Weekend Wingding

Santa Barbara rocks--not as much as it used to, but still more than most other places. In addition to the usual stuff at the usual venues, this weekend promises to rock even more because Fiesta, the annual wingding, will go full blast until Sunday. Besides the traffic hell and hordes of minors packing lower State Street, there will be bands everywhere each day.

Also, the usual outdoor venues--De La Guerra Plaza and El Nuevo Mercado del Norte in Mackenzie Park--have a full schedule through Saturday night. The Upbeat, Brad Nack and his new band the Chart Toppers plus the Tearaways will play. There’s even a great punk show in Goleta featuring the legendary (and really loud and fast) 7 Seconds.

As usual, Spencer the Gardener will play a couple of times. His Saturday-night gig in De La Guerra Park will not only feature his dancer-friendly “Spy movie music at the beach” songs, but also this added attraction: the Maneaters singing backup. They happen to be three of the finest female singers in all of Santa Barbara--Marjorie Extract, Anna Abbey and Ginny Benson.

The famous rock stars, however, will play Sunday. The most famous band in Santa Barbara, Toad the Wet Sprocket, has broken up but former front man Glenn Phillips will do a solo thing Sunday at NYM bar.

Also, there will be a roots-rock extravaganza Sunday afternoon at the County Bowl featuring Downey’s finest, the Blasters, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra doing the big band swing thing.

Playing in between will be Texan guitar god Jimmie Vaughan, brother of Stevie Ray and longtime member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. A working musician since he was a teenager, the Grammy Award-winning Vaughan has just released his second solo album, “Out There.” He discussed the latest during a recent phone interview while on tour.

So how’s “Out There” doing? Are you in there?

You know it. I’m out there all right, out there in Idaho.

What’s the process like for making an album?

First, you have to express yourself. That’s what the whole thing is about. I like to think of it as starting with a blank canvas, then see what you’re going to do next. Then you put your own stamp on it. I’m still developing my style. I’ve been in bands before where people would say, “Why the hell do you play that music?” as if they expect you to change your hairstyle and change your shoes. But I’m still doing the same thing.

How have you adjusted to life on the road over the years?

Well, I’m sitting here right now with my guitar by my side, and I have my little CD player. You just have to teach yourself to separate all the other stuff from the music. I try to pace myself. Everything revolves around the show. If you have a good show, then the world is wonderful. If you have a bad show, then you have to wait until the next one to try to fix things. It seems like there’s 48 hours of hauling meat, then two hours of playing.

Why the blues?

When I first started playing, the first song I learned was “Honky Tonk.” That was just the kind of music I liked. My uncles used to listen to hillbilly music and Hank Williams and western swing. I liked that stuff too, but I really liked Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jimmy Reed. With the blues, once you discover one guy, then it leads to another and then another. I’m still diggin’, still lookin’ for those truffles.

What’s it like going from the sideman to the front man?

I like this much better. We had a great run with the T-Birds, made a lot of good music and sold a lot of records. I like singing my own stuff and I love my band. Now I just take it as it comes.

Why are there so many good players in Texas?

I dunno. Maybe it’s the water.

What do you think of these guitar kids such as Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Johnny Lang?

They remind me a lot of when I was young, I mean younger. I think they’re really good and they’re going to get better. There’s another kid here in Texas that’s really hot named Guitar Jake Andrews. I just hope they all remember to be a kid. I remember I started playing when I was 13, then I was playing six or seven times a week by the time I was 14 and my dad used to take me to the gigs because I was too young. You’re 14, then all of a sudden you’re 30, and you didn’t play basketball and you didn’t go to the prom.

What was it like opening for Jimi Hendrix?

I was 16 or 17 and it was wonderful. It was great just seeing him, the whole thing. I remember some of the licks he played when he was plugging in his guitar and tuning up.

BE THERE

Jimmie Vaughan, the Blasters, Brian Setzer at the Santa Barbara County Bowl, 1122 Milpas St., Sunday, 4 p.m. $22-$36. (805) 962-7411.