Winter Arts Preview: Pop, Rock, and Jazz

In the concert world, winter 2011 means lots of fresh faces and a smattering of returning stars. The Associated Students Program Board kicks off the season with pop punk stalwarts RX Bandits this Friday, January 14, at UCSB’s Hub. Next week, Velvet Jones gives us a wealth of musical choices, with rapper Mac Miller on Sunday, January 16, Hot Water Music frontman Chuck Ragan playing solo on Wednesday, January 19, and longtime SoCal rockers No Use for a Name teaming up with up-and-comers Dead Country on Thursday, January 20. If experimental tunes are more your scene, we recommend you drop in to Muddy Waters Café this Wednesday, January 19, where L.A. post-rockers El Ten Eleven play with Superhumanoids. Looking for some local loving? On Tuesday, January 18, SOhO Restaurant & Music Club welcomes S.B. music-makers Dante Elephante, Verna Beware, and Howlin’ Woods. And Thursday, January 20, the club hosts DP Fresh, Comfort Machine, and Fungk Shway. On Friday, January 21, the Lobero’s Hot Licks and Frets series presents Mark O’Connor’s Hot Swing in a show that will feature the gypsy swing music of jazz violin great Stephane Grappelli.

Club Mercy ramps things up in the New Year with three straight nights of tunes at Muddy Waters later this month. On the 21st, Tennessee electro-rockers Royal Bangs swing by. The 22nd brings NPR-approved neo-folk duo Peter Wolf Crier. And on the 24th Portland pop collective Typhoon attempts to squeeze 10 players onto our favorite tiny stage. Rounding out the month, Lucero brings their punk-meets-country shtick to Velvet Jones on Wednesday, January 26, and bluesman Robert Johnson gets paid some serious onstage respect when Blues at the Crossroads stops by UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Monday, January 31.

This February, Cali reggae rockers the Aggrolites return to SOhO on the 2nd, while Brooklyn punkers Forgetters play Velvet Jones on the 3rd. On Friday, February 4, recent Interscope signee Yelawolf brings his Alabama hip-hop to Velvet, and Nederlander presents New York post-punkers Interpol at UCSB’s Events Center with School of Seven Bells. Not long after, Club Mercy brings lo-fi pioneers Sebadoh to Velvet (Mon., Feb. 7). The Maid of Constant Sorrow herself, Judy Collins, headlines the Lobero Theatre, while rising reggae star/son of Bob Ky-Mani Marley plays SOhO on Wednesday, February 9. Hotel Café regular Steve Poltz teams up with S.B.’s own Meghan Lehman for a double bill at SOhO on Thursday, February 10. And reggae legend Pato Banton plays Velvet Jones on Saturday, February 12. Also that night, guitarheads will get their fill when Bill Frisell and John Scofield co-headline the Lobero. On the 17th, S.B.’s rising indie rockers Gardens & Villa headline SOhO. The Expendables fuse ska and rock onstage at Velvet Jones on Friday, February 18. And Chuck Prophet headlines this month’s installment of Sings Like Hell at the Lobero on Saturday, February 19.

On Friday, February 25, folk legend and S.B. favorite Jackson Browne returns to the Arlington as part of his (super eco-conscious) 2011 Solo Acoustic Tour. And jazz singer, bassist, and all-around powerhouse Esperanza Spalding plays UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Sunday, February 27.

In March, the Lobero plays host to McCoy Tyner and the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet as part of the Jazz at the Lobero series on Tuesday, March 8. On Thursday, March 10, the Lobero’s Hot Licks and Frets series continues with Charlie Musselwhite and Jim Lauderdale, while original Minutemen member and sometimes-Stooges bassist Mike Watt returns to Santa Barbara and plays Velvet Jones. And on Saturday the 12th, Sings Like Hell presents their 200th concert, featuring soon-to-be-announced artists at the Lobero.