A triple-threat powerhouse blues show is in store for anyone starving for a live music experience reminiscent of the long gone Monterey Bay Blues Festival. Well, kind of. The three acts coming to the Golden State Theatre Saturday evening features Grammy-nominated internationally known singer/songwriter/guitarist Samantha Fish, Grammy-winning North Mississippi Hill Country blues torchbearer Cedric Burnside (grandson to R.L. Burnside) and blues/punk legend Jon Spencer, known for his Blues Explosion group among others. I had the chance to speak with Ms. Fish the other day and we covered her path to stardom from her “Girls With Guitars” days up to and through her recording and onstage partnership with Jesse Dayton for the Grammy-nominated album “Death Wish Blues.”

“I can remember my first break,” Fish said in a phone interview from her home in New Orleans. “I started booking gigs for myself when I was living in Kansas City, just kind of tenaciously going after the phone book, you know? And just calling people. It was a little shameless, but I just kept doing that until I had a full schedule. Then I worked that schedule really, really hard and just went after it. And then I got a break.”

She became a regular at a local bar, Knuckleheads, where she met a lot of the players coming through, whether they were local, regional or national acts.

“My friend Mike Vito was somebody who played there a lot and he would invite me to sit in and stuff,” she said. “He was really gracious and kind to me when I was really young.”

He got wind that a German recording label was putting together a European tour called the Blues Caravan and they were looking for a third to fill out the bill. She got the gig and went on tour and it snowballed into her getting a booking agent in the U.S. A video of one of her performances went viral on the internet.

“There’s not anything I can really say that I did other than work hard and be ready for something to happen.”

Take note struggling musicians.

“You just have to chase it down and try to get in front of as many people as possible,” Fish advised. “I did for years and years and years without anything happening. At some point, if you do it long enough something kind of breaks free.”

That is if you’re lucky. And your passion for music is unshakeable.

“The first time I ever stepped on a stage it kind of changed the trajectory of my life,” she said. “I think I was in high school and I planned to go to college and chase down a degree that I didn’t really care about. But then when I got on the stage the very first time, I was ‘Oh, this is what I really want to do and what I should be doing.’”

For her, being on that stage was everything. The most rewarding thing she had ever done in life.

“I’m just a driven person. I want to be successful at whatever I set my mind to and I’m competitive, and all the ugly parts of that,” she said with a chuckle. “It’s kind of those few things meeting to make my work ethic I guess.”When she first started playing the guitar she wasn’t really aware of any female blues lead guitarists. And that’s what she wanted to be. Although she mostly listened to rock ’n’ roll, the kind that still had tendrils attached to classic blues. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones turned her on, as did Mike Campbell, guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Oh, and Angus Young from AC/DC.

“When I got into the blues, most of the guitar players in that era were mostly men, even then. I kinda had to dig to find some of the women. Like Memphis Minnie. And I found Jessie Mae Hemphill and of course Bonnie Raitt. They were definitely women I looked up to and still look up to.”

The now 35-year-old can cite any number of women instrumentalists as well as those working in sound or stage crews.

“I remember when I was 15 years old and I wanted to learn how to play lead guitar, but then there was a thought that crossed my mind and I don’t think I ever verbalized it, but I was like, girls don’t do that. You know? I think it stunted me for a minute. And it wasn’t even something that anyone ever said to me, or that I said to myself, like in your head. Because back then you never really saw it. But a few years later I was like, ‘I don’t give a shit, I’m going to do this.’”

A Samantha Fish concert is a really powerful experience. All her hard work put into learning her instrument has produced a confident, hard charging electric guitar player. She held her own this last year playing on the multiple, mostly male-dominated bill on the Experience Hendrix Tour. Check her out on YouTube playing the song “Fire” at the Mountain Winery tour stop to get a taste of who she is. Wearing a black leather suit, her platinum blonde bob curling provocatively around her pale porcelain skin and the red lipstick. I mean, that girl looks amazing rocking out on that Hendrix burner, shaking her head back and forth as she tears into the solo.

“We’ve faced some setbacks as women, socially and everything over just the last couple years,” she said. “So I feel like it’s our job, the women who are out playing now, to just go out there and be seen and be that representation. And then the next generation of girls don’t have that though.

“I’m happy to mix it up like that,” she said. “You have to create a dynamic so it keeps people engaged and interested. Above anything else, I feel entertainment is key. You have to entertain the people who come there. I’ll do anything I can to keep them entertained.”

That includes wearing clothes she thinks fits her expressions in music, another representation of who she is as an artist. Her most recent recording out of the eight she has under her name, “Death Wish Blues,” the one nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, it made a departure from her usual leading lady role and found its groove as a male/female dynamic with the songs written from each side of the equation, between her and her friend Jesse Dayton. The songs didn’t always stay in the blues vibe, but showcased a more varied approach to the sound of the songs. It’s a cool record, and the two of them onstage really speak to each other through the music. Especially when they trade off their blues influenced rock riffs.

“It definitely was a unique project and it got a lot of attention for both of us,” she said. “I’m happy that we did it and we’re both really proud of the music. The Grammy nom was pretty special. I don’t think either of us was really expecting it. When we put the record out, we thought where do you even put it? We figured it to be a blues record, although the blues purists were going to say ‘That’s casting a wide net for blues.’ Whoever listens to it they will recognize it as that. You always want that kind of news to come down, it was pretty amazing. It had never happened for me or him. We were like ‘Wow! What the hell?’”

The Samantha Fish Shake ‘Em On Down Tour stops at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. Jon Spencer and Cedric Burnside both perform prior to Fish taking the stage with her band, drummer Jamie Douglass, bassist Ron Johnson and keyboards Mickey Finn. Tickets run between $53.73 and $83.34, available at www.goldenstatetheatre.com.

This week is so full of interesting events there’s only a quick rundown here for all of them.

Friday, 4-6:30 p.m., Make Merry at The Cherry Holiday Open House, Fourth and Guadalupe, Carmel. The Carl Cherry Center hosts its annual art fundraiser and holiday celebration, free and open to the public. Mingle with friends old and new, and browse and buy reasonably-priced art by noted local artists, participate in the raffle for prizes that include a large collection of fine wines, gift certificates to local restaurants, and other seasonal goodies. Proceeds go to support The Cherry’s ongoing contribution to the arts community of Monterey County. Wine is donated by Scheid Vineyards. For more information, call (831) 624-7491.

Saturday, 2-10 p.m., How Original Showcase and Fundraiser at the Carmel American Legion Post 512, Dolores and 8th, Carmel. Come support local bands (and one guest artist) as they perform original material, the second year for this fun, supportive event. Ten talented local Monterey Bay Area songwriters and bands are featured, to include in the order of appearance, The Transducers Trio, Brad Mallory, Kyle Kovalik, Eva Gardner (bassist for PINK, solo on guitar), Peter Barnes Martin, Dan Frechette, Dan Cioper, barkings831, Squid Brain, Chuck Brewer Band and Rosewood. Tickets are $30, or $100 for a four pack. You can purchase tickets at the door day of event, or at the Carmel Legion 512 leading up to the event during business hours of Monday-Sunday. 3-9 p.m.

Saturday, 6-9 p.m., Carmel Valley Lodge presents Merry Melodies, A Variety Show, featuring jazz guitarist Bruce Forman accompanied by saxophonist Gary Meek and with beautiful vocals by Laurie Hofer Romero, Pamela Forman and Rebecca Sayre. No host bar opens at 6 p.m., with beer, wine, Prosecco and hors d’oeuvres. Show is from 7-9 p.m. Tickets are $69, includes the food.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Beach Boy Al Jardine and his Endless Summer Band Benefit Concerts at the Golden Bough Theatre, 7:30 p.m., brought to you by PacRep and SLV Presents. The Tuesday concert is a special fundraiser for Pacific Repertory Theatre with a limited number of VIP packages available for $300 each, including best seating, drinks, and desserts, and a meet and greet with Al and the band. For non-VIP tickets, seats in the orchestra section are $150, and seats in the mezzanine and side sections are $125, and include drinks and desserts! For the Wednesday Dec. 18 concert, tickets are $125 for the orchestra section and $95 for the mezzanine and side sections. Proceeds benefit the artistic programs of Pacific Repertory Theatre. The Box Office counter is open in-person or by phone, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Call (831) 622-0100 for both information and tickets, or go online at www.pacrep.org to purchase tickets.