HIGHLIGHTS • August 18, 2012 Edition • Acoustic Americana Music Guide

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YIKES! IMPORTANT CORRECTION: THE BENEFIT SHOW BY THE WITCHER BROTHERS IS MONDAY, NOT TUESDAY. The original edition had it wrong. Sorry for that! It's fixed now, so please read on!
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Wow! A rare reunion of THE WITCHER BROTHERS, playing a benefit concert this coming MONDAY night! Yep, it’s true and it’s in the August 18 SPOTLIGHT EVENTS edition.
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This’ll save you some time, before you dive into that rather massive compendium of organized chaos.
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There’s LOTS HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND and beyond…
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This SUNDAY is the FREE annual BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL in Long Beach, with some fine acts performing.
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NEXT WEEKEND, we get back to choosing from MULTIPLE festivals again, including a BIG ONE for the BLUES, an annual ELVIS Fest, and the annual NO BUDGET FILM FESTIVAL.
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Yep, FESTIVALS are prolific in Southern California, ESPECIALLY in the Folk-Americana universe. Despite the fact that mainstream media still insists on ignoring the abundant facts that our roots / acoustic renaissance oases continue to THRIVE in hundreds of venues and the number of events is GROWING by leaps and bounds! Hmmm. Remember when all the folk-friendly festivals happened late spring / early summer, then took a break ’til autumn, avoiding midsummer heat? Not anymore. There are just too many festivals for that now. Which helps prove the case that Folk-Americana KEEPS growing in La-La land and OC, and from Santa Barbara to San Diego!
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And of course, there’s much more covered in the Guide’s new edition: concerts, club gigs, showcases, artist workshops, open mics, and more pickin’ and grinnin’ opportunities in these ’ere parts than y’all kin shake a stick at.
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A fresh edition of our NEWS FEATURES is coming that includes all kindsa stuff of musical interest. But we aren’t leaving you hanging. What you need to know to attend that WITCHER BROTHERS rare reunion is in the new SPOTLIGHT EVENTS edition. It’s a benefit concert on MONDAY night for longtime folk concert organizer / co-founder of local folk music organizations PITT KINSOLVING at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena (told ya we’d get to that). Oh, by the way, the venue is small, so get right into the Guide to see how to get tix NOW.
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Time for a few QUICK HIGHLIGHTS…
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1) The FREE annual “ROSE PARK BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL” is in Long Beach on Sunday, with CLIFF WAGNER & THE OLD #7, SAWTOOTH, WIMBERLEY BLUEGRASS BAND, and GRASSLANDS, plus banjo and fiddle contests, a pie eating contest, children’s activities, and more, at Rose Park in Long Beach.
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2) “BRITS & CELTS WEEKEND” at the “FLIGHTS & SOUNDS SUMMER FESTIVAL” brings SOLAS to the Palm Court Arts Complex Saturday night at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine
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3) The 10th Annual “SUMMERGRASS SAN DIEGO BLUEGRASS MUSIC FESTIVAL” is underway in Vista with a major league lineup.
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4) NEIL DIAMOND continues the reprise of his legendary “HOT AUGUST NIGHT” with just a few more shows at the Greek Theatre in L.A. That’s where he played the original and recorded the landmark album 40 years ago. The last dates are Saturday, August 18th at 8 pm, Thursday, August 23rd at 8 pm, and Saturday, August 25th at 8 pm.
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5) There are dozens and dozens of concerts and club gigs, including a buncha SUNDAY daytime events this weekend that’ll get you indoors out of the heat.

6) On MONDAY, there’s the benefit show by THE WITCHER BROTHERS, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage at 8 pm.
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7) A whooole lotta FREE SHOWS are in this edition, as always. Here’s just ONE (of many):
On Saturday, August 18, a “FREE SHOW-of-the-WEEK” pick is the 7 pm outdoor concert by LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS, bringing their GRAMMY-nominated and highly danceable Cajun & Zydeco music to the “16th Annual Altadena Sheriffs’ Summer Concert Series” in the splendid Amphitheater at Farnsworth Park in Altadena. Lisa’s new video, “Chicken Fiddler,” has over 555,000 YouTube views! This band is always exciting, whether you dance or just listen, and they are among the few acts that mixes plenty of Cajun fiddle music with zydeco. Details are in the new edition.
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8) MUSIC PERFORMANCES on TV are getting much better again, if you know where to look. We do, and share it with you. Just search the current edition for “on TV” and you’ll find plenty!
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9) An “EVENT-of-the-WEEK for ARTISTS” is coming Saturday, August 25, at 2 pm: It’s an “ACOUSTIC BLUES GUITAR WORKSHOP” with ROY BOOK BINDER at The Fret House in Covina. Get a reservation as soon as you read this. (Details in the Guide.)
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10) You can get started NOW on planning for NEXT WEEKEND’S FESTIVALS:
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The annual “LOS ANGELES GUITAR FESTIVAL” August 24 & 25, with JOHN JORGENSON, ROBBEN FORD & MICHAEL LANDAU in RENEGADE CREATION, DOUG MacLEOD, JIMMY HASLIP, GARY NOVAK, PEPPINO D’AGOSTINO, JEFF CAMPITELLI, and more, at Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.
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The annual “REAL BLUES FESTIVAL OF ORANGE COUNTY” August 26, with performances by WHITEBOY JAMES & THE BLUE EXPRESS, TRICIA FREEMAN, JUMPIN’ JACK BENNY, BORN BLUE, JAY GORDON & BLUES VENOM, K.K. MARTIN, PAPA J & FRIENDS, and more, at Malone’s in Santa Ana.
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The 13th annual “ELVIS FESTIVAL” August 26, at the Orange County Market Place at the O.C. Fair & Event Center, in Costa Mesa.
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The 3rd Annual “NO BUDGET FILM FESTIVAL” at the Downtown Independent in L.A. on August 26 and at other downtown locations on the 25th.
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11) LABOR DAY WEEKEND brings even more FESTIVALS, and tickets may be an issue if you wait. This edition has details of that weekend’s new MAMMOTH BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL, the Hawai’ian-themed E HULA MAU, and the fall edition of the STRAWBERRY MUSIC FESTIVAL near Yosemite. (We bring you the word on even more festivals, beyond that, when you’re ready to start scrolling!)
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…all that and PLENTY more between Mr. Right Now and waaaay past Mayan Calendar Doomsday!
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READER COMMENTS on our recent editions are always appreciated. We continue to add your latest feedback about what we do, and organize it all into an easy-to-connect-the-dots massive compendium that’s referenced to specific items that appear in the Guide. Comments on our recent content are available in one place, at
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http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2012/07/reader-comments-feedback_27.html .
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THOUSANDS read the Guide every week! We thank you!
ALWAYS more music listings than last time in each NEW EDITION.
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