THURSDAY 3/20
INDIE
DUFF THOMPSON AND STEPH GREEN
Canadian alt-indie singer-songwriter Duff Thompson makes loose-limbed and tuneful music with pop, folk and garage rock flavors. His most recent releases are a pair of albums, 2023’s Shadow People and Shadow People II (2024). The two collections eschew studio trickery in favor of a spare aesthetic focusing on Thompson’s vocals and lyrics. Steph Green is a former street musician, producer, multi-instrumentalist and, most importantly, a songwriter. Her gentle vocals immerse the listener in an alluring musical reverie. Green’s 2023 release, Lore, showcases a lush and contemplative musical style with a gentle, high lonesome vibe. BILL KOPP
INFO: 9pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $20. 429-6994.
PERFORMANCE ART
TRANSCEIVERS
Transceivers promises an evening of poetry augmented by intriguing music. Michael Logue makes adventurous improvisational electroacoustic music and soundscapes using analog synthesizers, signal processors and other technology. David Tristram combines audio and visual works and participated in last year’s International Live Looping Festival. Improvisational guitarist Frederick Malouf’s 2022 album, Soulscapes, immerses the listener in warm, friendly tones that explore the soul within music’s many genres. In keeping with a poetic aesthetic, the event organizers promise that “your conciseness [sic] will open, our universe will both expand and contract, and the night will be memorable.” BK
INFO: 7pm, Ugly Mug, 4640 Soquel Dr., Soquel. $5-$10. 477-1341.
FRIDAY 3/21
ALT ROCK
KIM DEAL
Best known as the original bass player and a vocalist in the hugely influential alt-rock band the Pixies, Kim Deal was far too unique a talent to stay contained in lead Pixie Frank Black’s formidable shadow. She teamed up with Tanya Donelly to record the Breeders’ fantastic first album, Pod. When Donelly stepped aside, Deal brought in her twin sister Kelly to record a second Breeders album, scoring a huge hit with the album’s first single, “Cannonball.” Late last year, she released her first solo album, Nobody Loves You More, which she is currently touring. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
INFO: 8pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, $69. 423-8209.
COMEDY
DNA & KARIN BABBITT
Santa Cruz comedy wouldn’t be Santa Cruz comedy without the prolific, omnipresent, relentlessly driven and yet somehow simultaneously incredibly mellow comedian who is legally named (yes, it’s on his ID) DNA. For years, he has kept the local comedy scene alive with his annual comedy festival and the gigs he’s booked at various venues around town, including his dream project, DNA’s Comedy Lab, which fell victim to Covid striking just as it was getting going. He announced earlier this year that he’d be packin’ up and moving on, but it looks like there’s at least one more DNA gig to enjoy when he and his talented, funny friend Karin Babbitt come together to each record their debut comedy album. KLJ
INFO: 7:30pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $23. 427-2227.
INDIE
EVENING ELEPHANTS
Two uninspired musicians walk into a backyard and leave with an idea. Emerging from a late-night conversation between two strangers, Sam Boggs and Brandon Leslie schemed up the idea for a friendly neighborhood band, Evening Elephants. A year later, they performed their first show in the same backyard where they first met. This kismet meeting gave way to gritty yet authentic indie pop. Frontperson Boggs describes their sound as eclectic, something he feels pinpoints their energy and personalities, which he calls “happy-sad.” Fans will be transported to a summer evening and enjoy energetic, boisterous melodies intertwined with honest, poetic lyrics. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 9pm, Catalyst, 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $19. 713-5492.
SATURDAY 3/22
INDIE
NICK JAINA
Nick Jaina plays with light and sound, offering up music straight from the heart. His peaceful sound seeks to be a healing force for the listener. Jaina now returns to Lille Aeske Arthouse, the home of the mysterious SPEKTRA installation, on which he collaborated in 2018. His upcoming show reflects the whimsy and magic of his body of work, from SPEKTRA to his books and memoirs and his compositions for film scores. Jaina has invested in the art world, teaching writing workshops and cofounding a ballet company. The invitation to hear his music and words is not to be missed. SN
INFO: 8pm, Lille Aeske Arthouse, 13160 Highway 9, Boulder Creek. $20/adv, $25/door. 703-4183.
FESTIVAL
COFFIS SPACE 3
They say great things come in threes, and this year, the Coffis Brothers will celebrate Coffis Space 3, their third annual weekend festival featuring local music, food, artistry and comedy. Festivities kick off on Saturday with Tim Bluhm from the Mother Hips along with the Santa Cruz Mountain rockers, the Coffis Brothers themselves, plus comedy from DNA, the local king of comedy who recently moved back to Chico but can’t keep away, like all Santa Cruzans deep down inside. Drinks from Moe’s award-winning bar staff, food and drinks from Sleight of Hand Pizza and Humble Sea Brewing and beautiful, handmade jewelry by Everything & Nothing make extra cash worth bringing. MAT WEIR
INFO: 8pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $22/adv, $27/door. 479-1854.
AVANT-GARDE
STILL HOUSE PLANTS
Assembled like three different house plants, each with their own living conditions yet sitting on the same windowsill, the band brings a soothing, disjointed and unified sound to their experimental rock and jazz. Still and always in motion, their music results from a collaborative and abstract journey through the minds and expressions of the band. They combine directions, sounds, emotions and sensations to create something new, often working with fragmented guitar lines, warping vocals and inconsistent drum patterns to pull themselves and the listener through a chaotic current of multidimensional music. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 8:30pm, Indexical, 1050 River St. #119, Santa Cruz. $20.
SUNDAY 3/23
AMERICANA
UNTANGLED
Life is messy. Like, really messy. Humans always have a way of jumbling things up into situations that are often way more complicated than they need to be. Maybe it’s because they think they’re smarter than they are. Or perhaps it’s because everything is connected, and one action leads to another until everything becomes one knotted ball of confusion, anxiety, depression, anger and so on. Thankfully, there’s always music to smooth things out, and that’s precisely what Santa Cruz’s Americana pop outfit Untangled sets out to do. Led by artist, author and bookmaker Peter Thomas, Untangled is acoustic folk music, complete with washboards, made for a straightforward, easygoing and rootsy time. MW
INFO: 3pm, Discretion Brewery, 2703 41st Ave. Ste. A, Soquel. Free. 316-0662.
