Arts & Culture

On the road to hosting the sixth annual Davis Jazz Artists Festival,the JohnNatsoulasCenter for the Arts will be looking for the next generation of William Burroughs,Allen Ginsbergs and Jack Kerouacs.

Give these tracks a listen: “Red Moon,” “In the New Year” For fans of: Yo La Tengo, The Unicorns, The Velvet Underground

Editor’s picks Arcs, Casper Pony, The Heather Show Friday, 7 p.m. M Street and Colgate Jeremy Jay, Fancie, Pets, Green Green Saturday, 9 p.m., $6 Luigi’s Fun Garden

When UC Davis evolution, ecology and behavior Ph.D. Tim Lee first started doing stand-up comedy five years ago, it was painful – audiences are not generally patient with a bad comic and he was no exception, he said. Nonetheless, he wasn’t going to let that discourage him forever.

Some may say that the localtheaterscene has been slow to catch up tothose ofother Californian cosmopolitan cities like Los Angeles andSan Francisco. But Sacramento-basedtheatrecompany Artistic Differences is trying to include the state capital as yet another destination for provocativetheatreproduction in California withits performance ofbare,a musical chronicling two teenage boys struggling with their sexuality while in a Catholic boarding school.

It’s been seven years since Hawthorne Heights officially formed.Fragile Future,released last Tuesday,is only their third album. What’s taken them so long? Was it their dispute with their record label,world touring,or maybe the death of vocalist/guitarist Casey Calvert in late2007?

Editor’s picks OK Ikumi, JP Haynie, All on Seven Saturday, 8 p.m., $5 Old Firehouse Jake Mann, The Spires, The Dazzling Strangers Saturday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21 Sophia’s Thai Kitchen

Perhaps appropriate for a movie filled with stoners, Pineapple Express starts off doing one thing, goes to do something else, but forgets what, exactly, that other thing was along the way.

Jason Mraz is coming to campus, and pre-sale tickets are being sold today starting at 10 a.m. Mraz is currently on tour promoting his latest May release, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things,” and will perform at Freeborn Hall on Nov. 3. Vocalist Lisa Hannigan, known for her work with Damien Rice, will open for Mraz.

Conor Oberst is taking a break from digital urns and Floridian clairaudients. The black-and-white cover of Oberst‘s newest self-titled album with the Mystic Valley Band– a supporting cast formed specifically for the album– features the Bright Eyes frontman enjoying a sling-aided nap,presumably somewhere in the Mexican mountain villa of Valle Místicowhere he recorded the12-song album due outTuesday.

Fiddlers and guitarists interested in bluegrass,Celtic and Romanian Gypsy tunes should take out their string instruments.BeginningonWednesday,theDavisWaldorfSchool will be hosting their guitar and fiddle workshop.All else that is needed isa tape recorder because the music will be taught solely by ear.

Editor‘spicks: Franklin For Short,Le Petit Protest,Autumn Sky Today,10p.m.,$3-5,21 Sophia‘s Thai Kitchen In the Flow Festival Saturday and Sunday,noon,$15per day True Love Coffeehouse inSacramento