Lots of interesting stuff in town this week and not a lot of space to talk about it. So, we''ll keep everything short.

Country/folk crooner Ginny Mitchell is in town on Friday. Mitchell, who is based in Santa Cruz, has just released a new CD titled A Wild Rose that features several guest appearances by top-name Nashville musician types including Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and Bela Fleck.

Mitchell''s career received a boost from former Santa Cruz-area country musican Lacy J. Dalton who sort of took Mitchell under her wing and opened some doors for her. Dalton also wrote the title song for A Wild Rose.

Appearing with Mitchell on Friday are Jim Norris (drummer for Lacy J. Dalton and Snail), Tiran Porter (bass player for the Doobie Brothers) and Jim Lewin (guitarist for Harmony Grits).

Ginny Mitchell, Friday, 8pm. The Media Room, $12/advance; $14/door. 373-7379.

Hoping to make this the first of many local bookings, Salinas singer Carole Costa has a coming-out party of sorts this weekend at Borders.

Costa has released a four-song demo, Godspeed, that reveals a sort of bluesy country-rock sound and gutsy vocals by Costa that range from belt-it-out to croon.

The Salinas singer has also recorded a single CD, titled Salinas, which is sort of a love song to the city. She goes through the song recording the changes in the season. Here''s what she has to say about autumn: "Salinas Clouds, Salinas sun/They take turns in the autumn/Salinas moods, and I''ve got ''em/Salinas folks all laugh and cry/Salinas life begins again/Salinas life will never end/Salinas life will never die/Salinas autumn''s passing by."

According to Stan Costa (Carole''s husband and harmonica player), there has been some discussion with Mayor Alan Styles about making "Salinas" the city''s theme song.

Carole Costa, Friday, 7:30pm. Borders Bookstore, 899-6643.

Another local musician, Maureen Evans Hansen, is making her area debut at Borders, and she, too, has a new album, Out of the Blue.

The music sounds a little bit like Tangerine Dream dancing with the Eurythmics in a techno nightclub. And, oh yeah, there are some jazzy sort of riffs in there, too. Very ethereal stuff, and it''s all instrumental except for the first song.

Evans Hansen is a recent transplant to the area from Omaha, Neb., where she made several recordings with her previous bands, Digital Sex and The World; this is her first solo release.

This should be a pretty interesting show.

Maureen Evans Hansen, Saturday, 7:30pm. Borders Bookstore, 899-6643.

Longtimers in the area will remember the name Stormin'' Norman and the Cyclones, another Santa Cruz-area group, a band that used to play around here on a fairly regular basis.

Stormin'' Norman and company have been around, playing a blend of classic bluesy rock, a little bit of surf music, and a little bit of this and that for about 10 years. Although they''ve remained relatively busy up in the Santa Cruz and San Jose areas, this is their first appearance down here since Monterey Billiards went belly up.

You should look forward to a good night of dancing with Stormin'' Norman, whose band includes Tiran Porter (yep, the same Doobie Brothers bassist who''s playing with Ginny Mitchell on Friday), guitarist Ken Kraft (another ex-Snail), drummer Jim Norris and saxophonist Scott Wright.

Stormin'' Norman and the Cyclones, Saturday, 9pm. Blue Fin Billiards,

John Lee Hooker, Jr., makes his third visit to Doc''s this weekend. If you''re lookin'' for a good, danceable evening of blues you don''t want to miss this charismatic performer.

As I''ve noted in the past, John Lee, Jr., offers up a style of blues that''s completely different from his daddy''s gig--there''s a dash of rhythm mixed into his blues and his original songs explore contemporary issues. Both father and son do, however, have a take-no-prisoners approach to their music. They just differ in tactics: Where the older Hooker has adopted a nearly static and defiant presence on stage, the younger Hooker gets out on the floor to seduce and boogie with the crowd.

John Lee Hooker, Jr., Saturday, 9pm. Doc''s Nightclub, 649-4241.

Marina closes out their 1998 Fall Sunday Music Series with the primarily country music-oriented Dakota, a local band with a repertoire that also includes blues, rock and oldies, both originals and covers.

As long as the weather stays the way it was last weekend, this''ll be a nice way to say bye-bye to the outdoor festival season.

Dakota, Sunday, 1pm. Vince DiMaggio Park (on Del Monte Avenue), Marina. Free. 384-2609.

And, tickets are now on sale for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, who are scheduled to perform at McGarrett''s on 10/29. You''ll remember that they were previously scheduled to play McG''s a couple weeks ago but band leader/harmonica master Kim Wilson came down with laryngitis at the last minute. Call 646-9244 for more info.