Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 5/9 – 5/22

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

I’m loving the effort to liven up downtown with businesses staying open later during May and holding special events like a Mom’s night out or a pub crawl. Kudos to the merchants! But of course, you know nothing livens up a place like live music, and you know who has been doing right? Just take a look at the venues in the Ventura Harbor! The Boatyard Pub is officially providing live music seven days a week so between the Boatyard, 805 Wine Bar, the Copa Cubana, Margarita Villa (also seven days a week), and even the Ventura Comedy Club where Tom Scott and LA Express plays time to time, the place is about as lively as you can get!

Nothing goes with warmer weather like a cold brewski, so you won’t want to miss Surf n’ Suds, the beer festival with a surf twist, on Saturday, May 19, at San Buenaventura State Beach. The daylong event not only has over 50 craft breweries, ciders and wine, but they’ll have entertainment from Crosscut 805, DJ Hecktik and After the Smoke.

It’s always a treat when Hi Hat Entertainment brings Billy Vera and the Beaters to town so you’ll want to get your tickets in advance at HiHatEntertainment.com for Friday, May 11, at the Hong Kong Inn. They’ll perform their #1 hit tune, “At this Moment” along with “Millie make some Chili” and other favorites.

It’s awesome that the Museum of Ventura County is offering more live music. On Friday, May 11, it’s “Out of the Ashes: Healing in Story and Song”; the chamber music ensemble, Camerata Pacifica, performs on Sunday, May 13; the weekly Munch series continues Thursdays afternoons where local artists perform at lunch time; and two-time Grammy winner Laurence Juber (lead guitarist for Paul McCartney’s Wings) headlines a fundraiser for the Ventura County Library Foundation on May 19. For more information and tickets, visit VenturaMuseum.org.

Quick Notes: cool shows at The Garage include the New Candys from Venice, Italy, on Thursday, May 10, and Jason Steady and the Soft Ponies from Omaha, NE, on Friday, May 11; Topa Mountain Winery in Ojai is hosting a Rose Soiree Event with music from The Salty Suites and The Dales on Saturday, May 12; Grapes and Hops hosts an earlier show on Mother’s day, Sunday, May 13 at 11 am with Stephen Inglis who will perform, “Cut the Dead some Slack” then it’s Dive Bar Steve and Friends at 3 pm; Caught Red Handed plays Plan B Wine Cellars on Sunday, May 13; Oxnard’s Strawberry Festival is over the weekend of May 19-20, and on the Main stage will be Hollywood U2, Highway Starr, Professional Americans, 40oz to Freedom and more; and finally, the Outlaws will be at Discovery on Sunday, May 20 with Crooked Eye Tommy opening.

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, and for updated music listings daily, go to www.VenturaRocks.com.

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze – 3/16 – 3/29

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
“Ventura Continues to Rock!”
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

160316_VenturaRocksFor no other reason other than the website was ready to roll out, VenturaRocks.com was launched seven years ago on St. Patrick’s Day. We started out as a comprehensive calendar of music listings for Ventura, but quickly branched out by further covering Ventura’s music scene with photo galleries, interviews, and reviews. Then Sheldon Brown asked me to write a music column for the Ventura Breeze which I’ve been doing for a little over two years now; and most recently, CAPS Media invited me to host a music program on their cable channel which has turned out to be a whole lot of fun. Watch out for the next episode to air soon featuring 50 Sticks of Dynamite. It’s been a blast and I’m looking forward to another year serving Ventura’s music community at www.VenturaRocks.com.

There are a number of fundraisers coming up that I hope you’ll consider supporting. On Saturday, March 19, there will be a benefit concert at Bombay Bar and Grill for The Turning Point Foundation. After the devastating loss of Diego Hinojosa last Fall, Diego’s family and friends wanted to make sure others are aware of mental health resources available at this non-profit facility. Scheduled to perform between noon and 7 pm are Xoco Moraza & Tomas Herrera, Jackass, Crooked Eye Tommy, The Hymen Blasters, Legalizer, After the Smoke and Rey Fresco. Suggested donation is $20 for adults and $10 for kids.

The following afternoon, March 20 at Discovery, the annual Key to the Highway fundraiser will be held starting at 3 pm with a full line up stellar musicians including Guy Martin, Hoo Doo Hounds, 50 Sticks of Dynamite, Kelly’s Lot, Brian McCann, Steve and Sally Williams, Jon Gindick and more including the recipient of this year’s fundraising efforts, Ashford Gordon who is battling prostate cancer. The evening will end with an all-inclusive jam hosted by Doug Johnson. Tickets are only $10.

Surf Rodeo has started announcing their band line up for this year’s summer event and I was pleased as punch to hear Dave Wakeling and the English Beat will be on the line up. Surf Rodeo will once again take over Pierpont Beach on Seaward from Pierpont Blvd to the ocean the weekend of July 16th and 17th.

The Rubberneck Lions announced a Taiwan tour which caught my attention. I asked drummer Jaison Pearce Henderson about why they were heading to Taiwan, and he told me, “We have some Silver Strand friends who have moved to Taiwan and have made it easier to independently plan and fund a tour there. We were selected to play Taiwan’s huge Spring Scream Festival and the rest of the shows we booked around it.”

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

Ventura Music Photos: May 2015

Discovery – May 29, 2015
Jackie Greene
Jackie Greene


Padrino’s Italian Restaurant – May 29, 2015
Del Franklin
Del Franklin


Amigo’s – May 29, 2015
Medicine Hat (Photo credit: Duane Meagher)
Medicine Hat


Beach House Tacos – May 24, 2015
After the Smoke
After the Smoke


Margarita Villa – May 23, 2015
GooveSession (Photo Credit: Mark Hirasaki)

GrooveSession


Surf Brewery – May 23, 2015
Frank Barajas and Doug Johnson (Photo Credit:  Steve Glennan)
Doug Johnson & Frank Barajas


Bombay’s – May 17, 2015
The return of Joe Wilson with The R&B Bombers
R&B Bombers


Squashed Grapes – May 16, 2015
Jerry Vivino Quartet (with Mitch Forman, John Leftwich and Bernie Dresel)
Vivino Quartet


Pacificview Mall – Food Truck Fridays – May 15, 2015
Mojo Filter (Photo Credit:  Patsi Ledbetter)
Mojo Filter


Squashed Grapes – May 13, 2015
Danny Janklow’s NYC Quartet
Danny Janklow's NYC Quartet


Majestic Ventura Theater – May 5, 2015
Kinky
Kinky


Ventura College Stadium – Ventura Music Festival – May 3, 2015
Ozomatli
Ozomatli


Amigos – May 3, 2015
The Tossers (Photo Credit:  Jon Reese)
The Tossers


Discovery – May 1, 2015
Helmet performs “Betty”
Helmet


The Tavern – May 1, 2015
The Black Hips (Chris Price and Matt Oloffson)
The Black Hips


Bombay Bar and Grill – May 1, 2015
Lolita Dark (Photo credit: Mark Hirasaki)
Lolita Dark