Crucial Culture at concert series July 20

Idyllwild Summer Concert Series (ISCS) fans should note that Thursday, July 13, the concert begins at 6:10 p.m., not 7 p.m., as last week’s story had it. Ken Dahleen and the Big Band Staff will open, then stay around to back up Sharon Owens as Barbra Streisand. It’s hard to think of a band that size as openers.

On Thursday, July 20, Idyllwild will welcome Coachella’s Crucial Culture to the Butterfield Amphitheater for the third of 2023’s free ISCS. This will be Crucial Culture’s first Idyllwild appearance. It is a seven-piece band that gets audiences out on the dance floor with its own mix of reggae, rhythm and blues, classic rock and Latin styles like cumbia and Tejano.

The leader is singer and guitarist Mario Quintero. With a soulful voice and upbeat presence, he seamlessly updates traditional material his grandparents would recognize and makes it sound fresh and contemporary.

The other members of the band are Renne Almavador on percussion; Nick Vela from Coachella on bass; Ruben Cancino on keyboards and harmony vocals; Juan Hernandez on sax; Ryan Diaz on drums; and a new addition, Manny The Sharp Shooter Torres on lead guitar. Cancino and Hernandez add harmony vocals, deepening the arrangements. The presence of a horn player really broadens the sound, and Hernandez also acts as emcee.

Quintero describes his partners as well-rounded musicians from families that have been part of the Coachella music scene for generations. He told the Crier, “We are really excited to play for Idyllwild. This will be my first time playing at the Butterfield Amphitheater. Three of my bandmates introduced me to Ken [Dahleen] and that’s how we got this particular gig. We had an audition with [him] and he booked us on the spot.”

The opening act will be the aptly named KalIDYscope, a colorful and shape-shifting romp through classic rock themes and sounds. The band is Bill Shepherd, Chris Scott, Erik Lindgren and Mark Berres.

Scott played classical and jazz trombone with the Chicago Symphony, Dave Brubeck and Ray Charles, before going back to his high school instrument, the bass.

Lindgren began in music following in his mom’s footsteps with classical piano, but when the Beatles came along, switched to guitar. He spent much of his life in San Diego, moving up here seven years ago, but his local connection goes way back; accompanying Buzz Holmes’ vocal ensembles, including at the Orme School and the Idyllwild Master Chorale, off and on for 40 years. He worked as piano tech for ISOMATA. “My wife and I honeymooned up here 35 years ago.” He has been serving in ISCS opening acts since he moved here.

Berres is a Cal Arts graduate, where he benefited from the school’s strong new music and ethnic music programs, majoring in North Indian Classical music. Back when there was a West Berlin, he got a scholarship to the Hochschule der Kunste. While there, his fiancé got a call from Bill Lowman to start the dance program at Idyllwild Arts. When he returned to the U.S. he began coming up on weekends to accompany, and notes that there was an emphasis on teaching dancers and choreographers about music. His experience with Bela Lewitsky’s company at ISOMATA he describes as “heavenly.” “In hindsight, I’ve always been accompanying dance since my first gig with a polka band in the Midwest.”

Lindgren calls Berres a “complete percussionist” who has “really taken the group to a new level.” The chemistry now is “terrific. We give each other space to play as individuals. There are no egos, we’re all just trying to make the group sound as good as possible, evolving, tightening the sound.”

In KalIDYscope, Berres told the Crier, he’s been studying the “period things” that “get under your skin and everybody sits up; it’s still relevant.” He finds learning and integrating all those classic rock parts allows more creativity than playing in a symphony orchestra. And he loves the company he’s keeping. About playing with Shepherd, he says “What a hoot!”

Shepherd’s youth in the So Cal rock scene and surprisingly good memory have made him a useful resource for rock historians from around the world. He seems to remember every musician he’s met back to middle school, and every venue he’s played. He shared with the Crier a copy of a recent interview for a Serbian magazine called “It’s Psychedelic Baby.”

Shepherd’s early work is now available, thanks to the internet, to the wide world; Stack’s LP “Above All” gets more listens on YouTube than it ever did on vinyl. Think paisley and black lights, Cream and the Who. And yes, it’s psychedelic, baby.

Shepherd has been working on his memoir, a process that began with a conversation with Italian rock historian Bruno Ceriotti, who was interviewing him about his involvement with a venue in Seal Beach, the Marina Palace. They were joined on the call by Steven Finger of LA Free Press, who began to serve as Shepherd’s editor. They worked weekly for 18 months, Shepherd writing and Finger editing and commenting. After Finger’s death, Shepherd found a new editor, Mike Boeck. They have about 18 chapters, and as he hits his stride, he is going over the earlier material to incorporate the voice he’s found during the process.

As Finger noted, Shepherd was in the business during an especially rough time. Shepherd is thankful to Alcoholics Anonymous for his 30 years of sobriety, and pays it forward mentoring locally and through the group’s 75,000 member chat group. He considers himself both “crash and burn, and phoenix.”

ISCS concerts are all free, but donations are gratefully accepted. The funding is met through contributions from the community, and the series always starts on a wing and a prayer. The budget this year is $36,900. Contributions, checks payable to “Idyllwild Summer Concert Org,” may be sent to P.O. Box 1542, Idyllwild CA 92549-1542 or call (760) 413-4638.

Remember that temperatures drop in the summer evening. Come prepared with an extra layer. Butterfield Amphitheater, 54201 Ridgeview Drive, is accessible through the Idyllwild Community Center Playground parking lot on Highway 243 just south of town.