Alright all you musicians, songwriters, and band members, all you rockers, hip-hop playas, jazz cats, country folks, blues and R&B dudes and dudettes, and you impossible to categorize artists—your window for submitting to the 2022 New Times Music Awards is closing.
Monday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m. is the deadline to submit to this 14th annual SLO and Northern Santa Barbara counties music competition. You can submit in six categories—Country/Folk/Americana, Rock/Alternative, Hip-Hop/Rap, R&B/Blues, Open, and Youth—and a songwriter and best album competition.
After our panel of judges narrows down their selections, we’ll open the voting to New Times readers to pick a Readers’ Choice Award between Sept. 29 and Oct. 17, and on Friday, Nov. 4 (7 p.m.; all ages; $15 presale at my805tix.com), the genre winners will play a live showcase at SLO Brew Rock to see who’s crowned Best Live Performer.
Find an entry form on the back cover of this issue or visit newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/NTMAHome/Page to enter online.
Heads and Floyd at Vina Robles
Last I heard, The Dirty Heads viral hit “Vacation” had amassed 378 million streams. Good grief! Has every man, woman, and child in the U.S. heard “A-a-aye, I’m on vacation/ Every single day ’cause I love my occupation?” You can hear it live when the alt-indie-reggae act plays Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Friday, Aug. 5 (6 p.m.; $49.50 to $75 at ticketmaster.com).
Also at Vina, see The Australian Pink Floyd on Sunday, Aug. 7 (7 p.m.; $35 to $65 at ticketmaster.com). The band’s All That’s To Come Tour re-creates “the songs that mean so much to Pink Floyd fans all over the world, replicating music from every phase of Pink Floyd’s journey, from Ummagumma to The Division Bell and all albums in between.”
The Siren, Castoro, and Treebones, oh my
Numbskull and Good Medicine kick off a very big week with Americana roots singer-songwriter Jackie Greene at The Siren on Friday, Aug. 5 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $25 presale at goodmedicinepresents.com). Whether he’s crooning over soulful piano ballads or shredding a bluesy guitar solo (he was lead guitarist for The Black Crowes in 2013, after all), he can pretty much do it all.
Good Medicine and Numbskull also bring live-looping master Keller Williams to Castoro Cellars on Saturday, Aug. 6 (6 p.m.; $35 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Keller mixes rock, jazz, funk, and bluegrass as he live-records and loops layers of music to create a solo show that feels like a whole band. “The end result often leans toward a hybrid of alternative folk and groovy electronica, a genre Keller jokingly calls ‘acoustic dance music,'” according to his bio.
Finally, Numbskull and Good Medicine present soul surfer and soul folk musician Donavon Frankenreiter at Big Sur’s Treebones Resort on Sunday, Aug. 7 (3 p.m.; all ages; $40 at goodmedicinepresents.com). The former professional surfer went from globetrotting in search of waves to globetrotting in search of audiences for his laid-back groovy, breezy songs. Moonshiner Collective opens the show.
Winners!
For the Folks hosts High Sierra Music Festival band contest winners Black Sheep Brass Band at Bang the Drum on Saturday, Aug. 6 ($15 presale at forthefolksmusic.com or $17 at the door). The nine-piece horn outfit hails from the North Bay, playing everything from funk to second line to big band, creating an infectious dance celebration. DJ Malik (owner of A Satellite of Love) will be playing a full vinyl DJ set following the headliner to keep the party going.
Rock and roller
Richie Kotzen plays The Siren on Thursday, Aug. 11 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $25 at eventbrite.com). He’s been rocking hard for ages as a member of the glam metal band Poison, LA rock act Mr. Big, and since 2012, he’s been the frontman of The Winery Dogs as well as Smith/Kotzen. Don’t miss this stellar guitar player and emotive singer.
“My whole existence has been driven by songs,” Kotzen said in press materials. “I realized when I was very, very young that if I didn’t have a song to sing that was mine, I probably wouldn’t have much of a future as an artist. That’s where I come from. It’s like I get to live my dream scenario, because my job is doing what I love to do, which is making music. It’s how I live.”
Wild The Coyote opens the show.
Living legend
SLO Brew Live and (((folkYEAH!))) present Lee Fields on Thursday, Aug. 11 (7 p.m.; all ages; $32 presale at ticketweb.com). This amazing soul singer has been nicknamed “Little JB” for his resemblance to James Brown, but he is 100 percent his own artist who over the years has worked with Kool and the Gang, B.B. King, Clarence Carter, Dr. John, Bobby Blue Bland, and Bobby Womack among many others. Δ
Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Aug 4-14, 2022.