Sac Porch Fest’s 10th anniversary, KVMR benefits and more September music shows

There are two primary rules for Sac Porch Fest, one of our favorite midtown music events of the year: Rule one, stay out of the street. Rule two, stay out of the street. “Be cool” and “look after your neighbors” are also implied, but you’ll get the idea as a smattering of porches near the corners of 21st and I St. turn this heart of midtown Sacramento into a hyperlocal all-volunteer DIY neighborhood music festival — a free one, to boot.

Slated to appear as of this writing are veteran locals and familiar Porch’ers Scott Elliot Ferreter, Wolf Creek Boys, Ninefingers, Bro Brocean, Bad Barnacles, Little Mischief, World Champ, Accidents at Sundown, Hotplug, the Sugar Pushers, Be Brave, Bold Robot and Band of Coyotes. Keep your eyes on their social media for the schedule of bands and addresses of the porches hosting the sets — save for the always anchoring “Flop Haus” on the corner of 21st and I, the locations often change from year to year. Donations will be accepted for the Mustard Seed School. And did we mention, stay out of the street? (Noon Saturday, Sept. 20. instagram.com/sacporchfest)

What was similarly themed porch fest in the Colonial Park neighborhood shifted to the park itself last year and rebranded as Colonial Parkfest, an early fall single-day gem of local bands and art and food vendors. This year’s installment welcomes the aforementioned local spooksters Sugar Pushers and quirky indie rock staples Be Brave, Bold Robot, plus janky roots/blues trio Night Daddy, Eli Conley Quartet, Get the Wall, indie standout Citizen Snips and the Pretty Boys (12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct 4, 5315 19th Ave. Free. instagram.com/colonialheightsneighborhood).

The also aforementioned psych-surf rockers Bad Barnacles have the honor of helping close out the summer Second Saturday live music series at Sac Bike Kitchen, playing first on a stacked three-band lineup with local rock flamethrowers Th’ Losin’ Streaks and the Snares (7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, 1915 I St. Free. instagram.com/sacbikekitchen).

Sure, we all love our Whitney Houston — but don’t get too tangled up in that 3 a.m. lonely cab ride cover version of “Dance With Somebody” while sizing up Chaparelle — the sultry sonic tryst between singer-songwriters Jesse Woods and Zella Day. Partners in life and song, the pair’s twanging Gilded Age country treasure chest of a debut “Western Pleasure” gets its hooks into you fast, showcasing a jubilant and blushingly steamy interplay that probably would have rendered the album illegal during the era from which it draws its inspiration. There are songs for every phase of the unplanned road trip — from the snappy highway bop “Inside the Lines” keeping you alert while cruising, to the road house honky tonk croons of “Bleeding Hearts” that force you to pull over for a 5-cent beer, to a bevy of should-we-or-shouldn’t-we siren songs drawing to the flickering neon vacancy sign above the cheap motel out back. Caleb Lee Hutchinson opens (8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21 at Harlow’s. $36.50. harlows.com).

Nowadays, it can be a bit unpredictable to pin down what breed of performance you’re going to get from the effervescent Shovels & Rope, the long-running Southern-seared folk/rock duo of sweethearts Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. We say “sweethearts” not just because they are each other’s sweetheart, but also because they have a unique way of making you feel like you are theirs as well. It’s as though they’ve invited all concertgoers into their living room for a glass of wine and some tunes, fixed you a plate and probably made up the guest bed. The only unknown is the decibel level. While their full multichannel rig can churn out a grasping rock show that belies the assumed limitations of a “folk” duo, this “Intimate Evening with Shovels & Rope” gig hints at a potentially more stripped down affair, showcasing the joviality and occasional bite of their emotively refined songwriting — most recently presented on their stirring, go-for-broke LP “Something is Working Up Above My Head” (8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19 at Center for the Arts, Grass Valley. $40-$75. thecenterforthearts.org)

“Stingers up” for Year 4 of the annual Weusi Festival (“We-You-See,” which stands for We, Us, and I) and its ever-evolving lineup, put on by the UNiQUE programs group at Sacramento State. The party kicks off with the omnipresent jazz/funk troupe LabRats, followed by sun-kissed and soul-splashed beachside rock act Where’s West and scorching emcee Karega Bailey, before giving way to performances from a quartet of Sac State dance troupes. The final two slots come from swirling indie pop artist Jackson Marshall and a headlining performance from 2025 NPR Tiny Desk contest winner and ebullient hip-hop artist Ruby Ibarra. Did we mention this is free? (2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, University Union Serna Plaza at Sacramento State. events.csus.edu).

If you missed out on Dead & Company’s 60th anniversary celebration in San Francisco last month — or if you just need a lil’ more “Ripple” — Auburn’s venerable annual Ain’t Necessarily Dead Fest is happy to oblige with their own commemoration of the Grateful Dead’s diamond anniversary — and plenty of other music orbiting the legendary act. Veterans Stu Allen & Mars Hotel take the reins atop the free daylong lineup, joined by Brothers & Beyond (with Jonny Mojo & Sean Lehe), a “Phish*Floyd” set from Jason Beard’s Bring Joy, Bob & Jerry Band (with Jay Wilcox and Pat Nevins), Knuf performing a Little Feat set, and several others (Noon Saturday, Sept. 13 at Auburn Regional Park. aintdeadfest.com)

The first annual Sacra Summer hip-hop festival lands at Musiclandra with more than 40 local and regional hip-hop acts spread throughout three full days (roughly a dozen acts per day). Event host NoJay headlines night one joined by Teoman atop the lineup, with Sleepychi and Young Black Heart leading night two and Yoni and Chuck II spearheading night three (Sept. 19-21, 808 O St. instagram.com/sacramentohiphopfestival).

For the second time this year, Green River Taproom in Winters hosts the Reggae on the Creek festival at their Putah Creek-adjacent beer garden. Following up the May iteration, September’s one-day shindig is headlined by renowned Trinidadian roots/dancehall reggae pioneer Marlon Asher — perhaps best known for his ubiquitous hit “Ganja Farmer.” Asher is joined by the likes of veteran local reggae/funk/rock troupe Arden Park Roots, Sublime tribute act Garden Groove and stirring ukulele wielding reggae-pop maven Vana Liya. Miki Rae & the Hooligans, Squarefield Massive, JayTwo and Ras Rebel round it out (3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, 4513 Putah Creek Rd, Winters. $35. reggaeonthecreek.com).

While the news didn’t exactly break the internet, the world of “outsider folk” was assuredly crestfallen at the April passing of prolific underground music hero Michael Hurley — also known simply as “Snock,” or derivations thereof. For an off-the-beaten-path (yet no less iconic) artist such as he, his impact is best measured not by Google hits, but by those who would gather in tribute. Enter “Snock Songs: A Gold Country Tribute to Michael Hurley,” curated by Grass Valley resident fixtures and partners Shana Cleveland (head of surf-psych rock peddlers La Luz) and affable thriftshop troubadour Will Sprott (also of Shannon & the Clams and defunct ramshackle darlings the Mumlers). Joining Sprott and Cleveland for this baker’s dozen “cavalcade of hometown luminaries” to pay tribute to Hurley are the likes of Paul Emery & Eli Rush, Angelica Rockne, Anna Hillburg with Bill Rousseau, Luke Sweeney, Awkward Pocket and several others. The tribute gig doubles as a fundraiser, sending proceeds to beloved Nevada City-based radio station KVMR-FM (89.5) — one of countless outlets currently feeling the blade of recent federal funding cuts to public broadcasting (7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 at St. Joseph’s Hall, 410 S. Church St., Grass Valley. $20, tickets at door. kvmr.org).

Another benefit show for KVMR also featuring Sprott and Cleveland, the pair’s country side project Dessert Boys joins Nevada City hometown hero folk duo Two Runner for a midweek gig, with both bands playing before a screening of the Bill Daniel documentary “Who is Bozo Texino?” (7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23 at the Nevada Theater, 401 Broad St., Nevada City. $25. nevadatheatre.com).

There’s not much we like talking about more than new local independent venues opening in the region. Cornerspot in Citrus Heights, presently operating as a karaoke joint, is running out the official debut of its turn as an 18-and-over outdoor live music space this month, welcoming Sacramento mainstay Dog Party along with Vinnie Guidera and the Dead Birds and Ashley Jaguar for its Sept. 6 debut. With booking handled by the same team as nearby DNL Studios, Cornerspot hosts stylistically zigzagging psych rock act Tashow with San Diego’s Axxident, Seattle’s Missense and First Name Basis on Sept. 27, with October shows on deck featuring the likes of Aphids as Lovers (Oct. 11), Rumi Shamada (Oct. 13) and Dick Bertelli with Aether Element on Oct. 24 (instagram.com/cornerspot_lecafe_karaoke; instagram.com/hotmicmusic).

The local food scene lover in me is titillated by the evolution of Sacramento’s beloved annual Farm-to-Fork Festival, now merged with the enticing Terra Madre Americas and moving from its previous digs on Capitol Mall to the newly revamped SAFE Credit Union Convention Center (and surrounding areas). The local music scene lover in me — a far more prescient and demanding being — had only two simple questions about an event that always nails the main stage lineup: who’s playing, and where? This year’s music stage moves over to 14th and I streets (steps from the myriad goings-on at the convention center) and welcomes a Saturday lineup topped by exalted neo-psych craftsmen The War on Drugs and guitar-driven indie rock royalty Spoon — the latter which just dropped two new singles, “Chateau Blues” and “Guess I’m Fallin’ In Love,” in advance of an as-yet untitled album. Saturday also features Americana/folk troubadour Jade Bird and a solo set from Michael Angelakos, better known as Passion Pit, alongside locals Jon Wiilde, hotplug and Son Café. Sunday boasts alternating culinary demos and DJ sets before giving way to afternoon sets from local Americana fixture Golden Cadillacs with unstoppable veteran rockers Big Head Todd and the Monsters closing it out. (Sept 26-28. terramadreusa.com/livemusic).