over.
Tuesday — yes, Tuesday
EDM and jammy jam bands, but the life force infusion that new, young, innovative touring musicians can provide is rarely properly appreciated. /lecture
Sunday — a gentle fix
Sure to be a crowd-pleaser, American Nomad is a new acoustic group out of the Bay Area music scene. Rooted in Americana and folk/swing styles with smart songwriting, catchy rhythms, opulent harmonies and tight musicianship, American Nomad’s songs descend from the troubadour tradition of drawing from travel and life experience. The band plays at the Arcata Playhouse with trio Fire Sign, a Humboldt-based band drawing inspiration from folk, pop and contemporary country music, with occasional bluegrass in the mix. Cover is $12, show is all ages and things get rolling around 8 p.m.
Monday — you love America, right?
Oh, sure, it’s Monday night, but you’re a good American so you will go see Whitey Morgan & the 78s at Humboldt Brews. “Who is Whitey Morgan?” you ask. Let me tell you! Whitey Morgan is a honkytonk artist from Flint, Michigan, where the factories are closed, jobs are scarce and the people are bitter. (Flint was featured in Roger and Me, Michael Moore’s 1989 documentary on the effects of the auto plant closures.) Country enough to write lyrics about a character in a bar who’s just been cut off — “I told him I ain’t drunk/ Hell I’ve just been drinking/I started 5 in the afternoon/Lord about three days ago/Ever since my baby left me/This old heart of mine’s been sinking/But I ain’t drunk/I’ve just been drinking” — and cool
photo courtesy of the artist
WHO: Red Molly WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. WHERE: Arcata Playhouse TICKETS: $18, $16 members
If Monday night music isn’t enough for you, great news! You’ve got two, count ‘em, two gigs to chose from on a Tuesday night. First, Wil Blades, San Francisco Bay Area’s first call organist, debuts his new trio at the Jambalaya. Blades has been named in the Downbeat critics poll under “Rising Star” for organ every year since 2006, keeping the established sounds of Jimmy Smith, Larry Young and “Groove” Holmes alive, while adding his own spark to the fire. In his fast-rising career, Blades has performed and recorded with John Lee Hooker, Joe Louis Walker, Karl Denson, Will Bernard, Herbie Lewis and so many others, it would take this entire page to list them all. Doors open at 8:30 p.m., cover is $10, age is 21-and-over. Over at Arcata Playhouse, the American roots band Red Molly returns in support of the band’s latest effort, Light in the Sky. This upbeat, energetic female trio delivers lush, distinctive three-part harmonies with vocals reminiscent of Natalie Merchant and Patty Griffin. Doors open at 7 p.m., music starts at 7:30 p.m., tickets are $18 general, $16 Playhouse and Humboldt Folklife Society members, and are available at Wildwood Music, Wildberries or 822-1575.
Events by location, date & Type
m.northcoastjournal.com
all on your phone
Reggae tix on sale
Reggae On The River 2014 takes place Friday, Aug. 1 through Sunday, Aug. 3. All tickets include camping and are priced at $190 for the three-day concert and camping pass or $250 for the four-day early arrival concert and camping pass. A limited number of hard tickets will also be held back for local outlets in Humboldt, Mendocino and Sonoma counties and these sales will begin on Feb. 1. Note that there will be no single day tickets offered this year.
Etc. & a note
Full show listings in the Journal’s Music and More grid, the Eight Days a Week calendar and online. Send your show info and high-res photos to music@northcoastjournal.com. I hope it’s raining. l northcoastjournal.com • North Coast Journal • Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014
29