The Beat Farmers to Play Ojai Deer Lodge

More than 40 Years Since they Formed, San Diego’s Beat Farmers Still Find a Reason to Believe

The Band to Play First Show Ever in Ojai December 14

San Diego Americana legends, The Beat Farmers, will be hitting the road and heading up north in December to play four dates that will end with a show on Sunday, December 14th at the Deer Lodge in Ojai, CA.

The first time that The Beat Farmers played a run of reunion shows in Northern California was in September of 2023 and was a great success. This will mark the first time ever that the band has played in Ojai. The surviving members of the classic 80s and 90s Beat Farmers’ line-up, Jerry Raney, Joey Harris and Rolle Love, along with drummer Joel “Bongo” Kmak, are very excited about playing at the Deer Lodge and are very excited to add Ojai as a tour stop on what will be their fourth Northern California run.

The Beat Farmers were a big part of the 1980s Roots Rock/Americana movement that included Los Lobos, The Blasters, Lone Justice and Rank & File, to name a few, and are continuously mentioned as a major influence on many of the acts on the current American scene.

They officially broke up in 1995, following the untimely death of drummer Country Dick Montana, who died on stage in British Columbia, Canada during a Beat Farmers show. They eventually formed their own bands that play regularly in and around the San Diego area, but there was always a constant demand by the fans for a Beat Farmers reunion.

The demand to reunite became so great that they started having an annual reunion event every January in San Diego called The Beat Farmers Hootenanny, which would bring the band back together for one night to do a classic Beat Farmers set and would also include a variety of guest performers. This annual reunion led to an invitation from the popular Sirius/XM Radio Outlaw Country channel, to be a part of their Outlaw Country Cruise, which included a who’s who of classic Americana bands and artists. They have since done a total of four Outlaw Country Cruises and will do a fifth in February.

What always set The Beat Farmers apart from any other band was (and still is) their amazing, take no prisoners, live show. It was these early shows that got them signed to their first record deal with Rhino Records that resulted in their 1985 classic debut album, Tales Of The New West. Tales Of The New West was reissued in 2021 and received one of the Top Reissues of the Year honors by the New York Times.