Shana Morrison

About a year ago, Van Morrison told an aspiring singer-songwriter he liked her band's first do-it-yourself CD, noting that two songs in particular were "really good." Having gotten this rare blessing from the austere, enigmatic and much-beloved eminence of soulful rock music, the up-and-comer: A. Summoned all her friends to celebrate with champagne until dawn. B. Chose the solitary exultation befitting an artiste and started scribbling in her diary. C.

About a year ago, Van Morrison told an aspiring singer-songwriter he liked her band's first do-it-yourself CD, noting that two songs in particular were "really good." Having gotten this rare blessing from the austere, enigmatic and much-beloved eminence of soulful rock music, the up-and-comer: A. Summoned all her friends to celebrate with champagne until dawn. B. Chose the solitary exultation befitting an artiste and started scribbling in her diary. C.

Even before she first cast eyes on him in the summer of 1966, behind a roller-rink-turned-concert-hall in San Leandro, Calif., she heard something powerful and poetic, inviting and dangerous, in Van Morrison's voice. It seemed to reach out of the radio, and grabbed hold of 19-year-old Janet Rigsbee's heart. The fresh-faced redhead married the Irish bard and soul singer--and was thrust beyond his music into the publicity machine touting the great matings at the center of the rock revolution.

* Michelle Shocked, "Deep Natural," Mighty Sound. Miles from her old epistolary folkiness, but her passion, vision and appeal galvanize and unify what may be her most ambitious album. Also: Apex Theory, "Topsy-Turvy," DreamWorks Doc Watson and Frosty Morn, "Round the Table Again," Sugar Hill Records Tami Hart, "What Passed Between Us," Mr.

Chatting up her audience with sweet-tempered breeziness on Saturday at McCabe's, singer-songwriter Shana Morrison at first seemed like the exact opposite of her famous father, rock legend Van Morrison, who has a reputation for being terse and disagreeable. But the 28-year-old Northern Californian soon showed her kinship with the bluesy "Punchline," a savvy indictment of record executives' empty promises that recalled her dad's vehement distaste for the music business.

Wynonna's always had at least an undercurrent of R&B in her country music. Now she's bringing it to the surface, hiring songwriter-producer Shep Crawford--who's had hits with Sisqo and Deborah Cox--to work on six songs for her next album. Crawford's currently working with Luther Vandross and has just completed a Gladys Knight album. . . . Rapper Noreaga has created and will host a show on rap for HBO. Ted Demme (director of "Life") will produce.

* Theater--The Santa Barbara Actors Theatre will open the dramatic comedy "I Am a Camera" Friday at Center Stage Theatre. The three-act production stars actress Vivien Minton. Show times: Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Ends Aug. 5. The theater is at the Paseo Nuevo shopping center in downtown Santa Barbara. $18. 964-0408.

Cook's gain is band's loss Emily Cook's star is rising, but that's not necessarily the best news for the band Fonda. The Los Angeles quintet with the distinctively Britpop sound crawled through work on its third album, "Catching Up to the Future," because Cook's career as a screenwriter was taking off. First there was a comedy for Paramount. Then another project.

The Sweetwater, a funky little nightclub with a '60s vibe, has been a community fixture here for more than three decades. It has attracted such singers as Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia, Huey Lewis and Bonnie Raitt, just to name a few. But the club is in danger of closing: Its owners say escalating rent and liability insurance costs may force them out of business. And that news has caused a furor in this town amid the redwoods north of San Francisco.

Few would be overly excited to find out that Arnold Dorsey is coming to town. But Engelbert Humperdinck? That's another story. Mr. Dorsey, who became Mr. Humperdinck at the advice of a long-ago manager, will in fact be in Oxnard on Sunday night at the Performing Arts Center. A perennial contender for president of the Funny Name Club, Humperdinck, who has sold more than 130 million albums, actually chose the name of a real person. The original Mr.

TODAY 6:30 p.m. Art Are you an art-lover in your 20s or 30s, casting about for a way to get together with like-minded souls? Consider "Museum After Hours," debuting tonight at the Orange County Museum of Art. The focus is the "1999 Biennial," an exhibition of work by younger artists in California, some of whom will be on hand to chat. Also part of the deal: refreshments, music and the opportunity to make your own stamped-tin valentine.