Sept. 6: MDC at North Bay Film and Art Collective

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He was a member of the Petaluma Jak’s skateboard team, a guitarist for the band Free Cowboy Hats, a constant presence behind the concession stand at the Phoenix Theater and a tireless supporter of local bands. More than this, Kristof “Goose” Gross was one of the most sincere and kind-hearted people I’ve known. His funeral in Mill Valley this year brought people together in beer salutes and songs, but what he really would have loved was knowing that MDC, one of his favorite punk bands, would agree to play a remembrance for him. In 1988, MDC played the Cotati Cabaret, where singer Dave Dictor stripped off his clothes and traded underwear with a girl; last year in Santa Rosa, they were polite as your mom. Kristof, of course, took pictures, smiled and sang along in the front row the entire time. It’s a fitting tribute when MDC play with Litany for the Whale, Fistifuks and Semi-Evolved Simians on Sunday, Sept. 6, at the North Bay Film and Art Collective. 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. 7pm. $7. 707.542.2925.Gabe Meline 

Sept. 5: Monster String Quartet at the Dance Palace

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Fresh from a residency at Alasdair Fraser’s summer fiddle camp, fiddle maestro and instructor Darol Anger brings his Monster String Quartet this weekend to West Marin. The “monsters” in this case are three young girls in their 20s: Lauren Rioux, Brittany Haas and Natalie Haas. The sisters Haas are known best for their work with the Boston bluegrass band Crooked Still, while Rioux, from Scarborough, Maine, has a private studio of fiddle students age five to 65. All three girls have been students of Anger and members of his acclaimed Republic of Strings project. See what the stripped-down version comes up with when they pull, chop and bend the strings on Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Dance Palace. 503 B St., Point Reyes Station. 8pm. $5–$20. 415.663.1075.Gabe Meline

Sept. 3: Skee-Lo at Last Day Saloon

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Pop-rap can be a funny little cottage industry. In a subgenre defined by “Ice Ice Baby” and “U Can’t Touch This,” it’s also included surprisingly great material like “Bust a Move” and “Mama Said Knock You Out.” So while we ruminate on Jazzy Jeff, on House of Pain, on Tone Loc and Naughty by Nature, let us also tip a hat to the 1995 hit “I Wish,” by Skee-Lo, who soared up the charts by telling us that he wished he was a little bit taller and, furthermore, that he was a baller. Over 14 years later, the Los Angeles rapper, away from the game for the last nine years, opens for local Santa Rosa rap group At All Costs on a Thursday night. His upcoming album, Overdose, hopes to at least put him at top billing next time he comes around. Do the running man and wish along with him when he appears on Thursday, Sept. 3, at the Last Day Saloon. 120 Fifth St., Santa Rosa. 9:30pm. $10–$12. 707.545.2343.Gabe Meline

Aug. 30: Middle Ranch Series at C. Donatiello Winery

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If you like hanging out in beautiful vineyards, mingling with beautiful people and grooving out to that beautiful brand of indie-pop that makes you bob your head merrily and feel pretty darn good about life, you’ll want to attend C. Donatiello Winery’s Live from Middle Ranch Series. This weekend hosts the likes of Sara Bareilles, Ian Ball, Buddy, Holly Conlan and others. Headliner Bareilles is the Eureka native who scored massive popularity with the sassy piano-driven melody of “Love Song.” She falls into that pleasant musical subgenre of fresh-faced female singers who play their own instruments and write their own songs. No rehab histrionics, no auto tuner, no overproduction—just catchy tunes perfect for intimate mix tapes and romantic comedy soundtracks. Hear Bareilles with Ball, the frontman of the Britpop band Gomez, Buddy, an L.A.-based indie pop project, and Conlan, a piano-playing singer-songwriter, on Sunday, Aug. 30, at C. Donatiello Winery. 4035 Westside Road, Healdsburg. 1pm-4pm. Free; buy some wine already. 707.497.3376.Daniel Hirsh 

Aug. 29: Hot August Rockabilly Roadhouse at Hopmonk Tavern

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Whip out the fedora, grease back the hair, strap on the leather pumps and tune up the hot-rod, when the KRSH presents the Hot August Rockabilly Roadhouse. For all fans of that singular breed of retro rock and old-timey tunes, the Blasters along with standup bassist Lee Rocker are here to provide some jams worthy of rug-cutting. The Blasters draw influence from such rock ’n’ roll grand masters as Carl Perkins, Big Joe Turner, Howlin’ Wolf and James Brown. Lee Rocker, an original member of the Stray Cats, plays a mean slap bass that can swing from classic Americana to fist-pumping rock. Big Dave, host of KRSH’s weekly Rockabilly Roadhouse broadcast, provides his big persona to host the live performance. Dig it on Saturday, Aug. 29, at the Hopmonk Tavern. 230 Petaluma Ave. Sebastopol. 9pm. $25. 707.829.7300.Daniel Hirsh

Aug. 29: Blues, Brews & BBQ in Napa

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A letter to the editor recently chastened the Bohemian for running a cover story on a local barbecue chef (“Lonestar State of Mind,” Aug. 5). The bereaved reader demanded why we would celebrate the carnivorous tendencies of modern man, asking, “Why do you glorify our ignorance?” It’s a valid question. After all we know about the ethically questionable practices of the American meat industry and the giant carbon footprint caused by consuming animal flesh, it seems like we would all have evolved to vegetarianism by now, if not downright veganism. Yet there is something in the musky aroma of smoke rising from a grill with well-marinated ribs freshly laid down that makes our mammalian hearts melt to a more primal state. It may be wrong, but gosh darn it, those ribs will be delicious at Blues, Brews & BBQ, which features live music, microbrew tasting, the county’s finest winemakers competing in a rib-eating contest and lots of barbecue. Dig in on Saturday, Aug. 29, in downtown Napa. 1–6pm. Free. 707.257. 0322.Daniel Hirsh

Aug. 28-30: Napa Fresh Aire Festival at the Westin Verasa Hotel

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Imagine yourself running through a field of daisies, ambient smooth jazz is playing from somewhere and the sun is shining. Your pores—and chakras, too—are freshly exfoliated, and open from a sunrise yoga session. You are one with the universe, Vitamin Water in one hand, a bundle of bio-dynamic snacks in the other. No, this is not a dream. It could be you if you head to the Napa Fresh Aire Festival, a weekend-long event featuring an exposition of spiritual health and eco-conscious products, in-depth yoga seminars, mood music, nature appreciating, chi-aligning and a whole range of enlightened speakers, including everyone from acclaimed New Age health guru Dr. Andrew Weil to the “sexpert” authors of How to Have Magnificent Sex and Your Long Erotic Weekend. Breathe deep, baby. Things are going to get groovy Aug. 28–30 at the Westin Verasa Hotel. 1314 McKinstry St., Napa. $99–$175 with registration. 888.825.5484. www.napafreshairefest.com.Daniel Hirsh 

Aug. 27: Solo Cissokho at Throckmorton Theater

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The kora, a 21-string harp-lute used in traditional West African music, has a strangely international appeal, such as when jazz innovator Herbie Hancock used it in his 1984 album Village Life. From the tiny Senegalese ethnic minority the Mandika people, kora musician Solo Cissokho knows full well the transnational power of his instrument—at least, people in Norway seem to really like it. Based out of Oslo, Cissokho frequently collaborates with Swedish-born fiddle player Ellika Frisell. The unlikely fusion of West African harp with Scandinavian folk has proven both fruitful and sonically rich. Their collaboration on Tretakt Takissaba won a BBC World Music Award in the Boundary Crossing category. Boundary crossing, indeed. Following a performance of an entire kora orchestra, Solo Cissokho performs solo on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 142 Throckmorton Theater. 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 8pm. $15–$18. 415.383.9600.Daniel Hirsch

Aug. 21: We Three Wives in Glen Ellen

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What do a left-leaning country rocker, a poet turned chiropractor, the “Japanese Joni Mitchell” and the founder of one the country’s first rock music magazines have to do with each other? Well, they make up a unique kind of family. Paul Williams was just 17 in 1966 when he put out the first issue of Crawdaddy!, a pioneer publication committed to rock journalism. Besides being one of the first rock critics in America, a poet and an early Philip K. Dick enthusiast, Williams has also had a full love life—he married three times. First, there was singer-song writer Sachiko Kanenobu, a leading figure in Japan’s ’60s folk boom, whose 1972 album Misora became a Japanese sleeper hit in the ’90s. Then came Donna Grace Noyes, a one-time poet and actor who now practices a unique brand of chiropractics in Sonoma. Cindy Lee Berryhill Williams is a country music songstress with politically liberal ditties like “When did Jesus Become a Republican?” and is Williams’ current wife. Due to Williams’ early onset of Alzheimer’s, these three distinguished and distinct women will perform a benefit concert for the husband they evidently all still love. We Three Wives perform on Friday, Aug. 21, at a private residence. 5430 O’Donnell Lane, Glen Ellen. 7:30pm. $25. Reservation required; [email protected].Daniel Hirsch

Aug. 22-23: Cotati Accordion Festival at La Plaza Park

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Accordions ain’t just for your eccentric Romanian uncle—it seems like everybody from the Decembrists to Styx have picked up the squeezebox and are letting loose. As it has for so many years, the Cotati Accordion Festival proves the wide appeal of the bellow-driven folk instrument with joyful enthusiasm and a diverse lineup. The all-female Polkanomics mix up traditional polkas with pop rock hits of the ’50s and ’60s. Ramon Trujillo leads a six-part mariachi band with traditional tunes from Mexico. Gator Beat perform uptempo bayou beats with their zydeco jams. San Francisco–based Gaucho, known to fill hip San Francisco bars, rock a unique blend of klezmer, swing and so-called Gypsy jazz. Tango, Italian folk classics and a mysterious fellow named the Great Morgoni all squeeze and push them keys Saturday–Sunday, Aug. 22–23, at La Plaza Park. Old Redwood Highway, Cotati. 9:30am–8pm. $15–$25. 707.664.0444.Dan Hirsch

Sept. 6: MDC at North Bay Film and Art Collective

He was a member of the Petaluma Jak’s skateboard team, a guitarist for the band Free Cowboy Hats, a constant presence behind the concession stand at the Phoenix Theater and a tireless supporter of local bands. More than this, Kristof “Goose” Gross was one of the most sincere and kind-hearted people I’ve known. His funeral in Mill Valley this...

Sept. 5: Monster String Quartet at the Dance Palace

Fresh from a residency at Alasdair Fraser’s summer fiddle camp, fiddle maestro and instructor Darol Anger brings his Monster String Quartet this weekend to West Marin. The “monsters” in this case are three young girls in their 20s: Lauren Rioux, Brittany Haas and Natalie Haas. The sisters Haas are known best for their work with the Boston bluegrass band...

Sept. 3: Skee-Lo at Last Day Saloon

Pop-rap can be a funny little cottage industry. In a subgenre defined by “Ice Ice Baby” and “U Can’t Touch This,” it’s also included surprisingly great material like “Bust a Move” and “Mama Said Knock You Out.” So while we ruminate on Jazzy Jeff, on House of Pain, on Tone Loc and Naughty by Nature, let us also tip...

Aug. 30: Middle Ranch Series at C. Donatiello Winery

If you like hanging out in beautiful vineyards, mingling with beautiful people and grooving out to that beautiful brand of indie-pop that makes you bob your head merrily and feel pretty darn good about life, you’ll want to attend C. Donatiello Winery’s Live from Middle Ranch Series. This weekend hosts the likes of Sara Bareilles, Ian Ball, Buddy, Holly...

Aug. 29: Hot August Rockabilly Roadhouse at Hopmonk Tavern

Whip out the fedora, grease back the hair, strap on the leather pumps and tune up the hot-rod, when the KRSH presents the Hot August Rockabilly Roadhouse. For all fans of that singular breed of retro rock and old-timey tunes, the Blasters along with standup bassist Lee Rocker are here to provide some jams worthy of rug-cutting. The Blasters...

Aug. 29: Blues, Brews & BBQ in Napa

A letter to the editor recently chastened the Bohemian for running a cover story on a local barbecue chef (“Lonestar State of Mind,” Aug. 5). The bereaved reader demanded why we would celebrate the carnivorous tendencies of modern man, asking, “Why do you glorify our ignorance?” It’s a valid question. After all we know about the ethically questionable practices...

Aug. 28-30: Napa Fresh Aire Festival at the Westin Verasa Hotel

Imagine yourself running through a field of daisies, ambient smooth jazz is playing from somewhere and the sun is shining. Your pores—and chakras, too—are freshly exfoliated, and open from a sunrise yoga session. You are one with the universe, Vitamin Water in one hand, a bundle of bio-dynamic snacks in the other. No, this is not a dream. It...

Aug. 27: Solo Cissokho at Throckmorton Theater

The kora, a 21-string harp-lute used in traditional West African music, has a strangely international appeal, such as when jazz innovator Herbie Hancock used it in his 1984 album Village Life. From the tiny Senegalese ethnic minority the Mandika people, kora musician Solo Cissokho knows full well the transnational power of his instrument—at least, people in Norway seem to...

Aug. 21: We Three Wives in Glen Ellen

What do a left-leaning country rocker, a poet turned chiropractor, the “Japanese Joni Mitchell” and the founder of one the country’s first rock music magazines have to do with each other? Well, they make up a unique kind of family. Paul Williams was just 17 in 1966 when he put out the first issue of Crawdaddy!, a pioneer publication...

Aug. 22-23: Cotati Accordion Festival at La Plaza Park

Accordions ain’t just for your eccentric Romanian uncle—it seems like everybody from the Decembrists to Styx have picked up the squeezebox and are letting loose. As it has for so many years, the Cotati Accordion Festival proves the wide appeal of the bellow-driven folk instrument with joyful enthusiasm and a diverse lineup. The all-female Polkanomics mix up traditional polkas...
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