Literature, Music & Cocktails at Roy’s

Join us at Roy for a singular Saturday night that weaves together memoir, music journalism, live performance, and the kind of honest conversation about creative life that you won't find anywhere else.

Two landmark panels — one tracing the wild origins of the magazine that changed American culture, the other mapping the long, winding road of three artists who refused to quit — are bookended by live performances from two remarkable musicians.

Whether you've been carrying Whole Wide World in your heart since 1977 or you're discovering these artists for the first time, this is an evening built for anyone who has ever loved a song, a story, or the stubborn beauty of a creative life lived on your own terms.

4:00 PM — Three, The Long Way Panel | 4:00 – 5:00 PM

The road is long — if we're lucky — and making art isn't always easy. Three artists who have each written memoirs sit down to map the long arc of a creative life. Bestselling novelist Joyce Maynard (At Home in the World, Labor Day, The Best of Us), singer/songwriter and memoirist Amy Rigby (Girl to City, Girl to Country), and British pop legend Wreckless Eric (Whole Wide World, A Dysfunctional Success) come together for a wide-ranging, deeply honest conversation about risk, identity, reinvention, and the coming-of-age moments that shape who we become — as artists and as human beings.

If you prefe, you can buy individual tickets to Three The Long Way, here.

5:15 PM — A Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Panel | 5:15 – 6:15 PM

What does it take to change the way a country thinks about music, culture, and journalism all at once? Following the publication of Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine, author and journalist Peter Richardson leads a lively, essential conversation about the scrappy, visionary, and often chaotic early days of the magazine that rewrote the rules — and what that era of fearless, gonzo storytelling means for music journalism today.

You can purchase individual tickets to A Brand New Beat here.

6:30 PM — Amy Rigby Live Performance | 6:30 – 7:15 PM

One of America's most enduring underground artists takes the stage. Raised in Pittsburgh and schooled in late '70s lower Manhattan — where she drummed in a no-wave band, formed the pre-Americana outfit Last Roundup, and launched a solo career with the cult classic Diary of a Mod Housewife — Amy Rigby has spent four decades writing songs that are equal parts heartbreak and wit, punk spirit and country soul. Called "one of America's greatest songwriters" by the Nashville Scene and praised by Thurston Moore and Steve Earle, she is also the author of two memoirs, Girl to City and Girl to Country. Tonight she plays live — and it's going to be something.

7:30 PM — Charlie Millard Live Performance | 7:30 – 8:15 PM

From Michigan's northern lower, Charlie Millard — keys, organ, and Rhodes bass, joined by guitarist Jercat Millard and percussionist Will Harris — closes out the evening with what audiences have called "small movies for the ears." Their Indie-Roll sound is warm, cinematic, and impossible to categorize in the best possible way. The perfect way to end a night built around stories and songs.

8:15 PM — Evening Concludes

This combination ticket includes admission to both panels and both live performances.

The Santa Barbara Literary Festival is a nonprofit organization dedicated to celebrating the craft of storytelling across genres. For the full festival schedule, visit santabarbaraliteraryfestival.org.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Santa Barbara Literary Festival