It seems like just yesterday that Mark Growden was haunting our town, singing his ominous songs and playing his accordion at dustbowl parties, campfire get-togethers and barn revival meetings. Ever the traveling troubadour, he left within a year, but he’d made his mark. Growden and his band, including a few members that a guy named Tom Waits borrowed for a tour, recently set up shop at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center to spend a whole week rehearsing songs for their latest album, Saint Judas. Growden’s untrammeled voice, a stage player in itself, dives and rises animatedly around his songs, teasing the tremor and tempo of his crackerjack band. Just when you think he’s all rusty clamor and disarray, he switches gears with tender tunes like “If the Stars Could Sing.” He returns to town Saturday, May 8, at the North Bay Film and Art Collective. 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. 8pm. $10. www.myspace.com/northbayfac.Gabe Meline
.May 8: Mark Growden at the North Bay Film and Art Collective
