Arts DEVO

2011 DEVOtions: A few rockin’ things to look forward to in the early weeks and months of this brand-new year:

Jan. 6 (and beyond): New (and new-ish) Chico bands live in Chico. Clouds on Strings, Count Funkula & The Remainder Band (Jan. 6, Café Flo); Famous Blue Raincoats—Bob Howard’s Leonard Cohen cover band (Jan. 6, Lost on Main); Steve French, Horse Fight, TV Education & Lish Bills (Jan. 7, Origami Lounge); Chingado (Jan. 8 & Feb. 5, Monstros); Shivaree & Witchdick (Jan. 13, Lost on Main); Hail the Sun (Jan. 15, Café Coda); and Soft Crest (Jan. 29, 1078 Gallery).

Jan. 11: DON’T FORGET! The S.F. Giants’ World Series trophy will be making an appearance at the Chico City Plaza at 11 a.m.

Jan. 13-Feb. 5: Petting Zoo, an installation by Dominic Francisco Odbert at 1078 Gallery. Odbert is one of those busy brains who do many creative things well—crazy art installations, abstract photography and in the case of his unbelievably rad BoomCases, audio electronics (go to www.theboomcase.wordpress.com to see his suitcases fitted with speakers to create portable amplification for all your electronic devices).

Jan. 14: KZFR’s Blues Bash series kick-off. Chico’s community radio station is hosting a series of blues shows out at the The Palms special-events venue (2947 Nord Ave.). First up (Jan. 14) is smokin’ sax man Terry Hanck and his band The Soulrockers (with local boy Big Mo opening). Show No. 2 features super-hot L.A. sextet Café R&B on Feb. 14—“Knocked me on my butt. I ain’t seen shit like that since me and you-know-who,” said no other than Ike Turner.

Jan. 18: Release of Cape Dory, the widely anticipated debut album by husband-wife duo Tennis, written after selling their worldly possessions and while sailing for seven months along the North Atlantic coastline. If the infectious and breezy single “Marathon” is any indication, this’ll be the first must-listen of the new year.

Jan. 24: Tape Deck Mountain at 1078 Gallery. L.A. atmospheric rockers visit the gallery on the heels of the release of new Secret Serf EP.

Feb. 2-24: Speculation, by Brenden Price at Humanities Gallery. Local photo stud (and sweetheart of a man) has gathered books that deal with questions of human origins and abstracted the “symbols/artifacts” through his lens.

Feb. 3-19: Sid and Nancy: Love Kills at Blue Room Theatre. It’s the stage version of the book version that the movie version was based on.

Feb. 7: Rodney Crowell at Sierra Nevada Big Room. In conjunction with the release of his memoir Chinaberry Sidewalks, the country singer/songwriter plays an intimate, one-man show mixing music and stories from his life.

Feb. 8: My Name Is Albert Ayler at Chico State’s Little Theatre (Ayres 106). This documentary on the life of the experimental tenor saxophonist features the only known live footage of the free-jazz icon performing.

Feb. 17: New Music Symposium in Chico State’s Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall. Faculty, students and guests present performances of chamber, electronic and multimedia works under the theme of Open Ears.

Feb. 17: George Jones at Gold Country Casino. One of the last of the country greats returns to Oroville.

Feb. 24: Harlem Gospel Choir at Laxson Auditorium. Chico Performances presents no less than the world’s most famous gospel choir. This is the real deal.