Related Content

Fresno's on Fresno's
BEST OF FRESNO
MUSIC FESTIVAL

The basics
The festival is Saturday at Engelmann Cellars, 3275 Rolinda Ave., on the winery's outdoor lawn. Gates open at noon, with the music starting at 12:30 p.m.

Tickets
Tickets cost $20 at the gate, or $15 in advance. Advance tickets can be purchased in person at Crossroads, 3315 N. Cedar Ave., Aqua Shi, 1144 E. Champlain Drive, No. 108, and Engelmann Cellars, or online at vallitix.com and engelmanncellars.com.

The lineup
12:30 p.m.: Suppressors (ska)
1 p.m.: Cadillac Cowboys (country)
2 p.m.: Deja Blues (blues)
3 p.m.: HR7 (ska)
4 p.m.: Ron Thompson and the Resistors (blues)
5 p.m.: Super Lucky Catz (soul/jam-band)
6 p.m.: Trey Tosh (rock/blues)
7 p.m.: Patrick Contreras (violin fusion)
8 p.m.: 40 Watt Hype (Latin/hip-hop)
9 p.m.: Six Ounce Gloves (rock)

Getting there
Engelmann Cellars is west of Highway 99. The recommended route is to take the Shaw Avenue exit, go west 4.7 miles to Rolinda Avenue and turn south. Go 1.75 miles and Engelmann will be on the right side, between Dakota and Shields avenues.

You should know

• There's no seating on the Engelmann lawn, so bring your own chairs or blankets.
• Food, wine and other drinks will be sold on site, including a full bar. Outside food, drinks and coolers aren't allowed.
• Other vendors range from a cigar stand to a tattoo artist and a place for massages.

For more info
Call Crossroads, (559) 222-2233, or Engelmann Cellars, (559) 274-9463.

---

– All Job Categories –  Accounting Admin & Clerical Automotive1 Banking1 Biotech1 Broadcast - Journalism1 Business Development Construction Consultant Customer Service Design Distribution - Shipping Education Engineering Entry Level Executive Facilities Finance General Business General Labor Government Health Care Hotel - Hospitality Human Resources Information Technology Insurance Inventory Legal Legal Admin Management Manufacturing Marketing Nurse Other Pharmaceutical Professional Services Purchasing - Procurement QA - Quality Control Research Restaurant - Food Service Retail - Grocery Sales Science Skilled Labor - Trades Strategy - Planning Supply Chain Telecommunications Training Transportation Warehouse

On the ever-so-green grass at Engelmann Cellars, Trey Tosh walked up to Aaron Wall and Jared Dyar of 40 Watt Hype for a meeting of local music minds.

"You guys were the first band I ever saw live. I was in the fifth grade," said Tosh, who has made the jump from fifth-grade fan to one of Fresno's best musicians.

Pairings like this make Saturday's Best of Fresno music festival special.

It's 10 different acts spread across a full day at Engelmann Cellars' 11/2-acre outdoor park.

Singer/guitarist Tosh will be there, as will hip-hop/Latin band 40 Watt Hype, as will rockers Six Ounce Gloves, violinist Patrick Contreras, soul band Super Lucky Catz -- the list goes on.

Country, blues, ska, all are part of the festival, courtesy of Cadillac Cowboys, Deja Blues, Ron Thompson and HR7.

"I think the good thing is that it's bringing in a lot of the better bands from different genres," says Contreras, who recently headlined shows at Arte Américas and the Visalia Fox Theatre. "It's better than a battle of the bands because we're not competing. We're sharing an audience."

That was the idea behind the festival, spearheaded by Bob Pierce, who owns Fresno music club The Crossroads.

"Typically, somebody who follows Six Ounce Gloves doesn't follow 40 Watt Hype," Pierce says. "Why not try to put them all up on one stage? There's a lot of talent here, and it's time we really started promoting these kids."

Talent and accomplishment mark the concert's lineup.

Tosh recently sold out the Tower Theatre for his CD release party, while 40 Watt Hype won a national talent search through Burger King in June.

Just two weeks ago, Contreras played his violin at actor Chris Kattan's wedding in Yosemite.

Pierce says the festival's inspiration goes back to last year, when he and his wife attended Modesto's mammoth music event, X Fest, and witnessed a crowd of 16,000 fill the city's downtown.

"We need to be doing more of that kind of stuff here in Fresno," he thought. "These are the kind of festivals that we need to be putting on and supporting our local music scene."

While it's not set for our downtown, there's a definite charm to a festival arranged at a winery.

Tucked just a little more than four miles west of Highway 99, Engelmann Cellars is run by winemaker Bret Engelman, whose family has been growing raisins in the Fresno area for more than 100 years.

When he opened his winery in 2000, he hoped to offer more than just wine tastings. So he built the 1½-acre park. It's been the site of fundraisers and weddings.

Engelman teamed with Pierce to host the Fresno Blues, Brews, BBQ & Wine Festival in early June, an event that drew 1,100 people, according to Pierce.

This Best of Fresno was the next logical step.

It works especially well for Engelman, who had been looking for a reason to get such acts as Tosh and HR7 out to his winery after seeing them perform around town.

For Pierce, it's an extension of what's already going on at Crossroads, where he tries to vary the genres of live music from night to night.

"I didn't want 10 hours of rock or 10 hours of blues," Pierce says. "I wanted to pick something from each genre and see what happens."

There will probably be gripes about the lineup, sure -- this band should have been picked instead of that band -- but most of the bands agree it's better than previous local genre-spanning attempts.

"There's a good representation in there of the band spectrum that Fresno has to offer," says Wall of 40 Watt Hype. "Most cities are known for one style of music. Here we are playing a show that ties it all together."