Out & About / Ventura County : pop scene : Hillman at Home : Ventura County resident of Byrds and Desert Rose fame to make rare appearance.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chris Hillman will make a rare local appearance tonight with a few of his musical pals when he plays the Cafe Voltaire in Ventura. Hillman, who made his local debut as a member of the Byrds when he played at Santa Barbara High School in 1964, has lived in Ventura County for nearly two decades.

When Hillman was in high school, he discovered folk music--not the Kingston Trio’s variety, but the music of the Weavers.

This led him to bluegrass. Hillman’s first band was the Hillmen, then came those Byrds, then the Flying Burrito Brothers, next the Southern-Hillman-Furay Band and the Desert Rose Band, plus numerous solo projects. “Like a Hurricane” is Hillman’s latest collection of country folk songs--his 54th album.

By recording all those albums and spending 30 years on the road, Hillman has made his musical mark in a number of ways, most notably with the Byrds.

In 1965, Hillman, along with Jim McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby and Michael Clark as the Byrds, had a smash hit with “Mr. Tambourine Man.” The electrified version of Bob Dylan’s song helped invent folk rock and eventually led to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“We didn’t always hit home runs,” said Hillman, “but the ones that went over the fence still stand up. ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ still stands up. ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ still stands up. ‘Eight Miles High’ still sounds pretty good.”

After the Byrds flew apart, Hillman joined up with Gram Parsons and helped popularize country rock with the Flying Burrito Brothers, a band that once opened for Jefferson Airplane at the Santa Barbara County Bowl a long time ago. Later, the Desert Rose Band had a string of hits before calling it quits in the early ‘90s.

“I think the Desert Rose Band tried to stretch the boundaries of country music. We could do a straight George Jones song, then do sort of a Tom Petty thing. We had a good five-year run, but then our shelf life expired when they quit playing us on the radio. We decided we’d quit before we ended up on the bad fair stages and doing lounges in Las Vegas. Everyone’s having fun and we’re all still good friends.”

The 50-something guitarist, mandolin player and singer-songwriter is kicking it in Ventura, waiting for the sun like the rest of us, playing now and again. For this gig, he will be ably assisted by David West, Jim Monahan (not the politician) and Bill Bryson.

“I don’t play so much anymore. I don’t even have an agent anymore. I love to play, but I hate to travel. I was on the road for 30 years until we retired the Desert Rose Band in 1993. Since then, I’ve stayed home and never regretted it. Being on the road is not conducive to a good, normal life.”

The new site of Cafe Voltaire is at the Ash Street Gardens, at the corner of Ash and Main streets in Ventura. This show will begin at 8 p.m. with no opening act. It’s likely to sell out, so act accordingly.

DETAILS

Chris Hillman at Cafe Voltaire, 12 N. Ash St., Ventura, tonight at 8. $10. 641-1743.

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One of reggae’s enduring artists, Winston Rodney, a.k.a. Burning Spear, will appear--amid a grueling summer tour schedule--at the Ventura Theatre for a Sunday-night gig. Spear began his career in 1969 and has received seven Grammy nominations. His latest album, his zillionth and barely 2 weeks old, is “Calling Rastafari.”

This year is the singer’s 30th anniversary tour. In the three weeks before the Ventura gig, the band has had 15 consecutive dates in 13 different cities and just two days off.

After a chance encounter with Bob Marley (the equivalent of meeting Elvis at Circle K), Spear took the singer’s advice and headed for the legendary Studio One label in Kingston, Jamaica, where he began his recording career.

Right away, Rodney changed his name to Burning Spear--not a reference to Native American arson activity in ‘50s westerns, but rather to honor African freedom fighter and first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, known as Burning Spear.

With a thick Jamaican accent, a big smile and even bigger dreadlocks, Spear has dedicated his career to preserving and spreading the teachings of Marcus Garvey, who preached self-determination and self-reliance for those of African descent.

The heat is provided by the Burning Band, made up of several of Jamaica’s best players.

As to the local angle: Opening for its millionth famous reggae star is the greatest band in all of Carpinteria, the Upbeat, whose latest album is “Backyard Knowledge,” another collection of classic ska dance music.

DETAILS

Burning Spear, Bonsai Tribe, the Upbeat at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., Sunday, 8 p.m. $20. 653-0721.

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The Beatles may have been gone for about 30 years, but John, Paul, George and Ringo clearly are not forgotten. The Fab Four have influenced countless bands, even spawning an odd adjective, Beatlesque. Their music is still all over the radio and, unfortunately to many, in commercials as well.

Since we’re all about 35 years too late for that Hollywood Bowl gig, cover bands are about as close as it gets to hearing Beatles songs performed live. To that end, Yesterday will play songs by the lads from Liverpool during a Sunday-evening performance at Conejo Community Park. It’ll be sort of like “The Ed Sullivan Show,” but without Ed. The sound should be just fine, since there figures to be about 30,000 fewer screaming teenage girls at this gig.

Pretending is a big thing in rock. While most musicians at least pretend to be cool, many groups pretend to be somebody else. There are many tribute bands nationwide, more than 40 just in Southern California.

While Elvis impersonators constitute a mini-industry unto themselves and the Boogie Knights, with their many aliases, continue to bring back the dumb ol’ plastic fantastic days of disco, most of the tribute bands fit into the classic rock category.

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The rationale is simple. Dead artists are routinely late for gigs; thus, they don’t tour much.

Tribute bands do. Wild Child does the Doors. Sheer Heart Attack has heard Queen before. Led Zepagain’s heroes are obvious. Randy Hansen pretends to be Jimi Hendrix, Cold Shot does Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stunt Road does the Dead and the Almost Brothers do the Allman Brothers. There’s even a Partridge Family tribute band, and on and on.

John Cuda of Barra Cuda Productions, who manages many of these bands, thinks he knows why people won’t let it be when it comes to the same old songs.

“I think people want to relive their childhoods. They remember songs they liked, and it takes them back to their youth. I think this whole thing started in the late ‘70s with the success of Beatlemania. And later, when the Doors movie came out, there was a big demand for Doors music. Now, it’s up or down.”

DETAILS

Yesterday at Conejo Community Park, Dover and Hendrix streets, Thousand Oaks, Sunday, 5 p.m. Free. 381-2747.

” We didn’t always hit home runs, but the ones that went over the fence still stand up. ‘Turn, Turn, Turn’ still stands up. ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ still stands up. ‘Eight Miles High’ still sounds pretty good. “

CHRIS HILLMAN