L.A. Freeway 

I'm dropping a Guy Clark song for this week's title because a) it's very good and b) it was brought to my attention by a dear friend and one of the brightest stars in our local music scene. Beverly Twist and I have known each other for years now and I've written a lot about how much I love her style, especially her work with Canary and the Vamp. That act played its last gig earlier this month at Humbrews, opening (as a trio) for JB Barton and Company, a group that Bev assures me is incredible, but sounds to me like a jake-leg medicine bottle full of cocaine and turpentine. Anyway, I committed two sins there because not only did I miss the show, but I failed to write about it. And now Bev tells me she's leaving town next month, on a pathway to the Southwest that will hopefully bring personal uplift and the recognition she has always deserved for her musical brilliance. It's hard to write about a favorite musician leaving the area, and much harder still when they are a friend, someone I hold close to my heart like a winning hand of cards, or the really special shells and beach glass I have found in my beach walks and mudlarking. Here's to you, dear one, may your travels reap treasures finer than the ones I have held in my memories of all the times we spent together with me rapping, flapping and, most importantly, hearing you play and sing. Please, like the title song sorta goes, get off this L.A. freeway without getting killed or caught, and find some land that you ain't yet bought.

Thursday

I'm usually happy to endorse readings by local writers, especially in this case, when the writer in question is a former NCJ alum. Jim Hight will be discussing and reading from his debut novel Moon Over Humboldt today at two different venues. At 4 p.m. you can find him at the McKinleyville Library, and at 6:30 p.m. he'll be doing his thing at Northtown Books, another local gem I love to endorse. Both events are free.

Friday

Great local sound makers Shiny Eyes will be teaming up with Kit and Mike from a similarly synthy starship called Elegant Humanoid for a dance with the devices under the pale moonlight. Filling out the bill is E. Ray Béchard who you might remember from last Friday's gig at the Miniplex. This is going to be a good one and free, too. Just get to the Siren's Song Tavern by 7 p.m. so you don't miss a beat.

Saturday

The Sanctuary has been the place for well-curated celebrations of some of the true jazz greats of our country. Tonight is one such event, and I suggest you Take the A-Train to J Street by 7 p.m. and pony up the $15-$30 sliding scale door fee to head into a little piece of Birdland. The music of Charlie Parker is going to be on the program, with our ever excellent house band of James Zeller, Ramsey Isaacs, Danny Gaon and Matthew Seno, all joined by viola-ist Tree and tapper Miles Schmidt. This one is gonna be a certified hoot.

Sunday

Another quiet night, which means another recommendation for the music of an artist we lost last year. And tonight is someone who was extremely prolific, both in his own output and as a one-of-a-kind, highly sought after sideman on a number of fine records. David Lindley was his name, and he played on some of my favorite albums from musicians like Leonard Cohen, Warren Zevon and Jackson Browne. I don't have the space to even begin to crack into his vast discography, so I'll just say that I've been getting a kick lately listening to a live bootleg of the song "Her Mind is Gone" with possibly my favorite guitarist Bill Frisell.

Monday (Labor Day)

Everyone is Dirty is an Oakland collective of musicians who throw a new banana in the juggling act of dance and depression that defines the group's chosen genre of post-punk. Those hooks and melodic lines are often created by violin, which seems novel enough to me for a gander, but the pot has really been sweetened by the inclusion of Clean Girl and the Dirty Dishes, who happen to be my favorite loud-pop duo. The Miniplex is the spot for this big, beautiful mess. It's an early one (8 p.m.) because that's how it goes on Mondays, and the cost is a steal at $10.

Tuesday

Savage Henry Comedy Club has finally come up with something I can heartily endorse: Nationalist-based phrenology aimed at our neighbors to the north. The game is simple, two teams are shown pictures of people, and those teams have to decide Are They Canadian? As half a Canuck myself, who has lived there and who would probably still be living there if my late-father weren't so stupid and selfish as to help me get lined up with enough of his Lovecraftian-tideline cousins to get endorsement for citizenship (thus saving you all from having to read my garbage thoughts every week), I am all for this silliness 100 percent. The show's at 9 p.m., and it's only $5.

Wednesday

Do you love Beyoncé? Then run, don't walk to the Miniplex at 8 p.m., where this week's iteration of Big Mood, the weekly hump day queer-dance-a-thon is celebrating all things regarding the true queen of pop. No cover tonight, and you can catch $2 PBR drafts all night long to refill your juices.

Collin Yeo (he/him) would like to applaud the DNC for celebrating joy, especially with its catchy new slogan regarding Palestine, "The Bombings Will Continue as Morale Improves." He lives in Arcata.