Final California Beer Festival of the Year - in Ventura, 3 Days of Cheer!

FINAL CALIFORNIA BEER FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR, IN VENTURA, IS NOW -  3 DAYS OF CHEER! Friday, Sept. 18/Saturday, Sept. 19/Sunday, Sept. 20 New This Year: Friday's "Brew With A View" Invitational (Food & Beer Pairing), beginning 5:30 p.m. at City Hall Saturday: Craft Beer Beer Heaven (12:30 p.m.; Beer Sampling from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.) - World's Best Craft Beers! Sunday: California Blues & Brews Festival: (11 a.m to 6 p.m.) - Featuring the Triumphant Return of Guitar Legend Walter Trout plus other Top-Name National and Regional Acts!

(Ventura, CA) - The final and premiere California Beer Festival of 2015 promises to be the biggest, as this year it expands to three big days - Friday, September  18, Saturday, September 19, and Sunday, September 20, at Mission Park, 185 E. Santa Clara St., in Ventura. Tickets priced as follows: 3-Day VIP Pass, $149.; 2-Day General Admission Pass, $69.; Friday's Food & Pairing Competition, $60.; Saturday VIP Early-Bird Experience Craft Beer Heaven, $80.; Saturday's Craft Beer Heaven, General Admission, $55.; Designated Driver tickets (Saturday only), $25.; Sunday's Blues & Brews Festival (only), $30. Info: (805) 628-9588. Buy tickets now at: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/california-beer-festival-ventura-sept-18th-19th-20th-tickets-16885537096?ref=ebtnebtckt.    In keeping with the yearly tradition, a portion of the proceeds from each day benefit the Gen Giammanco Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides financial support to student athletes to assist in their pursuit of both scholastic and athletic success in Ventura County.    Friday, September 18: BREW WITH A VIEW INVITATIONAL     Start your California Beer Festival weekend off at  Brew with a View Invitational! Takes place Friday, September 18 at 5:30 pm, at City Hall overlooking Downtown Ventura. Five Brewmasters will be paired up separately with five Gourmet Chefs, all competing for your pallet and vote (for Best Food and Beer Paring). Live music by the Ross Harper Band and dance crowd favorites, Ventura's own, The Bomb. This VIP event includes food samples, beer, live music and (1) CBF souvenir pint glass. Must be 21 years of age or older to attend.             Saturday, September 19: CRAFT BEER HEAVEN    Saturday's Craft Beer Heaven (12:30-5:00 p.m.; VIP Session begins at 11:30 a.m.; Beer Sampling 1:00-4:00 p.m.) ends Ventura County Beer Week and is one of the largest yearly beer festivals in the state. With over 140 craft beers on tap, it's a great place to come sample amazing craft beer from all over the world. Come experience Craft Beer Heaven with beers on tap, food trucks and live music throughout the day. Live music by The Midnight Band; Orgone, L.A.-based septet whose genre-bending music blends elements of Funk, Soul, Afro/Disco, Boogie, and Afrobeat; and The Bomb. This is a chance to expand your mind and educate yourself on new and old styles of craft beer. Space is very limited; must be 21 years or older to attend. Orgone, popular L.A.-based septet whose genre-bending music blends elements of Funk, Soul, Afro/Disco, Boogie, and Afrobeat, perform on Saturday at Craft Beer Heaven from 2:15-3:30 p.m.    On Saturday at Craft Beer Heaven, sample such fine beers and food from Eureka! Restaurant Group; Telegraph Brewing Company; Mendocino Brewing Company; Colorado Brewing company; Lagunitas Brewing Company; Surf Brewery; Angel City Brewery; Einstok Beer Co.; Woodchuck Cider; Firestone Walker Brewing Co.; Enegren Brewing Co.; Chaucer Cellars; Cerveza Mexicali Beer; Pizza Port Brewing Co.; Allagash Brewing Co.; St. Killian Importing; The Lab Brewing Company; Figueroa Mountain Brewing Company; Mike's Hard Lemonade; Palm Breeze; Ace Cider; Barrel House 101; Wolf Creek; Westlake Brewing; Stone Brewing Co. Guitarist extraordinaire Walter Trout (pictured), now fully recovered from last year's liver transplant, headlines Sunday's Blues & Brews Festival, performing from 4:45-6:00 p.m.              Sunday, September 20: BLUES & BREWS FESTIVAL   Sunday's Blues & Brews Festival traditionally closes out the three-day California Beer Festival and each year features full sets by some of the biggest names in the Blues world, as well as the genre's rising stars.   Headlining this year is Southern California-based, popular guitarist-vocalist, Walter Trout, now fully recovered from last year's liver transplant, back on tour, and set to release a new album, Battle Scars, in October. Also performing: Mingo Fishtrap, from Austin, Texas, whose jam-tastic music deftly blends blues with soul, R&B, and funk; the legendary Booker T Jones, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band, Booker T. & The M.G.'s (known for hits like "Green Onions", "Hang 'Em High", and "Time Is Tight", among many others); and Mr. Sipp, known as the "Mississippi Blues Child" who's a 2014 International Blues Challenge winner, and recently cast in the James Brown bio-pic, Get On Up. Two Ventura acts - The Bomb (dance-funk-party faves) and Michael John & the Bottom Line - fronted by Ventura County Blues Society president, Michael John, and his son, guitarist Mikey Mo - round out Sunday's stellar lineup. Booker T. Jones - called "the living legend of the Hammond B3 organ" and past leader of famed soul ensemble, Booker T. & The M.G.'s - is a Sunday headliner at the Blues & Brews Festival, performing from 2:20-3:30 p.m. Straight out of Austin, Texas, and jam-tastic: Mingo Fishtrap, who perform at the Blues & Brews Festival on Sunday, 3:30-4:45 p.m.  Mr                                                   californiabeerfestival.com/ventura              facebook.com/pages/The-California-Beer-Festival Join us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Send us an Email

Get Ready - Mingo Fishtrap

With a sound dancing between gutbucket soul, N'awlins grit-down funk and horn fueled Motown pop, Mingo Fishtrap is an anomaly in the contemporary music scene. With each album, the group gravitates closer to the classic sounds that inspired them to learn their craft. What's old is new again; with young audiences flocking to see a live show that lays its musical roots more in 1967 than 2012. And that's just fine with bandleader Roger Blevins, Jr. "Blues, soul and R&B is the common denominator of pop music. People around the world know that sound- Chess, Stax, Motown, Muscle Shoals - as part of the soundtrack to their lives. I grew up listening to Pops (Blevins' father and Mingo's bassist, Roger, Sr.) play those tunes to every age, race, color and creed. And from what we see, at least, people still need it." Mingo Fishtrap traces its beginnings to the mid 90s when Blevins and another five of the group's eight members were attending the University of North Texas' Jazz Studies program. Originally derived as a loose, after-class jam, Mingo covered songs from Otis Redding, Tower of Power, the Neville Brothers and other soul and funk masters with no particular professional ambition. "Obviously, there wasn't a lot of classic soul being played around campus," says Blevins. "People around the dorms just took to it and the ball started rolling. We were good friends playing music we loved; that's a good recipe." And it's that same delicious soul food that Mingo cooks up today. With an inspired, high-energy live show, they engage the audience - persuade them to, sometimes literally, join the band inside the music. With a new 11 song EP, In The Meantime, featuring music from a recent show in Austin, TX as well as some new studio tracks, adding to their catalog of CD releases, Mingo captures a musical conversation, which speaks with reverence about the past and with hope about the future. Through their time together on the road, Mingo Fishtrap has performed on bills with a wide range of artists: Sting, Blues Traveler, Ozomatli, Galactic, Delbert McClinton, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Little Feat, George Clinton & P-Funk, MOFRO and Jonny Lang among others. If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!