The artists Alan Forbes, Stacie Willoughby and David D'Andrea have given us some of the most intricate, epic poster art for equally intricate, epic and, of course, full-on rock shows! Now they will be celebrated in a show called Archaic Revival at the Space Gallery here in SF this Thursday night. Check out the artists' work, plus DJs and also a special acoustic show by Amoeba faves Howlin Rain! More info here.

Did y'all know that back in the day there was a creek running through what we now call the Mission District of our beautiful San Francisco? And it was large enough to have been deemed "navigable" in old maps and have a bridge built over it? Yup, we live on top of one of the largest, most paved over former estuaries in the world. What once was is where the title of the Mission Creek Music Festival comes from -- and this yearly fest is happening right here and now in San Francisco!

Upcoming highlights include Little Wings playing at an art opening for Kyle Ranson at Mission hot spot Adobe Books this Friday, July 15th.

On Saturday, July 17th, McLaren Park in Diamond Heights will host hipsters galore at a free show! The lineup includes The Fresh and Onlys, Grass Widow, Miranda Lee Richards and Ganglians, among many others. The all-day event will also host DJs between sets, indie vendors and food carts!

And, also on the 17th but at the regular night shift time, the always-awesome Howlin' Rain, 3 Leafs and Sean Smith & The Present Moment will hit the El Rio!

Ethan Miller is one of the Bay Area's best musicians. He formed the psychedelic/noise, super intense band Comets on Fire in Santa Cruz in 1999. The group has met with much success-- Comets was signed to Sub Pop, has toured all over the world and released four great albums. After relocating to Oakland, around 2004 Ethan brought together another outlet for his creativity, the riff-heavy Howlin' Rain. Howlin' Rain has released two exceptional records and was recently signed to musical luminary Rick Rubin's label American Recordings, which should bring the group's heavy rockin' sound to even higher highs. Check out Howlin' Rain's performance at Amoeba back in March here.

What follows is my recent chat with Ethan about songs that make him cry, his old piano teacher, and why the studio is what really winds his clock.

Miss Ess: Is there someone in particular who recognized and nurtured your musical interest/talent when you were young?

Just wanted to say that Black Mountain's new album In the Future is fantastic!  I love a real rock n roll band, especially these days, since so few exist anymore. 


They have a heavy sound with tons of drums and lots of hot vocal vibrato.  Bands that have many different lead singers rule (i.e: The Beatles, The Band), and Black Mountain has the added bonus not-so-secret weapon of Amber Webber and her super powerful voice.  The sheer confidence of her vocals remind me of none other than Grace Slick at times.  This gal won't back down and she knows how to wail! (Yeah, I just quoted Wayne's World, so sue me.)  I love how they trade off vocals during the songs.  It just adds to the overall intensity of the sound.  And it's intense, people, really.

The band is from Vancouver.  Don't we all just love Canadians? Well, I do anyway. Their first, self titled record really caught my ear a few years back-- catchy but loud as all hell crazy Zep-esque songs with  some kamikaze chops to boot!  It's truly a great record and I kept it in my cd player for months on end when it came out.  Hardly anyone puts out good effin' rock music, and these guys are tops as far as those who are trying to keep it alive.  I think this new record cements that for me.