Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is a musician's musician. The prodigy started playing music at age 3 and got his big break at age 4 sharing the stage with Bo Diddley. "It was so long ago I can't remember," said Andrews, now 24. "I remember my mom saying I was playing (trombone) and some people crowd-surfed me to the stage, and they put me on the stage, and that was it." He earned his name because he could play a trombone before even being as tall as the horn. Sunday night, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue will play their high-energy set at Harlow's. Opening will be The Nibblers, a seven-piece rock band led by local singer Hans Eberbach and Mumbo Gumbo members Lynn Michael Palmer, Jon W

  (Note from the author- I found a lot to like this weekend, instead of doing 5 different "stuff I like pieces", I did 1 "Discovering Sacramento" piece.  Among the places/things discussed here in- The Torch Club, Final Final Band, Michaelangelo's, Walmart bikes, Los Gallos, and The Old Spaghetti Factory.  I hope you enjoy)  So, how was your weekend? Good? Got out and enjoyed the spring weather? Oh, you didn't get to? You were stuck in the office, finishing those TPS reports? I'm really sorry to hear that. Man, that is rough. Hey, let me just stop you there. To be honest with you, I was really just hoping to segue into a conversation about my weekend.        I had a fantastic weekend.  I

        Sacramento has a lot of great things happening for St. Patrick's Day and we wanted to Highlight just a few for you.  Come and celebrate St. Patrick's Day week with de Vere's Irish Pub and a few of our close friends! SATURDAY MARCH 13TH-   DE VERE’S PUB- JOIN US FOR ST. PRACTICE DAY with $4 Tullamore Dew and $1 off draught beers from 4-8pm   OLD SACRAMENTO’S PARADE- Celebrate with your entire family at Old Sacramento’s 14th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Enjoy the parade, Irish food, and their new beer gardens! For more information CLICK HERE!   SUNDAY MARCH 14TH-   DE VERE’S PUB- JOIN US FOR BRUNCH before, during and after the Shamrock’n half Marathon. We will have brunch

Sac State's Union Ballroom was transformed for Cap City Culture on Thursday night. Some of the highlights of the evening were a DJ scratchfest with some of the top local DJs, a performance by the Beatbox world champion, Butterscotch, sets from the top 3 finalists of "America's Got Talent,"  and a break dance competition.                         

One of Sacramento's favorite local bands is local no more. Agent Ribbons will no longer be based in Sacramento. After a farewell show Thursday night at Old Ironsides, singer/songwriter/guitarist Natalie Gordon is going to be calling Austin, Texas home. At least for a little while. "I'm going down there with the intention of moving back to Sacramento at some point," Gordon said on the phone Wednesday before the band played a gig in San Francisco. "But I want to try somewhere new. My life's just really open right now." The band, which began as a duo consisting of Gordon and drummer/singer Lauren Hess, became a trio in the last couple of years with the addition of violinist Naomi Cherie,

The blues has a home at Vega's club in Old Sacramento.  The location has had many names (Popeye's), and I can remember that "in the day" it was a disco, with DJ and lights and plenty of hookups.  Now the place is family owned and they host the Thursday night Blues Jam.  The Equinox Blues Band is the host band, but they offer up the stage to any blues lover/musician who shows up.  The whole thing is informal so that no one has to feel they need to sign up to jump up on the stage and play, and it is free.   Any Thursday night, the range of musicians showing up to jam can be small or large.  I have seen many great players there, saxophone, drums, guitar, vocal, and harmonica.  The beer is c

Saturday, local band Be Brave Bold Robot hosted a CD release party at the Fox and Goose. The band released its second full-length album, "Take A Deep Breath." With Beer Week coming to a close, it seemed like everyone in Sacramento went out over the weekend in search of frosty pints, and the Fox and Goose was no exception. The bar's side venue, with its narrow entrance hall, featured patrons packed snugly near the stage, over-stuffed booths, and standing on chairs. The band's friends, family and co-workers all attended the party. About 200 people ended up attending the show. I was able to meet up with some of front man Dean Haakenson's co-workers for the state, who only had flattering wor

‘Charms, Spells and Enchantments.' The title alone was enough to intrigue me. But the question remained: Would the Camellia Symphony Orchestra’s performance entrance me? For 47 years, the CSO has brought its breathtaking sounds to Sacramento, showcasing the work of its talented and passionate volunteer musicians. And for 47 years, area residents have enjoyed and supported the orchestra. The music unveils a tale that words perhaps cannot, but a little background information helps set the stage. ‘Charms, Spells and Enchantments’ is composed of three unusual masterpieces that are not frequently played. Each one is “derived from worlds of fantasy and magic … capable of transporting the recept

Be Brave Bold Robot is hosting the release of their second full length album Saturday at the Fox and Goose. Established for six years now, the band is stronger than ever. Started in the shadows of The 24K Cafe, now The Golden Bear bar, Dean Haakenson (front man) and Jeremy Pagan (guitarist) joined their musical forces to play under the name Double Helix Collective. Since their underground start, the band has grown in maturity, popularity, and contributors. BBBR's internal relationship is what sets them apart from your average band. Although the face of the band has been subject to some changes, there is still a maintained friendship between them. Most breakoffs from BBBR have been promp

  "You moved where?"    "Sacramento"  "Why?"         Sacramento is not thought of very highly by a lot of Bay Area-ites.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I suppose many cannot separate the town from the stink wafting up from the State Assembly and Capital.  Politics as a whole is repugnant to your average person, and California's is especially loathsome. It's an unfortunate metonymy, "Sacramento" for the sludge that leaks out of the State Assembly, but it is to be expected.  When one considers "Washington DC", its a rare soul who thinks of the Smithsonian first and the politics second.   I grew up in Menlo Park, decidedly Bay Area-centric.  In the circles I came of age in, Sacramento wasn't

Sacramento's Community Center Theater came to life Thursday with the beautiful sound of The Hutchins Consort. Presented by Sacramento Community Concerts, the group performed a one-night concert that defied the range of a modern symphony orchestra string section. The Hutchins Consort is a unique Southern California-based group that plays eight scaled violins of the violin octet design. These acoustically balanced instruments range from a high treble violin to a low contrabass violin and together cover the musical scale that today's string instrument, the violin, viola, cello and bass, do not. These eight instruments, three similar to a violin and five upright, were created by Dr. Carleen

G. Love and Special Sauce brought summer early to Harlow's Wednesday night. A packed house of several hundred people crammed into the nightclub, body heat permeating an otherwise chilly winter night. Button-up T-shirts and hats were popular among the mostly 20- and 30-something crowd, most of whom were ironically watching a Winter Olympics ski event by the bar. Redeye Empire, a Vancouver-based rock group, left the stage a little after 9 p.m. Anticipation grew for T-shirt clad Garrett "G. Love" and his laid-back, summertime-blues band Special Sauce, while images on TV of a snowy Vancouver mountain captivated the crowd, drawing collective "oohs" and "aahs." At about 10 p.m., G. Love kicke

G. Love & Special Sauce have been touring for nearly 20 years but you probably never heard of them, and that's okay, they aren't mainstream, and probably really don't want to be. G. Love, aka Garrett Dutton, hails from Philadelphia and oddly enough, cracked off about the same time another great band from Philly started making rounds, The Roots. Now that I think about it,  The Roots played with G. Love & Special Sauce at the Honda Free Ski Tour back in '07. The band's style is super chill, blending blues and hip hop, R&B, a little folk and a pinch of rock 'n' roll to keep it steady. The band's sound is gritty, organic and the free-style flow is fun. There's not much heavy about this music

Randy Paragary, Bob Simpson, and Rick and Earl Lobley opened Empire Event Center in 2004. It was almost alone on the R Street Corridor for four years, before being joined by, among others, Shady Lady Saloon, Magpie Catering, Burgers and Brew, Space 07 Salon and Top This Yogurt. With all of these businesses opening in the past year, it was time for the space to undergo a facelift - to the tune of $2 million. Well, not just a facelift - a complete change. Today, all that remains of Empire are memories of past performers, including The Roots, Muse and David Garibaldi, Sacramento's own performance painter. According to its managers, from now on there will be no more 18-and-over club nights,

When Sacramento's Tyler Stover and Matt Halverson started Banter Records five years ago, they never expected to be where they are now. The two friends just found that Neon Indian, a Texas-based band signed to Banter's sister label, Lefse Records, is scheduled to perform live on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Thursday night. Popular music website Pitchfork Media described Neon Indian's debut album, Psychic Chasms, as "one of the year's most replayable albums," and rated its lead single, "Deadbeat Summer," the 13th-best song of 2009. As a result, Neon Indian gained wide popularity and is scheduled to play at major festivals like Bonnaroo and SXSW this summer. "No one really knew about [Neon

        Valentine's Day can be challenging for everyone out there, whether you've got a special someone to impress or not. The choices are limitless, and it can be hard to set something up that everyone will enjoy. This year, why not please the whole crowd with a just-before-Valentine's Day show starring local indie pop songstress Autumn Sky and up-and-comer Tre Burt?     Miss Sky, who recently won the Sac Show award for best Acoustic Show, holds a Valentine's Day show each year. 2009's show at Luna's Cafe drew a huge crowd, where patrons and audience members alike sat on floors and laps to fit in the tiny room. This year will prove to be no less of a good time, especially considering

After the last strains of the first song, “Strangers in the Night,” at last night’s Cosmopolitan Cabaret production of “My Way, a Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra,” singer Karole Foreman (Woman No. 1) leaned into the crowd and whispered, “I bet everyone in this audience has a memory associated with that song.” Do they?  I had to ask myself if only gray-haired Sacramentans might be moved and entertained by a local show of Sinatra medleys. In truth, the answer is complicated. Last week, my 18 year-old son was driving me around town with his iPod plugged into the stereo.  He played, his choice, not mine, a remix of that very song, "Strangers in the Night," by the young Berkeley band, The Mor

By the time Mutaytor began playing a little before 10 p.m. Thursday, it was unclear who was a member of the band: The woman with the gothic Lolita get-up? Probably. The guy dressed as a sadomasochistic clown? Absolutely. The guy in all vinyl, wearing a cowboy hat with glowing LED lights? Apparently, just a fan. It wasn't a Black Rock City-run show, it was put on by Abstract Entertainment. But that didn't stop about 100 people from thinking it was Burning Man. Mutaytor, the dance orchestra/visual art project born in Black Rock Desert at the Burning Man festival, was visiting Sacramento for the first time, playing at Harlow's. Though Mutaytor didn't have its entire team of pyrotechnicians,

We had a great event last Thursday, as mentioned here in the Sacramento Press; the Sacramento Talent Agency and The Blue Room Lounge held a talent competition. Our winners were: Comedy - Jason Thompson ... Jason had some fresh material and really engaged the crowd, he is presently on a mini tour and left for Oregon today for another gig. His winnings came in handy for travel money. Musical - Todd Morgan... Todd's piano would not work properly through the sound system (ground issue) anyway, he borrowed a guitar from one of the other musicians and went to work. Despite the change in instruments he played three very good cover tunes and brought the house down. There were stellar performanc

What can you do with a cowboy boot, a hand saw, some metal pipes and string? A whole lot says Mike Silverman, performing as That 1 Guy on Thursday at Beatnik Studios. Don't miss your chance to see this one man band and his invention, The Magic Pipe. Silverman, who grew up in the Bay Area, was introduced to music by his father's vintage stand-up bass. He says he remembers banging on it until he could reproduce sounds he liked. The instrument and being "in the right place at the right time" to his present career. That 1 Guy has performed internationally and has large fan bases in places such as Europe and Australia, as well as the United States. He plays annually at the Woodford Folk Festi