Hi friends,
It’s time to spring forward the clocks on Sunday morning for the spring time change. Considering the election horrors that await us, I’d sign up for a spring forward to 2025 right about now.
Now, on with the show.
This Just In!
The amazing Gipsy Kings land at Kaiser Permanente Arena for a big show May 19. The punk band Drain, formed in Santa Cruz a decade ago, headlines their hometown with a big June 15 date at the Santa Cruz Civic. The famed a cappella group Take 6 will play two shows at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center the evening of June 24. Pulitzer Prize finalist author Hernan Diaz will come to the Quarry Amphitheater at UCSC as part of the Humanities Institute’s Deep Read program May 19. The local fashion show known as FashionTEENS returns to the Rio on April 19. The great blues piano man Rev. Billy C. Wirtz returns to Santa Cruz with a date at the Kuumbwa on April 6. And keep an eye out for a satirical “garage-rock musical,” from the creative mind of artist Laura February Strange, on April 28 at the Kuumbwa.
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 spring-forward B9:
Goodman’s California evening
It turns out that KSQD board chair and Cabrillo College journalism teacher Rachel Anne Goodman has been living a double life as a singer-songwriter. It’s in that guise that Rachel is looking forward to the debut of her new CD, “California Morning,” which she’ll celebrate with a special concert alongside the fine guitarist Steve Palazzo.
“California Morning” was recorded in two places (only one of which is in California): Santa Cruz and Dingle, a coastal town in the southwest of Ireland. The new album includes contributions from famed bluegrass mandolin player John Reischman, who visited Rachel at producer/musician Joe Weed’s local studio, and several Irish players she met while in Dingle.
Rachel’s orientation as a songwriter is much in the tradition of Kate Wolf and Nanci Griffith. The new album very much comes from an acoustic/folk/bluegrass place, and she’s gotten positive attention for it in bluegrass circles.
“It wasn’t intentional,” she said, “but I think there is to the songs’ references to lost places and beautiful places out in nature. One evokes the American River where I spent some time writing at a songwriting retreat. And the title cut, ‘California Morning,’ that one was inspired by getting up really early and watching these river otters feeding on giant trout right in front of me.”
You can check out “California Morning” on Spotify and other streaming platforms. Or, you can catch her live with Steve Palazzo this Saturday night at the Ugly Mug in Soquel. Showtime is 7 p.m.
Filmmaker’s big moment
It’s a big weekend upcoming for Soquel-based filmmaker Chris McGilvray, who will debut his first feature-length film, titled “Eden,” at this weekend’s Cinequest festival in San Jose. It screens Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the beautiful old California Theatre in downtown San Jose.
“Eden” is a documentary about one of Northern California’s most enduring boutique wineries, Mount Eden Vineyards in Saratoga. Seven years in the making, the documentary examines the struggles of vintners Jeffrey and Ellie Patterson as they make plans to hand down their beloved winemaking business and their estate to their heirs.
Judging by its trailer, “Eden” looks to capture the particularly cycle-of-seasons quality of winemaking as it hints at the sometimes thorny issues of family succession. McGilvray also serves as the film’s cinematographer, and the trailer gives you a good sense of his eye for the meditative moment.
Congratulations to Chris and his team, and good luck with the film.
Jewish Film Fest kicks off with classic silent
The annual Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival kicks off this year with an intriguing event. It’s a screening of a classic silent film, marking its centennial this year. “The City Without Jews” is a satirical tragi-comedy made in Austria and released in 1924 about a happy and thriving Austrian city (a thinly disguised Vienna) that becomes a dystopian nightmare after it expels its Jewish population.
The film will be presented Tuesday, March 19, at Temple Beth El in Aptos with live music accompaniment, which comes by way of pianist Donald Sosin and klezmer violin master Alicia Svigals.
“The City Without Jews” is the first of several films to be presented at this year’s SCJFF through April 27. Keep an eye on the festival schedule to stay informed about the screenings.
It’s AI time
It’s the buzzword to trump all buzzwords: Artificial intelligence is coming for us all, apparently. Next week, Santa Cruz Works is hosting a big event to look at a wide range of possibilities for AI.
“Remarkable AI” is a kind of mini-conference at the Cocoanut Grove Ballroom in Santa Cruz to take place Wednesday, March 13, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. It will feature famed author and podcaster Guy Kawasaki, along with UC Santa Cruz computer professor Jim Whitehead and Silicon Valley technologists Claire Delaunay and Sam Schillace. Topics include agricultural robots, art creation technologies, and protection against cyberattacks. The event is open to everyone.
Earworm of the Week
These days, there’s not a ton of space in whatever room in my brain that is dedicated to earworms. That’s because one song seems to be taking more than its fair share of space. It’s called “Anthem,” and it comes from the Hawaiian-born singer-songwriter Kawehi. And it’s a total banger. The song’s chorus is a sweetly polished “I believe in you,” and it’s quite seductive. But I think “Anthem” is so much fun because of looping. That’s the technology that allows an artist to record a beat, an instrument or a harmony in real time to build a song brick by brick. And Kawehi is a master at it. She’s not only a fine singer, but a terrific beatboxer and DIY audio-effects generator. The song’s official video illustrates a bit how she does it, but you can also check her out doing it live looping as well. But be forewarned. This song is a squatter. It’s going to move into your brain and stay there.
Three Things
In lieu of our weekly trivia question, we will now offer up this highly subjective, weirdly specific new feature, Three Things to Love in Santa Cruz County. And yes, we’re open to your suggestions:
- We are ridiculously rich in coffeehouses in this community. But, if you’re looking to shake up your coffeehouse routine, allow me to suggest Loft Coffee, tucked neatly between Cabrillo College and Twin Lakes Church in Aptos. Roomy, bright and airy, with a variety of seating options (and, as its name suggests, a sweet little second-floor loft), Loft Coffee opened during the pandemic and is just now hitting its stride. The coffee’s killer, too.
- The ravishing photographs of Meg Venter allow me to see the staggering beauty of Santa Cruz, as if for the first time. See them big and up close at Artisans downtown.
- As a connoisseur of local grocery stores, I had to visit the new-ish Chef’store near REI on Commercial Way. This place is really a restaurant supply store that is open to everyone, and some of the products here make Costco look positively boutique. If you dig buying sour cream in paint buckets, or sugar 50 pounds at a time, you might want to check it out.
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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.