Little Muddy, Door 15. The name Little Muddy evokes
images of Southern bluesmen picking steel guitars. Rich Goldstein, the
band’s mastermind and primary musician, hails from rural Illinois and
was raised on classic country music. Both landscapes inform his gritty
guitar instrumentals, which seem to serve as a soundtrack for some
unseen film noir set in open plains and inner cities.
(self-released)
At Jupiter (2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley) on October 17. 8 p.m.,
free
Beth Custer Ensemble, Roam. Many independent artists
claim to shun precedent, as if that alone makes them worth hearing.
When they’re not wrong, they’re usually unlistenable. San Francisco
musician Custer, meanwhile, lets her experimentalism speak for itself
by crafting appealing songs just beyond the realm of expectation that
employ jazz, folk, avant-garde, and her distinctive bass clarinet. (BC
Records)
At Yoshi’s San Francisco (1330 Fillmore St.) on October 19. 8 p.m.
& 10 p.m., $10-$14
Fresh and Onlys, Grey-Eyed Girls. The title track’s
celestial guitar melody, modulated like starlight through the
atmosphere, serves as a fine introduction to this San Francisco
psych-garage act’s improved second full-length. That the album evolves
as an homage to the record collections of Tim Cohen and Shayde Sartin
doesn’t matter; the songs are more than strong enough to support their
nostalgia. (Woodist)
At the Stork Club (2330 Telegraph Ave., Oakland) on October 20. 9
p.m., $5
Derek Smith, Latin Expression. Here’s one for the sun;
Latin Expression is a Caribbean vacation on a shiny disc, and
with a grey sky overhead it just doesn’t feel right. Smith, adept on
steel drum and vibraphone, is like a subtler, more sophisticated Jimmy
Buffet: his ten covers of Latin jazz classics and two originals get
their message across without vocals or artifice. (self-released)
