The Scene: Almost Spring

By Joy Michiel

With spring just around the corner, it is any guess how the weather will behave. Regardless, this week begins SnowFest!, the annual winter carnival associated with events galore and lots of fun to be had. The entertainment scene takes the cue to offer up its own display of goodies.

FEB. 25 — Mike Schwartz kicks off the week at Cottonwood. This local Truckee business owner (The Backcountry) has played in numerous local acoustic bands, and now strikes out on his own. Expect folksy original music and covers from every decade, played with a little original twist.

Rail Jam Thursdays continues at the Crystal Bay Club with New Monsoon. This band has distilled their original sound with top-flight musicianship, tireless live performing and a thoroughly open-minded musical perspective. NM’s unique style blends free-flying rock with acoustic stylings, tight vocal harmonies and lyrical songcraft.

The Chris Berry Trio heads in to MontBleu featuring Steve Kimock alongside the rhythm section of the Brazilian Girls. This explosive cross-cultural musical experience melds African grooves with San Francisco guitar work and combines it with New York City’s urban electronica.

Travis Tritt brings bluesy Southern rock to The Knitting Factory, the new Reno hotspot. Tritt’s gutsy, outlaw image distinguishes him from the pack. His music often borders on rock ‘n’ roll, yet it is still simultaneously firmly steeped in country.

FEB. 26 — Kip Yager brings the rock into Jake’s, acoustic style. Yager enjoys playing acoustically on his six- and 12-string guitars with a repertoire that includes Beatles, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Moody Blues and CSNY, plus a little bit of country, blues and originals.

Hellbound Glory rides in for a night at the Crystal Bay Club. The band’s sound builds on the roots of honky tonk, bluegrass, rockabilly and outlaw country.

Patrick Major lends his sounds to the Tahoe Biltmore. Major is one who plays his own mix of original guitar and vocal songs mixed with rock classics from the last four decades. He is known for a strong rhythmic style that is completely his own.

San Francisco’s ambassadors of gypsy rock, Diego’s Umbrella head in for a night at the FiftyFifty Brewing Company. Influenced heavily by flamenco, klezmer and Latin percussion, this group has introduced the world to a new kind of popular music.

“Avenue Q,” the smash-hit Broadway musical about real life in New York City, as told by a cast of people and puppets through a hilariously irreverent, Tony-winning book and score makes its Reno debut at the Pioneer Center. The show plays through Feb. 28.

The Blind Boys of Alabama bring their gospel to The Knitting Factory. This group has spread the spirit and energy of pure soul gospel music for more than 60 years, and is on a mission to expand the audience for traditional soul-gospel singing while incorporating contemporary songs and innovative arrangements into their hallowed style.

FEB. 27 — Auld Dubliner gets in the action with a night of Subjektochange. Yearning to take the funk and modern elements of bands the individual members have played with even further, they started this project to crank out a combination of hard funk and blissed-out jams which is mostly original material.

It’s a triple treat of beat at the Cal Neva starting with The Glitch Mob, a three-man musical collaboration of futuristic dance �oor hip-hop. They are joined on the bill by El Papa Chango, who showcases hip hop-driven Latin beats and DJ Laura, whose specialty is bass-heavy psychedelic hip hop.

Akiko returns to Cottonwood for the night. Smooth piano lines weave around her expressive voice as she sings original ballads and songs from artists ranging from Bonnie Raitt to Enya, The Beatles to Sarah McLaughlin.

Modern meets Mozart as virtuoso violinist, David Garrett graces the stage of the Silver Legacy. Dubbed “the fastest violinist in the world,” the incredible artist creates innovative and imaginative covers of music from a wide variety of genres and displays his own deft writing skills with notable originals.

Reggae legends, The Wailers, head in for a night at the Grand Sierra. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition, the Wailers pioneered roots rock reggae and continue to branch out into all areas of contemporary music.

The Knitting Factory hosts psychedelic rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The band is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound often religiously inspired lyrics.

FEB. 28 — Bob Alper serves up humor at the North Tahoe Hebrew Congregation. This Rabbi/stand-up comic has had a 23-year comedy career with wonderfully unique material presented in a way that’s intelligent, sophisticated and 100 percent clean.

New Orleans outfit Galactic does a one-night stint at the Crystal Bay Club. Intertwining New Orleans sounds from jazz to brass band to funk and far beyond. They are the quintessential modern day New Orleans band and one of the funkiest outfits around.

The Carson City Symphony offers up a concert featuring percussion soloist Terry Longshore, who also composes and teaches percussion. The Symphony, conducted by David Bugli, also will play the “Magic Flute Overture” by Mozart, “Buckaroo Holiday” by Aaron Copland and “Symphony in D Minor” by Cesar Franck.

MARCH 1 — Guitar Shorty cranks out bluesy rock at the Crystal Bay Club for the night. With his charismatic stage presence he continues to capture audiences with his sincerity, energy and rockin’ blues style.

MARCH 4 — The Crystal Bay Club follows up with EOTO featuring Jason Hann and Michael Travis (percussionist and drummer from the band The String Cheese Incident). This new, 100 percent improvised live breakbeat, trip-hop, house and drum n’ bass project uses cutting edge technology to create original and melodic dance with the undeniable power of live drums.

MARCH 5 — Cottonwood is full of Blarney for the evening. Keith Shannon and his leprechaun friends have a talent for all things Irish, be it singing mournful ballads, belting out a shanty song or tipping the obligatory pint of Guinness. Their reputation for playing quality, authentic Irish music is unmatched, and that is no Blarney.

Crystal Bay Club welcomes Sol’Jibe in for the night. The group blends American roots, world beat and Latin rhythms into an inspired sound that has been dubbed world pop. Their eclectic sound draws from extensive travels to Spain, Cuba and Central America where they studied folkloric rhythms and culture.

MARCH 6 — Auld Dubliner goes full bore with Momentum. Their sound puts a modern twist on a vintage rock with influences ranging from blues roots and traditional rock, to serious funk and jazz sounds. Be prepared for deep soulful grooves while dipping into long melodic rock guitar solos and punching out upbeat and mind-bending rhythms.

The After Eights, the dynamic duo of Ben “Jammin’” Martin and Crystal Kelly, are the entertainment du jour at The Village at Squaw Valley. Combining their smooth vocals and acoustic guitar, the duo cover a wide variety of music from KT Tunstall and Alison Kraus to the Grateful Dead and Gershwin.

San Francisco hip-hop/rap sensation Andre Nickatina starts the party at The Knitting Factory. Nickatina (formerly known as Dre Dog) is S.F.’s quintessential rapper, delivering rhymes that are dark, thought provoking and party rockin’.

MARCH 9 — Award-winning poets will join The Mile High Jazz Band and vocalist Sheryl Adams for a lively evening of big-band jazz music and poetry. The topic, “Coming and Going,” will be presented at Comma Coffee and the show will alternate poetry readings and music. Rita Geil and several other award-winning poets will be featured.

Enjoy the festivities of SnowFest! and don’t forget to look up.

Joy Michiel, a.k.a. Big Joy, is a local singer and comedienne. For more information and to see her current performing schedule, visit her Web site at www.bigjoy.com. Got an entertainment listing? E-mail it to entertainment@tahoethisweek.com.