Hi friends,
Another year when my rooting interests at the Oscars go home with no golden man. Hard to begrudge Cillian Murphy from “Oppenheimer,” but how long are we going to have to wait for justice for Paul Giamatti?
Now, on with the show.
This Just In!
Jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington has been booked into The Catalyst for a show June 8. On that same date, the all-women psychedelic band Habibi performs at Moe’s Alley. Nashville singer-songwriter Rayland Baxter — I love this guy’s “Yellow Eyes” — comes to the Rio on May 15. Filmmaker Craig Foster — have you not seen “My Octopus Teacher”? Do it now — is also the author of a new book, and he’ll be at Bookshop Santa Cruz on May 22 to talk about it. Celebrated poet Dorianne Laux shares the stage with California’s poet laureate, Lee Herrick, at Bookshop Santa Cruz on April 2.
Be sure to check out Lookout’s carefully curated and constantly updated planning guide, Down the Line, for the staggering riches and amazing choices awaiting Santa Cruz audiences. It’s our look ahead at the best shows, concerts and events through the rest of the year at clubs, stages and venues all over the county.
Here they are, nine necessary know-abouts for the week ahead. It’s the shamrockin’ B9:
All hail the lowriders!
If you missed it last Sunday, Main Street in Watsonville was the stage of a magnificent art show. Pajaro Valley Arts and the Watsonville Film Festival opened their joint exhibition, “More Than Cars: Celebrating Lowrider Culture,” at PVA’s Porter Building gallery, followed by a thrilling “cruising” demonstration of a few dozen awesome lowrider cars, with bedazzling paint jobs and accessories, many of them “performing” with the wild hydraulic suspension that had them raising and lowering on each individual wheel.
Read more here and check out a gallery from Lookout photojournalist Kevin Painchaud.
Roy Z. gettin’ Ugly
One of my all-time favorite political satirists will be visiting town soon. He’s Roy Zimmerman, a brilliant and funny musician who wields his guitar like a scalpel in carving up injustice and political absurdity. Roy will be playing the Ugly Mug in Soquel Village on Saturday, March 23.
It’s a pretty cozy venue, but it’s ideal for a guy-and-guitar act, particularly one that has the vibe of a great stand-up performance.
Zimmerman is an underappreciated folk-music jewel (let’s not forget that Bob Dylan’s birth name is Zimmerman; just sayin’). Santa Cruz audiences particularly love him. He provided an invaluable service back during the Trump administration with his razor-sharp parodies to the tune of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and featuring collaborations with a wide number of people, including a lot from Santa Cruz.
Check him out next weekend at the Mug. You’ll be glad you did.
Eggs for ARRT
Perhaps you know the Santa Cruz group Artists Respond & Resist Together (ARRT), a politically active band of local artists that formed in response to the Trump administration taking power several years ago.
The artists of ARRT are calling upon local volunteers to help them decorate eggs — a common pastime this time of year — to raise money for women’s reproductive rights.
The artists will host three days of egg painting next week, Monday through Wednesday, March 18-20, at the Live Oak studio of artist Myra Eastman from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Those eggs will be offered up at an art show on Saturday, March 30, at M.K. Contemporary Art in downtown Santa Cruz, all to raise funds for the Berkeley-based grassroots organization Walk the Walk.
If you’re interested in doing some egg decorating for a cause, materials and instruction will be provided, but be sure to let Myra know you’re coming and when at myra@myraeastman.com.
A peek into campus arts
UC Santa Cruz is opening the doors to its art department this Friday for curious/nosy outsiders. The event happens at the end of each quarter on campus, all to give the general public a sense of what’s going on in the imaginations of UCSC’s artist classes.
The free open house takes place Friday from noon to 4 p.m. at the Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center on campus, between Theater Arts and Digital Arts & New Media, if you know the campus. Be aware, some of this art might have mature themes, nudity and/or strong language … well, let’s hope so.
Earworm of the Week
In a just world, the great Peter Rowan — headlining the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival this weekend — would be a Hank Williams/Bob Dylan figure in American music. But alas, the bluegrass master must be content with a small but devoted following. Rowan’s career has been nothing short of amazing in its breadth and depth, as a collaborator and a visionary songwriter. One of the most haunting albums I’ve ever heard from anyone is Rowan’s criminally overlooked 1993 album “Awake Me in the New World,” a song cycle that would make a wonderful staged musical, all about that world-shaking moment when Columbus made first contact in the “new” world, told through the eyes of a lowly cabin boy. The Caribbean-flavored album evokes the romance of the open sea in a very 15th-century way. But the mood isn’t always dreamy, as the mournful “For Gods, For Kings, For Gold” makes clear. This isn’t some historical artifact. It’s a purely artistic vision of what happened when Europeans and their gods of dominion first met people who had no name for weapons. To get a taste, let’s start with the album’s opening track, “Shaman’s Vision,” in hopes that it will, like a great sailing ship, carry you away.
Three Things
Here it is, our highly subjective, weirdly specific new feature, Three Things to Love in Santa Cruz County. And yes, we’re open to your suggestions:
- Stunning murals are everywhere in this county, but one of my favorite series of murals are the reproductions of classic apple crate labels on large surfaces throughout downtown Watsonville, 15 in all. Next time you’re there, seek them out. Here’s how.
- The Vanilla Joe brew, from Sante Adairius Rustic Ales in Capitola, infused with Verve coffee, may be a tasty treat. But when, exactly, am I supposed to drink it? Is there an hour of the day when “too late for coffee” and “too early for beer” overlap?
- Yes, the neon “Time to Shop” clock outside Shopper’s Corner is pretty sweet. But a very similar neon clock outside JJ’s Saloon and Social Club in Soquel Village is fire. (Uh, anyone under 30, am I using that term right?)
That’s all I got, friends. Come at me with comments, ideas, complaints, or thundering insights. Thanks to all Lookout members for your faith and support, and please, spread the word on what we’re doing.