This week and beyond!

If you are a Baby Boomer, you are probably dazzled by the number of your bands that are playing Sacramento this week. David Lindley, Roger McGuinn, the Four Seasons, for cryin' out loud - and there are more coming.

But don't forget Kinky. Do NOT forget Kinky. But I digress.

I'll start by noting that tonight's show at the 24th Street Theatre by David Lindley, once Jackson Browne's ace guitarist, is sold out, proving once more that it's the Baby Boomers who will still show up and shell out for live music. Is that tradition going to die with us? We'll see.

Next, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at the Community Center Theatre. Really? Oh, yes. I guess I missed this phenomenon. I was a bit too young to take them seriously, in light of the Beatles, with whom they were paired by VeeJay Records on a disc evoking a battle of the bands - but Valli, 70, is still here, and his various groups have sold more than 100 million records. That's a lot of records. And while they aren't on the charts these days, Valli and his latest group of hired "Seasons" will be playing the CCT for three nights, this Thursday-Saturday. The Friday and Saturday shows are already sold out - those eager Boomers again - and the only seats left for Thursday are at the very top back. And they're $44! Make that eager and affluent Boomers.

Here's a YouTube video (and audio) remix of the Four Seasons' "Beggin' " - the video's just OK, but the remix, by a DJ named Pilooski, is pretty cool:



Friday night, more Boomer-era rock with Roger McGuinn (hey, it's been more than 30 years - let's drop the "ex-Byrd" thing, eh?) at the Mondavi Center in Davis. Check details on the show in Bruce Dancis' excellent feature about McGuinn from last Sunday's Ticket.

And also Friday night, keyboardist Melvin Seals' version of the Jerry Garcia Band, dubbed the JGB Band (but isn't the "Band" redundant?), who are playing Harlow's at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $20. The JGB was a decent little combo, occasionally better than the Dead itself, and they still perform the Garcia and Dead songs you still want to hear. Worth checking out if you aren't a Four Seasons fan. Or even if you are.

There's not so very much else to recommend this weekend, unless you hit the Bay area for Foo Fighters at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Saturday.

Locally, it pays to jump ahead a week or so: Another show of possible interest to Boomers is a VERY rare performance by songwriter Jimmy Webb, whose songs were guaranteed to shoot to the top of the pop charts in the '60s, from "Up, Up and Away" to "MacArthur Park" to "Galveston" and "Wichita Lineman."

Here's a clip of Webb in 1988 performing the last, demonstrating why he had other people singing his songs. Rest assured, he's better on the recent live album, "Live and at Large," and in any case, it's not so much the singer as the songs. As documented on that same live album, recorded last year, Webb is also a good story teller, reminiscing about his relationships with Waylon Jennings, Harry Nilsson and others.



Tickets are on sale for the Webb concert, which takes place February 10 at Harlow's. Tickets are $35 at Harlows.com.

Meanwhile, the Merle Haggard concert formerly scheduled for the Jackson Rancheria is now going to take place the same night as the Webb concert, but now at the Crest Theatre in downtown Sacramento, making a difficult choice for some Boomers.

As much as Boomers may love all of these options, I hasten to note that tickets for the show that floats this Boomer's boat go on sale this Saturday at The Bee and tickets.com. It is a show that I INSIST you go to: Kinky at Harlow's on March 19. Kinky is one of Mexico's top rock bands, and they're on my short list of great rock bands of ANY nationality of the last decade. I wasn't thrilled by their most recent album, which paled beside Atlas, but it was still pretty good, and anyway, Kinky is at its best LIVE. I've seen them several times, and they bring it EVERY time.

Kinky brings a brilliant, vibrant blend of techno beats and textures, Latin rhythms, and rock instrumentation and attitude, played with verve and a sexy swagger that I just don't see in many contemporary bands. Kinky may not be the next big band, but I think that the next big band may very well sound something very much like them. Tickets go on sale on Saturday. And for a $17.50 ticket, that's the deal of the month. And they're $20 at the door. Buy 'em NOW!

Here's the only even halfway decent clip I could find of a great live band. How about a live DVD, boys? This is "Mas".



And if that's not enough, the Beastie Boys' keyboard player, Money Mark, is opening the show.

As for what DIDN'T happen Monday night, it was the Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Harlow's. The band played San Francisco on Saturday, and on Sunday, the trailer with all of their gear was stolen, the band losing EVERYTHING. Guitars, amps, drums, cymbals...and for Isbell's drummer, the will to go on - he quit the band the next day. And so went the Harlow's show.

The band is continuing on their tour with new equipment and the drummer from Son Volt, but they won't be back around here until at least mid-summer. Check out "Sirens of the Ditch," Isbell's first solo album after years with Drive-By Truckers, and get ready for a great show sometime in June or July.

In the meantime, here's "Dress Blues" from "Sirens". Check it.

My Glorious Flop!

Ah...I'm celebrating the success of my first "live talk show" onstage at the Geery Theatre in Sacramento, on Jan. 24. 2008. "Call it whatever you want," said Gregg before I interviewed him. "Call it 'The David Watts Barton Show'."

Or something like that. I don't like that name. But I liked doing the show. It went really well.

So, I booked another date: Feb. 29. I booked the date without a guest. So, an even bigger leap of faith. And I leapt, purposely, before I knew how few people would show up at the Geery to see us. Because I suspected it wouldn't be many.

I hoped for a sell-out. I got a lot of media coverage. And...

I could name all but a couple of audience members. I can, in fact, count the tickets I sold. Uh, that would be 15. And some of those were comps.

Ouch! But hey, that's a third of a house! Still, a flop. But the thing is...it was so GOOD!

Gregg Coffin is a fascinating guy, and I'm a good interviewer. Gregg was fascinating, charming, insightful, funny...you could sit in the same room with the guy, and be entertained. We WERE entertained. We didn't even need microphones! People laughed. People responded to his songs, to his wit. It was very cool.

So, I'm thrilled. But please: 15 people? That's not many.

So, this is the new reality for me: OTHER PEOPLE have to show up. You have to convince other people to get out of the house, which is a big, big problem in Sacramento, and by no means just for me. And it's a problem in good times as well as bad.

What makes something "happen"? Over the years, I have gotten to know "promoters" here and elsewhere - the people who make events and shows happen. And I've watched them struggle. Brian McKenna, Jerry Perry, Mike Fahn, Sherry Wasserman, Mindy Giles, Dave Fleming - these people have, in very concrete ways, given their lives to the creation - it's more than "promotion" - of events where people interact in some pretty profound ways. Ways I've enjoyed for more than 35 years.

And now, unsupported by a big monolith like The Bee, where writers just write, and what they write is distributed, I have to sell. Why is "live" such a hard sell? The people above have been struggling with that for years, decades. It's new to me. It's hard. But it's an interesting challenge.

Bottom line: It was a great night, I was proud of the event. But if a musical theatre composer talks in a small theatre, and no one hears it, what good is it? It's good. It's just not much-heard.

But Mike recorded Gregg's and my conversation last night, and videotaped it, so if I can figure out how to do it, and get Gregg's permission, I'll post it here. Perhaps it'll reach more people in this medium. It's really well worth hearing.

The adventure continues...

You, too!

The weekend's coming right up, and your best live music choice isn't really live, per se - but it sure feels that way.

"U2 3D" opens tonight at the Esquire IMAX, a dazzling concert film of the world's top rock group in top form in stadium shows from around Latin American on their last, "Vertigo" tour in 2005. Having seen the tour itself, I can say that this truncated (but still 90-minute-long) concert film is the next best thing to being there. Better, in some ways.

Sure, you miss some of the immediacy of a live show, and a lot of the newer songs have been trimmed, but the power of the band is undeniable, and their stage show - always as important as their recordings - is absolutely gorgeous. The 3D, which can seem so gimmicky at times in other IMAX films, really does work in the concert context, isolating band members against the backdrop and giving great depth to the proceedings.

And U2 is deep. Forget whatever residual resentment you may have that they're too popular, or that they did an iPod commercial, or that Bono has "a messiah complex" or whatever your beef is. This is a band that means it, and they don't let up, ever, in any way. From the moment they blast into the impossibly catchy and relentless "Vertigo," the band lives up to its billing, every instrument in its right place and Bono in great voice, but still able to ad lib furiously and make it work. This is a band that does virtually everything right, keeps its edge and has a connection to its audience that rivals, and perhaps even surpasses, Bruce Springsteen's. The chilling segue between the then-new "Love and Peace or Else" and the decades-old classic "Sunday Bloody Sunday" gives ample proof that U2's heart has been in the same place for its entire career. It's just gotten bigger and bigger. U2 is THE rock band of our time, and that's clear - and three-dimensional - in "U2 3D."

If you don't believe me, go see for yourself.

The big actual live show for me this week is the local debut by Jason Isbell, once of the Drive-By Truckers, who will be playing Harlow's on Monday night with his band the 400 Unit. This guy writes some great country rock songs, with an emphasis on the rock, and really pithy and tight lyrics. His first solo album, Sirens of the Ditch, sounds like what Richard Thompson might sound like if he was younger, American and even more pissed off.

Otherwise, I've got to do a bit more self-promotion: tomorrow (Thursday) night, I'll be having a live, on-stage conversation with musical theatre composer Gregg Coffin. We'll be at the Geery Theatre at 22nd and L Streets in midtown at 8 p.m. The grand piano sounds great, and so does Gregg. This'll be great. Tickets are at the Beat, or at the door, while they last.

Something else to look into is tickets to see Tegan and Sara, who will be at U.C. Davis' Freeborn Hall on April 21. Tegan and Sara have been bubbling under on the alternative scene for awhile now, but they don't get around here much. This is your chance. Tickets don't go on sale to the general public - whoever that is - until Saturday, but if you go to the Another Planet Entertainment website, you can get tickets early. The password is "twins." Tickets go on sale Saturday.

Also on sale this weekend is Margaret Cho at the Mondavi Center for the Arts on May 9. Advance tickets are more crucial for this one, as it's not general admission, as Tegan and Sara will ostensibly be. The password at the Another Planet website is "beautiful." This pre-sale ends at 6 p.m. Thursday, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday at 10 a.m.

As far as going out this weekend, things are a bit thin. I haven't heard Brian Augur's Oblivion Express since about 1971, but this Hammond B3 player has been around since the early '60s, and he's still touring, so no doubt he's learned a trick or two. And the B3 is still one of the great keyboards. So check him out at the Torch Club tomorrow night at 9 p.m.

Elsewhere a bit further afield, Tower of Power will be at the Cache Creek Casino on Friday night, while singer and slide guitar player Kelly Joe Phelps plays the Sutter Creek Theatre in Sutter Creek on Saturday night.

Also, last week I wrote about the local group Knock Knock, discussing their new album, Girls on the Run, having only heard a bit of it. (I also described them as "new" when they are really just new to me - they've been around for years, but don't get out much.) I've listened more since then, and it's growing on me. The song "I Was Born" is a particular favorite, but the whole record's pretty good.

I'm owt...

Gregg Coffin at the Geery is the ticket

A reminder: My first live talk show, a musical dialogue with Gregg Coffin - takes place this Thursday at the Geery Theatre, 22nd and L in midtown Sacramento.

Coffin has written three nationally-produced musicals, Convenience, Five Course Love and rightnextto me, which is currently playing at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento through Feb. 24. Five Course Love played off-Broadway in New York.

Coffin is a very talented, very smart guy who knows how to talk about his art. I have listened to him talk about music, and the inspirations and mechanics and difficulties, a number of times, and I wanted to share him with you. You'll like him.

The new show, rightnextto me, is an ambitious exploration of love and life and death, with a complex structure and powerful emotions portrayed. Rightnextto me takes chances with big issues and big songs. We'll have plenty to talk about - Gregg is still honing the show - and he'll take your questions at the end.

Which is why this is such a worthwhile event - you get to watch an artist IN the process. And we won't just be talking. To illustrate points, Gregg will play the grand piano, performing songs and sections and what-might-have-been songs...

It's going to be simple, informal and fascinating. Be there!

Here Comes the Weekend...

No one big show, and nothing I'm absolutely nuts for, but there are a lot of little shows to keep you busy on this three-day weekend. Insult comic Lisa Lampanelli plays the Community Center Theatre Friday night, Maria Muldaur is at Marilyn's on K also Friday, and the Blue Man Group rocks Arco Arena with their high-tech conceptual performance "How to Be a Megastar 2.1" that originated off-Broadway a decade ago and is now a Las Vegas fixture.

Also in town Friday is The Devil Makes Three, which is two acoustic guitars and a stand-up bass, playing at Harlow's on Friday night. From what I've heard, they're kinda cool. Here they are in Vermont in 2006.



Further afield, Backwoods Jazz, an eclectic band that has local roots going back to 1960s Carmichael, has reunited and will be playing at the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley on Friday and Saturday. I will be interviewing them tomorrow (Thursday) at 2 p.m. on KXJZ's Insight.

Gregg Coffin's new musical, "rightnextto me" is playing at the B Street well into February, and the composer is my first guest on my live talk show, "Musical Dialogues with David Watts Barton" at the Geery Theatre at 22nd and L Streets downtown. Coffin, a good singer/pianist and wonderful raconteur, will be playing the grand piano, demonstrating how he composes and playing his songs for what is likely the first time in some years for a live audience. It's going to be a very special evening, and tickets are going fast. You can get them at The Beat, only $10.

If you were disappointed by the cancellation of last weekend's concert to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Johnny Cash's legendary Folsom Prison concert, there's a consolation prize: Rusty Evans and Ring of Fire do a spot-on impersonation of Cash and his band, circa 1958. And they'll be playing Folsom's Powerhouse Pub tomorrow Thursday night. Cover is $5.

I hadn't even heard this of guy, but he's intriguing, a virtual rock 'n' roll Zelig. A survey of his career on his website yields some interesting, even amazing, information. For one thing, the guy cut his first single in 1957 - 1957! - which makes him laudable for just surviving. This stylistic chameleon was also a fixture in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 60s, and for all I know, tried disco at some point. Evans' personal website doesn't have any MP3s, but the Apple Store has a bunch of his songs, including "I Dig Your Mind" and "My Rainbow Life" from his 1966 psychedelic foray, Psychedelic Moods. No, that's not a joke. I think.

Then there are a couple of local bands of note playing, both of them at Old Ironsides in downtown Sacramento. Sherman Baker and his band are playing there Friday night, doing songs off his new EP, Dreamers, which Baker told me is a bit of a fresh start for him. And there's a new band in town, Knock Knock, who the local taste-makers are buzzing about. On an initial listen, the record is familiar indie rock, but well-written, sung and played. It'll be interesting to see how the songs from their new CD, Girls on the Run, come across live when they play Old Ironsides Saturday night.

Matt White is a current buzzboy for his sweet, "romantic" pop songs, but while the guy could become a huge hit - for a while - I don't hear much more than a guy who listened to a lot of Coldplay and Duncan Sheik. Very smooth, fairly melodic and profoundly unoriginal. He'll be at the Boardwalk Thursday night, and very likely (I'm guessing) the Community Center Theatre in April, and Arco Arena by next year. And ultimately, a casino near you.

Finally, if you're over the whole musicians-playing-live thing, there are always DJs, and one of the most popular in NorCal is Kaskade, who will be bringing his bumpin' house tracks to The Park at 15th and L on Sunday night - because you may not have to get up early on Monday.

A sleepy Second Saturday

If the summer has dog days, what's the winter equivalent? Cat nights? Bear nights?

Whatever you call it, last night's Second Saturday found a lot of people hibernating. But we still chanced into a number of interesting folks, including Christine "Seamonster" Fulton, a co-founder of the CRUX Collective in Chico, who'd come down specifically for her first Sacramento art walk. Fulton, found coming out of the lovely yoga studio Deep at 21st and H, was amazed at how many people were out. When we told her it was about half or less of what she'd find in the spring, summer and fall, she was surprised, and assured us she'd be back.

Fueled by free "grand opening" cups of coffee from the new Peet's on J - they said they gave away 400 pounds of coffee beans, and that's not counting the free cups - we covered quite a bit of ground, though we didn't get much beyond the evolving midtown art-core: I-Capitol, 15th to 24th, which is doable on foot. There was enough to see - we especially liked the art, including Phil Simpson's slow-fired ceramics, at the Phoenix Gallery.

And towering over it all was the new L Street Lofts, in which a few people are now obviously living. It's a beautiful building and is changing the whole character of that neighborhood, as the "Mikuni Lofts" did at 16th and J. (With any luck, it'll motivate someone to paint or otherwise upgrade the decrepit City Suds at 19th and L. Speaking of funky laundromats, have you seen the storm-shredded awnings at that place at 24th and K?)

Several of the venues we cruised by - Capitol Garage, Hot Pot Studios, Lush, etc - were either closed or had little going on - but hey, it's the bear nights of winter, right? We didn't make it out to Sol Collective on Del Paso Boulevard, one of our declared objectives, but the car didn't seem like a great idea after a certain point. So call us responsible.

Besides, though the art is the ostensible motivator, the most fun of Second Saturday is the promenade, running into friends, watching strangers, and making the former out of the latter. And we weren't disappointed there: We ran into a lot of familiar folks, including John Soldano, who with his partner Craig Maclaine just this month took their Toyroom Gallery out of its struggling K Street Mall location and are now on-line. But familiar Toyroom artists such as John Stuart Berger and Pete Bettencourt were hanging on the walls of Sara Jane & Co. at 908 21st Street, where the Toyroom crowd seems to have found a new non-virtual home.

We also ran the dapper Marcus Cortez, lead singer of We Prick You, as well as drummer/producer Matt McCord and rising singer-songwriter Kate Gaffney, who in a conversation about trying to find one's way as an independent artist, said, "I'd always dreamed of finding the right guy and falling love, but turns out all I really needed was a manager!"

We could have used a manager getting around, and as usual, we missed most of what was out there. But we also caught the provocative paintings of Ryan Seng at Body Tribe on 21st Street, where various gods cavort - graphically - with mere mortals. A very old theme of classical art, it was deemed shocking by several viewers - we found it to be worth checking out. We also liked Art Lessing and the Flower Vato playing on the sidewalk with their homemade instruments.

We finally got upstairs at Thai Basil at 25th and J, where Level Up has evolved into a very nice little above-it-all hangout. The LED banquettes are cool, and there are lots of little tucked-away corners. Still, it was pretty quiet for a Saturday night, which I couldn't say about the music, which was pretty loud for conversation. But I ALWAYS complain about that....

We ended up at Headhunters, where the bartender was running on fumes (but as accommodating as possible) and the crowd was small. The word is midtown businesses are off 25-35 percent, an obviously very approximate figure, but it felt true on this very quiet Second Saturday. But for now, we'll let sleeping bears - or cats - lie; spring is just around the corner. Right??

Weekend coming!

It's early January, and yet this weekend offers a whole buncha opportunities, and not just because it's Second Saturday (which is, really, enough). There are also a few shows of interest, local and big-time...

Tonight alone, there are several good choices (yes, the weekend starts tonight): For one, Scott Rodell is playing the Fox and Goose - for free. This Roseville-based singer/songwriter/player has released one solid album (that I know of) and could be quite a revelation to the downtown crowd. Check him out, starting at 8 p.m.

Also tonight, Sactown's favorite problem child, Anton Barbeau, will be playing Luna's Cafe at 1414 16th Street at 9 p.m. Anton's all-but-emigrated to his beloved U.K., so this is a rare chance to see him.

And there are touring acts here tonight: Rapper (and human beat box) Doug E. Fresh, one of the original crop of New York-bred rappers ("The Show"), will be at Harlow's at 10 p.m. And LA-based Three Bad Jacks, a rockabilly trio I am completely unfamiliar with, will be at the Blue Lamp. But really, you can't go wrong with rockabilly, can you?

Friday night, Pets will be playing the Cool Cat Gallery at 918 24th Street, and not far across the Grid, the Sacramento Theatre Company is continuing its Cabaret Series with singers doing the songs of Kander and Ebb, who wrote, among other things, "Cabaret" and "Chicago," which is a solid show just by themselves. The show will repeat on Saturday night.

My pick for Saturday and beyond is the opening of Gregg Coffin's new musical, "rightnextto me", which will preview Saturday and open Sunday for an extended run at the B Street Theatre. For some reason, there's still no mention of the show on the site that I can find, but tickets are definitely on sale, and apparently going fast.

I profiled Coffin in Sactown recently, and will be hosting a live interview with the man on Jan. 24 at the Geery Theatre (formerly the Show Below). Tickets are available THIS weekend at the Beat and Tickets.com, and I hope to make this a monthly deal - IF I can sell some tickets. And yes, I WILL keep hyping it here until I sell it out. Brace yourself.

Because I'm trying to do a bit of everything. Which is why this blog has been sporadic. But I'm learning, I want to this blog to become a regular stop for you and yours, and I'm happy you're sticking with me. Let's build something!

OK - eyes off the navel

Thanks for writing, those who did. I talked to a number of people - that's basically what I do all day long, to the enrichment of my life and the detriment of my bank account, but, I hope, to the benefit of this blog - and there's some support out there for what I'm doing. It's just all very new to me, and I get a bit anxious about it. But I'm getting used to that. (I'm also heading to SF today to see Kooza, the current Cirque du Soleil, so boo hoo for me, right?)

Several things to note: If I hadn't been unusually hunkered down the last few days - January, storms, family - I would have been out taking more pictures of the damage done around town. I figured every news media in town was doing that, so why double up? But I'm still struck at how utterly slammed this place has been, especially the vegetation, which is, after all, one of our greatest assets, especially in the Grid.

Fremont Park, at 15th and P, was particularly hard-hit. One big tree fell across P Street and damaged a fence in front of the condos there. Other branches fell all over the place. At least that and the rain managed to drive the homeless out of the park - they cook there, sleep there, and even do their laundry - I watched some being dried over a fence from Naked Lounge. The homeless are always with us, but a park is supposed to be for everyone, right? This is a growing problem the city needs to deal with. (And yes, I feel for the homeless, and I give to the homeless, but just as with the American River Parkway and Golden Gate Park, ruining public spaces is not a solution!)

Capitol Park was also hard hit, and what's been striking to me is how much is still lying around - city workers have a lot on their hands these days, so no blame, but wow - one storm, and this much debris. Quite a shock, really.

This is Fremont Park, again. Capitol Park had quite a bit of damage, too, and all the debris has added a ratty feeling to the whole downtown.

But look: It could have been so much worse. And it WAS so much worse in poor Fernley, Nevada, where a levee break put the entire town - 800 homes and businesses - under water. This should be striking to us for a number of reasons - we live at the grace of levees here, too, and as a friend who did a special for the Discovery Channel on levee systems after Katrina told me, we are one levee break - just one - away from total disaster. One break, and that's it - there's no stopping the water once it's loose, and the residents of Fernley probably had no clue they were in as much danger as they were - less clue than we have, for sure. I need flood insurance.

Fortunately for the folks in Fernley, there's Burners Without Borders. For people who still think Burning Man is just a party, here's a clue: Burners Without Borders was one of the first organizations to go to New Orleans after Katrina, and a few of them are shoveling mud out of homes in Fernley right now. As Canadian Bacon, Old Soul's resident diva puts it, "Fernley is our (Black Rock City's) closest neighbor," which she should know, because she runs the commissary at Burning Man, and buys most of her supplies there. When Ultra and I broke down last year on the Pyramid Lake road, far from anywhere, the two guys who came to tow us at 3 a.m. were from Fernley.

So, Fernley needs help. C.B. is leaving on Saturday evening to go help on her days off, and is asking anyone with time, or with anything to donate - blankets, towels, clothes, shovels - to bring them to Old Soul (on Old Soul Alley between 17th and 18th, L and Capitol) before Saturday evening, and she'll take them up. She'd also welcome the help.

And, she reminded me, the effort will be ongoing. Even when people are heading to Burning Man in August - for which tickets go on sale next Wednesday at 10 a.m.! - people will still be rebuilding their lives. Burning Man is a big party, it's true, but it's also about being good neighbors - many people, including myself, have made great friends of their temporary BRC neighbors - and our neighbors in Fernley need our help. I'll be bringing CB some clothes and blankets - please think about it yourself. Just a thought.

Happy new year - are you being served?

I wrote a long, rambling post about what I was doing, and about state of local media, but thought better of posting it. What I really just want to know is, what do you come to this site for? I know that a number of people come here, but I really don't know WHY, other than being a pal, or some sort of morbid curiosity.

There are SO many people blogging about the Grid and beyond, and so many organizations, from the Bee and SNR to semi-mechanical sites like Metroblogging and Yelp! and SacLights, that are trying to get your attention. I'm trying to assess what it is that I can offer you. With paying work needing to be done, and what seems to me to be a surplus of people vying for your attention, I don't want to waste your time, or my own.

So, I'm starting this year with a question: What is it that I can offer you via the blog? While years ago, I may have been in love with the sound of my own voice, and full of opinions, I have had plenty of years to bloviate and opine, and frankly, the thrill is gone. I want to be USEFUL to you, otherwise there's just no point for me. The internet has changed a lot of things, and the opportunity to just hold forth is one of them - and I no longer find that particularly compelling.

So: What can I do for you?

Do you want personal recommendations for what I think is interesting? Do you want a calendar of what's coming up? Do you want entertainment information, do you care about shops, or restaurants, etc? Do you want to know more about random Sacramento residents? Do you want info on the latest developments, controversies, etc? Working within a structure like the Bee's was easy - being outside of it, the structure disappears, and I'm no longer sure what people want from me - if anything! Nearly all of that stuff is already available at the traditional media outlets - and I don't want to replicate what they're doing. But I also know that a LOT of people aren't paying attention to what The Bee says anymore, and that the online presence of the traditional media in this town is...iffy.

So...where to, gang?

A soggy day...and an update

It's a soggy day in the Grid, and everywhere else. We're heading out to see the "dinosaurs" at Arco, and hoping we can make it. I-5 is apparently closed at the airport. But as my friends tell me, I love extreme weather!

I promised that I would keep you posted on my letter of complaint to my City Councilman, Rob Fong. I had legitimate compliants and concerns, and I voiced them. Isn't that democracy?

No response. It's been 25 days, and my email has drawn no response from my representative. Not even a form email. You know, "Thanks for your email," "the councilman has heard your concerns," something like that. Really, how hard can that be?

Just askin'.

New video at Noisy Artifacts

Being a longtime critic, I can't help looking back at the past year and listing some of my favorite records or musical moments. I think most of us become critics not because we just want to criticize things, or spout off, but because we want to SHARE our joys in music. Then we get jobs doing it and end up having to review stuff we'd never go see, and you know how THAT can turn out (though sometimes it can turn out fine - I've discovered some great stuff I never thought I'd like).

I enjoyed Chris Macias' Top 10 list in last Sunday's Ticket - we agreed on several, and I was struck by how many old-school acts he chose, including Springsteen and Fogerty (which I didn't like much) - but I can't bring myself to do a Top 10. You do that so much working for Big Media, you hanker for a nice Top 7, or 11...

But I had my faves, and now I've got a blog, so rather than telling you what I liked, I can show you. I need to figure out how to post audio clips - I'm open to suggestions, I'm a technopeasant - but in the meantime, I've posted some videos from YouTube that I particularly liked. I'm trying to stick with actual live performances, because only that really tells me what I need to know about an act, and musical moments are what it's all about, not great art direction. And really, in this day and age, it's gotta all be about the live act, since no one's making any money selling records anymore.

The videos are at bloggingthegrid's brother blog, www.noisyartifacts.blogspot.com, and they're a good time at the click of a mouse. The live Radiohead ("15 Steps") is phenomenal when you listen to it and realize that, aside from a few clicks, they're making all that sounds LIVE. And the Amy Winehouse...wow. In fact, here's a teaser from Winehouse, just to urge you over to NoisyArtifacts...

Announcing A Musical Dialogue with Gregg Coffin

It's a new year, and I've just booked and had tickets printed for my first live talk show, which will be held at the Geery Theatre at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 24. The Geery is located at the corner of 22nd and L Streets in the midtown Sacramento grid. Not, as some seem to think, in San Francisco. That's GeAry...

My very special guest will be Gregg Coffin, a Sacramento-based musical theater composer whose last show went off-Broadway, and whose current show will be playing the B Street Theatre starting Jan. 12 and running to Feb. 24. It's called "rightnextto me" and it features all of the wit and wisdom and musical dexterity that made his previous locally-produced shows, "Convenience" and "Five Course Love," so entertaining. (Gregg has done a TON of other stuff, but I'm keeping it simple here.)

I've interviewed Gregg for The Sacramento Bee and for the current issue of Sactown magazine, and we've shared a number of friendly lattes, and after every talk, I've thought, "I wish other people could hear this conversation," because Gregg is such a wonderful conversationalist, knows so much about theatre (and culture in general) and above all, because there is so much that can't be conveyed through print.

I've also wished we'd had a piano handy. So, the plan is to get Gregg on stage with the Geery's grand piano for something different: playing and singing his own theater music. He's also going to bring some singers to perform songs from this and previous shows, and then we'll talk about how they developed and he'll be able to show us how he composes given the requirements of musical theatre.

This'll be particularly enjoyable for those who are seeing "rightnextto me." (Tickets are available now at the B Street's box office: (916) 443-5300.) But I think it'll be interesting even to those who aren't planning to go, or have just seen his previous shows, or even think musical theatre isn't their first choice for entertainment. It's going to be a fascinating evening.

Anyway, it's a tiny theatre, and Gregg is very popular among local theater-goers, so the $10 tickets should be going fast at either tickets.com or at The Beat, 17th and J, starting this weekend. Or let me know through the blog if you're interested and you can get them at the door.