Mark the Calendar--Time to Fiddle Around in Julian

If you play banjo, fiddle, mandolin or guitar, your time is coming.

The 21st annual Julian Banjo, Fiddle, Mandolin, and Guitar Contest will take place Sept. 22. As before, the event will be open to participants in the beginner, intermediate and advanced categories, and will also feature guest artists. Scheduled to perform at this year’s contest are the New Expression Band, the Acousticats, Banjo Mania, Nickel Creek and Shy Persons.

Trophies, ribbons and cash prizes will be awarded to the best players of traditional banjo, bluegrass banjo, fiddle, flatpick guitar and mandolin.

Those wishing to enter the competition must register and pay a $6 entry fee at the local New Expression music store no later than Sept. 12. Admission for casual observers is $6 for ages 10 to 65, and $3 for those under 10 or over 65. Music lovers can get tickets by sending a check or money order and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: New Expression, 3411 Ray St., San Diego, 92104.

To reach the event, take California 79 to Julian. At the center of town, go north on Main Street three blocks. No dogs are allowed. For more information, call 280-9035.

The cool, cloudy summer that came to an unofficial close Monday (as if it ever really began) did more than dampen native spirits, vacations and the local economy. At the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, the unseasonal yuckiness is responsible for a sticky dance floor that has become a nagging, proprietary headache for owner Dave Hodges.

The Belly Up resurfaces its floors every couple of months, paying special attention to the dance area in front of the stage, which gets the most abuse. Because of California’s relatively strict laws governing the ingredients in paints and other solvents, the tavern uses a floor sealant that has had the usual drying agents removed.

Under normal conditions, that causes no problem. But, about six weeks ago, the Belly Up crew applied four coats of finish to the dance floor during a wave of 90% humidity caused, in part, by Hurricane Bob. The high level of moisture in the air prevented the sealant from completely drying, giving the floor a slightly tacky feel.

Most patrons either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, but the regular cadre of swing dancers who commandeer the Belly Up on afternoons put their collective foot down. Swingers need a particularly slick surface on which to maneuver, and they began voicing their complaints, both verbally and in the form of letters and phone calls, to management, employees and anyone else who would listen.

Hodges contacted the manufacturer of the sealant, who assured him that the first day of warm, very dry weather would solve the problem. But because that day might not come for a while, the staff has been buffing the surface every morning with a high-speed polisher and maintaining a steady flow of air over the floor during off-hours. This has brought some improvement, but not enough to suit the swing dancers.

Beginning in late July, club patrons have been surreptitiously applying their own remedies--including baby powder, wax and chalk--in an attempt to get a danceable surface. These ad hoc solutions, however, have caused a number of people to slip and fall, prompting Hodges to post notices in the club asking for patience and cooperation while the club tries to rectify the situation.

“We strip the floor down to bare wood every year during our two-week Christmas hiatus,” Hodges said Monday. “I wish we could do that now, but it’s a four-day process and we can’t afford to stay closed that long during a busy time of the year. We’ll keep trying everything we can, and hoping for that hot, dry day to come as soon as possible.”

GRACE NOTES: “Club Gidget,” the L.A.-based alternative revue, returns to the Spirit on Saturday. This time the show features Texacist (with Texacala Jones of Tex and the Horseheads), the Jack Brewer Band, DC3 and the Stains, Two-Bass Hit (an outfit that consists of two bassists, two drummers, two sax players, and an 88-year-old woman who does rap songs), and local band Contra Guerra. . . .

Barry Manilow has added a third night to his series at Copley Symphony Hall. Tickets for the Sept. 14 show go on sale today at all TicketMaster outlets.

The 10th annual appearance of the Beach Boys in conjunction with a Padres game is scheduled for Sept. 22, after the Pads’ game with the San Francisco Giants. The price of admission for game and concert: $13. Inasmuch as each represents summer in Southern California, the Padres and the Beach Boys seem a perfect match. The Beach Boys, by the way, are the ones with the hits. . . .

Tickets are on sale for the following shows: Special Beat has been booked into SDSU’s Open Air Theatre on Sept. 28. Sharing the bill will be Mary’s Danish and Rebel Pebbles. Front 242 will play SDSU’s Montezuma Hall on Oct. 1. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark--these days known simply as OMD--will perform Oct. 5 at Iguanas.

CRITIC’S CHOICE: UNDER THE STARS WITH CARLOS SANTANA

In a field too often dominated by fiscal concerns and tethered to trendiness, Carlos Santana offers sanctuary for the steady heart and the selective ear. As he celebrates his 25th anniversary as a professional musician, the guitarist who got his start on the streets of Tijuana can look back on his career with a great deal more pride than regret.

As one might expect from someone who has released 30-odd albums, not all of Santana’s work has matched the level of his sincerity and commitment to it. But for every stubbed toe (usually these have occurred when he has attempted to steer his band in a radio-active direction), there have been long stretches of productivity marked by inspired writing and soulful jamming.

At any one time, Santana’s eclecticism can embrace salsa, rock, funk, jazz, new-age, fusion, classical music and whatever else might be snared from the passing currents. But there are two constants in the Santana equation.

One is his own playing. Notwithstanding all the hot-shots who have come and gone in two decades, Santana remains one of the more resourceful and emotionally involving guitarists in contemporary music. The other is his seemingly incessant fiddling with various combinations of talent to keep the ensemble perspective fresh.

Recently, soul-tenor Tony Lindsay replaced Alex Ligertwood on vocals, drummer Billy Johnson dethroned Walfredo Reyes, and percussionists Raul Rekow (congas) and Karl Perazzo (timbales) supplanted Armando Peraza. Keyboardist Chester Thompson and bassist Benny Rietveld are holdovers from the crew that recorded last year’s album, “Spirits Dancing in the Flesh.” Excellent reviews of the new band’s live playing precede its appearance tonight at the Starlight Bowl.