For the past four years, Jason Nett has served as composer-in-residence for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, writing modern classical pieces that aren’t “modern classical.” In other words, they contain melody and structure. In Vancouver, Nett often showcased his works in small theaters, and he’s getting even more intimate for his show in Napa this weekend. Influenced largely by rock music, Nett’s Sonic Bloom Orchestra (not to be confused with the Sonoma County hip-hop group Sonicbloom) is a chamber-music ensemble far more suited to nightclubs than the stuffy concert stage. Nett, a multi-instrumentalist who plays drums and guitar, calls Silo’s “the perfect venue” where “the intimacy of the room allows the audience to sit just feet away from the players.” After dabbling in symphony, opera and choral work, Nett’s success in chamber music should prove a foregone conclusion. See his up close and personal on Saturday, May 1, at Silo’s Jazz Club, 530 Main St., Napa. 8pm. $35. 707.251.5833.Gabe Meline
Mistah F.A.B., the Oakland rapper who is poised to outlast any trend the Bay Area might happen to throw his way, is serving quite the test of patience. After the release of Da Baydestrian, in 2007. F.A.B. still has yet to see the release of his Atlantic Records debut. The frustration is compounded in part by a copyright claim by Columbia Pictures and a longtime personal beef with KMEL’s music director. But anyone on the streets knows that F.A.B. is the real deal—a smart, articulate rapper whose freestyle abilities are matched by his charity work and community outreach in the East Bay. If you can forgive his recent misstep “Hit Me on Twitter”—a trending track basically jacked from The-Dream’s “I Luv Your Girl”—F.A.B.’s got an arsenal of bulletproof hits. Hear “N.E.W. Oakland,” “Super Sic Wit It,” “Ghost Ride It” and “Slappin’ in the Trunk” when Mistah F.A.B. hits the stage on Friday, April 30, at 19 Broadway Niteclub. 19 Broadway, Fairfax. 9pm. $25. 415.459.1091.Gabe Meline 
The North Bay Film and Art Collective is on everyone’s lips these days, and usually it’s not because of film or art, but music! That’s the case this weekend when Brothers Horse and theIditarod play a Masquerade Ball featuring the artwork of Joe Leonard and Ruth Alison Donovan. The NBFAC has been tossed around as a possible site for the soon-to-be-homeless Rialto Cinemas, but don’t hold your breath—the owners of the building plan to rename it the Arlene Francis Foundation’s Center for Spirit, Art and Politics. “The Center’s activities,” reads the mission statement, “reflect a vision of social change based on the idea that we must create a ‘Parallel Universe’ to the current society, within the current society, that can begin to pre-figure the world that we wish to bring into existence, and by the hope and positive force that we ourselves generate, draw others to our work and serve to inspire others to create similar efforts.” Whew! Before the big change, whenever it may come, get there for the Masquerade Ball on Friday, April 30, at the North Bay Film and Art Collective. 99 Sixth St., Santa Rosa. 7pm. $7 with costume; $10 without. www.myspace.com/northbayfac.Gabe Meline
“Energy crisis.” “Tax relief.” “Voter revolt.” These are everyday phrases that we read in newspapers and take for granted. UC Berkeley professor of linguistics and cognitive science George Lakoff doesn’t. As the author of several books on language and politics, including the excellent Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate, Lakoff takes progressives to task for accepting and perpetuating the framework of language set forth by conservative think tanks. Take “tax relief,” for example—one gets relief from sickness, from disease, from exhaustion. In this single phrase, adopted during the Bush administration, conservatives were able to dictate taxes as a plague instead of a patriotic duty. Lakoff appears in conversation with Marin author Joan Ryan on Wednesday, April 28, at 142 Throckmorton Theatre. 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 7:30pm. $12–$15. 415.383.9600.Gabe Meline 
Reggae, reggae, everywhere, and not a drop to drink. That’s how it’s been in the Napa Valley, whose reggae fans have had to drive an hour or more to see the actual stuff live and onstage instead of on Vimeo. That drought is over this weekend with the introduction of Reggae in the Valley, an all-day festival of positive vibes and conscious rhythms at the fairgrounds. In what will hopefully be an annual event, over seven reggae acts are scheduled to usher in the summertime festival season. Among them are David Kirtan from Barbados, Ras Indio from Belize, Ishi Dube from India and acts from California’s own turf, including Rocker T, Mystic Roots, Midnight Sun. There’s even Napa’s own C. R. Vibes. It all goes down on Saturday, April 24, at the Napa Valley Expo Fairgrounds. 575 Third St., Napa. 4pm to 11pm. $20–$25. 707.225.5649.Gabe Meline 
The East Bay foursome the Shants were just taking a lazy weekend trip up to Monte Rio, that’s all. Some hiking, some barbecuing, maybe strumming some new tunes. But the magic charm of the redwoods took hold, and lackadaisical pleasures turned to musical endeavors. In a rustic cabin, the band set up some microphones and captured eight songs live, full of such immediacy that they’ve been officially released as Russian River Songs. Though now residing in Oakland, members of the Shants come from such locales as South Louisiana, Minnesota and here in California. “I figure we sound exactly like those geographies,” writes frontman Skip Allums. “Sad, lush and vibrant; bleak and windy; and sunshine and green hills.” They return to Sonoma County on Saturday, April 24, at the Lagunitas Tap Room. 1280 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. 3pm. Free. 707.778.8776.Gabe Meline 
It happens every year, and we can’t figure out why: Sebastopol’s Apple Blossom Festival always takes place on the same day and at the same time as Petaluma’s Butter & Eggs Day. Must we Sonoma County residents be forced to choose? Both boast plenty of food, frivolity and fun, so it’s not a tough decision for the festivalgoer. Who really hurt are the kids in band class expected to march in both parades. After all, they’ve got to line up in Sebastopol for the 10am parade, march down Main Street, hop on a bus and drive to Petaluma, line up on Fourth Street, march through downtown and whew! All this in a hot uniform and sometimes lugging a very heavy instrument to boot! Let’s hear it for the kids when both festivals take place on Saturday, April 24. Main Street and Ives Park in Sebastopol; downtown Petaluma. 10am–5pm. Free.Gabe Meline 
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