Petaluma festival led by All-Star band

Miles Schon is not only following the steps of his famous father, he is Following Ghosts. The son of Neal Schon, guitarist of Journey, Miles Schon distanced himself from the guitar as a youngster because he didn’t want to be compared to his dad. Instead while growing up for many years in Petaluma, he excelled in sports. Eventually he could not deny his love of the guitar and his natural talent soared.

“You have all of the insecurities of having a famous parent do the same thing,” Schon said. “But then you become comfortable with yourself. You have the same DNA, so it is natural to be compared. I love my dad’s playing and love my dad, but I want people to hear me for me.”

According to Schon, he always enjoyed sitting in with his dad on stage with Journey, and it would be cool when his father would hand him his guitar and let him rip on stage but what more appeals to Schon is not playing with the band, but spending one-on-one time with his dad. He admits missing him as a child, while he toured extensively so that time together on stage became more like father and son bonding, versus playing to thousands of Journey fans.

Lead in The Miles Schon Band, he has many guitars he switches out but his favorite is a Les Paul his father gave him. He also plays ukulele.

Recently he was jamming with friend Danny Thompson. The pair originally met through a keyboard tech with Journey and one of the bands Thompson tours with. Thompson began sitting in with The Miles Schon Band, when he was not on the road with The Alan Parsons Project or Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts as their famous drummer. The pair decided to form a new band and focus on a new sound as well as their well-known covers.

Schon explains he had become fascinated with the old blues Texas sound with two lead guitars. Thompson and Schon in the last few months started building the new band with MK, the founder of The Blue Man Group. Because of time constraints MK recently pulled out, so the pair will be joined on stage by bassist Ben Burleigh, who plays regularly with Schon, and well-known Bay Area vocalist David Vincent.

Following Ghosts’ appearance at the festival will be the first time these musicians will play their new material, as well as well-known cover songs. Extra special guest star will be Adam Lasher. The bassist, who is the nephew of Carlos Santana, received most of his current fame from his performances on American Idol. He is currently featured on the second season of NBC’s The Voice. Living in Southern California, Lasher will not be a regular member of the new band, but Schon hopes he will perform when possible with Following Ghosts.

“It’s hard to find time in all of our busy schedules,” Schon says.

Following Ghosts will be singing Journey, Alan Parsons and Scott Weiland songs (including Stone Temple Pilots, Weiland’s original band), as well as Lasher and Miles Schon’s originals. They will be on the main stage at “B” and Fourth Street near the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum from 3 to 5 p.m.

Crowd favorites Zebop! are returning, performing from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. The Santana tribute band has performed seven years at the festival and never fails to have people dancing in the street. Zebop! was named for the 1981 Santana album of the same name.

Saffell played last year on the acoustic stage with his well-known trio, but moves this year to the main stage, performing from noon to 1:15 p.m. The band recently released its new album The ‘Devil’s On The Radio,’ The Petaluma-based indie soulful band is led by Saffell Sproul, the multi-faceted vocalist and pianist and band namesake, who wrote all the music and lyrics on the new 12-track recording.

Bobby Jo Valentine opens the festival, performing from 11 to 11:50 a.m. The singer-songwriter sings about himself and writes about his life experiences. The Bay Area is chock-full of musicians, who dub themselves as singer-songwriters, but Valentine, a resident of Petaluma, recently received recognition because of a new documentary film: “Bobby Jo: Journey of a Singer-Songwriter.” He will be joined on stage by Sean England from The Grain.

A second stage, sponsored by Ray’s Deli & Tavern, is located in front of the “A” Street parking lot and presents acoustic music from local musicians. Chris Newton will perform from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Lisa Stano follows from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. with Granula taking the stage until 4 p.m. Mad Marmalade wraps it up from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m.