I imagine the early days in the Morrison household were a foot stomping good time. Brothers Ben (vocals, guitar) and Alex (vocals, banjo, guitar)—born in Petaluma—started making music together at 12 years old. Both their parents were musicians, and their mother was in a folk band, so they heard her harmonizing with other singers in their living room.
Today, the brothers front the San Francisco alternative-bluegrass band The Brothers Comatose, that also features Addie Levy (vocals, mandolin), Steve Height (upright bass), and Philip Brezina (violin). With fierce musicianship and harmony singing, they could be mistaken for a traditional string band, but they have a decided alternative edge.
Formed in 2009, the band’s debut, Songs from the Stoop, was released in 2010. Their sixth and most recent album, Ear Snacks, came out in 2023. They’ve also released EPs of cover songs, recording tracks like Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California,” and The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” It’s a wonder to hear these rock classics filtered through the bluegrass sensibilities of Bro Co.
Good Medicine, Numbskull, and KCBX present The Brothers Comatose on Friday, May 2, at BarrelHouse Brewing Co. (6 p.m.; all ages; $33.68 at goodmedicinepresents.com).
Broken Compass Bluegrass opens the show. They combine tradition with innovation to make their own contemporary bluegrass sound. Expect tight harmonies, ripping solos, and inherent musical joyfulness.
Numbskull and Good Medicine present the return of Kareeta in Club Car Bar on Saturday, May 3 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $10.82 presale at goodmedicinepresents.com or $12.88 day of show). According to their bio, they “rose from the swamps and southern delta heat during the uncertain spring of 2020. Emerging as a fully formed amalgamation of the music that shaped its core, the band assembled in California and recorded their debut LP in Oakland with producer and musician Greg Loiacono (Mother Hips, Green Leaf Rustlers) at the controls.”
George Strait, Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Merle Haggard, Alan Jackson, Dwight Yoakam—these are straight-ahead, old-school country icons, and they’re also inspiration for Jon Wolfe, who Good Medicine and Numbskull bring to The Siren on Sunday, May 4 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $25.44 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Hazard Canyon opening.
Wolfe believes in “country music, as it was, is, and always should be, with boots firmly standing on the bedrock of tradition and an eye focused on taking it into the future.”
The narrative songwriter draws on his own experiences, “from small-town Oklahoma to the bustling big city commodities trading floor to the dance halls and honky-tonks of Texas and Oklahoma to Music Row.”
Good Medicine and Numbskull also present Los Hermanos Mendoza on Sunday, May 4, in BarrelHouse Brewing (6 p.m.; all ages; $28.53 at goodmedicinepresents.com). This first-generation Mexican American country band features three Ventura-born, Bakersfield-raised brothers whose music is inspired by the likes of “Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and Dwight Yoakam, as well as the regional Mexican sounds of Ramon Ayala, Los Tigres del Norte, Vicente Fernandez, and Joan Sebastian,” according to their bio.
Finally, Good Medicine, Numbskull, and KCBX present Willy Braun & Roger Clyne on Wednesday, May 7, in The Siren (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $36.77 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Willy is Reckless Kelly’s co-frontman with his brother Cody, and Clyne is frontman for Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.
Michigan cowboy
The Siren is hosting Flint, Michigan-born country singer-songwriter Whitey Morgan on Saturday, May 3 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $57.67 at tixr.com), with Leroy From the North opening.
If you’re a fan of classic outlaw artists like Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, and David Allan Coe, you’ll dig Morgan, who pens blue-collar heartland anthems like “Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue” and “Me and the Whiskey.”
He’s reportedly been in the studio recording new songs produced by Shooter Jennings.
Queer joy, bubble-mania, and … sold out (sad face)
This week the Fremont Theater hosts Sapphic Factory: Queer Joy on Friday, May 2 (doors at 8 with a show at 9 a.m.; 18-and-older; $21.60 at prekindle.com). The dance party’s mantra reads, “If you want to go out dancing and celebrate the sounds of eternal longing, we know a place.” Hear tracks by the likes of Chappell Roan, Muna, Fletcher, Kehlani, Boygenius, Kim Petras, Rina Sawayama, Marina, Kali Uchis, Elio, Ashnikko, Girl in Red, Tegan and Sara, and more.
Family fun is heading your way when The Amazing Bubble Man comes to the Fremont on Saturday, May 3 (doors at 2 with a show at 3 p.m.; all ages; $27.78 to $52.50 at prekindle.com). Louis Pearl got involved with bubbles beginning in 1980 “by making, demonstrating, and selling a toy called the Bubble Trumpet on a street corner in Berkeley, California,” his bio explains. “Eventually his toy company had 147 products with international manufacturing and distribution, but Louis found that he preferred playing with the toys over selling them. He sold Tangent Toys in 2002. Since then, he has been touring the world, performing hundreds of shows every year.”
He’ll make “square bubbles, bubbles inside bubbles, fog-filled bubbles, giant bubbles, bubble volcanoes, tornados, and trampolines” and put people inside bubbles.
If you were hoping to see Rilo Kiley on Monday, May 5, that one’s sold out, but maybe you can find someone reselling a ticket online.
Dead, fused, post punk
SLO Brew Live at Rod & Hammer Rock has three shows stacked up for you this week starting with Mason’s Children—A Grateful Dead Experience on Friday, May 2 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $27.21 at ticketweb.com).
According to their bio, “Mason’s Children is unlike your average rock group. They bring to stage more than just re-creations of our favorite Dead tunes … they embody the authentic 1960s flower child vibration. Members met on the road, touring Dead and Company and Bob Weir and the Wolf Bros and gained a following by playing at Shakedown lots before and after each show.”
Chezile plays on Sunday, May 4 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $27.21 at ticketweb.com), with Valley Boy opening. Née Alejandro Sanchez, Chezile hails from Albuquerque and is known “for his unique fusion of jazz, soul, and indie, crafting a melancholic and ethereal sonic experience that resonates deeply with listeners,” according to press materials.
His breakout single was 2024’s “Beanie,” followed by the EP 47, described as “a deeply personal body of work created during a turbulent period when he was moving from Albuquerque to Los Angeles and living out of his car, motels, and Airbnbs.”
Finally, SLO Brew Live and (((folkYEAH!))) present French Police on Tuesday, May 6 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $32.36 at ticketweb.com). The Chicago-based “darkwave ensemble” is led by vocalist and guitarist Brian Flores, lead guitarist Manny Herrera, and bassist Rolando Donjuan. They make “melancholic dance music for the passionate and romantic.”
Rock queen revisited
Cal Poly Arts presents TINA—The Tina Turner Musical in the Performing Arts Center on Wednesday and Thursday, May 7 and 8 (7:30 p.m.; 14-and-older; $69 to $127 at calpolyarts.org). This isn’t a tribute show; it’s a biographical musical about “the inspiring journey of a woman who broke barriers and became the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” according to organizers. “Set to the pulse-pounding soundtrack of her most beloved hits, this electrifying sensation will send you soaring to the rafters.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall wrote the musical, which is recommended for those 14 and older: “The production includes loud music, strobe lighting, haze, gun shots, scenes depicting domestic violence, and strong language.” Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2025.