When you think of the Bakersfield sound, a country music subgenre full of twang and attitude, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard probably come to mind, but the real progenitor was Wynn Stewart, who influenced Owens and Haggard. The raw Bakersfield sound was a response to Nashville’s slickly, overproduced music, and it was the hottest country genre of the ’60s before fading away, only to be revived in the mid-’80s by Dwight Yoakam.
Well, meet Los Hermanos Mendoza, a trio of Bakersfield brothers ready to bring the Bakersfield sound back into the mainstream. There’s Adolfo (lead vocals/guitar), Jose (bassist), and Beto (upright bass).
“We were all born in Ventura,” Adolfo explained during a phone interview, “and as soon as the youngest one was born, which was Beto, we moved to Bakersfield, and since then, we’ve been raised here around the country culture, and specifically the Bakersfield sound that we grew up listening to.”
“Our first dinner in Bakersfield was at the Crystal Palace, so we broke it in real good,” Beto laughed.
Now closed, Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace was a famed Bakersfield music hall that hosted concerts and housed the Buck Owens museum as well as a bar and restaurant.
This is a young band with an old sound.
“I’m the oldest,” Jose explained, “and I’m 25 right now. And then Adolfo is 24, and Beto is 21.”
“I’ll be 22 in the summer,” Beto chimed in.
They grew up listening to both regional Mexican music and the classic Bakersfield sound, so it makes sense that you can hear both influences in their music.
“Our mom was into country music, and particularly the Bakersfield sound,” Adolfo said, “stuff like Dwight Yoakam, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and then she also branched out into other stuff. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson were some of her favorites, so we grew up around both the regional Mexican and country music, because we listen to them at family parties, we listen to original Mexican on the radio, and whatever my mom played was country music.”
‘We are a country band from Bakersfield, California, and our aspiration is 100 percent the Bakersfield Sound.’—Adolfo Mendoza of Los Hermanos Mendoza
“As far as the country music, my mom has been listening to it since before they moved to the States,” Beto added. “My grandpa and my uncle would come back from the States from working in the Bracero era, where they would come for seasonal work, to bring back tapes, records. Since she was a little girl, my mom was listening to it, and when we came into the picture, my mom, that’s what she knew, so she showed us that. Christmas wasn’t Christmas without Buck Owens music playing in the background.”
The Mendozas cover a lot of classic songs made famous by Owens, Haggard, Yoakam, and others.
“We’re actually working on a new album,” Adolfo said. “We just finished wrapping it up and we’re ironing out logistics, but we’ve been working on an album with a whole bunch of original songs for the past year or so. It’s gonna be produced by Pete Anderson.”
Anderson is perhaps best known for his guitar work on and production of Dwight Yoakam’s music starting with Yoakam’s debut, 1986’s Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
The band formed during the pandemic six years ago, but they’ve already managed to record eight albums with another on the way.
“Were just workhorses,” Jose said. “To us, the more we put out the better, and that’s how we started, that’s all we knew. And we would show up to the studio and bust out as many songs as we can, and as soon as we release them, we’re back in the studio again, doing the same thing.”
“We spent the first two years recording music just nonstop in the studio,” Adolfo added. “We would go to Mexico, and we’d record there, and then we’d come back, work a bunch of gigs, and go back as soon as the album was released, and record more.”
Los Hermanos Mendoza play Friday, May 8, at Santa Maria’s Presqu’ile Winery (doors at 6 p.m.; all ages; $35.74 at goodmedicinepresents.com) and again on Friday, May 15, in Paso’s BarrelHouse Amphitheatre (doors at 6 p.m.; all ages; $31.62 at goodmedicinepresents.com).
“First and foremost, we want the fans to know that we are a country band,” Adolfo said. “There was that first wave of the Bakersfield sound with Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, and then a few years down the road Dwight Yoakam came along and did it once again. I would say that we’re starting the third wave of the Bakersfield sound. Who better to usher that in than us, and the person that made the second wave Bakersfield sound, Pete Anderson? So that’s what we want people to know. We are a country band from Bakersfield, California, and our aspiration is 100 percent the Bakersfield sound.”
Also this week from Numbskull and Good Medicine, Casey Donahew plays the SLO Sheriff’s Rodeo on Friday, May 8 (doors at 5 p.m.; all ages; $32.96 general, kids 6 to 12 $17.52, kids 5 and under free at goodmedicinepresents.com). Donahew is a Lone Star native who’s been making country hits for two decades. Casey Anglin opens.
Country star Gunnar Latham plays the post-rodeo concert on the second day of the SLO Sheriff’s Rodeo on Saturday, May 9 (doors at 2 p.m.; all ages; reserved seating $27.50, non-reserved seating $12.05, kids 12 and under free at goodmedicinepresents.com).
You might expect the sons of Kiss members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to follow in their fathers’ platform booted glam rock footsteps, but Evan Stanley and Nick Simmons of Stanley Simmons lean more toward folk than metal. Sure, on “Dancing While the World is Ending” they get a little harder, but these guys are closer to folk and sing well together. Check out the video for “Body Down.” See them live on Sunday, May 10, at The Siren (doors at 7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $19.26 at goodmedicinepresents.com).
Detroit rockers Electric Six play The Siren on Thursday, May 14 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $27.50 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Tragedy (an all-metal Bee Gees tribute) opens.
Country singer-songwriter Tyler Halverson is at Club Car Bar on Thursday, May 14 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $24.41 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Halverson’s touring in support of his new album In Defense of Drinking, about his life on the road.
“It’s been a life spent falling in and out of love and finding something to write about, at the expense of your heart and somebody’s else’s,” Halverson said in press materials. “I’m not proud of the actions that that boy took to inspire these songs. But I’m very proud of how they turned out. The Nashville scene today is all so pretty and polished, and some artists try to come out looking a certain way, but how about you just show yourself exactly how you are, the good and bad?”
Old skool hip-hop, oldies, and a genre jumper
In addition to the aforementioned shows at The Siren, you can also see classic Arizona hip-hop act NB Ridaz on Friday, May 8 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $46.96 at tixr.com). They busted onto the scene with their 1997 track “Down for Yours.” Their motto is “Ride Till The Wheels Fall Off.”
Swing Shift Band plays on Saturday, May 9 (2 to 5 p.m.; 21-and-older; free). What started in 1991 as an oldies band in Lompoc now plays everything from Motown to classic rock, R&B funk, Latin, blues, and even a little country and swing music.
Skunk Puppy plays on Saturday, May 9 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; free), and their sound is all over the place: rock, pop, ska, reggae, Americana. Expect originals and covers from No Doubt, Sublime, Nirvana, The Pretenders, and beyond.
Folk N Soak returns
Do you want to camp out, lounge in a natural 100-degree mineral spring, and listen to live music? OK, then! The 2026 Spring Folk N Soak Music Festival returns to Paso’s Franklin Hot Springs on Friday, May 15 (4 p.m.), through Sunday May 17 (6 p.m.). Day passes start at $35 presale at my805tix.com, but car camping and RV hookup are available. Prices at the door will increase. There’s a Qi Gong class on Saturday morning and yoga on Sunday.
Your host Christopher Hawley of The Christopher Hawley Rollers will lead the shenanigans. Other performers through the weekend include Michael Lynn Bechler, Stella, Lauren Hulbert, Doc Smith, and Jenny Liu. Sunday’s noon Christopher Hawley Rollers Gospel Show and Bathrobe Parade is a highlight!
Carolina sounds
North Carolina folk rock band The Avett Brothers with Mike Patton play Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Saturday, May 9 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $47 to $180.20 at ticketmaster.com). Billed as AVTT/PTTN, the concert features Scott and Seth Avett of The Avett Brothers with Mike Patton, legendary frontman of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, who are touring in support of their new self-titled collaborative album.
“Mike’s part of our DNA, like the fabric of our youth,” Scott said in press materials. “Literally, we studied him. He’s a dear friend now, but when we were younger, I was imitating him.”
The Genius returns
Good Vibez presents Wu-Tang Clan member GZA featuring his longtime backing band Phunky Nomads at Fremont Theater, touring to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of their album Liquid Swords, on Friday, May 8 (doors at 7, show at 8 p.m.; all ages; $52.50 at prekindle.com).
Bingo Loco is back on Saturday, May 9 (doors at 6:30, show at 8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $45.29 at prekindle.com). IYKYK.
Rescheduled from an earlier date, Monster Energy Up & Up Festival presents Ship Wrek on Tuesday, May 12 (doors and show at 7; 18-and-older; $47.35 at prekindle.com). The LA-based DJ duo is “known for their genre-bending fusion of house music and wide-appealing energy,” organizers noted.
Retro rock and country rap
SLO Brew Live at Rod & Hammer Rock starts with a (((folkYEAH!))) show featuring The Heavy Heavy on Wednesday, May 13 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $32.36 at ticketweb.com). This quintet sounds like a missing gem from the ’60s. Think Jefferson Airplane, The Band, and The Mamas & The Papas. Their AAA radio top hits include “Miles and Miles” and “Go Down River.” Super cool sound! Lou Hazel opens
Last Chance presents Moonshine Bandits on Thursday, May 14 (doors at 7 p.m.; all ages; $32 at ticketweb.com). This country rap duo features Dusty “Tex” Dahlgren and Brett “Bird” Brooks. Their most recent album is The Whiskey Never Dries from 2019.
Ear fiesta
The Clark Center presents the Mother’s Day Mariachi Festival with Leyendas del Mariachi on Saturday, May 9 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $50 to $98 at clarkcenter.org). The band pays “tribute to all the mariachi musicians who have contributed to making mariachi music a vehicle of culture, tradition, and heritage for the world,” according to their bio.
Mom Day at the beach
“Looking for a laid-back, feel-good way to celebrate Mother’s Day?” Damon Castillo asked in an email blast. “We’re playing a free, all-ages show at Dinosaur Caves Park in Pismo Beach, and it’s the perfect excuse to bring the whole crew, stretch out on the grass, and soak up some live music by the ocean.”
See Castillo and company on Sunday, May 10, starting at 1 p.m.
“It’s super family-friendly—bring a blanket or some chairs, kick back on the lawn, and make an afternoon of it,” he continued. “There’ll also be food available for purchase, so you can keep things easy and just enjoy the day.”
Musical parody master
Comedian and musician Tim Hawkins brings his shtick to the Performing Arts Center in SLO on Saturday, May 9 (7 p.m.; all ages; all non-VIP seats just $25 at pacslo.org). His musical parodies and viral clips have garnered millions of views on YouTube. This is clean, family-friendly comedy, folks. ∆
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Best of SLO County 2026.