The Vintage & Handmade Market 
Otis Taylor performs at Anthology on Friday, Jan. 15.
Wednesday, Jan. 13
PLAN A: Drew Andrews, Boomsnake, Writer, Metrofique @ The Casbah. In case you missed the story on Metrofique’s Gabe Lehner in our last issue, I’m here to tell you now that the Beatles-inspired folk duo has some major chops. Both Drew Andrews and Boomsnake just released solid new EPs, and the addition of Writer makes this a solid bill from top to bottom. PLAN B: Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris @ Anthology. Seemingly different musicians, Harris is a reggae soul man who plays a mean guitar while Wiggins is an old-school blues harpist that totally blows (in a good way). Together they play some wicked acoustic blues that’s both reverent and original. BACKUP PLAN: Holdsworth, Bozzio, Levin and Mastelotto, Science Fiction @ Brick by Brick.
Thursday, Jan. 14
PLAN A: Sunday Times, Old Man, Cub and Pony @ Tin Can Ale House. Not exactly punk, not exactly post-punk and certainly not new wave (although you can certainly dance to it), local trio Sunday Times are steadily growing a following for their vigorous shows. And judging by the demos on their MySpace, co-ed bedroom duo Cub and Pony should be opening for Christmas Island and Heavy Hawaii soon enough. BACKUP PLAN: Dave Hillyard and the Rock Steady 7, See Spot, The Lifters @ The Casbah.
Friday, Jan. 15
PLAN A, Part 1: AA Bondy, Willy Mason, The Paddle Boat @ The Casbah. Bondy made my list of top albums of the year with the haunting, hellhound-on-my-trail ballads that made up the majority of When the Devil’s Loose. Fellow folkie Mason also wears his emotions on his sleeve, and since this is an early show (6 p.m.), you’ll have time to run to North Park for... PLAN A, Part 2: Imaad Wasif, Vision of a Dying World @ Bar Pink. Wasif is a psychedelic blues shaman we can all embrace (check out the feature on Page 22). PLAN B: Otis Taylor Band @ Anthology. Ever heard of a blues man who plays banjo? Well, the 61-year-old Taylor takes the instrument back to its roots (FYI, it was originally an African instrument) and makes it sound like it’s used to charm snakes. Trance-inducing instrumentals with a torn-and-frayed voice, this is the type of show that often goes wrongly ignored in San Diego. Don’t make that mistake. BACKUP PLAN: Asobi Seksu, Lady Danville @ The Loft at UCSD.
Saturday, Jan. 16
PLAN A: Adam Franklin, Tape Deck Mountain, Roxy Jones @ Soda Bar. Franklin has been a busy boy the past two years. Even with reuniting O.G. shoegazers Swervedriver and teaming up with The Album Leaf and Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino for Magnetic Morning, he still managed to release a great solo album last year (Spent Bullets) and already has another coming out soon. I’d tell him to slow down, but the guy’s restless in the best possible way. PLAN B: Between the Buried and Me, Cynic, Scale the Summit @ House of Blues. The metal show of the week, by miles. Despite a band name that conjures images of emo whining, North Carolina’s Buried and Me play epic prog-metal with song lengths that are almost always in the double digits. Mastodon wish they could wail like these guys. BACKUP PLAN: Gajah, Graves, Dead Noise, Eras @ Kava Lounge.
Sunday, Jan. 17
PLAN A: White Denim, Brazos @ The Casbah. Unlike their garage-rock peers, Austin’s White Denim—just like Savion Glover—bring the noise while also bringing the funk. But just when they get you dancing, they change it up and get all bluesy or tender on you. And get used to the name Brazos. Once some taste-making site listens to the gorgeously forlorn indie-pop on their debut, Phosphorescent Blues, it’ll only be a matter of time before they’re headlining. PLAN B: The Silent Comedy, Mississippi Man @ Bar Pink. If bands like Dr. Dog and Blitzen Trapper best exemplify the whole roots-pop subgenre, then it’s likely you’ll soon hear Mississippi Man’s name uttered in the same sentences as those two. They take early Wilco and add soaring harmonies and infectious hooks for a result that, while not exactly groundbreaking, is certainly nice to tap your toe to. BACKUP PLAN: Luscious Noise @ Anthology.
Monday, Jan. 18
PLAN A: San Francisco Water Cooler @ Soda Bar. Pretty much as close as you’ll get to a lo-fi jam band, this Fiddletown, Calif., trio was formed from the ashes of San Francisco freaks Residual Echoes. They made a lot of lovely noise on their 2008 debut, and I hope their new material is just as rampant. BACKUP PLAN: Hockey, Asa Ransom, DJ Skullcrusher @ The Casbah.
Tuesday, Jan. 19
PLAN A: The Burning Of Rome, Run Run Run, Little Fowl @ The Casbah. I wonder if the cutesy folks in Run Run Run and Little Fowl realize they’re opening for the craziest bull-horn-shouting, pig-head-wielding, stage-diving, psycho-freak-rock band in all the land. Seriously, there will not be any upstaging this night. BACKUP PLAN: The Kabbs, Des Roar, Serengeti Rocks @ Tin Can Ale House.
