March gets started on the first with Kalan FrFr at the Senator Theatre thanks to JMax Productions and ENT Legends.
Breaking out of the busy Los Angeles music soundscape, Kalan FrFr (Forreal Forreaal) mixes rapping and singing on his debut album “TwoFr 2.” He’s starting a run of shows at the Senator that will take him across the Golden State.
A week later, on March 8, Lost on Main brings a triple-bill to its stage with Marlon Asher, Brady Shammar and DJ duo Stay Positive Sound. Asher is a pioneer in Trinidadian reggae, with hits like “Ganja Farmer” and “Fit and Strong.” Shammar, for her part, hails from Kingston, Jamaica and has shared the stage with some of reggae’s greats.
Lost on Main hosts Metalachi, a JMax Productions’ show on March 13. As the name suggests, the band is a heavy metal mariachi outfit from East Los Angeles that plays a a bunch of covers, like “Iron Man,” “Ace of Spades,” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
The next night, on March 14, Lost welcomes Toubab Krewe, an instrumental group from Asheville, North Carolina that mixes “rock, African traditions, jam sensibilities, international folk strains and more” the band’s website says.
Local rhythm-masters Wolfthump open the show.
It wouldn’t be Chico without a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, so Chico Concerts is bringing Kevin Burke’s St. Patty’s Day Blowout to the Chico Women’s Club on March 15. Burke is considered one of the finest Irish fiddle players alive today and has been at the forefront of traditional Irish and Celtic music for almost five decades. Joining him are vocalist and Irish flute player Nuala Kennedy and multi-instrumentalist Eamonn O’Leary, both from the Irish traditional music power trio, The Alt.
The big show of the month is Melissa Etheridge at Gold Country Casino on March 16.
Etheridge was one of the underground lesbians — along with Tracy Chapman and the Indigo Girls — at the core of a folky revival in the late 1980s. She came out in 1993 with the release of her fourth album, “Yes I Am,” the title referencing the long-standing rumors about her sexuality.
This show catches Etheridge at the start of her I’m Not Broken Tour that has dates scheduled through October.
Harkening back to her origins in the bars of Boston and then L.A., many of her tours over the past decade have been solo affairs, with her choosing to loop guitar and rhythm parts on stage to create a fuller sound.
Also that night, the Jennifer Hartswick Band stops by Lost on Main. The trumpeter and vocalist is a member of the Trey Anastacio Band and has performed with Phish, Tom Petty, Herbie Hancock, Aaron Neville, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Matthews Band, and on and on.
But at her core is jazz, as heard on her latest release, 2022’s “Something in the Water.”
Coming from “the middle of nowhere” North Carolina, Big Something brings its Headspace Tour to Lost on Main on March 19. With trumpet, sax and electronic woodwind instrument, the six-piece, the band’s website promises “a high energy live show fusing improvisational alternative rock with fuck, reggae, jazz, electronica, heavy metal and more.”
The Paradise Performing Art Center welcomes Definitely Dead on March 23. The Woodlake, California tribute band’s lighting and videos set up along with historically accurate gear helps make this five-piece “ambassadors of the Grateful Dead’s enduring legacy,” they say.
Finally, Chico favorites Rick Estrin and the Nightcats return to town, this time at the Chico Women’s Club on March 29 thanks to Chico Concerts. Blues fans know Estrin’s powerful vocals and expressive harp playing are central to the band’s sound, but guitarist Kid Anderson, keyboardist/bassist Lorenzo Ferrel, and drummer Derrick “D’Mar” Martin are no slouches.
Together, they are one of the best modern blues acts around and well worth seeing.
