When I attended SLO High School about 45 years ago, we all made a lot of fun of Atascadero, but in the last four and a half decades, A-Town got cool. The Traffic Way area is hipster central, City Park and Sunken Gardens are beautiful, and the Atascadero Fall Fest is an amazing three-day event with tons of live music on two stages, carnival rides and games, great merch and food vendors, and a beer-cider-seltzer tasting called Suds at Sunken Gardens Beer Tasting, all happening Friday, Nov. 15, through Sunday, Nov. 17.
Now in its fourth year, the event boasts nearly 40 performers—too many to list but visit atascaderofallfest.com/entertainment for the complete schedule. Headliners include ’80s-homage act the Molly Ringwald Project on Friday (8 to 10 p.m.), third wave ska band the Mad Caddies on Saturday (8:30 to 10 p.m.), and cumbia band Josue Hernandez y Los Diamantés on Sunday (8:30 to 10 p.m.).
Keep it up, A-Town.
The Wright stuff
Terrific local singer Sunny Wright used to perform all the time, but then she just disappeared. I finally learned why.
“I was out with a throat surgery for almost a year, and finally, with lots of woodshedding, I’m back to mostly full range,” she explained. “I’m playing with Dylan Johnson and Jake Odell mostly—so much love and talent!”
She’s got a bunch of shows lined up over the next couple of months, including a trio of shows at Sensorio Paso Robles on Thursday, Nov. 14 (4:30 to 7:30 p.m. with guitarist Tom Bethke and bassist Ken Hustad); Sunday, Nov. 17 (4:45 to 8:15 p.m. with guitarist Pat Kelley, bassist Dylan Johnson, sax and flutist Dave Becker, and drummer Darrell Voss); and Friday, Nov. 22 (4:45 to 8:15 p.m. with guitarist Jake Odell, bassist Dylan Johnson, and drummer James Conver). Visit sensoriopaso.com/tickets for ticket info.
Fremont Theater
Super soulful singer-songwriter Marc Broussard will bring his mix of R&B, blues, rock, and soul to downtown SLO on Sunday, Nov. 17 (8 p.m.; all ages; $25 to $50 plus fees at prekindle.com). The powerhouse vocalist is on his Carencro 20th Anniversary Tour, celebrating the milestone of his breakthrough album, Carencro. He’ll perform the entire album and other fan favorites, and he’ll showcase some new songs from his latest album, Time is a Thief.
“Twenty years ago, I released a record that would change my life forever,” Broussard said in press materials. “Twenty years on, I’m still playing more music from Carencro than any other album of mine and doing it with a big smile. Big thanks to my fans for their love and support. Here’s to another 20!”
Sway Wild opens.
Colorado quartet Big Head Todd and the Monsters will bring their blues-drenched rock ‘n’ roll to town on Tuesday, Nov. 19 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $47 plus fees at prekindle.com). They’ve been at it for nearly 40 years, and they still have their original three members—Todd Park Mohr (vocals, guitar, keyboards, saxophone, harmonica), Brian Nevin (drums, vocals), and Rob Squires (bass, vocals)—with Jeremy Lawton (keyboards, pedal steel, vocals) joining in 2004.
Comediennes Cat & Nat on their Reckless Abandonment Tour perform on Thursday, Nov. 21 (8 p.m.; all ages; $29.50 to $125 plus fees at prekindle.com). They’re known for their candid and funny take on motherhood.
Numbskull and Good Medicine
Electronic duo Millionaires, known for their explicit lyrics and electropop sound, play The Siren on Friday, Nov. 15 (8 p.m.; 21-and-olders; $19.26 at goodmedicinepresents.com). They’re known for tracks such as “Take Your Shirt Off,” “Hey Rich Boy,” “Dat Boi,” “Prom Dress,” and “Party Like a Millionaire.” Blade Trip opens.
Green Today, a tribute to Green Day, plays Club Car Bar on Saturday, Nov. 16 (8 p.m.; all ages; $14.11 at goodmedicinepresents.com). The band specializes in Green Day’s early years into the 2000s.
Singer-songwriter Jeffrey Martin plays Club Car Bar on Thursday, Nov. 21 (7 p.m.; all ages; $18.75 at goodmedicinepresents.com). According to his bio, “As a babe, Jeffrey Martin sought out solitude as often as he could find it. He’s always been that way, and he has never understood the whole phenomenon of smiling in pictures, although he is a very happy guy. One night in middle school he stayed up under the covers with a flashlight and a DiscMan, listening to Reba McEntire’s ‘That’s the Night that the Lights Went Out in Georgia’ on repeat until the DiscMan ran out of batteries. That night he became a songwriter, although he didn’t actually write a song until years later. After high school he spent a few years distracting himself from having to gather up the courage to do what he knew he had to do.”
He’s become a helluva songwriter, and he’s touring in support of his fourth album, Thank God We Left The Garden. R. O. Shapiro opens.
SLO Brew Live at Rod & Hammer Rock
Mostly instrumental psyche-rock and stoner metal band Earthless plays on Thursday, Nov. 14 (8 p.m.; 18-and-older; $31.33 at ticketweb.com) with Sacri Monti opening. Earthless’ most recent album, Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, is based on an ancient Japanese legend and contains two epic songs: the 41-minute two-part title track and the 20-minute song “Death to the Red Sun.”
Also, now’s a good time to buy tickets for the New Times Music Awards showcase and awards ceremony on Friday, Nov. 22 (7 p.m.; all ages; $15 at my805tix.com). Performers include Sadie Jasper (Best Album) and Cate Armstrong (Best Songwriter), and genre winners Gehrig Kniffen (Hip-Hop/Rap), Azere Wilson (Country/Americana/Folk), Carbon City Lights (Rock/Alternative), Hot 45 (R&B/Blues), and Walk the Whale (Open) will compete for Best Live Performance.
The Clark Center
You’d be hard pressed to name a more successful ’70s and ’80s arena rock act than Jefferson Starship. They released eight gold and three platinum selling albums during that period, cementing their place in rock ‘n’ roll history. The band mixed psychedelic and progressive rock into their signature sound and topped the charts with hits such as “Jane,” “Runaway,” “Count on Me,” “Find Your Way Back,” and many more.
See them Friday, Nov. 15 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $69 to $85 at clarkcenter.org). The group includes original band member David Freiberg (Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service), vocalist Cathy Richardson (she starred as Janis Joplin in the 2001 off-Broadway run of Love, Janis), guitarist Jude Gold (Eddie Money, 2 Live Crew), drummer Donny Baldwin (Elvin Bishop, Van Morrison), and keyboardist Chris Smith (The Supremes).
They’re celebrating their 50th anniversary.
Cal Poly Arts
Take a musical journey through some of the most iconic guitar compositions ever written, when Spanish guitarist Pablo Sáinz-Villegas plays the Performing Arts Center on Friday, Nov. 15 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $38 to $56 at pacslo.org). SaÃnz-Villegas has been called “the soul of the Spanish guitar” and is considered the successor of Andrés Segovia. Hear compositions by Brazilian composer Héitor Villa-Lobos, German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Spanish composer Isaac Albéniz, and more. His most recent recording, The Blue Album, was released last year on Sony.
More music …
Festival Mozaic presents its Fall Chamber Music Concert on Sunday, Nov. 17, in the Cuesta College Performing Arts Center (2 p.m.; all ages; $43 at ovationtix.com or by calling (805) 781-3009). Hear Xiaodi Liu (oboe) Ieva Jokubaviciute (piano), Scott Yoo (violin), Ben Ullery (viola), and Robert deMaine (cello) performing Clara Schumann’s Three Romances, op. 22; Bohuslav Martin’s Viola Sonata, H. 355; Gordon Jacob’s Oboe Quartet; and Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, op. 26.
Award-winning and local jazz pianist Madison Lea Scott and her college group The Cool Notes plays Cambria’s Harmony Café this Sunday, Nov. 17 (5 to 7 p.m.; $25 at curtpscott@yahoo.com or by calling (805) 801-0365; a $10 minimum food or beverage purchase is also required). The Cool Notes formed at Cuesta College in 2015. This reunion concert will feature live bebop, blues, and Latin jazz. Δ
Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Nov 14-24, 2024.