We Became Owls, Paige and the Thousand, Kristian Rodriguez @ Awaken Cafe, 3/15/13

Paige & the Thousand

Despite seemingly every band on Earth being in Austin this week for SXSW, there are still a lot of great shows here in the Bay Area. Perhaps the best option for those who want an easy-going night of excellent folk and acoustic music is taking place Friday night at Oakland’s Awaken Cafe with We Became Owls, Paige and the Thousand, and Kristian Rodriguez.

The bluegrass-influenced We Became Owls will be taking a short break from live shows after Friday, as they are composing new music they will perform live for a dance/ballet performance with The Anata Project. The band will play a few more shows this summer before heading to the studio to record an EP in August. Listen to “The Lost and I” from We Became Owls below.

<a href="http://webecameowls.bandcamp.com/track/the-lost-and-i">The Lost and I by We Became Owls</a>

Since we last mentioned Lindsay Garfield’s Paige and the Thousand project, she was getting ready to record the group’s debut EP, We Are Now The Times. The EP, which you can download from their Bandcamp page, has a great country edge. “Billy’s Blues” is my favorite track from the EP – it sounds like it could have come from country legend Bobbie Gentry‘s catalog (and not just because the main character of the song is named Billy).

<a href="http://paigeandthethousand.bandcamp.com/track/billys-blues">Billy's Blues by Paige & The Thousand</a>

Kicking off the show will be Bay Area newcomer Kristian Rodriguez, who recently moved to Berkeley from Atlanta. Rodriguez has been playing the open mic scene around the area, and this is his first true Bay Area gig. He plays bare-bones, acoustic folk with a strong, unique voice. Listen to “Son of Adam” off his Evergreen LP below.

<a href="http://kristian.bandcamp.com/track/son-of-adam">Son Of Adam by Kristian Rodriguez</a>

We Became Owls, Paige and the Thousand, Kristian Rodriguez
Awaken Cafe
March 15, 2013
8:00pm, $5-7 sliding scale