It's another music giveaway bonanza this week! First up is a prize pack from Sea Wolf. They've been touring with Silversun Pickups (see a few SSPU members in the video for "You're A Wolf"), but they're a far more mellow outfit: Alex Church's vocals and melodies are gentle, strummy and soothing. Sea Wolf open for Devotchka on Friday night at the Grand Ballroom Bimbo's, and we have a pair of tickets for the winner......

Did you miss us last week? Here are our excuses: we caught a cold, had a birthday, and were up to here with work at our dayjob, for real. We're back now and anxiously awaiting a copy of Or, the Whale's brand new CD Light Poles and Pines to arrive in our mailbox. The few songs we've previewed on their site offer up banjo, steel guitar, and a chorus of male and female vocals......

How amazing is Dolly Parton? From "9 To 5" to "I Will Always Love You" and beyond, the woman has written a zillion classic songs and has sung them in a voice sweeter than any bird we've ever heard. Maybe it's her laugh, her over-the-top persona or just that she's been around so long, but Dolly is woven into the fabric of our musical memory. So what's better than a chance to see her perform......

Hark! Do you hear the hosannas of angels wearing roomy striped ponchos and the clicking of bamboo sticks? That's right -- the hipster goddess of knitting, Debbie Stoller, is in town promoting her new book, Stitch 'n Bitch Nation, a sequel to her massive hit, the original Stitch and Bitch: The Knitters' Handbook. Stoller, who also edits the zine Bust, is all about bringing knitting to the new millennium: reclaiming knitting as a feminist art, organizing knitting circles (or Stitch 'n Bitches), encouraging a community of online knitters and crafters, and now, writing a new book that features even more contemporary knitting patterns from contributors across the nation, such as snazzy rasta caps, yoga mats, bags with pictures of Jim Morrison on them, and Henry Rollins dolls, among others. Stoller will be bringing her intarsia mojo to San Rafael's Dharma Trading Company tonight. Tomorrow, she'll be launching a new program with Amtrak, Stitch-n-Ride, where knitting circles can take Amtrak from Oakland to Sacto every Tuesday (and free patterns from Stoller's book will be distributed -- you can find them online too). If you're a knitting commuter, meet at 5:30 in Oakland, take the train to Sacto, and then triumphantly carry Debbie aloft a carriage made of knitting needles to Rumplestilskin's for another reading. Those of you who don't commute by train, Stoller will be back in SF on Wednesday, for an appearance at Urban Knitting. And hey, can someone teach us how to knit with double-pointed needles? Thanks to Rebecca G for the tip!...