Festival Season Springs Into Action

April showers bring May festivals.

Beach Fest ‘99, an annual charity event that offers an abundant, smorgasbord-like selection of bands from the Orange County/Long Beach music scene, takes place May 15-16 at Shoreline Marina Green in Long Beach.

The following weekend, May 22-23, brings a large helping of national blues and roots-rock talent to another waterfront location, Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, site of the annual Doheny Blues Festival.

And May 8, tickets go on sale for the third annual daylong, outdoor concert, Hootenanny ’99. The roots-music celebration is July 3 at Oak Canyon Ranch in Santiago Canyon.

A concertgoer to May’s Beach Fest could develop sore legs but a good overview of the local music scene. More than 50 bands will play over the two days on four stages that will be in simultaneous use.

Bookings aren’t final yet, but among the acts confirmed are: Johnny Jones & the Suffering Halos, Busstop Hurricanes, Burnin’ Groove, Common Sense, and Hepcat on May 15; Ruby Diver, Pinwheel, 00Soul, Cirrus, Mr. Mirainga, the Vandals, the Ziggens, El Centro, Hed(pe) and Dial-7 will play May 16.

The event, in its 18th year, has a fund-raising goal of $35,000-$50,000, with proceeds going to the Surfrider Foundation environmental organization, Project Future, a program for the homeless, and the Boy Scouts of America.

Admission is $14 May on 15 and $15 on May 16. Information: (714) 550-4636, Ext. 3378, (714) 740-2000 (Ticketmaster), or https://www.beachfest.com.

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The Doheny Blues Festival offers a baker’s dozen of national acts and an under card of emerging locals, playing on two alternating stages. Wilson Pickett, Keb’ Mo’, Little Feat, Angela Strehli, Indigo Swing, Joe Louis Walker and Tommy Castro are the featured acts on May 22; the May 23 lineup includes Etta James, Bo Diddley, Marcia Ball, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers, the Rolling Fork Revue (an all-star band featuring Muddy Waters’ son, Big Bill Morganfield, and former Muddy Waters band members Pinetop Perkins and Bob Margolin) and Corey Stevens.

Tickets cost $22, or $50 for VIP seating and amenities. Two-day passes cost $38, and tickets for children ages 3 to 12 are $10. Information: (949) 360-7800 or (949) 262-2662 (taped information).

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Hootenanny, which offers a taste of the old and the new in roots-based rock ‘n’ roll, is holding back on announcing a couple of its major headliners, but promoter Bill Hardie lists the Reverend Horton Heat, the Royal Crown Revue, Dave Alvin, Cadillac Tramps, Billy Zoom, Lee Rocker, the Derailers, the Paladins, James Intveld and Deke Dickerson among the attractions for the sixth annual festival at parklike grounds in rural Santiago Canyon. Information: (714) 991-2055 or https://hootenannyrecordings.com.

HOOTENANNY IN STORE AND ON THE ROAD: Last year, Hootenanny’s production company, Ninety-Eight Posse, teamed with former Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker to launch Hootenanny Records, issuing a “Best of Hootenanny” compilation featuring previously-issued studio recordings by bands that have played the festival.

Now Hootenanny is branching out with a series of new releases. Already released is “Re’Jive’Inated,” by the Paladins. It’s a reissue of the band’s 1994 album, “Ticket Home,” that includes several unreleased songs.

Hardie and Rocker said that there’s a lot more to come, with new albums on Hootenanny from Russell Scott and his Red Hots, Buddy Blue (with guest appearances by Rocker, Dave Alvin and Billy Zoom), Hot Rod Lincoln and the Rattle Roosters. The CDs are expected to be available at this year’s festival, then will be available in record stores.

Rocker is heading up a Hootenanny Records package tour that stopped last Wednesday at the House of Blues in West Hollywood and plays Sunday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana. Also appearing are the Paladins, Russell Scott and his Red Hots and Rattled Roosters.

Rocker’s next album will be “Lee Rocker Live,” recorded during several different gigs late last year at the Mint in Los Angeles.

“It’s a true rockabilly record, the rockabilly record I haven’t made in years,” Rocker said. “It has a lot of the stuff I’ve done live over the years but never recorded.” Featured are songs by Carl Perkins, Jerry Reed, Hank Williams, and Elvis Presley tributes with “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “That’s All Right Mama,” along with some Rocker originals.

Rocker said he isn’t sure whether the album will be released on Hootenanny Records, on his own label, Upright Recordings, or on another independent label.

Also just released is “Swing Cats,” on Cleopatra Records, a studio reunion between Rocker and fellow Stray Cats alumnus Slim Jim Phantom. Guitarist Danny B. Harvey completes the trio. Rocker said Phantom, the Stray Cats’ drummer, coordinated the project; Rocker doesn’t plan to play any shows with the group.

PICK UP THE PIECES: Common Sense, the long-running O.C. pop-reggae band, lost its innocence in a two-year tenure with Virgin Records, but not its hopes and ambitions.

In 1997, Virgin picked up Common Sense’s independent-label debut studio album, “Psychedelic Surf Groove,” and sent the band on tour. But singer Nick Hernandez said band and record company wound up at odds over musical direction, and Common Sense was released from its contract.

“We’re going for the grass-roots [reggae sound], and they wanted to make us Sugar Ray,” Hernandez said. Common Sense is rebounding by releasing an album on its own label June 9. The album, “State of the Nation, Now and Then” features recent tracks from the Virgin sessions, along with songs from an indie cassette the band put out in 1991.

Common Sense has a strong following in beach-town bars, and Hernandez said its national touring ambitions will be boosted by sponsorships from two Orange County-based clothing concerns, the Pacific Sunwear retail chain, and the O’Neill Sportswear line of surf-oriented clothing.

The band’s highest-profile gig, Hernandez said, will be a six-week engagement on the Warped Tour, playing in a large tent that will also feature fashion shows. Locally, Common Sense plays May 15 at Beach Fest and May 27 at the Key Club in Hollywood.