Up + Adam with Adam Montiel

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

Sit. Stay. Slay. | Paso Robles' Best in Show Dog Show From Woods & Paso Market Walk Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

Everybody thinks they have the best dog in the world. Well, it's time to prove it! Jill Alexander from Paso Market Walk and our good friend Robin Coleman from Woods Humane Society join Adam Montiel on Up+Adam to talk about the first-ever Best in Show Dog Show, happening Saturday, November 7th, in Paso Robles. And Adam's not just talking about it, he's emceeing the whole thing! From impressive tricks and outrageous costumes to senior pups strutting their stuff, this is a chance for the Central Coast's four-legged superstars to have their moment in the spotlight, all while raising money for the lifesaving work of Woods Humane Society.

Jill shares how her love of rescue dogs, including one she found wandering behind Paso Market Walk and named Alan Steven, helped inspire the spirit of the event. Robin gives us the scoop on the competition, judges, prizes, pet vendors, and even an animal communicator who might know more about your dog than you do! Plus, Adam gets his first taste of the wildly popular dirty sodas from Paso Market Walk's newest addition, Cowgirl Soda Company, and discovers a whole new reason to visit. With local food, wine, dog-friendly festivities, and some seriously fun prizes, including pet photography and hotel stays, this is a celebration of the incredible bond between people and their pets. And behind all the fun is a cause worth showing up for: helping Woods Humane Society give more animals a second chance.

BEST IN SHOW DOG SHOW | EVENT DETAILS

Date: Saturday, November 7, 2026
Time: 1–3 PM, dog check-in begins at noon
Location: Paso Market Walk, 1803 Spring Street, Paso Robles, CA
Admission: FREE to watch
Dog registration: $50 per dog
Reserved seating: $25 per person
VIP tables: $125 for two, including Champagne, a Barkuterie Box, and premium seating
Competition: Best Trick, Best Costume, Best Personality, Best Senior Strut (ages 8+), and an overall Best in Show winner
Host: Adam Montiel
Benefiting: Woods Humane Society

Dogs are welcome whether they're competing or just enjoying the festivities, provided they're leashed and comfortable around people and other animals.

LINKS & MORE INFORMATION

Best in Show event details: https://www.pasomarketwalk.com/dog-show
Register your dog or reserve seating: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/best-in-show-dog-show-at-paso-market-walk-benefiting-woods-humane-society-tickets-2001076381324
Paso Market Walk: https://www.pasomarketwalk.com/
Paso Market Walk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pasomarketwalk/
Woods Humane Society: https://woodshumanesociety.org/
Woods Humane Society on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodshumanesociety/
Meet the adoptable animals: https://woodshumanesociety.org/adoptions/
Support Woods Humane Society: https://woodshumanesociety.org/

Up+Adam with Adam Montiel. Great people, great stories, and everything we love about life on the Central Coast.

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Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

The Lord High Executioner Hijacks Up+Adam | OperaSLO’s The Mikado | Up+Adam Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

Opera San Luis Obispo is going GRAND, and apparently nobody told the Lord High Executioner that Adam was conducting an interview.

Brian Asher Alhadeff and Luana join Up+Adam for a look inside OperaSLO’s massive production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, coming to the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo October 17 and 18. We’re talking a full OperaSLO Grand Orchestra, an internationally acclaimed cast, enormous sets, ballet, and a chorus that grows to roughly 70 performers with the addition of 30 local kids who trained through OperaSLO’s summer opera camp. Those young performers are not getting a watered-down experience either. They’re stepping onto the stage alongside the professional cast and chorus.

Then the interview gets hijacked.

Actor John Laird arrives fully in character as Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, a man with the wonderfully inconvenient job of executing people despite being far too humane to actually execute anyone. Ko-Ko explains how flirting landed him on the execution list, why becoming executioner solved that particular problem, dismisses one of Adam’s guests from the interview, discovers headphones, refuses to sing without his orchestra, and assures us he has never even killed a bluebottle. It is exactly the kind of controlled chaos Gilbert and Sullivan would probably appreciate.

Underneath all the spectacle and absurdity is what makes The Mikado surprisingly durable: a comedy about bureaucracy, power, hypocrisy, ridiculous rules, and what happens when systems start mattering more than the people living inside them. And OperaSLO is bringing a huge piece of the Central Coast arts community together to tell it. The official production features stage direction by Marcy Irving, choreography by Drew Silvaggio, and the OperaSLO Grand Orchestra conducted by Brian Asher Alhadeff.

The Mikado plays Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 2 PM at the Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo. The PAC lists the production as family friendly for ages 5 and up.

• GET TICKETS: The Mikado at Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo

• LEARN MORE: Opera San Luis Obispo’s The Mikado

• FOLLOW: OperaSLO on Instagram @opera_slo

Saturday & Sunday, October 17 & 18, 2026

Both performances at 2 PM

Performing Arts Center San Luis Obispo

Box Office: 805-756-4849

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

ARTober in SLO: World-Class Music, Small-Town Magic | Festival Mozaic | Up+Adam Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

There's more to SLO CAL than great wine, incredible food, and postcard-worthy scenery. There's an extraordinary arts community bringing world-class talent right into our backyard, and Festival Mozaic is helping lead the charge.

Executive Director Lloyd Tanner joins Adam Montiel for a lively conversation celebrating ARTober, the City of San Luis Obispo's month-long celebration of arts and culture, and the people working behind the scenes to keep creativity thriving. From 44 events in 18 days, most of them free to the public, to attracting some of the finest musicians in the world, Lloyd shares why the arts are about so much more than entertainment. They're about connection, community, and sometimes simply giving someone a reason to get off the couch and experience something beautiful.

Plus, a look at Festival Mozaic's October 25th performance featuring artist-in-residence Susan Cahill, an unexpected blend of classical music, jazz, theater, and humor at Cuesta College. Whether you're a lifelong lover of the performing arts or someone who wouldn't know Mozart from the Mid-State Fair, this conversation might just inspire you to experience something new.

Learn more and get tickets:

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

Autumn Soirée: The SLO Way to Eat, Drink & Give Back | Up+Adam Oct 02, 2026

Show notes

The Fifth Annual Autumn Soirée: The SLO Way is coming back to Hotel SLO, and this one is basically a greatest-hits album of what makes the Central Coast so ridiculously good.

Rebekah Fancher and Mikey Sayegh join Adam for a conversation about the food, wine, cocktails, creativity, and community behind the November 14 event. Rebekah shares how Autumn Soirée has grown into a celebration of the region’s harvest, culinary talent, winemakers, and local organizations, all while finding new ways to make the experience feel even more special each year.

Then there’s Mikey, whose approach to cocktails sounds less like bartending and more like edible, drinkable storytelling. He talks about getting into that behind-the-bar flow state, waking up at 5:30 in the morning with new cocktail ideas, experimenting with ingredients like agar, building drinks around intention, and creating one-night-only cocktails from surprise farmers’ market ingredients. We also get into the glorious chain reaction caused by one espresso martini hitting a table, why he wants Hotel SLO’s drinks to have their own identity, and what makes a great cocktail feel personal.

The conversation also gets into what guests can expect from Autumn Soirée this year, including VIP early entry, special wine pours, the afterglow at S.Low Bar, participating chefs and wineries, and the event’s continued focus on giving back to the community.

If you love Central Coast food, wine, hospitality, cocktails, or just hearing passionate people talk about the thing they do best, this one is for you.

• Autumn Soirée: autumnsoiree.com

• Tickets: 2026 Autumn Soirée tickets on Eventbrite

• Autumn Soirée Instagram: @autumnsoiree_slo

• Hotel SLO: hotel-slo.com

• Hotel SLO Instagram: @thehotelslo

• Ox + Anchor: oxandanchor.com

• Piadina: piadinaslo.com

• High Bar: Hotel SLO High Bar

• Mikey Sayegh Instagram: @mikeytendsbar

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

SLO ARTober: When the Whole City Becomes a Canvas | SLO Public Art| Up+Adam Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

October is ARTober in San Luis Obispo, and Up+Adam is kicking off a month-long partnership with the City of SLO by looking at the art hiding in plain sight all around us.

Adam sits down with City of San Luis Obispo Public Art Coordinator Amanda Grieshop, an artist and photographer who has turned a lifelong need to create into a job helping other artists become part of the visual life of the city. Amanda shares why she believes there may be no such thing as someone who "isn't an art person," how the community actually helps choose the public art that ends up in SLO, and why simply encountering art in our everyday lives can change the way we feel about the place we call home.

They also get into the brand-new Poetry Walk, featuring 11 poems stenciled onto sidewalks between Downtown SLO and the Railroad District, SLO's collection of 72 Box Art installations, new murals arriving this October, guided public art walks, Art After Dark, and the Rooted in Art lecture series. Plus, Amanda shares the story of discovering photography as a teenager in rural Maine, why the combination of mountains and ocean keeps her camera busy on the Central Coast, and a little scoop about public art movement happening at Righetti Park.

It's a conversation about creativity, community, and the beautiful idea that you don't always have to go looking for art. Sometimes art finds you.

• City of SLO Public Art: https://www.slocity.org/publicart

• ARTober and SLO Arts & Culture: https://visitslo.com/things-to-do/arts-and-culture/

• City of San Luis Obispo: https://www.slocity.org/

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

Chris Lambert: Vows, Graceland, & Road Trippin' | Plus Win Tix to the Red Wine Roundup | Up+Adam Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

It’s a two-part Wednesday on Up+Adam.

First, we pick up with Part Two of Adam’s conversation with Chris Lambert. This half starts with the fun stuff: Chris and Allie’s cross-country RV adventure, Graceland, My Cousin Vinny locations, their wedding, six-minute vows, and the coffee-shop proposal Chris spent 14 years working his way toward. Then the conversation comes back to Southervisions and Chris’s relationship with his dad. Chris talks about the part of him that still hopes making this record might somehow “fix everything,” what it meant to hear even a simple “sounds great” from his father, and the moment at his wedding when his parents walked down the aisle together after not seeing each other for 18 years. Chris describes watching them together as something that was healing in real time.

• Pre-order Chris Lambert’s Southervisions

• Chris Lambert on Bandcamp

Then we trade the RV for the wine trail. Meghan Ball of VinLumia is back with Arbuckle Ridge owner and winemaker Scott Saunders for the Red Wine Roundup, happening Sunday, October 4 at The Loading Chute in Creston. Meghan and Scott join Adam to talk about the lineup of Paso Robles wineries, the very intentional family-friendly setup, food, live music, bounce houses, pony rides, and the two Arbuckle Ridge wines Scott is pouring. They also get into harvest 2026, Scott’s approach to Arbuckle Ridge, and Meghan’s point that even in a changing wine market, people are still excited about wine. Sometimes you just have to meet them where they are.

The Red Wine Roundup runs Sunday, October 4 from 2 to 5 p.m. at The Loading Chute Restaurant & Barn in Creston. Wine Passports are $45 before fees, General Admission is $15 before fees, kids 12 and under are $10, and kids under 3 are free. Meghan also shares the promo code KIDFREE during the interview for a free child ticket with the purchase of a Wine Passport.

• Red Wine Roundup tickets and event information

• Arbuckle Ridge Winery

• VinLumia on Instagram

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

Chris Lambert: Southervisions, Family, and the Kristin Smart Case | Up+Adam Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

Chris Lambert returns to Up+Adam, and this time the conversation begins with the music.

His new album, Southervisions, arrives October 6 and draws from family, Louisiana, memory, and Lambert’s experience growing up half-Cajun on California’s Central Coast. Chris talks with Adam about the relationship with his father at the center of much of the record, the childhood trips to Louisiana that shaped him, and the unusual writing process that had songs arriving almost one after another. The album eventually became what Chris describes as a musical documentary of his family.

The conversation then turns to the work many listeners first discovered Chris through, Your Own Backyard, and the Kristin Smart case, including our presser question we have been waiting to ask. Chris discusses the recent search activity, his experience at the sheriff’s press conference, the enormous media attention surrounding new developments, and the difficult position the Smart family remains in when public attention moves faster than the answers available to them.

This is Part One of Adam’s conversation with Chris Lambert. Part Two continues Thursday with the wedding road trip and the deeply personal story behind Southervisions and Chris’s relationship with his father.

• Pre-order Southervisions on Bandcamp

• Explore Chris Lambert’s music

• Your Own Backyard

• Listen to Your Own Backyard on Apple Podcasts

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO

Sponsored by The Mountain Air | Sponsored by Benny’s Pizza | SLOFreeParking

Original Music by Dan Curcio and Moonshiner Collective

Moonshiner on Spotify HERE

Please Rate, Review, and Subscribe to the podcast, and learn more at AdamMontiel.com

SLO Tree Drama: I Got an Expert Arborist to Explain Why We Approved Removing This Oak, Then Decided It Could Stay? | Up+Adam Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

The big oak at Monterey and Nipomo in downtown San Luis Obispo is staying put. That is the good news. The bigger question is how we got here.

Earlier this year, the San Luis Obispo City Council approved removal of the oak after arborists working with SLO REP and the City concluded the tree was extremely unlikely to survive construction of the new theatre. Then volunteer arborists stepped in, the root system was physically explored and pruned as part of a possible relocation effort, and new information emerged. The root system the tree depends on appeared to be smaller than previously thought. SLO REP has now reversed course and says the tree can remain in place while construction moves forward.

Adam brings on expert arborist Paul Koenning to unpack what that actually means. How much can an arborist know about a mature oak's root system before excavation? How different can a real root system be from the protection zones used in planning? What do clean root cuts do to a mature tree? And after pruning roots in preparation for a move that is no longer happening, what should the City, SLO REP, and the community be watching over the next several years?

Paul also explains why season matters when moving large trees, why root establishment can take years, what signs of stress matter most, and why a tree that looks green today can still require long-term monitoring. He brings decades of hands-on experience with live oaks and currently works as an arborist on the Property & Barn team at a well respected local winery in Paso.

This is not about turning the oak into a political football or finding a villain. It is about understanding the science, understanding what changed, and asking what this tree needs now if everyone involved is serious about giving it the best chance to thrive.

• SLO REP campaign updates and oak preservation information: SLO REP Campaign Updates

• Latest reporting on the decision to keep the oak in place: KSBY: Oak Tree Will Stay as SLO REP Sets October Groundbreaking

• Reporting on the volunteer arborists and relocation effort: KSBY: Volunteer Arborists Advance Plan to Relocate 100-Year-Old Oak

• Tree preservation resource recommended by Paul: Pacific Northwest ISA Tree Protection Guide

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*PORTABIDET: UP+ADAM IS AN OFFICIAL AFFILIATE FOR PORTABIDET - USE THIS LINK FOR UP+ADAM LISTENERS TO LEARN MORE AND GET YOURS!

Listen to Up+Adam with Adam Montiel:

Official Website: adammontiel.com
Apple Podcasts: Up+Adam on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Up+Adam on Spotify
iHeartRadio: Up+Adam on iHeartRadio
YouTube Music: Up+Adam on YouTube Music

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Life Elements

City of SLO