Electric violinist Razz gives Monterey County regular excellence.

Razz is a form of stud poker, also known as lowball, where the object is to make the lowest possible five-card hand. It’s also the name of one of the Peninsula’s ace young musicians.

Expecting to spend the bulk of 2017 touring, the electric violinist’s best laid plans were cut short last May when she was diagnosed with a potentially career-ending injury. “Playing six gigs a week, the vocal fatigue can just creep up on you,” she says. “You can develop a callus on your vocal cords, just like guitar players get calluses on their fingers.”

The calluses can form nodules and hemorrhage, necessitating a surgical repair that can get dicey. Pop singer Adele has been that route twice. Razz was aware of the perils, so she cancelled the rest of her tour and sought treatment. “There were days when I was struggling and I wouldn’t even talk,” Razz says. “I used a whiteboard to communicate, because the only cure is rest. But I’m back now.”

While rehabbing she met a local guitarist named Fergus Shipman, which led to a new ensemble blues rock project with drummer Kevin Proctor and singer/songwriter Austin Metreyeon.

“What drives me is to change people’s minds about what the violin is capable of,” Razz says. “I get to do a lot of Clapton-type blues shredding which is really exciting, especially in service of talent like Austin, who’s a far more prolific songwriter than I could ever hope to be.”

With a commanding stage presence, she plays custom Mark Wood Viper model six – and seven-string electric violins, which replicate the ranges of violin, viola and cello. Classically trained while growing up in Pacific Grove, she is equally comfortable doing a rhapsodic reading of a Ravel bolero, stomping through an up-tempo Celtic fiddle tune, or ripping a hard rock guitar solo from her fave psych rockers Tool.

Though she disliked disappointing fans with the tour cancellation, there was a silver lining. “When you leave a place at the age of 18 you think that you’ll never come back, because you believe you’ve learned everything there is to know about that place,” Razz says. “A decade later, after visiting so many cities, it was like ‘Wow, there really is no place like home.’ I’m re-inspired to commit to this place.”

She holds a regular weekly gig at The Intercontinental, and does a monthly performance in the wine garden at Folktale Winery. “You can’t beat that backdrop,” Razz says. “And I will be singing.”

RAZZ
4:30pm Saturday, Oct. 28 at Folktale Winery, 8940 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel. 293-7500, folktalewinery.com

Noon-3pm Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28 at C Restaurant + Bar at Intercontinental Hotel, 750 Cannery Row, Monterey. 375-4800, thecrestaurant-monterey.com.