It only happens a few weeks a year, a shining series of evenings where SLO County no longer seems like a remote musical outpost that can only attract those acts either on the rise or on their way down. I’m talking, of course, about the Mid State Fair, which brings some of the biggest names in the music industry to Paso Robles.

- PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MAYER
- RADIO READY : Singer-songwriter-guitar slinger John Mayer recently released Continuum, his third studio album, and plays July 23 at the Mid-State Fair.
Singer-songwriter-guitar slinger John Mayer recently released Continuum, his third studio album, that follows the multi-platinum Room For Squares (2001) and Heavier Things (2003). The soulful new collection of songs features Mayer in the producer’s chair, as well as behind the mic.
“The night I was recognized for ‘Daughters’ at the Grammys was the night this record started,” he said in press materials. “I knew I had bought the time to learn everything I needed before I started this one. Continuum is not a shot in the dark, it’s not a guesstimation. This is the first endeavor in my entire life, music or otherwise, that I did not cop out for a second on.”
Twenty-two-year-old California beauty Colbie Caillat will open the John Mayer show, which starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $40, $46, and $56—available at the venue, online at either www.midstatefair.com or www.vallitix.com, or by phone at 238-3565 or 1-800-909-FAIR or 1-888-825-5484.
For the first time in his storied—and sometimes controversial career—Toby Keith decided to produce his last album, Big Dog Daddy, himself.
“The only reason I never produced an album by myself before is I didn’t have time. Why not? Because I’m opening record labels and restaurants, working on movies and things like that. But I knew I was going to have to across the board [and] dive in if I wanted this album to be one of the best of my career. So I came in with guns blazing,” said the characteristically humble Keith in a lengthy self-penned press release (yes, that was sarcasm).

- PHOTO COURTESY OF TOBY KEITH
- BIG DOG DADDY : Country superstar Toby Keith recently released Big Dog Daddy; he plays July 24 at the Mid-State Fair.
“I get roped into these political arguments, but the truth is I don’t see things right or left, I see them right or wrong. If you put check boxes on the left and right for all the big issues, my list will go back and forth all the way down. But all I have to do is disagree with a hard-core, far left liberal on one thing and they just mark me down with all the boxes on the right. And it’s pretty much the same thing on the other side.”
Tickets for Toby Keith cost $42, $52, and $62.
Renaissance man
There’s something decidedly ’70s-sounding about Shane Stoneman’s new CD Days Gone By. Breezy California pop melodies give way to semi-psychedelic guitar solos, as Stoneman’s soft tenor croons a folkrock version of Chet Baker.

- PHOTO BY CHRIS LESCHINSKY
- SUNSHINE ON HIS SHOULDER : Surfboard shaper, painter, and musician Shane Stoneman plays July 18 at Sweet Springs during an album release party for his sophomore effort Days Gone By.
This Friday, July 18, Shane Stoneman performs at Sweet Springs Saloon, with an all-star cast of Central Coast musicians, during the album release party for Days Gone By. Two of the musicians from the album—Dylan Johnson from Functus on bass and Zak Cornejo from Criticinue on drums—will join the man known simply as “Toes” from Resination on keyboards. Amy Cruz will sing backup—she also appears on the CD.
“They are freaky-good players that have always inspired me when I’ve seen their bands play,” said Stoneman. “I just feel really lucky to play with these friends and want people to hear what we’ve created over the last couple of months. It’s a cool mixture … almost like a Sly and the Family Stone meets Neil Young.”
Stoneman is a former pro surfer, oil painter, musician, surfboard-shaper, and a new father. Recorded just three months ago, Days Gone By was “inspired by fatherhood and the American dream” and creates “a colorful world filled with youthful nostalgia; chain smoking, nicotine-addicted grandmothers; and old record players,” according to his press release.
Learn more about this Renaissance man at www.myspace.com/shanestoneman or shanestoneman.com.
Dirty is good

- PHOTO BY DOVE SHORE
- NOT THAT DIRTY! : The Dirty Heads will deliver their hip-hop-esque songs featuring reggae inflections and a punk attitude on July 18 at Downtown Brew.
“We want to be positive and entertain,” said Dirty Heads vocalist Jared Watson in a press release. “We just want to make you feel good.”
Their hip-hop-esque songs feature reggae inflections and a punk attitude, and the group embraces and celebrates its garage roots.
“We’d get our brothers who weren’t even 21 at the time, who had fake IDs, to get us 40s and go get wasted in the garage and write stupid songs,” continued Watson. “We never said, ‘Let’s do this certain style of song’, we just automatically started writing Dirty Heads-style songs. And we loved it. It was the music we wanted to hear.”
During the band’s earliest gigs, they got their first taste of stardom.
“We would practice one song and then played it at shows with my brother’s band. And people really started to like it,” says guitarist/vocalist Dustin Bushnell. “They’d say, ‘Play another song!’ And we were like, ‘We don’t have another song’!”
“We didn’t really pick the name—‘Dirty Heads’ was our song,” added Watson. “And then everybody was like, ‘When are the Dirty Heads playing again?’”
More music…

- PHOTO COURTESY OF BAKA BEYOND
- AFRO-CELT! : Baka Beyond, an African-rhythm-Celtic-soul act plays July 19 at Castoro Cellars.
The Cadillac Angels bring their revved up roots rock, rockabilly, and surf sounds to Old Cayucos Tavern this Friday, July 18 at 9 p.m. The relentless releasers of albums have yet another new disc for your spinning pleasure, Two Blocks Off Main, which must be their 15th or 20th! Be the first kid on your block to have one for only $10.
A big ol’ pile of punk awaits at Hoovers Live this Friday, July 18, when The Wimpy Dicks, The Kilz, Honor Bound Heroes, Crisis Point, and Bl?dlust join forces to blow your ears open at 9 p.m. for a scant $3.

- PHOTO ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF GABRIELLE LOUISE
- QUEEN OF HEARTS : Pop/folk/jazz chanteuse Gabrielle Louise plays with her trio at Last Stage West on July 23.
She looks like a smoky jazz chanteuse, but sounds like an ethereal genre-hopping pop folkie. I’m talking about Gabrielle Louise, an emerging artist whose poignant lyrics have made her a two-time John Lennon Songwriting Contest finalist and winner of the Jack Maher Songwriting Award. Her angelic voice and stunning good looks complete the package. This Wednesday, July 23, she’ll play Last Stage West with Ryan Dricky on fiddle and vocal harmonies and Joe Skala on upright bass. Call 461-1393 for reservations.
CD Reviews
Abe Vigoda—Skeleton

Damon & Naomi—More Sad Hits

—Malik Miko Thorne, of Boo Boo Records and KCBX’s “Night Train.”
Glen Starkey figures that since God is watching him, the least he can do is be entertaining. Give him a hand at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
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