Page 2 | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Petaluma Bound: Roy Rogers Slides into Town

Apr 14, 2026

Petaluma Bound: Roy Rogers Slides into Town

Seventy-five-year-old Roy Rogers answers his cell phone with a zeal and vibrancy that’s lovely and palpable to hear from someone at any age. One gets the feeling he’s just that kind of guy.

But in terms of our conversation, I’ll attribute it to his excitement about an upcoming swing of shows that kick off at Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre on Saturday, April 18.

While Rogers has never stopped touring, he has recently released his first album in more than a decade. Entitled The Sky’s the Limit, the album contains songs that are an impressive blend of his classic Delta blues rhythm slide guitar with a few songs that are straight-up rockers that also feature a sort of glossy sheen production value, something a bit different for Rogers.

“When I get in the studio, it’s really the song that shows us how we’re going to record it,” says Rogers. “You really have to let it be, don’t push it too much, know when you got it or when you know the groove wasn’t quite there yet.”

Rogers is effusive when speaking about his longtime trio The Delta Rhythm Kings, which includes bass player Steve Ehrmann and drummer Kevin Hayes. “It’s just so great when we get in the studio; these guys just get it,” he says, noting that the group can speak to one another with a shorthand including a look or a nod that only happens after decades of sharing the stage.

He is certainly no stranger to the studio, having recorded 24 albums himself over nearly 50 years, including collaborations with unique artists like Ray Manzarek and Sammy Hagar. Rogers has also produced songs and albums by Carlos Santana, Elvin Bishop, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker and Linda Ronstadt. And of course there were his many albums and shows with the late, great blues harmonica legend Norton Buffalo. Not too shabby for a kid born in Redding who grew up in Novato.

Rogers says his musical journey as a youngster was rooted in the pop rock of the ’50s and ’60s, but “Man, when I heard B.B. King, it just blew my head off,” he recalls. Thus kickstarted a love for the blues which eventually led him to becoming one of the finest and most well-respected Delta blues style guitarists of all time. His passion for the blues also eventually landed him the role of producer on John Lee Hooker’s Grammy-winning 1989 comeback album of sorts, The Healer. He recently had a reminder of the power of that album from an unexpected place.

Back in March, he was at home with his wife in Nevada City, where they now reside. They were watching the Oscar telecast. When Sinners composer Ludwig Göransson won for his work on the film, he recalled a seminal moment in his life, one in which his father brought home Hooker’s The Healer album. Rogers lights up, recalling, “Man, that was cool. Really special. I just about fell out of my chair when he said that in front of so many people.”

As the chat continues, it occurs that Rogers may have played the Mystic Theatre more than any other artist over the years, and he’s more than fine with that. “Petaluma’s a great town, and that’s a great place to play,” he notes. “I have many, many fond memories of shows there with me, the band and [Norton] Buffalo.”

When asked what fans can expect, Rogers doesn’t act coy. “We’re excited to get back out there,” he says. His lively attitude explains that much like his new album, “There will be some rockers and of course Delta blues and slide. You have to make sure to give the crowd what they paid to see but also play new things you’re excited to get out there.”

Roy Rogers and The Delta Rhythm Kings perform Saturday, April 18 at The Mystic Theatre in downtown Petaluma. More info and tickets at mystictheatre.com.

Garbage & Glam, Trashion Fashion Turns 16

Kary Hess

Apr 14, 2026

Garbage & Glam, Trashion Fashion Turns 16

There are few places where a pile of discards, such as plastic netting, aluminum cans, orphaned Barbies or an occasional Solo cup, can be reborn as couture and greeted with applause.

Sonoma Community Center’s 16th annual Trashion Fashion Runway Show, naturally, is one of them.

The crown jewel of a monthlong celebration hosted by the Sonoma Community Center returns this April, turning trash into spectacle. What began as a small gallery event has evolved into a full season—part runway show, part activism, part communal fever dream—peaking with a pair of runway events on Saturday, April 18 at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall.

“It started as a gallery exhibit of costumes made of unconventional materials,” recalls organizer Molly Spencer, tracing the event’s origin to Margaret Hatcher, a costume designer and former art manager at the Sonoma Community Center. “She thought what could be more fun but throw a little runway show and invite your friends and the community to create wearable art.”

The Art of Reinvention

What distinguishes Trashion from the broader fashion ecosystem is its mindset. Every piece begins with ecological constraints: Designers must use materials that have been previously used—rescued from the trash, recycling bins or thrift stores. From there, anything goes.

“The beauty is you do not need to be a trained designer, maker or professional artist to participate,” Spencer says. “All you need is an open mind and willingness to explore. The creativity will follow.”

This democratic ethos has helped fuel the event’s growth from a single-room experiment into a yearlong sustainability program that now includes gallery exhibitions, school outreach and visiting artists from beyond the Sonoma Valley. The runway itself has outgrown its original venue, now drawing crowds of more than 800 across two shows.

And yet, for all its expansion, the core remains intact. “What remains the same is the Sonoma Community Center and Sonoma Valley community’s support of the arts, volunteerism and a source of pride for this truly one of a kind event,” Spencer says.

Judging the Unjudgeable

If the designers face the challenge of transforming waste into wearable art, the judges face something potentially trickier: deciding what makes one collection of transformed recyclables more compelling than another.

For this year’s judge Ryan Lely, the criteria are less about polish and more about presence.

“What I’m looking for is ingenuity, bold use of materials and a clear point of view,” Lely says. “Every artist that participates in this show is already doing something extraordinary by taking a piece of trash and transforming it into fashion. So what really stands out is the creativity behind the choices and the execution of the runway piece.”

To be sure, it’s a delicate balance between concept and execution. A compelling idea can make an immediate impression. And craftsmanship and technique can elevate even a simple premise into something unforgettable.

Lely defines the difference between good and great as “a piece where concept and construction elevate each other.” Still, even he admits the scales aren’t fixed. “Sometimes the concept alone creates that WOW moment, regardless of the craftsmanship,” he explains. “And other times, a piece might have a simple concept, but the craftsmanship is so exceptional that it becomes the WOW moment.”

When Trash Disappears

The real magic trick of Trashion is the moment when a viewer forgets the dress is made of trash.

“For me, a piece feels transformed the moment you stop seeing it as made from discarded materials and see it as something you would actually wear,” Lely says.

That threshold—when the material’s past life dissolves—is where Trashion achieves something magical. It’s also where outsider experimentation can begin to influence the mainstream.

Spencer has noticed that influence. “I see big designer collections that are using materials that Trashion designers have conceived and produced years before that,” she says. “What starts out small may lead to possible exploration of alternative fabrics, and eco-friendly designs in art and fashion.”

In other words, today’s trash could be tomorrow’s couture.

More Than a Show

The runway may be the headline act, but Trashion Fashion Month offers a broader canvas. This year’s festivities include the “Barbies & Bags” Gallery Show and Auction in the Sonoma Community Center’s Gallery 212. The exhibit expands the Trashion ethos into smaller-scale works—dolls, purses, backpacks—each reimagined from discarded materials.

Later in the month, the Trash Bash wrap party doubles as both celebration and exhibition, giving attendees a closer look at the runway pieces and one last chance to bid on gallery items. This year, the event aligns with Sonoma’s Earth Day celebration, honoring and recognizing the environmental values that inform the entire program.

“Trashion Fashion Sonoma’s mission is to celebrate the intersection of fashion, art and environmental sustainability,” Spencer says.

The Labor Behind the Look

One of the more persistent misconceptions about Trashion is that it’s, well, thrown together. After all, if the raw materials are trash, how much effort could really be involved?

Quite a bit, as it turns out.

“Every element, script, practice takes months of planning,” Spencer says. “Some designers collect materials for years and make their outfits that are often on the runway for just about three minutes.”

Planning includes not just the garments themselves but the choreography of the show: runway coaching, rehearsals, staging. This year, participants will work with runway coach Cat Austin to prepare for their moment on a 60-foot catwalk—because even the most avant-garde creation benefits from a confident walk.

The result is a high-concept production that feels polished, where artistry meets community participation.

Why It Matters Now

Trashion’s longevity—16 years and counting—suggests it’s discovered something meaningful. But its current resonance may be tied to a broader cultural current.

“In today’s world of uncertainty of the future, climate change and what it holds for the next generation, this is an intergenerational connection that resonates with all,” Spencer says.

It also offers a now-rare kind of communal experience. In an era of digital everything, there’s something satisfying about gathering in a hall, watching real people wear improbable garments and sharing the collective gasp when something unexpectedly beautiful emerges from the detritus.

The 16th Annual Trashion Fashion Runway Show: Two shows. 1:30pm matinee and 5pm show with post-runway bubbles and bites reception Saturday, April 18, Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall, 126 1st St. W., Sonoma.

‘Barbies & Bags’ Gallery Show and Auction: Through Saturday, April 25, Sonoma Community Center, Gallery 212, 276 East Napa St., Sonoma.

Trash Bash and Earth Day Celebration: Saturday, April 25, Sonoma Community Center, 276 East Napa St., Sonoma.

Go to TrashionFashionSonoma.org or call 707.938.4626 for more information.

Cannundrum: Why Marin has no Pot Shops but Sonoma Does

Weeklys Staff

Apr 14, 2026

Cannundrum: Why Marin has no Pot Shops but Sonoma Does

Cross the county line from Marin into Sonoma and one civic contrast becomes immediately clear: In Sonoma County, legal cannabis is sold in storefront dispensaries from Santa Rosa to Sebastopol. In Marin County, such shops are largely absent. For two neighboring counties with similar politics and affluent populations, the divergence says less about ideology than about local governance, land use and culture.

The first thing to understand is that California legalized cannabis statewide through Proposition 64 in 2016, but cities and counties retained the power to ban or restrict commercial cannabis businesses. The state itself notes that cannabis regulation is a patchwork, with local jurisdictions deciding whether to allow retail, cultivation or manufacturing.

Marin County took the cautious route.

In unincorporated Marin, county officials prohibited adult-use cannabis businesses and moved slowly even on medical cannabis. Marin’s ordinance allowed only a limited number of delivery-only medicinal cannabis retailers—closed to the public, with no walk-in storefront sales. In a 2024 county announcement, officials reiterated that licensed retailers must remain closed to the public and dispense medicinal cannabis exclusively by delivery.

Historically, Marin has also maintained some of California’s stricter cannabis rules. Earlier county code language explicitly prohibited cannabis businesses requiring state licenses while policymakers considered broader implications.

Why so restrictive? Part of the answer is Marin’s long-running land-use ethos: low-density development, neighborhood control and a reflexive skepticism toward new commercial uses. The same political DNA that limits chain stores, dense housing and nightlife can also limit dispensaries. Cannabis retail often triggers concerns over traffic, youth exposure, parking, signage and “changing community character”—classic Marin planning anxieties.

Sonoma County, by contrast, treated cannabis more like an agricultural and commercial sector to be regulated rather than feared.

The county began accepting cannabis permit applications in 2017 and established frameworks for cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and dispensaries. In unincorporated Sonoma County, officials currently allow up to nine dispensaries, with eight reportedly permitted at one point. Cities such as Santa Rosa have gone further, publishing maps and lists of licensed retailers.

Just last week, premium cannabis brand Solful opened its third location in Sonoma County, this time in Petaluma (with a fourth already established in San Francisco), reflecting Sonoma’s broader economic temperament.

Sonoma has more rural land, a larger agricultural base, industrial zones and a political culture somewhat more comfortable balancing commerce with regulation. Cannabis, in Sonoma, was seen as another taxable industry—messy perhaps, but manageable.

So why no Marin dispensaries while Sonoma has many? Because legalization did not create one California market. It created 539 local experiments.

Marin chose caution, control and minimal visibility. Sonoma chose licensing, taxation and storefront normalcy.

Same plant. Different counties.

Upside Down: Calls Growing to Remove Trump

Open Mic

Rob Okun

Apr 14, 2026

Upside Down: Calls Growing to Remove Trump

We are living in an Upside Down moment, and the danger is no longer metaphorical. You don’t need to have watched Stranger Things to recognize that the threat is real, not lurking in another dimension. It’s prowling in the White House, and no blinking lights are spelling out SOS.

This is what an Upside Down world looks like: Donald Trump, an accidental president, openly threatening catastrophic violence against another nation’s civilian infrastructure, while those with the constitutional authority to stop him hesitate, equivocate or remain silent.

History will remember: On Easter Sunday 2026, Donald Trump posted a message so reckless, so unhinged, that it would be disqualifying in any functioning democracy. Threatening the destruction of Iran’s power plants and bridges, invoking apocalyptic language and wrapping it all in bravado, he revealed not just poor judgment but a fundamental disregard for human life and the rule of law. Two days later, he added this warning: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that ‌to ⁠happen, but it probably will.”

Unfortunately, there is little credible evidence that the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet are engaged in serious discussions to remove Trump under the 25th Amendment.

So it is falling to the American people to do what elected officials are failing to do: unseat a president unfit to serve. Protests against the war need to be as ubiquitous as daffodils in spring—visible, sustained, impossible to ignore. The anti-Vietnam War movement did not stop the war overnight, but it changed the political calculus until continuing it became untenable.

The millions at No Kings rallies have been doing their part. Now, perhaps, they’ll take a new tack. Imagine citizens moving from street protests into the halls of Congress, confronting their representatives in their Washington offices and home districts. Asking, insisting, refusing to leave without an answer to a simple question: What are you doing—right now—to stop him? To stop the madness?

The people have begun doing their part. Congress must now do theirs.

Rob Okun is editor emeritus of ‘Voice Male,’ which has long chronicled the profeminist men’s movement.

Farewell, Shokkako, Beloved Asian-Inspired Food Truck Closes

Locals

Cincinnatus Hibbard

Apr 14, 2026

Farewell, Shokkako, Beloved Asian-Inspired Food Truck Closes

The story has ended. Now is the time to ask: What did it all mean? I had gathered with Kayla Hendrix, Elijah Trujillo and Kazuya Makishima, the three co-owning operators of the Shokkako food truck, to ask that basic question. It was a solemn and tender task.

They were a team, forged in cook fire, tempered in all-weather food service. Each an industry all-arounder, able to rotate spots in a rush. Each had their specialization.Trujillo was “the brain” and “the train conductor,” mostly responsible for set up, chefing and menus. Makishima was “the muscle” and the man on the chicken fryer. Hendrix was “the yapper” and “the glue,” “holding the Icarus ropes” to keep their ambitions from flying (frying) too high.

With such a loyal following, why was their ride now ending? Cite rising costs, burnout and life changes.

Cincinnatus Hibbard: What would you like to say with this modest public platform?

Trujillo: Just, thank you.

Hendrix: To everyone that came and supported us—the customers; we had support of other vendors and our families. This has been a village more than a three of us type of thing.

Could you each tell us your favorite menu item?

Hendrix: The Kamikaze fries with fried Spam and spicy poppy kimchi, fermented pepper paste, sweet chili mayo, Bachan’s original bbq sauce and scallions.

Makishima: Messy fries. My favorite dish—one that I invented. The Sisig pork don.

Trujillo: I’m going to have to go with The Mother Clucker—it’s my baby. I spent a lot of time figuring out that Bang Bang sauce.

Could you each give a piece of advice for someone entering the food truck business?

Trujillo: Be comfortable with pivoting.

Hendrix: Have patience—with others, but mostly with yourself.

Makishima: Look at it like a 10-year plan. It’s a long-term investment. It will be hard. Sometimes it will be really fun. It’s like you’re going to war together with your brothers and sisters. What you can look forward to is suffering together. It’s not pretty—but it’s beautiful.

What are some of the highlights from your two years?

Makishima: We have a lot of accolades that we would love to share. One in my mind was the Old Caz “Clash of the Cuisines” competition that we did. We put our heart and soul into that, and we took first place.

Hendrix: We were congratulating the other vendors, when one of the judges started talking about a bento box that we did, and we started looking at each other and started screaming.

Trujillo: Those moments, in the middle of a crazy rush going a million miles a minute, and a random customer would bang on the window to take a few seconds to tell you how much they enjoyed the food.

Hendrix: Or how far they had driven to try it.

Trujillo: It’s very proud and very humbling.

As I was preparing to leave, Hendrix asked me whether I knew what “Shokkako” meant. I had not thought to ask, but it answered the interview’s one basic question. It means “a small but certain piece of happiness on a rough day.” That is what they were. That is what they are.

Learn more: There will be just one more chance to taste Kamikaze fries before they pass into legend. Shokakko and co. will have their final night, as part of SPICEWORLD—a Spice Girls cosplay and karaoke dance floor, from 7 to 11pm, April 24, at The Arlene Francis Center for Spirit, Art and Politics, 99 6th St., Santa Rosa. Tickets and info at bit.ly/spiceworld2026.

Dead Again, Songbird Parlour and Tender Hearts Club

Crush

Weeklys Staff

Apr 14, 2026

Dead Again, Songbird Parlour and Tender Hearts Club

Forest Knolls

EP Drop at Papermill

Bay Area multi-instrumentalist Eli Carlton-Pearson brings his far-ranging musical passport to Papermill Creek Saloon for the release of Consolation, a new solo EP built mostly from acoustic guitar pieces and recorded entirely to quarter-inch tape on an eight-track machine in Berkeley. Known for projects spanning Cambodian traditional music, gypsy jazz, heavy rock and assorted genre mischief, Carlton-Pearson takes a quieter turn here—offering what he describes as a balm for overstimulated ears and overburdened hearts. The evening begins with a solo set from Carlton-Pearson before widening into two of his current ensembles: Prog Frog, billed as an eclectic collision of Celtic psychedelic jazz chamber popcorn surprise, and Hallie Austin, whose songwriter instincts meet fuzzed-out rock energy somewhere between Kim Deal and Big Thief. In other words, subtle beginnings, stranger endings. 8:30pm, Saturday, April 25, Papermill Creek Saloon, 1 Castro St., Forest Knolls. papermillcreeksaloon.com.

Petaluma

Must Have Been the Roses

Petaluma’s Grateful Dead tribute band, Dead Again, comes out of a two-year hiatus for a one-night-only benefit with an aptly chosen title: “It Must Have Been the Roses.” The reunion concert raises funds to restore the rose window at the historic 1901 Brainerd Jones-designed church at 5th and B, now home to the Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma. The band plans a flower-forward setlist drawing from American Beauty and other Dead favorites, featuring roses, fire and fellowship. Joining the evening are vocalist Jenna Mammina, bringing her jazz-inflected virtuosity, and the Larking About Choir. A silent auction adds further temptation with signed books, rare Grateful Dead memorabilia, photographs, tie-dye works and other treasures for devotees and collectors alike. The sanctuary’s stained-glass rose window—featuring blue, red and purple floral motifs and likely designed by Jones, who trained as a glazier—requires substantial restoration. Once repaired, it promises to shine both inside the building and outward onto B Street as a public artwork for the community. 6:30pm doors, 7pm show, Friday, April 17, Unitarian Universalists of Petaluma, 5th and B streets, Petaluma. Suggested donation $10–$20; no one turned away for lack of funds.

Glen Ellen

Le Cordon Bleu at Songbird

French technique meets Sonoma abundance when winemaker and author Paula Moulton hosts an intimate culinary and wine experience at Songbird Parlour on April 20. The afternoon features a live cooking and pâtisserie demonstration by Le Cordon Bleu chef Sebastian Rast, whose classical training meets modern gastronomy through seasonal, farm-driven ingredients sourced from Sonoma County. Guests can expect chef-prepared bites alongside a curated tasting led by master sommelier Matthieu Longuère and Moulton herself, who will share her approach to pairing, balance and the art of entertaining through wine. More salon than seminar, the gathering is designed for conversation and close-up access to the talent in the room. With limited seating, the event offers a rare chance to sample global culinary pedigree grounded in local flavor. 3–5:30pm, Monday, April 20, Songbird Parlour, 13690 Arnold Dr., Glen Ellen. Limited tickets available. songbirdparlour.com.

Petaluma

Tender Hearts Club

In an era that often mistakes cynicism for sophistication, Tender Hearts Club: Volume One arrives with another idea: love as resistance. The new anthology from Feather Press gathers Bay Area poets and artists exploring love in its many unruly forms—romantic, communal, grieving, joyful, erotic and quietly enduring. The Petaluma launch at Copperfield’s Books offers a chance to hear from contributors including Alexandria Giardino, Anne Marie Wenzel, Jennifer Barone, Jonathan Siegel, Joseph Voth, Lynn Light, Kary Hess, Luisa Giulianetti, Maggie La Rochelle, Michelle Patton and Ruth Crossman. Edited by poet and publisher Ingrid Keir, the collection positions tenderness not as retreat, but as a force capable of widening our circles of care. 7pm, Saturday, April 25, Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma. Books available for purchase.

Garage to Vineyard, the Hamiltons Persevere

Food & Drink

Amber Turpin

Apr 14, 2026

Garage to Vineyard, the Hamiltons Persevere

Lindsay and Greg Hamilton first met in Glasgow, Scotland, where Greg was working as a wine merchant and Lindsay was visiting from California.

Marriage, moving to Berkeley and making garage wine soon ensued. And even through terrible disasters and loss of a home, the Hamiltons’ resilience ultimately shaped what Hamilton Family Wines is today, with a new chapter involving a rebrand to Hamilton Family Wines, Kitchen, & Mercantile, including a menu featuring the Scottish favorite: Toasties.

Amber Turpin: How did you get into this work?

Greg Hamilton: My wife, Lindsay, and I started making wine in our garage in Berkeley in 2011. At that time, it was just for fun and our own consumption. In 2016, we moved to a small vineyard property in Kenwood. At that time, we felt like we had a pretty good handle on the fermentation side of wine making, but not so much the farming side. As any good winemaker will tell you, great wine starts in the vineyard, so we wanted to better understand that aspect…

Fourteen months after we moved to Sonoma, we lost our home in the 2017 wildfires, and a week or so after that we decided we were going to launch Hamilton Family Wines. As we still had our day jobs, we hired Sonoma native Jess Wade as our consultant winemaker and have worked with him ever since. We launched in June of 2019 and opened our tasting room in Kenwood in 2022.

Did you ever have an ‘aha’ moment with a certain beverage? If so, tell us about it.

Yes. I grew up in Scotland and was lucky to spend a lot of time in France. I was in my mid-teens and was with my parents on a trip to the Rhône to pick up some wine. On our second stop, which was literally in a barn with the stereotypical plank across two barrels for a counter, we tasted some wines. I believe it was in Gigondas, but it could have been Vacqueyras, and as soon as I tasted the second wine something clicked.

What is your favorite thing to drink at home?

Wine. I enjoy a cocktail, a cold beer and even an occasional Scotch, but wine is my passion.

Where do you like to go out for a drink?

I prefer to drink at home, but if I’m grabbing a drink with a friend I’ll typically head to Palooza in Kenwood. If it’s a date night with my wife, then we most frequently head to Salt & Stone in Kenwood.

If you were stuck on a desert island, what would you want to be drinking (besides fresh water)?

Seeing as it’s a desert island, I’d probably want our Rosé of Grenache … the ultimate rosé varietal, and ours is truly delicious.

Hamilton Family Wines,8860 Sonoma Hwy., Kenwood, 707.408.3090, hamilton.wine.

Forever Punk, Museum Showcases History of Local Scene

Don R. Lewis

Apr 7, 2026

Forever Punk, Museum Showcases History of Local Scene

“You’re not punk, and I’m telling everyone” goes the zinger opening line from Jawbreaker’s song “Boxcar,” off their 1994 album 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. It’s a zinger because the song was an indictment of the ultra judgy, gatekeeper mentality that plagued the ’90s punk scene in the Bay Area, including Sonoma County’s scene, which was vibrant yet oft overlooked.

Now everyone, punk or not, is welcome to dive headlong into the Sonoma County punk scene of yesteryear via longtime scenester (and current KQED senior arts & culture editor) Gabe Meline, who has curated “Disturbing the Peace: Sonoma County’s Early Punk Underground,” a first-of-its-kind retrospective and visual history of Sonoma County’s punk scene, at the Museum of Sonoma County.

KQED is sponsoring the opening night at the museum on April 17 from 5-7, as well as the kickoff party at Barrel Proof Lounge (located at 501 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa), featuring local punk/jazz/thrash legends Victims Family with openers The New Trust and A New Low.

When asked how the exhibit came to be at a place one may not expect it to be, Museum of Sonoma County exhibition and facilities manager Jon Del Buono says it came from a notion that starts many, if not most, punk bands.

Del Buono says he was meeting with the museum’s curator of history, Eric Stanley, and “he had a catalog of different exhibitions that were coming out, and there was one on the New York punk scene. I saw it, and I just told him, ‘We could do that. We could do that here, and I think I know the people who could probably help us make this happen.’” From there, much like forming a band, he set out to find a group of people to help make his vision come true.

Cue a call to Meline, who cemented himself as a fixture in the Sonoma County scene in the early to mid-’90s and who, at that time, was 19-year-old creator and editor for the popular zine Positively 4th Street, which chronicled the street and music scene of Santa Rosa. He was also a musician in bands Ground Round, The Blockheads and Tilt.

Del Buono figured correctly when he reached out to Meline, who himself still had a large collection of clippings, flyers and zines from the ’90s and also knew of people he could turn to who likely had similar archives from the ’70s-’80s. As such, the show will feature the largest-ever public display of vintage Sonoma County punk flyers from 1980–1999, devoted to bands like AFI, Dead Kennedys, Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Operation Ivy, Primus, Mr. Bungle, Neurosis and Black Flag, just to name but a very few.

With Meline knee-deep in curation, Del Buono needed someone to handle the design work for promoting the show. He reached out to longtime local musician and artist Josh Staples (who also plays in The New Trust) since next to Meline, there’s few people in the area these days who have been part of the scene for such a long time.

Staples also says he was the sort-of Petaluma side to Meline’s Santa Rosa in terms of the major epicenters for the punk scene. “Gabe and I have known each other for such a long time and worked together on other projects,” says Staples, adding that he also helped brainstorm bands, shows and parties from days of old. “I’m sort of the Petaluma representative because Gabe has Santa Rosa totally covered,” he adds with a laugh.

Meline says he has a pretty deep archive of flyers, photos and more, but “for an exhibit like this, I’ve gotten in touch with so many people. There’s probably, at this point, up to 30 people that I’ve worked with to get stuff for the exhibit and flyers in particular.” He notes that the flyers collected represent a huge swath of time and that “there were people who had more than me from the very early ’80s, even from the late ’70s, like bonafide punk shows at the Showcase Theater,” before it was later resurrected as the Phoenix Theatre.

Another highlight is the digitization of several recordings which were made on cassette, vinyl and/or CD before music went digital. Tracks from bands like the aforementioned Tilt as well as Nuisance, Disciples of Ed, Conspiracy, Skankin’ Pickle and Tsunami Bomb were preserved again, just to name but a few. At the retrospective, there will be listening stations for digitized media as well as vinyl record players and cassette decks so young folks can enjoy the nostalgia of their parents.

Of course, sourcing and culling all of this detritus and ephemera is overwhelming. But was there anything that sparked a light bulb in Meline’s head during this walk down memory lane?

“If anything, I’ve been surprised at where shows happened because punks are nothing if not resourceful and scrappy, and all you need is a place to plug in your amps,” says Meline. He continues, “There have been some utterly ridiculous shows in Sonoma County that I knew about or participated in myself, but learning that Fang played at an Odd Fellows Hall out on Highway 12 across from the St. Francis Shopping Center… Or, a barn party in Healdsburg way up on West Side Road that Operation Ivy played…”

Continuing on the DIY ideology behind the punk rock ethos, Meline notes the unique nature of Sonoma County in terms of how “punk rock” may not fit the rural aesthetic. “A big part of this exhibit is shows in fields, in barns, in backyards, in chicken coops,” he says with a laugh.

“That was one of Sonoma County’s own spins on what punk was,” he continues. “San Francisco had Mabuhay Gardens, and Berkeley had Gilman, but Sonoma County—you couldn’t play shows in clubs here because club owners hated that. It was too loud. The crowds were kind of chaotic, and they couldn’t really sell a lot of beer because punks drink in the alley around the corner.”

By now, longtime music fans in Sonoma County are “what about-ing,” and not to worry; the Phoenix Theatre, Arlene Francis Center and other small notables are featured. In fact, mid-chat with Meline and Del Buono, the former notes he is set to pick up a metal trash can from Phoenix Theatre manager Tom Gaffey that has been in-use in the lobby since 1984. One read that correctly; the same metal garbage can has stood in the Phoenix lobby for more than 40 years, which is a story unto its own.

While the opening night preview and reception are now sold out, “Disturbing the Peace: Sonoma County’s Early Punk Underground” will run all the way through Aug. 23. It is open to all ages.

The Museum of Sonoma County is located at 475 Seventh St., Santa Rosa. Further information on this exhibition and more are online at museumsc.org.