Jake Blount plays Bristols Cider House on Jan. 20 

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Jake Blount (pronounced "blunt") is a musical archeologist digging deep through obscure source material to inspire his original arrangements of public domain music. You'll recognize gospels and spirituals, string band old timey sounds, and roots blues, but when Blount gets his hands on these snippets of old music, they're transformed into something reimagined that he's dubbed "Afrofuturist folklore."

Numbskull and Good Medicine present The Jake Blount Band at Bristols Cider House on Saturday, Jan. 20 (7 p.m.; all ages; $20 at goodmedicinepresents.com). The award-winning musician and scholar is particularly good at applying creatively syncopated rhythms to this music, especially on songs like "Didn't It Rain" and "Once There Was No Sun," off his terrific Smithsonian Folkways album The New Faith (2022). If you're a fan of roots and folk music presented and understood in a surprising new way, be there.

Fremont Theater

Poolside—the recording project of producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Paradise—plays Saturday, Jan. 20 (8 p.m.; all ages; $27.50 at prekindle.com), touring in support of Blame It All On Love. Known for breezy summer dance hits, on his new album, he's swimming in deeper waters.

"I've spent 15 years being like, 'fuck your rules,' and I finally feel like I'm not trying to prove anything or anyone wrong," he said in press materials. "It's just pure, unfiltered expression, and that's why I'm really excited about this record."

Celebrating his pop sensibilities but mining deeper emotions, he's exploring the hidden pitfalls that lurk around every corner.

"There's a theme of thinking you found something and believing it's going to work, but there's always that Shakespearean dark side you don't know is coming," he said. "There's a shadow side to everything when you pursue the things you love. Whether it's romance or ambition, there's always this trade-off of harsh realities that comes with it."

The Undercover Dream Lovers open the show.

Also at the Fremont, EDM artist Kaivon on his 2024 Ultraviolet Album Tour plays on Wednesday, Jan. 24 (8 p.m.; all ages; $27.50 at prekindle.com).

The Siren

Back by popular demand, Patrick Contreras—Violin On Fire plays on Friday, Jan. 19 (doors at 7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18 at tixr.com). Born and raised in Fresno, he's a monster rock violinist inspired by Hendrix and Santana.

Sound Investment plays on Saturday, Jan. 20 (2 to 5 p.m.; 21-and-older; free), delivering everything from classic rock to disco, funk, country, Motown, and current hits.

Blues master Tommy Castro and The Painkillers play on Saturday, Jan. 20 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $27 on tixr.com). Castro is the 2023 Blues Music Award B.B. King Entertainer of the Year winner, and he's touring in support of his newest, A Bluesman Came To Town, of which he announced, "I try to keep my music fresh by taking different approaches and writing and recording different types of songs. I want to stretch out musically, but I always want the songs to be my most authentic, to remain true to myself and my art.

"This time, I felt the need to do something I've never done before. What I have for you is a record of songs that tell a story. It's the story of a young man from a small town. One day a guitar-playing bluesman comes to his town. From that point on, the young man's life will never be the same. It's based on a classic hero's journey—the odyssey of a musician's life."

SLO Brew Rock

Of her new album, Lucha (which translates as "Fight"), Y La Bamba frontwoman Luz Elena Mendoza Ramos explains in press materials, "Lucha is a symbol of how hard it is for me to tackle healing, live life, and be present."

The album, which developed during the pandemic, "explores multiplicity—love, queerness, Mexican American and Chicanx identity, family, intimacy, yearning, loneliness—and chronicles a period of struggle and growth" for Mendoza Ramos, who moved from Portland to Mexico City, "returning to her parents' home country while revisiting a lineage marred by violence and silence, and simultaneously reaching towards deeper relationships with loved ones and herself."

See Y La Bamba on Tuesday, Jan. 23 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $22 at ticketweb.com).

Theatrical and hilarious Thumpasaurus plays on Thursday, Jan. 25 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $18 at ticketweb.com). Check out videos for their songs "Struttin'" and "I'm Cute" to get a taste of this tongue-in-cheek bordering on absurdist act. They're cute.

Cal Poly Arts

The Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet, an extraordinary chamber music ensemble, presents a new program—Island Prayers—at the PAC on Friday, Jan. 19 (7:30 p.m.; $30 to $65 at calpolyarts.org).

"This evening will showcase works commissioned by and created for TIQ from renowned composers Terence Blanchard, Rhiannon Giddens, Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, and founder David Balakrishnan," according to press materials. "In addition to the quartet's unique combination of jazz, American roots, and new music, these works will also include indigenous and folkloric styles that the quartet will be approaching for the first time."

More music ...

This Friday, Jan. 19, the Burning James Blues Band plays Puffer's of Pismo (7 p.m.; free), and the band members—"Burning" James Scoolis, Wes Starr, Billy Baxmeyer, and Mike Soleno—are calling in the ladies to help out, bringing in Susan Ritchie (vocals and guitar) and MarciJean Fambrini (vocals and stand-up bass). It's going to be a terrific night of blues.

Entertainment Events Inc. presents Girls Night!—The Musical in the Clark Center on Friday, Jan. 19 (7:30 p.m.; $45 to $65 at clarkcenter.org). According to organizers, "This touching and hilarious 'tell-it-like-it-is' musical takes audiences on a journey into the lives of a group of female friends. Audience members can't help but laugh, cry, and sing and dance in the aisles!" Hear hits such as "Lady Marmalade," "It's Raining Men," "Man I Feel Like A Woman," "I Will Survive," and more.

Gypsy jazz quartet The Idiomatiques play a SLO Jazz Federation concert this Friday, Jan. 19, in SLO's Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church (7:30 p.m.; $30 general and $10 students at my805tix.com). They perform "in the spirit of Django Reinhardt with an emphasis on original compositions," according to their bio.

The Bunker and The Frequent Weaver present an evening of Tuvan shamanism and throat singing with Chingiz Kam and Arrington de Dionyso on Saturday, Jan. 20 (7 p.m.; all ages; $20 at thebunkerslo.com). According to organizer Abe Gibson, "Chingiz Kam is an initiated hereditary shaman from Tuva now living in New York City. He will conduct an authentic ritual for powerful healing adapted for the space while sharing his personal 'Algysh,' an ancient genre of spirit-song used by Tuvan shamans in every sacred setting.

"Arrington de Dionyso will present 'Voice Mask,'" Gibson continued, "a musical performance ritual utilizing improvisatory structures to showcase an entrancing virtuosity with a variety of extended vocal techniques such as traditional Tuvan throat singing combined with simple elements such as aluminum foil and PVC pipes to enhance the 'soul' of vocal sound." Δ

Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at [email protected].