Arts and culture of Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield and surrounding Kern County have long been used as a major "on-site" filming location.
Starting with Opportunity and a Million Acres, in 1913, hundreds of movies, and countless television shows and commercials, have been at least partly filmed in the county.
These include: agricultural land, flat valley, rolling hills, steep mountains, deserts, and rural communities.
[2] Although Bakersfield (and the surrounding area) has long been a draw for movie filming, the city has often been portrayed humorously or negatively in motion pictures.
Bakersfield has its share of notable "native-born" musicians, including Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard, renowned jazz pianist David Benoit, Hall of Fame guitarist Bill Aken (one of the founding members of 'The Wrecking Crew' inducted into the Musician's Hall of Fame in 2008), country music artist Buck Owens, American Latin jazz musician Louie Cruz Beltran, and sacred music composer and performer Gloria Roe.
[4] In the 1950s and 1960s, local musicians such as Bill Woods, Tommy Collins, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and Wynn Stewart developed a streamlined country music style called the Bakersfield sound, which emphasized pedal steel guitar, the Fender Telecaster electric guitar and intense vocals.
The Buck Owens Crystal Palace is a respected concert venue, regularly featuring new recording artists as well as established country music stars.
Buddy Alan (Buck's eldest son) performs with The Buckaroos (Doyle Curtsinger, Jim Shaw, Terry Christoffersen and David Wulfekuehler) regularly.
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards collaborated extensively on writing the song and it was recorded in late 1977.
In the early 1990s, a group of friends from the lower and middle-class parts of Northeast and East Bakersfield formed the band Korn.
[6] Hart Park in Northeast Bakersfield was the site for a proposed 20,000-seat amphitheater, referred to as the Kern County Bowl.
It includes: flat land, rolling hills, steep mountains, and deserts (the same draw for the motion picture industry).
They include: Beale Memorial Clock Tower, Bakersfield Sign, Mill Creek covered bridge, Buck Owens Crystal Palace, and the Fox Theater.
The Ovation Theatre performs small, intimate productions, also located in the Arts District, downtown.
Gaslight Melodrama performs melodramatic locally produced productions which typically require audience participation.
In the commercial areas, popular styles include: Second Renaissance, Mission, Art Deco, and Spanish Revival.
[12] Historically, government buildings were constructed in the Beaux-arts style, but most were destroyed in the 1952 earthquake, or heavily remolded in the mid 20th Century.
[13] Other ethnic populations have resulted in a large collection of Mexican, and Asian restaurants (including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean).
