Boomer stars John Fogerty and Steve Miller join C&W artist Toby Keith at Sonoma Music Fest, Oct. 7 - 9

John Fogerty will play to centerfield, Steve Miller will fly like an eagle and Toby Keith will fulfill his longing to be a cowboy on the Field of Dreams stage during the 30th anniversary Sonoma Music Festival, to be held Oct. 7 to 9 in Sonoma.

The classic rock festival, founded and run by rock entrepreneur Bruce Cohn and for many years held at his former Glen Ellen winery, moved inside Sonoma city limits last year, in a three-day series of concerts featuring Ringo Starr among others.

This year’s festival will again be held at Sonoma’s Field of Dreams just north of the Sonoma Plaza. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member John Fogerty will headline on Friday, Oct. 7; the Saturday, Oct. 8 concert will feature ‘70s hit-maker Steve Miller; and Sunday, Oct. 9 will close out with country star Toby Keith.

“I wanted to make the 30th year special,” said Cohn. “I think everyone’s going to be happy. They’ll hear more hits in the weekend than they can count.”

Headlining the show on Friday is Fogerty, who has never before played in Sonoma. Fogerty is one of popular music’s most respected singer-songwriters. He earned massive success in the 1960s as the leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, with whom he wrote such rock staples as “Proud Mary,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Green River” and “Fortunate Son.”

He still sports a sound all his own, with a solo career that’s blended equal parts blues, country, rockabilly, swamp boogie, and Southern-fried rock ‘n’ roll. Among his solo hits are the rollicking “The Old Man Down the Road,” “Rock and Roll Girls” and the baseball anthem, “Centerfield.”

Saturday brings the Steve Miller Band to the stage; it’s been 10 years since they last played Sonoma, when Jazz Plus was in town. A former blues guitarist – his band backed up Chuck Berry at the Fillmore during the 1960s – Miller struck gold with a series of cleverly-written, mildly psychedelic hits in the 1970s like “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Abracadabra,” “Jet Airliner” and “The Joker.” The self-described “space cowboy” was inducted as part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2016 class.

Sunday will feature country music superstar Toby Keith, a departure of sorts for the classic-rock oriented Sonoma Music Festival. From his early album “Boomtown” in 1993 to his newest, “35 MPH Town,” Keith has been a consistent country music hit-maker. The former oil worker, semi-pro football player and Nashville busker broke through in 1993 with “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” and his 1999 cross-over hit “How Do You Like Me Now.” His latest songs include “Drunk Americans” and “35 MPH Town.”

At only 54, Keith will be the decided new kid on the block to the other headliners. John Fogerty will be 71 and Steve Miller turns 73.

Though Cohn has been hinting for years he might bring a country artist to his Sonoma fundraisers, this is the first time he’s made the leap. “A lot of people who like classic rock like country; it’s getting closer and closer,” he said. “Like my daughters: they like classic rock, and they love Toby Keith. There’s that crossover audience. We’re going to find out, anyway.”

Cohn has also been managing a young country artist, Andy Velo, who will appear on the bill both Friday and Sunday.

Among the other acts booked for the festival is former Traffic singer-songwriter Dave Mason, who will perform on Saturday night.

That same night, what Cohn calls “the guys from Little Feat” – that’s Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett playing as a duo – will also be on the bill. Billy Payne, a founding member of Little Feat, now plays with the Doobie Brothers, who are on the road this summer touring with Journey and will not be available for the Sonoma Music Festival.

Other artists are expected to be confirmed over the next couple weeks.

The 2015 Sonoma Music Festival saw close to 10,000 music lovers from around the country come to wine country to listen to the music. Last year’s fundraising event raised about $200,000 for charity, which included on-stage auctions over three days, which raised over $11,000, thanks to generous bids for a drum set from the late Doobie Brother Keith Knudsen. Twenty-two bidders also paid to sing along onstage with the Doobies during their classic hit “Listen to the Music” – a tactic that raised over $50,000 for charity.

The Lise Sonner Fund is the presenting sponsor. The charities that stand to benefit from the concert include Fisher House, Redwood Empire Food Bank, Kids Street, CASA and American Legion Post 489. Over its 29-year history B. R. Cohn Charity Events has raised more than $7 million dollars for charity.

Although it’s a world-class lineup of artists, it can’t compare to another music festival to be held the same weekend, in Indio, featuring the Rolling Stones, the Who, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul McCartney and other rock icons – a fact not lost on Cohn. “This is much more civilized, you’ve got a chair and you can sit down,” he said. “You don’t need binoculars.”

“I’ve kept it small like this because that’s the experience that makes our festival,” said Cohn. “This is an intimate venue with the best talent you can get.” The Field of Dreams will hold 3,500 each day for the three-day Sonoma Music Festival.

“I’ve done what I can to get these acts here,” said Cohn. “Hopefully the magic will do the rest.”

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com