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 Music Photos: November 2014

W20 at The Watermark – November 26, 2014
Shawn Jones Roots Trio (Jones, guitar; Christopher Allis, drums; Sam Bolle, bass)
Shawn Jones Roots Trio


Bombay’s – November 26, 2014
Mandex!
Mandex


Amigos – November 26, 2014
Shaky Feelin’


WAV – November 23, 2014
Donna Lynn Caskey

Donna Lynn Caskey


805 Bar & Grilled Cheese – November 23, 2014
Brandon Ragan
Brandon Ragan


Ventura Harbor – Wine, Dine & Jazz – November 23, 2014
Justin Claveria Trio
Justin Claveria


Squashed Grapes – November 19, 2015
Barry Mosley

Barry Mosley Quartet


Bombay Bar and Grill – November 15, 2015
The NaVaNaX
The NaVaNaXAmigo’s – November 15, 2014
Laura Cozzi and Soul Machine
Soul Machine


Cafe Fiore – November 15, 2014
Ricky Coz Band
Ricky Coz Band


Grapes and Hops – November 15, 2014
The Jazz Junkies
The Jazz Junkies


The Tavern – November 14, 2014
Private Island


Squashed Grapes – November 14, 2014
Ventura Jazz Collective
Ventura Jazz Collective


Amigos – November 14, 2014
Michael J and Leticia (MIghty Cash Cats)
Michael J and Leticia


El Rey Cantino – November 14, 2014
Xoco Moraza and Friends
Xoco and Friends


Sans Souci – November 12, 2014
The Miskreants
Miskreants


The Ventura Theater – November 12, 2014
The Misfits
The Misfits


The Winchester Rebels
Winchester Rebels


The Patio – November 8, 2014
C.A.R.L. Fundraiser
Kelly’s Lot
Kelly's Lot

Teresa James
Teresa JamesSteve “Smokey” Hinojosa
Smokey


Bombay Bar and Grill – November 7, 2014
Army of Freshmen
Army of FreshmenArmy of Freshmen
Shane Mac
Shane Mac


Grapes and Hops – November 2, 2014
Shawn Jones
Shawn Jones


Amigos – November 2, 2014
The Tossers
The Tossers Lyla Fronsoe Representing while celebrating her birthday with The Tossers!
Lyla Representing!


Squashed Grapes – November 1, 2014
Paul McCallum and Friends
Paul McCallem

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze – 11/12 – 11/25

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

Brothers GowVentura Music Week doesn’t roll around until June, but a couple of meetings have already taken place and though the City hasn’t offered a budget to help out, we’re moving forward with several fundraising events taking place over the next few months. With a shoestring budget in the past and a handful of volunteers, this event has shaped up and grown over the past couple of years but there is much work to be done to achieve the committee’s vision. And yes, while it is a celebration of how cool our music scene is, it’s more about getting the word out about what Ventura has to offer not only to visitors, but to our own community. Our venues should be packed. Our artists should be celebrated and supported. That is the purpose behind this event.

Brothers Gow will return to Ventura in support of their 4th studio release, “Reflections” at Bombay’s on Thursday, November 20. The band’s high energy eclectic fusion of rock, funk, jazz and reggae is totally contagious. I recent spoke to Kyle Merrill (guitarist for Brothers Gow) about their return to our fair city and I asked him about what people can expect at the show and Merrill said, “We love to make people dance! We have an energetic stage presence fueled by powerful vocal harmonies, complex arrangements, and ripping guitar solos. To top it all off we have an awe inspiring light show run by our very own Matt Collier AKA MC6.” You can see complete interview at VenturaRocks.com.

The 14th Annual 4-Kids-2Kids Toy Drive will be held on November 22 at the all new Ventura Beach Club at 281 West Main Street. The music lineup features some of our favorite musicians including Ray Jaurique and the Uptown Brothers, Tommy Marsh and Bad Dog, The Guy Martin Band, Mojo Filter, Preston Smith and harmonica wizard Jon Gindick. Special honorary guest will be Nick St. Nicholas, founding member of Steppenwolf. A ten dollar cover and a new unwrapped toy will get you in the door.

The Ventura Harbor is once again offering their “Wine, Dine & Jazz” series through the month of November on Sunday afternoons Noon – 3 pm. You can still catch Hans Ottsen & Friends on the 16th and Justin Claveria Trio on the 23rd.

I’m looking forward to one of my favorite events of the year the Ventura Winter Wine Walk which is coming up on Saturday, December 6, downtown Ventura. The day begins with a street fair at noon with vendors and live entertainment (free to the public) and then the wine walk commences at 4:00 with snowfall at California and Main streets from 6:45 to 8:00. Musical entertainment will come from The Bomb, The Midnight Band and the British Beats. If you’d like more information and or to get your tickets before they sell out, go to www.VenturaWinterWineWalk.com.

And finally, congratulations go out to Discovery for getting through the City’s permitting process. Now let’s get back to having live music, permanently!

If you have any music related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Send all information short or long to Pam@VenturaRocks.com.

Deep Pockets at Wine Dine & Jazz

The Ventura Harbor is trying something new called Wine Dine & Jazz on Sunday afternoons in November with participating merchants offering up wine and food specials while patrons get to enjoy some amazing jazz out on the Village Carousel Stage.
The first Sunday in November they offered up one of our favorites, Deep Pockets.  Still to come: Jon Stanger Jazz Duo on 11/10, Toni Jannotta Jazz Duo on 11/17, and Justin Claveria Jazz Trio on 11/24.