The Sess showcase gig, Sam Hinton folk festival, Stay Strange summer series, Sara Petite album release, Laura Chavez BMA trophy

The Sess (shorthand for sessions) began in the early 2000s with members playing in Riverside punk groups. After relocating to San Diego, they earned a nomination for Best Rock Album at the 2008 San Diego Music Awards. They split around 2008, with members going on to bands such as Ale Mania, Shiva Trash, and Northern Tigers, as well as playing a handful of Sess reunions. They’ll reconvene once again in Little Italy at the Casbah on June 2 for a bill that includes Vince D’Amico, Matt Lamkin, and Toxins.

The annual Sam Hinton Folk Heritage Festival celebrates the memory of local folk icon Sam Hinton. Admission is free and all are welcome to the event at Old Poway Park on June 3. There will be music on the gazebo, storytelling in the Porter House, and jam sessions featuring Greg Gross & Time Woods, Nena Anderson, Sharon Katz & the Peace Train, Dirty Cello, Gordie Tentrees, and more.

The Stay Strange experimental and new music showcase happens June 3 at the College-Rolando Library. This edition presents Randy Chiurazzi, whose Sound Music Suit reshapes sound as a type of sculpture. He mounts random objects on the suit, triggering sounds with built-in sensors. The July 1 edition showcases Evil Dr. Lipschitz & Wool Crowbar (sounds generated by light and plants), and July 29 will feature Bobby Bray (INUS, Innerds).

Sara Petite was born and raised in the country near Sumner, Washington, later relocating to San Diego. Her rural youth informed her subsequent songwriting, utilizing accordion, pedal steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. In 2022, she won two San Diego Music Awards, for Best Country or Americana Album and Best Country or Americana Artist. Petite’s new 11-song album The Empress, due this week and produced by Grammy nominee Eric Corne (Sam Morrow, Jaime Wyatt), has been preceded so far by singles for the title track, “Bringing’ Down the Neighborhood,” and “Tread Softly.” She’ll debut the record in Solana Beach at the Belly Up on June 6.

“Can’t wait to return to San Jose Jazz Festival for the first time in over ten years,” says Laura Chavez, who just took home the award for Best Instrumental Guitarist at the 2023 Blues Music Awards in Memphis, the first woman ever to earn such a nod. She’ll be joined on August 12 by Vanessa Collier and she’s playing with Chickenbone Slim & the Biscuits the following day, August 13.