Oh, how the "Sibilance" staff toil in bringing you Katrina benefit news items. We are constantly wiping our brows. Seriously. Constantly. To update, you can still catch Cookie Cutter Girl at UMaine/Augusta on October 9 (www.cookiecuttergirl.com), and you should be on the lookout for more downtown Hallowell shows. We’ve got some word on an all-day affair at the Wharf October 16, with the Liberal Cup later donating all proceeds to the Red Cross, but you should call to confirm on that one.

Also, remember the October 7 Center for Cultural Exchange gig for Project HEAL (Helping Employ Artists Locally), but go ahead and forget that we referred to Matthew Doucet by his father’s name, Michael. Also, put on your radar screen a second benefit for HEAL, which looks for work for displaced Gulf Coast musicians, happening on October 9. This one goes off at 2 pm, at Nordica Auditorium, on the UMaine/Farmington campus, and, like the recent gig at Thompson’s Orchard, is labeled Acadians Helping Cajuns. As at the October 7 gig, Boreal Tordu will be playing "material that defines a whole new paradigm of Franco-Maineiac music," along with the aforementioned Doucet’s band, Douce. Further, you’ll hear from Ti’ Acadie, who "play Quebecois, Cajun, New England, and old-timey dance tunes, and sing in three-part harmony"; Jimmyjo & the Jumbolayahs, featuring Jim Joseph; and Frigate, who promise "a whole shipload of fun with a wicked good pulse for dancing." God how we like that shipload pun. Donation is what you want to give, so give it up. Get more info on the whole project at http://www.acadianaartscouncil.org

Also, Harvey Reid is getting into the act (not surprising — dude’s a total stand-up). Also on October 9, Reid is getting the whole gang together for a gig at Inn on the Blues. But this isn’t your typical fundraiser. "Rather than put a trickle of money into the vast Red Cross coffers," writes Reid, "the Seacoast Guitar Society [Reid’s organization] has decided to host a focused benefit for Rockin’ Jake and his band. Jake is a blues musician from the Seacoast, who was living in New Orleans as the base for his music. As coincidence would have it, he was doing a benefit at the Inn on the Blues at the very moment when Katrina was flooding his home. He and his band lost their vehicles and possessions and a lot of gear, as well as a lot of gigs in their calendar." Seems like the guy could use your $10. It’s going to be a great jazzy Americana night of music, too, with Joyce Andersen, Bob Halperin, Cormac McCarthy, Jim Gallant, TS Baker, Peter Black, and Chris O’Neill all slated to perform, "as well as some possible extra all-star local musicians." Further, all monies raised through sales of Seacoast Guitar Society discs (they’ve put out more than one killer guitar and singer/songwriter compilation) will be going to Jake. Check www.seacoastguitar.org for more details on the 7 pm show.