When I grew up in Orange County they had groves for real back then.

Michael McDonald might be best known for the 10 seasons he spent on the sketch comedy show MADtv but around these parts, we know him best for being an Orange County native who is an all-around funny ass mofo. Nowadays, McDonald spends a lot of his time by juggling writing, directing and producing, he's been popping up on shows like Web Therapy and House of Lies, and he just finished co-starring with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in a movie that will be coming out June 28th called The Heat.

The bottom line here folks? This guy has been staying plenty busy since his days playing Stuart Larkin on MADtv and with a list that could go on and on, we don't have time for all of that. We have things to talk about! Like that Michael will be at The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach on Tuesday May 14th for one night only. Before the "magic" happens in Hermosa all in the name of hilarity, we commiserated with him about CNN, pope jokes, and how he almost became a young farmer with the last name McDonald. Yeah, really.

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www.stephaniebettman.com

To the high-class culture hounds of OC, the Soka Performing Arts center is typically synonymous with suit-wearing symphonies, renowned jazz giants and cultural dance troupes. But duo Stephanie Bettman and Luke Halpin don't fall under any of those categories. In fact, their folk/Americana sound and spirit already make them an anomaly of the venue's concert schedule when they hit the stage on on April 11. But trust us when we tell you that their show will allow even the stuffiest classical buffs to walk away accepting the fiddle and mandolin as instruments of fine art.

Known by their fans as simply Bettman and Halpin, the two had a  vision to utilize their long list of musical talents to create a solid, historical sound throughout the years. On paper, Battman and Halpin are the quintessential opposites: Stephanie is classically trained in opera, violin and voice, and studied at the Oberlin Conservatory. She's also a former aerialist. Luke is self-taught - at the age of 8, his dad handed him a mandolin and a Mel Bay book and said "learn how to play, you're in my band." Despite their differences, once they met they became inseparable.

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We know Doug would SUPER love to see you there...

KROQ's Kevin and Bean have been doing their part to help raise awareness for charities that are near and dear to their hearts with their annual, "Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness" comedy show that has brought comedic greats to the stage over the years like Bob Saget, Ray Romano, Tim Minchin, Eddie Izzard, Jim Jefferies, and Patton Oswalt to entertain to eager (and often drunk) crowds. This year line-up was just announced for their 2013 event that will be held on Saturday, April 6th, once again at the Gibson Amphitheatre and it's shaping up to be another blow-out night of hilarity.

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Andrew Youssef / OC Weekly

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In a month, alternative rock radio behemoth KROQ will be throwing down their annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concerts. After some sleuthing and perusal of other regional radio holiday shows, the dates for KROQ will be December 8th and 9th at the Gibson Amphitheater. Let's look at the potential line-up by reviewing the other announced radio station shows.
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Craig Johnson

Dale Fielder

It's hard keeping a jazz band together. Most bands only last a few years before better offers or more stability step into break them apart. Baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, who appeared on over 600 albums, only worked with trumpeter Donald Byrd for three years. Those three years (1958-1961) happened to be during one of the biggest shifts in modern jazz and despite their short span as a unit, they managed to release 11 albums of classic hard bop. Local saxophonist Dale Fielder has always had a fascination with their brief collaboration and this Friday, as part of a nationwide Pepper Adams resurgence, he'll be paying tribute to the classic pairing at Soka University the best way he can, by bellowing his baritone saxophone through their songbook.

See Also:

*10 Jazz Albums to Listen to Before You Die

*John Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme': The Story Behind the Album

* Pat Metheny Unity Band - Segerstrom Hall - September 28, 2012

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"Change (In The House Of Flies)" from the Deftones' third album White Pony maybe the archetypical song for the band. It represented a shift from their primary aggressive in your face assaults to one of tortured beauty while retaining heavy elements to the song. Deftones have shed their Nu-Metal moniker many albums ago and have moved on to influencing current bands like Bloc Party who mention White Pony as a sonic touchstone.

Deftones pull from such varied influences as the extreme metal of Meshuggah to the keyboard romanticism of Depeche Mode to fuse together their unique songs. These influences will come together in the form of their seventh album, Koi No Yokan due in stores on November 13th. While some Deftones albums have taken a few years to gestate, the new album was recorded fairly quickly as the band has been on a creative roll lately which can be attributed to fairly recent addition of Sergio Vega in 2009 on bass who is filing in after their bassist Chi Cheng went into a coma after a car accident.

See Also:
*Deftones at the Fox Theater In Pomona
*Alice In Chains, Deftones, Mastodon at the Gibson Amphitheater
*Crosses at the Glass House - Slideshow

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See Also: 

*Ondatropica Combines Generations in the Name of Cumbia

*New Music: Afro Latin Vintage Orchestra's 'Last Odyssey'

*TriTone FINALLY Gives Southern California a Latin Alternative Music Festival

For a Grammy-winning Latin-jazz artist raised in the shadow of LA, Poncho Sanchez is hardly a Hollywood type. When he's not traveling the world, you're far more likely to find the Norwalk-born conguero in OC or Long Beach, where he'll be performing again at this weekend's Long Beach Jazz Festival.

Of course, there was a time when the godfather of the congas struck up an unexpected friendship with the Godfather of Tinsel Town. "It was 1976. I had been working with [legendary vibraphonist] Cal Tjader for about a year, and Cal told me Marlon Brando and Merv Griffin were coming to our matinee set at the Hong Kong Bar at the Century Plaza Hotel," recalls Sanchez, calling from his Whittier home.More »

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