A hearty helping of music acts make their First Night Monterey debut.

This year, nearly half of the 20 music offerings performing at First Night Monterey are making their event debut. Meanwhile FNM veterans – history buffs/folk purveyors Black Irish Band (7:30pm, 8:15pm, 9pm Golden State Theatre) and samba-calypso-Afro-Brazilian-world collective Sambahemians (9pm, 10pm Wells Fargo Stage, Alvarado Street) – are doing something new this year.

Elsewhere in the maze of music and culture, pop-culture spewing rapper, Stanford grad and Carmel native MC Lars (3:45pm, 4:45pm Colton Lawn, Pacific Street; 6:30pm, 7:15pm, 8pm Ferrante Room, Monterey Conference Center) will collaborate with the Marina Teen Center for the first time. As this year’s FNM Artist in Residence, Lars has been making music with local teens throughout 2013 and the result will be unveiled Tuesday night, as will all the other the new additions, listed below:

Amanda West and Pete Solomon (3:30pm, 4:15pm, 5pm Monterey Museum of Art):

Santa Cruz singer-songwriter Amanda West and her multi-instrumental partner Pete Solomon wrote, recorded and produced the EP Truth, Love & Understanding, songs layered in piano, guitar, banjo, percussion and lyrical beauty.

Key Track: “Togetherness”

Fun Tidbit: A few years ago, West oversaw WOMANSONG, a mini-festival at the Big Sur Spirit Garden and dedicated to celebrating women and their music (proceeds went to the Monterey Rape Crisis Center).

Chris Cain Band (10pm, 10:45pm, 11:15pm Golden State Theatre):

Guitarist Chris Cain may have been a prodigy – and attended his first B.B. King concert at the age of 3 – who taught himself guitar by the age of 8 and could pick up any instrument and figure out how to churn out gold. But making a B.B. King cover record, Cain Does King, was still a ballsy move. The bluesman brings his own interpretation to King’s classics without muddying the original artistry.

Key Track: “Drinking Straight Tequila”

Fun Tidbit: After Cain received the news that his mentor and buddy, the legendary Albert King, had died, he wrote “World Got the Blues Before Sunset.”

The Coffis Brothers & The Mountain Men (6:45pm, 7:45pm Rabobank Stage, Alvarado Street):

Ben Lomond brothers Kellen and Jamie Coffis, the namesake behind The Coffis Brothers & The Mountain Men, have made sure the band always abides by a few guidelines: spontaneity and openness to all musical genres.

Key Track: “Before and After”

Fun Tidbit: 2013 was eventful: They bought their first tour van, ran out of gas in the middle of Oregon, raised funds for their forthcoming record via Kickstarter and performed at Outside Lands.

Fireside Collective (9pm, 9:45pm, 10:30pm Ferrante Room, Monterey Conference Center):

Upon first listen, Fireside Collective’s jazz fusion jams with a tight payoff evocative of early Medeski, Martin and Wood. But this Monterey quintet adds another variable to their mostly instrumental mix, with Kristen Gradwohl on vocals.

Key Track: “Act Your Age”

Fun Tidbit: In October, FC hosted a “junkjam” at the Greenfield Harvest Festival, which encourages audience members to participate in an improvised jam session by playing a provided piece of junk or singing out environmental mantras that become part of the overall flow.

Mike Beck & Bohemian Saints (9pm, 10:15pm, 11:15pm Serra Ballroom, Monterey Conference Center):

Mike Beck’s new record, Tribute, is a celebration of the lasting bond between man and horse and the American West. The 11 cowboy-themed tracks (one tune pays tribute to military vets) – draped in ballads, traditional Americana, country blues and western ditties – add up to a ride through America’s Heartland.

Key Track: “Summer of Love”

Fun Tidbit: Mike Beck’s definitive musical experience was experiencing the Monterey Pop Festival at 13 years old.

One-A-Chord (6:15pm, 7pm Serra Ballroom, Monterey Conference Center):

Since 2010, One-A-Chord has been spreading tropical-flavored sounds around the Peninsula. As a self-proclaimed “island reggae band,” the seven-piece outfit blends Polynesian sweetness with Caribbean polyrhythms, traditional roots reggae, and added texture of soul and R&B.

Key Track: “No Lie”

Fun Tidbit: In 2010 and 2011, One-A-Chord performed at the Monterey Bay Reggaefest and In 2012 and 2013, they played the sold-out Cali Roots Festival.

North Pacific String Band (9pm, 9:45pm, 10:30pm Colton Room, Monterey Conference Center):

The Santa Cruz collective – featuring members of various local groups – abide by one philosophy: “We’re pretty strict about not strictly playing bluegrass,” banjo player Jeff Wilson explains. “[Our music] is bluegrass in form, with jazz, folk, country and an openness to other genres.” That kind of ingenuity earned them their Monterey Jazz Festival debut this year.

Key Track: “Steak and Eggs”

Fun Tidbit: Last April, NPSB masterminded the inaugural Do-It-Ourselves Fest at Camp Kern, just beyond the mountains of Boulder Creek. The three-day gathering – modestly priced at $50 a ticket – hosted more than 15 acts, including San Luis Obispo alt-country group Sparrow’s Gate.

FIRST NIGHT MONTEREY runs 3pm-midnight, in 26 locations throughout Oldtown Monterey. $20-$22/adult admission button; $12-$15/youth admission button; free/child 5 and under. www.FirstNightMonterey.org.