Out & About / Ventura County : pop scene : Head Full of Rhymes : Rapper Mack 10 discusses his music, audience and life as a businessman.

The Q104-7 Birthday Blow-up Concert, which offered free tickets to anyone with a clue or a pulse, will doubtlessly pack the venerable Ventura Theatre to its balcony tonight when six acts perform. Arrive early because the line will be long.

Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the first band, AMYTH, should start around 8. Headlining will be the S.O.S. Band, with all of its original members performing more than two decades’ worth of hits. Also on the bill will be the Beatnuts, Tash from the Alkaholiks, Ant Banks/T.W.D.Y. and that former Ice Cube protege out of Inglewood, rapper Mack 10, who was named for a gun and is known as the big One-O.

Scoring one of the more than 1,000 tickets from the hip-hop happy station was fairly easy, although some people managed to make it difficult. According to station jock Danny G, one listener earned tickets by getting a tattoo on his arm that spelled out the station’s call letters. Another guy had the letters carved into his haircut.

One of the causes of all this fervor has to be Mack 10--the guy, not the gun--who will precede the S.O.S. Band on stage. Mack 10, who has always wanted to be a rapper, is one of the few lucky ones--a man actually thriving in his career of choice.

A brash kid out of the ‘hood with an attitude and a head full of rhymes, One-O talked his way into a record deal after meeting rap star Ice Cube.

Now, three albums down the road, one of them last year’s “The Recipe,” One-O has expanded his resume to include not only rapper but actor and also CEO of his own company, Hoo-Bangin’ Records, which is producing albums and films. One-O, a man of few words off the stage, consented to a brief grilling before the gig.

So how’s the rap biz and how did “The Recipe” do?

Oh, everything’s cool. “The Recipe” is almost platinum. Before that, “Based on a True Story” was cool, too. It was my sophomore effort and I don’t believe in no sophomore jinx--I laugh at that stuff.

When did you decide to be a rapper?

I’ve been rapping since I was in seventh grade, putting out underground tapes. I knew some people who introduced me to Ice Cube, who got me a deal here with Priority Records. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do. I have been truly blessed.

How would you describe Mack 10 music?

Unfriendly. It’s ghetto music, but you’ve got to know that rap is the realest and the best music there is. It’s allowed me to take care of my kids for the last seven years.

So how did you get to be named after a gun?

I dunno--it’s from my neighborhood.

Do you still live in Inglewood?

No way, man. I’m from Inglewood--but I won’t lie to you, I got a little bread and had to do what’s best for my family.

Who goes to a Mack 10 show?

All the thugs. The ghetto. My live shows have gotten more of a wider audience lately--there’s more white people in the audience now.

So if little Buffy Cheerleader goes to your show, will she survive?

There won’t be no problems at the show.

What’s the most misunderstood about you?

People don’t know the things I’m doing. They think I’m just a rapper, but I’m a businessman first.

DETAILS

The S.O.S. Band, Mack 10, the Beatnuts, Ant Banks/T.W.D.Y., AMYTH and Tash at the Ventura Theatre tonight, 6 p.m. Tickets available from Q104-7. 653-0721 (venue) or 289-1400 (station).

*

*

A kinder gentler evening is in store for folk fans who show up at tonight’s Fireside Concert, beginning at 8 at the Borchard Center in beautiful downtown Newbury Park. Opening will be husband-and-wife team Tom and Dawn Kuznkowski, formerly known as County Line but now back to basics as themselves.

These two should know the way to the gig, since they were responsible for producing the Fireside concert series for 13 years. They will have a tape available at the gig, “Whining of the Wheels.”

Headlining will be Jim St. Ours, a Southern Californian singer and songwriter for more than 30 years before moving to Nashville about seven years ago. The folk singer will also have a pair of tapes available, “The Gift” and “Where the Road Ends.”

The venue is a smoke- and alcohol-free environment, with refreshments provided. The cover is five bucks.

DETAILS

Tom and Dawn Kuznkowski and Jim St. Ours at the Borchard Community Center, 190 Reino Drive, Newbury Park, tonight at 8. $5. 381-2791.

*

*

There are folks in pointy shoes who believe the Dallas Cowboys really are “America’s Team,” and Bakersfield is the capital of California, if not the whole country.

These urban cowboys will be the ones packing the tree-lined Santa Barbara County Bowl on Sunday evening when country heartthrob Dwight Yoakam croons several of their favorite songs.

Beating the drums with fierce determination behind Yoakam will be one of the boys in the band, Ventura resident Jim Christie. Randy Scruggs will open the 7 p.m. show.

Yoakam, one of the few country stars to emerge from California since the days of Buck Owens, is touring in support of his latest album, “Last Chance for a Thousand Years.”

The greatest hits collection includes a couple of rocking cover songs (“Suspicious Minds” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”), plus three new songs.

Yoakam worked his way up through the L.A. scene, playing with the likes of the Blasters, Los Lobos and the Meat Puppets--and even toured with the Grateful Dead.

Thus, Yoakam with his “hard country” is one of the few successful crossover artists, attracting rockers as well as rednecks to his shows.

And that movie star mug of his (which was seen in the acclaimed “Sling Blade”) always attracts lots of ladies.

Yoakam has won two Grammys and sold more than 8 million albums.

DETAILS

Dwight Yoakam and Randy Scruggs at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, 1122 Milpas St., Sunday, 7 p.m. COST: $43, $39, $33 or $26. CALL: 805-962-7411.

Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.