Clearlake Oaks >> When the Rocky and Jerusalem fires hit, Cache Creek Vineyards had a few employees who lost their homes. “Then when the [Valley fire] happened, it’s like, who doesn’t know someone,” said Ariana Lopez, the winery’s Event and Marketing Coordinator.
So Cache Creek is holding a benefit concert tonight, with proceeds going to the North Coast Opportunities and Mendo Lake Credit Union Lake County Wildfire Relief Fund and Lake County Rising, administered by the Wine Alliance, Wine Association and Winegrape Commission.
They began planning the concert after the first two large fires but once the third destroyed thousands of homes, the benefit was even more necessary. Cache Creek Vineyards owner Don Van Pelt, who has many friends in Middletown, feels passionately about doing whatever he can to help the fire victims. “It’s something that’s especially close to his heart,” Lopez said. “He’s put a lot of time and thought into this because he wants to make it great for the community and the people that are having a hard time.”
“It’s just important to us,” said tasting room manager Linda Glover. “Like many other people in Lake County, we feel that there’s so much devastation out there … that we want to do something.”
There will be a silent auction, with items donated by local individuals and organizations, plus drinks and food for purchase. Smokin’ S BBQ is doing the cooking and the food is being donated by the Riviera Market. 100 percent of the food sales will go to both funds.
The concert provides not only a distraction from tough times, but a place for people to come together and support one another, both emotionally and financially. “The opportunity to help the people in need while you’re having fun, it’s really a winning combination for everyone,” Glover said.
Not only is the event a benefit for fire victims, it’s also a show of appreciation for fire personnel, who will receive a $10 discount on tickets.
Bay Area band Tommy Castro and the Painkillers are serving as the entertainment for the night. “We’re so thankful for him,” Glover said. “We’re not paying him his usual rate so he’s really stepping up to the bar here to do this for us.”
And even though the band had to fit the show in between other gigs, and Tommy Castro isn’t a Lake County resident, there was no question of whether or not they would play the benefit. “It was simple,” he said. “We were asked to do it and we had the date open and I always try … to just say yes whenever possible. It’s just my policy.”
Like many others, Castro finds the idea of losing a home in the Valley fire unfathomable. “My heart goes out to all of those people that lost so much,” he said. “It’s just amazing to me that things like this happen.”
Tommy Castro and the Painkillers will take the stage at 6 p.m. tonight. The band members are Castro, vocals and guitar, Randy McDonald on bass, James Pace on keyboards and Bowen Brown on drums. They’re a blues, soul and roots rock and roll group together since 2012, though Castro has been making music much longer.
For 20 years he fronted the Tommy Castro Band, releasing numerous CDs and embarking on years of touring. The Painkillers was a much-needed departure from that group. “It was just time to make a serious shift in the music,” Castro explained. “I just wanted to do something with a little different feel to it musically.”
In 2014 the group released their first CD with a new energy and fresh ideas. And just a year later, they’re scheduled to release a second album in the coming month. “It’s me just writing my songs and playing them in some form that comes natural to me,” Castro said of the group’s sound.
Decades before the touring and countless recording sessions, Castro was a 10-year-old kid with a guitar and a penchant for blues rock. But while he loved guys like Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield, it was his older brother who served as the catalyst for Castro’s foray into music.
In the ‘60s when the Beatles and Stones were all the rage, Castro’s brother begged their parents ceaselessly for a guitar. They eventually caved. Following in his wake, all the kids in the neighborhood began playing instruments too, including his little brother. “I picked it up from watching him,” Castro said. “That’s what I did for fun. I was a little hippy kid.”
Castro has always been fond of the blues, but as the music scene has changed over the years, so has the genre. Now, the music can have a jazz, soul or rock sound and still be considered, at it’s root, blues. “Blues is a simple way to categorize all of this stuff. You may not even recognize it as blues sometimes,” Castro explained. “I’m a music lover, really, but blues is the one thing that is in common with everything I like that I do.”
And why does he favor the genre? “It’s a feeling,” Castro said. “Music has a lot of heart.”
So it only makes sense that Castro writes with his heart as well. He tries to balance his lyrics between tough, emotional subjects and fun party numbers. “I tend to write about things that really mean something to me or are kind of important to be said. You don’t want to do a whole record like that,” he said. “You have to write about stuff everybody can relate to because we’re all going through the same stuff.”
Castro hopes to see a large turnout at tonight’s concert, for two reasons. First, he hopes the benefit raises in a good chunk of funds for the fire victims. “Bring some money to spend for the event and help these people who are in such a tough spot,” he said.
But also, the show is sure to keep the audience on their feet all evening. “They should really come out to just have a great time,” Castro said. “The idea is for people to feel better when they leave than when they came out. People should definitely come to this show.”
The benefit is tonight at 5:30 p.m. at Cache Creek Vineyards in Clearlake Oaks. Tickets are available for $30 for the public and $20 for firefighters, EMT and law enforcement. They can be purchased at www.cachecreekvineyards.com, at 998-1200 or at the door.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
