Women’s Day

A solid lineup of female singer-songwriters will take center stage during a Saturday concert at Ojai’s Libbey Park to benefit the Arthritis Foundation.

Event organizer Rain Perry, a singer-songwriter out of Ojai who has rheumatoid arthritis, has assembled a stellar cast of performers led by acclaimed rock musicians Victoria Williams and Sara Hickman. Local luminaries include Perry and a number of her friends, such as Perla Batalla, Patricia Cardinali, Julie Christensen and Mary Z. Wilson.

Hickman’s output has reached half a dozen with the release of her most recent album, “Spiritual Appliances.” This upbeat mom--who has a newborn and a 4-year-old--is also beginning to delve into children’s music. She consented to a brief grilling from her Texas home.

How’s the rock ‘n’ roll biz treating you these days?

It’s good. I guess it’s the same except now I’m a rock ‘n’ roll mom and I have two little kids. And now I’m doing children’s music.

Are you a rich rock star yet?

Isn’t “rock star” a state of mind? In terms of “famous,” I don’t think I’ve made it then, but in terms of having a nice following and people who are really supportive, then I’ve definitely made it and that makes me really happy. And hopefully I have the respect of some of my peers.

How does “Spiritual Appliances” fit in with your other five albums?

I produced the whole thing. I think I just got closer to the truth. I elevated my music a little bit and it has my fingerprints all over it. Usually, I go with a bucketful of ideas and someone else adds their own twist to it, which is always a learning experience. But this time, I just thought “I know how to do all of this.” . . . It was the best experience I’ve had so far making a record and I’m going to continue to produce myself, because it’s really a lot more loving.

Why are there so many good players from Texas?

I have this theory that Texas and Canada are the parallels of the music world because it seems to me that all the great songwriters come out of Canada, and yet a lot of great songwriters come out of Texas. I don’t know why that is, but I think they’re both really big places, and when you have really big places and people separated by space, they kind of build their own little universes and make their own creations--art and music--and they get really good at it. I think that’s really true about both of those places--since you’re isolated, you learn to entertain yourself.

Six albums is a lot. How do you account for your longevity?

I really enjoy touching people, and music is the way that I can connect with people. The older I get and the calmer I get, the more centered I get. It just seems like--I hate to go back to that word--but it gets me closer to the truth. You can almost taste it. Each album, I get closer and closer.

What advice would you give to an aspiring musician?

There’s a difference in the way women and men make music and some people might think that that’s not the truth, but as I’ve gone along, I think that women are getting stronger as to doing it the way they want to do it instead of emulating what the men are doing.

I would say be true to who you are and what you want to do. People will try to bat that around and criticize it and change it, and you can take in that information and think about it, but you have to be true to what your voice wants you to say and that’s really, really hard, especially in a world where everyone is becoming more and more cookie cutter. . . . It’s getting harder and harder for genuine songwriters because there’s not a place on the radio anymore.

Unless you look like Britney Spears.

Right. Until rococo women come back, it’s going to be a tough one. So my message would be: Do it because you love it. You may be the only one that loves it, or you may have thousands and thousands who love what you make, but the point is that you’re unique and there’s nobody else like you. . . . [If] you can make a living and be happy and spend time with your friends and family and still do what you love, then I’d say you’re successful.

How would you describe Sara Hickman music?

I’ve always felt closest to the lyrics of Paul Simon. I remember when I was a little kid, I used to play his records over and over because I liked his poetry and I liked how picturesque his lyrics were. I liked the fact that not everything rhymed, and to me, I guess I would say that I wanted to be a storyteller and connect with people. That’s always been my vision--to bring people closer to a feeling.

I know that sounds esoteric and spiritual, but the world is really hard and people can be really cruel, and yet, there’s this beauty that’s not going to go away, and I don’t want people to forget that. So I try to emulate that in my music.

Life can’t be all bad, can it? Someone invented music.

I can see what music does. I see how it brings people together, complete strangers, and I love that. At the end of one of my shows, people feel closer. They can go out into the night and they have some kinship. I love that kind of fellowship that audiences get.

You played for the Houston Oilers when you were 14?

I don’t even know how I got that gig. . . . My mom dropped me off, because I couldn’t even drive, with my little guitar and my little guitar case. I think I was all dressed up in church clothes. I went in and sang all the songs I knew, which at that point, was about 40 minutes of music, then I took a little break and sang the same songs over again. I was just tiny. I remembered feeling like I was in the “Land of the Giants.” At the end of the night, I remember this guy had this beautiful office on the rolling hills of his estate, and he said, “Let’s see--how ‘bout $400?” I remember I was shaking as he wrote the check. Then I went outside and there was mom in the car waiting for me. That’s when I knew, “Man, this is what I want to do. This is easy. You get to sing your songs, and get paid for having fun and your mom picks you up.”

How do you handle male groupies showering you with flowers?

I don’t think of people as groupies, but rather as people connecting. . . . I get a lot of letters. There was this girl who was in a coma and had been listening to my music for a year. I sent her a letter and some CDs and her mom read her the letter. The first thing she said when she came out of the coma was “I want to meet Sara Hickman.” She wrote me this letter in this broken handwriting and we’ve kept in contact for six years now. The first time she came to a show, I didn’t know what she looked like, but I just knew it was her. That was a very emotional moment for me. That’s why I wanted to call this album “Spiritual Appliances,” because everything we do can really touch people.

Everyone’s inherently creative but we sort of beat that out of kids, and I think that’s a shame because I think everyone can enjoy being creative. That really crushes me. It makes me want to reach out even more.

Well, I think you’re the person for the job.

Thank you.

DETAILS

“Agility: A Woman’s Music Festival” with Mary Z. Wilson (3 p.m.), Patricia Cardinali (3:45 p.m.), Kaye Herron (4:15 p.m.), Rain Perry (4:45 p.m.), Perla Batalla (5:45 p.m.), Victoria Williams (6:40 p.m.), Julie Christensen (7:40 p.m.), Sara Hickman (8:40 p.m.) at Libbey Park, Signal Street and Ojai Avenue, Ojai, Saturday, 2:30 to 10 p.m. COST: $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Call 646-4706.

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Having thrown such a swell party last year, the East Ventura Rotary is sponsoring its second annual California Salsa Music Festival at Lake Casitas, just outside downtown Oak View. The weather will be hot, the lakeside will be cool and the music will encompass both.

Performers slated to play include La Palabra, Bobby Matos, Charanga Cubana and Son Mayor. Free dance lessons and dance contests are planned. There will also be free boat rides on the lake, raffles and numerous children’s activities.

East Ventura Rotary plans to put the proceeds toward scholarships for local students as well as other public service activities.

DETAILS

2000 California Salsa Music Festival at Lake Casitas, 11311 Santa Ana Road, Oak View, Saturday, noon to 7:30 p.m. COST: $15, free for children younger than 12. CALL: (800) 491-7342.

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The Music Under the Stars series concludes Saturday night at the historic Olivas Adobe in Ventura with some supercharged folk music from local virtuosos, the Cyrus Clarke Band. Clarke, a singer and acoustic guitar player out of Santa Barbara, is well-known locally for his work with the Cache Valley Drifters, which began way back in 1982, and also with one of the premiere acoustic groups of the ‘90s, the Acousticats.

Clarke describes his music as being from “the heart of California” and, appropriately enough, his latest album is “California Stories”--a collection of his originals. In addition to his bluegrass roots, Clarke claims influences as diverse as Hank Williams, the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Wills and his Santa Barbara neighbors, Tom Ball & Kenny Sultan.

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DETAILS

Cyrus Clarke Band at Olivas Adobe, 4200 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura. Saturday, 7:30 p.m. COST: $10 regular, $8 for seniors and children younger than 12. CALL: 658-4726.