Brewing Up a Gig

Named for the guy in that bird book and movie, Atticus will be doing what few local bands have done--play the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks. Made up of a group of Starbucks employees, Atticus will play its brand of original folk rock at a Saturday night benefit concert.

While Gregory Peck was a memorable Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus is a memorable vehicle for the songs and the angelic vocals of Wendy Johnson. Atticus has been around for a while, mostly gigging at Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks, where few of the members actually majored in subjects involving caffeine.

Johnson had never been in a band before.

“I never really thought about any of this until I went to school,” she said. “I just started doing this at Cal Lutheran. One day my friends asked me to sing with them and taught me how to play guitar. Atticus has been around for about five years, but only about one year with the current lineup, which is definitely a Starbucks band.”

One can count the number of local rock shows at the Civic Arts Plaza on one hand, ever since the greatest band in all of Newbury Park, majority DOG, played there in 1995. But getting this gig wasn’t any big deal, according to Johnson.

“This particular gig is a benefit for a friend of mine who has cancer,” Johnson said. “I just went to the [Civic Arts Plaza] and told them about the gig and left them a press kit; then the guy called me back.”

Johnson writes relationship songs, which should find favor among the fans of singer/songwriter types. But mostly, there’s that voice. Johnson can belt out a melody with the best of them.

“Usually, I write the complete song, then present it to the band and they add all their parts to it,” she said.

“I have personally about 55 songs, and the band knows about 30 songs. It’s folk rock, I guess. That’s the main thing.”

Atticus was making its way around the local scene for most of ’99 until its favorite venue closed down, making it, along with all the Cafe Voltaire regulars, such as Jimmy Adams, Dan and Mary Wilson, Suzanne Paris and Hippie Mark, temporarily homeless. And Atticus is soon to be jobless.

“The local scene is not too happening right now, especially since Cafe Voltaire closed,” Johnson said.

“After this gig, we’re going to do a mini-tour up the coast from San Luis Obispo to Seattle to find out how our music is accepted. Then we’re going to start playing at Nicholby’s in Ventura. We’re all quitting our jobs at the end of February.”

Atticus released an album last year titled “Excuse Me, Sir,” which contains “Let It Rain,” “Fly” and “Everyday,” among others. And compared to releases by just about every local band except Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, this is one of the most successful self-produced albums ever.

“The album came out in March and we’ve sold a couple of thousand copies, so things are going good,” Johnson said.

“In fact, I just sold one to an 82-year-old man in Montecito the other day. The really exciting thing about all this is our diverse fan base. We get people our age to people my parents’ age.”

DETAILS

Atticus at the Civic Arts Plaza, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks; 8 p.m. Saturday; $10; 449-2787.

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Always offering more than your basic bookstore, Borders in Thousand Oaks has live music at least three days a week.

Tonight, acoustic guitar acrobatics will enthrall the browsers as the Jim Stubblefield Group is showcased during yet another of those ever-affordable free shows. Stubblefield also makes the rounds to other Borders locations, but tonight is his Ventura County gig.

An amazing composer and guitar player, Stubblefield has several CDs available, including his latest, “Rhythm of the Heart.” Stubblefield’s main theme is flamenco guitar, a genre in which no slackers are allowed, but he also incorporates jazz fusion, Mediterranean and Afro-Cuban rhythms, reggae, some funk and rock ‘n’ roll into his original compositions.

The group is an instrumental outfit, so don’t look for a strutting vocalist at a Stubblefield gig. Saying that playing behind a singer is like “chopping wood,” Stubblefield points out that Bach didn’t have a vocalist.

A graduate of the University of Redlands, Stubblefield did some time in rock bands before finding his niche.

DETAILS

The Jim Stubblefield Group at Borders Books & Music, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, tonight at 7:30; free; 497-8159.

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For those too cheap or too broke to afford the Atticus gig, there’s another free show at Borders on Saturday night featuring Celtic music by Green Man, on a road trip from Ojai.

Big on the Celtic music festival circuit and even bigger on the Internet, Green Man is on a mission to sell copies of its self-titled debut CD.

April Theriault-Danch (flute, whistle, percussion and vocals) and Martin Morrisey (accordion, keyboards, vocals) played together for years in a band called Gale Force.

Then the missing third, Ken Eros (guitar, bass and vocals), answered an ad, and Green Man was born three years ago.

These three are the primary writers for the group, but they also have a stellar cast of supporting players; in fact, there will be half a dozen musicians at Borders, where, not surprisingly, the band’s CD is on sale.

“We play both originals and covers--new arrangements of traditional music,” Eros said. “There’s some jazz influences in the chord structure and some ethnic rhythms.”

And finally, had he heard that the Irish gave bagpipes to the Scotch as a form of permanent revenge against the British?

“No comment on that one,” said Eros.

DETAILS

Green Man, at Borders, 7:30 p.m. Saturday; free; 497-8159.