“If I’m ever in a situation where I’m on life support and you’re about to unplug me, bring Whiskey & Women into the hospital to perform at least one song,” says the website SFGate. “If I don’t come out of the coma, then unplug me, I’m dead.” It’s true that the rousing Bay Area trio Whiskey & Women brings a lively jolt to their performances. They play Cajun music, old-time music, rocking Irish folk songs, tin-pan alley songs, and original folk-punk, all with plenty of spirit, not to mention the occasional shot of spirits, single malt preferred. With Rosie Grace Steffy (La Dee Da, Upside Drown, Tall Grass) and Joan Wilson Rueter (Barbary Ghosts, Lucky 7 Honky Tonk Band) on fiddles, and Renée de la Prade (Accordion Babes) on accordion, the trio knows how to sing sweetly, and they know how to hoot and howl. If you like rollicking music and foot-stomping fun, Whiskey & Women are the perfect prescription.
 
The San Francisco quartet Emily Bonn & the Vivants plays rootsy originals inspired by old time dance tunes, honky-tonk country, Cajun, and Western swing, shining up dusty melodies with sparkling arrangements. The band features Jody Richardson on fiddle, tap-dancing percussion, and vocals, James Touzel on upright bass, clarinet, and vocals, Isaac Bonnell on piano accordion, and Emily Bonn on lead vocals, guitar, banjo, and ukulele. Emily, says the Marin Independent Journal, “sings in a laconic drawl that’s as homespun as a gingham bonnet.” She has performed in San Francisco subway stations, Belgian prisons, Appalachian corner stores, and at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. She and the band have a new album, Western Addition, which the website classicalite praises for “lovely vocal harmonies,” “true Southern charm,” and “pitch-perfect accordion stylings,” as well as lauding “the collective talent of the band.”
 
La Familia Peña-Govea features father Miguel Govea on guitarrón, mother Susan Peña on bajo sexto, younger daughter Cecilia on güira, woodblock, triangle, and trumpet, and older daughter René on accordion. “As soon as you hear René play, you realize there is something extraordinary as she rips out clearly executed conjunto riffs with the nuance of a Flaco Jimenez,” says Chuy Varela in Latin Beat Magazine. The San Francisco Bay Guardian calls the band “stone cold conjunto norteño.” They play rancheras, polkas, valses, vallenatos, boleros, and an occasional danzón, as well as inspired originals. Miguel has led and accompanied many outstanding local bands, including Los Compas, Cascada de Flores, Futuro Picante, Los Peludos, and Dr. Loco’s Rockin’ Jalapeño Band. La Familia Peña-Govea brings great joy, heart, and musical talent to a rich musical tradition.

visit the Whiskey & Women website

visit Emily Bonn's website

visit Miguel Govea's website