Midweek Treat @ Vintage

He's been compared to Jason Mraz and plays gigs all over the West Coast. On Wednesday, singer- songwriter Chris Parreira will bring his considerable talent to The Vintage Wine Bar in downtown Redding.

The show starts at 7:30 and Chris will be joined by folk musician Liz Ryder.

A busy performer in Arcata, Calif., and Ashland, Ore., Parreira is no stranger to the North State - Chris has joined us for North State Songwriter events and he impresses local audiences every time he picks up his guitar and shares his clever, poetic lyrics.

Vintage Wine Bar

1790 Market St,

Redding, CA

229-9449

More on Chris: Chris Parreira

More on Liz Ryder: Liz Ryder

Downtown Eatery: Local Brews, Local Tunes

Phil Paige hosts a singer-songwriter Open Mic at the Downtown Eatery the first Wednesday of every month - that's this Wednesday, February 3rd.

Sign up for open mic is 7-7:30 (or email organizer Phil Paige: ppaige2000@aol.com ahead of time if you know you're going to be there). Open Mic is 7:30-9. At 9, the featured artists, Pine Dogz (Steve and Diana Wallis) will play a set of originals.

PineDogz shared some original tunes last Friday at the Cultural Cruise - their music is "little bit folk, a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll and a lot of heart and soul."

Diana and Steve do a great job - should be a fun evening.

** UPDATE** Craig and I will be at the Open Mic in the 7:30 slot, sharing a couple original tunes.

Lovett on Songwriting

"Writin' songs is like a mystery," says Lyle Lovett in an American Songwriter interview.

I have to agree.

Lovett is one my all-time favorite singer-songwriters, and you can read more about his philosophy and insights at American Songwriter.

Songwriter Showcase

North State Songwriters present a Songwriter Showcase at Little Filly's Pizza (22047 Palo Way, Palo Cedro) on April 18th.

Opening the show at 6:45 will be Matt McClendon -- I was impressed by Matt at the Golden Umbrella Talent show, where he received a second-place award. Here's his myspace page: Matt's myspace.

Still Married is on at 7 - we're bringing our fiddle player for a couple of tunes and will be debuting two new songs that night - always makes things interesting. We'll see how "Still Married" we are by the end of the evening.....

At 7:30, we are very pleased to have Bay-area singer-songwriter Michael Gaither on the bill. He tells some great stories with his songs - check out his website: Michael Gaither.com. Michael will also be playing at the Post Office on Friday night with Jim Dyar.

Nick Ciampi will be up next - a dear soul, whose songs and style are reminiscent of Dylan. Nick's myspace is here.

Pine Dogs is another Cottonwood duo: Diana Wallis and her husband, Steve, will play a rockin', bluesy set of original tunes. Diana and I are having some fun co-writing - I'm hoping she'll play one of our brand new tunes. Diana's myspace.

Janie Seeger, who has a marvelous Trisha Yearwood-type voice and an upbeat style, will round the show at 9. She's bringing a lead guitar player, too, so it should be a fun evening. Janie's website.

No cover charge - some great pizza and a casual family atmosphere. Hope you'll join us.

For more information contact:

Little Filly's: 547-5412

Music Downtown

Chris Parreira is a talented singer-songwriter who came all the way from Ashland last year to play a set at our North State Songwriters Tribute to Bob Dylan. He impressed me with his honest voice and well-crafted songs. Since then, he's relocated from Ashland to Austin, Tx, and the guy is busier than ever.

He's touring like a madman -- making music all over the country -- and he's stopping here in Redding this weekend.

Chris Parreira and Marc Jeffares (Knoxville, TN) will bring their music to:

The Downtown Eatery
Saturday, March 7th, 7-10PM


Marc Jeffares (myspace. com/marcjeffares) "Writing, living, and performing out of such diverse places as the coastal redwood country of Humboldt County, CA; the mountains of Colorado; and music history rich East Tennessee, Marc Jeffares uses the song to express the landscape, culture, emotions, and subconscious of the world around him....A dynamic and charismatic performer, he has been compared to Townes Van Zandt and Bob Dylan, among others."

Chris Parreira (myspace. com/chrisparreiramusic) "Chris's music contains an honesty that is rare in the modern songwriter. You can feel the open road in his songs. You can feel the ecstasy and the loneliness. You can feel the adventure. From the first line, you know this guy is living it."-John Craigie, singer-songwriter"Chris Parreira writes songs like he was born to do it...and plays them like it's what keeps him alive." -Lila Nelson, Singer-Songwriter/DJ on KHUM

For more on The Downtown Eatery, check out their website.

It IS my fault

Sorry -- I didn't mean to.

Today's Mallard Fillmore cartoon.