On the Move

The Cadillac Angels’ chief claim to fame has been as hosts of all nine of the annual Santa Barbara “Rockabilly Roundup” gigs--fund-raisers for CALM, an organization fighting child abuse. Besides performing at the annual fund-raiser, the Angels, formerly the Roadhouse Rockers, must be the hardest-working band in the 805 area code.

Not only do they play everywhere all the time, they don’t mind driving to get there.

The rockabilly-flavored trio is pushing its fourth CD, “Rest Stop Dance Party,” with even more relentless touring. Two months ago in Kentucky, their ’78 Dodge van was rammed, sending them tumbling end over end, killing the van, but not the band.

The Angels played later that night even though bass player Micky Rae wore a neck brace, which he kept on for the next 10 days.

Recently, the band played the Santa Barbara Fiesta for the zillionth year in a row, then hopped a plane for Atlanta to play the Atlantis Music Festival, presumably for a guy from Sony Music.

“We couldn’t tell if he was there or not,” said front man Toni Balbinot. “A few people were writing stuff down, and that’s the first time anyone ever took notes when we played.”

The Angels were just one of six bands chosen from California, and it was unclear at press time whether they were now rich rock stars with at least one-third of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s money. But they kept moving: Immediately after the Atlanta gig, they headed to Catalina Island for an afternoon show. The Cadillac Angels’ next local gig is at the Wildcat Lounge in Santa Barbara.

* The Cadillac Angels, Wednesday at 9 p.m. at the Wildcat Lounge, 15 W. Ortega St., Santa Barbara; (805) 962-8970.

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Speaking of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the group’s debut album has gone gold and they’re touring with Steve Miller. Next time, they’re buying the beer.

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Native American poet-storyteller-activist John Trudell will get mad all over the tree-lined backyard of the Ash Street Gardens in Ventura on Sunday afternoon. Opening will be Wovoka, a band that combines African drumming with Native American music.

Trudell and his band Bad Dog will present a spoken-word depiction of the struggles that Native Americans have had with their white oppressors through the years. Growing up in Nebraska on the Santee Sioux reservation, Trudell became a Native American activist after participating in the takeover of Alcatraz Island in 1969.

This show is a benefit for the Rancho San Cayetano Project, which is dedicated to developing and maintaining the intertribal ceremonial gathering grounds in Fillmore.

* John Trudell and Wovoka at Ash Street Gardens, 12 N. Ash St., Ventura, Sunday at 3 p.m. $8; (805) 662-2282.

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Want to find all the bikers in one place at one time this weekend? Every darn one of them--even if their Harleys are in the shop--will be at the Ventura Theatre on Sunday night to hear John Kay sing the biker anthem, Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild.”

Not only do the bikers love that song, so apparently does Kay, who has probably sung it about 400 billion times since it was released in 1968. And the check is still in the mail for Michael Bonfire, the guy who wrote “Born to Be Wild.” He reportedly lives in the desert, which he probably owns by now.

The bikers, Kay and Bonfire aren’t the only ones who like that song, which has been used in about 40 films and television shows. Steppenwolf, with Kay as the only original member, had several other hits, namely “Magic Carpet Ride” and “The Pusher,” in a career that has included 30 albums with sales of more than 20 million copies.

The bikers will be the mean-looking guys in the back growling louder than usual, especially when Kay belts out the first lines of their theme song, “Get your motor runnin’ . . . Head out on the highway . . . Lookin’ for adventure or whatever comes my way . . . “

* Steppenwolf, Blue Wail and Aspen at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., Sunday, 8 p.m. $20. (805) 653-0721.