What can you do with a cowboy boot, a hand saw, some metal pipes and string? A whole lot says Mike Silverman, performing as That 1 Guy on Thursday at Beatnik Studios. Don't miss your chance to see this one man band and his invention, The Magic Pipe. Silverman, who grew up in the Bay Area, was introduced to music by his father's vintage stand-up bass. He says he remembers banging on it until he could reproduce sounds he liked. The instrument and being "in the right place at the right time" to his present career. That 1 Guy has performed internationally and has large fan bases in places such as Europe and Australia, as well as the United States. He plays annually at the Woodford Folk Festi

It wasn't long ago that we were all hankering about in excitement (chaos, really) about bringing back, once again, our notorious production of "Cinderella"... and now here we are, days before Christmas, selling out shows and reaching out more than ever to gain a new audience of eager faces, young and old, to play along with us in the magic that is our beloved spin on the classic fairytale. Added performances are: Sunday, December 27th - 7 PM Tuesday, December 29th - 7 PM Sunday, January 3rd - 7 PM Call the box office now for the best seats available. 443-6722. And don't miss this holiday romp at the Sacramento Theatre Company Featured Above: Brian Rodda, William Elsman, Michael RJ 

  At 6’9 and 250 lbs, it is amazing that Big Easy Lofton made it across the zip line. Big Easy Lofton and his friend and teammate Flight Time Lang of the Harlem Globetrotters were recently on the Emmy award-winning CBS television show, “The Amazing Race.” One of their challenges was to cross a zip line suspended over water. In an interview with both Flight Time and Big Easy, Big Easy said the challenge was “exhausting.” He told me that he was told the zip line was tested, but just never tested for someone of his size. Luckily, his strength and athletic ability allowed him to finish. Flight Time and Big Easy finished fourth in the race that premiered the season final on December 6, 2009.  

What do The Band, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Rolling Stones, Willie Nelson, The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra and half of the Beatles have in common? Aside from making some of the finest popular music of the 20th century, all of these artists have collaborated with Leon Russell. The long-haired and bearded organist/singer-songwriter has been working behind the scenes (and occasionally in the spotlight) with an innumerable amount of music’s heavy hitters for half a century. “I've been lucky to work with so many great musicians,” Russell said via email a few days before his show at Harlow’s on Thursday, Nov. 12. Russell began his music career as a session musician, working live and in the studio wi

A love letter to Minus the Bear: Dear criminally underrated Seattle indie rock quintet, I love everything about you. For instance, the way you balance complex time signature changes and finely honed musicianship with catchy pop sensibility. It takes a truly skilled collective to make music this intricate seem so natural. Or the fact that Jake Snider’s bittersweet lyrics about lost innocence and simpler times are relatable not only to high schoolers who are experiencing the subject matter for the first time, but to grown adults twice their age who have been through it numerous times and have the benefit of hindsight. I love that Snider can make potentially corny lyrics like “It’s rare t

It was a solemn scene with chains and bars accompanied only by candlelight. A spotlight and a single pirouette performed flawlessly by one of the male troupe members accompanied by a Spanish song set the mood of the Music Circus sensation The Man of La Mancha. The setting was that of a prison where Miguel de Cervantes, also known as Don Quixote, played by Walter Charles, told his story of love and never giving up on your dreams as a defense in a mock trial held by the prisoners, to save his beloved manuscript from destruction. The first act was full of witty puns and adult humor describing Quixote, a wise man who is a little mad, accompanied by his loyal servant Sancho, played by Kevin

"The 2009-10 season is a dream come true," said dancer Alexandra Cunningham. A financial crisis in the 2008-09 season has given the 24 dancers a new perspective on their dancing career. Relocating from the 2,398-seat Community Center Theater to the studio with only two rows of seats was perhaps the biggest eye-opener. For the in-studio shows, only the bare minimum -- chairs, curtains and lights -- separated the dancers from the audience. Both the community and the dancers loved it. "Performing to sold-out audiences in our studios was exhilarating!" Cunningham said. "I felt that I could share so much more with audience members because I could see their every reaction." Cunningham praise

Twisting hundreds of knobs, playing several keyboards, and filtering sound through two Apple laptops, The Crystal Method worked at a frenzied pace entertaining the hyped crowd inside Harlow's on Tuesday night. The diverse crowd donned sunglasses, earplugs, glowing necklaces and even light emitting shirts as The Crystal Method wowed them, distorting breakbeats to perfection and putting on a dazzling performance. DJ LA RIOTS opened the show at 8 p.m. to a nearly empty dance floor. As the clock neared 10, the crowd had grown substantially in anticipation for The Crystal Method. Nearly 150 people on the floor and 50 more in the seats cheered as The Crystal Method crept through ambient fog o

Planning a Fundraiser, Event, or Party...check out the new & locally operated website www.SactoTalent.com. Much more than just an event planning tool, this site also acts as a great location to find and book local talent. All kinds! Clubs, Events, Fundraisers, or Kids Parties; they have something for everyone. Unlike other talent registries which just list either musical or comedy talent...This site has a larger variety of talent including speakers, celebrity MC's, singers and more. This site is being marketed all over Northern California. To date this new site has already been seen promoted on several cable networks, ads in SN&R,  Sac State Hornet, and Sac City College papers, and is goi

Sacramento has long been devoid of an opportunity to see and enjoy live shows which feature a variety of local talent. Now we have it!Harlows Nightclub, downtown on J st., now features Variety Shows on alternating Weds. nights. The next is on June 3rd with another following on June 17th. These fun shows include a local band to focus the crowd and raise the energy in the room. Then they present a singer to share a couple songs; followed by one of the areas better comedians. Now the show is really moving, they put on stage another singer or two, another comic and finish with the Band playing off the night with another set of music. It is a full night of unique fun. What makes this special i

In my previous article, "Meet The Evil Do-Gooders," my friends and I meet this band at an open mic event at the Fox and Goose (you can read that article by clicking the Storyline tab to the right). The following week, I catch up with The Evil Do-Gooders at an Open Mic event at Luna's Cafe. Turns out that these guys are just as quirky in real life as they are in their songs. Tell me a little about the Evil Do-Gooders Ruben: We formed about three months ago at a party. I had written some songs for two months and they were all my first songs. I played a song for a group of people and his [Ryan's] sister was in there, and he was there. He liked my song that was two chords, which is extremel