By Stephen K. Peeples
The 13th annual Summer Meltdown Autism Awareness Art & Music Festival takes over Central Park Saturday, and we have the winners of last week’s SCV Rock Beat random drawing for free tickets, courtesy the Yes I Can students who stage the show.
Congratulations to the Denise Gilly family; Nicole Schlichtholz; Don Leigh and Sophia Peebles (no relation!); Nancy Torgerson; Michelle Dawdy; and Matt Palmer.
Meanwhile, the festival has locked in the artist lineup (see the latest flyer, adjacent), with 30-plus bands, painters, art zones, gourmet food trucks and lots more.
Summer Meltdown tickets are still available, and proceeds go to the non-profit Yes I Can program for students with and without disabilities at local high schools. Visit http://summermeltdownscv.com. And take a look at the 2016 Summer Meltdown preview video.
Ventura County Blues Festival
Santa Clarita blues fans might be up for a little road trip to Camarillo on Saturday for the 2016 Ventura County Blues Festival.
The lineup features East L.A. legends and SCVTV “House Blend” stars The Delgado Brothers, who won the 2016 International Blues Championships in Memphis a few months back. Joey Delgado also won the Best Guitarist Award.
Also on the blues festival bill: Karen Lovely, Deb Ryder, the Dallas Hodge Band, Pete Anderson and Rae Gordon.
The show’s set to wrap with an all-star jam in honor of popular local blues musician BB Chunk King (aka Alan Mirikitani). Teddy Andreadis, Randy Mitchell, Lee Spath, Mike Stover, Alvino Bennett, David Raven, James Gadson, Shawn Jones and who knows who else will jump onstage to pay tribute.
Ventura County Blues Festival general admission is $31 in advance or $40 at the gate. There’s a VIP package going for $125 if you really want to bury your blues. The jams start at 11 a.m. and end about 7:30. Get more info and tickets at http://www.venturacountyblues.com.
‘House Blend’ Gets Funky with The Delgados
Speaking of the Delgados and “House Blend” hosted by yours truly, be sure to catch the brothers and soul singer Sherry Pruitt in an encore edition airing Saturday night at 10. It’s a classic from our third season in 2012.
“House Blend” airs Saturday nights on SCVTV in Los Angeles and Orange counties and streams at scvtv.com. All 69 original “House Blend” episodes are also viewable on-demand at scvhouseblend.com.
You’ll find lots more local entertainment news 24/7 at HometownStation.com, SCVNews.com and my blog, stephenkpeeples.com. That’s what’s bumpin’ on the SCV Rock Beat.
Santa Clarita journalist and Grammy nominee Stephen K. Peeples is an entertainment reporter for SCVTV and SCVNews.com, as well as KHTS Radio News and the station’s website at HometownStation.com. Peeples also hosted and co-produced SCVTV’s WAVE-nominated “House Blend” program from 2011-2015, and posts more entertainment news and reviews on his own site at http://www.stephenkpeeples.com.