Twenty-four-year-old budding musician Sarah Jaffe will bring her folk-inspired guitar, soothing voice and Texas spirit to the stage at Harlow’s on Saturday as part of her summer U.S. tour opening for The Old 97’s, a folk band with a country twang and alternative edge also from Texas. Jaffe was noted as one of the breakout artists of 2010 by many nationally recognized publications, such as Rolling Stone and Paste Magazine, according to her management Stunt Company. She has also performed at Austin, Texas’, music-conference festival South by Southwest tour four times. Jaffe said she was encouraged by folk music at an early age and listened to Joni Mitchell and Patsy Cline growing up. This

The 5th String Music Store, located at the intersection of J and Alhambra, is at the crux of the local music scene in Sacramento. Started in 1982, the store has been the home of rare and quality acoustic instruments for decades. These include mandolins, banjos, guitars, fiddles, and ukuleles. Two Oscar Schmidt Autoharps hang adornedly near the banjos, both new and antique. Guitars include Martins, Taylors and a few rare brands. The most popular item is the Blueridge Guitar. "Blueridge, although not as long on the market as Taylor or Martin, has proven to be a quality, affordable guitar-maker, making it a valuable option for beginners." noted Stephen Ward, the store's clerk. Stephen has wo

Mayor Kevin Johnson gave full endorsement of the 47th annual Sacramento Greek Festival on Friday, its opening day. In his address to festival-goers, Johnson shared his appreciation of the great music, art and food provided by the Greek community over the course of the weekend’s festivities, which took place at the Sacramento Convention Center. “It’s all about the gyros for me,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a lot of great Greek restaurants in Sacramento, but what’s neat about this event is that they all come here.” With more than 10,000 people attending the three-day event, Johnson clearly isn’t the only Sacramentan in support of celebrating all things Greek. Chefs from some of the best Gree

Local Americana musicians Richard March and Tyler Ragle are not afraid to get political. Their new song "Gold Star Café" includes a café conversation about politics, praises for President Obama and criticism of the public for not being involved enough in politics. "Thank God this young man got the vote/But he alone won't save this boat/Gonna take 'all hands' to get her right/So we can sleep at night," March writes. Saturday at Javalounge, the local country-influenced folk duo will play a CD-release concert for their five-song EP Kings and Thieves, their first release as a duo. Davis-based singer-songwriter Nat Lefkoff will open the show. March lived in the Bay Area until age 30, when h

  Luigi's Fungarden on 20th Street will be playing host to an album release party for one of Sacramento's homegrown songstresses, Autumn Sky, Friday, April 24. Also on the bill are The Early States and Adrian Bourgeois. Autumn Sky (whose lyrical name is, amazingly, not a pseudonym) has been working on her first album, entitled All Which Isn't Singing, since 2007, and its release on the 24th will be the latest milestone in a lifelong musical journey. Sky can boast of having danced with Santa Barbara alt-rockers Toad the Wet Sprocket while still a toddler, proficiency with 14 instruments, and an appearance on NPR Sacramento's Insight program. It would be easy to describe Sky's music as fo