LAKEPORT — With several new sponsors, the stages at this year”s Lake County Fair will host improved talent, while also maintaining the fair”s unwritten policy of supporting local acts and attractions. The fair runs Sept. 1 through Sept. 4.
Thanks to help from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Mediacom and Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, fair organizers have searched out and booked some of the best acts available in Lake County. In addition to well known local bands like the LC Diamonds playing Sept. 1 and Bill Noteman and the Rockets playing Sept. 2, notable acts on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital stage will include the Snake Alley Band featuring Indiana Slim, Mike Wilhelm and Hired Guns, and Twice as Good.
While the members of Snake Alley Band are all local, their talent has been earned through the school of hard knocks throughout North America. In particular, Indiana Slim, a cousin of legendary bluesman Lonnie Mack, has honed his blues guitar by playing with Bo Diddley, Sonny Rhodes, Jerry Lee Lewis, Luther Tucker, Cool Papa and TT Fingers. Other Snake Alley Band members include Tommy Ing, Tom King and Bobby Pfannmuller.
Ing has played bass with Lazy Ace, drummer Francis Clay and in the bands Private Reserve, the Road Hawgs and the Uncle Mark Band, where he played with Freddie Roulette. Harmonica player Tom King has played blues, jazz, country, rock and gospel while touring the United States with several bands including the Dave Clark Band, the Tommy Waters Band and Swing Shift.
Drummer Bobby Pfannmuller spent many years with the Northern California band The Groovetones. The Snake Alley Band will take the stage at 8 p.m. Sept. 3, following the Lake County talent competition, for a couple of hours of fast paced, highly danceable, rocking blues.
Perhaps best known as a member of San Francisco”s first psychedelic rock band, the Charlatans, Mike Wilhelm is also a past member of the Flamin” Groovies and of the band Loose Gravel and has played on tour all over North America, Europe and Asia. He brings his local band Hired Guns to the fair for three sets on Sept. 3.
Another fast paced, rocking blues act, Twice As Good, will take the Mediacom stage for three sets on Sept. 4. Led by local father and son Richard and Paul Steward, Twice As Good has toured all over the United States, including a gig at the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival. In 2010, Twice As Good won the “Last Band Standing Competition” and was named the “Best New Blues Band” by the West Coast Blues Society. Charlie Musselwhite called Twice As Good “the real deal.” Besides being well-known touring musicians, Richard and Paul Steward are members of the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.
The major stage event on Sept. 4, the Fiesta Latina, is presented by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Stage. Irma Lopez will open the fiesta at 3 p.m. followed by Ballet Folklorico. Next up will be Escapulario Nortenos followed by Banda la Tequirera, which will close out the evening.
Other musical acts during the Lake County Fair include the Don Carter Quartet, Jim Williams and Travis Rinker, who has been called “the next Eric Clapton.”
Regular admission prices for the 2011 Lake County Fair are $10 for a regular ticket, $6 for a senior older than 60, and $6 for children ages 6 through 11. Children younger than 6 years old are admitted free every day. Children through age 11 are admitted for $3 on Sept. 1 only, for “Kids” Day.”
