Switch to the mobile version of this page.
She's fixing her makeup, getting ready for a night on the town dancing at the Jam to Moo-Got-2. Then suddenly it's like something from one of the old blues songs she sings. The man she loves appears at the door with blood on his hands, and before she knows it, he's pulled out a .45.
Courtney Weaver, who sings the blues with St. John and the Sinners, survived the shooting, lived to tell her tale. From her hospital bed in Sacramento, she's sending out messages to her friends on Facebook, and, despite what she's been through, she's maintaining a positive attitude.
Four surgeries later she's patched up and out of the ICU. In between procedures, she's been writing songs, left-handed.
That "outreach from the community" is taking multiple forms. Chelsea Hoff Brown put together the "Support for shooting victim Courtney Weaver" Facebook group almost overnight with help from Deep Groovers Laura Trevino and Marc Gummic (445 members and growing as of Tuesday). Saturday they pulled in $500 at a Red Fox dubstep show; more donations came in at Sunday's Deep Groove night at the Jambalaya and Monday at the Boiler Room's open mic. As we go to press Tuesday, plans are underway for a full court press at the Jam's Blues Jam. Courtney would have been singing with St. John and the Sinners this Friday at the Wave. They'll marshal on without her and will definitely be passing the hat.
The popularity of the alt. Americana trio Devil Makes Three has grown by leaps and bounds since I first heard their country-blues-ragtime-folk-rock at Muddy Waters a few years back. They've played a bigger venue on each return visit; Thursday they hit the historic (and large) Eureka Theater with post-bluegrass quintet Trampled by Turtles from Minnesota opening. Catch TbT live on KHUM Friday morning at 10:30. DM3 frontman Pete Bernhard returns Feb. 23, for a solo show at Jambalaya.
Also on Thursday, gypsy jazz guitarist Tom Toohey and friends celebrate Django Reinhardt's 100th birthday at Libation. The "friends" include Ryan Roberts (from Absynthe Q) Jessie Elias, Shao Way Wu and Zach Stone (on sax). "Should be a great evening of wine and traditional arrangements of one the greatest jazz guitar players of all time," promises Roberts. For a preview, tune in KHUM at noon that day when Toohey joins deejay Mike Dronkers for the Django centennial.
If electro and dubstep is more your thing, there's a show Thursday (Jan. 21) at Nocturnum with R/D and "conscious-wordsmith" Souleye plus Masta Shredda and Mike D. Then Saturday the Helicopter Showdown crew and Western Science bring GeT TuFF to the Arcata Theatre Lounge with DJ Bitcrusher and Devour plus Cardboard Papercut (from the ZombieLust Collective) and Psy-Fi.
Antióquia rolls into Arcata Friday in some sort of biodiesel vehicle to play some post-peak oil tribal punk/funk/jam/rock. (They call it "progress rock.") The Oakland-based quartet will be joined by local beatmeisters SambAmore and Dun Dun Fare at the Jambalaya. Come prepared to dance with wild abandon.
The beat goes on Saturday at the Red Fox with SambaDá up from Santa Cruz for a rhythmic blast of "AfroBrazilian samba funk dance music." They're also playing Friday night at the Mattole Grange in shaky Petrolia.
Elsewhere in Blue Lake Saturday, specifically at the Logger Bar, The Hard Ride and Radio Moscow offer two different takes on rock, both heavy (and no Axl Rose impressions).
Freelance photographer and writer, Arts and Entertainment editor from 1997 to 2013.
