Local promoter Tobin Peregrina has booked some of the coolest indie acts at Jose’s Underground Lounge and, recently, Woody’s and Blue Fin. Local business owner-turned-do-gooder Bill (along with his wife Heidi) Sullivan, meanwhile, are rehabilitating a hurting community’s health center in Uganda. The two join forces behind a stellar music fest at Blue Fin this Saturday that admirably supports the Sullivans’ nonprofit Bulisa Project.

First, the music. An all ages daytime show assembles local dynamic duo The Cranks, who merge propulsive rockabilly, punk, ska, metal and folk; Pacific Grove’s Aurora Symphony and their rough, bluesy, punkishy lo-fi brand of psychedelic rock; and the teen wonders of August Sky, who started out doing covers of Zep and the Stones, but have since released their own album of original – and loud – rock ‘n’ roll.

At night, the 21+ show continues the roots music flavor. Monterey faves Darktown Rounders do spry, old-timey music that reminds you of hobos train-hopping across the country. Headliners Cash’d Out, “the only certified Johnny Cash cover band,” says Peregrina, are a spittin’ image of Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three, with a repertoire more than 100 songs deep – from the Man in Black’s early Columbia and Sun Records vault to his later Folsom and San Quentin live recordings.

“Some people are impressionists,” Bill Miller, a close friend of Cash, has said. “This band leaves an impression.” They sport High Life gel-slick hair and matching suits, with lead singer Douglas Benson – in a black suit, of course – channeling Johnny’s deep timbre and playing his Marshall “guit-fiddle” way up high on his chest. There’s no parody, just faithful conjuring.

Peregrina hopes the Americana flavor of the shows appeals to older people who grew up on it, and younger people, for whom its revival is a hot ticket.

As for the cause, Bulisa Project co-founder Bill Sullivan says what he’s experienced in the “isolated” village of Bulisa, in Uganda, can fill a book. Since 2006, Bill and Heidi have traveled to their adopted village annually to repair the only medical center in a 100-mile radius. They’ve since brought 600 pairs of reading glasses and stockpiles of medicine, built furniture, and fixed the roof and water system.

“That was awesome,” Bill says. “It was like magic. The whole clinic just transformed and became more important the minute water came out of the tap. The water had been broken for so long, they didn’t know that’s what sinks were for.”

He describes the planning of their trips as a headache – which pales compared to what they’ve witnessed.

“We had one lady who was dying,” says Bill. “The family could either [check her into] the hospital or send their kid to school the following year. They ended up taking her home to die. She was blind and considered old. She was 45.”

For their next trip in January, they want to get photovoltaic solar energy back online to power lights and equipment. Although the clinic is in dire condition, Bill says the lush landscape, roaming elephants and giraffe, natural living, and reservoirs of happiness found in the people combine to create a place straight “out of a movie.”

THE BULISA PROJECT show is Saturday, Nov. 7, 3pm for all ages, 8pm for adults, at Blue Fine Café and Billiards, 685 Cannery Row, Monterey. Donations are $10 for all-ages show, $15 for adult show. 521-1872, www.thebulisaproject.com. To make a donation, call 236-9138.

For more of the interview with Bulisa Project co-founder Bill Sullivan, click here.