BeachLife Festival goes ‘California Country’ as The Lumineers, Dierks Bentley, Brandi Carlile & more headline inaugural BeachLife Ranch

BeachLife Ranch - 2022 lineup

BeachLife Festival //
Seaside Lagoon – Redondo Beach, CA
September 16th-18th, 2022 //

Who here has heard of “California Country” before?

Well … if you haven’t or aren’t the biggest fan of country music, BeachLife Festival is here to introduce to a new way of thinking about the genre. The three-day music festival, which put together an excellent 2022 lineup for its third edition in May, is trying its hand at something different this weekend as it fuses country- and Americana-leaning acts to create BeachLife Ranch.

For their first go-around, the BeachLife organizers have enlisted The Lumineers, Dierks Bentley, Brandi Carlile, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Ashley McBryde and Wilco to lead the inaugural event that will also call Redondo Beach’s Seaside Lagoon home. But that’s not all: the fest has also lined up a Waylon Jennings tribute featuring Shooter Jennings and special guests Yelawolf, Lukas Nelson, Devon Allman, John Doe, Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters fame and more for Saturday’s festivities.

But if that’s not enough for you, the undercard for BeachLife Ranch’s debut certainly delivers its own array of stars between Waxahatchee, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Pete Yorn, The Infamous Stringdusters, Jamestown Revival, Greensky Bluegrass, The White Buffalo and Drive-By Truckers in only three days. You can check out the poster above for the rest of this year’s roster.

Itching to go now?

Tickets can still be purchased here, with three-day GA and GA+ passes available for $299 or $379, and VIP is available for $699 as well as single-day tickets for $139 (GA), $159 (GA+) and $319 (VIP). And if you’re really looking to throw down some cash, there’s always the three-day Admiral and Outlaw passes for $995 and $2,999, respectively, so saddle up and get ’em before it’s too late!

PHOTOS: Santa Cruz Blues Festival 2014

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Photos by Susan J Weiand //

The 22nd Annual Santa Cruz Blues Festival //
Aptos Village Park — Aptos, CA
May 24th-25th, 2014 //

Set in beautiful Aptos Village Park in nearby Aptos, Calif., the Santa Cruz Blues Festival has hosted many blues legends over years, including BB King, Albert Collins, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker and Ray Charles. This year, some talented new-comers and a couple of heavy hitters graced the stage during the two-day festival.

Great weather and enthusiastic audiences provided a backdrop to the music. Saturday saw performances by bluesy diva Nikki Hill, a rare appearance by Dave Alvin and his brother Phil Alvin, powerhouse funksters Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and rootsy bluesman Tab Benoit from New Orleans, and the legendary Gregg Allman and his band. Sunday brought guitar-playing rising star Ana Popovic, Black Crowe’s Rich Robinson with his own band, crowd-pleasing Jackie Greene, Vintage Trouble (who blew the crowd away with its powerful R&B and stage presence) and popular crooner Chris Isaak.

PHOTOS: Jackie Greene, The Mother Hips, Tumbleweed Wanderers at the Fox 3/21

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By Sterling Munksgard //

Jackie Greene with The Mother Hips, Tumbleweed Wanderers //
Fox Theater Oakland – Oakland, CA
Friday, March 21st, 2014 //

This past Friday in Oakland featured three rockin’ Bay Area groups. “The Pride of San Francisco”, a nickname bestowed upon Jackie Greene by legendary bassist Phil Lesh during his years with Phil & Friends, headlined at Fox Theater Oakland this past weekend with a three-set performance. The third set featured a suite of Grateful Dead cuts, as Greene once again channeled the Jerry Garcia role while performing the classic songs with his own style. Local legends The Mother Hips, led by Tim Bluhm, along with Oakland’s fast-rising Tumbleweed Wanderers got things going. Check out these exquisite snaps from all three performances by Sterling Munksgard.

Jackie Greene Setlist:
Set One: Gone Wanderin’, Uphill Mountain, I’m So Gone, A Moment of Temporary Color, Medicine, Till the Light Comes, Closer To You
Set Two (Acoustic): About Cell Block #9, Captain’s Daughter, Another Love Gone Bad, Prayer for Spanish Harlem
Set Three: So Hard To Find My Way*, Shaken*, Tell Me Mama, Tell Me Right*, Animal, New Speedway Boogie > Bird Song jam > The Other One jam > New Speedway Boogie

Encore: What’s Going On, White Headphones^
Notes: Entire show with Adam MacDougall (Black Crowes) on keys, *Jackie on piano, ^w/The Mother Hips