Honeysuckle Rose 

I've been watching old movies and listening to even older songs lately — no surprise there —mostly dipping into the early British career of Alfred Hitchcock and the tunes of Fats Waller. Let me tell you, innuendo was a magical thing before the squares and moral morons figured things out and got (only just) wise enough to the act to censor everything. Check out the lyrics to the song I named this week's column after to see what I mean. Sweet love song, meet bawdy subtext. Which should be fine and dandy for anyone alive enough to appreciate the joys of living. Even the Holy Bible has the Song of Songs, a paean to erotic love, the interpretation of which depends entirely on the religious background (if any) of the reader. I bring this up not to titillate, but rather as an appreciation of the uplifting aspects of what looks like an early spring whose blooms appear to be experiencing a particularly wet and messy birth. I'm nothing if not old-fashioned and I enjoy art steeped in metaphors from nature, even as nature itself is being altered by the species creating those metaphors. Anyway, lots of good music out there this week, traditional and otherwise.

Thursday

If you've got the itch for something lively to brighten your night as the winter begins its landing into spring, you might want to check out the Basement tonight at 8 p.m. There you will find the Elderberry Rust String Band playing the kind of bluegrass and Americana music made to stoke the fires and get the sap flowing. No cover at the door, but consider bringing some bucks for the band and the bar.

Friday

Humbrews is hosting a night of local skanking and grooves when ska-mongers Checkered Past join forces with Caribbean Jazz Odyssey to keep the dancefloor bouncing. It's $10 to get in, 9 p.m. is the advertised starting time and DJ Burnt Reynolds will preside over the in-between vibes.

Saturday

The New Pelicans are somewhat of a phoenix-like group, having risen from the ashes of our late local folk country band The Handshakers with four of its members in the lineup, including guitarists and singer/songwriters Mike Bynum and Michael Walker, the latter a master luthier as well. The sound hits all the beloved notes of our sublime American music traditions from the Mississippi delta to the Blue Ridge mountains. The crew is playing two sets at the Eagle House tonight beginning at 7 p.m. ($10), with the second set featuring the languid vocals and multi-instrumental prowess of local treasure Beverly Twist, whom you should recognize from Canary and the Vamp. This is going to be a special crossover event and one to miss at your peril if you are a fan of roots music made by some of the best players this area has to offer.

If you are still craving an early show but are, for whatever reason, trapped in Arcata, at the same hour at the Jam you will find the return of Captured! By Robots, the long-running animatronic metal band where the backing musicians are (probably) actually mostly metal. With the exception of lead singer JBot — aka mastermind Jay Vance — all instrumental duties are handled by his soulless humanoid cohorts. It's a fun and disorienting show, like a carny attraction from after the apocalypse. Local skate punk champs Imperial Destructo provides local support. It's $15 at the door and all-ages if you want to bring the kiddies.

Sunday

Hawaii comes to Humboldt tonight at Fulkerson Hall at 7 p.m., when acclaimed producer Daniel Ho joins up with actress and musician Tia Carrere and slack-key and 12-string guitar master George Kahumoku Jr. for an evening of some of the most haunting and lovely music on the planet. I am talking about the open-tuned beauty of Hawaiian music, and having seen Mr. Kahumoku Jr. previously, I can vouch for his taste and vast talent. While Ms. Carrere is probably best known to casuals from my generation as the love interest of Wayne Campbell in Wayne's World and its sequel, both of those films only brushed against her formidable talent in the singing scenes, and Mr. Ho is no slouch himself. This should be a real treat ($40 general, $10 Cal Poly Humboldt students).

Monday

Bolero! from San Francisco is a group dedicated to remembering the psychedelic rock sounds and Latin vibes that briefly made that city a beacon of youth culture in the 1960s and 1970s. A memory stone from an age before four decades of Reaganomics and venture capital turned that once-beautiful peninsula into a shittier version of Detroit/Delta City from Robocop. You can capture some of that lost magic for yourself in the Miniplex tonight at 8 p.m., when the band teams up with The Mad Alchemy Liquid Light Show, a genuine immersive visual experience overseen by a chap named Lance Gordon who's been Mad Hatter-ing this stuff since the first wave. Local cumbia masters Makenu fill out the bill nicely, don't sleep on this one ($15).

Tuesday

Emily Robb's latest release If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection is a rolling tone jeremiad preaching the lost gospel virtues of Old Testament instrumental guitar sounds. Fuzz and vibrato scraps of treble-sliding hacksaw blues are fleshed into a chaotic prophet's new vision of revelation. Basically, an evening of rapture for all lovers of sonic electric guitar possibilities. This fantastic Philadelphia musician finds herself at the Miniplex tonight at 8 p.m. with an excellent local supporting act, Winter Band, featuring members of Comets on Fire and the amazing singer/guitarist Meg Baird ($10).

Wednesday

Denver, Colorado's Sunsquabi are a power trio of rock-tronica jamsters who mix and meld bass, drums and guitars with keys, laptops and drum pads, creating a groove-friendly bounce house for fun seekers everywhere. The crew is setting up shop tonight at the Arcata Theatre Lounge, one of the best venues around for this sort of thing. Along for the ride are Oakland EDM and trap duo Modern Future, and K+Lab, a solo artist from New Zealand who produces some banger electronica dance tracks. Catch it all at 7 p.m. ($20, $15 advance).

Collin Yeo (he/him) says there's no sunshine like wet sunshine. He lives in Arcata, where there's a lot of that around.