FRIDAY 3/13
THEATER
MATT & BEN For those interested in learning about how the movie Good Will Hunting was written, this is not the play to see. Ian Dyer directs the hilarious and completely untrue story about how Matt Damon and Ben Affleck supposedly wrote the script for the famous movie. The two-person production features local talent Sarah Mitchler (Mountain Community Theater) and Sarah K. Michael (Cabrillo Stage) as Matt Damon and Ben Affleck respectively. The satirical play focuses on how the young actors struggle with ethics, fame, business, and gossip. A script suddenly appearing before them truly tests their friendship. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 7pm, SC Actors’ Theatre, 1001 Center Street, Santa Cruz. $39. 431-8666.
EDM
SIPPY Born in Australia, LA’s Sippy conquers stages worldwide with her progressive sonic contributions at EDM festivals. A musically appreciative family provided the support for Sippy to take chances culminating in her debut album, Scars in Stereo. Having come up through the Australian festival community, Sippy has expanded her base globally and now has headlining sets at impressive venues and festivals like Red Rocks, Tomorrowland, and Lost Lands with crowds approaching half a million attendees. Felton Music Hall will be reverberating with deep bass that will vibrate for miles. Pushing the envelope on what soundscapes an individual can seemingly create out of thin air, Sippy is a magician on the turntables. DNA
INFO: 8pm, Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton, $27. 704-7113.
FOLK
PAPER WINGS Emily Mann and Wila Frank are a musical duo called Paper Wings. Together they create a gorgeous gossamer quilt of songs that phase in and out of sounding like ghostly harmonies from previous centuries. The acoustic guitar and banjo certainly add structure to the sand castle compositions, but one can truly get lost in the mesmerizing blending of voices. Folk songs about loneliness and wandering the forest and glades pour forth from Paper Wings, like clean well water from a cistern. Having performed with folk legends like Laurie Lewis, Tim O’Brien and Steve Earle, this pastoral pair are dedicated artisans to an enduring American tradition. DNA
INFO: 8pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz. $15/adv, $20/door. 429-6994.
SATURDAY 3/14
FOLK
JAEGER & REID Oakland duo Judi Jaeger & Bob Reid draw upon their roots (Canada and California respectively) in the creation of their original, acoustic-based music. Playing guitars and ukulele and singing, the pair focuses on vocal harmonies and songs with emotional resonance. 2017’s From Way Up Here combines original compositions with gentle, nuanced readings of classics like “Both Sides Now” and “The Times They are a Changin’.” The expansive What a Trip from 2022 takes a similar approach, with the duo giving their interpretation of “Turn, Turn, Turn” and others, including Judi’s contemplative “Monterey” and “You Can’t Go Home.” BILL KOPP
INFO: 7pm, Ugly Mug, 4640 Soquel Drive, Soquel. $30/adv, $35/door. 477-1341.
METAL
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT Five women from Portland who packed up and moved to LA to escape the PNW gloom have cracked open a creative geode with their band, Blackwater Holylight. With menacing riffs and ethereal vocals, they’ve created a tension of confidence and vulnerability to their music that’s strangely alluring. In their newest album, Not Here Not Gone, they continue to explore shades and sounds of light and dark. The juxtaposition of heavy lyrics with sing-song vocals or shoegaze guitar and airy synths could be a reflection of the exhilarating but terrifying decision the band made to relocate and the feelings of uncertainty or decisiveness everyone experiences. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 9pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, $28/adv., $32/door, 479-1854.
SUNDAY 3/15
POST-DISCO
DONNY BENÉT Australian multi-instrumentalist Donny Benét debuted on record with 2011’s Don’t Hold Back. Born Benjamin Waples, Benét has a jazz foundation (as a bassist) but came to fame making music influenced by Italian disco. Much of his recorded work is bult on a foundation of synthesizers, but Benét’s facility on a wide range of instruments gives his music a more organic texture. A recent release, 2024’s Infinite Desires charted in Australia. For this tour, Benét returns to his roots, leading a band through a set that celebrates the electric bass guitar. It’s in support of il Basso, the latest in his instrumental series of releases. BK
INFO: 8pm, Catalyst, 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $37. 713-5492.
BENEFIT
SQUID-FEST When local radio station KUSP went silent, the community suffered a tremendous loss. Enter the Central Coast Community Radio coalition, a group of ex-KUSPers and community members who raised the funds to purchase 90.7FM with the call sign of KSQD. Since then, KSQD has been the go-to for everything Santa Cruz and Central Coast from Rachel Anne Goodman’s “Talk of the Bay” news program to Gary Shapiro’s music-meets-history program “Shapiro at Large,” along with national programming like the long-running independent news show, “Democracy Now.” This weekend, this benefit show and concert features the legendary George Kahumoku Jr., Poi Rogers and an auction to win “art and trips to far off destinations.” MAT WEIR
INFO: 1pm, Resource Center for Nonviolence, 612 Ocean St., Santa Cruz. $30. 423-1626.
LATIN
EDNA VAZQUEZ With a soulful voice and powerful message, Edna Vazquez is a woman with something to say. Growing up in Jalisco, Mexico, Vazquez was raised on traditional Mexican music along with R&B, jazz, folk and rock giving her a cornucopia of sound to draw from in her adult life. She learned how to sing as a teenager when she couldn’t afford to buy her grandmother a birthday gift, so instead she learned how to sing her grandmother’s favorite song. That same love and passion continue throughout Vazquez’s art whether it’s as a solo artist or with the bosa nova group, Pink Martini. MW
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $18-$35. 427-2227.
MONDAY 3/16
LITERARY
THE ANTIDOTE Strange, sweeping, and deeply humane, Karen Russell brings her newest novel, The Antidote, to the public. The MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer finalist colors five characters in this Dust Bowl epic that reflects on history and memories. The characters juggle grief and fear their secrets being revealed by a time-travelling camera and a “Prairie Witch” who embodies their memories. Set in the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska, the story follows a crumbling brought on not just by the Great Depression and the dust storm, but by the violent histories kept secret by its townspeople. Through conversation with author Jennifer Tseng, Russell will unpack the details behind this speculative fantasy. SHELLY NOVO
