Chris Montez & Gary Busey rock Paso Robles

The town of Paso Robles California is rumbling with the power of rock 'n' roll as the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival rolled on this afternoon with a concert at the Silvester Winery featuring Chris Montez, Gary Busey, Diamond Dave Somerville and Sonny Curtis.

Yes, that Gary Busey, who will be at the screening of his Oscar-nominated turn in The Buddy Holly Story, followed by an exclusive preview of The Chris Montez Story doco from our pals at Frozen Pictures. The line-up was also a tribute marking the deaths of Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper fifty years ago: Montez was Valens' heir apparent, Busey played Holly and Somerville displayed a personality as big as the Bopper's).

Musician/producer Vic Germano and Chris Montez

Rock on...

Chris Montez movie previews Saturday at Paso Robles Digital Film Festival

The centers of the movie and music worlds come together this weekend in Paso Robles, California when the Paso Digital Film Festival features big time rock 'n' roll and a sneak preview of The Chris Montez Story, the new nonfiction film being produced by our pals at Frozen Pictures.

The Paso Robles festival (in the town where they made the movie Sideways), is in its second year and has already won a reputation as a rollicking and dead-serious gathering of hard-living heavy-hitters from film and music, with screenings, concerts, receptions and panel discussions, with a special emphasis on music, digital filmmaking and children’s rights issues.

While Clint Eastwood was on hand last year, this weekend's lineup includes Luke Perry, Gary Busey, Kathleen Quinlan and Ken Kragen (executive producer of “We Are the World”), among others.


As for the music, Chris Montez will be performing Saturday afternoon with Gary Busey and former Buddy Holly sideman Sonny Curtis, followed by a screening of the preview of El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story.

Busey, of course, was a star of Frozen Pictures' 2006 feature film comedy, Cloud 9, written and produced by Brett Hudson and Burt Kearns along with their pal, Academy Award®-winning (The Godfather, Million Dollar Baby) producer Albert S. Ruddy.

The festival runs tomorrow through Tuesday at various locations throughout Paso Robles. For more information, call 323-850-8919 or visit the festival website.