Gold Record

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Gold Record

City Painted Gold, the third album by Bay Area folk string-band the Brothers Comatose, is both a love letter and a cautionary tale about their longtime home of San Francisco. Written in the band’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood apartment and released last March as rising rents threatened them the same way it has forced out so many other artistically minded residents, City Painted Gold is also the band’s most relaxed and joyful record to date.

Brothers Alex and Ben Morrison, who share vocal duties and play banjo and guitar respectively, formed the group with bassist Gio Benedetti and violinist Philip Brezina seven years ago. The brotherly band plays acoustic folk ditties with classic-rock energy. Their live shows are known as rowdy parties and the band’s two previous albums, Songs from the Stoop (2010) and Respect the Van (2012), are acclaimed for their tight rhythms, vocal melodies and infectious jams. With City Painted Gold, the band has evolved into a seasoned outfit whose confident musical offerings are infused with a never-ending supply of enthusiasm.

Earlier this month, the band held their second annual Comatopia festival in the Sierra Valley town of Calpine. This weekend, the Brothers Comatose keeps the good times rolling with a bluegrass-infused concert on Sunday, Aug. 21, at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch, 738 Main St., St. Helena.
5pm doors; 7pm show. $35–$45. 707.963.4555.

Dirty Deeds

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Dirty Deeds

Mud, fire, ice, electric wires—these aren’t the latest torture techniques devised by shady CIA agents; they’re components in the fastest growing sport in America.

Obstacle-course racing is a rising phenomenon. This year, millions of participants will voluntarily suffer through extreme elements and endure physical stress for the glory of the sport. And the ongoing question is why?

Geyserville-based writer and filmmaker Scott Keneally sets out to find the answer in the feature-length documentary

Rise of the Sufferfests, chronicling society’s—and his own—obsession with obstacle courses like Tough Mudder. Keneally premieres the film with an outdoor screening at Roth Estate Winery in Healdsburg on Aug. 20.

“It started as a one-off,” Keneally says. An essayist first, Keneally discovered the Tough Mudder series four years ago and wrote a feature for the Bohemian (“Stud in the Mud,” Oct. 24, 2012) about his experience participating in the Russian River Mud Run. That article led to an essay in the New York Times, a cover feature for Outside magazine and segments on 60 Minutes and The Today Show.

“I wanted to write a book, but since it’s so visual, I figured making a movie about this world would be more appealing,” Keneally says. “It was an unlikely journey into filmmaking.”

Keneally spent the last three years documenting obstacle-course racing and the adventurous personalities attracted to it. The film explores the social implications of the sport’s popularity, and follows Keneally’s quest to conquer various mud runs, finance and complete the film and come to terms with his new role as a father.

Rise of the Sufferfests posits that runs like Tough Mudder are the result of both a modern masculinity crisis and an increasing sense of isolation, even in an age of social media.

“There aren’t many opportunities today for men to feel like men,” Keneally says. “There’s also a loneliness in modern life. The city can be the most isolating place in the world—living in boxes with no connections to our neighbors.”

Ultimately, Rise of the Sufferfests shows that it’s not the suffering but the joy of the accomplishment that makes people want to get so muddy.

“We’re not living our biological destiny,” Keneally says. “We’re not moving our bodies enough. When people feel themselves running or climbing or crawling, it taps into something that is very gratifying on a deep level of our psyche.”

Live at Lagunitas Swoons with Blind Pilot

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IMG_0621Now in its 5th year, summer concert series Live at lagunitas is for lovers, especially when Portland, Or, folk pop band Blind Pilot plays an intimate and emotionally resonant concert at the Petaluma brewery’s LaguMiniAmphitheaterette. That was the case last night, as couples and friends cuddled close while the sun dipped behind redwood trees and the harmonizing six-piece band wowed with their infectious music.
Blind Pilot closed out the first leg of their summer tour, playing in support of their brand new album, And Then Like Lions, which came out just last Friday. The band played a perfectly balanced setlist of both the new material and the best selections from their last two albums, 2008’s Three Rounds and a Sound and 2011’s We Are the Tide. Seeing as how it’s been five years since Blind Pilot’s last release, And Then Like Lions is a welcomed record for fans of the band who’ve patiently waited while singer-songwriter Israel Nebeker and the rest of the crew honed the new music.
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Marin-born and New York City-based songwriter Peter Murray, of the duo John Heart Jackie, opened the show with a solo set that burned slowly and showcased Murray’s melancholy lyricism and forlorn delivery to good effect, though the crowd was still in conversation mode, sipping on beers in metal pint glasses (Lagunitas has done away with plastic cups) and catching up with friends.
By the time Blind Pilot took the stage, the sun was setting and the breeze was cooling the crowd, bringing them in close to the stage to sing along with the band’s effortless pop melodies. Seeing a band of this artistry, up close and personal in a relaxed setting like the LaguMiniAmphitheaterette, is a special occasion. I can’t wait to do it again next week, when Brooklyn indie rockers Parquet Courts play the next Live at Lagunitas show on Tuesday, Aug 23.
 

California Roots Music & Art Fest to Plant 800 Redwoods

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CA_ROOTS_FINAL_ANNOUNCEMENT_2016_NO_BANDS-1Hosting tens of thousands of music and art lovers in Monterey for the last seven years, the California Roots Music & Arts Festival has grown to become one of the most popular fests in the state. Now, Cali Roots is giving back, partnering with the Redwood Forest Foundation to introduce 400 limited Redwood Passes for next year’s festival. Two redwoods will be planted for each Redwood Pass, resulting in a total of 800 new redwood trees.
“The Cali Roots movement is about developing and sustaining our community and that involves protecting our environment,” says festival co-founder Dan Sheehan in a statement released this month.
In addition to ongoing composting and recycling efforts the festival makes every year, the new program aims to help further reduce carbon emissions through the planting of these trees. California’s redwood forests are the biggest source of natural carbon removal in the state.
The Eighth Annual California Roots Festival will take place at the Monterey County Fair and Event Center, memorial day weekend 2017. Cali Roots will begin artist announcements for the 2017 festival in October.

Aug. 13: Show Off in Santa Rosa

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Aug. 13: Show Off in Santa Rosa

Since photography was invented in the 1800s, one of the most popular subjects has been the female figure. This month, a broad range of provocative, humorous and surreal images are displayed in the new art show, ‘Exposure: The Female Nude in Photography.’ Pulled from a private collection, the images span the late 19th century to today, and many have never been seen publicly. The exhibit also features some of the most prominent names in photography, including the pioneering Imogen Cunningham and the controversial Robert Mapplethorpe. Live music and refreshments accompany the photos when “Exposure” opens with a reception on Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Art Museum of Sonoma County, 425 Seventh St., Santa Rosa. 6pm. $15. 707.579.1500.

Aug. 13 & 16: Comedy Culture in Kenwood & Mill Valley

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Aug. 13 & 16: Comedy Culture in Kenwood & Mill Valley

Formed by two Bay Area–based comedians Samson Koletkar and Abhay Nadkarni, the Desi Comedy Festival returns for another round of shows performed by dozens of comics who trace their ethnicities back to the diverse communities of South Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India. Desi (pronounced “they see”) refers to the culture of South Asia and India’s subcontinent, and the shows boast comedians who can hilariously talk about their personal experiences and the ever-changing Zeitgeist of the region. This week, Crushers of Comedy host the Desi Festival on Saturday, Aug. 13, at Muscardini Cellars, 9380 Sonoma Hwy., Kenwood. 7pm. $20–$40. The comedy also happens on Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley. 8pm. $20–$40. desicomedyfest.com.

Aug. 14: Stay Wild in St. Helena

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Aug. 14: Stay Wild in St. Helena

The 2015 documentary The Breach is a fascinating look into the perils facing wild Alaskan salmon, once an abundant species that suffered from overfishing in the mid-20th century and is now under federal management. Filmmaker Mark Titus explores the history and still-tenuous relationship between salmon and human beings. This weekend, Titus appears in person to present the film for the inaugural Wild Perspectives event in Napa Valley. After the screening, Titus leads a discussion, followed by a salmon soiree, featuring fine wine, craft beer and salmon prepared by specialty purveyor La Saison. The Breach screens on Sunday, Aug. 14, at Cameo Cinemas, 1340 Main St., St. Helena. 2:30pm. $100. 707.963.9779.

Aug. 15: Spanish for Punk in Santa Rosa

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Aug. 15: Spanish for Punk in Santa Rosa

Debuting last April, Sonoma County punk rock promoter Shock City, USA excels at ushering in nationally and internationally touring bands to Santa Rosa. This month, Shock City welcomes Barcelona post-punk band Belgrado, currently touring in support of their excellent new record, Obraz. Belgrado combines vintage bass and drum riffs, à la Joy Division, with the ethereal vocals of lead singer Patrycja Proniewska for a cool sound that’s straight out of 1979. Supporting Belgrado is Chain of Flowers, hailing from the U.K. and boasting densely packed punk and sublime shoegaze songwriting. Oakland’s melodic punks Silent Era and Sonoma County rockers Service fill out the bill on Monday, Aug. 15, at the Beach Warehouse, Santa Rosa. 7pm. $10. Email sh**********@***il.com for address.

Grapes to Gravs

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Grapes to Gravs

Don’t blame winemakers Chris Condos and Suzanne Hagins for bringing yet more Pinot Noir to Sebastopol’s historic apple country. Just relax under the apple trees at their new tasting room on Gravenstein Highway, and have a long, cold pour of their heirloom . . . apple cider.

The husband-and-wife team behind Horse & Plow Winery got into the cider business by happenstance, according to Hagins. For one thing, from the outset they committed to only buying grapes from certified organic properties, and those tend to support a diversity of crops, including apples. Then one year there was a bumper crop of apples at their son’s school down the road. The cider they made from those apples was a success, and they decided to go for it, commercially.

Horse & Plow ciders and several wines are poured on tap in their “tasting barn,” a rustically styled building that fits right into the weathered promenade of old Gravenstein Highway apple sheds, but is new construction, with recycled wood accents from a barn that occupied the same footprint on this lot.

I wrote about Hagins for Swirl back in 2009, when she was making Lutea Pinot Noir. Now the Pinot program is folded in under “The Gardener” label of Horse & Plow. For all the critical attention they’ve received for Horse & Plow, the couple hasn’t yet made it their only job (Condos runs the 40,000-case Vinum Cellars in Napa), but their young son has. He’ll try to sell you a $3 squash from a “farm stand” he set up on an antique wagon in front of the tasting room.

On a recent weekday, two young women from a local business were overjoyed to unwind after work with a glass of fresh and fruity Beaujolais-style 2015 Carignane ($8 glass), while a dude who favors the bolder reds found the inky purple 2013 Old Vine Petite Sirah ($9 glass, $28 bottle) more his speed. Bright and spicy, the 2013 Horse & Plow Redwood Valley Grenache ($28) has hints of bay leaf and black olive, while the top Gardener barrel selection, the 2014 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($45), is as brooding as a blueberry cobbler could be.

The 2015 Hops & Honey Cider ($4 glass, $22 growler, $12 refill) is bottle- and keg-conditioned, meaning that a secondary fermentation produces the bubbles, not a CO2 injection. Only a little bit on the tastefully funky side, the Farmhouse Cider ($12) is Gravenstein-heavy, but also contains heirloom cider varieties. Don’t pass this one up.

1272 Gravenstein Hwy. N., Sebastopol. Open Thursday–Monday, 11am–5pm. Tasting fee, $15; by the glass, $4–$10. 707.827.3486.

Stoner City, USA

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Stoner City, USA

Where do people like to smoke pot the most? Thanks to government statistics, we have an answer.

In a new report based on data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number crunchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have disaggregated the marijuana-use data, providing a means of getting down to pot-smoking frequency at the local level.

Researchers found that 7.73 percent of Americans age 12 and older reported using marijuana at least once a month. Similar reports based on the data have allowed us to determine the top 10 marijuana-using states, but this time around researchers divided each state into a number of “sub-state” areas.

The sub-state regions include some that have high marijuana-use levels but no cities to speak of. They don’t make the list, but places like these deserve honorable mention: Alaska’s North Coast (14.93 percent), Northern California (13.97 percent), southeastern Maine (13.29 percent) and northern New Hampshire (12.40 percent).

The top pot-smoking cities are hitting the bong at a rate at or near twice the national average:

San Francisco, 15.46 percent
A half-century ago, the city was a hotbed of hippies. Now, it’s a high-tech haven, but they still like to burn the weed in Babylon by the Bay.

Denver, 14.84 percent The Mile High City certainly lives up to its reputation as it basks in the glow of legalized weed and enjoys the benefits of marijuana tourism.

Seattle, 14.31 percent Another high-use city in another legalization state.

Burlington, Vt., 13.87 percent With the highest percentage of tokers east of the Mississippi, this sleepy progressive town has something going for it other than Bernie Sanders.

Portland, Ore., 13.32 percent The City of Roses is developing a reputation as a city that has a real yen for another kind of flower.

Boston, 13.12 percent Bostonians are toking up like they’ve already legalized cannabis, but that won’t happen until November.

Providence, 12.77 percent Rhode Islanders like to toke up, too. In fact, usage rates are even higher outside Providence proper.

Anchorage, 12.37 percent The Alaska Supreme Court legalized possession in 1979, but prohibitionists managed to undo that a few years later. The wheel has turned again as the state ended prohibition in 2014, and Alaskans are taking full advantage.

Olympia, Wash., 12.01 percent It’s just down the I-5 corridor from Seattle, and the pot-friendliness of the state’s largest city extends to the state capital.

Albuquerque, 12 percent You see why they call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment.

Phillip Smith is editor of the Alternet Drug Reporter and author of ‘The Drug War Chronicle’

Gold Record

City Painted Gold, the third album by Bay Area folk string-band the Brothers Comatose, is both a love letter and a cautionary tale about their longtime home of San Francisco. Written in the band's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood apartment and released last March as rising rents threatened them the same way it has forced out so many other artistically minded residents,...
Read more

Dirty Deeds

Mud, fire, ice, electric wires—these aren't the latest torture techniques devised by shady CIA agents; they're components in the fastest growing sport in America. Obstacle-course racing is a rising phenomenon. This year, millions of participants will voluntarily suffer through extreme elements and endure physical stress for the glory of the sport. And the ongoing question is why? Geyserville-based writer and filmmaker...
Read more

Live at Lagunitas Swoons with Blind Pilot

Now in its 5th year, summer concert series Live at lagunitas is for lovers, especially when Portland, Or, folk pop band Blind Pilot plays an intimate and emotionally resonant concert at the Petaluma brewery's LaguMiniAmphitheaterette. That was the case last night, as couples and friends cuddled close while the sun dipped behind redwood trees and the harmonizing six-piece band wowed with...
Read more

California Roots Music & Art Fest to Plant 800 Redwoods

Hosting tens of thousands of music and art lovers in Monterey for the last seven years, the California Roots Music & Arts Festival has grown to become one of the most popular fests in the state. Now, Cali Roots is giving back, partnering with the Redwood Forest Foundation to introduce 400 limited Redwood Passes for next year's festival. Two redwoods will...
Read more

Aug. 13: Show Off in Santa Rosa

Since photography was invented in the 1800s, one of the most popular subjects has been the female figure. This month, a broad range of provocative, humorous and surreal images are displayed in the new art show, ‘Exposure: The Female Nude in Photography.’ Pulled from a private collection, the images span the late 19th century to today, and many have...
Read more

Aug. 13 & 16: Comedy Culture in Kenwood & Mill Valley

Formed by two Bay Area–based comedians Samson Koletkar and Abhay Nadkarni, the Desi Comedy Festival returns for another round of shows performed by dozens of comics who trace their ethnicities back to the diverse communities of South Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and India. Desi (pronounced “they see”) refers to the culture of South Asia and India’s...
Read more

Aug. 14: Stay Wild in St. Helena

The 2015 documentary The Breach is a fascinating look into the perils facing wild Alaskan salmon, once an abundant species that suffered from overfishing in the mid-20th century and is now under federal management. Filmmaker Mark Titus explores the history and still-tenuous relationship between salmon and human beings. This weekend, Titus appears in person to present the film for...
Read more

Aug. 15: Spanish for Punk in Santa Rosa

Debuting last April, Sonoma County punk rock promoter Shock City, USA excels at ushering in nationally and internationally touring bands to Santa Rosa. This month, Shock City welcomes Barcelona post-punk band Belgrado, currently touring in support of their excellent new record, Obraz. Belgrado combines vintage bass and drum riffs, à la Joy Division, with the ethereal vocals of lead...
Read more

Grapes to Gravs

Don't blame winemakers Chris Condos and Suzanne Hagins for bringing yet more Pinot Noir to Sebastopol's historic apple country. Just relax under the apple trees at their new tasting room on Gravenstein Highway, and have a long, cold pour of their heirloom . . . apple cider. The husband-and-wife team behind Horse & Plow Winery got into the cider business...
Read more

Stoner City, USA

Where do people like to smoke pot the most? Thanks to government statistics, we have an answer. In a new report based on data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the number crunchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have disaggregated the marijuana-use data, providing a means of getting down to pot-smoking frequency at...
Read more
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