Tara Pierce is a North Beacher who you've probably seen haunting Specs off and on for the past several years, singing both inside the bar (often to piano accompaniment) and outside in Adler Alley.

She bided her time, worked on her music and waited for a break.

The break has come, and Tara's now fronting for Raising Days, a four-piece progressive rock band that will be playing at the Broadway Studios this Friday. I saw them on their last pass through North Beach and thought they were terrific. (You can sample some of their music here.)

Broadway Studios itself is a treat, a throwback to an earlier era of nicely appointed rooms showcasing primo music. The building dates from 1919 and has had a long and colorful history on a short but colorful street.

Raising Days is on the bill with two other bands Friday, Lost Ticket and Solid State Logic. They're the middle act and Tara expects their set will start around 10. (The doors open at 8 p.m.) Broadway Studios is at 435 Broadway, near Montgomery. Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. 

Raising Days is finishing off its first CD and getting ready for a European tour in the fall. Music is like a shark, man. You gotta keep moving forward. So if progressive rock is your thing, go give 'em a listen. This girl can really belt it.


If Raising Days' star is, umm, rising, another local favorite is already well-fixed in the firmament. That would be bluesman Curtis Lawson, who's blowing through the neighborhood on his way to a summer filled with jazz festivals. Lawson's got a Saturday, June 28 gig at The Saloon, a boozy, sweaty room he knows very well.

Lawson, a pillar of the Bay Area blues scene since the ‘60s, is a regular at The Saloon, comma (all together now), "the oldest bar in San Francisco." Yeah, an old bar that just happens to feature the consistently best live music in town. 

Lawson and The Jaw Bone Band go on at 9:30 on the 28th. If you can’t wait that long to get the blues, you can score a mini-fix here.