Downtown Sound Goes Live

BATTLE BORN: This week brings with it two nights of live music courtesy of our Downtown Sound Battle of the Bands semi-finalists. On Thursday, October 11 and Saturday, October 13, the eight bands (that’s four bands each night) that took top prize in our online voting round hit the stage at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club for a whole lot of amplified competition. On Thursday, S.B. locs Broken Machine, False Puppet, The Mutineers, and Revival State will square off. Saturday brings sets from Angelo Meatcraft Flying Machine, Freakin’ On Speakers, Jake Jeanson, and Millions. On both nights, the semi-finalists will play live with the hopes of winning the most audience votes. The two top-scoring acts from each night will then move on to the Downtown Sound Finals, also at SOhO on Thursday, October 18. Want to get in on the action? Visit newnoisesb.org for discounted pre-sale tickets and info. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the music kicks off promptly at 8 p.m.

BOWS AND ARROWS: Also this weekend, The 41st Annual Old Time Fiddler’s Convention and Festival returns to the Rancho La Patera & Stow House (304 N. Los Carneros Rd., Goleta) for a day of performances, workshops, competition, and family-friendly fiddling fun. On Sunday, October 14 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., attendees can get down to old time, Irish, bluegrass, and gypsy jazz tunes, courtesy of Laurie Lewis & the Right Hands, Cache Valley Drifters, Modal Tease, Kalinka, Jim Wimmer & Stu Mason, and many more. Kids under 17 enter for free, and all proceeds from the day benefit Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise, which facilitates local and international community service projects.

And if you’re interested in getting a head start on the action, Kalinka brings their eclectic — and fiddle-fueled — brand of gypsy jazz to Muddy Waters Café (508 E. Haley St.) on Thursday, October 11 alongside Plotz!. The show is part of Muddy’s monthly Santa Barbara New Music Series, hosted and curated by S.B.’s own Coulter Frazier. For tickets and info to the Old Time Fiddler’s Festival, visit fiddlersconvention.org. For more on the Santa Barbara new Music Series, call 966-9328 or visit colterfrazier.com/sbnewmusicseries.