THURSDAY 9/10
SPANISH GUITAR
DIEGO “TWANGUERO” GARCIA
Internationally known as Twanguero, Diego Garcia’s guitar playing has no equal. Based in Spanish tradition, this Latin Grammy winner layers his playing with his life experiences and takes the listener on an audio adventure with each song. For his Santa Cruz debut he will be playing “Backroads of the Americas,” a solo performance rooted in his travels across North and South America, or as he calls it, Pan America, where he stayed with locals as he tried to capture the sounds of each location he found himself at. MAT WEIR
INFO: 7:30pm, Peace United Church of Christ, 900 High St., Santa Cruz. $35-$89. (929) 385-6109.
FRIDAY 9/11
FOLK
AMELIA DAY
True artists keep creating, evolving and sharing their life with their fans. Amelia Day is one of those kinds of creatives. A small-town girl from Sumner, Washington, the singer/songwriter worked through crippling stage anxiety by gigging non-stop at farmers markets and stages around the country. Her new album, EGO TRIP, highlights Day’s ability to play a multitude of instruments and bend musical genres to express her wide range of interests. This isn’t weepy ballads (OK, there are a few) but a tight high-energy exploration of where folk music and everything else converge. Nashville wants to keep Day close, but her core is all Northwest. DNA
INFO: 8pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.
WORLD MUSIC
BALLAKÉ SISSOKO & PIERS FACCINI
Accomplished musicians can sit in with just about anyone and find their groove. But when two musicians with decades of friendship get together, it can sound truly otherworldly. Guitarist Piers Faccini and Malian kora virtuoso Ballaké Sissoko converse, riff, laugh and speak of deep emotional truths all through their instruments and collective voice. Touring on behalf of their new album, Our Calling, the friends merge traditions and folk songs into a universal language. Part trance, part poetry, and all engaging. West African and European heritage find common ground in a way that is much needed. Show also on 9/13. DNA
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar Street, Santa Cruz. $50. 427-2227.
MUSICAL
THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Relationships are beautiful and complex things. They all have a beginning and an ending. Jason Robert Brown explores the complexities of relationships in his emotional musical, The Last Five Years. Cathy and Jamie are romantically involved for five years, and the audience watches it unfold from each perspective. Cathy’s view of the relationship will begin at the end and work its way back to the beginning, while Jamie’s perspective starts at the beginning of the relationship and moves to the end. The story features beautiful and clever music that explores the sacrifices and costs of relationships. Audiences will contemplate how relationships affect how we define ourselves. Goes until Oct 3. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE
INFO: 2pm, Audrey Stanley Grove in DeLaveaga Park, 501 Upper Park Road, Santa Cruz. $15-$86. 460-6399.
SATURDAY 9/12
OLD-TIME
MATT HECKLER
Combining Appalachian folk textures (fiddle, etc.) with sounds that recall Eastern European folk, Matt Heckler trades in dark balladry. His latest full-length release with a full supporting band is No More for to Roam. Heckler’s stylistic range is telegraphed by the title of a recent EP, Low Road Texas Blues. That release—far from bluesy in any traditional sense—finds his solo voice joined variously by clawhammer banjo, acoustic guitar and deeply expressive fiddle. Employing more than a hint of drama, he’s dubbed his current run of dates “This Tour is Killin’ Me.” BILL KOPP
INFO: 8pm, Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9, Felton. $20. 705-7113.
LATIN
RUMBO TUMBA
Argentine multi-instrumentalist Facundo Salgado has spent over 14 years becoming a “craftsman of organic loops.” A genuine one-man orchestra, Rumbo Tumba offers up a performance layered in real time with his myriad handcrafted South American wooden instruments: charango, ronroco, zampoña, and cajón. He builds layered compositions that carry traditional Latin American and Argentinian folk music into the future through live looping and fresh digital mixing. Rumbo Tumba connects listeners from all continents and timelines to the deep pulse of South American folklore and the pure joy of music. SHELLY NOVO
INFO: 8pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz. $43. 423-8209.
SUNDAY 9/13
LITERARY
BILL GUARDINO
Everyone talks about the music of the hippie generation, but what about the art? There were hundreds of great, psychedelic posters and gig fliers from those early days of rock ’n’ roll, many of which have never been seen since the shows they were advertising. Luckily, local collector Bill Guardino has saved them for posterity and compiled them into his book, South Bay Flashback. In it he has hand drawn bills for Cream, The Flamin’ Groovies, and even wholesale mescaline for $1.60. With prices like that, how can anyone afford not to take the trip? MW
INFO: 3pm, Streetlight Records, 939 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 421-9200.
TUESDAY 9/15
AMERICANA
SLAP DRAGON
The core of Nashville-based Slap Dragon is Scott Mulvahill on bass and Laura Berens on vocals. Supported by a backing group, the two weave a musical tapestry through use of acoustic instruments, but the result seamlessly moves beyond the traditional framework of acoustic music, taking in textures from disco to rhythm and blues. After a run of single releases in 2024 and 2025, Slap Dragon just released their debut full-length, Mission Statement. Highlights of that set include the funky “Already Won” and the alluring acoustic deep groove of “Girl Dinner.” BK
INFO: 8pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $23. 479-1854.
WEDNESDAY 9/16
ROCK
DEADSET 805
Raised on the backyard parties of the Isla Vista college scene, Deadset 805 is a Grateful Dead cover band that brings the improvisational spirit and live-jam tradition of the Dead to stages across California. Born in 2021, Deadset 805 is the product of generations of UCSB Deadheads. Although the lineup has been through a few iterations, high-energy musicianship is the band’s calling card. Dance-friendly sets keep the bus rolling for Deadheads and newcomers alike. Deadset 805 honors the source material, carrying the torch and keeping the music alive, no matter who’s playing. SN
INFO: 8pm, Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz. $15. 429-6994.
