Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 6/19 – 7/2

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

Gearing up for the 2019 Ventura Music Festival (VMF) season, Artistic Director, Nuvi Mehta, will hold a free reception at the Museum of Ventura County on Sunday, June 30. Equipped with violin and video clips, Nuvi will highlight the past 25 years of VMF; donations will be accepted. The official program for this year runs July 11 through July 21. For a full listing of concerts go to VenturaMusicFestival.org.

When last I checked, there were only tickets available for two shows for the Music Under the Stars series this summer: Sound Effect (R&B, soul, pop, funk) for July 20 and Rodeo Drive (country rock) for July 27. All other concerts are sold out; secure your tickets for one or both of the remaining shows by calling the City of Ventura during regular business hours at (805) 658-4728.

There’s a double hitter at Oak and Main on Saturday night, June 22, with Goodnight Kiss and Brothers Fortune; then on Sunday afternoon (noon to 5), June 23, don’t miss the americana showcase hosted by Medicine Hat, featuring RJ Bloke (Patrolled by Radar), Farm Truck, and Lasers Lasers Birmingham.

Discovery is giving you a chance to be up close and personal with actor and singer/songwriter, Jeff Bridges, when he plays the venue on Wednesday, July 24. Bridges has released a handful of albums over the years and will be performing acoustically as a duo. I can only imagine the backstory on many of his original tunes and the antidotes he’ll share with the audience. Get ticket at DiscoveryVentura.com.

Quick Notes: Congratulations to Jodi Farrell who is celebrating her 25th anniversary since opening the Jodi Farrell Music Studio; reggae returns to Café Fiore on Sunday afternoons in the Tree House Lounge for the summer; Jon Gindick returns with full band to Grapes and Hops for a show on Thursday, June 20; MUNCH returns to the Museum of Ventura County with The Ventura Artists Union Jam Band on Thursday, June 20 (11:30 am – 1:30 pm); the Red Cove has live music on Saturday, June 22, with Zig Zags, Char-Man, Vnlvx and Tung; and Gigi’s has reggae on Tuesday night, June 25, with Herbal Rootz and Ghetto Lions.

And finally, have I mentioned that I’ve been asked to emcee the Topa Mountain Music Fest at Libbey Bowl on Saturday, September 21 this year? Yessiree Bob! Performing this year will be Brett Dennen, Marc Broussard Band, The Mother Hips, Reverend Tall Tree, Bryan Titus Trio with the Brambles, Timmy Curran Band with Lee Koch, Tom Freund, and Quincy Coleman with Shane Alexander. Dude, that is a load of talent performing on one stage. Two charities will benefit this year: Stand for Cancer and the Glioblastoma Foundation. For more information and to get your tickets, go to TopaMountainMusicFest.org.

Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to Pam@VenturaRocks.com. For updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 6/5 – 6/18

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

If nothing else, Ventura is known as a community that loves to give back, case in point, the Ventura Theater will be hosting a Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser on Saturday, June 8, with lots of favorite local bands being given the opportunity to play the big stage. The genres range from hard rock to metal with Bone Maggots, The Deveros, The Guitar and Whiskey Club, SixPackofDoom, Samoan Take-Out and Stronger Than Machines. This one is all ages and will be over by 11 pm. Tickets are only $10.00.

The Rubicon Theater has a number of music related events the next couple of weeks. First over the weekend of June 8 and 9 it’s Amanda McBroom performing “Lady Macbeth Sings the Blues” and the following weekend, June 14 – 16, you won’t want to miss the iconic doo-wop sounds of the 50s and 60s with The Drifters and Cornell Gunter’s Coasters playing two shows daily. You can find ticket information at RubiconTheatre.org.

The Hong Kong Inn has live music once again with quite the eclectic mix of genres. They’ll have punk shows on Wednesday, June 5, with Civil Conflict, NNN, Bare Minimum and Operation Oxnard, and then again on Friday, June 7 with How to Live with Robots and Astreyas; then it’s Latin fun with La Imagen Nortena on Saturday June 8, and smooth jazz on Sunday June 9 with Del Franklin.

Quick Notes: there will be a free, all-ages show, at Bank of Books on Saturday, June 8, with Lasso the Moon (Compton), Crawdads and Trypanosome; more punk with All-a-Blur, Plot, FUSE, Birdbrain and One Minute Run at the Red Cove on Saturday, June 8; Plan B Wine Cellars offers Johnny and the Love Handles for your Sunday early evening, June 9 (4:30 – 7 pm); Silver & Gold out of Greeley, Colorado will be making a stop on their tour for a special show at Oak and Main on Monday, June 10, along with Ferriswheels, Blossum and Pretty Well; Dad Brains is holding their album release party at Gigi’s Cocktails on Friday, June 14; the Ventura Harbor Village is once again providing live music over the weekend from 1-4 pm with Surfer Joe on June 15, and Cash Cats on June 16; and finally, good to know that the open jazz jam is gaining some traction on Thursdays at Golden China.

Big news!!! Be sure to listen to episode #84 of The Pam Baumgardner Music Hour on KPPQ-LP at 104.1 FM for the world premiere release of the brand-new Crooked Eye Tommy Album! Episode #84 also includes an interview with Tommy Marsh which airs Tuesdays and Fridays at 5 pm and Sundays at noon for two weeks. You can also listen with the MyTuner app for your phone or online at CapsMedia.org.

Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Please send all information short or long to Pam@VenturaRocks.com. For updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.