“I feel like modern country—it’s just a f*cking mess. No doubt,” says Wyatt Hesemeyer, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Miss Lonely Hearts. “A lot of people that are trying to play ... ’50s country do it by making it as over the top as they can,” he adds, “they’re yodeling and wearing oversized cowboy hats, they try to make it cute, but it wasn’t supposed to be cute. It was supposed to heartfelt or interesting or funny.” Hesemeyer, whose warm, raw vocals intoxicate the listener like a glass of Bulleit Rye Whiskey—his favorite brand—has a characteristic bluntness that imbues his music with honesty instead of camp. Backed by a full band—Patrick O’Connor (drums), Keith Cary (lap steel), Mischa Gasch (upright bass), and Parker McDonald (lead guitar)—Miss Lonely Hearts cranks out pure country with a splash of  shufflin’ 1950s rock and roll. And according to Hesemeyer, their unadulterated sound has a big draw.

Steven Graves has started to dream in songs. The 48-year-old Capitola resident heard the lyrics to his latest in the gray space between waking and sleep. “I wrote the whole song in about 20 minutes, got up, laid down the guitar parts—I’ve never been able to do that before,” he laughs. A dream is a fitting metaphor for Graves’ career. A former land use consultant, he left the field in 2010 to pursue his passion for music.

Emblazoned with their Tumblr address and the simple statement “We got soul,” the vintage matchbook calling card of Skinny Ricky & The Casual Encounters perfectly embodies the spirit of the band: resurrecting the past with a touch of class and a unique twist. The local group plays classic ’60s soul music, and, according to bassist Mikael Witte, they have a clear mission in mind. “One of the main goals of the group is to bring this kind of music back that a lot of people aren’t aware of existing,” says Witte. “To bring it in the way that we play it, and to make them feel that it’s still relevant, and that it’s something that will make you feel something.”

Chris Rene, Keith Squires (Monikape), and Jarret Cox (Mac Jar) met like many Santa Cruz punk kids do—while skateboarding. “We’d cause a ruckus and the cops would harass us,” recalls Rene, who attended New Brighton Middle School with Cox. But when his friend and his sister died in the same year, 16-year-old Squires turned to rap for solace.

Josh Montoya refuses to give anything less than his full attention when it comes to any musical experience—a trait that makes him both an excellent musician, and a terrible multitasker. “I can’t even drive with music on,” he says. “It would be like bringing a Gameboy to an art museum.” Since 2008, he’s provided lead vocals and acoustic strums for The Taxi Project, as well as composed and arranged tunes for the sprawling band.

Santa Cruz native, Dillon Baiocchi, represents a new generation of musicians that’s putting a fresh spin on contemporary jazz music. Inspired by Santa Cruz’s natural beauty, his unique jazz blend cooks with the diverse bop styles of his current home base: New York City. Just three years ago Baiocchi graduated from Soquel High School, and today he is a student at the New School of Contemporary Jazz Music.

What kind of music does 7 Come 11 play? “It’s funk. Make peace with it,” Gianni Staiano deadpans, suppressing a smile. “We jam as well—extensively.” He tells no lies. Over the past two years, 7 Come 11 has been packing The Crepe Place Tuesday nights with dedicated fans, throwing down a gauntlet of funk so fierce that patrons can’t help but dance along to the heavy groove.

Some musicians are born performing, while others take time to develop—like a pop star in a pupa, bathing in nutrients and inspiration before hitting the glare of the stage lights. Rather than a late-bloomer, Obenski has been methodical, in the determined manner of a classically trained musician creating her magnum opus, and laying out her career step by step.

It's a safe bet that Ariel Thiermann will have butterflies in her stomach when she takes the stage at Kuumbwa Jazz this Friday, and not because it will be her first major concert in four years. Thiermann says she always feels a great sense of anticipation and excitement before performing—she likes it that way.

The power of blues is derived from the raw expression of heartbreak and pain—something Sista Monica Parker is no stranger to. “As a blues singer and songwriter, you know, I’m quite familiar with unrequited love affairs,” she admits, adding that her latest release, Living in the Danger Zone, “is classic original blues, and it comes from my own experience of being in a love affair that actually ran the full range of emotions, from really being happy and in bliss, to having it go wrong and feeling the heartache of a breakup.