Trio of Emerging Artists Kick Off Homestead Valley Music Festival Sunday

The ever-growing (and free) Homestead Valley Music Festival returns this Sunday, this time with a diverse lineup of vaunted veterans and emerging talent.

The , is headlined by Petty Theft, the raucous North Bay-based Tom Petty cover band, and Lucky Finn, the Mill Valley rock band featuring  owner Gary Schueunstuhl, plays in the second headlining slot. Jazz fans should be sure to hit the set of for their "Skin & Bone" project.

But while the 94941 has long been home to stalwart musicians, it has recently become the launching pad for a cast of up-and-coming talent in recent years. The festival's opening set will showcase three of those artists: Caroline DeLone, Sofi Rox and Matte Jaffe, and we caught up with the latter two to hear about their musical influences and ambitons. 

Bolinas native Sofi Rox was born in the Bay Area and graduated from Tam High in 2007. Her album, Regeneration, is available online. 

Mill Valley Patch: When did you first start playing music?
Sofi Rox: I have been singing since I could talk and I wrote my first song when I was three in the back of the family car. I played the piano when I was a little girl but I didn't play any other instruments. I had a brain tumor when I was 12 and had to switch writing hands, so I was unable to play piano. In boarding school I was singing at open mics but it was hard to quiet down a room singing acapella. So I started playing guitar three and a half years ago and I've been playing the ukulele for about two and half years. 

MVP: What drew you to the ukulele?
SR: It was a combination of things, one is that my grandfather plays the ukulele. I love the size and the idea of the instrument. One year I asked my grandpa if he still had his ukulele when he asked me what I wanted for Christmas. The guitar is great, but I feel like I'm hiding behind it a little, with the ukelele I'm still able to be close with the audience, it has also proved to be great therapy for my hand.

MVP: Who are some of your main influences?
SR: Carol King is a big one. When I first displayed signs of being a songwriter, my parents bought me a James Tayor CD. I really think of myself as a songwriter. I love children so Pete Seeger, the way that he uses music to connect people together has been a big inspiration to me. Carol King sings about love, like me. Lots of people have come and gone. I was a big fan of Wyclef, and I like the Broadway show tunes of Cole Porter.

MVP: What's your ideal collaboration? 
SR: Ramblin' Jack Elliot, which has sort of been a reality, we've played together in my living room. But I'd love to do something together. And probably Carol King too and Pete Seeger, I'd love to play a children's concert with Pete Seeger.

MVP: What's your deam gig?
SR: I'm a pretty big homebody and don't really leave home a lot, so I'm planning to sort of jet away and go to New Orleans then Europe and will be playing around there. Although I don't have any set shows right now, I'd love to play in those places. My grandfather always said that if I ever wanted to play Carnegie Hall, the trick is just to rent it and then I could play. I would really like to play a Fox tour, lots of Fox theaters, and I love foxes. I would love to play every Fox theater in America. 

Matt Jaffe, who is described by music festival staff as a "young phenom," is a 17-year-old Branson high school senior with a knack for songwriting. . 

Mill Valley Patch: Who are your major influences, living or dead?
Matt Jaffe: Some of my favorite musicians are Elvis Costello, Ted Leo, Bob Dylan, The Flaming Lips, Talking Heads, The Clash, Steve Earle and Django Reinhardt, to name a few.
I'm also very inspired in my songwriting by a number of writers, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alan Moore, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Allen Ginsberg.

MVP: What inspires you to write?
MJ: Although I'm not as shy as I once was, writing has always been a way to express things that I can't broach in everyday conversation. I've experimented with poetry and other forms, but my favorite is the song. I think it's the musical equivalent of a mural: public, accessible, but able to convey any depth of message. My writing process is more systematic than it once was, but that being said, it's still a rather spontaneous and unpredictable beast, which is the fun of it. Mainly, I write because I feel profoundly compelled to do so, and I enjoy it. If I didn't enjoy it anymore, I'd stop.

MVP: What's your ideal gig?
MJ: An ideal gig has a standing-room-only crowd that knows all the lyrics. While the magnitude of the venue does matter, the most important element is the mutual energy between audience and performer.

MVP: What's your ideal musical collaboration? 
MJ: I generally prefer writing alone, so that nobody has veto power over my strangest song ideas. But if I could work with Elvis Costello, that would be an ideal collaboration. I find his songwriting to be staggering and it would be an incredible honor to cowrite with him.

MVP: What are you listening to now?
MJ: I'm currently in a big Bob Dylan phase, and I can't believe it took me this long to realize his brilliance. Particularly, I'm digging his first trilogy of electric albums (Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde On Blonde). I go through phases where a certain song is the unofficial anthem of a few days or a week - the first song I play on the shuffle of my iPod, or one that I learn just to mess around on guitar. Last week it was "Ballad of A Thin Man," this week it's "Queen Jane Approximately."

MVP: What are you planning for the upcoming Homestead gig?
MJ: We're playing as a trio and we'll be doing about 20 minutes of original material that will hopefully be explosive and inflammatory - in a good way, of course. I'm thrilled to be sharing an hour of stage time with the wonderfully-talented singer/songwriters Caroline de Lone and Sofi Rox.

Aside from great (and free) local music, the festival will feature food and beverages on-site, including BBQ from the 's own "Que Crew," and some classic Marin hoppy brews from Lagunitas Brewing Co. The meadow will also feature an area especially for kids, featuring crafts and face painting. 

The lineup is as follows:

• 11:30 -12:30 - Caroline DeLone, Sofi Rox, and Matt Jaffe
• 1:00 - 2:00 - "Skin & Bone" (featuring Max Perkoff and Si Perkoff)
• 2:30 - 3:30 - "Lucky Finn" (featuring Gary Schueunstuhl, owner of )
• 4:00 - 5:30 - Petty Theft

Here's what else is happening on Mill Valley Patch:

• What is a Formula Business in Mill Valley?
• Sweetwater Reshuffles, Hires New Manager
• Ghost Riding the Whip, Bloody Tanning Beds and iPod-Blackberry Swap

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