Wednesday's Pick: Joel Streeter, Brad Brooks, Megan Slankard Band

By SF Weekly Wed., Sep. 8 2010 at 8:27 AM

Categories: What to Do

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Joel Streeter (center) with Megan Slankard(L) and Brad Brooks (R)

Joel Streeter

Brad Brooks

Megan Slankard Band

Rickshaw Stop

8 p.m., $10

After living in San Francisco since 2003, local singer-songwriter Joel Streeter has decided to head back East to be closer to his family. But first he made sure to take full advantage of the Bay Area's crop of talented musicians, enlisting 13 players to help him make his sophomore album, Matador. Like his debut, 2005's Hear Me Out, Matador was produced by Jerry Becker, who is known for his work with Train. The album also finds people like Counting Crows drummer Jim Bogios, Megan Slankard, Brad Brooks, and James DePrato from Chuck Prophet's Mission Express assisting with Streeter's classic-sounding pop songs.

"There's a certain 'wall of sound' density to the album, and there's no doubt that partly stems from having so many people involved," Streeter says. "That's always been a sound I've really enjoyed on records, where you have your initial reaction to the top layer of the music the first time you hear it, but after that sinks in, you can continue to discover new melodic and sonic details on repeated listens."

Streeter's show tonight is doubling as a going-away/record-release party, so it seems likely that plenty of his friends and acquaintances will be in the audience. At the very least, Slankard and Brooks will be there, since they're opening the show. "I'm really going to miss San Francisco, but I'm excited about what lies ahead, and will definitely be back to play shows in the Bay Area often," Streeter says. "I'll be living in New York City by the end of the year, and am eager to see what I can do there."

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