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Berkley Hart
Jeff BerkleyThe son of a traveling evangelist, Jeff Berkley grew up in Southern California, playing drums in alternative rock bands. After high school, he discovered the African djembe, which he combined with cymbals to create a bare-handed style of percussion that is uniquely his own. Before long, he was playing regularly in San Diego coffee houses and clubs with the likes of Jewel, Steve Poltz and The Rugburns, and Gregory Page; as well as entertaining thousands alongside folk circuit fixtures like Joel Rafael, Tom Prasada-Rao, Johnsmith and Don Conoscenti. All the while, however, he was playing guitar and writing his own music; and in 1998 he came out from behind his drum to perform his songs in a band which included fellow singer/songwriters Dani Carroll, John Katchur, and future partner Calman Hart. In the spring of 1999, Berkley won the prestigious New Folk Songwriter Competition in Kerrville Texas, past winners of which include Lyle Lovett, Shawn Colvin, Jerry Jeff Walker, Hal Ketchum and Nancy Griffith. Not long after, Berkley officially teamed up with Hart, and the duo Berkley Hart was born.
Calman HartCalman Hart was born at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Woods Cross City Utah on Christmas Eve. He began playing guitar and writing songs while still in high school, and worked through college playing in clubs across Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho, before finally putting down roots in San Diego. There, in 1992, his first album "Red-Eyed & Blue" won him the Best New Artist honors at the San Diego Music Awards. His second album "Train in the Distance", recorded with Bil Vorndick (producer of Alison Krauss' grammy-winning "I've Got that Old Feeling") and Nashville greats Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, David Grier and Roy Husky Jr., also met with critical success. In the mid-nineties, he fell in with the emerging San Diego coffee house scene, making the rounds with artists such as Jewel, Steve Poltz, Gregory Page, Dave Howard and John Katchur. It was during this time that he met percussionist Jeff Berkley, whose djembe made a prominent appearance on Hart's third album "The John Boy Drum" in 1998. One of the first to coax Berkley into the spotlight as a singer/songwriter, Hart soon began gigging regularly with him. While writing together in the summer of 1999, the seeds for "Wreck N' Sow" were planted, and the two officially joined forces as Berkley Hart.
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Shawn Rohlf and The Seventh Day Buskers
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Robin Henkel
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Sara Petite
Sara Petite is a headlining Outlaw Country performer whose music transcends the genre's boundaries. Sara has built an award-winning career with songs that draw from both the rock & roll roadhouse as they do the honky-tonk.
Born and raised in the countryside of Sumner, Washington, her rural youth helped shaped her songwriting, which often incorporates pedal steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin.
Currently residing in San Diego Sara has released 7 albums, her most recent “The Empress” was awarded Best Americana Album at the 2024 San Diego Music Awards. Hers is a raw, rough-edged version of American roots music, delivered by a 10 time San Diego Music Awards Winner and five-time International Songwriting Competition finalist who's spent nearly two decades calling her own shots.
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Kimmi Bitter
Creating a buzz from her grassroots efforts and vigorous touring, her debut album “Old School” hit the ground running in 2024 landing at #24 on the Americana Album Radio Chart with “My Grass is Blue” debuting on the Americana Single Radio Chart as a Top 40. Bitter is a testament that classic country never goes out of style. This ain't your typical Nashville sound. "Old School" is a love letter to the country's golden age, with a healthy dose of reverb-drenched twang, rock-n-roll swagger, and a touch of California psychedelia thrown in for good measure.
Tracks like "My Grass is Blue" are tear-jerkin' ballads that have grown comparisons of time when Patsy Cline and The Jordanaires overtook radiowaves. Saving Country Music called it "solid country gold," nominating it for Single of the Year alongside the likes of Charley Crockett, Zach Bryan, and Sierra Ferrell. Though driving her career independently, Bitter is no stranger to building up her accolades. Her album “Old School” has garnered three separate song nominations to date. In 2024, single “Aquamarine” took home Song of the Year at the San Diego Music Awards alongside fellow nominees Jason Mraz, P.O.D., Slightly Stoopid, and Thee Sacred Souls. She's a San Diego Music Award winner for Best Country/Americana Artist, with "My Grass is Blue" snagging a Song of the Year nod in 2023. Regarding her live performance, she was notably coined one of the "biggest musical takeaways" at Nashville's most recent Americanafest. In addition, her breakout album also skyrocketed to #1 on the Alt. Country Specialty Charts.
On the road, Kimmi is backed by her touring band, The Westside Twang. Comprised of both decade-long bandmates Willis Farnsworth (guitar) and Ben Neal (bass), and the newly added Justin De la Vega (drums). With his ability to make the Gretsch guitar emulate pedal steel and his signature “‘verbed up and twanged out" tone, Farnsworth has garnered stans of his own. Driven by a hyper-obsession for the 1960s, Kimmi Bitter and her band create a captivating soundscape that blends classic country with surf rock, psychedelic twangs, and a touch of mod flair.
If you're hankerin' for some country croonin' with a swinging sixties twist, then Kimmi Bitter is the real deal. Often found hustling the highways, you can find Kimmi and her band touring throughout all corners of the United States.