The Setlist

There’s the old saying that goes, “You can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been.” I think Jesus said that. There’s also a slightly less older saying that goes, “Well, we know where we’re goin’, but we don’t know where we’ve been.” That was David Byrne of the Talking Heads. I’m […]

In Humboldt County we rarely experience a joy greater than that of the outside world noticing how awesome we are. Whether it is the Washington Post naming Humboldt the second most beautiful county in the country (somehow behind Mugu-Rock-having Ventura County) or some other national rag documenting Eureka as having the most artists per capita, […]

To everything there is a season, a purpose, and a time. It may be short, or it may be long, but undoubtedly time continually hurries on. I don’t really know what that means, but I’m sure whomever I plagiarized understood. Let’s just say it’s about seasons and cycles and changes. A couple of changes present […]

Like a lot of you, I’m a sucker for a good story and enjoy being filled in on topical issues by smart people, which means listening to podcasts on long drives is my usual go-to. But last week, while traveling home from San Francisco, I instead put on a (very extensive) playlist of familiar songs […]

If you’re not familiar with the self-coined “Beach Goth” of the Growlers, imagine a “distinctive melding of reverb-heavy surf guitar and Bakersfield-style honky tonk with ’80s post-punk” — which is maybe not the easiest thing to create in your mind, so maybe think the Clash meets Gogol Bordello. At the beach. Look — the band […]

Many musicians will tell you that summer in Humboldt County can be a rough time of year for working bands. Nothing stops completely on the coast, but it sure slows down a lot. With the mythical Humboldt State University student back home in San Diego showing off his or her new Bernie Sanders shirt and […]

Is it the dog days of summer now? Or just the slow gathering of the entertainment storm preparing to unleash upon the return of the student crowd? In any case, pickings are a bit slimmer this week, but the possibilities no less varied. Thursday This show is sure to be enjoyable Indiana band Traveling Broke […]

As promised, the Rubberneckers’ reunion show was all that and then some. Half original members plus half longtime local rockers incorporated into the madness equaled a whole lot of fun. The nostalgia, celebration and pure love had the crowd in a frenzy. Tainted Zucchini featured butt cheeks and body writing. Three sheriff’s deputies showed up. […]

The Rubberneckers have never needed an invite, official or otherwise, to bring a night home. So it’s completely logical that not only would the raucous formerly-of-Blue-Lake cowpunks time a visit to coincide with the annual Humboldt Folklife Festival, but that they’d play shows around the fest’s finale — at the Logger Bar, of course. For […]

Most days I look at Facebook as one of the following things: 1.) a tool for seeing what far-off friends are up to; 2.) a means of communication many of my friends seem determined to use exclusively; 3.) a useful way to glean shows for this here music column. Like, it’s fine, Facebook, but this […]