One of the benefits of being a touring band is connecting with awesome musicians from other cities and then “hooking” them up with shows in your home town. Strange Vine has always done great job of this, which is a benefit for local fans. I discovered American Sharks through a show the guys in Strange Vine pulled together last year and my life is better for it.
Tomorrow night, they bring their friends Sleepy Sun to Audie’s Olympic. The San Francisco band plays psychedelic rock, which will fit perfectly with Strange Vine and openers Light Thieves. My sense is, this will be one of those slipped-under-the-radar-but-damn-awesome-if-you-were-there shows.
Luckily, you won’t miss it, because 1.) I just told you about it. And 2.) We have tickets to give away.
Just leave a comment below. Tell us what was the best local-show-you-almost missed. We’ll pick winners at random. Contest closes at noon tomorrow (Thursday) and winners will be notified by email. No repeat entries, please. Complete rules and a video of Sleepy Sun are on the jump.
The tickets come to us courtesy of the Fox Theatre and Fresno band Strange Vine, who landed the opening spot for the blues icon. Round of applause for them.
Here’s how this will work: Leave a comment below telling us where in the central San Joaquin Valley you’d take B.B. King to hang out. Remember, he’s a king. Pick something good. Deadline to enter is 9 a.m. Thursday.
We’ll pick one commenter at random to win the tickets. The winner will be notified by e-mail, so please leave a valid address and please check it. Complete rules below.
UPDATE: A sad update to the Corby Yates story. Corby took his own life Monday night after struggling with schizophrenia and mental illness in recent years. Read my Fresno Bee column for more of the story. I’m told funeral services are private, but there will, eventually, be musical tributes to him. I’ll give you info on those when they’re announced.
ORIGINAL POST, 9/25: Sad news hitting the local music scene today: Corby Yates, the once-teenage blues guitar prodigy, has died. Details are few at this time, but musicians he played with and a few of his close friends are verifying that Yates died Monday night.
Yates started to play guitar at age 6 and when he was 11, he won the Charlie Daniels Guitar Wars Competition. He was the national winner of the Jimi Hendrix Music Competition when he was a junior in high school. He attended Sierra High School in Auberry.
On this week’s episode of Ozmosis: Pinback, Animal Collective, Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and many more great artists. Strange Vine is the Tioga-Sequoia “Drink Local, Listen Local” band of the week and two acts you’ll see in Fresno later this week — Royal Canoe and David Dondero are also featured.
If you dig Ozmosis or just wanna hang with me and drink beer, then know that the first Ozmosis Happy Hour is going down Thursday at Audie’s Olympic. More info here. Enjoy the podcast and tune in at 9 p.m. Sunday for a new episode of Ozmosis on New Rock 104.1.
1. SEND STRANGE VINE OFF IN STYLE Strange Vine is my favorite band in Fresno right now. Fact is, they’re a lot of peoples’ favorite band right now. In fact, I gushed about them in the paper today and said they should totally open for The Black Keys (like that FB page, y’all!). But let’s focus on the now: Strange Vine is taking off for a quick tour through Texas and Nashville and up to NYC. Send them off Saturday night at Audie’s Olympic. Indie rock darlings of the moment Light Thieves are also playing. [More]
1. SEE THIS SHOW
I’m hyped for tonight’s show at Fulton 55, which features two of the best bands on our local scene — Strange Vine and Poor Man’s Poison — and SoCal funky folksters He’s My Brother She’s My Sister, who have won over crowds here before. They’re playing the Austin City Limits festival in September too. Anyhow, it’s gonna be a great show and if you don’t go that blue creature on the flier will eat you. [Tickets]
UPDATE: Congrats to our winners — Kristy, Nicole and Christina F. Enjoy the show. Thanks to all who played. Everybody managed to keep it on topic in the comments. Bless you.
On their own, I’d recommend HMBSMS. With Strange Vine and Poor Man’s Poison on the bill? This is stellar.
Tickets cost $8 in advance or $10 at the door. But you can win some right here on The Beehive if you’re lucky. We have three pair to give away, courtesy of Strange Vine. To get entered into our contest, just leave a comment below that uses the words “poison” “strange” and “sister.”
We treasure creativity. The winner, however, will be chosen at random and notified by e-mail, so please a leave e-mail address and please check it. Since the show is right around the corner, this is going to be a quick contest. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday. Complete rules below.
It’s nice how these two local events lined tonight. Go to one. Or both.
The BLOB Awards, which honor Fresno’s best locally owned businesses, happen tonight at 6 at Fulton 55. Our own Heather McLane and her cohorts from The Full Moxie are hosting. More info here, including the top three vote-getters in each category.
Afterward, you can head to Audie’s Olympic, where two of Fresno’s top local bands are playing. That’s Strange Vine and Fierce Creatures. And they’re sharing the stage with SoCal group Cuckoo Chaos, who I also dig a bunch. I’ve been saying for weeks it’s the best $5 you can spend on live music this month, heck, maybe this year.
TONIGHT:Mat Kearney is at Fulton 55. The show was sold out, but a few tickets opened up. No guarantees now. But good for you, Fresno, selling out the show. It’s just the start of a great week of live music. Keep reading.
OH, AND FIREHOSE: Reunited ’90s rockers Firehose play Fulton 55 on Friday night before heading out to this weekend’s big Coachella music festival. Score another for Fulton 55!
Once again, we check in with James Collier and Ryan Jones — two Fresno guys who are in the thick of the madness that is the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Tx. They’re tracking some of our local bands as they wade through the throngs of shows happening every day. In this installment, that web of local music has tangled in a most lovely way.
Here are some words by James and photos by Ryan:
Okay, so the story goes something like this:
- Strange Vine books a show at a house party for Tuesday. Due to travel delays, they have to cancel the show.
- On Monday, Ryan receives a call from a music connection, asking about equipment. His friend mentions that Kat Jones is in town looking for gigs. Ryan helps Kat connect to the house party.
- Kat invites Nick and Frick from Old Tire Swingers (pictured above) to stop by after her show, in hopes that they can set up a gig with Tara, the organizer.
1. WORSHIP WHILE YOU ROCK
Believe it or not, the Drake concert probably won’t even be the biggest concert at Save Mart Center this week. The popular Rock and Worship Roadshow, a Christian rock festival-style concert, arrives on Sunday. It was the top-drawing concert in Fresno last year. Tickets cost only $10 and are only available at the door. For more about Rock & Worship’s success, read this feature story from today’s Bee.
1. DUH, GO TO THE ROGUE At first, I was gonna leave this off, because we’ve written a lot about the Rogue Festival and we’re gonna write a lot more. But, hey, as I’ve been saying this week — the Rogue is one of my favorite annual Fresno events. If you’ve never been, do yourself a favor and become a part of Fresno’s great alternative performing arts festival. Here are a few picks from the festival’s 60-something shows to help you navigate. And don’t forget about those Rogue Bucks. [More]
SF psychedelic rockers Howlin’ Rain arrive in Fresno on Sunday with a bunch of momentum — the band just released its new album, “The Russian Wilds” on Valentine’s Day. It was produced by the uber-famous Rick Rubin.
You can buy tickets at lovethecaptive.com — $8 in advance, or $10 at the door — or you can win a pair from your Beehive buds.
Leave a comment below telling us your favorite artist Rick Rubin has worked with and you’re entered to win. Deadline is 2 p.m. Friday. We’ll draw a winner at random and notify them via e-mail — so please leave a valid e-mail address and please check it. Complete rules (and some Howlin’ Rain goodies) below.
Need a music fix tonight? The best place to be is Fulton 55, which hosts a return trip from rising indie rock band The Growlers, who a bunch of you were eager to see last time they were in Fresno. Joining them is one of Fresno’s top local groups, Strange Vine.
1. FIND HOPE WITH MATT & KIM
Indie pop duo Matt & Kim — one of my favorite groups — headlines a big day of music Sunday at the Festival of Hope in Tulare. It’s a two-day event, aimed at suicide prevention, it’s totally free and the entertainment lineup is quite stellar. Sunday is the strong day for music. In addition to Matt & Kim’s closing performance (at 8 p.m.), top-notch local bands Strange Vine (3 p.m.), Rademacher (4:30 p.m.) and Fierce Creatures (6 p.m.) play as well. [More info]
1. GO TO OROSI
When’s the last time you went to Orosi? Need a reason to go? Tonight’s Spanspek Music & Art Festival is a good one. Think of it like your Fuse warm-up. It’s got a bunch of great local bands, headed by Strange Vine, art, dance — plus a mission statement that anybody should be able to get behind: It’s about bringing local music and art to Orosi. It’s only $5, oh, and It’s got a great poster too. [Info]
BEATLEMANIA:Tower Theatre hosts SoCal-based Beatles tribute band Abbey Road on Thursday (they’ve become a popular group in Visalia). Then on Friday, Abbey Road performs as part of the “In My Life” live theater production about The Beatles, which is at Visalia’s L.J. Williams Theater.
1. BE A BARBARIAN Audie’s Olympic hosts a great lineup of indie rock bands tonight, in what promises to be a packed show. We Barbarians headline, and if you dig bands like Cold War Kids and The Walkmen, you’ll like them. Florida duo ANR, which gets a lot of MGMT comparisons, joins, as does local faves Strange Vine. We Barbarians sold out Audie’s earlier this year. With a new EP getting rave reviews, the show should be even bigger this time around. So get there early. [info]
The boys of Strange Vine — one of my favorite local bands, for sure — are headlining Fulton 55 tonight for some post-ArtHop tunes. Adding to the cool factor, as if Strange Vine wasn’t enough, is Long Beach band The Fling, which is another on-the-rise band that Strange Vine has buddied up with and brought to town.
Tonight is the second date of a West Coast tour that Strange Vine is pretty excited about (they played with The Fling in Santa Cruz last night as well). They’re playing this weekend at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco with Dredg, and have dates after that scheduled in Seattle, Portland, etc.
If you’re unfamiliar with Strange Vine, I’ll just boil it down to this: If you like bands such as The Black Keys, you’ll dig Strange Vine. If that’s you, go check ‘em out. They’re really good. If that’s not enough for ya, here’s a sample in video form, thanks to Dead in 60 Years.
ORIGINAL POST: The hippest band coming to Fresno this week? Easy. That’s The Growlers. These eclectic SoCal rockers — with dabs of surf-rock and psychedelic inspiration, and haunting vocals — are at Fulton 55 on Thursday night. Fresno is sandwiched between sold-out shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
If this sounds like something not to be missed, you can snatch up some tickets for $10 over at Ticketfly, Iron Bird Cafe and The Laundry Room. Or you can cross your fingers that you win some right here from your pals at The Beehive.
Just leave a comment below to get entered. We’ll choose a winner at random and notify them via e-mail, so please use a real e-mail address and please, please check it. Deadline to enter is 9 a.m. Thursday. Official rules and a couple videos below.
Tonight in Mesa, Ariz., two rock bands with Fresno ties will each be having one of the biggest gigs of their careers.
The Stone Foxes, the SF-by-way-of-Fresno band whose profile has risen a bunch in the past couple years, and Strange Vine, the much-loved local ’70s rock-inspired duo, will be playing with The Black Keys. Yup, those Black Keys. The Stone Foxes scored the gig and brought Strange Vine along to back them up.
If you’re familiar with either The Stone Foxes’ or Strange Vine’s music, you know this is a big deal, because The Black Keys are basically the modern MVPs of that style of rock. Also on the bill tonight is Cage the Elephant, no slouches themselves.
Since you’re probably not going to Arizona tonight, you’ll be happy to know that you can see The Stone Foxes and Strange Vine together on April 30 when they play an exclusive concert at Rotary Storyland. (Sacramento band Agent Ribbons is playing that gig too).
The idea is for a handful of well-known local musicians, not of the country-music persuasion, to cover classic country music from the likes of Conway Twitty, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash.
It’s another busy Thursday night in ol’ Fresburg, headed by two stellar music options. There’s the Y101′s Unplugged concert at Rome Nightclub featuring Fitz & The Tantrums (love them!), Marc Broussard and more. But that’s a winners-only concert — more info here – so if you won tickets on the radio, then get over there and check it out.
Elsewhere, the local music scene will be out in full force to support earthquake relief in Japan. Fulton 55 hosts the Downtown for Japan concert, which includes local heavy-hitters such as MoFo Party Band, Rademacher and Strange Vine, plus up-and-coming acts such as The Westerns and Saints of Insanity. There are nine bands total, and 100% of the $10 cover charge goes to American Red Cross.
If you dig the flier, they’ve also printed up matching T-shirts that are selling for $10, with proceeds going to charity as well.
Lots of noteworthy Fresno-centric events this week. Take a look and get out of the house:
DOWNTOWN FOR JAPAN: There’s a big ol’ local music show to help earthquake in relief on Thursday night at Fulton 55. The lineup is packed with top-notch local talent — Strange Vine and MoFo Party Band to name a couple — and all the money from the door goes to the Red Cross. Win all around.
EAT LOCAL: Two fun events for local foodies this Saturday — one honoring Fresno’s favorite slab of meat, the tri-tip, and another showing what our top chefs can do with local honey. The second annual Tri-Tip Cook-Off is put on TasteFresno and has amateur grillers serving up their best tri-tip, while the inaugural Bee My Honey Festival at Vineyard Farmer’s Market features chefs from Cracked Pepper, Max’s, Trelio and more making their best honey-inspired dishes.
BIG HAT DAYS: It’s a Clovis tradition — wandering around the annual Big Hat Days festival gazing at various craft booths, drooling over food and trying not to bump into other people. This year’s Big Hat Days is Saturday and Sunday in Old Town Clovis.
One of the benefits of being a touring band is connecting with awesome musicians from other cities and then “hooking” them up with shows in your home town. Strange Vine has always done great job of this, which is a benefit for local fans. I discovered American Sharks through a show the guys in Strange Vine pulled together last year and my life is better for it.
