events
Tomorrow, 8:30 p.m. Redwood Raks World Dance Studio, 824 L St., Arcata. Whimsical all-ages animal-themed benefit for Nighshade Serenade. Music by Gunsafe, fire show, animal hijinx by Blue Angel Burlesque, bellydancing and silent auction. $10. E-mail megjclarke@hotmail.com. 832-8973.
art
Tomorrow, 3-9 p.m. Earth Gallery, 436 maple lane, Garberville. Collection of hand pulled prints from the ‘60s to late ‘90s. www.facebook.com/earthgallery. 923-1121.
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. www.KineticGrandChampionship.com. 889-3024.
theater
Today, Tomorrow, Saturday, 8 p.m. Carlo Theater, 131 H St., Blue Lake. Students of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre’s Class of 2011 presents seven 10-minute plays. www.dellarte.com. 668-5663.
What:
Put together a banjo, guitar and mandolin and you have the makings of a bluegrass band, or in the case of Greensky Bluegrass, a jammy, rockin’ stringband with distortion pedals (with “bluegrass” in its name).
When we caught up with Greensky Bluegrass guitarist Dave Bruzza, the band was in Jackson Hole, “on the ski portion of our tour,” as he put it. Next stop Montana for the Big Sky Big Grass Bluegrass Festival. How does a jamgrass band like Greensky fit in at a bluegrass fest?
“Well, we have a banjo,” said Bruzza with a laugh. “We’re more of a rock ‘n’ roll band now, but when we started we played bluegrass, traditional tunes by Bill Monroe, Flat and Scruggs, stuff like that. But we’ve really evolved into a unique sounding quintet.”
It started in Kalamazoo, Mich. Drummer-turned-guitarist Bruzza ran into guitarist-turned-banjo player Mike Bont on the open mic circuit. They met Paul Hoffman, who had picked up a mandolin. “He wanted to learn how to play bluegrass,” Bruzza recalled. “We kept playing; it turned into a band and we got some gigs. It just kept going.”
The start was around 2000. “In 2002, O Brother Where Art Thou came out and that made it more appealing to the masses,” said Bruzza. “Of course hippies and Deadheads always loved it.”
A decade of relentless touring, 200 or so shows a year, took Greensky to the upper echelons of jammy string music with some notable stops along the way: In 2006 the band won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band competition; it has since played Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Northwest String Summit and on NPR’s Mountain Stage.
“The past five years have been really big for us,” said Bruzza. “We hit the road, played all the big festivals we could, wrote a lot of songs and put out some decent albums. I’d say our songwriting and our style speaks for itself. We let things go a bit longer and explore a bit more, experimenting more than most stringbands, that’s for sure. I think we have a different sound compared to other bluegrass — or whatever you want to call it.”
What should you call it? Decide for yourself when Greensky Bluegrass takes a break from festing Tuesday to play at Humboldt Brews.
-Bob Doran
When/where:
| Dates | |
| Time | 9:30 p.m. |
| Phone | 707-826-2739 |
| Venue | Humboldt Brews |
| Cost | $12.00 |
| Age restriction | 21+ |
| Web site |
events / 8:30 p.m. Redwood Raks World Dance Studio, 824 L St., Arcata. Whimsical all-ages animal-themed benefit for Nighshade Serenade. Music by Gunsafe, fire show, animal hijinx by Blue Angel Burlesque, bellydancing and silent auction. $10. E-mail megjclarke@hotmail.com. 832-8973.
