Ain’t living long like this

Bummer. Everybody’s favorite band the Little People, which features the sensational area lowbrow artist Skinner, was scheduled to play a 10 p.m. show on Friday, September 3, at The Distillery, 2107 L Street, with melodic rock band Aesthetic, Nevada City band Frienemies (Skinner describes ’em as “early Nirvana meets Black Sabbath”), a Melvins-like power trio called Hotel Pistol and another trio, Carpet Pissers (playing its second gig). Skinner backed out, but the others are still on, and the cover is $5. It’s been a while since Skinner dropped one of his home-brewed band demos by the office, but the last one scared the pets and wilted the houseplants with its wicked Sabbath-derived sonic malevolence. The night before the show at The Distillery, Thursday, September 2, on a slightly different tip, brilliant country songwriter Rodney Crowell returns to the Palms, at 13 Main Street in Winters, for an 8 p.m. show. Yes, it’ll set you back $27, but that’s a small price to see a guy who started out backing Emmylou Harris in the 1970s, whose songs are as good as any written in country music in the past 25 years. Crowell’s the real deal.