What can I say about Willie Nelson that you don’t already know? After all, he’s been a country music icon for longer than most of us have been alive. Maybe you didn’t know that Nelson, who stands 5-foot-6, played high school football—he was halfback. His grandfather bought him a guitar when he was 6 and taught him a few chords. His childhood job was picking cotton, but he was singing in dance halls by 13. He got a DJ job with no experience. His earliest recordings were failures.
Today, Nelson’s won every award you can think of, recorded dozens of albums and hit songs, smoked his weight in weed, had tax problems, and has been a progressive activist on the correct side of every important issue. Willie Nelson & Family plays Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Sunday, Oct. 9 (8 p.m.; $57 to $127 at ticketmaster.com) with Lily Meola opening.
This past year, Meola released five new original songs on her EP Daydream. She performed on America’s Got Talent, where Heidi Klum picked her for her Golden Buzzer.
Hard rockers Incubus also plays Vina this Thursday, Oct. 6 (8 p.m.; $49 to $125 at ticketmaster.com) with instrumental metal band Animals as Leaders opening.
Another big week at Fremont Theater
Fremont continues to keep the entertainment coming fast and furious. Comedian Lewis Black, known as the King of the Rant for his animated and screaming persona, performs this Friday, Oct. 7 (8 p.m.; all ages; $51.50 to $77 at eventbrite.com).
Gimme Gimme Disco happens on Saturday, Oct. 8 (9 p.m.; all ages; $20 plus fees at seetickets.us). The DJ dance party plays all your favorite ABBA hits, as well as The Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Cher, and more. Bust out your disco duds.
My pick this week is punk rock icon, actor, author, and spoken word artist Henry Rollins on Tuesday, Oct. 11 (8 p.m.; all ages; $32 to $37 at eventbrite.com). The man is sharp, looking with a fresh perspective at the contemporary issues of our time, and regaling audience with what he’s learned from his crazy life and far-flung travels.
Mexican rock band The Warning with Letdown plays on Wednesday, Oct. 12 (8 p.m.; all ages; $22.50 at seetickets.us). The Warning is sisters Daniela, Paulina, and Alejandra Villarreal Vélez.
British trip-hop group Morcheeba plays next Thursday, Oct. 13 (8 p.m.; all ages; $33 plus fees at seetickets.us) with Eaglin opening. According to Morcheeba, their new album Blackest Blue “is about finding a way through the darkest of times and emerging the other side changed but intact.”
Numbskull and Good Medicine and The Siren
Numbskull and Good Medicine start the week at The Siren with North Carolina’s alt-country and Americana act Sarah Shook & The Disarmers on Thursday, Oct. 6 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $17 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with Cambria singer-songwriter Jill Knight opening.
Brass Against, “a collective group of musicians who share the goal of creating music to inspire social and personal change,” plays on Friday, Oct. 7 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $20 general or $55 VIP at goodmedicinepresents.com). “The band curates songs from a variety of influences including Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, Run the Jewels, as well as their own compositions in a heavy brass filled symphony,” their bio explains.
Local and totally awesome AC/DC tribute group High Voltage plays on Saturday, Oct. 8 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $16 at goodmedicinepresents.com). These guys love AC/DC, and it shows. They do a killer job capturing the sights and sounds of Australia’s hardest rocking band ever.
“We’re pretty excited as we have Brian Damage on lead vocals and Anthony Tyminski as Malcolm,” drummer Ray Rocha explained. “We’re playing a 23-song power set.”
Masterful singer-songwriter James McMurtry plays next Thursday, Oct. 13 (6:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $25 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Johnny Burke opening. McMurtry’s newest album, The Horses and the Hounds, reaped serious praise upon its release last year. Rolling Stone included it on “The 50 Best Albums of 2021.”
SLO Brew rocks on
Jamaican singer, rapper, and producer Kabaka Pyramid will deliver fusion of reggae, hip-hop, and dancehall this Friday, Oct. 7 (7:30 p.m.; 18-and-older; $23 at ticketweb.com).
Indie rockers Flipturn play on Saturday, Oct. 8 (7 p.m.; all ages; $17 at ticketweb.com). What started in 2015 as a Fernandina Beach garage band has blossomed in to fever dream rock soundscape.
Australian psychedelic-surf-rock outfit Ocean Alley plays on Sunday, Oct. 9 (7 p.m.; all ages; $20 at ticketweb.com) with Le Shiv opening. Ocean Alley’s sun-drenched, hazy sound, and infectious grooves will have you moving.
Progressive jazz stalwarts
Cal Poly Arts presents super cool jazz group The Bad Plus at Cal Poly’s Spanos Theatre next Thursday, Oct. 13 (7:30 p.m.; $40 at calpolyarts.org, $15 for students). “For the past two decades, The Bad Plus have played with spirit and adventure, making their own rules with a bold sense of creativity and intent,” their bio explains.
Haunting
Seven Sisters Folklore Society presents an evening of haunting folk music with Mama’s Broke and Cinder Well at The Milking Parlor at the Octagon Barn this Sunday, Oct. 9 (7 p.m.; $20 presale at eventbrite.com or $25 at the door). Mama’s Broke is a folk duo that “delivers a compelling performance with heart and raw energy.” Cinder Well “is at the vanguard of a different kind of transatlantic folk revival, one forged amidst the uncertainty of a global pandemic.”
Big Sur Jade Fest!
The 27th Annual Big Sur Jade Festival happens this weekend, and it’s got a ton of free entertainment in the beautiful Los Padres National Forest at Pacific Valley School. Presented by the South Coast Community Land Trust, the volunteer-run event benefits local schoolchildren and southern Big Sur community organizations.
On Friday, Oct. 7, from noon to 6 p.m., start with a drum circle with Keeth CrowHawk, then Noach Tangeras, Bay Love, Sherita Perez, and Jill Knight.
On Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 am to 6 p.m. there’s a drum circle led by Tracy Morgan, then music by David Foster Evans, Robi Duganne, Ella Harp, Dave Helwig, Forever Green, and Zen Mountain Poets.
On Sunday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Tim Costa & Jessica Rose lead a drum circle, followed by Billy & Charlie Foppiano, Ynana Rose, Rough House, and Back Bay Betty. This is a fun, free, family event.
More music …
This Friday, Oct. 7, Brass Mash debuts their beer collaboration with Liquid Gravity Brewing called “First Fridays”—a Double Dry Hopped IPA (7 to 10 p.m.; free, but tip the band for God’s sake). Mashed pop songs by a brass band? Hell yeah!
Singer-songwriter Emily Franklin returns to SLO Cider Co. this Friday, Oct. 7 (7 to 9 p.m.; free). She killed it the last time she was there, so they’re having her back.
The SLO Symphony presents Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony on Saturday, Oct. 8, in the Performing Arts Center (7:30 p.m.; ages 5 and older; $25 to $89 at pacslo.org), in a concert that also includes Haydn’s Symphony No.13 in D and Stamitz Concerto for Clarinet & Bassoon.
Jazz Vespers Concerts returns to First Presbyterian Church of SLO on Sunday, Oct. 9 (4 p.m.), presenting “The Music of Dave Tull” featuring Dave Tull on drums and vocals, George Stone on piano, and Ken Hustad on bass.
NTMAs Readers’ Choice voting is open!
You have until Monday, Oct. 17, at 5 p.m. to cast your vote for Readers’ Choice Award presented at the 2022 New Times Music Awards showcase, scheduled for Friday, Nov. 4, in SLO Brew Rock. Visit newtimesslo.com and click on the voting tab. Δ
Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 6-16, 2022.