By Jana Saastad
Lodi Living Editor

Lodi will shake, rattle, and rock ‘n’ roll Sept. 19-22.

But don’t look to the sky, it won’t be a fast plane, it won’t be a train, and no, it probably won’t be the San Andreas fault erupting. But it could be the guitar wails and high-pitched yells that are emanating from the Lodi Grape Festival and Harvest Fair.

With a line-up of energetic and top notch musicians scheduled, you can blame the loud and rhythmic sound on the boogie.

The bands scheduled to perform at the annual event range from British Invasion alumni Eric Burdon & the New Animals; Freddy Fender, who might be Mexico’s answer to Elvis Presley; up-and-coming alternative rock band Flying Blind; and blues from Sacramento’s Little Charlie & The Nightcats.

But that’s not all. Funk is in full bloom when the Nathan Owens Sounds of Motown hit the stage. The nattily dressed revue band straight from the glittery heart of Vegas. Not to be out-kitsched, Double Funk Crunch presents an outrageous ode to the ’70s.

B93 FM radio of Modesto will showcase five regional alternative/metal/pop bands including UVR, Picnic, Waterneck, Honeyspot and Nu-Clear. Mick Martin & The Blues Rockers revisit the fairgrounds with their white man blues repertoire. And a Day of Hispanic music will feature five Latin bands.: Los Amos de Nuevo Leon, Espirito Norteno, Grupo n Contendo, Cerlas Musical, and Gintanos.

Here’s a behind-the-music look at some of the artists.

Eric Burdon & the New Animals

Once the frontman for The Animals and War, Eric Burdon still vigorously tours the world plying his trade at festivals, fairs and small nightclubs.

His music is a passionate display of rhythm and blues; his showmanship is powerful. And he is a living, breathing rock and roll icon.

Burdon, born in Newcastle, England, came up with the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds and other British Invasion bands in 1964-65. His band, the Animals had a dozen U.S. hits including traditional folk number “House of the Rising Sun,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” and “We Gotta Get Out of This Place.”

Burdon had the luck of performing at the historical and highly documented Monterey International Pop Festival. The band played era defining songs “San Franciscan Nights” and “Paint it Black.” They went on to perform the fiercely anti-war song “Sky Pilot.”

When the Animals disbanded, Burdon created War, who are known for “Tobacco Road,” and the worldwide hit “Spill the Wine.”

Burdon continued to record with a variety of blues and R&B musicians, and new incarnations of The Animals after War split in the early ’70s. The Animals recorded a handful of albums and disbanded for good in 1983.

Freddy Fender

What a long, strange trip it’s been for Tex-Mex artist Freddy Fender whose four-decade music career includes residing on the heights of Billboard charts, recording a McDonald’s ditty and time spent in jail.

Born in Baldemar Huerta, Texas, his career began humbly when he won a singing contest in the early ’50s. Soon, he won favor with music fans in Mexico and South America with his Spanish versions of “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “Jamaica Farewell.”

In 1960, his prophetic “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” became a national hit in the U.S. It was a few months later when the budding star was sentenced to prison for possession of marijuana cigarettes. The next 14 years saw Fender working as an automotive mechanic, junior college student and all the while, honing his musical skills, particularly in the R&B and Cajun-funk genres.

His luck changed in 1975 when “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” went No. 1 on the Billboard chart. A remake of “Wasted Days,” followed suit and went No. 1 the following year. Billboard named him the Best Male Artist of 1975.

Flying Blind

The Flying Blind story is the classic local-band-gets-signed-to-a-major-label tale. The Hughson-based band consisted of five high school friends playing classic rock covers for the fun of it and out of love for the art form.

That was in the early ’90s. Toward the end of the decade, the band had matured and had begun playing original tunes. The band released a self-produced album, “Push,” which became a top seller in the Modesto/Stockton/Sacramento area.

Little Charlie & The Nightcats

Move over James Brown, Little Charlie and The Nightcats have become the hardest working men in show business. The tavern band has been playing electric urban blues on the West coast for a quarter century and show no signs of slowing down.

Formed by guitarist Charlie Baty and singer/harmonica player Rick Estrin, the band has spent time in the studio as well recording eight titles, including recent release “That’s Big.”

Nathan Owens Sounds of Motown

Relive the heyday of Motown with this explosive six-piece band. Bedecked in glittery suits, the band pulls off the soulful sounds of Smoky Robinson, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Sam and Dave and The Imperials flawlessly.

Predictably, the band gigs regularly throughout the Nevada Casino circuit, but travels the extensively during the summer months to bring a little bit of urban funk to suburbia. When Nathan Owens and the group hit the stage it’s with a thunder. If audience members are dancing, they’re at the very least toe tapping and singing along with the familiar tunes.

Lydia Pense and Cold Blood

Pense is Bay Area blues icon who spent the early days of her career rubbing elbows with Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia and Bill Graham. All these years later, the petite blonde continues to play the blues circuit and headlines an assortment of fairs and festivals.

Pense is backed up by Cold Blood, a seven-piece band whose members are music stars in their own rights (drummer Chris Sandoval is formerly of The Tubes and has performed with Greg Allman and Bonnie Raitt; Robert Zuckerman, saxophone, toured with Dizzy Gillipsie and the Temptations).

Lydia Pense’s voice is at once sultry and powerful. With the band, she astutely pulls off blues, R&B and rock numbers.

Mick Martin & The Blues Rockers

Mick Martin is the embodiment of blues music. Yes, he’s a white guy from Sacramento and that does not fit the stereo-type image painted in most minds.

But Martin sings and plays a blues harmonica like no other.

It comes as no surprise that Mick and the boys are one of the biggest musical attractions in Sacramento as well as bona fide stars in England.

Martin’s allegiance to the blues isn’t limited to playing; he’s a bit of scholar on the subject as such he hosts a weekly blues show on Sacramento’s KXJZ 88.9 FM. He plays the gamut of blues on his show ranging from revivalist Jimi Hendrix to old school men such as Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson.

As for the band, they play original tunes with a few standards thrown in for good measure.

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