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8:30 a.m. Audubon Society Field Trip See Event Description

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8:30 a.m. Alzheimer’s Resource Center Volunteer Training See Event Description

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9 a.m. Arcata Farmers' Market Arcata Plaza

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9 a.m. Speakers' Symposium College of the Redwoods

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9 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation Speakers’ Symposium College of the Redwoods

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9 a.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens' Speakers' Symposium College of the Redwoods

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9 a.m. Fall Rummage Sale Arcata United Methodist Church

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9:30 a.m. AAUW Meeting See Event Description

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9:30 a.m. Little River State Beach Restoration See Event Description

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9:30 a.m. Sierra Club Headwaters Hike See Event Description

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10 a.m. Lanphere Dunes Guided Walk See Event Description

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10 a.m. 5th Annual Synergy Fair Arcata Community Center

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10 a.m. Go Green and Boost Your Bottom Line Wharfinger Building

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11 a.m. Sustaining Excellence and Enthusiasm in Health, Relationships and Work Carlo Theater (Dell'Arte)

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noon KEET's Kids Club Morris Graves Museum of Art

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1:30 p.m. Humboldt County Historical Society Humboldt County Library

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2 p.m. Arcata Marsh Field Trip Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary Interpretive Center

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4 p.m. Woodside Preschool’s 36th Wine and Ale Tasting Gala Adorni Recreation Center

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4:30 p.m. Harvest Dinner and Bazaar Humboldt Grange

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5 p.m. A Toast to Music Christ Episcopal Church

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5:30 p.m. Elvis and the Hound Dogs + Stolen Taxi Trinidad Town Hall

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6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds Chapala Cafe

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6 p.m. Arts Alive! Various Locations

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6 p.m. Day of the Dead Exhibition Ink People Center for the Arts

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6 p.m. Bar None 10th Anniversary Eureka Labor Temple

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6 p.m. Randy Spicer Piante Gallery

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6 p.m. Gallery Open for Arts Alive! Four Paths Gallery and Studio

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6:30 p.m. ShinBone (Blues R&B) Eureka Theater

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7 p.m. Mike Craighead and Sari Baker Old Town Coffee & Chocolates

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7 p.m. Harvest Concert Arcata Presbyterian Church

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7 p.m. 2 Left Feet Dance Project Redwood Raks World Dance Studio

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7:30 p.m. Joe & Me Cafe Mokka

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7:30 p.m. Cyrano de Begerac Eureka High School Auditorium

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7:30 p.m. Torch Song Summit Eureka Women's Club

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7:30 p.m. Jeff DeMark and the LaPatinas Westhaven Center for the Arts

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8 p.m. Stones in His Pockets Arcata Playhouse

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8 p.m. Humboldt Bay Brass Band Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU

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9 p.m. Synergy Six Rivers Brewery

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9 p.m. Arts Alive! with Akaboom Sound Pearl Lounge

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9 p.m. Tempest WAVE @ blue lake casino

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9 p.m. Back In The Daze Dance Party Central Station Cocktail Lounge

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9 p.m. Swingin' Country Band (country) Bear River Casino

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9 p.m. The Zygoats + Alder Camp (rock) The Lil' Red Lion

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9 p.m. DJ Knutz (funk) Muddy's Hot Cup

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10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines

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10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge

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10 p.m. These United States (indie folk) Humboldt Brews

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11 p.m. Hellbound Glory The Alibi Lounge and Restaurant

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previous columns

Feb. 19, 2009

Auf der Strecke (On the Line)

Directed by Reto Caffi

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Feb. 12, 2009

Get Guilty

By A.C. Newman. Matador.

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Feb. 5, 2009

Merriweather Post Pavilion

By Animal Collective. Domino.

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  • 'Keep It Hid' 'Keep It Hid'
<em>Keep It Hid</em>

Keep It Hid

By Dan Auerbach. Nonesuch.

By Mark Shikuma

Former Replacements frontman, vocalist and songwriter Paul Westerberg has recounted how he would constantly try to record songs on his own in hopes to record a solo record. Those hopes were usually dashed by curious band members asking Westerberg what he was up to. Eventually the song would become a Replacements song. But if you're Akron-based singer, songwriter and guitarist Dan Auerbach, leader of the blues rock-heavy Black Keys, it's not as difficult squirrel things away for a solo project, since he only has one other band member, drummer Patrick Carney, to slip away from.

On his first solo project, Keep It Hid, Auerbach seems liberated to create songs from a wide swath of influences -- including country, folk, psychedelia and pop -- that don't quite fit into the typical Black Keys sound. Recorded at his newly built studio, Akron Analog, Auerbach still provides the loose, rough, distorted edges to his songs, especially on bluesy swamp rockers such as "I Want Some More" or "The Prowl." But absent Carney's dynamic and in some ways overwhelming drum sound, the songs on Keep It Hid are given more room to breathe, without the density that Carney brings to the Black Keys material.

The record is book-ended by two acoustic numbers. The opening cut, "Trouble Weighs a Ton," is a country-influenced song that would be ideal for Anti label mate and country legend Merle Haggard to cover. Auerbach ends Keep It Hid with "Goin' Home," a lonesome folk piece with Dylan-esque influences that could easily fall into the "Freak Folk" catalog of, say, Devendra Banhart or Vetiver. These songs are indicative of the welcoming surprises that occur on this recording.

"Because I Should" has a strangely Brill Building-like foundation. It's filled with intricate parts, both in the melody and chord structure, which tend more toward the aforementioned 1960s style of pop. Auerbach's execution disguises such pop influences with distorted, dirty fringes, which mark his distinction as a songwriter. "My Last Mistake" is the brightest song that Auerbach has ever offered, even down its Beatles-like minor chord ending. He's willing to parade all of his musical influences with such earnestness, one is inclined to even allow for the blatant Stooges' "1969" homage, "Street Walkin,' while bobbing the head, with a sly smile.

Also recorded and engineered by Auerbach, Keep It Hid displays his eclectic depth as a songwriter -- even after writing the bulk of five full-length records for the Black Keys. Joined by drummer Bob Cesare (who also assisted on the engineering), Jessica Lea Mayfield and Auerbach's uncle, James Quine (cousin to the late Lou Reed/Voidoid guitarist Robert Quine), Auerbach has released a personal recording that is impressive, engaging and surprising.

Mark Shikuma

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