Scene Stealers

The names may change, but the music doesn’t--it’s still good. This week it’s Steve White & the Barstool Pigeons, a quartet that will play Friday night at Hi Cees, the Ventura Harbor place with few spelling skills but lots of blues. For those who would rather be scared and/or grossed out by TV’s “Millennium” Friday night, the band will play Saturday at Java Joe’s in Ventura.

The prime movers of the band are White and Mike Fishell, a couple of Dodger fans with a long history. Both are probably best known for their work in the most famous local car band, the Convertibles. They’ve been in plenty of other bands, some of which still play on occasion, and others that didn’t last long enough to get a name.

“Steve and I went to different high schools,” said Fishell. “He went to Hueneme and I went to Oxnard. We met through mutual friends and we’ve been playing together since ’76 or ’77. The Convertibles still play, but at weddings and parties. Steve and I probably play together four nights a week, either with this band or the Convertibles, the Reverbs, or the Ordinaires.”

Those were all mostly cover bands, so White and Fishell know a million songs. The Barstool Pigeons play covers too, but they also have a new crop of originals, according to Fishell.

“Steve wasn’t writing too much. You know, he’d crank out a song every couple of years, but all of a sudden, now he has 12 or 15 great originals. This band plays in bars, and we’ll do some covers, but we put our own stamp on them with lots of solos. There’s plenty of elbow room in this band.”

Once White rediscovered his writing gene, he felt compelled to be one of the rare breed of songwriters to get the word Hueneme into a song, in this case “Hueneme Mimi.” The other songs feature traditional blues topics--whiskey and women.

“We’ll be playing a lot soon,” said White. “This was a blues band at first, but now it’s more of an R&B; band. We do a lot of blues covers and some of that cool stuff by Otis Redding and Jackie Wilson.”

The Barstool Pigeons also include Kelvin Ammons on drums and Bernie Travers on bass, while Fishell, the guitar player and the guy with top billing, plays everything else--keyboards, sax, harmonica and flute. White also sings, and well enough to do a Jackie Wilson song.

Fishell can play a guitar as well as White can sing. Fishell’s day job is, in fact, guitar teacher. Some of his noted local alumni include Scotty Morris and Darren Cruz of Big Bad Voodoo Daddyz, and Bill Coffey of the Mudheads. In the meantime, the Barstool Pigeons are threatening to go into the studio in June to begin work on a CD of White originals.

Steve White & the Barstool Pigeons, 8 p.m. Friday, Hi Cees, 1583 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura. Free. Call 650-7773.

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For the second weekend in a row, the corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Los Angeles Avenue will be rockin’ in Simi Valley. The first Simi Valley Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival will take place Sunday.

Headlining the event will be an a cappella quartet, Men Out Loud, who will perform twice--synchronize those watches--at 1:02 and 4:53 p.m. Singer-songwriter Debbie Klemmer will play at 1:44, folk duo Pachelli & White will play at 3:21; and the Digital Soldiers will play synth-pop rock at 12:21 and 4:30 p.m. The festivities will end with a performance by the West Coast Singers, a choral group featuring 65 voices.

In addition to live acts there will also be disco dancing, country and western dancing, and synchronized dancing by the Men and Women of Midnight Cowboys. More than 100 commercial and community booths are expected, and there will be plenty of food and drink. The festival will run from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for seniors, the disabled or teens. Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are free. To find out more, call 577-9339.

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The best one-two punch in local rock ‘n’ roll returns the first Monday and Tuesday of the month at Cafe Voltaire in Ventura. Monday is the best rockin’ blues band in the 805 area code, Randy Rich & the Ravens. Don’t bother to make requests--he won’t do any. But if you want to hear all-original raging blues rockers, then Rich is your guy. He usually brings a zillion different guitars to a gig and plays them all. It’s worth showing up just to hear “Wiggle, Wiggle, Wiggle.”

Tuesday night is the husband and wife team of Janiva Magness and Jeff Turmes doing low-budget blues songs. Turmes is a funny writer and Magness has a voice that threatens the longevity of most speakers. She also plays the rub board, and how ‘bout those kazoo solos? It’s worth showing up just to hear “She Holds a Grudge.” The venue, which also serves food, is at 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. Call 641-1743 to find out more about these 7:30 p.m. shows.