Four years ago, after the sparsely attended, half-day inaugural California Roots Music and Arts Festival at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, it was difficult to fathom that it would even happen again. But it did, and by year three, it had successfully expanded to two sold out days headlined by Pepper and SOJA.
Now it’s three days, and passes sold out a few weeks after they went on sale.
“One of the challenges, aside from being able to get the artists we want, is getting the community behind you,” says its producer Dan Sheehan. “Monterey has fully embraced this festival.”
Sheehan began meticulously putting together this year’s lineup – featuring more than 40 acts including Matisyahu, Slightly Stoopid and Rebelution – in April of 2012.
This year also marks the debut of the festival’s mobile app and a live streaming audio feed of all three days at www.cal-roots.com.
Slightly Stoopid – appearing 9:30pm Saturday on the California Roots Stage – owes a lot to Sublime’s gone-too-soon frontman/founder Bradley Nowell. He signed the Ocean Beach group to his Skunk Records label when they were just 16-year-old high school punks. Nowell also took the teens under his wing.
“It was really cool to have [Nowell] give us the heads up about life on tour, staying true to your boys and making the best music you can,” says Slightly Stoopid co-founder Miles Doughty (guitar, bass, vocals).
Another valuable nugget of wisdom Nowell passed along: keeping the Cali vibe intact while being open to all genres.
Slightly Stoopid’s recently released double CD/DVD Live at Roberto’s TRI Studios (an acoustic and electric set), recorded at Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir’s TRI Studios in San Rafael, is a fountain of versatility propelled by a star-studded lineup including Weir, Ian and Ivan Neville and Karl Denson. Legendary herb spokesman Tommy Chong also appears as the host.
“It became a 12-piece band having an open jam session,” Doughty says. “We didn’t have a whole lot of time rehearsing with all those extra guys but it came out amazing.”
The 34-track record – with a portion of proceeds going to Save The Children and World Food Programme – features Slightly Stoopid favorites like “Ska Diddy” and “Closer To The Sun” along with appropriate covers like the Dead’s “I Know You Rider” and The Meters’ “Cissy Strut.”
The group’s 2012 Top of the World is also flooded with notable guest spots including G. Love, Barrington Levy and Jurassic 5’s Chali 2na, who’s deep, Isaac Hayes-tone rhyming helps elevate “Just Thinking” to Mt. Everest heights.
“Our common goal is to make the best music possible and enjoy ourselves in the process,” Doughty says. “I’ve been in this band for 19 years and it’s pretty amazing the kind of success we’ve had, touring with dope musicians like Cypress Hill, Snoop Dogg and Dave Matthews – you couldn’t have written a better script yourself as far as being able to enjoy life doing what we do.”
Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, after Slightly Stoopid had already found mainstream success, Matthew Paul Miller, aka Matisyahu (9:30pm, Sunday; California Roots Stage), found his calling as a musician after dropping out of high school – he eventually finished – completing a couple of stints in rehab and finding solace in Judaism.
His infectious 2005 breakout hit “King Without a Crown” fuses early dancehall reggae, hip-hop and lyrics saturated in biblical references. As a practicing Hasidic Jew, Matisyahu became known for observing the dress code of all black, with an untrimmed beard and payot (untrimmed sideburns). In 2011, he shaved his beard and announced that he was leaving Hasidism.
“Sometimes when a person feels guilty they will turn to religion or something that seems safe or right or good to try and escape from that guilty feeling,” Matisyahu explains. “Belief in God and in oneself is enough for me. There are many elements of Judaism that I love, but no longer feel trapped by it.”
As Matisyahu explores new spiritual pathways, his music has also been breathing new life.
“[My music has evolved] in every way I can imagine from lyrics to my voice,” he says. “It is a life in process. We learn as we go.”
“I Believe in Love,” off 2012’s Spark Seeker, is a synth-heavy symphonic declaration of freedom that morphs into a bevy of Far East instrumentation and meditation.
“When love is the basis for one’s life and actions, there is a sense of freedom that comes with it,” Matisyahu says of the tune.
Some of the festival’s other standouts include Rebelution (9:30pm Friday; California Roots Stage), reggae legend Don Carlos (6:30pm Sunday; Marley’s Mellow Mood Stage), first year Cali Roots headliners The Dirty Heads (8pm Friday; California Roots Stage) and a couple Salinas-bred outfits, The Closeouts (12:30pm Friday; Marley’s Mellow Mood Stage) and Wasted Noise (11:30am Sunday; California Roots Stage).
CALIFORNIA ROOTS MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL happens at noon Friday, May 25 at 11am Saturday and Sunday, May 26-27, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairgrounds Rd., Monterey. 3-day pass and 2-day pass sold out; Friday $47.25; Saturday and Sunday single-day pass sold out. www.cal-roots.com
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