Last Chance for One805LIVE! Tix

The first three One805LIVE! Rock for First Responders benefit concerts at Kevin Costner’s Summerland-Carpinteria estate – created to continue to support the first responders of Santa Barbara County in the aftermath of the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flows – were smashing successful affairs. Past artists have included P!NK as You+Me, Maroon 5, John Fogerty, Kevin Costner, Kenny Loggins, Alan Parsons, Joe Bonamassa, Danny Seraphine of Chicago, Elliot Easton of The Cars, and Costner’s band, among many others. 

But if you take a closer look at the roster of artists who have appeared at the annual concert, they all have something in common. Every single one either lives in the area, from Carpinteria to Santa Ynez Valley, so has a stake in supporting the local fire and police departments, or they reside somewhere in the Los Angeles environs, and are very familiar with Santa Barbara and/or have experienced wildfire and other disasters where our local heroes were among the responders. 

That’s why the 2025 Rock for First Responders, slated for this Saturday, September 20, is something of a departure. The headliner is Trisha Yearwood, the country music superstar who lives in Georgia and Nashville. Yearwood has won three Grammy Awards, multiple CMA and ACM honors, and sold more than 15 million albums worldwide. 

But what she hasn’t done is performed live in Santa Barbara.

“This year, I wanted to get artists that we’ve never seen before here and bring them to our show,” explained Kirsten Cavendish Weston-Smith, cofounder and CEO of One805, who has been behind the scenes booking the talent for the fundraiser since the start. “I really thought that we needed to switch things up.” 

The key, of course, was persuading someone with no connection to the area to come and perform the one-shot show, albeit one for a good cause. 

That last part is the key, Weston-Smith said. 

“The phrase ‘first responders’ means something on the planet,” she said. “Most of these artists have a big desire to give back, and they’re willing to help raise money to support this cause even if it’s not in their own backyard.” 

Yearwood was the perfect country artist to perform at this year’s concert as a representative of the genre, Weston-Smith said. 

“Country has become very hip everywhere, and from what we’re about, there’s something rather wonderful about country music just in the simplicity of the way that they use the narrative. Trisha is country rock, she’s party time, and she sings songs that have a lot of empathy. She hits on a lot of buttons.” 

Yearwood is just one of the artists performing at this year’s concert that represent a younger generation than most of the bands and singers and previous show. 

“We’ve this wealth of yacht rock on this coast,” Weston-Smith said. “They’re all great, but they’re also somewhat saturated in the area. And we’re also trying to reach a little bit of a younger demographic.” 

That was a sudden realization at last year’s One805Live! show when a first responder turned to her during Kenny Loggins’ set and said, “My grandfather used to listen to this.” 

So this year’s concert also features Good Charlotte, who have scored several multi-platinum anthemic hits; alternative rockers The Fray, whose breakout single “How to Save a Life” appeared several times on episodes of the TV series Grey’s Anatomy, surf-rocker Donavon Frankenreiter, and special guest DJ Bad Ash. While the Kings of Chaos (with Sammy Hagar, Kevin Cronin, Nuno Bettencourt, and Matt Sorum) had to pull out, Motown legend Thelma Houston (“Don’t Leave Me This Way”) and board member and music supervisor Alan Parsons were added, as was previous performer Elliot Easton of The Cars. 

Also on the bill: John Kay, the Montecito-based founder of Steppenwolf, who will perform the signature ‘60s hit “Born to Be Wild” and “Magic Carpet Ride.” 

As always, funds are earmarked to directly support first responders throughout Santa Barbara County by funding vital equipment, training, and mental health resources. 

Those local heroes will get a different sort of honor on site this year, said Richard Weston-Smith, Kirsten’s husband and co-founder of One805. 

“Every year, we have about 400 first responders in the audience with their spouses or partners, but nobody knows who they are,” he explained. “So we came up with this idea to give them glow sticks on lanyards when they arrive, and then they’ll all crack them open to activate them at dusk. Suddenly all of these lanyards will glow red all through the audience.” 

For details and tickets, visit www.one805.org