C ALENDAR OF Note to readers: This entertainment calendar is a subjective sampling of arts and other events taking place in the Santa Barbara area for the next week. It is by no means comprehensive. Be sure to read feature stories in each issue that complement the calendar. In order to be considered for inclusion in this calendar, information must be submitted no later than noon on the Wednesday eight days prior to publication date. Please send all news releases and digital artwork to slibowitz@yahoo.com)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Cooper & the Parking Lot Man – Singer-songwriter Dana Cooper likes to mention that he hails from the heartland of America, “stomping grounds of Truman and Twain,” which is a reasonable comparison, because the troubadour employs a quick wit, insightful observations and commanding presence in both his music and his stories. Cooper’s songs have been recorded by betterknown artists such as bluegrass star Claire Lynch and Irish vocalist Maura O’Connell. Winner of the prestigious 2015 Spirit of Folk Award by Folk Alliance International, and named 2014 Musician of the Year for his contributions to Kansas City’s musical heritage, Cooper has performed on Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, and the Kerrville Folk Festival where he was nominated for their Hall of Fame. He has also played a few times at Santa Barbara’s own Trinity Backstage (which returns with a new show tomorrow night; see below), where series co-founder Kate Wallace praised him as “clever, deep, crafty, poetic, melodic, ironic, and hilarious--
in short, the best.” Bruce Goldish – of Parking Lot #9 fame and recent controversy – does a rare indoor local gig opening the show. Goldish, a finger-picking guitarist with broad taste and sensibilities, plays acoustic and sometimes electric styles ranging from Americana, slack key, flamenco and folk, with classical twists and his own brand of guitar body percussion. And we’re likely to hear him sing, too, which never happens in the garage above the Fiesta 5 and Marshalls. WHEN: 7:30 pm WHERE: Cambridge Drive Community Church, 550 Cambridge Drive, Goleta COST: $12 with advance reservation and $15 at the door INFO: 964-0436 or www. cambridgedrivechurch.org
by Steven Libowitz
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Botti’s Back – Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti – one of America’s biggest-selling instrumental artists in history – returns to the Granada Theatre, where he has played as part of special touring shows, as well as on his own. Botti has recorded and performed with a range of popular artists, from Sting, Lady Gaga, Paul Simon, and Joni Mitchell to Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, Barbra Streisand, and Michael Bublé, plus classical musicians Yo-Yo Ma and many of the finest symphonies at some of the world’s most prestigious venues from Carnegie Hall and the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House. He’s had four No. 1 Jazz albums and captured a Grammy for Impressions in 2012, cementing a reputation as having found a form of creative expression that begins in jazz and expands beyond the limits of any single genre. Experience both romance and wizardry in his latest tour when it stops in town tonight. WHEN: 8 pm WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street COST: $29 - $84 INFO: 899-2222 or www. granadasb.org
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Kimmel on the Corner – The Trinity Backstage coffeehouse concert series cut way back on its presentations a few years ago, trimming from monthly shows to just one per quarter. So when they book somebody, it’s got to be special. Tom Kimmel has been dubbed a songwriter’s songwriter for his gifts as an extraordinary poet
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Santa Barbara Sea Glass Festival – It was just last year that a couple of lovers of sea glass art created a festival to take note of the uniquely appealing creations. The event started as a little gathering in the tiny coastal town of Carpinteria, where the collectors live and which compares favorably with other small towns that have similar events. But it proved so popular – more than 4,000 visitors and lines around the hamlet’s blocks – that it’s moving to the larger and more centrally located exhibition space at the Earl Warren Showgrounds this weekend, when artists from across the country will display and sell their handmade, ocean-themed sea glass art. More than 40 artists from coastal communities across the country, including Maine, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, and Oregon are represented, though a quarter of them ply their trade in Santa Barbara County, and another quarter elsewhere in California. Delia Bonfilio, an experienced visual communications designer from NYC who lives in Carpinteria, created the Special Edition Design to commemorate the 2016 Festival – “Merissa,” the mermaid mascot. Betsy Gallery, an award-winning mosaic artist and Santa Barbara native – whose public murals can be viewed at the Outreach Center for the Teaching of Ocean Science (OCTOS) at UCSB and at the Watershed Resource Center at Arroyo Burro Beach – created a custom-made piece of art, a California Two-Spot Octopus, using sea glass and reuse materials provided by Art From Scrap – an Explore Ecology program, which benefits from the festival’s raffle of the mosaic. Live music (The Harbor Ramblers, The Ronelles, Linda Nonstadt and the Stone Phoneys tribute band, and Hot Combo), contests, sea-glass themed lectures and several other raffles are all part of the festival in its expanded format. Join us! WHEN: 10 am to 5 pm today & tomorrow WHERE: Earl Warren Showgrounds, 3400 N. Calle Real COST: $5 per day, or $9 for weekend pass ($15 early bird admission provides access at 9 am on Saturday) INFO: www.santabarbaraseaglassandoceanartsfestival.com
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EVENTS
with a unique way of observing and commenting on life and all its puzzles. Shawn Colvin, Aaron Neville, Rod Stewart, and Linda Ronstadt are among the pop stars who have recorded his compositions, but Kimmel is more than competent singing his own material, who infuses his heartfelt inspiring lyrics with a compelling voice. “Nobody sings better, writes better, laughs more, and generally entertains more thoroughly,” series co-founder Kate Wallace praised. Pull up a chair and listen. WHEN: 8 pm WHERE: Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State Street COST: $10 INFO: 962-1970 or www.trinitybackstage. com Ray’s Way – As has been the case with so many pop and rock artists, Grammy-winning roots-based singersongwriter Ray LaMontagne has found a happy home at the Santa Barbara Bowl. He’s made stops at the venue following the release of the last two of his five previous studio albums, God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise and Supernova – the latter earning him the Grammy for Best Folk Album (and a nomination in the coveted Song of The Year category for “Beg Steal or Borrow”). Now he’s back in support of album No. 6, Ouroboros, an ancient symbol meant to conjure the process of self-reflexivity or a cycle, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself. The album – which was produced by and featuring My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James – made it to No. 13 on Billboard’s album chart earlier this year. WHEN: 7 pm WHERE: 1122 North Milpas St. COST: $44.50-$74.50 INFO: 9627411 or www.sbbowl.com
• The Voice of the Village •
Elementary, My Dear – Fiddler, singer-songwriter, and multiinstrumentalist Sara Watkins – who first started making music in the eventually platinum-selling, Grammy Award-winning acoustic band Nickel Creek, which she first formed with her brother Sean Watkins and Chris Thile when she was just eight years old – has spent most of her career as part of groups or collaborative projects. Post-Creek, she’s teamed frequently with Sean for the Watkins Family Hour regular gigs in L.A. She guests on lots of other artists’ records. And just last year, she toured extensively with Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan (of Crooked Still fame) in an all-women trio of indie singer-songwriters. But now she’s back with a solo disc – her third, but first in four years, and the first that goes beyond mostly serving as a showcase for her creative interpretations and arrangements. Young In All The Wrong Ways is her most powerful, personal, and revealing album – she wrote or cowrote each of the 10 songs – and calls the new collection “a breakup album with myself…”. Reviewers have also noted her emerging voice. “She speaks a language of cutting clarity,.. disrupting comfortable certainty and fleshing out an adult, feminine vantage point — one that chooses which attachments to cultivate,” said NPR. Watkins played SOhO a few times in the past. Now she steps up to command the stage at the Lobero – where she has performed as part of Watkins Family Hour and with Nickel Creek in the early years of Sings Like Hell – for the first time as a solo artist, once again under aegis of SLH. But 8 – 15 September 2016