24 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 20-26, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com is, but there’s also an app for that. And this family-friendly event, hosted by the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, is an invitation to help use that app, iNaturalist, to interpret that beauty and document the biodiversity in the tidepools. The great thing about iNaturalist is that it geolocates what you discover, creating a virtual library to help inform others. This event, a so-called “bioblitz,” is a scavenger hunt for kids, and it’s hard to imagine a more educational and inspiring event for them—kids are sponges, they just need the opportunity and inspiration to discover. [DS] 4-5pm (low tide is at 4:37pm) Saturday, June 22. The Great Tidepool (just north of Asilomar State Beach and west of Pt. Pinos Lighthouse), Pacific Grove. Free. 648-5716, pgmuseum.org. FAST TRACK Hot cars, hot country music—it just seems to fit. So for the first time in the history of IndyCar competition at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, it’s happening. Following a day of racing and qualifying at the venerable track, rising country music star George Birge takes the stage. His first single, “Mind On You,” hit no. 2 on Billboard’s country chart and also broke into the Hot 100 list that covers all genres. Before that, Birge became a TikTok sensation with “Beer Beer, Truck Truck.” He’s also been named as a country artist people need to know. And let’s face it, what better way to get to know him than a day of racing (and food trucks) and a night of boot scootin’? Abby Leigh Anderson—you should probably get to know her, too—opens. The concert is included in the price of the race ticket (for more on the race, see story, p. 36). One question remains: What took them so long to pair cars and music? [DF] 6:10pm Saturday, June 22. WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, 1021 Highway 68, Salinas. $75/in advance; $90/at the gate (includes IndyCar events); free/children ages 15 and under. 242-8200, weathertechraceway.com. PUNXROX We hope you have enough rocks in your socks for an exciting show at Other Brother Beer Co. Don’t miss the opportunity to see a variety of punk/ indie bands from the Bay Area, alongside some local Monterey County talent. Included in the lineup is jangly garage punk by Artsick from Oakland (ex-Burnt Palms), San Jose’s surf fuzz punk band DÜSOL, Lowpass Magazine’s KIKI doing their solo bedroom indie pop, and local surf-infused punk rockers, The Tremolos. [LH] 7pm Saturday, June 22. Other Brother Beer Co., 877 Broadway Ave., Seaside. $10/in advance; $15/at the door. 747-1106, otherbrotherbeer.com. ART FOR (AND BY) ALL Art Abilities, a nonprofit from Pacific Grove that gives access to art to children and people with disabilities, is hosting a special event that features performers with special needs onstage. “We are celebrating our commitment to empowering the neurodiverse community by bringing them into the limelight,” says Ritika Kumar, the founder of Art Abilities. The event features performances from Latizmo Productions, a hip-hop dance company for people of all abilities, and the New Hope Band, also featuring musicians of all abilities. “We believe in the power of visibility to foster inclusion and recognition to a very special population,” Kumar says. People of all abilities are invited to participate as audience members. [AP] 2-4pm Saturday, June 22. Forest Theater, Santa Rita Street and Mountain View Avenue, Carmel. $25-$50; additional donations accepted. 915-4611, artabilities.org. Send ideas to calendar@montereycountynow.com HOT PICKS “D’Apotheose de Lully” by François Couperin, a suite of short pieces with French texts depicting Lully’s meeting with Apollo and ascension to Parnassus. The programs also includes trio sonatas by Dario Castello and Dietrich Buxtehude, a suite by Marin Marais for viola da gamba and continuo, and a harpsichord suite by Buxtehude. A reception takes place after the concert. [AP] 5pm Friday, June 21. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, 4th Avenue and Guadalupe Street, Carmel. $30. 624-7491, tinyurl.com/5bh55jmc. A BEAUTIFUL MESS Indie singer-songwriter Cindy Alexander writes lyrics from the heart about her life and then sets them to music that lift the words to another level. Her soulful vocals make her songs soar even higher. Her life has provided rich inspiration for her 11 albums—falling in love, recovery from breast cancer, the trials and tribulations of the entertainment business, spirituality and the human condition. Her latest album, Messy, stretches the boundaries of different genres, from rock, Americana, folk and alterna-pop. “I’m not in a box. I definitely jumped outside the box and ripped it up,” Alexander said of the album. During Sunset Center’s Terrace Concert, she’ll be joined by guitarist Steve Fekete, who’s worked with such artists as Gwen Stefani, Avril Lavigne, Steve Perry, Rita Wilson and others. Alexander herself has sung alongside artists like Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann and the GooGoo Dolls. She’s opened for Joan Osborn, Rick Springfield, The Bangles and many more. Bringing your own food and drink to the outdoor concert is OK, but no outside alcohol. A bar is available beginning at 5:30pm. [PM] 6pm Friday, June 21, Sunset Center Terrace, San Carlos Street at 9th Avenue, Carmel. Free. 620-2048, sunsetcenter.org. Saturday, June 22 WHERE FOREST MEETS SEA There has never been a more aptly named street than Scenic Road in Carmel. Most come for the ocean views, but the Monterey cypress trees are just as stunning. Learn more about these trees when Friends of Carmel Forest holds its annual tree walk. The walk is led by master arborist John Leffingwell, who holds a bachelor’s degree in biology/botany and a master’s in forestry from UC Berkeley. His thesis work on reforestation led to a job at HortScience, an arboriculture consulting firm. Leffingwell started his own firm, Woodreeve Consulting, in 2022, providing consulting services on urban forestry throughout California. [EC] 10am and 12:30pm Saturday, June 22. Scenic Road, Carmel. $20; free/members of Friends of the Carmel Forest. RSVP at treewalk@carmelforest.org. carmelforest.org/#tree-walk. POOL PARTY In a place as beautiful as the Monterey Peninsula, and with so much biodiversity, it seems there should be a museum to help us understand it all—and there Born in Austin, George Birge currently lives and works on his music in Nashville. His first album, George Birge: Mind on You, was released in 2023. “Mind on You” debuted on the Billboard country chart in August 2022, and peaked at no. 2 a year-and-a-half later. WEATHERTECH RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA Russian cellist and composer Georgy Gusev has been traveling with his music around the world. He’s a graduate of the Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. BRE JANE KALANI CUMMINS
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