Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze 4/26 – 5/9

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
Local Music and More!
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

Neal Casal & Chris Robinson pictured. The Chris Robinson Brotherhood played the Ventura Theater 420.

Adam Lasher returns to Ventura for the first time since his stint on American Idol’s season 14. Locals will remember when he used to play in Three Man Weave band at The Good Bar back in the day. Adam’s excited to return to Ventura and will be playing a show at The Star Lounge on Friday, May 5. I’m thinking one’s life changes ever so slightly when Harry Connick Jr calls you a super star though Adam is very modest about all that. He’s certainly enjoying the extra exposure since Idol and he confessed to me that it really holds your feet to the fire holding you to a higher standard. He also embraces the fact that he was parodied on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon that season. You can view that video on Adam’s website (AdamLasherBand.com). He also told me one of the biggest perks was getting more awareness about Type 1 Diabetics as he’s been an advocate for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation for many years.

The Ojai Bluesfest is finally here! The event will be held at the Ojai Art Center in conjunction with Crooked Eye Enterprises 11-6 pm on Sunday, May 7 featuring Orphan Jon and the Abandoned, Bleeding Harp, Deb Ryder, Michael John and the Bottom Line and Casey Hensley. Find a link for more ticket information at the top of VenturaRocks.com.

Congratulations to Winchesters on their 20th anniversary, and a big thank you to JR for celebrating with two days of live music April 29-30! There will be no cover to catch these bands over the weekend (see VenturaRocks.com for set times): Shaky Feelin’, the Caverns, Mandex, TD Lind, Big Adventure and CRV and more.

Night Demon just released their new album, Darkness Remains, with artwork featuring our very own City Hall in the background as well as a creepy depiction of Father Serra. I got an advance listen, and was able to play it on my radio show at KPPQ-LP here in Ventura at 104.1 FM. I warn you, this one seriously rocks! Information on how and where to get your copy (including limited vinyl) can be found at www.NightDemon.net. Meanwhile the boys are off and running in support of it touring Europe through mid June; I am told they always give a shout out to Ventura wherever they play. They’ll be back home playing the Frost & Fire Festival in October.

Quick notes: Shawn Jones is back from Italy and will be at Grapes and Hops on April 28. Strange Weather returns from S Lake Tahoe for a show at Sans Souci on April 28; the Star Lounge hosts the Falling Doves on April 29 with special guest Travis Marsh; and finally, the Rouse CD release party will be held at the Hong Kong Inn on Saturday, April 29.

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.

Commit to Support

I’ve been hosting a one-hour local music show here in Ventura since February this year on the new community access channel, so I’ve been listening to a lot of great recorded music lately, a lot of which never would have gotten any radio airplay and that’s a crying shame.

I know how hard it is to get one’s music on the air.  I use to be a radio program director in the 90s at the launch of alternative rock with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Collective Soul and tons of other great bands coming on the scene but they were backed up by large labels and “independent record promoters” which I consider the bane of radio.  These guys play hardball and get paid big bucks to get artists on radio station playlists. They are relentless. They were the only reason I was okay with leaving the profession. Everything else about radio was pretty freakin’ awesome.

But then the station I worked at didn’t follow the typical radio model.  We were not one of a chain of stations in a market, we weren’t owned by a huge broadcasting company.  In fact, we may have been one of the last “mom and pop” independent radio stations out there, and we rocked.  We rocked because we had a team of employees who loved to come to work, who would just hang out to be a part of it, who were a part of the community and they all had a voice on the direction of the station, and part of that direction was to include local bands…in regular rotation.  It wasn’t a once a week program late Sunday nights, we would rock bands like Raging Arb and the Redheads during the day during the week during “drive times”.

The point is, local music here in Ventura has been rocking for a long time. It’s all fine to try and figure out why we have such a dense population of artists, but who cares as long as we have an abundance of artists who thrive on creating music. Let’s just be thankful that they do. But more importantly than that, they deserve our support, our monetary support.

I’d like to invite you to support our music scene by committing to buying at least one CD a month from local artists. You can find them at one of our local music stores, or go to their websites for information on how to purchase a download, or attend one of the many CD release parties you hear about all the time.  How expensive would that be?  $10-$20 a month?  And don’t be a cheapskate, buy the whole CD.

Trust me when I say, it really will make a difference, just ask any artist who has invested their money, blood, sweat and tears to produce their work.

In this day and age when a certain sector of society (not you, right?) thinks music is all free, and they listen to Spotify and artists get paid for pennies for thousands of spins…Come on.  It really is the least we can do.

Oh!  and listen to my show!!!  KPPQ-LP Ventura, 104.1 FM Tuesdays 5-6 pm. It’s The Pam Baumgardner Mostly Local Music Show.  It’s the easiest way to hear what you want to buy next!

You can always just shoot me an email and I’ll make a recommendation as well.  Pam@VenturaRocks.com

You know I love you, so get to work!

Ventura Rocks in the Ventura Breeze – 4/12 – 4/25

Ventura MusVentura Breeze logoic Scene
Local Music and More!
by Pam Baumgardner
VenturaRocks.com
Pam@VenturaRocks.com

This year’s California Jazz & Wine Fest was another sold-out success; it was held Sunday, April 9, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. The event helped to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Conejo Valley. The music was exceptional, headlining was The Danny Janklow Quintet; other bands of note included the Lao Tizer Quartet, Bruce Forman’s Cow Bop, and Ventura’s own, The Barrelhouse Wailers.

Keeping with jazz, don’t miss Mike Garson (Bowie, NIN, Smashing Pumpkins) when he returns to Squashed Grapes bringing with him this time, Emmy and Grammy nominated Gaby Moreno on Thursday, April 13; Paul McCallum and Friends return on Saturday, April 15; and Gary Herbig (Harry James, Elvis, Tower of Power) and Bill Spoke Quintet be in the house on April 19.

Our local artists have been busy producing new music.  Hot off the presses is the latest CD from Hot Roux called Hometown Blues.  You can pick up a copy when Hi Hat Entertainment hosts their CD release party on Friday, April 21, at the Hong Kong Inn. You won’t want to miss this one as the band will feature not only lead man Jerry McWorter, but Ed Berghoff, Brent Harding, Jimmy Calire and Bill Flores.

Congratulations to local musician Travis Greer for landing a gig on the highly popular Criminal Minds television show on CBS.  He’s well-known for his improv work here in town as well as playing with the Los Dudes.

Eric Burdon joined Robby Krieger of the Doors for “Roadhouse Blues,” Saturday, April 8, at Libby Bowl. They then played “House of the Rising Sun” from The Animals. Tommy Marsh’s Crooked Eye Tommy warmed up the crowd.

The next One’s to Watch Productions will be held Wednesday, April 19, at the Plaza Playhouse in Carpinteria with Matt Duke, Jay Nash, Tony Lucca and Tim Curran. You can get tickets at OnesToWatchProductions.com.

I caught up with Ross Emery of Roadshow Revival as he ramps up for this year’s show.  It’s going to look a lot different this time around with the whole event being held on one day and at Discovery Ventura, but he told me who the headliner is, and I promised not to tell until May 1st, but between you and me, I’m pretty jazzed about it.  Watch for social media news, and get your tickets now!

Here’s a couple of one-liner notes of interest:  Jade Hendrix will be opening for Berlin when they play the Libbey Bowl April 22; Face to Face will be at Discovery on May 7 with Bad Cop/Bad Cop opening; Paddy’s is celebrating their 23rd anniversary on April 21st with DJ Pat Harper who will be playing classic house music; the Ventura County Spring Fair will be held at the Fairgrounds April 14 – 16 with carnival rides, petting zoo and music from The Velveteen Band; and finally, I’m looking forward to hearing new music from 8Stops7, they just signed with Wendigo Records and will be back in the studio in July.

Do you have any music-related news or upcoming shows you want help publicizing? Or would you like to submit your music for possible inclusion on my radio show? 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 – April 2017

Winchesters Grill – April 30, 2017
The Caverns


Winchesters Grill – April 29, 2019
Mandex


Sans Souci – April 29, 2019
Aunt Jane’s Pancakes


Grapes and Hops – April 29, 2017
Tex Pistols


Discovery – April 28, 2017
Thee Commons


Star Lounge – April 23, 2017
Charles Law


Two Trees – April 22, 2017
Shawn Jones (Photo: Amanda Peacock)



Ventura Theater – April 20, 2017
Chris Robinson Brotherhood


Saloon BBQ – April 20, 2017
Chi McClean


The Garage – April 13, 2017
Tropidelic (Cleveland, OH)


The Tavern – April 1, 2017
Strange Weather (South Lake Tahoe)