Master of the slack key guitar, singer/songwriter Led Kaapana will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 at Coalesce Bookstore, 845 Main St., Morro Bay. Tickets are $25 a person and available at the bookstore, or by calling 772-2880. Over a 40-year career, Kaapana’s voice has become legendary, rising and falling between from falsetto to baritone. With an easy-going style and kolohe (rascal charm), he has built a loyal corps of Led Heads from Brussels to his birthplace, the Big Island of Hawaii. Kaapana his four Grammy nominations and two awards for slack key compilations. See: https://ledkaapana.com for more on the artist. Fran Guidry will play Hawaiian slack key guitar to open the show (see: www.kaleponi.com) and the Hoapili Pomaika’i Aloha Hula dancers will also perform.
Suspended Motion Aerial Arts unveils its latest gravity-defying feats in a two-night summer studio showcase from 7-8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Aug. 21-22 at the Suspended Motion studio, 207 Suburban Rd., in San Luis Obispo. Doors open at 6:30. Seating is limited and tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students, youth and seniors. Kids 3-under free. Complimentary refreshments will be served. The performances include stunning solo and group numbers performed 25-feet in the air, such as aerial silks, rope and lyra, as well as the floor-mounted pole and lollipop (a pole with an hoop at the top). For more information about Suspended Motion or to purchase advance tickets, see: www.SuspendedMotion.net, or www.facebook.com/suspendedmotionslo.
The Baywood Navy’s 12th Annual Boatzart Show is set for noon-1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30 on the 2nd Street Pier in Baywood Park (Los Osos). The free concert will feature “The Three Fiddlers” — Amy Sze, Paul Severtson and Mario Ojeda, with Elita Chaffin on bass and Stanley Stern on piano. There’s a high tide (5-feet 3-inches) at noon for those who want to kayak or canoe in for the show. Otherwise bring a chair to sit on and partake of the Navy’s famous, free-cookie boat for a snack.
The 12th Annual Sizzlin’ Summer Concert Series continues Aug. 30 with the JD Project performing rock, blues, soul, and country. The free concert runs from 3 to 6 p.m., except Aug. 23, in Ramona Garden Park in conjunction with the Grover Beach Farmers Market. Shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, kick back on the grass, enjoy a glass of wine or beer, dance or just listen to the great music. Bring your own blankets or chairs. For more information, call 473- 4580.
SLOFolks is bringing back one of its favorite acts, Wake the Dead, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 22 at Castoro Cellars Winery in Templeton. Tickets are $22 for the outdoor show. Doors open at 6 with a catered dinner available by Thomas Hill Organics. Call (805) 238-0725, go online to: www.castorocellars.com/events or get tickets from Boo Boo Records, 978 Monterey St., SLO ($2 service charge applies). Wake the Dead’s music flows from rock grooves to hot Irish reels, and from haunting airs to achingly beautiful melodies familiar to Deadheads everywhere. For more information about Wake the Dead, see their web site at: www.wakethedead.org. Castoro Cellars is located at Hwy 46 and Bethel Road in rural Templeton.
The Pewter Plough Playhouse presents Robert Harling’s, “Steel Magnolias,” weekends starting Friday, Aug. 21. Preview Night is at 7:30 p.m. the 21st and tickets are $17 a seat. Opening Night Champagne Gala is Saturday the 22nd at 7:30. Those tickets are $30 and include an after-show Champagne party, desserts and piano music with Dave Manion. Shows are Fridays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. through Sept. 20.
Regular ticket prices are $22 general and $17 students with ID. Discounts for groups of 10 or more. Call 927-3877 or see: www.pewterploughplayhouse.org. Directed by Kelli Howard, the play stars Janine Elich, Sharee Hallmann, Janice Peters, Christina Fountain, Cika P. Cook and Beth Marshall. Steel Magnolias is the classic comedy-drama of six Louisiana women who share their lives, joys and sorrows every week at Truvy’s Beauty Salon. The Pewter Plough Playhouse is located at 824 Main St., corner Sheffield Street, in Cambria’s West Village.
The Italian Catholic Federation (I.C.F.) at St. Patrick’s Church in Arroyo Grande will be hosting a spaghetti dinner on Saturday, August 29, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the church hall at 501 Fair Oaks Ave. The dinner includes spaghetti with homemade 3-meat sauce or marinara sauce, garlic bread, salad, coffee, tea and punch. Soda, beer, wine and desserts will be available for an additional charge. Tickets can be purchased at the door; $8 for adults, $5 for children 6-12 and free for children 5 and under. Proceeds support the I.C.F. Catholic School Registration Assistance Program. For more information, call (805) 489-2680.
The San Luis Obispo County Jazz Federation will present a “Horace Silver Celebration” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29 at the new Unity Concert Hall in San Luis Obispo, 1130 Orcutt Rd., (entrance on Fernwood Dr.). The concert will feature the exciting Keith Saunders Trio from San Francisco. Saunders is an exceptional interpreter of the “hard bop” jazz tradition and is a former student of Horace Silver. Saunders has an extensive career playing with Richie Cole, Frank Wess, Joe Lovano and Hank Crawford. He lived for several decades in New York City and founded the New York Hard Bop Quintet. He will be accompanied by Robb Fisher on bass and Ron Marabuto on drums. Fisher has played with Cal Tjader, Art Pepper, Carmen McCrae, Anita O’Day, Claire Fisher and many others. Marabuto has performed with jazz including Roland Hanna, Tommy Flanagan, Bruce Forman, Pepper Adams. Tickets are $20 general, $15 for Jazz Fed members and $10 students with ID. Tickets can be purchased at: www.brownpapertickets.com at BooBoo’s Records in SLO or at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. For more information call 546-3733 or see: slojazz.com.
The Arroyo Grande Village Summer Concert Series continues with another of its unique offerings on Sunday, August 16, when Central City Swing will light up the stage with big band jazz and swing. Join your friends at 1 p.m. at the Rotary Bandstand in the Village of Arroyo Grande for this exciting show. Activities during the day will spotlight the concert sponsor Phillips 66 and the featured nonprofit focus will be on the California Native Plants Society – SLO County Chapter. The Arroyo Grande Village Summer Concert Series is known for presenting the most eclectic and diverse musical offerings of all the regional summer series. A fun raffle, food, drinks and free tours of historical buildings in Heritage Square Park are also always available.
The Cal Poly Collegians Alumni Big Band will celebrate its 48-year reunion from 7:30-10:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29, in the Madonna Inn Ballroom in San Luis Obispo. The 20-member ensemble will bring back the swinging sounds of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Les Brown and other big bands of the 1940s through the ‘60s, perfect for dancing or just listening. Cal Poly music major, bassist Troy Hanson, winner of the 2014-15 Cal Poly Collegians’ Jazz Scholarship, will sit in with the band, comprised of Poly alums from the late ‘40s to the early ‘60s and travel here from throughout California, Arizona, Oregon and Massachusetts. Admission is free and donations to the scholarship program are appreciated. The Collegians pack the house every year, and seating is guaranteed only for those who make a reservation and dine in Madonna Inn’s Steak House. Non-diners who wish to dance or listen are on a first-come basis. To make dinner reservations, call 543-3000. See: www.cpcollegiansalumni.com for more on the band.
Country crooner, Joshua Kloyda, will play several upcoming shows locally. Kloyda will play at the Old Cayucos Tavern from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26, and then return for another set that evening at 7 p.m. He will be at Last Stage West, 5050 Morro Rd., (Hwy 41) from 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27. Free. Kloyda, who hails from Minnesota, sings about hard-knocks, hard-times, love and passion, despair, longing, beauty and tears. Coffee shops, old clubs and bars, opera halls, dirt roads, riverbanks, and the miles of steel rails he’s walked all define his music and bring his lyrics to life. He’s got a lot of stories to tell, touching everyone in different ways, and under the skin where real life happens.
Grammy winning guitarist, Ed Gerhard, returns to Morro Bay’s Coalesce Bookstore Chapel at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21. Tickets are $22 a person and available at Coalesce, 845 Main St., Morro Bay. Call 772-2880 or see the website at: www.coalescebookstore.com. Gerhard’s music has touched audiences all over the world — from Tokyo to Rome and across the U.S. — performing on six-string, 12-string, slide guitar and acoustic Hawaiian lap slide. Gerhard captivates his audiences with virtuosity, generosity and sly humor. See: https://virtuerecords.com for music samples and to order music.
Inga Swearingen and the Real Time Jazz Group will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23 at St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, 2220 Snowy Egret Ln., Los Osos. Tickets are $30 a person and includes wine and refreshments. Get advance tickets from the Abundance Shop on 9th St, Los Osos; from Boo-Boo Records in San Luis Obispo; or online at: www. brownpapertickets.com. Proceeds benefit St. Benedict’s ministries. See: www.stbenslososos.org or call 528-0654 for information.
Pi Jacobs will play a live concert at Shell Café, 1351 Price Street, Pismo Beach, on August 27 at 7 p.m. Los Angeles singer-songwriter. Jacobs plays what she calls an ‘Americana bluesy rock thing,’ one nonetheless edged by accents evoking her urban San Francisco childhood. Enamored of her mother’s rock- and soul-heavy music collection, she sang throughout school, picking up guitar, bass and songwriting as a teenager. She earned her GED and left high school early, then pursued music studies at the local junior college. A period of woodshedding, gigging and recording ensued, culminating in the release of Pi’s debut album. She spent two years in New York before landing in L.A., which has proven fertile creative ground and a convenient base for touring. Admission is free.
The Royal Garden Swing Orchestra will perform live at 4 p.m. 
Sunday, Aug. 30 at The First Presbyterian Church, 981 Marsh St., San Luis Obispo (corner Marsh and Morro). Donations appreciated at the door. Refreshments will be available. The Orchestra is comprised of professional local musicians celebrating its 27th anniversary performing the swinging sounds of the big band era and under the direction of leader of the band, Warren Balfour. See www.fpcslo.org for information.
Castoro Cellars Winery in Templeton has added a new feature to its Annual Beaverstock Music Festival, a sculpture by famed artist, Nate Tyler, on display in a new Artist Grove at the winery, located on Hwy 46 West at Bethel Road in rural Templeton. Kinetic sculptures and metal chandeliers created by Tyler will be displayed throughout the festival.
Beaverstock is a fundraiser for the Templeton Education Foundation. Tickets for Beaverstock, which runs from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 19-20, are $60 a person for both days if purchased before Aug. 31 and $70 after the 31st. One day tickets are $40 starting Sept. 1. Kids under-10 free and there’ll be lots of funs tuff for the kids to do. See the website at: www.castorocellars.com, email to: or call (805) 238-0725. The Saturday lineup on the festival’s main stage includes headliner, American roots rock band Dawes, California Honeydrops, SambaDa, The Bills and The Tipsy Gypsies. On Sunday, the headliner is R&B/rock ‘n’ roll legends, War. Opening acts are La Santa Cecilia, Birds of Chicago, The Brothers Comatose, and The Mother Corn Shuckers.
The secondary “Stompin’ Grounds” stage will feature local favorite bands The Turkey Buzzards, One Time Spaceman, Bear Market Riot, Chris Beland, and Guy Budd with Inga Swearingen.
Several gourmet food trucks and craft beverage favorites will be available both days for purchase. Pouring will be Firestone Walker, Toro Creek, Barrelhouse and Bristols Cider. Castoro Cellars wines will be available in souvenir Beaverstock canteens and GoVino glasses. Local food vendors include The Paring Knife, Fire & Wine wood fired pizza, Higgies World BBQ, Bliss Café, Lemoine Creperie, Kona Ice, Sugar Lips mini donuts, McCall Farm Guacamole and Sugar & Salt Creamery.
Austin, Texas singer-songwriter, Amber Cross, returns to the Red Barn Community Music Series with new songs and stories for her 
hometown crowd at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5 at the Red Barn in Los Osos. Cost is $15 donation at the door. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. with a potluck supper at 5; bring a dish to share, place settings and BYOB. Cross’ music has been described as “raw, powerful, old-mountain vocal alchemy rarely heard west of the Rockies.” Frequently compared to artists like Nanci Griffith and Iris Dement, Cross’ vocals evoke a time and place long since past, while remaining firmly rooted in the present. She will play songs off her current third CD, as well as her debut, “You Can Come In,” and her second release of traditional gospel tunes, “My Kind of Church.” Originally from Maine, Cross grew up with Gospel music and moved to California in 2003, bouncing around from San Francisco, the Sierra Foothills, Sonoma County and eventually settling in SLO County. See: www.ambercrossmusic.com. The Red Barn is located in the Los Osos Community Park, 2180 Palisades Ave., Los Osos. The show is made possible through the support and assistance of the Red Barn Community (a.k.a. Children of the Barn) and with support from KCBX Public Radio and Live Oak Music Festival. Amber Cross photo by Ren Nickson.
