Don’t call him an outlaw. He’s never been part of the Nashville machine and probably never will.

He’s an Outlier; far away from the Mother Church of Country music and 300 miles north of the ghosts of Bakersfield.

A third generation son of the Bear Republic, he hangs his hat on the rack under Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Billy Joe Shaver, Buck Owens and Kris Kristofferson.

He sings of drinkin’ and good times, drinkin’ and sad times, of dreams lost and hopes found; love, lust, whiskey and wine.

From the Honky Tonks, the Bar Rooms, coffee houses and tasting rooms, Benton Vaughan’s songs and charisma are captivating and entertaining . All are welcome, especially outliers.

Mark Dennis has played in several bands in the Sonoma music scene for 30 years. He was a co-founder of the Gig Jung Band, a popular dance band in Sonoma for many years. He has the great pleasure of playing in Duos with Sue Albano and Jenni Purcell. He had a lot of fun playing with Oscar Mooneyhan in the Beatles cover band, Rubber S o u l. He is now enjoying playing in a power Trio, MaMaMa, with Mark Wilson and Mario Ramirez. He is also currently the the guitar accompanist and musical director of the men's vocal group, Voices in My Head. Is the founder and musical director of sonomas rock and roll choir, Vox Populi.

"Since entering the music scene in 2019, Sonoma native Max Schimm has collaborated with a number of established local acts, as well as played occasional solo performances. Having a passion for all things rock n’ roll, Schimm draws on influences all the way from 60’s psychedelia to modern rock.  

Most recently, he has found his home in a 5-piece tribute act to The Doors, known as “Strange Daze” (Cliff Zyskowski, keys; Davo Farrell, guitar; John Arntz, bass; Michael Gay, drums). Schimm fronts the band with the task of filling in the velvet shoes of the Lizard King himself, the late Jim Morrison, while the band produces faithful renditions of The Doors’ iconic music."

Clementine Darling is an Americana Folk Singer-Songwriter with her heels dug deep in San Francisco Bay Area’s music scene. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Darling busked her way down the West Coast in 2010, on a road trip that led her to put down roots in Sonoma County, California. The two locals influenced her debut 11:11 EP and subsequent Live At The Lost Church— a collection of introspective songs and soulful ballads, with undertones of Seattle 90’s grunge.

In May 2023, Darling released her third independent album Bootstraps EP, a collection of songs that spin a tail of overcoming, hope, and chasing dreams on horseback. Darling has found her confident, soulful voice playing music all around the Bay Area, and at festivals including The Emerald Cup, sharing the bill with Margo Price and Rising Appalachia, SXSW, Railroad Square Music Festival and Balanced BreakFEST.

As a story teller Adam Traum wraps his catchy hooks with infectious grooves. His songs have a consistent verve, which reflects his belief in music as an essential element of the human experience. The material Adam writes evokes images of an Americana landscape spinning tales of love, heartbreak, beauty and the occasional observational diatribe. When he performs live Adam brings his sunny disposition and genuine love of playing music to the stage. His tasteful instrumental chops and relaxed but powerful voice are a great compliment to his well-crafted songs. 

The rootstock of Traum's music germinated in the fertile ground of the Catskill Mountains. He was raised in a musical family in Woodstock, New York, with a front row seat to music history. His passion for music was enhanced by going to many festivals and shows in his formative years. As an aspiring guitarist Traum was always welcome to pick along at jam sessions with family friends, many of whom happened to be musical luminaries. 

Traum regularly raided his father's record collection listening to the masters of electric blues, country and folk in addition to regular doses of rock albums he got at the local record store. He would spend hours playing along and figuring out his favorite riffs. Thanks to the time spent exploring these musical avenues, he became a well-rounded musician able to nimbly shift between genres.

After tenures in several rock bands as a young musician, Traum found the truth, beauty and honesty in the roots music he was raised around. One year at MerleFest in North Carolina, he had a musical epiphany after seeing Tony Rice play guitar. No gimmicks, no effects: just wood and steel! It was music made by people, for people. The authenticity of that performance is the benchmark he continually strives for whether playing acoustic or electric music.

In addition to being a busy performer, Adam is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and active music educator with several popular videos on Homespun Music Instruction. his band Wolf Run is completing their debut album, and has a more electrified sound while still holding fast to his musical sensibilities. Go to wolfrun.net to hear songs from their upcoming release.

David Aguilar is an accomplished rhythm & blues/slide guitarist. He has been featured on many recordings with such artists as Lester Chambers, Norton Buffalo, Roy Blumenfeld, the late Johnny Salz as well as soundtracks in film. David performed and toured with the late harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo and wife Lisa Flores for 9+ years as part of the Norton Buffalo and Friends trio. David is a current member of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Barry “The Fish” Melton Band, The Aguilar Blumenfeld Project and The Tudo Bem Band and other musical configurations. He recently partnered with his good friend Lester Chambers on Lester’s recent CD release “Tribute to Jimmy Reed Vol 1”. David thoroughly enjoyed interpreting and performing on this project and has been given the honor of being Lester’s musical director for the follow up Jimmy Reed Vol 2 & 3 and Lester’s Legacy recordings.

David has shared the stage with numerous artists including Bo Diddley, Lester Chambers (Chambers Brothers), David and Linda LaFlamme (It’s A Beautiful Day), Rich Kirch (John Lee Hooker), Cliff Hugo (Ray Charles), Sonny Rhodes, Lowell Levinger aka “Banana” and others. The late Sam Andrews (original member of Big brother and the Holding Company) said it best: “David Aguilar plays with everyone. He put in some years with Norton Buffalo and they made a couple of ferocious CDs. Dave plays with Big Brother and the Holding Company and he’s a joy to work with onstage.” Following is also an excerpt from a “Sundays with Sam” interview with David regarding his love/mastery of improvising: “I feel that improvising is an intuitive kind of process based on all the musical genres/influences and tricks that one uses as they develop their own signature sound and tonality, that is at least what I have tried to do. I also feel that we still can find improvisational nuggets as we continue to play and hopefully can remember them! I like enjoying the moment when those events occur!”

David provided sound reinforcement for the Sonoma Valley Jazz Society and Sebastaini Theatre for over 25 years. He was recognized as Sonoma Treasure Artist of the Year 2013 for his musical talents and community contributions to the City of Sonoma. Among David’s favorite pastimes is not only playing the guitar but building custom guitars as well.

Jenni is a singer/songwriter who spends her days riding wild horses and her nights singing about them. She cut her teeth on Showtunes, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah McLachlan and continues to be influenced and inspired by blues, country and rock goddesses like Etta James, Bonnie Raitt and Miranda Lambert. Like the true Gemini that she is, you never know what genre she’ll indulge in next but her goal is always to give you the feels and share the medicine that music is.

Sonoma singer-songwriter Randy Burrows loves a story, especially one that has a melody, a few clever rhymes and lasts 3-5 minutes. Hitting on themes both personal and universal, his songs can be irreverent, wry, tongue-in-cheek, confessional, sometimes sad, and always - he hopes - familiar. He writes about his childhood antics, parochial school experience, early heartbreak and adult heartache.  He comments on contemporary life, romance gone wrong, excess and repentance, mortality, obsession,  and more. His style is most often compared to his songwriting heroes: John Prine, Robert Earl Keen, Todd Snider, Guy Clark. 
Randy is a native and lifelong Northern Californian. He performs his original tunes throughout  the greater Sonoma area,  both solo and as part  of the duo, “A Donkey & An Ass,” with virtuouso multi-instrumentalist, Josh Yenne. 

Third Rail is a Country, Rock and Americana cover band showcasing stellar three part harmonies and excellent musicianship. They currently play a variety of venues and events, from wineries to private functions, singing current country favorites along with popular standards. With the tagline ‘on the edge of country’ they bring a rockin’ edge to country, playing as both an acoustic trio as well as a full dance band.

Tim Curley: Guitar and Vocals

*early early fan of folk music, i.e. The Rooftop Singers

*Beatles on Ed Sullivan. The bug bit me hard.

*the acoustic guitars of the Beatles, coupled with the folk thing, opened the LA folk/rock sound of the '70's...

*Grateful Dead major influence

*Dylan, Springfield, the Band...a zillion other influences

*stumbled across country music in 1975...found Gram Parsons...another door blown open

*Playing guitars (poorly) with friends starting in 1972...

*never sang into a mic until my first sing along at Prestwood School in 1995.

*Met Gary Halter in 1996-ish and began playing a little more seriously.

*first Cork Puller gig in 2006 (?)

*Long Story Short 2017

Bo O’Hara: Bass and Vocals.

Started playing bass at 12 years old. Played with several different bands and styles throughout the Bay Area including Rock, bluegrass, swing and classical as part of school orchestra. Joined the Cork Pullers around 2012 (?) Currently playing bass and singing background vocals with the Cork Puller’s and the Fabulous O’Hara Brothers in Sonoma

Gary Halter: Guitar and vocals

Gave up accordion lessons and bought my first guitar (nylon strings) at about 13. Always an acoustic player. Just bedroom playing or with a couple of friends. Started folky (8th grade hootenannys!) Peter, Paul & Mary, Dylan, etc. Only started doing real public gigs with Cork Pullers. Also play with O’Hara brothers and solo at Harvey’s.