FRIDAY: A Bit of ‘Bitter’Clever singer-songwriter Billy...

FRIDAY: A Bit of ‘Bitter’

Clever singer-songwriter Billy White Acre will open for rock legend Edgar Winter at Nicholby’s in Ventura. Ten bucks will get you into this 9 p.m. show.

White Acre has a new album, called “Billy’s Not Bitter.” Actually, he’s crushed, if you go by the lyrics. Love lost, lobotomized, lousy, lame and lingering all get the treatment, which is most convincing on “U Changed.” White Acre is happily married in real life, which probably just makes him a good writer.

“I like ‘precious’ things as much as I like to watch them burn, like building a beautiful melody and then calling in the bulldozers,” White Acre said. “I guess it’s a self-protection mechanism.”

Nicholby’s is located upstairs at the corner of Oak and Main streets. Call 653-2320.

*

SATURDAY: Horn Man Hits Town

Fans of straight-ahead jazz trumpeting should be on the alert when Sal Marquez shows up as the special guest with Henry Franklin and the house band at Ventura’s 66 California. Marquez, one of the finer horn players based on the West Coast, has had a long and busy career down South. He has worked in the studios with fringe characters such as Frank Zappa and with the “Tonight Show” band during Branford Marsalis’ tenure.

But the chameleonic Marquez is also a strong, imaginative mainstream jazz player, who has a deep and abiding admiration for mid-’60s-era Miles Davis, to whom he dedicated his album “One for Dewey.” He’s definitely one to check out. The restaurant is located at, you guessed it, 66 California St. Call 648-2266.

*

SUNDAY: Evening of Classical Music

Led by the baton of Philippe Fanjeaud, the Santa Susana Symphony will perform at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.

Simi Valley’s orchestra may be humble compared to Ventura County’s New West Symphony, but it’s feisty. This 7 p.m. performance will showcase Offenbach’s waltz, “Belle Helene Oveture,” plus Bizet’s “Jeux d’Enfants” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade.” The center is at 3050 Los Angeles Ave. Tickets: $15, $12 senior citizens and students, $8 children 12 and under. Call 581-9940.

*

UP THE COAST

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will host “Artwalk ‘96,” featuring the juried exhibition and sale of fine-quality arts and crafts along the oak-shaded paths of Mission Creek. Over 100 artisans from across California will display paintings, ceramics, photography, jewelry, sculpture and more. New for this year is an indoor photography exhibit titled “Women of Vision,” featuring works by Marion Post Wolcott and Susan Jorgensen. There will also be art demonstrations, food and live music. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Museum admission: $5, children under 12 free. Call 682-4711.

*

GLANCE AHEAD

On the heels of the Ojai Studio Artist Tour comes a peek inside the creative worlds of artists at the other end of Ventura County. It’s the Open Studio Tour--a jaunt through the working spaces of 28 artists from Agoura to Camarillo. On Nov. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., art enthusiasts can talk with the artists and view works in progress. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at the door. The tour will begin at Thousand Oaks Community Gallery, 2331-A Borchard Road, Newbury Park. Call 495-5960.