Santa Cruz County live music picks for the week of June 19
WEDNESDAY 6/19
ROCK
SUMMER CANNIBALS
Summer Cannibals ditched its work in progress—nearly an entire album’s worth of material—when bandleader Jessica Boudreaux fought her way out of a toxic relationship. Using the ensuing complicated feelings and sense of freedom Boudreaux experienced, Summer Cannibals started a new super-charged project, Can’t Tell Me No (which comes out June 28). It has the same raw energy of their other two albums, but a new level of social confrontation stands front and center, unapologetic. Short and fierce rock anthems proudly rail against those who explicitly or tacitly try to silence women. AMY BEE
9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$12 door. 429-6994
THURSDAY 6/20
AMERICANA
THE REAL SARAHS
In 2017, the Real Sarahs released sophomore record Afternoon with the Dirty Birds. It was an unusual album for the acoustic trio, as it showcases the group’s folksy songs backed by the roots-rock stylings of the Dirty Birds. The band followed the record with 2018’s Headed For The Hills, a return to doing what it does best: strumming acoustic instruments and singing lush, hooky harmonies. These are gorgeous, emotive songs that’ll make you feel like you’re lost in a daydream. AARON CARNES
7:30 p.m. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777.
COMEDY
BETHANY VAN DELFT
Some comedians tell jokes; others tell stories. Bethany Van Delft is somewhere in the middle. This Bostonian stand-up veteran is never afraid to dig into her life and bare it all: being a mother to a child with Downs Syndrome, balancing her comedy career with a life at home while raising kids “who don’t need therapy,” and her hatred for “diversity” comedy showcases. She also currates a weekly showcase in Boston called “Artisanal Comedy” that highlights out-of-the-box comedians who might not fit into a normal stand-up night. She’s also been featured on Comedy Central, SF Sketchfest and the 2 Dope Queens podcast. MAT WEIR
8 p.m. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. (530) 592-5250.
FRIDAY 6/21
JAZZ
CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT & SULLIVAN FORTNER
A once-in-a-generation talent, Cécile McLorin Salvant has surpassed the oversized expectations that greeted her triumph at the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. In February, she earned her third consecutive Grammy Award for best jazz vocal album, a highly interactive duo project with New Orleans pianist Sullivan Fortner, The Window. Brimming with divergent musical ideas, Salvant is an expanding creative universe. Sardonic, ironic and open-hearted, her music embraces folk-song simplicity and art-song sophistication, singer-songwriter revelation and bebop exultation. ANDREW GILBERT
7 and 9 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $31.50-$47.25. 427-2227.
SATURDAY 6/22
COMEDY
ADAM CONOVER
Adam Conover from the TruTV show Adam Ruins Everything calls himself an investigative comedian, which sounds like the set up for a raunchy joke, but it’s really just a label for those who research the wackier and weirder aspects of human knowledge and then crack jokes about what they find. On his podcast and show, Adam uses his nerdy visage and endearing charm to disarm our natural tendency to shut down when someone is trying to teach us facts, and then brings out an expert once we are defenseless. It’s a good tactic. But the question is: how good is his stand up? Only one way to find out! AB
7 p.m. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. (530) 592-5250.
METAL
SUPER MADNES
Naoki Kodaka penned the soundtrack for the NES Batman game, and wrote the tunes for Blaster Master, Spy Hunter, Fester’s Quest, and about 20 other classic-era titles. In the pantheon of video game music, Batman often gets lost in the shuffle of bona fide jams like Duck Tales and Mega Man 2, but Super MadNES hasn’t forgotten. At the Blue Lagoon this Saturday, the live-video-game-music metal band pay tribute to Kodaka with a full version of the Batman soundtrack, along with other period classics. If you got a utility belt, bring it: the bat signal waits for no one. MIKE HUGUENOR
7 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz. $10. 423-7117.
FOLK
GHOSTS OF PAUL REVERE
Ghosts of Paul Revere isn’t so much a bluegrass group as a rock band that just happened to only have country instruments when it started. Listen past the surface and a whole world opens up, heavily influenced by the Beatles, Radiohead and others outside of so-called traditional music. MW
9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15 adv/$20 door. 479-1854.
MONDAY 6/24
INDIE
ZOE BOEKBINDER
While some of the music on Zoe Boekbinder’s Shadow could be described as delicate, Boekbinder herself is anything but. Described as “ageless, beautiful, heartbreaking, and wise” by Neil Gaiman, Boekbinder’s voice is a powerful thing. Throughout Shadow, the New Orleans singer-songwriter looks straight into the darkness that follows her and pierces it, finding something like light on the other side. Boekbinder throws a bit of Amanda Palmer into a songwriting style reminiscent of Songs: Ohia, with a bit of the ol’ Big Easy for good measure. MH
9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
TUESDAY 6/25
INDIE
MATTHEW LOGAN VASQUEZ
Matthew Logan Vasquez’ latest single “Trailer Park” is a refreshing celebration of the diversity of rural Texas, where over a high-energy rock tune, he sings about the neighborly mix of “rednecks, hippies, Latinos, liberals and conservatives.” The song is one of the few upbeat tunes on his third record Light’n Up, where he devotes most of his time detailing a dark period in his life where he was caring for his ailing father. Better known as a member of Delta Spirit and Glorietta, Vasquez seems increasingly at home in the solo format, going into more introspective waters. AC
