There’s more over the hill in Santa Cruz County than beaches and carnival rides. Case in point this weekend: the Redwood Mountain Faire is comin’ round the mountain to Roaring Camp, offering two days of music in the lush, peaceful redwoods.
Acts this year include Grateful Dead clone pleasers Jerry’s Middle Finger, the uplifting Davis-based seven-piece Boot Juice, all-female Portland rock band Ashleign Flynn and the Riveters, and a roster of diverse entertainment.
One anticipated returnee is Jesse Daniel, a born and bred Santa Cruz mountain man. Daniel looks like he just stepped off 400 acres in Wyoming. There’s an authenticity that radiates off the man and his band.
On his latest release—his fifth studio album, Son of the San Lorenzo (which will drop on June 6)—the single “My Time is Gonna Come” sweeps the sawdust off the barroom floor and out through the saloon doors. The music is crisp and fresh. Not only is Daniel growing as a man, and learning to thread the needle of a decent life, but also as a country star, who is rising with every show.
”One constant thing that has happened, in a positive or negative way,” Daniel begins from somewhere on the road, “is I’m put in situations that test my personal fortitude. I choose to look at them like trials. There’s been a lot. But serendipitous things have happened throughout my career. I believe hard work leads to opportunities.”
In 2023 and ’24, Daniel and his band played close to 200 shows a year. This year he wants to do things a little bit differently. “I’m focusing on recording a lot of music. I’m in a prolific period of writing where I just want to get it all on tape,” Daniel says. “As far as performing, it’s about quality over quantity. We’re going to do a full European tour. We’re also heading to Brazil for a festival, then to Australia for a series of rodeo events,” Daniel says.
Country music, real country music, isn’t political. It shouldn’t be appreciated depending on the color of a hat, and Daniel is well aware of this. “We are pretty apolitical, you know? What I’ve always truly loved about music is that it transcends the material world. Societal stuff is constructed by man. Music is otherworldly and is a universal language that everyone on the planet can understand,” Daniels concludes.
The Redwood Mountain Faire also brings new artists into the fold each year. Song siren Miko Marks is the kind of performer fans fall in love with immediately, if they have a soul. Her single “This Time” transports listeners back to a time when music lifted people up, when we strove for the sun, and when there was bittersweet hope.
Marks was raised in Flint, Michigan, in a community that praised musical talent. “I absolutely came up through the church,” says Marks, from her home in Oakland. “I started singing in our youth choir when I was like 3-4 years old. And my mom apparently thought I could sing at such an early age. Right? And so she made sure I got into the church choir. My family is rooted deeply in the gospel church. The Church of God in Christ. And it was not just the Sunday thing, it was four or five times a week, kind of church, so there was definitely a lot of music going on in my early years growing up.”
Marks’ family loved all kinds of music. When they moved from Mississippi to Michigan for the automotive industry jobs, Marks was exposed to everything from blues to country to classical.
“I was a big soft rock lover. I just soaked up as much music as I could from all types of places, and different styles. I was never limited, and my family didn’t limit me as well,” Marks says.
“The thing is when I leave this earth, I want to leave a legacy of music. Now whether that’s country, Americana, blues, gospel—you name it—I don’t try to fit inside a box. I just try to be authentically me and whatever that is. I’m just trying to make good music that stands the test of time,” Marks says.
The Redwood Mountain Faire takes place on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1. Tickets range from $30-$90. Proceeds go to worthy local nonprofits. More information available at redwoodmountainfaire.com.
