Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: March 22-28

ARIES (March 21-April 19): If we were to choose one person to illustrate the symbolic power of astrology, it might be Aries financier and investment banker J. P. Morgan (1837–1913). His astrological chart strongly suggested he would be one of the richest people of his era. The sun, Mercury, Pluto and Venus were in Aries in his astrological house of finances. Those four heavenly bodies were trine to Jupiter and Mars in Leo in the house of work. Further, sun, Mercury, Pluto and Venus formed a virtuoso “Finger of God” aspect with Saturn in Scorpio and the moon in Virgo. Anyway, Aries, the financial omens for you right now aren’t as favorable as they always were for J. P. Morgan—but they are pretty auspicious. Venus, Uranus and the north node of the moon are in your house of finances, to be joined for a bit by the moon itself in the coming days. My advice: Trust your intuition about money. Seek inspiration about your finances.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “The only thing new in the world,” said former US President Harry Truman, “is the history you don’t know.” Luckily for all of us, researchers have been growing increasingly skilled in unearthing buried stories. Three examples: 1. Before the US Civil War, six Black Americans escaped slavery and became millionaires. (Check out the book Black Fortunes by Shomari Wills.) 2. Over 10,000 women secretly worked as code-breakers in World War II, shortening the war and saving many lives. 3. Four Black women mathematicians played a major role in NASA’s early efforts to launch people into space. Dear Taurus, I invite you to enjoy this kind of work in the coming weeks. It’s an excellent time to dig up the history you don’t know—about yourself, your family and the important figures in your life.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Since you’re at the height of the Party Hearty Season, I’ll offer two bits of advice about how to collect the greatest benefits. First, ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman says that mental preparation is the key to effective partying. He suggests we visualize the pleasurable events we want to experience. We should meditate on how much alcohol and drugs we will imbibe, how uninhibited we’ll allow ourselves to be and how close we can get to vomiting from intoxication without actually vomiting. But wait! Here’s an alternative approach to partying, adapted from Sufi poet Rumi: “The golden hour has secrets to reveal. Be alert for merriment. Be greedy for glee. With your antic companions, explore the frontiers of conviviality. Go in quest of jubilation’s mysterious blessings. Be bold. Revere revelry.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): If you have been holding yourself back or keeping your expectations low, please STOP! According to my analysis, you have a mandate to unleash your full glory and your highest competence. I invite you to choose as your motto whichever of the following inspires you most: raise the bar, up your game, boost your standards, pump up the volume, vault to a higher octave, climb to the next rung on the ladder, make the quantum leap and put your ass and assets on the line.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to an ad I saw for a luxury automobile, you should enjoy the following adventures in the course of your lifetime: ride the rapids on the Snake River in Idaho, stand on the Great Wall of China, see an opera at La Scala in Milan, watch the sun rise over the ruins of Machu Picchu, go paragliding over Japan’s Asagiri highland plateau with Mount Fuji in view and visit the pink flamingos, black bulls and white horses in France’s Camargue Nature Reserve. The coming weeks would be a favorable time for you to seek experiences like those, Leo. If that’s not possible, do the next best things. Like what? Get your mind blown and your heart thrilled closer to home by a holy sanctuary, natural wonder, marvelous work of art—or all the above.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): It’s an excellent time to shed the dull, draining parts of your life story. I urge you to bid a crisp goodbye to your burdensome memories. If there are pesky ghosts hanging around from the ancient past, buy them a one-way ticket to a place far away from you. It’s OK to feel poignant. OK to entertain any sadness and regret that well up within you. Allowing yourself to fully experience these feelings will help you be as bold and decisive as you need to be to graduate from the old days and old ways.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Your higher self has authorized you to become impatient with the evolution of togetherness. You have God’s permission to feel a modicum of dissatisfaction with your collaborative ventures—and wish they might be richer and more captivating than they are now. Here’s the cosmic plan: This creative irritation will motivate you to implement enhancements. You will take imaginative action to boost the energy and synergy of your alliances. Hungry for more engaging intimacy, you will do what’s required to foster greater closeness and mutual empathy.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio poet Richard Jackson writes, “The world is a nest of absences. Every once in a while, someone comes along to fill the gaps.” I will add a crucial caveat to his statement: No one person can fill all the gaps. At best, a beloved ally may fill one or two. It’s just not possible for anyone to be a shining savior who fixes every single absence. If we delusionally believe there is such a hero, we will distort or miss the partial grace they can actually provide. So here’s my advice, Scorpio: Celebrate and reward a redeemer who has the power to fill one or two of your gaps.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Poet E. E. Cummings wrote, “May my mind stroll about hungry and fearless and thirsty and supple.” That’s what I hope and predict for you during the next three weeks. The astrological omens suggest you will be at the height of your powers of playful exploration. Several long-term rhythms are converging to make you extra flexible and resilient and creative as you seek the resources and influences that your soul delights in. Here’s your secret code phrase: higher love.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let’s hypothesize that there are two ways to further your relaxation: either in healthy or not-so-healthy ways—by seeking experiences that promote your long-term well-being or by indulging in temporary fixes that sap your vitality. I will ask you to meditate on this question. Then I will encourage you to spend the next three weeks avoiding and shedding any relaxation strategies that diminish you as you focus on and celebrate the relaxation methods that uplift, inspire and motivate you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Please don’t expect people to guess what you need. Don’t assume they have telepathic powers that enable them to tune in to your thoughts and feelings. Instead, be specific and straightforward as you precisely name your desires. For example, say or write to an intense ally, “I want to explore ticklish areas with you between 7 and 9 on Friday night.” Or approach a person with whom you need to forge a compromise and spell out the circumstances under which you will feel most open-minded and open-hearted. PS: Don’t you dare hide your truth or lie about what you consider meaningful.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean writer Jack Kerouac feared he had meager power to capture the wonderful things that came his way. He compared his frustration with “finding a river of gold when I haven’t even got a cup to save a cupful. All I’ve got is a thimble.” Most of us have felt that way. That’s the bad news. The good news, Pisces, is that in the coming weeks, you will have extra skill at gathering in the goodness and blessings flowing in your vicinity. I suspect you will have the equivalent of three buckets to collect the liquid gold.

Homework: Name one thing about your life you can’t change and one thing you can change. newsletter.freewillastrology.com

Follow the New Artichoke Trail through Monterey Bay

Artichokes never looked more attractive than they do right now. 

OK, maybe they did way back in 1948. That was the year Castroville crowned its first Artichoke Queen, Norma Jean, aka Marilyn Monroe. 

Now 75 years later, almost to the week, a new anniversary provides some timely inspiration to celebrate artichoke sex appeal: On the 160th birthday of Castroville, the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau is launching the Artichoke Trail. (That comes ahead of the spring harvest and the annual Artichoke Festival June 10-11, amid a 2023 that’s hit growers hard.) 

That makes me happy and hungry. I’m on the record as a longtime fan. My two favorite ways to respond when people ask where I’m from are 1) The original capital of Alta California; and 2) The world capital for artichokes, bonus nugget on Marilyn optional. 

A decade back, when then-Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom held a contest for Golden State’s unofficial food, I had artichoke on my ballot, ahead of heavy hitters—and personal fetishes—Dungeness crab, sourdough bread and avocado. (Artichoke was named the state vegetable, and California produces all of the U.S.’s supply, with 80 percent of that coming from Castroville.)

That world capital now has an official map. It pops with 40 spots: farmers markets, restaurants, tours, attractions and farm stands, like my favorite, Pezzini Farms, where the house artichoke seasoning is an incredible—and incredibly versatile—spice blend.

The restaurants and bars stretch from Big Sur to Moss Landing but stick to Monterey County, so I’ll tab three standout spots on this side of the bay to turn the saliva ducts on. 

The Crow’s Nest goes high-quality classic with a simple steamed artichoke, chilled-and-shrimp-stuffed and a crab-and-artichoke dip. 

Santa Cruz stalwart Upper Crust Pizza & Pasta brings on several pizzas with fresh local artichoke, like the pizza bianca and the al fresco.  

Meanwhile, Chocolate does hand-rolled pasta in an artichoke cream sauce and offers a “sizzling” pot of artichoke hearts, melted Asiago and ricotta cheeses and a splash of white wine with an Adorable French Bakery baguette. 

The downtown destination even crafts its own traditional Italian-style artichoke liqueur with the fresh harvest from Rodoni Farms, which proves timely itself because a ’choke cheers is in order. 

SERIES GETS SERIOUS

Last month Good Times swung by The Pizza Series, tucked in the former Tony & Alba’s in Scotts Valley. While overhauling the interior and exterior of the place, pizza master Matt Driscoll is prepping 60 Detroit-style pizzas for takeout Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (order via thepizzaseries.com), drawing eaters from as far afield as Watsonville and the South Bay. Along with his fiancée/co-owner, Maddy Quesada, he’s eager to introduce indoor dining by the end of the month, starring supporting acts like pastas, desserts and small plates. “I seriously can’t wait to be fully open!” he writes via text.

La Honda’s 2020 Merry Prankster Cabernet is Bottled Psychedelia

In 1964, the Merry Pranksters hopped on a carnival-colored, converted school bus with a large supply of LSD in tow. Things would never be the same. Immortalized in Tom Wolfe’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the Pranksters’ perpetual party was punctuated by brushes with the law and a psychedelic ethos that lives on: “embrace life, express yourself and break some damned rules.”

These words appear on La Honda Winery’s label for the upbeat 2020 Merry Pranksters Cab. Talk about an eye-catching bottle of wine—ideal for those looking for the ideal April Fool’s Day red wine. Plus, you can’t beat the $16 price tag. 

The grapes are hand-farmed, and the wine is handmade. It has some distinctive black currant, tobacco, coffee and mint notes with dark fruit flavors of blueberries and black plums.

La Honda Winery, a Wines of the Santa Cruz Mountains member (scmwa.com), boasts a beautiful property often called a “best-kept secret.” You might even feel the lively spirit of Neal Cassady bouncing around. 

La Honda Winery, 2645 Fair Oaks Ave., Redwood City, 650-366-4104. lahondawinery.com

ROSÉ MILLESIMATO 2020

Made in Italy, this sparkling brut is imported by the Michael Mondavi family of Napa. It’s an attractively packaged bubbly prosecco that you can find pretty much all over for under $20.

BOOZY BRUNCH

Sevy’s Bar & Kitchen in the Seacliff Inn in Aptos has started Boozy Brunch every Saturday and Sunday. Sip on bottomless mimosas, bloodies and even wine Jell-O shots alongside traditional brunch favorites. The huevos rancheros will help soak up all those Bloody Marys. seacliffinn.com

Unleash Your Taste Buds with Santa Cruz’s Toya Sushi

Angel Yeo’s path to owning Toya Sushi began in Malaysia, where she was born and raised. She went to college in Santa Cruz, where she supported herself working in restaurants. Eventually, Yeo and her husband fulfilled their dream of becoming restaurant owners. After decades of success, Takara Sushi moved to the Westside three years ago and changed names. Toya Sushi offers takeout only with easy online ordering and a pick-up window. Yeo says the food is full of traditional sushi favorites. Appetizers include avocado tuna with ponzu sauce and sweet mussels with “Monster Sauce,” a housemade garlic-forward sweet and tangy creation. Classic rolls include Takara with Hamachi and daikon sprouts and the spicy tuna with tempura shrimp, avocado and cucumber. They also offer boba, a fresh-brewed three-tea blend and slushies. Toya is open from noon-8pm every day (8:30pm Fridays and Saturdays). GT fished for more info on Yeo’s unique drinks and her background.

Describe your journey to owning a restaurant.

ANGEL YEO: Growing up in Malaysia taught me to work hard. Since I’m passionate about the food business, and so is my husband, we put our hard work into Takara and Toya. My husband has a passion for clean and healthy food and, for me, serving customers. I get to celebrate special occasions in their lives and watch them grow up.

What sets your drink menu apart?

The drinks are all completely made from scratch utilizing fresh and organic ingredients. We brew the tea leaves at different temperatures and steeping durations so we can serve fresh tea. Many of our slushies use fresh organic purees that we make, like strawberry and mango. For matcha lovers, we have our very popular matcha latte with organic dairy or non-dairy.

Toya Sushi, 1306 Mission St., Santa Cruz, 831-464-1818; toyasushi.hrpos.heartland.us/menu

Community Serves Hot Meals to Pajaro Residents

Volunteers throughout the community have been serving hot meals to hundreds of Pajaro residents whose homes are considered unhabitable after being submerged in flood water.

Under a tent, chefs have been preparing carne asada, soup, grilled chicken and more on-site for displaced families, many of whom have been living out of their cars for over a week.

“This means so much to us,” says Jose Ververde, who stands in a parking lot after dark surrounded by his family, each eating from paper plates piled with steaming hot food. “It’s good food—beef and chicken. We can’t go home and don’t know when we can. I work in Santa Cruz, but at night we have no place to go.”

Aileen Hernandez said her mother, Luz Maria, came up with making meals for people left on the streets by the flood.

“It’s about people helping out, helping people who are sleeping in their cars and those that don’t have enough money to buy food,” she says. “There are some people that are staying at shelters and other places, but then there are people on the other side of the bridge in Pajaro who, people don’t realize, aren’t getting enough food and water. People are donating to help. We’re the first people who actually came here and made sure they got food.”

Hernandez says she sees donations from around town that include water, tortillas, soup, various types of meat, beans, rice, vegetables and fruit.

“And people are bringing hot dogs and pizzas for the kids,” she adds.

Luz said she knows how it feels to go without food during trying times.

“I know because I’ve been there,” she says. “I knew we had to do something, and that started with feeding these people.”

No word has been given when folks can return to Pajaro to their homes and belongings. Officials have said there is a four-phase program to ensure homes are safe to re-enter, and they are currently in the second phase.

Watsonville Community Hospital CEO Leaves

0

Watsonville Community Hospital CEO Steven Salyer has left his post.

In a prepared statement, Salyer said he is leaving for “family reasons.”

“Know that I am incredibly proud of Watsonville Community Hospital and everything we have accomplished thus far,” he added.

The board that oversees the hospital will meet on March 22 to discuss how his replacement will be chosen.

In a letter to employees on Monday, Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Board President John Friel says that the hospital is on a positive financial path and is in “good hands and solid footing for a bright future.”

At the same meeting, the board will begin creating the hospital’s strategic plan—a roadmap of its long-range operational goals.

“The show must go on,” WCH spokeswoman June Ponce says. “It’s an opportunity for the community to put someone in that visionary role and take the hospital to the next level.”

Salyer was hired in July 2021, just before hospital administrators announced it was facing bankruptcy unless a buyer stepped forward.

Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project formed to do so and, with the help of Sen. John Laird, made the purchase.

The hospital is now publicly owned and run by its own board, the Pajaro Valley Healthcare District.

A Brief History

Watsonville’s hospital was privately owned for nearly a century after its founding in 1895. But in 1993, it was sold to Community Health Systems, beginning almost three decades of corporate leadership.

CHS created a spinoff company called Quorum Health Corporation in 2016, which sold the hospital to Los Angeles-based Halsen Healthcare in 2019. 

That company sold the physical building and grounds to Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust to lease it from them in a so-called sale/leaseback.

The hospital board ousted Halsen in January 2021, stating that the company could not meet “financial obligations to various stakeholders.” In its place, the board installed Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings.

Salyer was hired that same year.

The Hospital declared bankruptcy in July 2021, announcing it would close unless a buyer came forward.

Pajaro Valley Healthcare District Project, a group of nonprofit and community leaders, soon formed with the express purpose of making the purpose.

On Feb. 4, 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 418, allowing the group to form Pajaro Valley Healthcare District, giving back local control to the community.

The District appointed its first Board of Directors late last year.

Victims reel from Pajaro flooding

Tears fill Marcelito Uribe’s eyes as he describes the night floodwaters from the Pajaro River inundated the car where he had been sleeping at Pajaro Rescue Mission and quickly rose above the windows. 

Homeless, the 61-year-old had all his possessions in the car and a collection of tools he used for his one-person landscaping business. All of that, he says, is gone.

Uribe is staying in the Harvest Building at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, one of 300 people using two buildings as temporary evacuation shelters.

When a friend walked up, shook his hand and asked him how he was doing, Uribe answered briefly in Spanish.

“Triste,” he says: “Sad.”

Uribe had no time to drive away when the water started rushing like a river at about 4am on Saturday. Instead, he climbed onto the car’s roof and called for help. He called 911, and the National Guard rescued him in a giant truck.

Inside the Fairgrounds buildings, dozens of cots line the concrete floors, each piled with blankets, pillows and frequently, people who would generally be working in the region’s now-submerged agriculture fields.

People sit quietly, chatting in small groups, as children recently bussed from school run laughing through the aisles. Two boys play soccer in one corner designated as a play space, four folding chairs their makeshift goals.

The Saturday storm caused a 100-foot section of the Pajaro River levee to break away, sending water roaring into the town of Pajaro and nearby residential areas and farm fields. That gap quickly eroded, widening to more than 300 feet before work crews sealed the gap on Wednesday.

Over 1,000 people were forced to evacuate as the water quickly inundated the town and surrounding agricultural fields.

Monterey County officials on Thursday opened an additional building at the Fairgrounds, expanding capacity there to 400. Shelters at Cabrillo College and the Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building were placed on standby.

Still, many residents say they cannot find a place to stay. Nearly two dozen people on waiting lists for shelter space must double up with friends or family, their cars or worse.

And with Monterey County Sheriff’s deputies guarding the closed-off Main Street bridge leading to Pajaro, where evacuation orders remain, residents are told it could be another week before they can return.

San Jose Mexican Consul General Alejandra Bolonga Zubikarai visited the Fairgrounds to talk to the Mexican nationals and let them know what services were available, including access to important paperwork and connecting them with services.

“We have the interest to see how our community is doing with this unfortunate situation and see if they have special needs,” she said. “I ensured them that we are here, and if they need to contact us, they can contact us.”

Part of the problem, she said, is the uncertainty facing the evacuees, who still have not been allowed to return to their storm-damaged homes. With fields still flooded, man workers are unsure whether they will still be able to plant this year.

“They don’t know if they will have work,” she says. “They don’t know what they are going to find when they go back to their home.”

A few miles away in Pajaro, Gov. Gavin Newsom walked on the levee to see the repairs completed Wednesday and said that more rain could be on the forecast.

“If anyone has any doubt about mother nature and her fury—if anyone has any doubt about what this is all about in terms of what’s happening to the climate and the changes that we’re experiencing, come to the state of California,” Newsom said. 

Newsom added that farmworkers affected by the storm would soon receive $600 debit cards from a $42 million U.S. Department of Agriculture grant announced in October.

An official from Pajaro Valley Unified School District would hand out the cards at the Fairgrounds on Friday.

Newsom also questioned why permanent repairs to the levee had taken decades to make.

While those repairs will come within the next two years when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers begins a $400 million upgrade to give 100-year flood protection, Newsom pointed out that the project will take 5-7 years.

“No one has patience for five to seven years,” he said, adding that the state should consider how it prioritized its projects in low-income communities.

Highway 1 to reopen after nearly a week

0

Hwy 1 is expected to reopen tonight, according to Caltrans.

Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski said the southbound lanes of the highway, between Salinas Road and Hwy 129 (Riverside Drive), are scheduled to open in the evening, while the northbound lanes should be reopened by Thursday morning.

Crews spent most of the past two days assessing possible damage to the bridge, where floodwaters eroded the dirt that surrounded the supports underneath.

The structural engineers determined that the bridge can safely accommodate regular traffic.

Delays and lane closures are expected over the coming months as crews reconstruct the eroded embankments around the supports.

Hwy 1 between Salinas Road and Hwy 129 has been shut down since Sunday morning, where floodwaters from Pajaro flowed over the heavily traveled corridor.

Road closures throughout the area have caused hours-long traffic jams on the few roads that travel in and out of Watsonville, including Hwy 129 and Carpenteria Road in Aromas.

Things to Do in Santa Cruz: March 15-21

ARTS AND MUSIC

BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ PRESENTS JENNIFER EGAN Bestselling author Jennifer Egan—A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award—is one of the most celebrated writers of our time. She will discuss The Candy House, her novel about the memory and quest for authenticity and human connection. In the world of Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters” who track and exploit desires, and there are “eluders” who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House. Egan introduces these characters using an array of narrative styles—from first person plural to omniscient; she even includes a chapter entirely comprised of Tweets. The Candy House is a “moving testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for connection, family, privacy and love.” $11.49-24.09. Wednesday, March 15, 7pm. Cowell Ranch Hay Barn, 94 Ranch View Road, Santa Cruz. jennifer-egan.eventbrite.com 

KOLTON MOORE & THE CLEVER FEW WITH PALMER ANTHONY Kolton Moore & the Clever Few have been paying tribute to country rock’s timeless traditions since 2012, lending rootsy textures to songs about love and hard living. The outfit’s song “Peace in the Pines” was featured as the closing song in the season four finale of the hit television show “Yellowstone” and their songs have racked up more than 50 million streams on Spotify. Meanwhile, their tune “What Brings Life Also Kills” was introduced to the world by “American Idol” winner Chayce Beckham in 2021. $20/$24 plus fees. Wednesday, March 15, 8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton. feltonmusichall.com

DAMIEN JURADO WITH HANNAH FRANCES “Play on, there’s no such thing as better days,” Damien Jurado sings on “Roger,” the rousing opening track on Reggae Film Star, the singer-songwriter’s 18th full-length record. As Jurado enters his 25th year as a music maker, he continues to grow artistically. The 12 songs on Reggae Film Star “evoke half-recalled dreams and overheard conversations, the cosmic rushes headlong into the autobiographical and specific moments on the clock fade from past to future to scenes set only in the eternal now.” Multi-talented singer-songwriter-poet Hannah Frances is an artist of great appeal and distinctiveness. Her music weaves through the rough panoramas of the heart, intertwining her inner and outer life through tales of unrestrained susceptibility. Frances’ enveloping warmth has been likened to everyone from Joni Mitchell to Jeff Buckley. $35 plus fees. Friday, March 17, 7:30pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. folkyeah.com

REEL ROCK 17 The “World’s Best Climbing Films” features the year’s most significant climbing and adventure stories, including a wild expedition on the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, a new cutting-edge route in a massive limestone cave in France and a journey to Palestine’s West Bank to explore the power of climbing to change lives. Burning the Flame: Austrian climbers Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher attempt a coveted free ascent of the Nameless Tower in Pakistan. DNA: Seb Bouin tackles what may be the world’s most challenging sport climb in the Verdon Gorge of France. Resistance Climbing: In conflict-torn Palestine, a diverse group of climbers finds community, solace and redemption. $22 plus fees. Saturday, March 18, 7pm. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. riotheatre.com

AMADOU & MARIAM  For over four decades, Amadou & Mariam have merged their love story with a musical career while becoming the most famous ambassadors for Malian music in the world, a golden status that they carry with brio and spiritedly challenge with every album. The duo has recorded with Damon Albarn of Blur, Santigold, TV on the Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. DJs/producers Jamie XX, Four Tet and Mike Snow have remixed their songs or mixed Afro and electronica sounds based on Amadou & Mariam’s music. They’ve played some of the world’s largest festivals, from Coachella to Glastonbury, and opened for everyone from Coldplay to the Scissor Sisters. The duo brings their brand of infectious Afro-pop music to the charts and the dance floor, and the world is continuously intrigued by the nuances of their music. $47.25/$63 plus fees. Monday, March 20, 7:30pm. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. kuumbwajazz.org

BONNIE RAITT WITH ROY ROGERS Bonnie Raitt might be the greatest underrated bottleneck slide guitar player. And she still uses the same wood grain Fender Strat, named “Brownie,” that she picked up in 1969 for $120. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s 18th full-length studio album, Just Like That, released in 2022, proves that after 50-plus years, the blueswoman is not finished. The follow-up to her 2016 album, Dig In Deep, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Americana Album in 2023. Its title track scored the Grammy for Song of the Year and Best American Roots Song—the single “Made Up Mind” also won Best Americana Performance. Raitt now has over a dozen Grammys to showcase on her mantle. Aside from the accolades, Just Like That shows Raitt’s ability to pen tunes as potent as ever. The fusion of soul, rock, blues and folk that powers the record recalls her greatest songs from the ’70s while embracing a more modern sound. “It all adds up to an album that slowly works its way into the subconscious, sounding deeper and richer with each successive play,” AllMusic’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine writes. Don’t miss Raitt’s Santa Cruz show. It’s one of just five she has scheduled for California. $65.25/$86.25/$111.40. Tuesday, March 21, 8pm. Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, 307 Church St., Santa Cruz. cityofsantacruz.com

COMMUNITY

SPRING FAIRYTALE FUNDRAISER Featuring wild acrobatics, comedy and extreme skills, “Spring Fairytale” is an “original narrative circus.” The Pegasus, the Fairy and the Spring Sprite are just some intriguing characters you will meet. The heartwarming tale showcases an eclectic blend of multicultural folklore that’s a ray of sunshine breaking through the darkness. Enchanting and exciting, “Spring Fairytale” is something for the whole family to enjoy. Plus, 100% of proceeds will be donated to the Santa Cruz Community Foundation Disaster Fund. $18-185. Sunday, March 19, 4pm. Capitola Mall, 1855 41st Ave., Capitola. flynncreekcircus.com

Robyn Hitchcock’s ‘Shufflemania’ Showcases Dynamic Range

Eccentric British songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is the master of the unexpected lyric. Take the opening lines of “The Man Who Loves the Rain” from his exceptional 2022 album, Shufflemania. Over gentle psychedelic guitar playing, he sings, “respect the dead,” followed by the sucker punch: “you will be joining them soon.” 

When asked how those lyrics came about, Hitchcock, who is on the phone from London, credits them to an unknown force. “My thoughts, my ideas, my words come from my own head, but I don’t know what puts them there,” he says. “They may all be planted by an external agency.”

The prolific songwriter, whose career began in the late 1970s with English psychedelic rock band the Soft Boys and has released solo albums since 1981’s Black Snake Diamond Role, had an uncharacteristic dry spell of creativity the years after his 2017 self-titled release. “I was writing songs, but I wasn’t really ever finishing them,” he says of this period. “I wasn’t very convinced. I spent a long time working on a collection of piano songs, which I still haven’t finished.”

Thankfully, inspiration struck again after a trip to Mexico and a visit to the palace of Quetzalpapalotl. “I don’t know if I was brushed by the wings of Quetzalcoatl, the feathery serpent god, but I definitely felt some sort of charge when I was down there,” he says. “That actually got me finishing songs again, for which I’m very grateful.”

Hitchcock recorded his part of the album at his home in Nashville before sending it to various musician friends for their contributions at the start of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. The resulting 10-song Shufflemania is immediate sounding and a late-career highlight. It includes stellar special guests, including Johnny Marr, Sean Lennon, Pat Sansone (Wilco) and more. 

It all begins with the rollicking opener “The Shuffle Man,” where Brendan Benson of The Raconteurs plays bass, drums, guitar and sings harmony vocals, while Hitchcock sings lead and plays guitar. From there, shadowy characters haunt the album, including a detective that pops up in the pleasing psychedelia of “The Inner Life of Scorpio” to the atmospheric “Noirer than Noir” and “The Man Who Loves the Rain,” which tips its fedora to the detective fiction of Raymond Chandler.

Another lurking presence in Shufflemania is death itself. It makes an appearance in “Socrates in Thin Air,” which recalls the solo work of John Lennon and the bluesy shuffle “Midnight Tram to Nowhere.” Hitchcock says the subject is not new to his work. “My songs have always had a fair amount of death in them,” he says. “Death is the last gift you open. Nobody really wants to open it, but everyone has to.”

The driving rocker “The Sir Tommy Shovell” was inspired by a simple wish during the Covid lockdowns. “‘Sir Tommy’ is definitely an imaginary pub,” he says. “I was sitting in Nashville thinking, wouldn’t it be lovely to be back in a British pub right now.”

The closing number on Shufflemania is Hitchcock’s own take on the hopeful rock ballad in the tradition of Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Lennon’s “Imagine.” In it, there’s hope for a future when “bullies will not run the human race” and “the color of your skin won’t be the great divide.” “Some people think it is very optimistic, and other people think it is a despairing song,” Hitchcock says. “In a way, it shows what your own mindset is thinking.” 

Longtime listeners may be surprised that Hitchcock has lived in Nashville since 2015. His songs are so distinctly British. “I may well have been rewired in a lot of ways to be American, but, at heart, I’m British,” he says. “I have to return to the underworld. I have to go back where it’s damp and dismal. I have to water my roots.”

Hitchcock will perform songs from Shufflemania and other albums from his storied career with a band by San Francisco songwriter Kelley Stoltz for his Santa Cruz show. Hitchcock is turning 70 in March and plans to keep writing songs, though he says he will most likely perform less frequently. “I don’t know how much more I’m going to be doing any of this,” he adds. “So, I would say if you want to see me with a band, this is a very good opportunity. I don’t think there will necessarily be another one.”

Robyn Hitchcock performs Wednesday, March 22, at 7:30pm. $36.75 plus fees. Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. folkyeah.com

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: March 22-28

Astrology, Horoscope, Stars, Zodiac Signs
Free will astrology for the week of March 22

Follow the New Artichoke Trail through Monterey Bay

woodward-marine-market
The Artichoke Trail Map offers pride-fresh flavor—and directions to Moss Landing’s latest restaurant, Woodward Marine Market

La Honda’s 2020 Merry Prankster Cabernet is Bottled Psychedelia

la-honda-merry-pranksters
The Redwood City winery pays homage to the influential freaks who called the location home in the early ’60s

Unleash Your Taste Buds with Santa Cruz’s Toya Sushi

toya-sushi-santa-cruz
The Westside spot offers an eclectic menu of fresh, organic deliciousness

Community Serves Hot Meals to Pajaro Residents

Pajaro-flood-victims
Volunteers have been preparing dinners for hundreds of flood victims every night

Watsonville Community Hospital CEO Leaves

The board will meet on March 22 to discuss its next move and create a strategic plan

Victims reel from Pajaro flooding

Pajaro-flood-victims
Thousands of displaced residents, primarily migrant farmworkers, await assistance.

Highway 1 to reopen after nearly a week

highway-1-closed
Northbound and southbound stretches of the highway near Watsonville are expected to reopen Wednesday evening

Things to Do in Santa Cruz: March 15-21

Damien Jurado, Reel Rock 17, Bonnie Raitt and More

Robyn Hitchcock’s ‘Shufflemania’ Showcases Dynamic Range

Robyn-Hitchcock
San Francisco’s Kelley Stoltz will join the prolific British singer-songwriter at his Santa Cruz show at Kuumbwa Jazz
17,623FansLike
8,845FollowersFollow