Ernie Lewis Brings a Lifetime of Bakersfield Country to Mystic

Ernie Lewis Brings a Lifetime of Bakersfield Country to Mystic Oct. 2, when a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with nearly five decades in music settles into Rocks 21 for an intimate solo acoustic show overlooking the Mystic waterfront.

Lewis performs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday at Rocks 21, on the grounds of the Inn at Mystic. It’s a considerably smaller setting than some of the stages that turn up on his résumé.

He has opened for Willie Nelson and Family, spent 28 years with a Southern California country band, played bluegrass and rockabilly at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace and today performs with Buck Owens’ youngest son.

And somewhere along the way, the Bakersfield musician wound up playing Friday night in Mystic.

From Bakersfield to Mystic

Lewis’ connection to California country music goes back to childhood.

Born at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he began picking out songs on his brother’s Harmony acoustic guitar before his family moved to Bakersfield, California, in 1966.

That’s an important place to land if you’re going to spend your life playing country music.

Bakersfield developed a harder-edged alternative to the polished country coming out of Nashville during the 1950s and ’60s. Artists including Buck Owens and Merle Haggard became synonymous with the Bakersfield Sound, which leaned heavily on electric guitars, prominent rhythm sections and honky-tonk influences.

Lewis eventually found himself working within that musical world.

In 1979, he joined the Honeybee Ridge Gang, a folk and bluegrass group led by Tom Hunnicutt. Among the group’s performances was an event hosted by Buck Owens.

When Honeybee Ridge disbanded in 1981, Lewis joined the Moosehead Band.

He stayed for the next 28 years.

Twenty-Eight Years With One Band

Moosehead took Lewis well beyond the local bar circuit.

In 1983, the group represented Southern California at the Seagram’s 7 Battle of the Bands in Nashville, finishing third.

Over its long run, Moosehead opened shows for John Anderson, Asleep at the Wheel, the Bellamy Brothers, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Baillie & the Boys.

Lewis also performed alongside musicians with direct ties to some of country’s best-known performers, including Roy Nichols and Mark Yeary of Merle Haggard and the Strangers and Alabama drummer Mark Herndon.

Moosehead finally ended its run in 2009.

Lewis went back to where much of his musical life had started: bluegrass.

Fiddle, Dobro, Rockabilly and Willie Nelson

Lewis joined Bakersfield bluegrass band Highway 65 in late 2009, playing fiddle and dobro and adding vocals.

Then came another turn.

From 2012 through 2015, he played with The Fruit Tramps, a Bakersfield rockabilly and Americana group that regularly performed at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, the music venue Owens opened in Bakersfield in 1996.

One of Lewis’ career highlights came when he and the musicians who would eventually become The Fruit Tramps were asked to open for Willie Nelson and Family.

It wasn’t his last connection to the Owens family, either.

Lewis later became part of Johnny Owens and the Bakersfield Sound. Johnny Owens is Buck Owens’ youngest son, and the group has worked to preserve and perform the music associated with his father and the larger Bakersfield tradition.

The band performed regularly at the Crystal Palace before the venue closed in August 2025.

He’s Still Making New Music

Lewis isn’t spending 2026 simply revisiting the music of his past.

His official site lists a new song, “Refusing to Fall Apart,” released Sept. 19, less than two weeks before the Mystic performance. It followed “A Laguna Sunset,” released Aug. 11.

His recorded work also reveals just how far his musicianship extends beyond acoustic guitar.

Lewis has played guitar, fiddle, dobro, mandolin, mountain dulcimer, harmonica, bass, piano and ukulele, among other instruments.

His recent recording “I Had a Neon Halo,” made with Zanne Zarow, even features Norm Hamlet on pedal steel guitar. Hamlet spent decades as a member of Merle Haggard’s band, adding another thread connecting Lewis’ current work to Bakersfield’s country heritage.

Lewis has also released the 20-song project Prodigal, featuring a large group of Bakersfield musicians and songs written by Lewis and Fidel Martinez.

So while Friday’s billing simply says “Ernie Lewis Solo Acoustic,” there’s considerably more musical history walking into Rocks 21 than those four words suggest.

A Waterfront Setting for an Acoustic Show

Rocks 21 sits at 3 Williams Avenue in Mystic, overlooking the water from the Inn at Mystic property.

The restaurant and bar regularly hosts live music, making the waterfront setting part of the experience rather than simply a backdrop.

Friday also creates an easy transition into the show. Rocks 21’s weekday happy hour runs from 3 to 6 p.m., followed just 30 minutes later by Lewis’ 6:30 start.

The restaurant serves a broad menu built around New England seafood and casual American fare, with a full bar and outdoor seating that takes advantage of the Mystic setting.

Lewis is scheduled to play until 8 p.m.

For someone unfamiliar with his name, this could easily look like another Friday evening acoustic set at a waterfront restaurant.

His history suggests listening a little more closely.

The musician with the guitar has spent nearly half a century moving through bluegrass, country, Americana and rockabilly, from Buck Owens’ Bakersfield orbit to a bandstand opening for Willie Nelson.

Friday night, that road leads to Mystic.

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

Details

Event: Ernie Lewis Solo Acoustic
Date: Friday, Oct. 2, 2026
Time: 6:30–8 p.m.
Venue: Rocks 21
Address: 3 Williams Avenue, Mystic, CT 06355
Artist: Ernie Lewis
Music: Acoustic country, Americana, bluegrass and rockabilly influences
Admission: No separate admission or cover charge is listed in the published event information
Food & Drinks: Full restaurant and bar service available
Happy Hour: Friday happy hour precedes the performance from 3–6 p.m.
Parking: Free on-site parking is available
Reservations: Restaurant reservations are available; no reservation requirement is published specifically for the performance
Event Confirmation: Both the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce and Rocks 21/Wicked Peach schedule list Lewis for Friday at 6:30 p.m.

 

 

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.