Ask Peter Goodman, frontman of the local alt-Americana band Cooper Street (CS) about his songwriting process and he’ll sum it up for you in one word: involuntary. “I think any singer-songwriter’s got a similar story, but I am compelled,” he says of the habit he’s had no choice but to indulge since high school. “It’s not like an option for me to write songs. It has to be done.” Goodman then takes his lyrics and nascent tunes to the other three men of CS who evolve the songs, adding instruments, texture and harmonies. More than just fellow musicians though, CS’s members are all good friends. “We practice every week and we do focus on the music a lot, but it’s sort of boys’ night out,” he says. Inspired by musicians like Counting Crows, Ryan Adams and Uncle Tupelo, CS delivers warm and easygoing alt-country rock originals. The perfect timbre of Goodman’s wistful gristle combined with lyrics that traffic heavily in reminiscence all but guarantee the onset of nostalgia. “I did one of those personality tests a long time ago and I’m an intuitive, feeling person,” he explains. “I hold onto things a long time.” If there’s a net effect of CS’s sound, it’s the ability to impart a vague, but encompassing sense of reassurance. Maybe it’s the beer in your hand or the fact that Goodman is up there pouring out his thoughts in the hopes that you’ll work through some of your own unfinished ruminations, but there’s a definite feeling of ‘yeah, maybe everything in your life hasn’t gone the way you planned, but somehow it might all just work out.’ “Having the ability to cause someone to get in touch with their emotions and their feelings, that’s an important thing to me,” Goodman says. Joining CS will be likeminded local alt-Americana outfit, the Michael Gaither Band. Ticket proceeds will benefit the Felton Library Friends.

 

Conversations with poet Nathaniel Mackey and musician Hafez Modirzadeh

Social Distortion’s Jonny Wickersham on the 28-year-old punk band’s continued vigor and the power of punk to foment change

John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants talks past, present and future

What’s better than playing heavy metal? Playing heavy metal first thing in the morning as the wakeup call for thousands of diehard metal fans sleeping off German beer hangovers in makeshift tents. This was the task awaiting local metal outfit Archer this past June as the band prepared to open the Bang Your Head! festival in Germany. Their set started at 10 a.m. sharp. “We kind of just had to wake the dead,” says Dylan, Archer’s lead guitarist and frontman. By the end of their set, the audience had grown from 100 people to 1,000. “The main promoter, to congratulate us for coming over from the States and being an indie band, he brought a tray of beers out and we toasted on stage and the crowd got all into it,” Dylan says. When Archer is mentioned, two words, spoken by critics and fans alike, seem to follow shortly thereafter: “real deal.” Perhaps this is due to the band’s musicality. The second place winners of this year’s Battle of the Bands, Archer unleashes genuine metal originals, striking a careful balance between paying homage to the genre’s greats and modernization. Their songs address the personal to the profound and feature Duke’s savage drums, Isaiah’s versatile basslines and Dylan’s exploding guitar riffs. Or maybe it’s Archer’s showmanship. The band is known for its severe-intensity performances. They wear black leather. Dylan thrashes his classic metal rocker’s luxurious blond mane he says he’s been growing since birth. Ask Dylan where he sees his band in five years and he doesn’t hesitate. “I’m not going to cry about it for the rest of my life if we’re not the next Led Zeppelin, but ideally I would love to be a huge metal band.” 

Info: Oct 5. 9 p.m. The Boardwalk Bowl, 115 Cliff St., Santa Cruz. Free. 426-3324.

For most of us, declaring a college major meant seizing upon that vestigial interest from childhood or a conveniently passing fancy some time during sophomore year as prerequisites slipped away. For local singer-songwriter and UCSC grad Amy Obenski, this decision had real significance. Currently fulfilling the destiny of both her major (environmental studies) and her minor (music), Obenski has organized a benefit concert, “Music for the Redwoods,” that will introduce the Santa Cruz community to, and raise money for, local redwood preservation nonprofit, the Sempervirens Fund. “Honestly, the redwoods are something that people here are really passionate about,” says Obenski, who ascribes her personal relationship with the region’s majestic sequoias to hiking. “All you have to do is mention ‘preserving the redwoods’ and people donate, and sponsors come out of the woodwork. It’s been really amazing.” The evening’s entertainment will consist of three local singer-songwriters, all women. In addition to Obenski, the bill includes well-known activist Diane Patterson, whose music Obenski admiringly characterizes as “fiery, upbeat and passionate. She gets people dancing, even when she’s playing all by herself,” and Ariel Thiermann, purveyor of eclectic folk-rock and spoken word. “I kind of go towards jazz pop, I’m very mellow,” says Obenski, whose intimate and emotive original tunes oscillate between the confessional and the acutely observational. Representatives from Sempervirens will be on hand to mingle with curious audience members, while breaks between songs will provide an opportunity to discuss the nonprofit’s work. “The last land the fund purchased was directly from a logger,” Obenski says. “We need to keep taking this land out of the hands of people who are going to develop or log it.” Obenski is counting on the concert’s music functioning as a social lubricant, permitting a casual atmosphere of art and celebration that will in turn unite this Sunday’s audience to a common cause. “I hope that this is just the start of something bigger, a good start,” she says, “and that we’ll do many more events after this.”

 

The Meanest of Times | Born & Bred Records

Moo, You Bloody Choir | Sony BMG

Singer-songwriter Todd Snider headlines memorial benefit for Laura Ellen Hopper