Femme fret

Five feet tall and feisty, 25-year-old guitarist Kaki King achieved music-mag cover status last year—and grabbed shots on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, National Public Radio and Late Show with David Letterman. She uses altered tuning and unorthodox techniques, tapping, slapping and plucking with her left hand over the acoustic-guitar neck, while her right hand fingerpicks and taps. “What I want to do is move people, freak them out and make them cry,” she explained. Her guitar heroes are Preston Reed, Alex de Grassi and Michael Hedges, but she loves the dark side, too (Nick Drake and Elliott Smith). While she is more rockin’ than the aforementioned players, she plays from a breadth of genres. Legs to Make us Longer is the brand-new album she is supporting on her show at the Palms Playhouse, located at 13 Main Street in Winters, on Wednesday, January 26. Show time is 8 p.m., and tickets are $15. Call (530) 795-1825 for info.