RECOMMENDED SHOW & recent event reviews; show on Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Recommended L.A. show on Tuesday; round-up of recent events
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From the Acoustic Americana Music Guide
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It was another rich and diverse weekend for music in Southern California, and I’m writing to call your attention to a Tuesday evening show (it’s early, at 7 pm). If you don’t have time to read anything else, just scroll-down to “A SHOW TO CATCH ON TUESDAY” for the info.
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First, a few quick review comments on recent events.
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A weekend ago began Friday with the premiere performance of the “SEAN/NUA” Irish dance drama with live music at the Wilshire Ebell; it’s a promising start, and if you liked “Riverdance,” we hope you caught this. Saturday brought the annual “TEMECULA BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL” with its newly-added evening concert in the town’s first-rate community theater, all in the heart of Old Town Temecula. That evening show brought THE CLAIRE LYNCH BAND (IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year, and two Grammy nominations for Best Bluegrass Album), plus BLUEGRASS ETC. (Dennis Caplinger, Bill Bryson, and Colorado-based John Moore) and the SILVERADO BLUEGRASS BAND (Mike Nadolson, Kevin Gore, & co). It was more than worth the late-night drive home!
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Monday, March 23, brought the annual “TROUGH RECORDS NIGHT” with all but one of the label’s folk & folk-rock artists performing at the Fremont Centre Theatre in South Pasadena. The short sets left everyone wanting more, with fine and fun originals from every performer. Wednesday brought the monthly L.A. WoMen in Music “Happy Hour Hang,” where much useful knowledge is freely exchanged, this time at the Cat & Fiddle in Hollywood. Thursday (we missed it, and know we missed a good one) was DAN HICKS & HIS HOT LICKS with THE DITTY BOPS at the El Rey Theater in Hollywood.
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Saturday (just past) was the 19th annual “MULTICULTURAL FESTIVAL” on the tree-shaded enormous lawn at the University of Redlands. Free admission, affordable food, music and dancing from Polynesia to India to Latin America, and both MUSICANTICA’s traditional folk music from Italy and Michael Heralda’s “AZTEC STORIES” brought many instruments you’ve never seen, unless you’ve caught their performances.
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Sunday (yesterday) brought an in-store performance by emith (they use all lower-case letters) at Freakbeat Records in Sherman Oaks (great place for record antiquarians). The emith duo has delighted audiences on the local house concert circuit and at venues, and they have a fine new CD, released earlier this month.
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Following their show, we caught part of the open house at the studio of renowned western artist AL SHELTON, just a mile-and-a-half from emith’s gig. Members of the Association of Fingerstyle Guitarists (fresh from their own event the day before) joined 89-year-old Al and his guitar for western music and tales of films and TV shows for which Al had done some stunning art, everything from paintings to leather work to brass belt buckles. The event celebrated the completion (four year’s work) of a magnificent hand-tooled leather guitar cover, a commission for the Martin Guitar Museum in Pennsylvania.
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Then, Sunday evening was time for the second night of the 3rd annual “BUCKFEST” tribute to the late Buck Owens, at the Cowboy Palace in Chatsworth. We missed the free BBQ (they do that every Sunday) but we caught good sets by I SEE HAWKS IN L.A., by L.A. alt-country crooner MIKE STINSON, and by master of the “Bakersfield Sound” TERRY HANSON at L.A.’s sole-surviving dance hall honky-tonk. (FYI, they have live music seven nights a week, and free dance lessons every night before the bands crank-up. The audience and dancers span the age range from just-legal-to-get-in-the-door to genuine oldsters who still know how to get their yee-has on.)
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A SHOW TO CATCH ON TUESDAY
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Tuesday, March 31, at 7 pm, ALI MARCUS plays her first L.A. show. It’s at the Hotel Café in Hollywood. Ali is from Seattle, and she plays all the festivals and all the best venues in the Pacific Northwest. She earned a “Listener Favorite” on radio’s “Tied to the Tracks” in 2007 for her “Most Autobiographical Song.” In the best traditions of folk music, Ali writes songs that range from charming to politically relevant. In addition to her solo performing identity, Ali is known in the Seattle area for her old-time band, The OLD BAY WARBLERS. You’ll love her voice and her originals. But it’s her first L.A. show, she doesn’t yet have a following here, and she’s playing EARLY, so she needs an audience for the venue to invite her to come back. We’ll be there! Hope to see YOU!
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(And this is important: a couple years ago, ANGIE STEVENS, the Denver-based singer-songwriter with more awards than anybody else in Colorado, was introduced to L.A. at the same Hotel Café in the same mid-week 7 pm spot. There were seven of us in the audience, including Alaska’s award-winning singer-songwriter TOM BEGICH. Of course, after Angie played, the place was packed for the later sets, and that particular night, all were rather unimpressive locals.)
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This Tuesday, ALI MARCUS at 7 pm is followed at 8 pm by HORSE STORIES, who should likewise deliver a good show, and still get you out the door by 9 pm. (Both ALI MARCUS and HORSE STORIES are “Show of the Week” picks in the Music Guide.)
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The Hotel Café is located at 1623 N Cahuenga Bl (a half-block S of Hollywood Bl), Hollywood; 323-461-2040; www.hotelcafe.com.
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Much more on ALI MARCUS is in the Acoustic Americana Music Guide. You can read about the other events that are described above, as well. It (and upcoming editions) are available at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com and newly on the “No Depression” site at http://community.nodepression.com/profile/TiedtotheTracks
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Best,
Larry
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Larry Wines, programmer-producer-host, “Tied to the Tracks” acoustic Americana radio, syndicated from Los Angeles, with live in-studio performance-interviews, included in “The Best of L.A. 2006” radio lineup by Los Angeles Magazine; editor, “Acoustic Americana Music Guide & News” at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com and http://community.nodepression.com/profile/TiedtotheTracks and additional “TttT” news is on the No Depression page and at www.myspace.com/laacoustic; Larry is a consultant to artists, musicians, songwriters, festivals, and the music biz, and a feature writer and columnist for FolkWorks (www.folkworks.org).
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Check-out Larry’s latest column for FolkWorks at www.folkworks.org/content/view/35858/3176 and the extensive “BEST OF 2008 / TOP TEN” feature for FolkWorks, available at www.folkworks.org/content/view/35788/166
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PS - No trees were killed in the sending of this message, but a substantial number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced.
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