West Sonoma County’s Monte Rio Variety Show was a little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll Thursday evening, as emcee country music star Kix Brooks led a star-studded lineup in the 113th iteration of the show.
More than 1,900 people packed their lawn chairs into the Monte Rio Amphitheater and enthusiastically watched performers including folk star Livingston Taylor (brother of James Taylor), who sung the national anthem, opera singer Arturo Chacon-Cruz and comedian and musician Gary Mule Deer.
The lineup is famously kept secret until performers hit the stage.
“It was one for the history books,” said show organizer Michele McDonell, who added that the attendance and money raised from this year’s show, produced by the Bohemian Club, exceeded last year.
Beneficiaries include St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church in Monte Rio, as well as the Monte Rio Fire Services Foundation and the Monte Rio School Foundation. McDonell said that preliminary figures indicate the event will be able to donate close to $50,000 to each organization, up from approximately $46,000 last year.
The evening included a four-song tribute to the late Jimmy Buffett, who performed at the show in 2019 and 2022, that featured Brooks, Tim Hufffman, Bob Di Piero, and Hardy Hemphill. The tribute concluded with all four artists performing Buffett’s 1977 hit “Margaritaville.” Buffett died in 2023 at age 76.
Other performers included veteran R&B star Billy Valentine, country music singer Steve Wariner, Americana artist Travis Howard, crooner Bobby Vickers also known as Bud E. Luv, and jazz guitarist Brian Nova.
Monte Rio Fire Services Foundation hosted a barbecue dinner for $20 once gates opened at 4:30 p.m. and sold out of 500 dinners. Beer and wine was sold for $10 per glass, and $40 per bottle of wine. Guerneville’s Stumptown Brewery and Santa Rosa’s Cooperage Brewing Co. donated beer. Several local wineries donated wine, including Santa Rosa’s Balletto Vineyards and Trecini Winery, and Sebastopol’s Freeman Winery, McDonell said.
Brooks, who has performed at the event several times since 2018, also led a raffle drawing, handing out gift certificates to local restaurants and businesses and an always-popular prize basket full of Jelly Bellys. Raffle tickets were one for $5, three for $10, and eight for $20. The event also raised funds through an online auction that featured locally made art, desserts and tickets to next year’s show.
The Monte Rio Variety Show will return on July 24, 2025.
For more information, go to monterioshow.com.
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