Great Springtime Shows to Choose From

OUT OF THE CAVES, INTO THE GOODLAND

Spring’s in full swing, which means the best months of S.B.’s music scene have begun again. From the Bowl to the bars, there’s an incredible influx of talent coming in town, some of them as a stopover between Coachella weekends.

The Goodland Hotel (5650 Calle Real, Goleta) has launched a monthly concert series featuring emerging artists, and this month, music lovers can enjoy a Coachella away from home when Caveman visits the poolside courtyard on Wednesday, April 19. You may know the Brooklyn-born rock band from its cello-punctuated hit “The State of Mind,” a KCRW favorite that is about as serious and stately as radio indie rock gets, and they do it very well, with rather hopeful lyrics to soften the existential dread of your morning commute. Their tunes shall make for a lovely pairing with the bittersweet tang of $5 Goodland Grapefruit IPAs — the tasty result of a partnership with M.Special Brewing Company — and $3 brats off the grill. For those who won’t be making it out to the Palm Springs pools, you can enjoy a much more temperate version of the experience with a Coachella artist right in your backyard. Indie folk songstress Caroline Smith comes on May 10.

DEAD MEN DO TELL TALES

Luis Muñoz, the award-winning S.B. jazz artist and producer known for his soothing compositions and expressive percussion, is back with a new album, The Dead Man. He will be celebrating the release of the new work at SOhO Restaurant & Music Club (1221 State St.) on Saturday, April 8, with special guest artist Téka, starting at 6 p.m. His new, largely improvised work, called a masterpiece by Sounds of Timeless Jazz, features a danse macabre of searing electric guitar and smooth trumpet, a music of mortality comparable to the vivifying flair of a New Orleans funeral march. It should be a show exciting enough to make corpses rise.

AGENT ORANGE HELPS CARPINTERIA SKATE

Also that night at SOhO, the ultimate OC punk/surf power trio Agent Orange headlines the Carpinteria Skatepark Benefit Concert with pop-punkers The Grownups and ska shredders Skamikazie at 9:45 p.m. What better band than these punk pioneers, who brought a surf-rock influence to the scene, to help build a skate park for the good people of Carpinteria? It’s definitely going to rock.

SPEAKING OF SURF

The sounds and songs of the sea will breeze gently into the Mercury Lounge (5871 Hollister Ave., Goleta) on Saturday, April 15, with the return of Golden Minstrels, a series featuring traveling surf musicians. Central Coast chanteuses Jeff Grimes, Parting Lines, and Zeb Zaitz will bring their beautiful beachy works to the always relaxing lounge with a delightful selection of beer and wine, starting at 8 p.m.

SINGIN’ SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAIN MEN

The Coffis Brothers & the Mountain Men, a rootsy rock ’n’ roll band born and raised in the Santa Cruz Mountains, will rock Seven Bar and Kitchen (224 Helena Ave.), also on April 15, at 8 p.m. Their new album, Wrong Side of the Road, finds them on the right side of rock, building on classic influences for a solid sound. With swaying, twanging riffs, and multipart harmonies, their songs have earned comparisons to early Neil Young, with a rustic vibe familiar to anyone fortunate to have spent time in the piney peaks above Santa Cruz. Lucky as we are to live in such a sumptuous city, Seven will of course offer you a sinfully good selection of sandwiches and cocktails to pair with the music.