Music

I’ve seen Mike Blanchard of the Californios referred to as a “renaissance man.” I don’t think it’s overstating it to say that he’s even more than that. Singer, songwriter, progenitor of Rust magazine and the owner of Barber Shop Automotive on 16th Street (you know that place with all of…

Do you usually remember where you were on the 21st night of September? No? Well, you can if you attend this year’s City of Trees music festival put on by Alt 94.7. This year, Calabasas-based veteran rock band Incubus will be headlining the festival. They’re stopping by in the midst…

Dub Trio founding members Stu Brooks (bass) and DP Holmes (guitar) grew up in the Great White North of Canada, but met while attending college on the East Coast. While in their previous band, Actual Proof in New York, Brooks and Holmes were in need of a drummer and put…

With two decades of music behind them, Hot Chip are a staple of synth-pop. Now the silver-hairs on the dance floor, founding members Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor met as schoolmates in the United Kingdom. A few years later, they added three more members, including synth player Al Doyle (also…

Somewhere near Morongo Canyon en route to Joshua Tree, Paul Quattrone can’t help but admire the scenery as he winds along the desert highway. “I’m from Pittsburgh, so whenever I see palm trees, cactus or a yucca tree, it still blows my mind to this day,” he says. Quatrrone, whom…

Life on the road can be a very different experience each time you hit the beaten path. You could line up 100 bands who took the same route, and who played the same venues and each would have an entirely unique experience. Hell, even a singular trip from Sac to…

This Labor Day, bring your holiday weekend to a soulful close by celebrating the local chapter of Motown on Mondays’ fifth anniversary with a blow-out block party at LowBrau (1050 20th St., Sacramento). In addition to Sacramento-based DJs Epik and Billy Lane, and Motown on Mondays founder and resident DJ…

“Where are you from?” is a deceptively difficult question for many bands. Sitting at a table outside Insight Coffee, Cameron Nunez, Marcus Cisneros and Tim Feerick of post-hardcore band Wolf and Bear quickly settle on Sacramento. But they and their bandmates Tyler Watt, Josh Unitt and Jacob Koval trace their…

Say goodbye to MOMO Sacramento and hello to The Starlet Room. The upstairs space located directly above and owned by the iconic downtown Sacramento venue Harlow’s (2708 J St.), known for many years as MOMO Sacramento, is getting rebranded as The Starlet Room. The space has had many lives. It…

From being classically trained on trumpet as a child, to creating and recording songs on an old answering machine in elementary school, Brooklyn’s Kota the Friend has always been connected to music one way or another. On his new album FOTO, Kota the Friend shares his process of battling depression…