ANDREW STUART
EMAIL: ARTS@INDEPENDENT.COM GOIN’ HOME: Chris Shiflett, S.B.’s resident Foo Fighter, returns to the 805 for a gig with his country band, The Dead Peasants.
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DANCING INTO THE LIGHT
S.B. COMPANIES TAKE BACK THE STAGE DAVID BAZEMORE
Welcome to
A
nine covers of songs by the likes of Buck Owens and Waylon Jennings. “I’m sentimental about a time period that I didn’t experience, without a doubt,” Shiflett laughed.“I don’t know if it was any better — culturally, I know that it wasn’t — but cars looked better, music sounded better, buildings looked cooler, people had style.” While the Peasants’ brand of country is “louder and sloppier and a lot Stonesier” than their touchstones, Shiflett admits that shifting from rocker to cowboy crooner presented its own set of challenges, at least at the start. “Growing up, I played hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock, punk rock,” he said.“When we started The Dead Peasants, playing a Telecaster through an old Fender amp with no distortion was really scary, but now it’s really comfortable.” As for what his Foo Fighting brethren think of their bandmate’s side gig, Shiflett just laughs.“I remember one time very early on when I was recording something at our studio. I was tracking a pedal-steel part on a very honky-tonk type of song, and Dave came into the control room and looked at me and just said,‘What the fuck are you doing?’ I’m without a doubt the odd man out in our band.” Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants play SOhO Restaurant & Music Club ( State St.) on Thursday, June 5, with Dead Winter Carpenters. The show starts at 9 p.m. Call 962-7776 or visit sohosb.com for tickets and — Aly Comingore info.
CHRIS SHIFLETT
GOES COUNTRY
with
THE DEAD PEASANTS
TODD & ERIN
PEASANTVILLE
s a member of one of the most successful bands in the world, Chris Shiflett has won Grammys, shared the stage with rock icons like Jimmy Page and Queen, and even played for the president. But ask the Foo Fighters guitarist what he likes about his job, and the answer might surprise you. “I love being on some stretch of road that you don’t know and finding some cool little town and getting a milkshake,” he laughed. This week, Shiflett returns home to Santa Barbara with his other band, The Dead Peasants, for a concert at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club. The show comes directly on the heels of a nine-month, eightcity recording session with the Foos. As Shiflett explains it, the band’s forthcoming album is the product of a musical tour of sorts.“We recorded every song in a different studio in a different city in the U.S.,” he told us last week from Seattle. “I think part of it was driven by places that were on Dave [Grohl]’s map of musical experiences, and then part of them were just great American cites.” For Shiflett especially, that love of country runs deep. In addition to his affinity for small towns and old-school Americana, the guitarist and singer has a rather large soft spot for classic country-western music. Since forming The Dead Peasants in 2009, he’s released two albums of honky-tonk-imbued tunes. Last year, the band’s All Hat and No Cattle took Shiflett’s love of the genre one step further, pairing one original song with
When tragedy takes the spotlight, everything else is temporarily plunged into darkness. This weekend, two Santa Barbara dance companies will be doing their part to bring back the light. Starting Friday AD&M dancers (from left) Sally night, Fusion Dance Schuiling, Jessica Feltman, Company comes to and Nikki Pfeiffer Center Stage Theater with Legacy, its 10th annual evening of works by regional choreographers. Fusion’s artistic director, Kara Stewart, explained that the show is based around personal stories, including her own. “I was adopted as a baby and didn’t meet my birth mother until I was 29,” Stewart said. “I’m telling that story from her perspective.” The resulting work poses questions about the nature of legacy, Stewart explained, asking, “Is it only the strong and mighty who have lasting significance in this world, or can something small make a difference?” She concluded, “Ultimately, everyone has a legacy. Some will be good, and some bad. What will your legacy be?” Other choreographers for Legacy include Chris Makens, Bethany Sutherland, Audrey Uhland, and David Wilson. The show runs Friday, June 6, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 7, at 3 and 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 9630408 or visit centerstagetheater.org. Then on Sunday, June 8, at 2 p.m., American Dance & Music (AD&M) presents the fourth annual Dance: Up Close and Cultural at the Carrillo Recreation Center Ballroom. This informal event offers audience members a chance to sample the wide range of AD&M’s projects, ask questions, and interact with the artists. Artistic Director Carrie Diamond also sees the show as a chance to affirm our shared humanity after the events of the past few weeks. “Up Close and Cultural is a family-friendly event, and it’s wonderful to see younger children in particular respond to dance in the most basic way,” she said, adding that “my new work in its essence deals with a betrayal of youth — but we are also presenting a very fun work to lighten things up.” Up Close and Cultural features new work by Diamond, as well as guest artists DramaDogs and Mari Sandoval. AD&M Music Director Eric Valinsky will perform live, and audience members will have a chance to get up and move. Stay after the performance for a reception and a chance to mingle with the performers. This is a free event for all ages; donations are welcome. To learn more, call 450-7535 or visit adam-bsb.org. — Elizabeth Schwyzer
STEEL YOUR NERVES
When we first set our ears on Todd & Erin last year, they appeared to arrive fully formed. Despite having met just months before, the Santa Barbara duo had already locked down a vision; their songs were bright, perfectly polished pop jams; their aesthetic was similarly crisp, if stylishly grunge-y around the edges. On Steel Your Nerves, the pair continues to crank out pumped-up pop anthems clearly aimed for the dance floor. And as on their debut, the tracks here are tightly knit affairs with strong hooks and big, bright melodies. Lyrically, though, Steel Your Nerves is hit-and-miss, often relying on grandscale production tricks in place of actual content. Case in point: “All I Can Think About Is You,” which would carry the weight of Ellie Goulding’s boldest torch song if only someone had bothered to continue writing after they named the thing. As such, Nerves’ strongest offering also ends up being its sore-thumb moment, the mid-album highlight “Hate.” With Erin in lead-vocal mode against a gently plucked acoustic, this backward-looking little love song boasts some of the EP’s most complex and skillfully delivered vocal melodies, perhaps suggesting that scaling back may be the thing that propels these two forward. — AC
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