This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Parkfield Bluegrass Festival, running Thursday, May 8, through Sunday, May 11, when the tiny rural hamlet of Parkfield sees its population jump from 18 souls to more than a thousand over four days of music and camaraderie.
Parkfield is only a 65-minute drive from San Luis Obispo, just 25 miles northeast of Paso Robles, so it’s an easy day trip, but there’s plenty of space for dry camping as well as a limited number of RV hookups for those who want to immerse themselves in the full Parkfield experience. Ticket info is available at parkfieldbluegrass.org.
This year’s lineup is another humdinger—bluegrass and Americana galore. Bushwick Mountain Boys, Showman & Coole, The Price Sisters, Evie Ladin, Water Tower, Red Dog Ash, Pacific Drive, Blue Birds on a Wire, Honeysuckle Possums, SLO County Stumblers, and Amber Cross are all on the bill. I spoke to Seth Mulder of headliner Seth Mulder & Midnight Run. They have two albums out, Traveling Kind (2020) and In Dreams I Go Back (2022), with another one on the way.
Mulder began playing professionally in 2014 in Tennessee’s first legal moonshine distillery, where he led the house band. Many members have come and gone through the years. A nearby “bluegrass college that’s about an hour and a half from the Smoky Mountains in Johnson City” is a satellite school of Eastern Tennessee State University and has supplied a stream of talented players.
“I would say I’m probably an old soul,” Mulder said about his affinity for this old-style genre. “I grew up listening to a lot of old-school country music, spent a lot of time around my grandparents. I listened to pretty much whatever country music my grandma had put on the radio, and my grandpa had some records, and I discovered Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe. Listening to bluegrass is kind of how I discovered the mandolin.”
After fiddle lessons between the ages 6 and 12, “I discovered a mandolin in a music store and realized they were tuned similar, and I thought, ‘Aw, I can do this.’ After a bit of research, I found out mandolin was used in bluegrass music. I thought, ‘Let’s check this out and see what it is.'”
Mulder grew up in the country and only had access to dial-up internet, so the only way he could deepen his affinity for bluegrass was by finding CDs he chose solely based on their covers.
“I’d see what looked like a cool bluegrass album. ‘Oh, this cover has bluegrass instruments. Let’s see what it sounds like.’ I was kind of taking a chance on it, which is kind of fun to think about. It makes me think about our CD covers and graphic design when it comes to our merchandise. I know when I was a kid, I bought something based on how cool it looked. I had no idea what it was going to sound like.”
The band plays mostly originals, though Mulder also finds “lost covers”—songs that have largely disappeared.
“I’ve got a record collection at home that I’ll scavenger through, and I’ve found songs that way. Everyone in the band is deep into the roots of bluegrass and country music,” so they’re also on the lookout, Mulder noted. He also mentioned that a lot of records are out of print, but he can sometimes find songs on YouTube that can’t be found elsewhere.
“‘The Mountains are Calling’—a song that was on our last record—hadn’t been cut since the ’60s, and was on an old 45 rpm record, and the only way you could find it was that 45 or a random YouTube link that someone had uploaded. Same with ‘My, My, My.’ That was a song that someone had cut back in the ’80s, and when I talked to the band [that recorded it], they said they did it once and never played it again. No one knew the song or remembered the song. It’s kind of bringing new life to it. You can make it your own and put your own spin on it.”
That’s exactly what Mulder did. “My, My, My” was named the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music of America’s (SPBGMA) 2023 Song of the Year.
You still have a couple of weeks to plan your Parkfield trip and buy tickets to what promises to be a super fun festival.
“If you haven’t seen us before and you’re wondering what to expect, we’re big proponents of high energy music and entertainment,” Mulder concluded. “We have fun. I’m the oldest. Our banjo player is just 19. We have a very youthful approach. It’s going to be high energy, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be a good time. If you come to the show, you’re going to hear some hard-driving bluegrass music, you’re going to hear some cool songs, and you’re going to leave hopefully with a smile on your face.”
Feel the Pulse
The Fremont Theater welcomes the return of reggae icons Steel Pulse on Wednesday, April 30 (doors at 7 p.m., show at 8; all ages; $53.53 at prekindle.com), with F.Y.A.H. (Free Your Authentic Heart) opening. Hailing from Britain, Steel Pulse is touring in support of their 12th studio album, Mass Manipulation, which explores topics such as racial injustice and human rights. Launched in Birmingham in 1975, this band of reggae revolutionaries continues their goal of global unification.
Tons of fun
And the award for “most shows this week” goes to …
Good Medicine, Numbskull, and KCBX present The Coffis Brothers at Castoro Cellars on Friday, April 25 (6 p.m.; all ages; $24.41 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with the Alex Lucero Band opening. “The Coffis Brothers have earned their reputation as modern-day torchbearers of all-American rock ‘n’ roll,” their bio explained. “It’s a sound caught halfway between amplified Americana, acoustic folk, roadhouse R&B, and electrifying roots music.”
KCBX and Good Medicine present a new series, Folk Friday, starting this Friday, April 25, with Max MacLaury and The Compromisers, Cate Armstrong, and Two Paper Squares at The Libertine in SLO (6 p.m.; all ages; $14.63 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Organizers say the performers “will be performing their varied tones of folk and folk-inspired music.”
Soulful, gritty Americana singer-songwriter Marty O’Reilly plays Club Car Bar on Friday, April 25 (8 p.m.; all ages; $18.75 at goodmedicinepresents.com). This guy really pours every emotion into his performances.
Numbskull and Good Medicine present Nashville singer-songwriter Conner Smith at BarrelHouse Brewing on Saturday, April 26 (6 p.m.; all ages; $28.53 general or $98.48 VIP at goodmedicinepresents.com). The 24-year-old parlayed a teenage publishing deal into his 2022 debut album Didn’t Go Too Far and its hit songs “Learn from It,” “Take It Slow,” and “I Hate Alabama.” Jonathan Hutcherson opens.
Finally, Numbskull and Good Medicine present Bay Area singer-songwriter Sean Hayes at The Siren on Thursday, May 1 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $28.53 at goodmedicinepresents.com), with Graybill opening. Hayes was born in New York City, raised in North Carolina, and started his music career playing Irish and old-time tunes before developing his “unique style of deeply felt, R&B-inflected folk.”
Free is good
I’m pretty sure the members of Midnight Ride are all Mensa International members because their set list is hundreds of songs long and spans the 1950s through today and covers all genres of rock, country, disco, funk, R&B, and Latin music. Who can remember 300 songs?!?
They’re playing a free show at The Siren on Saturday, April 26 (7:30 to 10:30 p.m.; 21-and-older), as well as a 1 to 4 p.m. set that day in SLO’s Wolff Vineyards.
“I grew up in Pismo (Harloe/Judkins/AG High alumni) but have been in SoCal for 25 years,” guitarist Shawn Blakey emailed. “[We travel] all over California and Arizona, playing 185 shows a year, and we also come up the Central Coast about five times a year to play a variety of shows.”
He’s not kidding. In addition to The Siren and Wolff Vineyard shows, you can see Midnight Ride on Friday, April 25, in Blast & Brews in Atascadero (6 to 9 p.m.) and Frog & Peach in SLO (9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.; 21-and-older). They’ll also play this Sunday, April 27, in Paso’s The Pour House (2 to 5 p.m.) and then Harry’s Nightclub in Pismo (7 to 11:30 p.m.).
Surf’s up!
The SLO International Film Festival is happening this week, so the Fremont Theater is back to screening movies instead of staging concerts, but you can get the best of both worlds during Surf Nite on Friday, April 25 (doors at 5:30 p.m.; all ages; $25 at slofilmfest.org/box-office), which features music by dance band Riff Tide playing surf, rock, funk, and soul music.
“We are super stoked!” drummer Michael Eddy said. “We’ll be on the big stage with surf videos playing behind us while everyone gets their drinks and socializes from 5:30 to 7 p.m.”
A trio of surf films—Creatures of Habit, Making Waves: The Lakey Peterson Story, and No Way—follows starting at 7 p.m.
How do you say ‘scat’ singing in French?
The SLO County Jazz Federation is bringing French vocalist Marina Pacowski back to town for a concert with Scott Whitfield and Dave Becker this Saturday, April 26, in SLO’s Mt. Carmel Lutheran Church (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $35 plus fees at my805tix.com, $10 plus fees for students).
“Pacowski is a brilliant vocalist, scat singer, and pianist,” the Jazz Fed announced. “A French native who has toured extensively in Europe, Pacowski now resides in Los Angeles where she has performed in all the top jazz venues. Los Angeles-based Scott Whitfield is an internationally recognized trombonist, composer, arranger, and vocalist. He was a member of the Nat Adderly Sextet, has 12 recordings as a leader, and more than 100 recordings with other artists.” Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Apr 24 – May 4, 2025.