It’s a Family Affair
PRETTY PAIN PLEASE: Whatever you do, don’t
think about the White Stripes — this band’s dueling male-female
vocals make Jack and Meg look like the Osmonds. The
Prids — led by Portland rockers David
Frederickson and Mistina Keith
(pictured) — describe their sound as “articulate, gloomy post-punk”
influenced by the likes of British acts Comsat Angels, the Sound,
and Wire. (That means something along the lines of Bauhaus and New
Order for the uninitiated.) And most unlike those faux siblings the
Whites, Frederickson and Keith actually cop to being former spouses
who stayed together for the sake of the music. Be thankful they
did. For these two, the decision to rock is a life dedication.
Frederickson even dropped his prior bandmates to pair up with the
raw and previously untrained Keith in the mid ’90s. They eventually
took on Eric Hold on keyboard and Joey
Maas on drums, and ever since, the Prids have been
unleashing sensitive, moody songs and rising out of the darkness at
the kind of holes-in-the-wall where you’d expect this kind of music
to fester. The Prids’s most recent release, …Until the World Is
Beautiful, hit shelves earlier this month. Those yearning for
the darker side of rock can catch the Prids at their darkest, at
our own hole-in-the-wall, The Hard to Find (HTF), on Sunday, July
23, at 7 p.m. Opening acts include HTF regulars Numbers
Like Dinosaurs and The Hero and the
Victor. — Drew Mackie
BURLY BURLEIGH: Thirty years after performing
with artists like Jackson Browne, Jack Tempchin, Bill Medley, and
Tom Waits, singer/songwriter Burleigh Skidmore and
his three-piece band will perform at Rocks tonight (Thursday, July
20). The multi-decade hiatus was initiated as a pact between the
young Burleigh and his wife Loryn Jacobs upon getting married in
1976 and deciding that a traveling rock-band dad wasn’t in the
cards for their would-be family. Now a grown man with three adult
children, Burleigh is back in action, ready to give a new audience
the upbeat, positive, country-rock and ballads that we crave. His
singer/songwriter daughter Chelsea Skidmore will
open the evening, one of her first as a songwriter.
— Lynne Simpson
SIBLINGS AND SURF: This Friday, July 21,
Legends Bar and Lounge will amp up its acoustics to present four
rounds of live music, including the sibling duo called
Grace Harbor (which features Nate
and Liz Williams), Adjoa, an
acoustic set from Ryan Strassburg, and surfing
songwriter Tavis Bohlinger. Bohlinger, whose
sounds are inspired by Jack Johnson and Coldplay, said his music
tells the story of a romantic encounter. “[It’s like] when somebody
you have a crush on walks in the same crowded room, and your heart
jumps a beat and your hands get clammy, your mouth gets dry,” he
explained. — Megan Snedden
HATCHIN’ LOVE: Progressive-rock band the
Love X Nowhere performs its smooth, psychedelic
jams at SOhO tonight (Thursday, July 20). Straight out of San
Francisco, LXN harmonizes genres of the classic Pink Floyd and Led
Zeppelin eras, creating a molasses-heavy groove mixed with steady
poetic lyrics. Also playing is the pop, funk, soul, and country
fusion band Hatch, an up-and-coming group that was
once called “one of the most exciting unsigned bands in both the
Los Angeles and St. Louis music circuits.” The Hatch has opened for
Live, Josh Kelly, and Ingram Hill.
— LS
RUN RABBIT RUN: There’s something about deserts
that make people crazy. Nowhere is that more true than in the
“hi-desert” of Joshua Tree, the homeland of the kookily creative
band named Gram Rabbit. Comprised of
110-degree-hot frontwoman Jesika von Rabbit,
guitarists Todd Rutherford and Eric
Jonasson, and drummer Austin Place, the band’s fusion of
electronica, hard rock, and obscure lyrical imagery (“bloody
bunnies on the wall,” for instance) makes for excellent listening,
as their debut album Music to Start a Cult To and this
year’s Cultivation make clear. But their live shows — with
dressed-up bunnies and related theatrics — are supposed to be even
better. See for yourself when they play The Mercury Lounge in Old
Town Goleta on Friday, July 21. — Matt
Kettmann
CHURCH HALL BLUES: During the past three years,
Trinity Backstage has brought poets and protesters to the intimacy
of its church hall as coffeehouse setting. This month,
Caroline Aiken and guitar will saunter onstage for
what Backstage maven Kate Wallace calls
jaw-dropping musicianship. Described in her native Atlanta as the
music scene’s “bohemian godmother,” Aiken’s bluesy sound and
soulful voice have influenced a generation of musicians, including
the Indigo Girls. Aiken has just returned from a tour of Europe,
and her stop in Santa Barbara is part of a swing through West Coast
venues. So head to Trinity this Saturday night at 8 p.m.
— Felicia M. Tomasko
ANDREW’S CREW: The Guitar Chameleon — a k a
S.B. native Andrew Jackson — unveils a new crew on
Friday, July 21, with a show at El Presidio Chapel. Jackson, who
for years has shared the stage with finger-style guitarists, is
reaching out with this show, joining classically trained violinist
Barbara Coventry, flamenco vocalist Lily
Wilson, and the “acoustahop” outfit
Change, with Billy Mandarino and
Justin Michael playing harmonious acoustic music
mixed with free-flowing raps. It starts at 7:30 p.m.
— MK
