Arts Devo

Uncle Dad’s greatest hits [Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?] You’re about to hear the greatest Uncle Dad’s collection ever. So many No. 1 hits. [Just like a prayer, you know I’ll take you there] So many great artists, it’s hard to believe they’re all in one incredible collection: Uncle Dad’s Art Collective Presents: Recollections, Saturday, Feb. 29, 7:30 p.m., at the Sierra Nevada Big Room. [Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life] One beautiful program, culled from eight years of celebrated productions, featuring all the hits you love. [Come together, right now] [You are the sunshine of my life] [’cause you shine on me wherever you are] But Recollections is not sold in any store. Stay tuned to order now. [Money! It’s a gas] To order tickets, visit sierranevada.com or uncledad.co and use your credit card.

Something new again One of Arts DEVO’s favorite annual events is the New Music Symposium at Chico State. It’s two days of free shows, with day one featuring student composers presenting original works, and day two showcasing a visiting adventurous artist. The event kicks off tonight (Feb. 27), 7:30 p.m., with the student works at Rowland-Taylor Recital Hall, while Friday (Feb. 28) will feature Splinter Reeds in Zingg Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. An all-reed quintet, the Oakland-based ensemble’s bio says the group “is explicitly dedicated to cutting-edge composition and expanding the existing reed quintet repertoire through the development of new works by emerging and established composers.” Sounds dope!

A weekend at the museums The forecast is for possible rain this weekend. What a great excuse to go inside and enjoy several Butte County museums during the inaugural Museum Weekend. Fifteen of the county’s guardians of history, art and science have been wrangled by Explore Butte County for two days—Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 29 -March 1), 10 a.m.-4 p.m.—of free admission to places like the Museum of Northern California Art, Gateway Science Museum and even the amazing Bolt’s Antique Tool Museum in Oroville. There are also shuttles available. Visit explorebuttecounty.com/museum-weekend for pick-up locations in Chico and Oroville.

Strainge Brew Chico Fermentation Project sounds like another way to say Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. The bready smell of the hometown brewery’s experiments waft over our little city daily, and for 40 years the project has put a smile on the faces of Chicoans who are proud to have the fermentation factory in our backyard. But according to a Sierra Nevada press release, the Chico Fermentation Project is a new standalone offshoot. And the first creation of the brew scientists in the new facility on the brewery grounds is Strainge Beast, a line of hard kombuchas that marks the company’s first non-beer releases.

“As long as the product has providence and soul, I’m good with it,” says Sierra Nevada founder/owner Ken Grossman in the press release. “Like beer, kombucha allows you to become an alchemist, morphing natural, raw ingredients into something amazing to drink.”

Strainge Beast No. 1 is a ginger/lemon/hibiscus-flavored hard kombucha and is available now on draft the Sierra Nevada taproom. Two more varieties are on the way: blueberry/acai/sweet basil and passion fruit/hops/blood orange. All three contain 7 percent alcohol and will be available in cans later in the year.