Last year was a busy for local indie-folk outfit Bonnie and the Bang Bang. Not only were they gigging consistently throughout the Bay Area, but they released their debut EP, Ode to Darkness and even toured the West Coast and the Mid-West. Now, they are hoping to record a full-length called the Dark Dream with the help of their fans.

Rather than go the Kickstarter or Indiegogo route, Bonnie and the Bang Bang are funding their album via Pledge Music, which is similar to other crowd sourcing sites, except it funds musical projects exclusively. The site also offers bands the option to automatically donate a portion of their earnings to a charity. Bonnie and the Bang Bang will be donating 5 percent of all funds they raise to Rebuild Recovery, which will use the money to help people who affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Fans can donate as much or as little as they like, with different prizes available depending on the amount contribution. People can receive such items as exclusive shirts, signed albums, handwritten lyric sheets, a private acoustic house concert and executive producer credit.

More details.

Dan Vado, owner of Art Boutiki, doesn’t normally book the same band twice in a two-week period, but he was so impressed with indie-folk group Big Tree, that when he had a cancellation for his upcoming Janurary 11th show, he asked them if they could fill in. They just played the Art Boutiki on Saturday December 29th.

“I have heard a lot of great bands here, and while the quality of their music was high, the thing that struck me was the reaction of the audience. I have never seen an audience here get so into a group as they did with these guys,” Vado says. “People were asking me when they were going to be back while we were getting their gear off stage—totally unprecedented.”

Originally from Brooklyn, Big Tree currently reside in Berkeley. What is particularly engaging about them is how large and evenly blended they make indie-folk sound. The instrumentation creates an orchestration of sound that is borderline psychedelic-pop, and even has bouncy dance rhythms. Yet it still remains true to their folk essence—full of lush, earthy vocal harmonies and heartfelt songwriting. They’ve already recorded two full lengths, an episode for Daytrotter Sessions and gone on four full US tours—all in three years. If the reaction they got last Saturday at the Art Boutiki is any indication, they are a band to watch out for in 2013.

Big Tree play Art Boutiki on Friday January 11th. The show starts at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10.

After a summer schedule full of interesting bookings, Naglee Park Garage will host two more concerts before ending its live music season for the year. Doctor Nurse brings atmospheric indie rock on October 17 and the Golden State Ramblers close the season October 24 with folk, Irish and novelty tunes from the 20s-40s.

The shows are always free at Naglee Park Garage and are held every Wednesday during the extended summer season outside on the patio. The lineup this year included young indie-rock acts (Curious Quail, Orangutang), alt-folk artists (The Wild Reeds, Will Sprott), roots-rock groups (Careless Hearts) and reggae-world beat fusions (Los Hot Boxers, The Champions, inc).

According to owner Chris Esparza, the weekly Wednesday shows were consistently successful. People enjoyed the combination of good live music and outdoor dining. He plans to have live music return in 2013 every Wednesday, most likely beginning in May.

Doctor Nurse play Naglee Park Garage on Wednesday October 17th at 7pm. The Golden State Ramblers play Naglee Park Garage on Wednesday on October 24th. Both shows are free.

The difference between brothers Nate and Sean Kavanugh’s two bands, the Kavanaugh Brothers Celtic Experience (a traditional Irish folk group) and the High Sea (an indie noise-pop trio) might seem vast, but it’s not—both groups equally create soul-wrenching, sing-along tunes that blur the line between sadness and joy, just in different ways.

The High Seas’s new EP, Good Loud Shout!, contains six new post-punk pop songs. The recordings are raw and sparse, an appropriate choice for the self-conscious lo-fi 90s indie rock influence (Pavement, Modest Mouse, Guided By Voices) found in their music. There’s plenty of distorted, angular guitar riffs, subtly complex structures and vocals drenched in infectious harmonies, but unlike many of their 90s forefathers, there’s an indie-folk element, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering their Celtic group.

One of the standout tracks, “Tears”, is one of the simpler, less dissonant, jangle-pop songs with a passionate shout-along chorus. The lyrics could easily pass for an Irish drinking song (“Tears of laughter are the very best kind. Tears of joy trail close behind”). The remainder of the songs revel more in dissonance to some degree. The perfect example is “Manic,” which features a jittery Modest Mouse-esc riff and spastic vocals. The guitar solo is a nice touch.

From the opening chord of Bonnie and the Bang Bang’s debut album, Ode to Darkness, the listener is transported to a campfire in rural America at the turn of the century, where the ghost stories are that much more chilling—because they just might be real.

The lo-fi, stark recording adds to the rustic quality, but aside from the obvious Americana influence of the music—the banjo and mandolin help in that regard—the music is infused with a gospel edge, at least in terms of the emotional depth.

There is no doubt that Bonnie and the Bang Bang are a part of the indie-folk fusion movement. The bluegrass instrumentation and old timey spiritual sound are tempered with a subtly lush layering. On top of the plucking of each guitar string is the rich tone of the long sustaining keyboard and the eerie, macabre vocal harmonies, creating a dark, gothic-indie folk sound that is like a surreal artifact of a long-forgotten era—something like reading an alternative reality history book.

Bonnie and the Bang Bang play the Blank Club on Wednesday September 26th at 9pm. There is no cover charge. 21 and over.

After a decade together, local indie-folk-band-meets-theater-art-troupe, Corpus Callosum, decided they wanted to take their show on the road. Between all the instruments, props and band members, touring would be no small affair. So they made a kickstarter with a minimum of $5,500 to help buy a bus. In the end they raised $7,443 and were able to buy a vehicle with as much character to it as they have.

“The bus is an old North Carolina school district vehicle that a couple of park rangers converted into an RV and drove out to California with their kids,” says singer Dax Tran-Caffee. “We bought it off of them down in Pinnacles National Monument. Two days later we brought it to SubZERO as a bit of a test run.”

It was perfect timing too since Corpus Callosum are known for always bringing unexpected performances to SubZERO. This time around they put on an intimate show inside the bus. A handful of people, as many as 12 at a time, crammed inside the bus and watch a few songs, then a new batch would rotate out. Corpus Callosum don’t have plans to play inside the bus on tour, but there are other ways to use their vehicle for live shows in the future. “It wouldn’t be out of the question to have a functional stage on the roof by this time next year,” Tran-Caffee says.

The tour dates are still being finalized, but they are for sure starting in Austin on July 12th and concluding at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco on August 16th. Thoughts of their first tour are exciting and scary.

“Heading out on tour is really nerve racking. We’re doing everything we can to prepare, but we’re also stepping out into the unknown. We won’t know if anyone will actually show up to the shows until we hit each stage, so we don’t really know if we’ll be making as much money in each town to keep going as planned. We don’t yet know where we’re sleeping each night, or if we can actually handle being in each other’s company for those 14-hour drives, although having such a spacious bus is quite a blessing in that regard,” says Tran-Caffee.

For More information, check out Corpus Callosum’s website.