Bluegrass a Natural

For music, sun and natural splendor, check out the Peter Strauss Ranch Site in the Santa Monica Mountains on Sunday afternoon.

Once the location for Chumash gatherings, the site has gone through several transitions.

It has been part of the Spanish settlement Rancho Las Virgenes; the estate of Harry Miller, a wealthy manufacturer of carburetors and race cars; a popular resort, known as Lake Enchanto, with the largest pool in the West; and the home of environment-minded actor Strauss.

Strauss bought the property in 1976 and lived there until 1983, when he sold it to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to prevent it from being subdivided.

The property was purchased in 1987 by the National Park Service, which is sponsoring a special free concert Sunday.

Music will be provided by Peter Feldmann & The Very Lonesome Boys. But they are anything but lonesome, if you consider their record of filling halls with stomping, cheering fans of 1940s and ‘50s bluegrass music. The Santa Barbara-based group’s appearances in California, Chicago and Texas regularly provoke standing ovations.

“This has always been sort of an ‘underground’ music,’ ” said Feldmann, a Swiss immigrant who discovered bluegrass while attending UC Santa Barbara in the ‘60s, when he started a quest to find the roots of the indigenous American music.

Also in the band are veteran bassist Tom Lee, guitarist Mike Mullins and multi-instrumentalist David West. They are known for their work with the progressive bluegrass group Cache Valley Drifters and performances at the annual Topanga Banjo & Fiddle Contest.

Tommy Marton, a Texan who has been playing bluegrass fiddle since he was 8, will also perform.

Feldmann said his group’s high-energy repertoire is mostly traditional bluegrass, heavily influenced by old-time Appalachian string music, which in turn has been influenced by Elizabethan-era ballads. Thus, Feldmann’s choice of a mandolin.

Park visitors are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch and lounge on the huge, tree-shaded lawn during the concert. Afterward, they can hike the nearby loop trail, an easy half-mile walk through the picturesque 65-acre site.

The park is open until sunset. There are restrooms and drinking water. Cooking fires are not allowed, and dogs must be kept on leashes.

Park officials suggest visitors arrive a bit early for the concert, which begins at 2 p.m., since parking is across Mulholland Highway from the main gate.

BE THERE

Peter Feldmann & The Very Lonesome Boys, Sunday, 2-4 p.m., Peter Strauss Ranch Site, 30000 Mulholland Hwy., at Troutdale Road, Agoura. Free. Call (805) 370-2301.