Rated G

And now for something kinder and gentler, introducing the one and only 18th annual Henson’s Acoustic Music Festival. Bring the kids and some chow and sit on the grass at Dizdar Park in Camarillo for a day of music Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

In honor of the World Cup, this year’s event organizer, Mike Velasquez, has given the wingding an international flavor. Thank goodness, there’s no German music, but there will be everything from flamenco music to Hawaiian to Scottish bagpipes, plus the usual jazz, blues and folk.

Holding down the 1 p.m. gig and definitely worth checking out are the acoustic folkies of Jacob’s Ladder. Usually a quintet, but for this gig a quartet, Jacob’s Ladder features guitars, bass and keyboards. The band does all originals penned by guitar player John Welborn, who harmonizes in a most heavenly style with the other guitar player, Lisa Henson, giving the band its distinctive sound. “Love Has No Mercy” is the show-stopper, a haunting ballad featuring Henson, who can sing as well as anyone.

Welborn, as it turns out, was the man to talk to about the festival. While working at Henson’s Music Center in Camarillo, he started the event in 1980 and has since organized nearly every version of this festival.

“I used to be in this bluegrass band called Blue Moon, and, at that time, there was nowhere to hear bluegrass or acoustic music. The first festival was in the window of the Camarillo store.”

Since the debut, all the festivals have been in Dizdar Park, just blocks from the store. This festival is a family event. Count on a minimal if not nonexistent mosh pit, and a definite shortage of annoying, drunken maniacs, or so says an observer.

“It’s always a blast. Bring your food. Bring your kids. There’s never been any trouble. Then when it’s over, everyone picks up their trash. It’s just a great event every year.”

Three buddies, Welborn, Joe Cole and Alan Moses, graduated from Hueneme High in 1973, a class that incidentally also included local guitar guru Mike Fishell. They’ve been playing together off and on ever since.

“Joe, Alan and I were together as Blue Moon, a bluegrass, Grateful Dead country cosmic cowboy band. Then everyone split up and did the corporate thing, and now we’re back together. We started as a trio with Jacob’s Ladder about seven years ago. Lisa’s parents own Henson’s, and I remember when I was 20 and she was about 10, this little kid running around the store.”

As Blue Moon, the guys in the band made the rounds of all the local redneck bars, but these days, as Jacob’s Ladder, Welborn seems to appreciate the acoustic coffeehouse scene a lot better.

“Way better. We did all the county cowboy bars. Everyone was smoking and drinking alcohol. It would get real crazy like when some cowboy’s girlfriend would make eyes at you. Then some huge drunken cowboy would come up to the stage and say ‘Why are you staring at my girlfriend?’ I mean, I love cowboys--I used to be one--but I hate big, mean, drunken cowboys.”

Jacob’s Ladder has a CD titled “Filled With Rain” which came out a few years ago. Welborn has since concocted several more originals and the band is working on them during its monthly gigs. When they have them figured out, it will be back to the studio.

“Our music is kinda hard to describe because it’s always changing, always evolving. There’s a little bit of country, a little bit of the Dead, a little bit of bluegrass and even a little bit of Middle Eastern stuff.”

Not a bunch of kids chasing unrealistic MTV dreams, the members of Jacob’s Ladder have lives and day jobs. Welborn is a CAT-scan technician at St. John’s Hospital in Oxnard. Henson works in the music store most of the time, but also for an insurance company a few days a week. Cole is a corporate lawyer in Santa Barbara. Moses does computer stuff at UCSB and the drummer, Craig Thatcher, who won’t be at this gig, is good enough to teach drums. Thus, with daytime lives, Jacob’s Ladder usually doesn’t play much more than twice a month.

“We’re all still Deadheads. In fact, we wanted to play outside the recent Phish concert in Ventura as Dead Phish, but the cops wouldn’t let us.”

BE THERE

The 18th annual Henson’s Acoustic Music Festival at Dizdar Park in Camarillo at Ventura Boulevard and Glenn Drive, Saturday. Ohana Puanani plays Hawaiian music at 11:30 a.m.; Domino Affect plays jazz and blues at noon; Jacob’s Ladder plays acoustic folk music at 1 p.m.; Guillermo Rios & Al Velasquez play flamenco music at 2 p.m.; Bob Jones Trio plays blues at 2:45 p.m.; L.A. & District Pipe Band play traditional Scottish music at 3:45 p.m.; and Trio Guadalajara plays traditional Mexican music at 4:15 p.m. Free. (805) 486-8742.