Event Listing - City Events
Fri Jan 29 - Thu Feb 4

SF Indiefest and Talking House Present Winter Music Fest

January 29 - February 4
$10
Tickets

Location
Date and Time
Various Locations
San Francisco
San Francisco, CA 94117
district: San Francisco

Fri Jan 29 (See www.sfindie.com for times)
Sat Jan 30 (See www.sfindie.com for times)
Sun Jan 31 (See www.sfindie.com for times)
Mon Feb 1 (See www.sfindie.com for times)
Tue Feb 2 (See www.sfindie.com for times)

Description
Winter Music Fest Schedule
Bands listed in Order of Appearance

Friday, January 29

Bottom of the Hill - 8:00pm
RyKarda ParAsol
Dave Smallen
The Trophy Fire
The Action Design

Saturday, January 30

Bottom of the Hill - 8:00pm
The Hot Moon
Judgement Day
Battlehooch

Thee Parkside - 1:00pm (All Ages Show)
DFR
Fever Charm
Lou Lou and the Guitar Fish
Finish Ticket
Emily's Amy

Thee Parkside - 8:00pm
Evacuee
The Soft White Sixties
Bird By Bird
The Stone Foxes

Sunday, January 31

Thee Parkside - 8:00pm
Kelly McFarling
Daniel James
Bhi Bhiman
Eric McFadden

Monday, February 1

Bottom of the Hill - 8:00pm
Scene of Action
Luke Franks Or The Federalists
The Hundred Days
Please Do Not Fight

Thee Parkside - 8:00pm
Duckmandu
Devil-Ettes
Tom Jonesing
The Goldenhearts

Tuesday, February 2

Thee Parkside - 8:00pm
Kuma/Koshka
Fake Your Own Death
Two Sheds
Grand Lake

Wednesday, February 3

Bottom of the Hill - 8:00pm
Fighting the Villain
Tempo No Tempo
The Hot Toddies
The Downer Party

Thee Parkside - 8:00pm
Damn Handsome and the Birthday Suits
Switchblade Riot
Blammos
The Struts

Thursday, February 4

DNA Lounge - 9:00pm
Smash Up Derby
Kid Beyond
Gooferman

IndieFest starts off on a musical note with the launch of the Winter Music Fest, happening January 29-February 4 and featuring 43 bands in 11 showcases over 7 days. Opening night kicks off at 8:00pm at the Bottom of the Hill (1233 17th Street) with the musical menagerie of RyKarda ParAsol, Dave Smallen, The Trophy Fire, and the Action Design. The excitement then expands to Thee Parkside (1600 17th Street) with San Francisco artist Bhi Bhiman, the eclectic Duckmandu, the soulful musings of Kuma/Koshka, and the aptly named Damn Handsome and the Birthday Suits to name but a few.

Thee Parkside will also host an all-ages show called The Next Generation Showcase on Saturday, January 30th at 1:00pm. With such stand-out artists as DFR, Fever Charm, Lou Lou and the Guitar Fish, Finish Ticket, and Emily's Army, the event is sure to please even the grumpiest of family members.

Closing night of Winter Music Fest also serves as the rollicking Opening Night party for the 12th Annual SF Independent Film Festival (IndieFest). Come dance the night away on February 4th at the DNA Lounge as IndieFest welcomes to the stage Smash Up Derby, Kid Beyond, and Gooferman. Doors open at 9:00pm and tickets for each music event is $10.

The Bay Area's Best - An Eclectic Bunch of Bands
In its kick-off year Winter Music Fest offers up a genre for every taste.

I'll Have Some Rock with my Roll
First on the list is the Rock and Roll band Bird By Bird with lead vocalist, lead guitarist and writer Jonathan Devoto. Though Bird by Bird is a new band, its word-of-mouth following is growing fast on the shoulders of The Matches (the popular Oakland-based rock band where Devoto handled lead guitar and backing vocals). The new songs Bird by Bird produces are woven with sharp and nimble wordplay, blending driving rhythms and compelling melodies. Devoto and his writing partner have shaped a sonic blend with echoes of Kings of Leon, Tom Petty, Third Eye Blind, and, yes, The Matches. Emotional, intense, vulnerable, and vivid -- the songs, the vocal delivery, the guitar moves, the instrumental interplay all convey the passion of a young man with a complete and confident music vision.

Also on the rock bandwagon is Grand Lake, a Bay-Area free-rock trio featuring ex-Port O'Brien bassist/singer Caleb Nichols, avante-jazz improviser Jameson Swanagon and drummer John Pomeroy. Combining elements of minimalism, space-rock, and a taste of the avante-garde, Grand Lake creates a unique sound - at times completely their own, while also fitting in with contemporaries like Wilderness, Frog Eyes or even the Wrens.

Sounding much like an Austin band though they emerged from Northern California, Luke Franks Or The Federalists deliver a complex and deep integration of current indie sounds (M. Ward, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Fleet Foxes) and increasingly popular alt country flavors (Wilco, Ryan Adams) steeped with the vibe of esteemed bands that fill the playlists of classic rock radio stations. Nuanced, heart-wrenching, and picturesque lyrics, both provocative and evocative, are sung with a self-awareness and weariness that belie Franks' 23 years, sounding more like a middle-aged Johnny Cash than a young songwriter just past the legal drinking age threshold.

Heavily influenced by the great rock, blues, folk and country stars of the 60s and 70s, The Stone Foxes play a unique brand of loose rock-and-roll and heavy, dirty blues. Aaron Mort and brothers Spence and Shannon Koehler grew up playing music in the hills of California's Central Valley, but it was not until they all relocated to San Francisco for school that the three actually met and started playing music together. Los Angeles native/musician Avi Vinocur was introduced through a friend, and they all moved into a house in the Sunset, quickly converting the garage into their practice space. With two years in the San Francisco rock-and-roll scene under their belts, the Stone Foxes have fed into the spirit of San Francisco's vibrant music scene. Their live shows pack a heavy punch with personality to match. With warm overdriven amps, saturated bass, thumping drums, smokey vocals and a wailing blues harp, the Stone Foxes bring it down low - and crank it up when the groove gets tight.


The Music Goes “POP!”
Finish Ticket is an indie pop band from the San Francisco Bay area, made up of five young musicians. In September of 2009, they released their EP, "Life Underwater." Their song "Confidence" has been getting spins on local radio, and in December they were among the top 5 finalists in Live 105's Not So Silent Night local band contest.

The characteristically smoky voice and dark delivery of Rykarda Parasol conjures cinematic descriptions of bad deeds and betrayed love. Not unlike a female Nick Cave or Greg Dulli, Parasol is a dweller of dark prose and imagery that reminds us of William Faulkner, David Lynch, or Ingmar Bergman.

Oakland's sweethearts, The Hot Toddies, mix 1950's beach pop with indie rock riffs, a bottle of whiskey and a dry sense of humor. Heidi, Erin, Jessica and Sylvia have been playing music, drinking whiskey and writing songs together since the fall of 2005. Blending 60's pop, doo-wop, and beautiful harmonies, they are a fun loving group of four girls from Oakland who play drums, guitar, bass, and keyboards and sing charmingly about being bad. The Hot Toddies love to travel. They also love Jameson on the rocks. They've toured several times through the West Coast, in a borrowed minivan, in a giant "marshmallow" van, and more recently in their very own red van. In 2009, they toured across the US and the UK in support of their debut album, Smell the Mitten.

The Trophy Fire's debut is a somber indie-pop album reminiscent of Pinback and Jimmy Eat World, an album that brings you into a sort of twisted Candyland - it lures you in with lollipops and whispers bitter everythings in your ear. It's a place where locusts swarm the sugar cane fields and worms infest every shiny red apple. The smell of cotton candy mingles with the smell of burning cigarettes, and this songwriting duo is smiling the whole time.

In an Alternative State of Mind
According to Live 105's Aaron Axelson, Scene of Action is "the #1 Bay Area band you need to know in 2009." Jersey Beat says "Scene of Action demonstrates an ability to balance rock and electronics in perfect harmony." 7x7 Magazine says they have "serious energy" and East Bay Express says they "would feel quite at home on an arena rock stage.” Turned out they were right; the band opened Live 105's Not So Silent Night show in December at Oracle Arena. Scene of Action features Joel Montgomery on vocals and guitar, Sam Raven on bass, and Ian Sampson on the drums.

San Francisco's Tempo No Tempo have been kicking around for nearly four years now, getting steadily better while remaining stubbornly under the radar. Bringing back post punk simplicity and edge these guys will get you doing dance moves you haven't seen since '98.

In this era of auto-tune and airbrushing, it's rare to find a new band that legitimately knows their shit. Anyone can be an “artist” due to the luxuries of technology, but not everyone has talent. Attending one show by San Francisco's The Action Design proves they have musical talent aplenty. Perhaps that's because the members are not without prior experience: Emily Whitehurst and Matt Mckenzie (vocals, bass) were in the successful punk band Tsunami Bomb, while Jaycen McKissick (guitar) toured the world in Pipedown and Jake Krohn (drums) was born with drumsticks in his hands. The Action Design can craft an energetic pop song and execute it swimmingly, though they do it with an honest love of music and without pretentious expectations.

Oakland Resident Dave Smallen has been in the Bay Area music scene since the age of 20 when he dropped out of UCLA to record the album Charmingly Awkward with his former band, Street to Nowhere. The band toured relentlessly and opening national tours for The Format, Matt Pond PA, Kevin Devine, Straylight Run, The New Amsterdams, Piebald, State Radio and Thunderbirds Are Now to name just a few. The band broke up shortly after winning back the rights to the album from Capitol after the label underwent a merger with Virgin Records. Dave Smallen just released his first solo record, Everything Changes and Nothing Changes. He has been traveling the country, sharing the stage with the likes of Matt Nathanson, Josh Ritter, Ari Hest, and others.